Sun Ruinian closed his eyes for a brief moment and then shook his head. Janna is dead. No point in trying to help her. That’ll just get me killed as well. He glanced up at the river entrance and saw Rengar running into the bot lane. His Jinx was too far into the lane, and Janna was even more out of position and stunned. Sorry, friend. This is all I can do. He pressed down on the E key to activate Flame Chompers! Jinx threw down three grenades to block Rengar from running straight at Janna! She then turned around and ran towards her outer tower.

An Xin’s Rengar stopped chasing Janna and instead went after Jinx! She knew that she wouldn’t catch up. Jinx had too much of a head start for that. But it allowed Rengar to enter the brush along the bottom side of the bot lane. While in a brush, his passive skill Unseen Predator became active. It applied a leap effect to his auto attacks, increasing their range!

Sun Ruinian grimaced and said over the team’s voice chat, “Don’t Flash. Rengar is in the brush.”

“Yeah… Sorry,” Zhejiang’s Support replied. He looked at his monitor. A bola came flying from the brush Rengar was hiding in and slowed his Janna right after the stun from Condemn wore off. Not like I’m gonna run away anyway… Maybe I can get the Leona to take the kill… He had his Janna run at the Leona, carving a path through the minions, and stuck close to Leona in the hopes she would make the mistake of auto attacking him.

Tang Bingyao’s Vayne auto attacked Janna. Each silver bolt applied a stack to Janna, and every third stack caused all three stacks to explode! The true damage ripped through Janna’s health bar. Rengar and Leona were nearby, making sure she couldn’t escape. And finally Tang Bingyao’s Vayne landed the killing blow!

《You have slain an enemy!》

An Xin giggled and said over Team Shanghai’s voice chat, “That was a nice engage, Zeng Rui!” She then turned to look at Tang Bingyao and winked before adding, “And a great follow up from you!”

Zeng Rui glanced at An Xin and raised an eyebrow. This wasn’t anything special. Typical gank. You pressured Jinx away and I got the stun on Janna. This isn’t worth a single compliment! He then turned his head to look at Lin Feng and narrowed his eyes. Want to see real skills that are worth compliments? Just wait! I’ll show you them!

“Mhm! Thanks!” Tang Bingyao replied to An Xin, smiling.

✹

Shi Hang’s mouse hand felt clammy and cold chills ran up and down his spine. How is his LeBlanc so much better than his Fizz? What is this!? He clicked around the mid lane, focusing so much on his positioning that he barely registered the caster minion in the back dying to a minion. He blinked. Shit! He’s too good! We’re only five minutes in and al—

Shi Hang distracted himself with his thoughts. He made a small positional error, giving Lin Feng an angle for the engage. Lin Feng’s fingers were already pressing down on the buttons of his keyboard. His LeBlanc jumped on top of Shi Hang’s Orianna with Distortion! Magical damage splashed out around LeBlanc as she followed up with Sigil of Malice! She projected a sigil that dealt damage and marked Orianna! And finally she cast Ethereal Chains.

FlashFLASH! Shi Hang’s eyes went wide, his fingers moving purely on instinct. A flash of light wrapped around his Orianna and carried her a short distance away before dropping her back onto the Rift. Right behind her, the Ethereal Chains shot past. Shit! That was close… If they’d hit… Shit, I’d be dead!

“WOOOOOO! SICK FLASH!”

“That’s a pro player for you right there! He actually has the reaction speed to dodge a point blank LeBlanc E!”

“How does that even work!? Did he recognize the animation? Or was it more like expecting it was coming? I just… Fuck! I wish I was that good!”

“Haha, yeah! He’s a god! AyDeeCee won’t die to such an obvious LB trick!”

“AyDeeCee take my energy!”

Shi Hang had his Orianna retreat towards her outer tower and waited for Lin Feng’s LeBlanc to reactivate Distortion. He held his breath. His eyes were pried open wide. Sweat dripped down his forehead. And then he let go. LeBlanc jumped back to her original position with the second cast of Distortion. Thank god. Shi Hang had his Orianna move forward again, searching for the maximum range at which he could last hit minions without getting jumped on by LeBlanc. He then shook his head and chuckled, incredulous. What the hell got into him? His LeBlanc is insane! If he’d hit those chains… Shit! I need to pay more attention! I can’t let him get fed on LeBlanc! He gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes. I need to play better.

Across the stage in Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth, Lin Feng sat in his gaming chair. His back was straight, his hands were moving as if by themselves, and his eyes were locked on the monitor in front of him. There were no distracting thoughts or voices. All he saw was what LeBlanc saw on the Rift. He was her. The delay between player and Champion disappeared. Struggles with his focus dissipated. Every move he made was just right. His LeBlanc, he was flawless.

✹

The Toplaners spent the first couple minutes of the game fighting on their island in the top lane. Zhejiang’s Irelia was the stronger dueler, but Zhang Hao’s Dr. Mundo didn’t let her duel him. He sat within his outer tower’s range and threw Infected Cleavers at her. She didn’t have ranged skills to counter this tactic. Slowly but surely, her health dropped. It all came to a head in the sixth minute. Zhang Hao judged he had enough damage, so he left his tower’s range and chased after Irelia! She turned around and ran away after coming to the same conclusion.

Zhejiang’s Irelia ran through the top lane, dodging and weaving the Infected Cleavers that were hurled after her. But they applied a slow on hit. And after she got hit the first time, it became practically impossible to dodge the next. She was slowed and attacked. Her health dropped. Suddenly, a Flash of light wrapped her up and carried her a short distance forward!

Zhang Hao narrowed his eyes and activated his own Flash! Dr. Mundo appeared right on top of the Irelia again! But in doing so, he also arrived within range of Red team’s outer tower. Two more hits. That’s all I need! I’ve got enough health for this! COME ON! He charged forward! Q! Dr. Mundo hurled another Infected Cleaver at Irelia!

Zhejiang’s Toplaner grinned. This is my tower! Idiot! He had his Irelia dash at Zhang Hao’s Dr. Mundo with Bladesurge and then activated Equilibrium Strike! Irelia raised her blades high above her head and hacked down onto Dr. Mundo! It dealt a ton of damage, and more importantly stunned him! Eat that! He grinned brighter when the first energy shot fired from the outer tower and slammed into Dr. Mundo! Stupid cleaver throwing son of a bitch!

Irelia was right on top of Zhang Hao’s Dr. Mundo, trying to kill him before the stun wore off. But Dr. Mundo was a Champion with a vast pool of health. The stun broke and he still had a good bit of health remaining. Zhang Hao’s Dr. Mundo struck out with an auto attack and then threw a final Infected Cleaver! Shit! I gotta get outta he—

《You have slain an enemy!》

《You have been slain!》

“Ay, hot damn! So close!” Zhang Hao complained to himself, annoyed. But then he started grinning. But I got the kill! Fuck yeah! Shitty B grade player! Get your ass kicked by my awesome C+++ skills! I’ll just keep throwing cleavers at you! See how you’re gonna like this game!

✹

“Time to come mid for a gank, Mao,” Shi Hang ordered over Zhejiang University’s voice chat. He glanced at the game clock. Almost 7 minutes in. We’re both Level 6. If LeBlanc jumps on me, she has the damage to kill me. Maple knows. Of course he does! So he’s going to jump on me and try to kill me. Shi Hang smiled and looked at his minimap, where he saw Maokai making his way to the brush right above the mid lane. That’s why we need to be ready for it. He’ll go in and then we’re gonna turn it around! All we need is to lock him down before he gets his full combo off on me!

The Blue and Red minion waves were fighting in the middle of the lane. Shi Hang’s Orianna walked up to last hit a melee minion. This was the exact move Lin Feng had been waiting for. He narrowed his eyes and moved his mouse over her. He then pressed down on the W key followed right away by the R key! LeBlanc distorted time and space to jump forward, landing in the middle of the minion wave! She then Mimicked Distortion for another large jump and landed on top of Orianna! Massive splash damage ruptured Orianna’s health!

“LeBlanc is going in! SHE’S GOING IN FOR THE KILL!” Silent Reed cried out into her microphone. She leaned forward and shouted, “BUT IT’S A BAIT FROM SHI HANG! A BAIT! LOOK AT MAOKAI!” She briefly paused to catch her breath before adding, “AND RENGAR! RENGAR IS ALSO INCOMING!”

Shi Hang had expected the engage by Lin Feng’s LeBlanc. He cast Command: Protect on himself right away! Orianna’s Ball flew back to her side and formed a protective shield around her! She followed up with her ultimate skill! Command: Shockwave! A powerful electromagnetic storm started raging around her Ball! It swept out and pulled everything within the immediate vicinity towards her! All the while, Zhejiang’s Maokai had run into the mid lane and cast Twisting Advance! He contorted into a mass of moving roots and dashed at LeBlanc!

Lin Feng smiled. I win. He cast Ignite on Orianna before activating the second half of Distortion. LeBlanc blinked away, back to the spot from which she’d cast the original skill. The electromagnetic storm from Orianna’s ultimate missed her entirely, while Maokai kept flying after her all the way towards Blue Team’s outer tower.

Shit! Shi Hang’s eye twitched. The gank was a failure. He looked at his Orianna. Her health bar was down below half and the unquenchable flames from Ignite were whittling that down further. I can’t cha— The eyes of a predator opened above his Orianna’s head. Rengar!? RENGAR!

An Xin’s Rengar had turned invisible with Thrill of the Hunt! His ferocity stacks built up to the max, empowering his next skill! When he got close to Orianna, he activated Savagery and leapt out from the shadows at her! He followed up by throwing a Bola and then hacking into Orianna with an empowered Savagery! She was slowed and her health bar dropped, while Rengar’s attack speed increased! He attacked her with his blade and finished with a loud Battle Roar! A soundwave slammed into Orianna and killed her!

《You have slain an enemy!》

“A KILL! RENGAR DID IT!” Silent Reed screamed into her microphone. She turned to look at the audience and screamed, “WOOOOOOOOOOO!”

“WOOOOOOOOOOO!”

“WOOT WOOT! BUNBUN RULES!”

“SWEET MOTHER! THAT RENGAR DAMAGE!”

“SICK PLAY! JEEEEEEEE!”

“Holy sweet damn! INSAAAAAANE!”

“RENGAL DOIN’ IT! LOOOOOOOOL!”

“THEY SMACKIN’ THE PRO! FUCKING UNREAL!”

Rollfire stared at the large LCD screen with his eyes and mouth wide open, dazed. How…? That… What? That speed! He shook his head and used his hand to close his mouth. What the hell happened with Team Shanghai’s Jungler? Since when is she that good? She linked that perfectly! It’s like she read that LeBlanc’s mind for a gank! And now they’ve got the Maokai completely out of position too… FUCK! FUCKFUCK FUCK FUCK!

Lin Feng’s LeBlanc was hit by Maokai’s Twisting Advance. She was locked down for a brief moment as Maokai returned back to his original form. And then she broke free. Lin Feng smiled, activating both Sigil of Malice and Ethereal Chains! His LeBlanc waved her staff and placed the sigil on Maokai, after which a set of chains shot out from her and wrapped around him! They set off the sigil for a burst of damage and slowed him!

Zhejiang’s Maokai tried to run away, but couldn’t open up enough distance before the secondary effect from Ethereal Chains activated. The chains had wrapped completely around him and locked him to the ground! LeBlanc cast magic at him from behind. And right in front of him, standing between him and Red Team’s outer tower, was An Xin’s Rengar!

Lin Feng’s LeBlanc and An Xin’s Rengar tore through Maokai’s health! He didn’t have Flash up and no other abilities off cooldown that could help him escape. Even with his large health pool, there was nothing he could do. It was eventually Lin Feng’s LeBlanc who landed the killing blow with a Sigil of Malice.

《You have slain an enemy!》

“That’s the lead!” Lin Feng said over the team’s voice chat, satisfied. He then nodded at An Xin and added, “Great Rengar mechanics! Good job!”

An Xin smiled and replied, “Like I need you to tell me. My Rengar has always been great!”

Lin Feng scratched his nose and glanced at An Xin. Then he chuckled. Maybe she was just not in the right headspace the last two games. This is the BunBun I know! She’s back! This is great! He looked back at his monitor, and more specifically at the minimap. “We should take Dragon,” he said over the team’s voice chat.

“Alright, we’ll push bot and come,” Zeng Rui replied.

An Xin giggled and concluded, “Great! This Dragon is ours then!”

✹

The players from Zhejiang University were visibly upset. The third game of this best of five series had started terribly with an early kill for An Xin’s Rengar. And from there, she went on to get an assist in the bot lane and now a kill plus an assist in the mid lane! The game wasn’t even 8 minutes in and she was already sitting on a KDA of 2/0/2!

Zhejiang’s Jungler punched his desk and complained over the team’s voice chat, “When did their Jungler learn to jungle!? She was terrible in the first two games? What the hell happened to her!?”

“I don’t know. We need to focus,” Sun Ruinian replied. He then glanced at Shi Hang and frowned. She even got the jump on him? How…?

Shi Hang was staring at his monitor. At the dull grey colours. Their coordination has really improved… No, no. It’s not that. It’s more that… It’s more that she’s suddenly gotten a lot better! The way she’s playing right now, I was already dead when those eyes popped up! This is actually kind of worrying… He knitted his brows and opened the game scoreboard. She’s 2/0/2. If she gets anymore fed, she’ll snowball the entire game! We’re gonna lose if it goes on like this!

“Alright guys, playtime is over,” Shi Hang said over the team’s voice chat. He continued, “First things first. Pink wards. Buy them, lots of them. We need to know where that Rengar is at all times. Then…” He turned his head to look at his Toplaner. “... I’m coming for a gank together with Maokai. I need you to start shoving top lane. Be ready to towerdive that Mundo.” He finally turned to look at Sun Ruinian and paused. I’ve taught you everything. I know how good you are. And you’re good enough to carry this. I’ll leave the bot lane to you. He smiled and concluded, “Do what you need to do in bot. Don’t let the Vayne scale.”

✹

At 7:40 minutes, Zhejiang’s Irelia finished pushing the top lane. A big Red minion wave had gathered in front of Blue team’s outer tower and was now pushing into its range. She followed behind them and focused her attention on auto attacking the tower, ignoring Dr. Mundo. This threw Zhang Hao completely off. He was so confused that he threw an Infected Cleaver at her, instead of considering the possibility of a gank happening.

Shi Hang’s Orianna and Zhejiang’s Maokai walked into the top lane from the Blue team’s Jungle. They were right behind Zhang Hao’s Dr. Mundo. Maokai locked onto him with Twisting Advance. He contorted to a large root and locked Dr. Mundo down! Shi Hang had his Orianna’s Ball travel with Maokai and activated her ultimate, Command: Shockwave, to displace Dr. Mundo!

The damage quickly piled up. Zhang Hao tried to ward off the gank, tried to get at least a kill back, but he was Dr. Mundo. He didn’t deal very much damage, and he hadn’t bought nearly enough defensive items to tank the assault from three enemy Champions.

Shi Hang had his Orianna’s Ball attack Dr. Mundo, while ordering over the team’s voice chat, “Back away, Mao. We’ve got this.”

Zhejiang University’s Maokai ran towards the edge of the outer tower’s range right as another energy shot hit him. The damage was negligible to his large health pool. He then waited for a brief moment, glancing back to see Shi Hang’s Orianna and the Irelia destroying Dr. Mundo’s health bar, before running out of the tower’s range. “Good gank, guys!” he said over the team’s voice chat.

《An ally has slain a Champion!》

“Push the tower,” Shi Hang ordered, smiling. Good! We’re winning top from here on out! He looked at his minimap and nodded, satisfied. Sun Ruinian will take care of the bot lane as well! He panned his camera over the mid lane, and paused. He gritted his teeth and felt his stomach twist into a knot. That just leaves the mess in mid. What the fuck did I think not banning LeBlanc? I know he’s a monster on her! It’s fucking unfair that someone can be that good on a Champion! Riot should ban him from playing her! He shook his head. I should’ve seen it coming. And now I’ll have to find a way around it. We’re gonna play around her. Make her irrelevant, just like the wards will make Rengar useless! Yeah, that’s it. We just gotta stay the hell away from his LeBlanc! And the Rengar...