An Unexpected Honor

Gem's mood was very heavy right now.
Sitting in his chair within the e-sports arena, his gaze first fell on Team Back's area not far away, then he withdrew it to look at his teammates beside him.
At this moment, his four teammates also wore expressions of tension.
They were all feeling the pressure.
In theory, for a veteran team like Team Klaw, which had participated in countless top-tier professional matches and several World Championships, a "friendly match" like this shouldn't mean much.
But the problem was that this wasn't an ordinary friendly match; the symbolic meaning behind it was the real reason the entire Team Klaw felt the pressure.
They had to reclaim the face lost by Team Fate.
They had to represent the entire Korean professional scene and deliver a direct blow to this Chinese team.
But the opponents' strength... Now, the members of Team Klaw, after watching the previous finals, were very clear about it.
Team Back had defeated North America's Team Knight.
The members of Team Klaw, including Gem, asked themselves: if they faced that North American team, victory would likely be a struggle, and a 40-60 win rate was a more realistic estimate.
And this Team Back was even stronger.
As the team captain, Gem's pressure was naturally the greatest. Right now, his mind was constantly worrying about which composition the opponents would field this round. If Hook continued as the mid laner, he would have to go all out in the mid lane to suppress him...
LeBlanc, Veigar... No matter which mid lane champion it was, it seemed that once they were in Hook's hands and allowed to scale in the early game, the mid-game would immediately become a nightmare for the opponents.
But on the other hand, Gem also had to worry—if it wasn't Hook in the mid lane, but Dangshoe instead, his side might have to adjust their strategic thinking again and choose a different response...
...
Regardless, the Ban/Pick phase had begun.
Team Back was on the Blue side, and Team Klaw was on the Purple side.
In the stands, the Korean audience cheered incessantly, and the two sides quickly completed the ban phase. Team Klaw didn't hesitate to ban Veigar —
It seemed Team Klaw currently hadn't thought of a way to deal with a certain someone's mid lane Veigar.
Immediately, the two teams took turns picking their champions.
The Blue side, Team Back, picked Kha'Zix for the jungle, followed by the Purple side, Team Klaw, picking Rumble for the top lane and Thresh for support.
Next, Team Back picked Alistar for support and Irelia for the top lane.
Team Klaw picked Vayne for marksman and Jarvan IV for the jungle.
The mid lane position was saved for last by Team Klaw, aiming to carefully counter Team Back's mid laner.
The Korean audience held their breath, and the fans on the Fish-TV platform in the national server also widened their eyes, curious and expectant to see which champion Team Back's mid laner would pick this round.
Then they saw the fourth and fifth pick slots for the Blue side light up in succession —
Marksman, Sivir.
Mid lane, Lulu.
...
Mid lane Lulu!
A commotion erupted in the arena, and those Korean spectators immediately became wary:
What trick is Hook trying to play this time?
They had truly been toyed with by a certain someone to the point of being traumatized.
Last game, when a certain someone picked mid lane Veigar, they initially mocked him, saying such an unpopular champion would only lead to death. The facts proved they were the ones who got slapped in the face. So now, with Team Back picking mid lane Lulu, there must be a plot!
But what exactly was the plot?
The Korean audience members each racked their brains in thought.
On stage, Gem in Team Klaw's area also looked at the opposing mid lane Lulu pick and frowned. Lulu had appeared in the mid lane before, but it was rare now.
Against Hook, he absolutely couldn't afford the slightest negligence, but the champion Lulu indeed didn't create a very threatening feeling.
She was just a very stable mid lane AP.
After a moment of worry, Klaw quickly picked their mid laner —
The Deceiver, LeBlanc!
The arena erupted in surprised cries again, but this time the cries carried a lot of amazement. To the Korean audience, Team Klaw's mid lane captain, the great Gem, confidently picking LeBlanc was his way of reclaiming face for the Korean server!
You, Hook, can play LeBlanc.
Our great Gem can too!
And he'll be even stronger!
...
The real uproar occurred after the team positions for both sides were confirmed.
The reason was that on Team Back's Blue side, the player confirmed to use mid lane Lulu wasn't Hook, the team captain, nor was it Dangshoe.
It was Jiang Ran, the team's original mid lane member.
In this round, Team Back had unexpectedly swapped their positions back!
They were using their most standard original positions!
On stage, the members of Team Klaw all instinctively let out a sigh of relief, their faces showing hints of joy. Even Gem thought this was a pleasant surprise:
If it's the original mid laner, I definitely have the confidence and certainty to create a lead in the mid lane!
Furthermore, with Dangshoe and Hook back together in the bot lane, targeting them wouldn't require too much distraction—they could just focus on the bot lane!
This was simply an ideal match!
However, in the guest seating area, on Team Knight's side, Arrow, the team captain, let out a cold laugh:
"Do they think they can relax now?"
"Letting those two return to the marksman-support duo in the bot lane won't be even half a bit easier to deal with than their previous positions —"
Shield's gaze fell on the Blue side's Sivir:
"If Hook is No. 1, then —"
"This marksman..."
"Is she No. 1?"
In his voice, this strongest North American support player carried an incredibly complex mood.
Currently, he didn't feel the slightest bit of resentment over the previous bot lane defeat.
After learning the identities of those two, he was utterly convinced.
He even... felt a bit of joy and pride to be able to battle against two such figures.