“The level 3 wave is here—LNC’s mid and bot lanes both need to be careful this time!”
Qing Ci compared the HP bars of both sides the moment the minion waves met and couldn’t help but worry. “Before level 6, the most dangerous timing in lane is the 2:30 wave. Solo laners can use this wave to hit level 3!”
“If you mess up contesting the wave here, the lane disadvantage could snowball all the way to level 6 or 7!”
“Exactly. On LNC’s side, if the Phantom Trickster wants to push against the Soulreaper King early, he has to use abilities to clear the wave!”
Tofu nervously added, “But mid laner Allen is only at 70% HP—using abilities to clear right now is too risky! If Wind catches him in a cooldown window, it could be an instant First Blood!”
His analysis went deeper, but the more he broke it down, the more it felt like mid lane was already a deadlock. “LNC’s mid lane position is just too bad. If he doesn’t use Q and W to clear, Wind can keep poking him with the skeletons summoned by [W – Rise of the Dead]!”
“Allen’s stuck between a rock and a hard place—he can’t recklessly use his skills, but he also can’t afford not to clear the wave. He’s forced to trade his HP for lane control!”
“But with his current health, he clearly can’t sustain that kind of trade!”
After finishing his analysis, Tofu looked pained.
Just putting himself in Kurachi Yuto’s shoes made his scalp tingle. It was only two minutes in, yet mid lane had already become like a pot slowly boiling a frog—at first glance, you might not see bubbles, but beneath the calm surface, danger was already everywhere.
Even more frightening was that this hadn’t happened all at once. Sui Ning had already begun setting this up the moment he first successfully chipped away at Kurachi Yuto’s health.
The game state constantly shifts, but the fundamentals—wave control, health control, and ability trading—remain the same.
These basic skills that every solo laner must have are exactly what separate the ordinary from the elite.
If it were another experienced mid laner, they might have sensed the danger earlier, adapted on the fly, or even turned the situation around… but unfortunately, there are no “ifs.”
Sui Ning continued to “normally” clear the wave and manipulate the minions. Kurachi Yuto faintly sensed something was off—this situation felt strangely familiar—
But he wasn’t given much time. Sui Ning controlled the skeletal soldiers of the Soulreaper King to thrust in the same direction, precisely piercing through two minions and the Phantom Trickster.
In an instant, the golden glow of leveling up lit up around him.
“This is bad!” Kurachi Yuto’s heart skipped a beat, his face filled with shock. “Clearing like that… is Wind trying to kill me at level 3?”
He instinctively abandoned the wave and tried to use W to dash back under his turret—but the moment he cast the skill, several skeletal soldiers suddenly appeared around him!
The silhouettes of the enemy skeletons—and the spears in their hands—seemed to stretch infinitely. In his panic, Kurachi Yuto recognized it as Sui Ning’s Q ability—
[Q – Legion Assault]: Soulreaper King - Nos, commands all skeletal soldiers to charge toward a target location. Each skeleton deals magic damage to all enemies along the path and applies a 25% slow for 1 second (stackable).
Enemies hit by multiple skeletons take additional damage.
“Wind hits level 3 and goes in immediately!! The timing is perfect—Allen was zoned off experience, it’s level 3 versus level 2!”
Chao Mi shouted excitedly, “There are three skeletons on the field—the theoretical max from a level 1 W! Wind’s summon timing is flawless. Allen uses W to retreat, but his landing spot was predicted—!!”
Kurachi Yuto landed from his W, barely having time to breathe, only to take the full damage from Sui Ning’s Q head-on—209!
A level 2 Phantom Trickster only has 645 HP at full health!
The moment he saw the damage number, Kurachi Yuto didn’t hesitate—he burned Flash.
Even Chao Mi was stunned by the damage, momentarily speechless.
When he snapped back, he sped up his commentary, trying to keep up with the play: “All three skeleton thrusts landed—Allen’s only level 2, he has no ability to fight back! If he just runs, he might not escape the AoE—can Flash get him out?!—”
[PNG_Wind (Soulreaper King) has slain LNC_Allen (Phantom Trickster)!]
[First Blood!]
Sui Ning had already calculated the damage perfectly—of course he wouldn’t hesitate to use Flash, following up immediately to secure the kill on Kurachi Yuto.
Thunderous applause erupted from the audience.
“Wooooooah!!”
“Wiiind!! First Blood!! What a start!”
“Damn, that was clean!!”
There was no doubt this solo kill massively boosted the fans’ morale.
“Wind follows with Flash and takes First Blood—beautiful!”
Chao Mi clenched his fist, clearly thrilled. “Honestly, I had a feeling something might happen mid at level 3—but I didn’t expect it to happen this fast!”
“This First Blood wasn’t sudden at all. Allen gave too many openings earlier!”
Tofu scratched his head. “It’s like two martial arts masters fighting—except you’re already at a disadvantage, and on top of that, you keep licking a blade you poisoned yourself while fighting!”
Isn’t that just asking to die?
[???? Tofu’s bizarre analogy]
[LOL I can totally picture it]
[Maybe it’s not even “two” masters—just from the first wave handling, the gap was already worlds apart…]
[What can I say… Allen isn’t bad, but trying to trade blows with our Feng-bao is still a bit too much for him]
[The “Pigeon King” streamer beating up fans in front of hundreds of millions—where’s the justice? where’s the humanity? (sarcasm)]
[Here it is—Feng-bao’s classic pure lane solo kill for First Blood. My youth is back!]
[ Collecting stamps in HPL wasn’t enough, now he’s bringing the whole stamp album to Worlds, huh??]
[Group stage 1/5, I’ll just leave the stats here first]
Unable to see the chat, Tofu kept analyzing: “Wind’s mechanics were very detailed. First, hitting level 3 timing—no need to explain, that’s a classic! Second, perfectly timing the summon duration to get three skeletons—that’s basic for any experienced Soulreaper King player. And then predicting Allen’s dash landing spot with a full Q—again, classic Wind-style prediction!”
“You have to remember, the Phanton Trickster’s W is basically a Flash! If Wind waited until Allen landed before thrusting, Allen would’ve had time to react and use the second cast of W to return. So it had to be a prediction! This play can be summed up in two words: pure confidence!”
After catching his breath, Tofu couldn’t hide his excitement. “And that final Flash follow-up? No need to say more! Damage calculation—perfectly executed!”
[???]
[Three ‘no need to say more’s—then what can you say?!]
[I don’t even recognize the word ‘say’ anymore]
[Basic play, basic play, everyone sit down!]
The commentators happily took turns praising the play before Qing Ci added, “But this kill might also owe a bit—just a bit—to the game designers! The Q ability’s effect, ‘enemies hit by multiple skeletons take additional damage,’ raises the theoretical damage cap of level 1 Q by 150%! And that’s one of the new changes introduced in patch 6.2.1.”
Chao Mi nodded. “That’s right. This change significantly boosts the Soulreaper King’ early-game combat power! But honestly, I used to hate Worlds patches—big sweeping updates from the devs basically make everything teams practiced during the summer split useless.”
“But after seeing Wind’s performance today, I feel reassured again.”
He smiled. “Sure, new patches shake up old strategies, but when all teams start from the same line, HPL teams won’t lose to anyone in adapting to new metas! That’s the result of both coaching staff and players working together—and also teams helping each other behind the scenes. To be honest, I’m actually looking forward to more matches on 6.2.1 now!”
Qing Ci teased, “I’m looking forward to it too—but on one condition: HPL teams must stay ahead in developing the meta. Otherwise, I’m definitely writing an email to flame the designers! Don’t call me biased—I just really want to see our region lift the trophy!”
[Hahaha, same!!]
[Qing Ci finally speaking human language]
[When HPL is strong in the meta: ‘Devs, I love you~’; when HPL gets no meta advantage: ‘Designers!! Do you know my pain?!’]
[Buff Soulreaper King: ‘brain-dead devs’; Wind plays it well: ‘the designers are my dad ^^’]
[These comments are killing me lol, everyone’s a certified hypocrite]
[Whoever understands the meta first wins—I totally agree, as long as HPL is the one who understands it first ^^]
After watching so many high-level matches, HPL commentators and viewers could naturally read deeper into Sui Ning’s First Blood. It reassured them, and the whole stream atmosphere became noticeably more relaxed and cheerful.
Soon after, at 3:17, good news came from PNG’s bot lane.
Lin Zhaoxu and Cheng Su successfully used their early advantage to create a level gap, forcing LNC’s bot duo into a miserable, “stuck under tower” existence.
But it didn’t stop there. When Cheng Su hit level 3, Ji Yunyu also arrived bot lane, preparing for a tower dive. The enemy’s level 1 support, Storm Goddess, had no way to stop it.
[PNG_Cloud (Dragon Monk) has slain LNC_Rascal (Frost Archer)!]
[PNG_Cloud (Dragon Monk) has slain LNC_Eve (Storm Goddess)!]
[Double Kill!]
The double kill announcement signaled a complete collapse of LNC’s bottom side.
“LNC’s bot lane pick clearly wanted to rely on the Storm Goddess’ peel to protect the late-game hyper-carry Frost Archer,” Qing Ci commented. “But at level 1, she simply can’t stop PNG’s dive!”
Tofu twitched. “…Honestly, even if Storm Goddess were level 3, PNG could still dive this outer turret easily. The Frost Archer is only decent at contesting early waves—she needs lane priority and a smooth early game to scale. But in even or losing matchups, her survival conditions are extremely harsh!”
“Especially since PNG picked Shadow Hawk as support. As long as Rascal can’t suppress Erllit’s level, he’ll just get engaged on in every possible way—force-engaged, casually engaged, engaged right in his face!” As he spoke, Tofu vaguely recalled the painful process of grinding this marksman to the top ranks himself.
That experience… was basically surviving constant one-shots from top players on the server.
Especially when matched against pros—sometimes the screen would just go black before you even saw the enemy, with the message: You are waiting to respawn!
Tofu’s expression turned even more sympathetic. “…And that’s not even counting PNG’s mid-jungle strength. Once they hit level 6, the Soulreaper King can push, the Dragon Monk can kick—I genuinely can’t imagine how this Frost Archer is supposed to survive teamfights.”
Plus a top laner who can dive into the backline at will.
With PNG’s backline access, forget one Storm Goddess—even if Rascal had ten of them surrounding him in a full 360 knock-up cyclone, he still might not survive!
Chao Mi immediately got the implication and almost laughed. “So LNC’s bot lane draft might have been a bit questionable. PNG’s composition heavily threatens immobile carries, yet LNC still picked a hyper-carry marksman. If Rascal falls behind, LNC will severely lack damage in late-game teamfights!”
Qing Ci: “Exactly. Unless the top lane Peerless Swordsman can completely take over and snowball a massive lead, LNC’s teamfights will be very difficult.”
But… on top lane, Kutsuma Sho is facing HPL’s king of stability, Wei Ye. Snowball the lane?
Haven’t we seen so many HPL teams send mid-jungle to camp top, only to fail completely?
Qing Ci glanced at the gold difference in top lane. As expected, although Wei Ye’s Wildfang was weaker early and seemed to be constantly pressured, he hadn’t fallen behind in either experience or gold.
——
Compared to the relaxed atmosphere back home, the Japanese broadcast desk was much more tense and heavy.
“LNC’s bottom side has fallen into trouble. Right now, Shiro on the top lane is the team’s hope!” the taller commentator still held onto a sliver of expectation. “Please farm well and become the backbone of the team! The Peerless Swordsman is a champion that can pose a terrifying threat to PNG’s double carries in the late game!”
“As for jungler Moyashi—yes, that’s it! Counter-jungle the enemy! Ahhh, he’s been spotted by Cloud!!” The tall commentator widened his eyes and held his breath, only exhaling when Hasegawa Eita barely escaped PNG’s blue side with low health.
The shorter commentator sounded dejected. “Our league’s mid-lane executioner, Allen… seems to be completely suppressed by PNG’s player and unable to make any moves—”
Before he could finish, at 7:13, Sui Ning hit level 6 and once again killed Kurachi Yuto in mid lane.
[PNG_Wind (Soulreaper King) has slain LNC_Allen (Phantom Trickster)!]
As the kill announcement appeared, the shorter commentator immediately clutched his head in pain. “Oh no… because of that earlier solo kill, Allen’s already fallen behind in gold! If this continues, the Phantom Trickster won’t be able to function in the mid game!”
His words quickly proved prophetic.
At the 10-minute mark, PNG began setting up around the dragon.
In truth, with their early advantage, they could have attempted it as early as 6 minutes.
But risky plays are for stalemates—by 10 minutes, PNG’s dominance over the bottom side meant this dragon was practically guaranteed.
At 10:37, PNG secured the first dragon—Fire.
The shorter commentator covered his chest. “Fire attribute… the dragon that grants bonus damage—this is exactly the one LNC least wanted their opponents to get!”
After taking the dragon, Ji Yunyu didn’t stop. He immediately rotated top and secured the Rift Herald as well.
[…PNG taking Herald, you already know what that means]
[Brutal, absolutely brutal. Once they get this Herald, LNC might as well start thinking about surrendering]
[Can’t surrender until 15 minutes—it’s only 10 now. Peak torture]
The Herald was summoned in the top lane, its massive body slamming into LNC’s turret. Wei Ye and Ji Yunyu pushed forward together, leaving Kutsuma Sho completely unable to defend.
At 11:45, the top outer turret fell. This meant PNG’s top laner was now freed up to roam and join fights.
Less than 10 seconds later, more good news came from bot lane—Lin Zhaoxu successfully took down LNC’s bottom outer turret. At this point, PNG had completed their first wave of side-lane pressure, and LNC’s mid lane was now in serious danger.
At 14:27, all five members of PNG grouped mid to push.
Given PNG’s powerful engage and backline access, LNC didn’t really dare defend this tower. But the mid turret’s strategic importance was too great, and with teammates from top and bot rotating in time, jungler Hasegawa Eita hesitantly suggested they try to hold.
“They’re actually defending this—??”
Tofu couldn’t help but laugh helplessly. “PNG’s double carries already have their first core items, and all their abilities are up. LNC absolutely cannot take a straight-up fight right now!”
At the same time, the Japanese commentators clenched their fists in excitement. “Moyashi is trying to flank, trying to give the opponent a taste of their own medicine! Allen—our mid-lane guardian, the elegant assassin—his target is Mior. He’s still looking for an opportunity, is he going in—huh?”
The dramatic commentary cut off abruptly. Sui Ning seized the moment when Kurachi Yuto stepped too far forward, decisively engaging—pressing W, Q, and E simultaneously. While repositioning his skeletons, he used [E – Boneform Shift] to move into LNC’s formation, then instantly Flashed and used his ultimate to shove three people back!
Chao Mi shot to his feet and shouted at the top of his lungs: “Wiiiiiind!!!”
No further words were needed—Cheng Su and Wei Ye immediately followed up with crowd control!
“The Soulreaper King Flash-engages and pushes back three! Shadow Hawk follows with a knock-up—PNG has so much CC!!”
Chao Mi’s face was flushed with excitement. “I said it before—PNG’s teamfight is insanely strong! And this is their power spike timing. LNC should be doing everything to avoid fights, not leaving their frontliners exposed like this!! Moyashi’s flanking—but it’s meaningless now!!”
[PNG_Wind (Soulreaper King) has slain LNC_Allen (Phantom Trickster)!]
“The third time!! Wind shows absolutely no mercy beating his ‘fan’!”
Qing Ci, dazzled by the breathtaking play, praised, “PNG is so practiced with this teamfight setup. Everyone knows their role, there’s zero mistake—it’s like a movie! In contrast, LNC looks completely panicked. Storm Goddess even missed her Q knock-up! That’s fatal—who’s going to protect Rascal?!”
[PNG_Wind (Soulreaper King) has slain LNC_Rascal (Frost Archer)!]
[Double Kill!]
The answer: no one.
LNC’s double carries were eliminated before they could do anything, and the rest of the fight collapsed instantly. Sui Ning secured a quadra kill, while the two Japanese commentators looked pale, as if mourning a loss.
At this point, the gold gap had widened to 5,000, and PNG’s advance was unstoppable.
At 18:54, LNC’s mid inhibitor turret fell.
At 20 minutes, PNG secured Baron right on time.
Empowered by the Baron buff, the super minions marched toward LNC’s base with unstoppable momentum.
LNC tried to resist, but it was futile—PNG’s multi-lane and jungle pressure was suffocating.
By the time the super minions reached the Nexus turrets, the tall commentator could only try to save face: “…As expected of a world-class team like PNG. There’s really a lot for us to learn. It was just one lost teamfight, but it feels like everything collapsed instantly.”
“Exactly. PNG’s gold lead is too high. Wind is ahead by a full item—the damage is just terrifying.”
The shorter commentator added, “It’s a pity we couldn’t hold out longer. If we had dragged it to 40 minutes and let Rascal and Shiro scale up, there might have been a chance! What a shame!”
This take was overheard by Chinese viewers lurking in the stream, and they immediately lost it.
[LOL, 40 minutes? This game already lasted 20 minutes out of PNG being merciful]
[So funny—of course LNC wants to stall, but can they? If PNG wants to engage, they just engage. Do they need your permission?]
[As everyone knows, being one item ahead means insane damage!]
[Not bad though—at least our Japanese bros are optimistic, their mentality is maxed out!]
Amid the teasing comments, LNC’s two Nexus turrets collapsed with a thunderous crash.
Under the pounding of super minions, the Nexus looked pitiful, its HP dropping rapidly—falling to 10% in the blink of an eye—
5%, 0%.
The game time was locked at 22:47.
“Nice!! First win!!”
“PNG, PNG—so damn strong!!”
“Feng-bao!!! Ahhh haha—!”
“LMAO, did Allen just fail at idol-chasing?”
“No way—got killed three times, Wind definitely remembers him!”
“?? That works too??”
“Congrats to PNG for taking their first group stage win!”
The audience stood up and applauded. On the broadcast, Chao Mi still seemed unsatisfied. “Kill score 14–0, zero dragons, zero towers, zero kills for LNC, game ends in 22 minutes—a perfect game! PNG completely shaved LNC bald!”
“This game was indeed a bit… bloody.”
Qing Ci laughed. “I saw some viewers saying LNC gave a lot of openings—but PNG still had to capitalize on them! From this match, you can tell they have a deep understanding of their new composition, and their champion proficiency is very high. Everyone can relax—things are steadily improving!”
Chao Mi nodded. “That’s right. But they still can’t be careless when facing North America’s MaJ and Korea’s Tio later on. After all, LNC isn’t considered strong in Group B.”
[That was very politely put]
[“The Art of Speaking: not considered strong”]
[Say what you want, but the respect is maxed out]
Was LNC just too weak, or was PNG too strong—or both? Regardless of what viewers and commentators thought, the coaches of other teams watching the broadcast had their own conclusions.
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