"Then there's no need to pick red, right? Wouldn't blue side be better?" Abu raised an eyebrow, clearly hooked by Zhou Hanyang's "little trick."
"On red side, we can lock mid and bot carries first," Zhou Hanyang said, not answering him head‑on but laying things out calmly. "If they grab an enchanter support, we can pick Leona. If they don't, we can go Ivern. But if we first‑pick Ivern, they'll definitely take Caitlyn."
He leaned in, confidence all over his face. "Ivern can drop bushes for Tristana late game, then build Ardent Censer and shield her. As long as we drag it to late, it's a guaranteed win."
Ivern and Caitlyn were already a classic combo: traps layered inside bushes to deny engages and turbo‑stack Caitlyn's passive.
But the same idea worked with Tristana and Ivern too, and in an enchanter‑support meta, it fit like a glove.
Ardent Censer wouldn't fully take over the world until Worlds that year, sure.
But in reality, Riot had already buffed Ardent Censer before the S7 Spring Split playoffs even started, and they didn't touch the item again in later patches for a while.
The reason the "Ardent meta" hadn't exploded yet wasn't the item—it was the junglers and supports lagging behind the curve.
Abu might not be EDG's current head coach, but he'd been coaching for years. He could read between the lines fast. He took a sip of water, eyes sharpening a little. "Then what are you planning to pick for your counter?"
"Kalista," Zhou Hanyang finally dropped the real bomb.
PS: Don't flame me yet.
PS: Kalista was busted in S7—but only at Worlds. Nobody was picking her in the S7 Spring Split. Before the Worlds patch, nobody really understood how strong Ardent Censer was. LCK was busy experimenting with Ashe support in scrims, Europe and NA were playing around with Ezreal jungle… and LPL was busy getting stomped by full‑power IG. The reason EDG locked Lucian three times at Worlds? They'd been absolutely smacked by IG's Lucian in scrims.
"Pff—"
Abu spat his water out on the spot.
Everyone else just stared at Zhou Hanyang like they were watching a madman.
Their foreheads might as well have been wallpapered with question marks.
They all had the same thought:
This guy has to be out of his mind.
This wasn't the LPL of later years where random ADCs went top every other patch. The meta right now in top lane was still "two giant tanks pulling each other's hair out."
First there was the old Pantheon, the true father of every AD carry. Then came the three top‑lane overlords: Poppy, Maokai, and Nautilus. In this patch, none of them were scared of an AD carry up top.
"If they pick Fizz, we run this strat," Zhou Hanyang continued before Abu could even object. "If they go for a big tank top, I can take Jax, Gnar, Jayce, Fiora, even Gangplank."
In the current patch, Fizz had gotten buffed.
But he wasn't really a mid laner anymore—he was much better at bullying big tanks in the top lane, kind of like how top‑lane Ekko had been used before.
"How confident are you?" Abu asked after a moment, realizing Zhou Hanyang wasn't trolling and his logic actually held together. "Their top laner's pretty strong too."
"Letme, right… I know." Zhou Hanyang's smile turned gentle in a very not‑gentle way, his dark eyes lighting up, his whole face full of confidence. "I'll kill him like I'm slaughtering a pig."
You little punk, who are you throwing shade at?
Clearlove shot him a death glare.
Abu blinked, then turned to Clearlove and asked seriously, "You're sure you want to do this top–jungle setup? We've never actually run that before."
"Let's try it. Might catch them off guard," Clearlove said, spreading his hands. "Besides, on Korean solo queue, we just stomp people with it."
"Alright," Abu nodded. "Then we'll go for it."
Meiko's scalp tingled, like something was trying to grow out of his head.
"?" ADC Zet was just as confused.
What the ssi‑bal is even happening right now?
Scout, on the other hand, had a faint smile.
Compared to Ailoroli, he clearly preferred having Clearlove in jungle.
Ailoroli had way too many of his own ideas, while Clearlove was just better at funneling resources into his carries.
With Clearlove on the map, Scout could play a lot more comfortably.
Yeah, he and Clearlove butted heads plenty. But no matter how things played out, the end result of Clearlove's pathing was always the same: his carries came out ahead—it was just the process that looked different each time.
Nofe had been about to say something, but Abu dragged him outside mid‑sentence, leaving him completely confused.
When they came back, Nofe looked at Zhou Hanyang with a completely different expression—serious, almost wary.
This "god of the water dispenser" who'd spent the entire Spring Split glued to the bench had actually been lying in wait… and today, he'd finally put a big, risky card on the table.
And EDG, backed up to the edge of the cliff by RNG, had no choice but to grit their teeth and jump into the chaos with him.
Otherwise, they were going straight over the edge.
Ailoroli's face looked like he'd just eaten something rotten. He was furious; in his mind, this had clearly been a mid‑lane issue—so why was he the one getting benched?
Light, the original top laner, was even more miserable.
This game was obviously going to be decided by mid and jungle, so why was he the one turned into a substitute?
Losing while lying down.
What kind of cursed luck was that?
After a short discussion, everyone headed to the stage and took their seats at the player desks.
Since this was Zhou Hanyang's debut as a substitute, there was no fancy intro or spotlight for him.
He just went straight to the setup, plugging in his peripherals and adjusting his settings in silence.
As he was getting ready, one of the casters' voices boomed across the arena:
"Quick update for everyone—EDG has chosen red side this game, and they've also changed up their top–jungle duo. Coming in at jungle will be Clearlove7, and starting at top lane will be Attack!"
A roar of cheers went up from the crowd.
"Clearlove! Clearlove! Clearlove!"
The entire stadium was chanting his name.
In the official stream chat, the barrage of comments was endless.
"7777777!!!"
"Pig–Dog War, how can you have the dog but no pig?"
"The pig's finally here. Now it's gonna get fun."
"If Clearlove had started earlier, he'd have sent the royal dogs home 3–0."
"???????"
"66666666!"
Everyone's attention was locked onto Clearlove.
As for Zhou Hanyang, the rookie? He might as well have been invisible.
"I really wanna see if Clearlove can turn this around for EDG," Miller said with a laugh. "He's given us a lot of unforgettable games."
"Exactly. Clearlove's jungle pathing and setups always feel fresh and creative," the other commentator agreed.
"Alright! We're heading into draft—both sides entering pick/ban!" the commentator continued, curiosity clear in his tone. "EDG chose red side on purpose here. Let's see what they've got cooked up. Hopefully they can force a game five so we can all enjoy this series a bit longer. First ban phase is done for both teams. RNG on blue bans LeBlanc, Gragas, and Jarvan IV—definitely targeting Clearlove! EDG bans Ashe, Elise, and Rengar."
"Think RNG goes for Fizz again?" the commentator wondered aloud. "The drafts aren't that different from last game. RNG could just run it back."
"I think they can. No problem," the other caster replied—and right as he finished, RNG insta‑locked Fizz. "Haha, there it is."
"They won with it last game. It wouldn't make sense to leave it open and give it to EDG," Miller said, shaking his head. "Now we see what EDG's rookie top laner has in store."
Seeing RNG snap up Fizz again, Zhou Hanyang shook his head slightly.
RNG's coach right now was the legendary Brother Feng.
The same guy who let Galio through five times at Worlds that year.
The same genius who locked in Brand at S5 Worlds and got turned into a walking meme.
And that coach was still considered one of the top minds in the LPL.
Which really told you everything you needed to know about the overall level of coaching in the league.
Zhou Hanyang, who had come back from the S14 World Championship, was playing with game knowledge that might as well have been from another dimension compared to the current pro scene.
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