"Mm, TES's approach this game isn't very different from the last one… it's still a scaling-oriented composition. They probably think this style isn't a problem," Guan Zeyuan said after thinking for a moment, carefully choosing his words.
As for who actually had the problem, it went without saying.
From the god's-eye view, Knight's performance in the first two games really had been outrageous—borderline unbelievable.
Otherwise, the livestream wouldn't be filled with so many comments screaming to get Rise of Kingdoms Bro on stage. Even if that guy never trained and messed around all day, he still looked far more stable and reliable than Knight.
Now that it was game three, both sides played much more cautiously. Everyone took up positions around the map to avoid getting caught by a sudden ambush, focusing mainly on defense.
As for the bot lane duos, neither side chose to help their jungler start. Instead, they went to lane early to start pushing the wave.
The main reason was that Zeri was much weaker than Jinx at level one. Once JDG's bot lane hit level two first, they could continuously apply pressure.
TES also didn't want JackeyLove to be forced under pressure, so their bot lane duo went to lane early as well.
The level-one clash was still very fierce.
"Nope, we still can't outpush Jinx. Back off, back off."
"Okay."
But due to champion differences, TES's bot lane still couldn't secure lane priority and had no choice but to retreat and give up the wave.
That was all for bot lane—just a light touch and disengage.
"Don't play so aggressively… Xin Zhao started red, he should be around Raptors now," Tian said as he pinged the minimap, reminding Lin Fan to be careful.
He really hadn't expected Viktor to trade so aggressively at level one.
"Mm."
Men are like that—agreeing verbally is one thing, but when it's time to act, you still act. Otherwise, if things are heating up and someone suddenly says "stop," can you really stop? Wouldn't that make you Liu Xiahui?
What's more, a level-one Viktor with Aery who doesn't even dare to trade and pressure LeBlanc's HP—then what's the point of playing at all?
Yagao understood exactly what the opponent was trying to do.
If his HP got pushed too low, he wouldn't be able to exert pressure in lane.
And to be fair, TES really did pull it off.
Under pressure, he even missed two minions in a single wave.
You could only say that Lin Fan's Viktor proficiency was far higher than Knight's. The lane pressure he exerted was massive.
There really was a difference in how the same champion was used.
Who would've thought TES was still hiding a dragon like this?
On top of that, LeBlanc couldn't trigger her sigil at level one, so her damage was pitiful.
The forced trades were mainly because Kanavi had finished Raptors and wanted to come mid to see if there was an opening.
But Lin Fan had already guessed it from the start.
Xin Zhao plus LeBlanc—if they didn't come mid at level two, that would be an insult to the Viktor pick.
At 1:20, he dropped a trinket ward at the Raptors entrance.
If Xin Zhao had any ideas about him, he'd have to come out through that choke point, and Lin Fan would get the information immediately.
When the seventh minion arrived and he hit level two, he slowly backed toward his turret.
—
At this point, continuing to pressure LeBlanc aggressively would've been unreasonable.
She could now trigger her sigil and proc Electrocute, dealing far more damage than Viktor.
And Xin Zhao had already shown on vision.
Lin Fan pinged the minimap to alert his teammates that Xin Zhao was mid.
Upon receiving the information, Zoom immediately began pressuring Sion in the top lane.
After all, Gnar had range. If you were just going to farm peacefully against Sion, you might as well not pick the champion.
After clearing Krugs, Tian headed straight toward bot lane.
This wave was pushing forward. JDG's bot lane duo had already crossed the river midpoint. Tian's position was good, and most importantly, Xin Zhao had shown mid.
The only downside was that Hecarim had taken W at level two, so he couldn't kick someone back with E. Still, the red buff slow made up for part of it.
There was a real chance to kill someone if he wrapped around from behind.
"Fan-ge, don't mess up mid. I'm going bot, I'm going bot."
"Mm."
—
Caster desk.
"Xin Zhao wants to go for a level-two mid gank—an ultimate package—but blue side vision spots him immediately."
"He's acting it out. Rise of Kingdoms Bro really isn't scared at all, standing there half-baiting, half-withdrawing."
"Wow, Kanavi is wasting so much time here."
Lin Fan's acting was just too convincing.
Advancing and retreating, dangling the carrot in front of Kanavi—giving him a taste, but never the full bite.
The poor Kanavi was being toyed with right in the palm of Lin Fan's hand, completely unaware.
He'd already invested so much time that leaving now felt like a waste.
"Is there a ward here?"
"Probably not. He never leaned toward the top side during lane, so he shouldn't have had time to ward. Maybe he's just afraid of getting chunked once I hit level two."
Hearing this, Kanavi stayed in the brush, continuing to wait for an opportunity.
—
Down in bot lane, once Nautilus hit level two, he threw a hook straight at Leona.
Level two versus level one—any trade is an advantage.
Hope also laid a line of traps behind Leona.
If the opponent panicked, they'd eat a full combo and definitely get something out of it.
"He's coming up!"
"All in, all in, all in—kill Nautilus! Jinx has Cleanse!" JackeyLove shouted.
Tian didn't hesitate. He popped Ghost and charged in from the side.
"Run, run, run!"
"Hecarim's bot!"
Even though JDG's bot lane had already hit level two while TES was still level one, the problem was that all their skills had been used.
Now, aside from auto-attacks, they had no real fighting power.
Hecarim joining the fight instantly changed the bot lane situation.
On top of that, Nautilus had been the one to engage first. At this point, escaping was nearly impossible.
Hope's only option was to run.
Otherwise, once TES got the kill, leveled up to two, and then forced a flash engage, things would get extremely troublesome.
And with Ghost still active on Hecarim, this position was far too far from the bot turret. Once stuck, even flashing wouldn't save him.
Hope could only mutter "good brother" in his heart and turn tail to run.
Missing didn't struggle much either.
With Hecarim's Ghost active and red buff on him, even flashing wouldn't save him. It was better to keep Flash for the next play with the jungler.
With such clean coordination, the kill was successfully handed over to JackeyLove.
First Blood.
The first kill of the game broke out at two and a half minutes.
Seeing bot lane get ganked by Hecarim, Kanavi immediately realized he'd been spotted by vision.
Angrily, he stepped out of the brush and used W, trying to poke Viktor.
But Lin Fan had maintained a safe position the whole time. With a slight sidestep, he dodged Xin Zhao's Wind Becomes Lightning and answered back with an E.
"Rise of Kingdoms Bro's Viktor… isn't this way too slick?"
"Kanavi looks completely dizzy—wasting all that time mid, only to get toyed with in the end."
"But even a dog knows—if you can't get the camp, you should just give it up."
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup