After waiting a few more minutes, SDB’s coach Mark cornered the developers backstage, repeatedly confirming that Sui Ning’s play was indeed not a bug.
With a dark expression, he complained to his assistant coach beside him, “Next game, we have to set up proper vision from the start! What was that? Not a single person noticed the ward in blue side!”
At this point, Mark didn’t mention first blood at all anymore. The assistant coach didn’t dare respond, only thinking to himself—it’s only been three minutes, and we’re already talking about the next game?
Still, SDB’s early game had been such a disaster that there was no way to sugarcoat it. Looking across the entire tournament, games where a team was already waiting for a comeback just two minutes in… he thought about it—there really weren’t many!
The backstage camera lingered on them for a bit before switching to PNG’s lounge. Chen Chen was half-reclined on the sofa, holding a can of “vintage ’82 cola” like a wine glass and taking a light sip, instantly amusing the audience.
[? Emperor Chen plotting something again?]
[Holding a cola can like a wine glass—I can’t take this seriously]
[The coaching staff looks pretty relaxed?]
[They’re ahead—what, should they cry together with SDB?]
——
The pause ended, and the players refocused on laning.
“Welcome back, the match resumes!”
Chao Mi gulped down some water and said loudly, “Let’s first look at the lane states! First blood has gone to mid—Wind… finds a very safe spot to recall, no problem, very stable!”
Sui Ning was calmly standing in SDB’s red-side jungle, channeling recall while casually browsing the shop.
The healing potion had long been interrupted by turret damage, so he was literally recalling in enemy territory with just 2 HP left. If SDB saw this, Holden might cough up blood—just 2 HP!
If Soulreaper King had been traded back, Holden would’ve only lost a few minions and about a 100 gold difference—not too bad. But since the kill wasn’t traded, the meaning was completely different.
Tofu, who often got tower-dived 1vN in high-level ranked, deeply empathized.
He looked at Holden on screen with sympathy and said solemnly, “Don’t cry, brother. I understand you.”
[??? You understand again?]
“You wouldn’t get it unless you’ve experienced it,” Tofu sighed dramatically, stroking an imaginary beard. “It’s like—you’re trying your absolute best to lane, and then—snap—you just die. Zero room to outplay. You respawn, tell yourself to stay strong, go back to lane, and the enemy scaling carry is ahead in both items and levels… while you’re still playing a champion that depends on lane pressure—”
“Tell me, how do you play that?”
Tofu shrugged. “During laning phase, Soulreaper and Storm Goddess have completely opposite power curves. Soulreaper gets stronger the longer it goes, Storm Goddess gets weaker. After this kind of start, you don’t even need to watch mid lane anymore.”
“This Storm Goddess has lost the ability to control tempo or roam. In theory, she could’ve used her high movement speed and multiple CCs to rotate with Troll for ganks and dives—SDB collapsing on fights, and Soulreaper can’t outrun her. But now… before 25 minutes, Storm Goddess is basically invisible. SDB can only stall—wait for their marksman to reach three items and teamfight!”
This was exactly what Coach Mark was worried about. Against a dark horse like Sui Ning, his expectations for Holden weren’t high: play off-lane, roam, avoid direct confrontation.
But all of that depended on lane priority. Without priority, a mid laner is basically rooted in place.
So when did they lose lane priority?—the level-one fight.
Where did that go wrong?
Because of a single ward.
Mark rubbed his temples hard, feeling a splitting headache.
The coach’s frustration didn’t reach the commentator desk. Chao Mi was still cheerful: “With this play, Wind now has 400 gold—at least enough for two small items! Unfortunately, Soulreaper’s early tower damage is still lacking. If he could chip the tower a bit more and get plating gold, mid lane could easily open up a near 1,000 gold lead—PNG would have a decisive advantage!”
Qing Ci laughed. “You’re asking too much from Soulreaper. It’s still so early! Turret protection hasn’t even ended yet—each hit barely scratches it. Getting plating now is way too unrealistic!”
“But with that cannon wave fully fed into the tower, Maverick didn’t get a single minion and gave up first blood. I think Unique has to camp mid now—otherwise this lane is unplayable.”
As he spoke, the camera shifted to the top river. The two junglers who had been skirmishing earlier had already disengaged.
Mors hurried back toward his red-side jungle, growing more frustrated with every step, practically wishing he could 1v1 Ji Yunyu in real life.
“Unique is suffering big time—his attempted support turned into a jungle stroll!” Chao Mi laughed. “Cloud played it so smart, blocking him halfway and refusing to let him through! Originally, even in the worst case, Unique could’ve killed Wind to make up for losses!”
Qing Ci thought for a moment, then analyzed, “This pseudo 2v2 ended in heavy losses for SDB’s mid-jungle. Maverick aside, just look at Unique’s pathing—what should’ve been a perfect blue-side jungle route got completely disrupted, forcing him to backtrack multiple times! In early game, junglers absolutely hate backtracking—it wastes so much time and delays his level 6 timing.”
“Meanwhile for PNG, although Cloud also spent time in top river, he started red and naturally transitioned into blue side. Back and forth, this gives him a faster overall jungle tempo than Unique!”
Chao Mi frowned, something feeling off. “The more I think about it, the more it feels like PNG’s entire setup was flawless. Could it be… even the small pathing advantages between red and blue were all calculated?”
Qing Ci wasn’t entirely sure. “Theoretically, Cloud could’ve started blue this game too.”
[??? Is it really that detailed??]
[So detailed I need a microscope to see it! SDB’s gonna have nightmares tonight—every move they made was predicted perfectly!]
[Is it possible it’s a coincidence?]
[I might believe coincidences in ranked, but a World Championship team with title potential? I’d rather transfer 200 to Qin Shihuang.]
[Didn’t Nv say HPL teams have been scrimming each other openly with no secrets? Practiced before is normal, right?]
[Is PNG evolving AGAIN??? At this point do they even have room left to evolve? Can they consider the fans’ mental capacity??]
——
Respawning and returning to lane, Holton didn’t have much gold on him and reluctantly bought a small magic resist item.
Wind is not a traditional damage-dealing mage, so it made sense for him to shift toward utility support items early and give resources to the marksman—just protect the carry in teamfights.
“In that case, a new problem arises—SDB’s AP damage is not enough!”
The Western commentators were equally helpless. “Like everyone else, I trust Scarlett’s Void Ranger, but without AP damage, Myerii can just stack armor mindlessly! In teamfights, if there’s a tree with 3000 armor standing in front, Scarlett is going to have a very bad time!”
Edmond also noticed the midlane deficit. That was normal—when you pick a support-style mid, you shouldn’t expect too much impact. Just adjust itemization accordingly.
Because of the early setback, SDB’s top and mid played extremely cautiously. The only lane with any real interaction left was bot.
Even Wei Ye couldn’t help but complain: “I thought I was already the king of the cowardly playstyle, but that Zakiah guy is even worse than me! Is he seriously just duoing with his turret?!”
“He literally doesn’t step out of tower range at all?”
Wei Ye was impressed. How cautious was Remi? Cautious enough that even he, a tree champion, could walk up and take waves and push lane. The audience would have to give him a “Most Cowardly Player of the Match” award.
“It’s fine, don’t worry about him,” Holton quickly swapped camera views to top lane. His intervention there would have little value, and there was no need to play around the Nature’s Wrath this game anyway. Let Wei Ye scale on his own. Wind quickly made the call and pinged:
[PNG_Wind] is on the way!
Cheng Su immediately reported: “Marksman summoners are both up. Support has no Weakness.”
SDB’s bot lane summoner spells were heavily skewed toward teamfight and protection. Support Vitt had Flash + Weakness, while marksman Edmond had Flash + Purify.
Vitt’s Weakness was specifically meant to counter Wind and Cloud’s engages—3 seconds of 30% slow and 40% damage reduction could turn any carry into a useless target.
Edmond’s Purify was also clearly prepared for Wind. A large part of Wind’s combo relies on displacement from his ultimate, so if Purify removes it, Edmond’s survivability increases significantly.
At 6:02, Wind—already 1/0—hit level 6 first.
He didn’t hesitate. With a level advantage over Holton, he instantly skilled Q-E-R, forced Holton back under his own tower, and secured another kill.
[PNG_Wind (Soulreaper King) has slain SDB_Maverick (Storm Goddess)!]
“—Wind, th—WHOAH!!”
The commentator was about to launch into an excited speech, but Holton was already dead before he could finish. Looking at Wind’s skill bar again—no Flash was even used.
“Th-that was a really fast kill…?” the commentator stammered.
“Wind didn’t even use Flash,” the co-commentator added, subtly hinting, “It feels like certain composition-based champions—especially support-turned-mid picks like Wind—struggle a bit against mechanically insane players like him? Maybe SDB should consider giving Maverick a more carry-oriented mage next game?”
Even the chat started sympathizing:
[Mave: you’re asking a Fat Tiger to do mechanics??]
[He’s 26, asking him to match Wind mechanically is cruel lol]
[Veterans can play brain-heavy champs, but Wind’s decision-making isn’t any worse…]
[Honestly this is just absurd, Wind is a full six-sided monster]
[Someone upload Wind into that “Pro Player Manager Simulator” game, I’ll instantly max buy]
Holton stared at his respawn timer, resting his hand against his forehead.
At this point, midlane could only be described in four words: completely falling apart.
Still—there was hope. He forced himself to calm down. His real power spike hadn’t arrived yet, and in teamfights he only needed to lock down Wind—
Meanwhile, Meurs in the jungle was in an equally miserable state.
He had been caught by Cloud and was now a level behind despite playing a tanky, early-impact jungler.
A level 4 versus level 5 gap, while his mid had no presence at all, left him scrambling through his own jungle like a fugitive.
From river all the way to red side, retreating toward mid tier-2, he thought he might survive when Cloud’s damage slightly fell short. But then Wind arrived—tanking three tower shots just to finish the job.
Meurs could only reluctantly give up his 300 shutdown bounty.
[PNG_Cloud (Void Devourer) has slain SDB_Unique (Highland Troll)!]
With both mid and jungle collapsing, a heavy shadow fell over SDB’s morale.
“Hey, calm down, bros!” Edmond tried to lift the mood. “It’s just a bit of early game pressure!”
“Correct, PNG’s lineup has a stronger early-game advantage.” Vitt also began directing the team, first marking the Baron pit. Their jungler is only level 5. They can only choose between Baron and Dragon. Wind is very likely to go for a 4-man dive bot next wave! Zakiah, your TP—”
Remi shrugged. “Ready anytime, sir.”
Vitt continued, “Unique, Mave, respawn and come bot for a counter-gank.”
Meurs: “Okay.”
Holton silently pinged “on the way,” indicating acknowledgment.
——
Vitt’s read on the situation was extremely accurate—Wind really was preparing to dive bot tower.
Fortunately, as a support, Cheng Su’s instincts were just as sharp.
At 8:15, Edmond made a slightly odd movement. Maybe his mouse slipped, maybe he mispredicted a skill and ended up “fighting air,” but while most people would have ignored it, Cheng Su did not miss that anomaly.
He warned his teammates that there might be a counter-gank bot.
“My ult is on cooldown. If we force it, it could go wrong.” Hearing this, Wind blinked and immediately adjusted his plan. “Cloud, go take Baron.”
“Mm.” Cloud nodded and rotated toward the top side jungle.
Vitt waited a moment. No one came bot. He immediately understood. “They’re going for Baron! It’s fine, we take Dragon instead!”
In truth, Vitt hesitated for a second—should they still dive PNG bot tower?
But he quickly dismissed the idea. Not only did Cheng Su’s Radiant Goddess have strong under-tower counterplay, Lin Zhaoxu’s Explorer was also extremely slippery—diving that tower was too risky.
The commentators: “PNG are starting Baron, and SDB give up the meaningless trap and take Dragon instead! This is a resource trade!”
“I still think SDB are slightly behind here,” Chao Mi said. “If they could get kills, tower, and Dragon, it would be a huge win. But their comp can’t really dive Explorer. This Dragon only barely offsets the loss of Baron. Personally, I’d always prioritize Baron at the 8-minute mark.”
At 9:30, Wind once again started a play bot lane.
Holton’s long-awaited “teamfight” finally arrived—but it was nothing like he expected.
In his mind, he would always stay next to Edmond, and the moment Wind dove in to ult and knock people back, he would immediately interrupt—
But reality was: before Wind even made a move, he was already being targeted by PNG’s jungle and marksman.
“Wind Wind Wind—burn her ult!”
“Support has Flash, watch the position!”
“Wind is low! One HP!”
“Which idiot is reporting? 65% HP is ‘one HP’?!”
“I’ll root—wait, wait, Troll ult is on me!!” Wei Ye shouted in excitement, voice reaching absurd volume. “Troll—NO—ULT!!”
Lin Zhaoxu cursed mid-chaos and shouted back, “Got it!!”
Without Troll’s ultimate—removing 90% slow and 60% armor shred—he could finally fight freely.
“Shit!” Remi cursed in frustration. Wei Ye’s position was now threatening Edmond, forcing him to use his ultimate to protect the backline, which in turn removed protection from his own carry.
Troll’s ult was the key tool to shut down the Explorer’s mobility. Without it, chasing him was pointless.
Worse still, PNG’s first focus target was not Edmond—but Storm Goddess.
Holton had no choice but to use his ultimate defensively. As he pressed R, he almost felt a sigh escape himself—everything was going completely off script.
—And just as expected, Wind had been waiting for this moment.
“Damn!!”
The Western commentator slapped his thigh. “Mave—he survives thanks to his ult knockback and heal, but who is stopping Wind?! Where is their support king?! Velon, do something!”
Velon had no real answer. His Spirit of the Forest was a pure engage support—defensive utility was never its strength.
“Oh my god—don’t!” the female commentator covered her eyes, peeking through her fingers. “Wind still has Flash… how does he still have Flash?!”
“What is he going to do? Flash EQR—”
Wind’s movement traced a perfect L-shape across the screen, precisely sending Edmond—who had no Purify—back.
[PNG_Wind (Soulreaper King) has slain SDB_Scarlett (Void Ranger)!]
[PNG_Wind is on a killing spree!]
The kill announcement echoed: in a protect-the-carry composition, the very carry they were supposed to protect died first in the fight.
Even SDB’s coach Mark looked like he was about to suffer a heart attack backstage.
The male commentator swallowed. “Without Wind’s protection, there are too many ways for Wind to reach Scarlett! Look at him—he looks so calm… he doesn’t even need complex mechanics anymore. Scarlett has no combat ability left at all!”
With Edmond gone, SDB’s teamfight collapsed completely, and PNG won a clean 1-for-4.
The domestic commentators erupted into applause—fast, decisive, and perfectly executed.
A 4–1 composition is weakest around the ten-minute mark—“the four” aren’t tanky enough yet, and “the one” isn’t strong enough to carry. PNG seized that timing window, forcing a decisive engage and taking a huge step toward victory.
——
At 13 minutes, PNG repeated the same play.
This time, Holton was fully prepared. In his mind, he swore that if Wind didn’t commit first, he would hold his ultimate—even if he was left at 1 HP.
That ultimate was only for the marksman.
Unfortunately, ideals were one thing; reality was another harsh blow.
Wind opened with the standard [Q–Legion Assault] + [E–Boneform Shift], dashing into position to reach Edmond and enter ultimate range. Holton’s expression tightened—he immediately committed his ultimate—
“—HE DIDN’T GET THE KNOCKUP!!!”
Chao Mi shot up from his seat, nearly losing control of his voice with excitement. “Another instant stop! Wind actually delayed after his E and didn’t immediately chain his R! But even if he doesn’t use skills, he’d still get knocked up by Wind’s ultimate—so he times his R to go off simultaneously with Wind’s!”
At the same moment Storm Goddess raised her staff to summon the storm, Soulreaper King also delayed his ultimate by a fraction. [R – Wall of Bones] erupted from the ground, summoning armored undead servants—both ultimates’ displacement effects triggered at the same time.
And the entire world witnessed something almost absurd.
Soulreaper King was knocked away at the same time as his target, the Void Ranger, was also launched into the air.
The surreal, almost horrifying interaction left Edmond briefly stunned. If he hadn’t instinctively used Purify, he would have been pushed completely out of SDB’s protective formation.
That would have been a death sentence.
But Purify had a 210-second cooldown, and Soulreaper King’s ultimate wasn’t even that long of a cooldown. And worse—Storm Goddess’s knockback had actually helped Edmond escape. He had to admit to himself: if there was a next time, would he still be that lucky?
[?????]
[What was that??]
[Did I just hallucinate?? They both flew?? Ref, pause the game!!]
[??? What the hell??]
Chao Mi, a proud literature graduate, was momentarily speechless except for one word: “Insane… that was insanely precise timing from Wind!!”
If the interaction had failed, Soulreaper King would have wasted everything into empty air.
If Holton had delayed even half a second, or also waited a beat, Wind would have turned this into the biggest blemish of his career—standing uselessly in front of the enemy and handing SDB a free kill.
This was Worlds. One mistake would be endlessly replayed, endlessly flamed.
If this was Wind’s only Worlds appearance, every error here would be dug up and mocked until retirement.
Chao Mi, well aware of the internet’s temperament, couldn’t help but think:
How did he dare to play like this?
Before he could continue, two kill announcements echoed.
PNG went 2-for-0.
——
At 16 minutes, PNG secured their second Dragon.
At 16:27, with Edmond’s Purify on cooldown, Wind caught and killed him again. The moment Edmond died, his Purify just came off cooldown.
Holton noticed it too. Honestly, he didn’t know which was worse—whether Wind was tracking summoner cooldowns precisely, or just repeatedly finding timing windows through intuition.
Because yes, pro players can track cooldowns—but what matters is how you use that information.
So this guy wasn’t just mechanically insane… his game sense was also absurd?
Was Wind even the one shotcalling in scrims? Holton felt a wave of disbelief—and pressure he couldn’t shake.
Edmond’s repeated deaths pushed SDB even further from victory.
His poor development led even commentators and viewers to question whether SDB could survive long enough for their marksman to come online.
At 20 minutes, PNG secured Baron right on time.
“With this Baron, PNG can break high ground,” Chao Mi said, glancing at the gold chart. “The gold lead is now 9,500—SDB’s chances of a comeback are basically nonexistent.”
Qing Ci shook his head. “Scarlett only has one and a half items. He’s broke—completely broke.”
The two even started advising SDB like coaches. “I think SDB need to change their approach next game. Four-protect-one works in NA/EU where early pressure isn’t as strong, but PNG are known for their fast tempo. Once they get an advantage, you cannot stall them.”
Chao Mi stroked his chin. “Maybe they should draft early-game comps instead?”
The tone on the commentator desk became oddly relaxed—as if they had become SDB’s strategists.
Meanwhile, PNG, with Baron buff in hand, were equally relaxed.
At 22:17, SDB’s Nexus shattered.
The commentators finally broke down: “Western brothers… you guys—”
“Why are you getting crushed like LNC, too??”
----------
No comments:
Post a Comment