“Luckily, Liome managed to use his skills to last-hit a few minions before dying and earn a bit of gold. Otherwise, Navic’s bot lane would’ve suffered way too much! Losing that much lane XP means Mior and Erllit will definitely hit level 6 before them.”
Qing Ci clicked his tongue in amazement. “The first dragon has already spawned, but PNG isn’t choosing to contest it! This might be the only piece of good news for Navic this time. Cloud and Wind are both very low on HP, and their support can’t tank damage—starting the dragon carries a risk of a throw! But if PNG had taken the dragon, Navic’s gold deficit would’ve widened even further!”
Sui Ning also felt a bit of regret.
This opportunity had come too suddenly. The whole world was praising his clutch play from the brink of death, but only Sui Ning himself knew—if he had come in already at level 6 with his ultimate, there would’ve been no such thing as a “desperate situation” in the first place.
When he and Ji Yunyu dove the tower earlier, he had taken aggro first to preserve the jungler’s HP for a potential dragon take afterward. He hadn’t expected Zou Jiayou’s counterattack to be that fierce.
No helping it. Sui Ning let out a soft sigh. The little dragon glowing with golden light in the pit nearby was untouchable for now, so he could only head into Pei Xingyi’s jungle to steal a few camps—taking some “toll” as compensation.
Pei Xingyi: …Do you have any manners??
“Here, clearing out Truik’s lower jungle as well… PNG has already established control over the bottom half of the map,” Chao Mi said. “Navic ganked top, and Myerii’s kill went to Truik. It should’ve been a play that created a matchup gold lead, but because of what happened bot lane, it instead just helped Truik catch up. From the stats, you can see Truik and Cloud are now even in gold and experience.”
The turning point came at 6:25, when both teams’ mid and jungle reached level 6. Navic repeated their strategy and targeted top lane again. At level 5, Wei Ye had no way to resist a three-man collapse and obediently gave up the kill.
But three announcements sounded at the same time—
[Nv_Truik (Lost Ninja) has slain PNG_Myerii (Verdant Tree)!]
[PNG_Wind (Specter of Shadow) has slain Nv_Liome (Gunslinger Caitlyn)!]
[PNG_Wind (Specter of Shadow) is on a Killing Spree!]
The barrage of comments was confused:
[What even is this game? Does Navic have a grudge against Mye? Just straight-up bootcamping him??]
[Is top lane your dad or something, why camp it every time???]
[Lmao, getting 3-man dove under tower every time feels exactly like my ranked games… damn, too relatable, I’m tilted]
[ Not just Navic, I’m starting to think Mye-chan is being abandoned by PNG… why is no one helping him??]
Tofu glanced at the comments, lifted his chin, and let out a scoff, launching into his “game understanding” analysis: “Why is Navic ganking top? Is that really hard to understand? PNG’s comp is fragile as hell—Myerii is their only frontliner. The other four are squishier than paper. If Myerii gets shut down and can’t scale, how are they supposed to teamfight? When the time comes, Navic’s top, mid, and support just walk forward like three iron walls, and your ‘Brother Liome’ deletes the old tree with three shots. What can the rest of PNG do then? Serve themselves up to the assassin?”
“How hard is it to play without a frontliner—do I need to explain that? Don’t you all spam ‘we need a tank’ in ranked every day too?”
[Useless Tofu actually made some sense for once (lol)]
[Lmao, five squishies no tank—I’d just remake]
[Mye sacrificed himself for the team this wave, at least give him a banner of honor—great, glorious, unforgettable]
[Say what you want, Mye-chan definitely pulled aggro perfectly. Meanwhile, Feng-bao quietly went 3/0 again]
“Ganking top isn’t wrong—they did get the kill,” Tofu continued. “The key is that PNG aren’t idiots. They immediately turn around and hit your bot lane. You don’t let me play top? Then I won’t let you play bot. So the question is—does Navic go save them?”
Of course, they had to.
But the problem was—how? Navic was thinking the same thing. Their top and mid both still had Teleport unused, specifically saved for emergency bot-side plays. But PNG wasn’t exactly playing fair either—they waited until Pei Xingyi and Xiang Jin showed on top side before making a move, maintaining a “you don’t move, I don’t move” stance.
Navic had tried “waiting” as well—but the Fan’en in Sui Ning’s hands felt like a constantly ticking time bomb, echoing in Xiang Jin’s mind:
Every second that passes means the Stone Sentinel’s unmatched macro strength is gradually declining from its peak.
You couldn’t really blame Navic for being anxious. Once level 11 hits and Fan’en unlocks rank-2 ultimate, its skirmishing power will match the Sentinel’s—and after that, the Sentinel’s only remaining advantage will be its ultimate’s long-range support. Level 11—how many minutes away is that, really?
At 7:40, Navic once again made a move on top lane.
Wei Ye wasn’t bothered at all. Speaking through voice chat, he greeted them casually: “Hey bros, back again?”
“Just leave it—they can’t take the tower,” Sui Ning reminded. “We’ll take the dragon bot side.”
“Got it.”
“Another gank targeting top! Myerii isn’t just sitting there waiting—he’s—”
The commentator stared nervously at the screen, thinking Wei Ye was about to make a play.
“—he just abandons the tower and runs!!” Qing Ci choked for a moment. “Well… that’s actually fine. Myerii is very smart—he knows Navic’s goal here isn’t him. The 8-minute Rift Herald is about to spawn!”
“As expected, Navic doesn’t chase! With this retreat, Myerii not only saves his life, but also keeps the first tower intact. Mistake only chips a bit of plating before heading to help secure Herald—there’s no time to push!”
Meanwhile, PNG’s main force was moving toward the bottom half of the map.
The moment Navic realized PNG wasn’t contesting Herald, dozens of retreat pings instantly flooded their bot lane.
“Back off, back off!”
“They’re probably taking dragon—bot lane, be careful!”
“Mm.” Zou Jiayou responded, finishing off the last minion in front of him before quietly retreating into the brush near the tier-two tower, sulking to himself— I refuse to believe they can still catch me here. If you’ve got the guts, come dive two towers.
“PNG gives up Herald to take dragon, and Navic’s bot lane… pfft—HAHAHAHA!”
Qing Ci caught sight of Zou Jiayou’s aggrieved figure and immediately burst out laughing. “Hahaha—I, I… when has Liome ever suffered like this?! It’s only been a few minutes—PNG disappears from vision and he just runs straight to the bush by the tier-two tower to AFK in depression!!”
“And that’s with his support right next to him protecting him—this is way too miserable!!”
What was even scarier was that PNG had actually intended to gank him. Ji Yunyu led the way, circling out from the tri-brush near the tier-one tower, looking left and right—no one in sight.
Ji Yunyu: “They’re not here, probably recalled.”
“It’s fine. If he really recalled, he’s missing another three minions anyway,” Sui Ning said. “If they keep playing like this, it’ll be hard for them. Bot lane is going to collapse.”
The four-man dragon squad turned back, casually taking a few of Pei Xingyi’s jungle camps along the way.
[LMAO why am I, a die-hard Navic fan, laughing like a hater.]
[Help, Liome actually looks so pitiful hahaha]
[He’s still just a kid!! He’s already 800 meters away from river—let him go hahaha]
[WHO was it?! Who actually forced the #1 marksman on the server to AFK under tier-two during laning phase?!]
[ Usually it takes another top-tier marksman + lane bully to force someone out like this, but this game…]
[Case closed @PNG_Wind — the one who beat the #1 marksman in lane is actually the #1 mid. This guy shamelessly bought a house in bot lane!]
[I’m dying hahaha—if bot lane real estate prices go up one day, it’s Feng-bao’s fault!!]
The commentators were both amused and sympathetic. Clearing his throat, one of them said: “Jokes aside, I don’t think this is a good sign for Navic. Their composition relies heavily on their marksman for damage in the late game. If bot lane isn’t stable, the marksman has no way to farm! If PNG keeps up this pressure, Navic will have to rethink their timing for supporting top and bot.”
[Please don’t—I play ADC. Helping more might just make things worse!]
[Liome is really doomed this game. Navic should find a way to draw PNG away! Staying bot like this definitely hurts Navic—Li needs peaceful farming time]
[Easy to say, how do you draw them away? No one even wants top lane]
[ Mye got ganked so many times and is still 200 gold ahead of Liome—doesn’t that scare you? A fed tank vs a fed carry, which do you pick? Navic might be doomed]
[If only Navic picked a split-push fighter top this game—just push one lane! Once you reach high ground, PNG would have to respond]
[Navic still has Herald—hopefully it does something]
At 9 minutes, Navic summoned the Rift Herald in the top lane.
The Herald charged forward fiercely, slamming into PNG’s top outer turret and knocking it down to 20% HP. Unfortunately, its attack speed was too slow—before it could land a second headbutt, the low-health Herald was taken down by nearby PNG players.
At 10:31, Navic’s bot lane outer turret fell.
Three seconds later, PNG’s top outer turret also collapsed.
The difference was only a matter of seconds—but for Navic fans, it was nothing short of bad news. This was the first time they had ever seen Zou Jiayou and Bian Cheng suppressed so badly in bot lane.
“11 minutes in, the gold stands at 19.7k to 18.5k, with PNG in the lead for now.”
Qing Ci glanced at the scoreboard. “Most of the lane advantage is concentrated on Wind. He’s currently 3/0 with 110 CS—his combat power is on a completely different level now! Another thing worth mentioning is that despite being ganked so many times, Myerii is only 300 gold behind Navic’s top laner Mistake—basically just one kill’s worth. He’s barely stabilized.”
“As for Liome, he’s fallen quite far behind. In terms of CS alone, he only has 82—nearly 30 behind Mior, and even lower than his own mid laner Fiw, who often gives up waves, sitting at 97! That’s not even counting kills—he’s clearly underfarmed this game!”
At 11:45, PNG once again showed up in bot lane.
Navic could no longer endure it. Pei Xingyi rushed over, and at the same time, two Teleports lit up on the lane—Jiang Yin and Xiang Jin arrived at the fight, instantly turning PNG’s attempted 4-man dive into a 4v5 teamfight.
This was the first time in the game that Navic’s composition truly showcased its strength in rapid reinforcement.
“Navic’s response is incredibly fast—PNG immediately abandons the idea of engaging!!” Chao Mi exclaimed. “But fighting around this bot tower still isn’t easy for Navic—PNG has all their key abilities available! And Myerii, despite having Teleport, didn’t come down at all—he’s just staying top, taking towers and farming. So cunning!”
[Blue team has destroyed a turret!]
Commentator: “Navic’s top tower has been taken. Now Myerii’s gold has overtaken Mistake’s—the earlier camping was completely wasted! There’s no fight happening bot, no momentum gained—both sides can only reset.”
“How should I put it… up to this point, Navic’s play has felt… very messy.”
Qing Ci pondered. “Even from the screen, you can feel their confusion—they don’t seem to know where they should be going! In theory, with double Teleport from mid and top plus the Sentinel’s global ultimate, they should be able to rotate instantly every time and create numbers advantages. But it’s only now, nearly 12 minutes in, that we’ve seen their comp’s ‘basic operation.’ You could say they haven’t utilized their strengths at all so far!”
Chao Mi nodded. “And that’s because PNG hasn’t given them the chance! If the MVPs so far are Wind and Cloud in mid-jungle, then the second credit absolutely goes to Myerii! His pressure in top lane has been perfect! Even when they successfully gank him, the snowball never gets going—instead, their own bot lane gets torn open! Navic must be really frustrated—ignore Myerii for a bit and suddenly he’s scaled back up again! Now that he’s got tank items, he’s ready to teamfight anytime!”
“The pressure from mid-jungle onto bot lane is just too much. If Mistake goes to support bot, it basically leaves PNG’s top laner free to do whatever he wants. There’s a term—‘trident.’ We used to say PNG’s trident was mid, jungle, and marksman—but this game, I think Myerii deserves a spot in that trio!”
[66666, our Ye-ge has risen!!]
[We told you—stop obsessing over that useless Soul-Sealing Blade Demon. If you picked the tree earlier, you’d have won already (lol)]
[This play? This play is World Tree Descends.]
[LMAO, do you even understand the value of a 0/2/0 “losing KDA” carry?]
It wasn’t just the fans and commentators who were anxious—Navic’s players themselves were feeling it too. They could tell they were running around like headless flies, but the pressure from PNG’s constant macro play and snowballing was just too much. Everyone was dealing with different problems, and it was hard for anyone to step up and take control of the game—
Especially since the one responsible for starting the tempo this game was Xiang Jin.
The Stone Sentinel is a strong tempo-driving hero—but only if the player’s own sense of pace is clear and their mind isn’t in chaos. Once he loses clarity, his teammates can’t really help in the moment either.
The carries were busy trying to catch up in farm, the younger players were flustered—and in the end, only Bian Cheng stepped up to take command.
His tone was unusually firm: “If we keep playing like this, we’re going to get played to death. Group up. Protect the marksman’s farm. Look for a teamfight opportunity.”
“Jiang Yin and I will engage. Xiao Jin, go side lane and clear waves—keep watching for your ultimate. In fights, you protect the backline. Save your taunt for when they engage.”
Xiang Jin instantly seemed to find his anchor, nodding repeatedly. “Okay, okay—no problem.”
Jiang Yin glanced at Wei Ye on the screen and felt his head buzzing. “What do we do about the tree split-pushing?”
“Are you half-asleep?” Bian Cheng said flatly. “What split push can he even do? Force a teamfight—if he doesn’t come, what then?”
At a moment like this, having taken over shotcalling, Bian Cheng wasn’t giving anyone face—if something needed to be said, he said it bluntly.
Jiang Yin smacked his own forehead.
He really had been playing in a daze—couldn’t even react to something that simple.
At 15 minutes, the second dragon spawned. Navic didn’t contest it—instead, they cleared all three lanes, placed a large number of wards, and pushed their vision deep toward PNG’s side, clearly preparing for future jungle skirmishes and full-on teamfights.
As if waking up from a long nap, Navic finally came to their senses, gradually regaining structure in their macro play.
But PNG wasn’t afraid. During the weakest phase of their composition, they not only avoided falling behind but actually built a lead in gold and map control—things would only get easier from here.
At 18 minutes, just before Baron spawned, Navic tested the waters with a teamfight.
Jiang Yin and Bian Cheng engaged together onto Lin Zhaoxu, forcing out the marksman’s Flash and ultimate—but Wei Ye, despite a 0/4 scoreline, played like a war god. He stood right in Zou Jiayou’s face, chaining roots and knock-ups. The damage wasn’t high, but the disruption was immense, causing Zou Jiayou to briefly lose sync with his team and fail to follow up with damage.
Realizing they couldn’t burst down Lin Zhaoxu, Bian Cheng made an instant call: abandon the fight. Fortunately, with Baron in mind, PNG didn’t chase too aggressively. In the end, only Navic’s top and support—who stayed behind to cover the retreat—were picked off, resulting in a 0-for-2 trade.
“What a pity! Mir was literally one auto-attack away from dying—he escaped on a sliver of HP!” Chao Mi shook his head. “Ignoring ultimate cooldowns, trading two kills just for Mior’s Flash—Navic still loses this exchange. The gold difference is now close to 4,000—”
“But they had no choice.”
Qing Ci couldn’t help but smile bitterly. “Navic needs a Baron fight to turn things around. But in a straight-up teamfight, unless it’s a miracle fight, they can’t win. They have to burn PNG’s key abilities first. That’s why Liome didn’t even Flash when he got pressured—he’s saving it for the Baron fight. Unfortunately, they didn’t kill Mior! The only good news now is that Flash has a five-minute cooldown—Mior won’t have it for the crucial Baron fight. There’s still a chance!”
Hearing this, the fans could only comfort themselves with that thought.
But whether they didn’t dare to think about it—or simply didn’t want to—they all tacitly avoided mentioning one particular mid laner who was 5/0.
At last, at 20:00, Baron spawned. All ten players on the map instinctively began moving toward the pit.
“Careful—set up vision first. Wards, wards—”
“They’ve got two Teleports, watch for flanks.”
“I don’t have Flash, I’m dead!”
“Dead your ass—White Bird’s ult makes you untargetable, and that’s not enough for you to waste? What, you want invincibility too?”
Cheng Su rolled his eyes. “Picking Storm Goddess to protect someone like you this game, I really—”
Lin Zhaoxu: “Hehe, don’t flame, don’t flame.”
Sui Ning reminded them, “Our comp has weak engage. Play for counter-engage—let them start first.”
“How about we fake Baron?” Ji Yunyu suggested. “We can’t just wait forever.”
Wei Ye: “Sounds reasonable.”
“Agreed.”
Navic, of course, knew a fake Baron was possible—but the arrow was already on the bowstring; they had to fire. Besides, PNG could turn a “fake” into a real Baron at any moment.
“PNG has started Baron—Myerii is in the pit, the others are outside. Their formation is excellent, but—this Baron seems a bit slow. Are they committing?! They need to be careful not to get collapsed on by Navic!” The commentator spoke nervously.
Jiang Yin hovered his finger over the R key. “I’ll look for an engage. Marksman has no Flash—can we go?”
“If there’s an opportunity—” Bian Cheng began instinctively.
The next second, his eyes lit up, his voice turning into a blaring alarm: “Look at me, look at me—look left! LOOK LEFT!!”
“I hit the jungler with my ult—focus jungle! Can we kill their jungler? Watch Baron!”
“OK, focus jungle—Janna used ult, Janna no ult!” Bian Cheng’s voice rose. “Hard to kill the jungler—AD AD AD! How many of you are watching him?! He has no Flash!!”
“Can’t reach him—damn it, this tree is right in my face—Xiao Jin, ult now!”
“Bro, I’m coming!”
“Damn it, who’s calling targets? It’s a mess! Watch Baron HP—don’t let Cloud reset it!”
PNG’s positioning and formation remained flawless. Bian Cheng couldn’t find an opening for a long time, and in the end, he decided to shift his focus onto the frontline—
“Kill the tree first, kill the tree first!”
“OK, tree!”
“Don’t mess up the formation—positions, hold your positions!”
“Holy shit, Fan’en popped his ult—save me, save me, SAVE—!!!”
[PNG_Wind (Specter of Shadow) has slain Nv_Truik (Lost Ninja)!]
[Nv_Liome (Gunslinger Caitlyn) has slain PNG_Myerii (Verdant Tree)!]
Two kill announcements rang out one after another—but to Navic’s fans, they sounded like a death sentence from hell—
With their jungler dead, their chances of contesting Baron dropped to nearly zero.
“Wind finds an opportunity and, with his team, takes down Truik!” Chao Mi clapped excitedly. “This kill is absolutely crucial—does Navic still want to keep fighting?! Even though their jungler is down, the enemy has lost their frontline too!”
Qing Ci: “Nx is looking for a counterplay, ulting onto Erllit—but he’s in danger himself—”
Bian Cheng tried to create an opening for his teammates, but PNG’s double carries were dealing overwhelming damage. In the end, he could only trade one-for-one with Cheng Su.
With both supports down, the rest of the fight was anything but easy. Both marksmen were clicking so fast their cursors seemed to blur, and their mindsets were perfectly aligned: doesn’t matter if I die, I have to output damage!
Xiang Jin had also figured it out—he stuck to Sui Ning the entire time, throwing every ability at a single target, clearly trying to carve out space for Zou Jiayou to operate. Unfortunately, his damage was negligible, and all his skills were skillshots. After all that effort, he barely scratched Sui Ning’s HP.
Zou Jiayou didn’t disappoint. In a 1v2, he managed to take both PNG’s jungler and marksman down with him.
That was the absolute best outcome he could achieve against two high-damage carries—every detail of his mechanics pushed to the limit. The ten-second clash alone was worthy of a Top 10 highlight of the year.
Unfortunately, Sui Ning’s positioning was flawless. Zou Jiayou couldn’t pressure his HP at all, and the remaining teammates simply didn’t have enough damage to challenge Fan’en.
[Triple Kill!]
[PNG_Wind (Specter of Shadow) is now Legendary!]
“Feng-bao—insane—!!!”
“Winnnnd—!!!”
“Legendary!!!”
PNG’s fans finally found an outlet for their emotions—the deafening cheers surged once again. A triple kill—and not against some random weak team either!
Look at the opponent’s IDs, look at this triple kill, look at that Legendary status—absolutely exhilarating!!
“A 4-for-5 fight—PNG wins the teamfight!”
Chao Mi’s face flushed red with excitement. “—Wind gets the triple kill!! Beautiful! This isn’t a cleanup—it’s a decisive 1v3 that seals the game!”
“After this fight, the gold difference reaches 7,000! How can Navic possibly come back from this? I honestly can’t see a way!”
And it wasn’t just the casters who couldn’t find an answer.
Even without securing Baron, PNG, now holding a massive advantage, showed the ruthless dominance expected of the league’s number one team. Like a pack of cold, merciless hyenas, they tore into Navic’s crumbling defenses—pushing waves, destroying turrets, clearing vision—forcing Navic back into the safety of their base.
But when three lanes of super minions marched in alongside all five members of PNG, even the base was no longer safe.
At 27:41, Navic’s Nexus fell.
----------
No comments:
Post a Comment