After winning the teamfight, PNG smoothly secured the dragon as well.
This teamfight completely clarified the situation in one go!
Chao Mi tried to rein in his excitement and looked at the stats. The game time is now 18:25. PNG and TL’s gold stands at 34.9k to 30.8k, a gap of nearly 4,000 already!
“This is absolutely bad news for TL. Once the game drags into the late stage and turns into full-on teamfights, TL has no compositional advantage. The two sides are evenly matched in strength—it will come down purely to items and execution.”
Qing Ci nodded. “That’s right. For the first ten-plus minutes, the gold between the two teams never really separated, so the mid-game direction was uncertain. Even before this fight broke out, it would’ve been hard for us commentators—let alone the audience—to predict who would win the dragon fight.”
“In the end, it was Wind’s play that decided everything. That was crucial. He dodged JW’s most important Q hook purely with movement. If that hook had landed, TL would definitely have been able to focus him down and kill Wind.”
“To be fair, JW already did everything he could. He timed the hook perfectly, but Wind’s concentration and reaction speed were just too insane. After watching it, I can’t help but wonder—did Wind already know JW was going to hook him? Was he waiting for it the whole time?!”
[TL should’ve kept targeting PNG’s mid. I really don’t get why they never treated Wind as a priority.]
[They already banned five mages—still not enough? How much more targeting do you want? Should Owld just give up jungling and stand mid from level one as a bodyguard?]
[Honestly, Amor not having an advantage against Wind is the truly shocking part, isn’t it?]
[What does this have to do with Amor? Wasn’t it Owld’s fault for getting caught earlier? Cloud can play like a dog for mid—why can’t you, Owld?]
[Give it a rest. Look at the relationship between Wind and Cloud. Look at Amor and Owld. They’re not the same.]
[What are you talking about? Once you’re on stage, you’re teammates—what else could you be?!]
In the barrage, TL fans themselves seemed to be starting internal arguments. Some discordant voices also appeared in Meng Xiyue’s livestream.
……Why does it feel like fans of every team’s mid–jungle duo end up fighting each other? Meng Xiyue rubbed his forehead.
He’d experienced similar things before with his own jungler, Pei Xingyi. After one match, while the team was still reviewing internally, the internet had already declared them “broken up.” HTG, Star.L, and FR’s mid–jungle duos were all frequently rumored to be “on bad terms” too.
But fans of Sui Ning and Ji Yunyu… seemed to have never had this problem?
Meng Xiyue thought about it carefully. Across all kinds of public platforms, he really couldn’t recall seeing Cloud and Wind’s fans fighting. It was unbelievably harmonious.
Could it be that the secret to peace among mid–jungle fans is… becoming a CP?
Meng Xiyue’s thoughts drifted far, but out loud he casually steered the topic elsewhere. “Actually, Cloud’s early-game playstyle was very risky. He didn’t even clear his entire blue-side jungle and went straight to helping mid. That not only put him behind Owld in gold and experience early, but also meant PNG’s blue side was later controlled by TL—every time it respawned, someone came to invade.”
As he spoke, he glanced at the chat out of the corner of his eye. “Cloud isn’t behind in gold? My friend, Ji Yunyu, literally didn’t farm his jungle. Where do you think his gold came from?”
“Of course, Wind gave it to him.” Meng Xiyue couldn’t help laughing. “That’s why I say this style is very all-in. It’s not a simple case of one person sacrificing so the other can get fed—they’re trying to have both. Which means their follow-up ganks cannot fail.”
“Like that gank top lane. If it hadn’t worked, PNG’s mid–jungle would’ve been unplayable. Wind desperately needed the kills from that skirmish to make up experience. Gold mattered less—the key was experience. Mavis desperately needs her level 6 ultimate.”
Meng Xiyue paused, then added, “It’s not that Owld or Cheng Wensheng played badly. The main issue is that Wind is extremely good at avoiding fights and shifting the battlefield, giving TL no real chance to suppress him.”
“Same with the dragon fight. He was especially calm. Mavis can regenerate energy inside W Smoke Bomb. Normally, after the first combo, you’d already throw W. But Wind kept holding it—he was waiting specifically for JW to use Q.”
[Feels so good—this is why Special-Grade Feng-bao’s chef stream is always such a pleasant listen.]
[This is praise too? This is praise? This is praise? Keep praising and Wind’s going to be deified.]
[Normal. Yue’s filter is at least a thousand meters thick.]
“This isn’t a filter,” Meng Xiyue said helplessly.
Everything he said was the truth. He wasn’t deliberately hyping Sui Ning up. He’d been trying to reverse-engineer Sui Ning’s decision-making process for one simple reason—putting himself in the same situation, he would’ve made similar plays.
Sometimes, Sui Ning’s ideas even made him think, That’s eye-opening.
Unfortunately, after explaining all this, most viewers still didn’t quite get it. Meng Xiyue sighed softly. “...A bunch of little idiots.”
[?????]
[Wait—hold on???]
[Th-this… you’re not talking about me, are you? (blush)]
[Here, the little idiot is here. I’m the little idiot ^^]
While the fans and other streamers were chatting excitedly, the two commentators on the main stage weren’t about to be outdone.
Qing Ci thought back over Sui Ning’s past performances and felt a jolt of realization. “Come to think of it, doesn’t Wind perform better the more critical the moment is? All his iconic plays seem to come from situations hanging by a thread.”
Chao Mi was already fired up watching Wind’s mechanics. Hearing his partner praise him only fueled his enthusiasm.
Rubbing his hands together, Chao Mi said happily, “Personally, I think Wind is the definition of a big-heart player. The closer he gets to the limit, the more he dares to show off—charging straight into difficulty, not afraid of taking the blame. Maybe it’s exactly this kind of player who’s most capable of producing miraculous plays in desperate situations.”
Qing Ci laughed. “Makes sense. If I were a coach, I’d absolutely love Wind.”
As soon as he said that, the director slyly split the screen during the dragon-fight replay to show the camera in PNG’s backstage lounge—perfectly framed on Chen Chen, surrounded by the entire coaching staff.
The team lounge had a big TV broadcasting the match. On the screen, a slow-motion replay was playing of Sui Ning’s ninja combo—second E into R-A-Q-A-R, an aerial backstab kill.
Chen Chen was holding a cup of water halfway to his mouth, neither drinking nor lowering it. His expression was utterly enraptured, the corners of his lips curling high as he stared at Mavis on the screen the way one might look at a plump, dewy, crisp napa cabbage grown in one’s own backyard.
At the same time, the director also put Barbecue’s face up on the main stage’s giant screen.
Barbecue was watching the same kill, wearing a tooth-aching grimace straight out of the “old man on the subway staring at a phone” meme—his features all scrunched together as he muttered things like, “What the hell is this supposed to be?”
“Pfft—hahahaha—!” The commentators couldn’t hold it in anymore. “O-our two head coaches… look extremely invested!”
[Hahahahaha holy crap, Barbecue’s expression!]
[[[Barbecue watching the screen.jpg] Brothers, you’re too fast—this is already a meme, lmao!]
[Barbecue: Battle of Glory designers!! Is this your idea of a perfectly balanced assassin, Mavis?! (roars)]
[Designer: Message received! (starts editing code)]
[Help, this reminds me of when the designers stayed up all night changing tens of thousands of lines of code to nerf Fan’en…]
[I’m dying—designer, stop!! Little Mavis says I’m unjustly wronged, my pick rate isn’t even 10%, what the hell did I ever do?!]
[Looking at it this way, Wind really seems to like playing unpopular heroes… umm, just forcibly cashing in on patch advantages? (sweat)]
[Where does the logic in those two sentences even come from? Also, hot fact: last game’s Phantom Trickster had nearly a 70% BP rate in summer—so that’s “unpopular” too now?]
[Fake popular hero: Phantom Trickster at 70% BP. True popular hero: Stellar Sprite—PNG’s last ten games, 100% BP, 0% pick, 100% ban. Popular heroes are terrifying.]
[Anything under 99% counts as niche! Since we’re all talking nonsense anyway—TL’s barely even a powerhouse anymore. What’s wrong with me calling 70% BP a niche hero? (grin)]
[TL is finished—!! Let’s see how many “powerhouses” HPL has left after the regular season. (crooked smile)]
In front of the screen, PNG fans were grinning ear to ear, each smile wider than the last, relying on their last shred of reason to keep their comments from getting too arrogant. After all, even a 10k gold lead getting thrown wasn’t unheard of—and right now it was “only” 4.5k… heh, hehe, hahaha…
They were holding back laughter, their whole bodies shaking like sieves.
There was no helping it… this was Tayloo!
Not CaiBi, not Yunan—this was Tayloo, two-time domestic champions! To be honest, even though PNG fans had talked tough when trading blows with haters before the match, deep down, they weren’t confident either.
PNG’s winning streak had come too fast. When outsiders sneered that they could only beat bottom-tier teams, even the fans themselves had wavered.
How could PNG possibly go head-to-head with TL…?
Because of that mindset, expectations before the match were actually very low. Getting 2–0’d was fine—as long as it wasn’t a perfect game, that already counted as success.
When they took the lead in game one, fans were satisfied. Win or lose didn’t matter—we’d already shown our spirit!
At 1–0, fans practically rubbed their eyes raw, unable to believe what they were seeing. Was this real? We took a game off TL?!
And now… a lead in game two—
“PNG is insane—!!!” the crowd roared at the venue. “IN-SAAAANE—!!!”
“PNG—let’s go—!!”
“Two to zero—!!”
——
At 20 minutes, Baron spawned right on schedule. PNG and TL danced around the pit, fighting over vision and constantly skirmishing, but it always stopped at poking each other low—neither side dared to chase low-health targets recklessly.
At this point, both teams were like peerless masters testing each other before a real duel. As the shotcallers, Sui Ning and Jian Wang both knew their teams weren’t ready for a straight-up Baron fight yet. They needed to wait.
Sure enough, after less than a minute of circling the pit and dropping some wards, both teams backed off to clear waves and farm the jungle.
The powder-keg atmosphere instantly cooled.
Chao Mi opened his mouth in mild surprise. “Uh… this…”
“This is just the calm before the storm!” Qing Ci said confidently. “Both comps are terrifying in mid to late-game fights, with strong snowball potential. Securing Baron for a push would be incredibly powerful!”
Chao MYi thought for a moment. “That’s true. But these two teams are also fascinating—early game they’re fighting nonstop, rotating and forcing engages like they’re high on adrenaline, yet the moment it comes to Baron fights, they suddenly become ice-cold.”
“Especially PNG. This series of disengages looks nothing like the team we saw earlier. Several times I thought they were about to go in—one more step and it would’ve been TL’s trap! But PNG just… doesn’t take it. They’re smart.”
“You’re right—PNG aren’t just reckless brutes. They’re reckless with finesse,” Qing Ci laughed. “How does that saying go again… ‘A fierce tiger in the heart, yet delicate enough to sniff a rose.’ That fits PNG’s style perfectly.”
……
However, contrary to the commentators’ expectations, nothing happened in the next few minutes aside from supports occasionally dropping a few wards around Baron.
Not until 24:21, when the dragon spawned again, did PNG and TL—almost in perfect unison—make their way toward the dragon pit.
This time, even the commentators were baffled.
After thinking it over, Chao Mi suddenly clenched his fist and slapped it into his palm in realization. “Holy crap—both these teams are greedy old foxes! They’re planning to fight the dragon, winner takes all, then go straight for a double-dragon swing?! That’s insane! And the key is, they actually both committed to the dragon pit—neither side wants to trade objectives with one team taking dragon and the other sneaking Baron?!”
“This is really strange. Logically, if you’re going to force a fight, you do it around Baron—pressure the Baron pit and contest Baron. After all, the team that takes the dragon usually ends up losing out.”
Qing Ci was stunned as well. “PNG and TL are way too in sync—but unfortunately, it’s a murderous kind of in sync! It’s obvious both teams think they can win the teamfight, so they’re both going all in!”
He glanced at the item panels for both sides and swallowed hard. “I think I finally understand what both teams were doing over the last few minutes. PNG’s total gold is at 53.1k right now, nearly 5,000 ahead of TL. Back when the game had just hit 20 minutes, PNG didn’t want to fight because their double carries’ items weren’t there yet!”
“Now they’ve had another four minutes to farm. Wind already has three full items plus magic-pen boots! Mior has two and a half items plus boots!”
After hearing that, fans took a closer look—and their hearts skipped a beat.
[PNG_Wind — Shadow Dancer · Mavis]
[Hextech Rocketbelt]: +100 AP / +250 HP / +15% CDR / Active – Magi-Bolt Dash: Dash in a target direction and release an arc-shaped magic blast dealing magic damage.
[Cinderbloom]: +110 AP / +200 HP / Passive – Critical Ember: Dealing damage to a target increases your magic penetration; the lower the target’s HP, the higher the penetration (up to 45%).
[Everlasting Hourglass]: +70 AP / +45 armor / +10% CDR / Active – Stasis: Become immune to damage and untargetable for 2.5 seconds, but unable to act.
“Wind is on the standard three-item AP assassin Shadow Dancer build—belt, magic penetration, and stopwatch!” Qing Ci explained rapidly. “When Mavis is underfarmed, you can consider a semi-tank plus sustain build for extended fights. But Wind’s build is clearly about finding the right entry timing and going for the cleanup!”
“This build does insane damage, and the magic penetration comes online very early. Every shuriken hitting TL feels like it’s hitting them naked!”
Qing Ci took a deep breath. “And as for that ‘half item’ on Mior—it’s the small armor-pen bow. You already get the most valuable part, the 15% armor penetration and the item passive. Half an item that works like a full one! Which means PNG’s two carries are basically both on three-item power spikes!”
Chao Mi finally put it together, his face lighting up. “That’s why the Baron fight never started earlier! They probably thought fighting Baron back then was too risky and the outcome uncertain! Now that these items are completed, PNG absolutely has the edge in teamfight damage!”
After a pause, Chao Mi realized he sounded a bit biased and added, “But this is definitely not a situation TL wants to see. That 4,000-plus gold deficit is almost exactly the difference of two completed carry items!”
Lee Jae-hee and Cheng Wensheng were both sitting at two and a half items—slightly behind, but still able to fight.
——
At 24:40, both teams were openly eyeing the dragon. Vision was fully set up around the pit and nearby brush, lighting up the entire river like daylight.
“How do we play this?” Wei Ye checked in with his teammates.
[PNG_Wind] signaled On My Way!
Sui Ning pinged the minimap. “We can fight. Our item advantage is huge, and my Golden Body’s is done.”
“No matter who starts the dragon, we just kill people,” he said, quickly assigning roles as he maneuvered Mavis toward the brush near the dragon. “Frontline protect Mior while he outputs. I’ll look for an angle to dive the backline.”
Wei Ye: “Got it.”
Ji Yunyu frowned slightly. “Freeloop has Weakness. That’s a threat to your entry… should I engage first and bait out the Weakness?”
Sui Ning pressed his lips together. “…We’ll see. Don’t force it.”
Teamfights change in an instant. All Sui Ning could do was prepare himself mentally for diving a fully loaded Lee Jae-Hee—and think through how to survive if he got collapsed on and hit by Weakness.
Ji Yunyu raised an eyebrow.
Both sides clearly wanted to fight this time—no pretense, no unnecessary dancing around.
“Top laner Ljbf picked Peerless Swordman this game, which has no engage tools. TL’s engage pressure is all on Amor and JW now!” Qing Ci raised his voice, clearly tense. “To be honest, JW doesn’t have an easy time starting fights here. They might try letting JW throw out a Q hook and hope it lands…”
Jian Wang kept stepping forward, looking for an opening, and quickly became the most forward member of TL—
“Look, look at Hook Guy’s position! Engage? Engage?!”
Cheng Su grew impatient, his words tumbling out like a chant. “I’ll just go in—”
Before anyone could answer, he used a very straightforward [W – Grand Entrance] to knock Jian Wang into the air. By the time Jian Wang was already airborne, his teammates’ voices finally came through the headset.
“Go, go, go—just hit him!”
“Hit the frontline first! Whoever’s close, hit the close target!”
“Watch out for the enemy mage’s ult—eh, fuck—!” Lin Zhaoxu cut himself off as a white circle appeared beneath his feet: the enemy top laner’s ultimate, [R – Peerless Challenge].
Staring down Jiang Hao’s Peerless Swordsman with a dueling sword shoved in his face, Lin Zhaoxu rolled his eyes. He couldn’t even be bothered to cry for help. “—Sword guy has no ult!”
Sui Ning immediately moved over to help.
Lin Zhaoxu was deeply touched and sighed theatrically. “Marksman and support are birds of a feather—when disaster strikes, you rely on the mage!! Feng-bao, my god, I knew you’d come—”
It was like he couldn’t play the game without talking. Once he got going, his back stopped hurting, his legs felt light, his mechanics smoothed out, and he even remembered how to make small backward steps to dodge Jiang Hao’s thrusts.
“…Kill him,” Sui Ning said, holding back the urge to smack him. “He’s really squishy!”
Jiang Hao was thrilled as well, shouting excitedly, “Fight, fight, fight!! I’ll hold off their two carries by myself!!”
Cheng Wensheng worried he was getting overexcited. “Don’t rush, don’t rush—kite back a bit first.”
“I’ll look for an ult angle. Hit whoever’s close, hit what’s in front—Broken King, Broken King—! Hey, over here, check the Shadow of Vengeance!”
Jian Wang, who was holding the front line, quickly assessed the situation. “Can’t reach them! Peel, peel, peel, peel—!”
He’d stepped forward to start the fight and ended up a bit separated from Lee Jae-Hee. Now that he wanted to turn back and help, Cheng Su blocked him off.
That small gap was exactly what gave PNG their opening. Ji Yunyu’s ultimate locked straight onto Lee Jae-Hee.
“Ah—igusi-ba, shake it!” Lee Jae-Hee muttered a curse under his breath in Korean. “Jungle, no ult!”
“This teamfight’s getting a bit messy! …Erllit engages first and catches JW with CC—barely counts as starting the fight!”
The commentator frowned, trying to make sense of the chaos. “Both teams have fighter top laners, so the burden of engaging mostly falls on the supports. TL’s mid, the Astromancer, actually has an extra AoE crowd-control ultimate—but he’s still holding it!”
“JW stays calm. He doesn’t waste his hook on Erllit—after landing, he turns and hooks Myerii instead—”
Qing Ci grimaced. “But honestly, Myerii isn’t that afraid of this hook, and he’s not the biggest threat to Freeloop either. He should’ve hooked Cloud! —Cloud’s flying in with his ult!! Damn, that AQA combo does massive damage!”
Lee Jae-Hee’s HP plummeted. He immediately burned Weakness to keep from getting instantly deleted.
Ji Yunyu flashed a confident, boyish grin.
Commentator: “Cloud got Weakness, but he still has W… raises his hand—fear! Can he fear Freeloop?!”
The fear channel indicator of the Shadow of Vengeance flickered above Lee Jae-Hee’s head.
Those were the eyes of a hunter lurking in the shadows. Once fully lit, it meant eating a max-rank, 2.5-second fear—completely helpless.
“Fear kill me, him!” Lee Jae-Hee blurted out in a panic, grammar forgotten as he machine-gunned his words.
In a flash, a desperate escape plan crossed his mind.
—The Void Ranger’s ultimate lets him blink to the last target hit by his abilities.
Lee Jae-Hee glanced toward Sui Ning and Lin Zhaoxu, clenched his teeth, and in that instant seemed to grasp the meaning of the old saying: only by placing yourself in death can you be reborn.
“I’m going to ult to Wind,” Lee Jae-Hee said calmly in English, while maneuvering the Void Ranger to widen the distance between himself and Ji Yunyu.
The young import took a deep breath and said two words: “Help me.”
Jiang Hao froze. He thought he’d understood—but he really hoped his English had just gotten worse, because otherwise why was he hearing something like “ultimate to Wind”?
Damn it, I’m risking my life to hold off this monster for you, and you’re telling me you’re going to jump straight onto his face?!
Jiang Hao blurted out, “Isn’t that just suicide?”
“OK.”
“OK.”
At the same time, Jian Wang and Cheng Wensheng both agreed with Lee Jae-Hee’s call.
Cheng Wensheng was pleased with the young player—he also thought it was a brilliant move. Jian Wang, as always, trusted Lee Jae-Hee’s decisions.
Lee Jae-Hee’s emotions suddenly settled. Everything in his vision slowed down.
…It has to hit. It has to hit. His lips trembled slightly as he prayed.
With 1.5 seconds left on the 2.5-second fear channel, Lee Jae-Hee threw out his longest-range W. Sui Ning instinctively tried to dodge, but a voice in his headset made him change his mind.
Seeing Lee Jae-Hee’s reaction, Ji Yunyu couldn’t help smiling. “He’s going to fly to you.”
Lin Zhaoxu was confused. “Huh? What the hell?”
“Who?”
The teammates all chimed in, basically asking who he was talking about and telling him to stop speaking in riddles.
Sui Ning instantly understood—and forcibly stayed in place, taking the W head-on.
Lee Jae-Hee’s face lit up with joy.
With the final 0.5 seconds, he pressed his ultimate, [R – Shadow Hunt]. Just as he was about to stick to Sui Ning, Cheng Wensheng immediately locked his [Q – Astromantic Talisman] onto Lee Jae-Hee.
The Astromancer’s ultimate, [R – Gravitational Galaxy], deals magic damage in a designated area and pulls all enemy targets toward the center—a powerful burst and team-control ability.
But if cast directly, its maximum range is extremely short, practically point-blank. Anyone with a brain knows to watch out for it.
Fortunately, the ult’s secondary mechanic recalculates its cast range based on the position of the Q talisman. This is the Astromancer’s most basic—and also most complex—core mechanic: using allies to cast the ultimate from long range.
The moment Lee Jae-Hee said he was ulting to Sui Ning, Cheng Wensheng had already written the rest of the script in his head.
“Freeloop’s in real trouble now—his positioning is awful! Cloud finds the opening and gets right on top of him, a W! Oh no, compared to White Bird, the Void Ranger’s self-peel is much weaker. If Cloud finishes this W channel, Freeloop is dead for sure!”
Qing Ci slapped his thigh hard. “Isn’t TL’s formation kind of messed up here?! There’s literally no one near Freeloop who can help him!!”
“Freeloop—what do you do?!”
Lee Jae-Hee answered the commentators with action.
The Void Ranger’s passive mark appeared on Sui Ning—and in the very next second, Lee Jae-Hee, with his ultimate activated, shot forward like an arrow loosed from the bow, wrapped in thick mist.
“WOOOOOOOOOO—!!! Freeloop!!!”
Qing Ci roared at the top of his lungs. “In the final half-second, he flies out of the Shadow of Vengeance’s skill range—the fear channel is broken!! So decisive, so calm, so instinctive! It’s hard to believe he’s only an 18-year-old rookie!”
Chao Mi’s heart leapt into his throat. “But the danger isn’t over!! From the distances, only Wind is in the perfect position. Of course, Freeloop chose Wind as the target for his ultimate!”
“The problem is, your teammate is risking his life to block the assassin, and now you’re walking straight into the trap—like a lamb into the tiger’s mouth!! Wind’s item build melts squishy targets like butter!!”
15 yards, 10 yards, 5 yards—
Sui Ning lowered his eyes, seemingly anticipating what was about to happen. His fingers hovered over the “1” hotkey on his items.
There rested the [Everlasting Hourglass].
The Astromancer’s ultimate has an incredibly fast pre-cast animation—impossible to dodge on reaction alone. Only a prediction could save him. Sui Ning took a deep breath, his ink-black eyes locked onto the rapidly moving Lee Jae-Hee on the screen.
At the final 2 yards, a platinum-colored glint seemed to flash past Lee Jae-Hee’s side.
Sui Ning’s fingertips twitched instinctively.
“Freeloop doesn’t have his ult and his magic resist isn’t enough. A 1v1 with Wind—oh oh oh oh??!! What is—what’s happening?!”
Qing Ci’s eyes widened like he was staring at a prehistoric monster. “Why did Amor suddenly ult?! And why is the center of the ult on Freeloop?? When did that Q talisman even get placed—”
“Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh—!!!!”
[????]
[——????]
[WTF????]
The magical wave of [R – Gravitational Galaxy] surged as it landed. A deadly pull radiated outward from its center, yet when it hit Sui Ning, it produced only a crisp “ding—” sound.
Lee Jae-Hee blinked instinctively, his mind blank.
——
Both commentators leapt to their feet, almost shouting the thoughts of every viewer: “——Winnnnnnnd!! It’s you again!!!”
“That hourglass!! My god, my god!! Perfect timing, dodging both of TL’s ultimates!!”
Chao Mi’s voice went hoarse; his shock and joy could not be contained. “How did he do that? How is this even possible??”
Qing Ci was equally stunned.
But the next developments left them no time to think further. Lee Jae-Hee’s ultimate missed, Cheng Wensheng’s crucial ultimate also missed—TL’s teamfight could already be declared broken.
Sweat ran down Lee Jae-Hee’s forehead.
He stared at Sui Ning, protected by [Everlasting Hourglass], his overloaded brain unable to calculate the next steps.
He even forgot, for a moment, that right-clicking moves his hero…
Unfortunately, the Shadow Dancer was no fool who’d show mercy.
Mavis drew a dagger from the waist sash of her tight ninja suit, pressing it to the Void Ranger’s neck.
She stared provocatively into the Ranger’s eyes, lightly tapping his jaw with the tip of the dagger, lips parting and closing: […So, who’s the prey now?]
[PNG_Wind (Shadow Dancer) killed TL_Freeloop (Void Ranger)!]
Ji Yunyu immediately grinned. “Nice~.”
“Your credit.” Sui Ning couldn’t help smiling, “Thanks.”
“66666—!!”
“Strong! Wuhu!!”
[TL_Amor (Astromancer Prophet) killed PNG_Myerii (Broken King)!]
[TL_Amor (Astromancer Prophet) killed PNG_Erllit (Shadow Hawk)!]
[Double Kill]
With their own marksman gone, Cheng Wensheng got serious. Now, besides him, TL had no one left to carry this teamfight.
But the enemy kill notifications came fast too.
[PNG_Wind (Shadow Dancer) killed TL_Ljbf (Peerless Swordsman)!]
[Double Kill!]
“Not looking good… maybe fall back?” Jiang Hao started panicking, staring at his black-and-white screen. “Hold a wave, drag it out to 35 minutes, maybe we can fight.”
Cheng Wensheng shook his head. “We can’t run—Shadow Dancer’s chase is too strong, we’ll get wiped if we retreat. Even if we swap a few more, it won’t be too bad.”
[TL_Amor (Astromancer Prophet) killed PNG_Cloud (Shadow of Vengeance)!]
[Triple Kill!]
Ji Yunyu shrugged helplessly.
…Phew. With Ji Yunyu down, Cheng Wensheng finally breathed easier. Without the jungle, PNG’s chance at a double-dragon push was much lower.
“Niiiiice, captain!!”
“Amazing—they killed three!!”
“Amor, my A-God~~” Jiang Hao yelled, “Next time don’t let the ref ban you~!”
Hearing this, Cheng Wensheng couldn’t hold it, laughing and swearing: “Idiot.”
[PNG_Wind (Shadow Dancer) killed TL_Owld (Coldfront Lord)!]
[Triple Kill!]
Before dying, Yu Xiu delivered all his damage, shrugged, and looked at Cheng Wensheng. “I’ve done all my damage. Your move.”
“Mm.”
Cheng Wensheng murmured in reply, tightening his grip on the mouse.
On the commentary desk, Qing Ci and Chao Mi had completely lost it.
The first half of this teamfight was visually spectacular, full of intricate details. Everyone was trying to show off, and just when you thought, “Damn, this is insane!” a sudden reversal would immediately follow.
It was like watching a blockbuster movie—both commentators were rapping through their analysis, unable to keep up with the players’ skill casts.
The crowd was straining, nerves taut, releasing tension through constant shouting.
PNG fans were already trembling as they pulled out quick-acting heart pills from their bags.
For them, the only good news was that their remaining two players were the dual-C carries, while the enemy was mid and support. No matter how you looked at it, their advantage was clear—
“Take out the support first!” Sui Ning said coldly. “I’ll keep the mage in check.”
As the game entered the “final circle,” Sui Ning’s mind was razor-sharp.
Lin Zhaoxu had used his Flash with his ultimate and had nothing left; Cheng Wensheng, slightly behind in ultimate damage, was less threatening; the biggest danger now was the fully crowd-control-loaded Jian Wang.
Lin Zhaoxu exhaled. “OK.”
His right hand was shaking—not from fear, but from over-exertion from the rapid actions earlier, muscles trembling instinctively.
But it didn’t stop him from continuing to deal damage. He raised his hand, QAAWAAEA—White Bird’s feather blade pierced Jian Wang’s chest.
However, the last basic attack’s stiffness gave Jian Wang a chance: his dying [Q – Soul-Hooking Chains] latched onto White Bird’s body.
Jian Wang’s eyes lit up. “Got him controlled!”
Unfortunately, Cheng Wensheng was blocked by the also low-health Sui Ning.
Lin Zhaoxu hesitated, not touching Jian Wang’s last sliver of health—he wanted to leave the Pentakill for Sui Ning.
Sui Ning seemed to sense the thought and reassured him, “It’s fine. Don’t hold back now.”
Lin Zhaoxu quietly redirected all his damage onto Cheng Wensheng, grinning cheekily: “Hey, I’m just putting pressure on you—if you get outplayed by these two low-health enemies, I’ll mock you forever!”
[TL_Amor (Astromancer Prophet) killed PNG_Mior (White Bird)!]
[Quadra Kill!]
[PNG_ (Shadow Dancer) killed TL_Jw (Scythe of Calamity)!]
[Quadra Kill!]
The system announcements boomed across the canyon.
From the dragon pit down to the bottom-lane triangular brush, bodies littered the path. Both teams were fighting and repositioning simultaneously, from Istanbul to Constantinople, until the last two survivors were just a few steps from the bottom-lane minions.
“He didn’t Flash!”
“He didn’t Flash!”
The teammates’ warnings arrived almost simultaneously.
Sui Ning and Cheng Wensheng exchanged a glance.
Both had less than 35% HP, all skills used.
At this moment, there was no time to consider hundreds of strategies. Either run, or stay and fight—pure instinct dictated the choice.
Sui Ning wasn’t going to run, and he knew Cheng Wensheng wouldn’t either. Both were on the cliff’s edge: the enemy’s health was at the “one mistake and dead” threshold.
But how to fight depended on each hero’s abilities and items.
The arena fell silent. The commentators grimaced, throat crackling, ready to rap live commentary at any sudden action.
Cheng Wensheng’s mind shifted. His items favored sustained fights, with ability power and lifesteal, and the minions nearby…
He ran straight toward the minion wave.
“Amor is probably trying to lifesteal off the minions! Mage lifesteal isn’t as strong as marksman, but these two bottom-lane waves can bring him back to about 55% HP!” Qing Ci guessed Cheng Wensheng’s plan. “If he heals, Wind won’t have a chance!!”
“How will Wind respond—ohhh! Hextech Rocketbelt!!!”
Chao Mi slammed the table and stood up, table HP-1. “Hextech Rocketbelt’s dash cooldown is only 40 seconds, already off cooldown! But the arc explosion’s damage was too far to hit—yet Wind clearly anticipated Amor’s plan. He wouldn’t let him heal freely!!”
“E mark… chooses to hit the minion wave, second E dash!! Sacrificing some damage, but W smoke buys time, Q for harassment, mainly to stop Amor from safely healing!”
34%, 27%, 17%…
Cheng Wensheng understood the boiling-frog principle, but now smoke was in front, the escape path behind blocked, no vision…
He pressed his lips together, knowing he was on the hot seat.
He knew Sui Ning was using W and other abilities on cooldown; he could only blindly throw a few AoE skills into the black smoke, unsure if they’d hit.
From a god’s-eye view, the audience could see Sui Ning’s HP was 15%.
Sui Ning’s face betrayed no emotion; one more skill and he could die instantly.
Once his cooldowns were up, I’ll be the one dead… Cheng Wensheng’s heart sank, and he gripped the mouse again.
“They’re off cooldown.”
“Run? Should we run? Feels like we can’t win.”
“Are you an idiot? Mavis has E, how do you run?”
“Just sneak while it’s on cooldown, full E is still 11 seconds…”
Teammates debated over comms. Cheng Wensheng hesitated for a moment.
If not, I—
Before he could decide, a cold flash pierced through the smoke, straight into the Astromancer’s eyes.
The Astromancer screamed in pain; the gushing blood snapped Cheng Wensheng back to focus. He couldn’t see Sui Ning’s position, relying purely on instinct for the last two skills.
The commentary and crowd fell silent, all eyes on the screen—
Who hit it??!
Maybe a long moment passed, maybe just half a second. The huge damage number appeared in the center.
-1045!
[PNG_Wind (Shadow Dancer) killed TL_Amor (Astromancer Prophet)!]
[Penta Kill!]
[It’s me. I won.]
Mavis barely whispered.
And the next instant, the Astromancer’s dying [Q – Astromantic Talisman] secondary damage exploded.
[TL_Amor (Astromancer Prophet) killed PNG_Wind (Shadow Dancer)!]
[Pental Kill!]
Cheng Wensheng’s breath nearly stopped.
When his mouse pointer started to move unnaturally, he slowly looked down and realized his palms were soaked with sweat.
For the first time, in this moment, he was so nervous it felt like his very first day as a pro.
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