#SDB/LNC — brothers in misfortune, sticking together!#
#Want to hear the story of 22 minutes and 17 seconds?#
#PNG sets another record!#
The clash between the North American and Chinese regional champions ended in a clean and decisive victory. Veteran powerhouse SDB was swept aside, losing in just 22 and a half minutes. With a game time of 22:17, they broke the previous record of 22:47 set by LNC, producing the shortest match of this World Championship.
Fans around the world instantly lost it. The harshest criticism came from English-stream chats, flooded with sarcasm, insults, and an endless stream of poop emojis.
[Is SDB here to be a joke??]
[That’s not funny at all—they’ll be nailed to the pillar of shame forever!]
[Nice, this is our region’s number one? Worse than garbage. My neighbor’s grandma could play better!]
[Calm down, it’s only Game 1.]
[If their pig brains could come up with a solution in 15 minutes, they wouldn’t have achieved nothing in all those prep days. I bet HPL teams have already studied our tactics inside out, and PNG’s single opening strategy made our players look like brainless geese.]
Both teams returned to their lounges. SDB players looked deep in thought, clearly replaying the loss in their minds.
Coach Mark flipped through his notebook, face dark.
He knew the “four-protect-one” composition scaled into late game and had prepared plans for early and mid-game disadvantages—but he never expected his team to collapse in just 22 minutes. At that point, how many items could the marksman even have? How tanky could the front line be? The composition hadn’t even come online before it died prematurely.
Their tried-and-true strategy in North America had been dismantled so effortlessly by PNG.
“Mid game is unwinnable because early game collapsed. Early game collapsed because the level-one fight was chaotic. It’s all connected.”
Mark summarized briefly, then pointed at one player. “Maverick, why do you think that happened?”
Holton met his coach’s gaze, then quickly looked away. He took a breath and answered quietly: “I couldn’t get lane priority. Mid–jungle pressure never got going.”
Once he started, the words came pouring out: “The opponent gave me too much lane pressure. I can’t play a support-leaning champion like Storm Goddess into Wind—he doesn’t give me any chances. If we’re picking utility mids, I need something like Stargazer Prophet or Winter Queen.”
The former offers revival; the latter provides reliable control. Both also deal more damage than Storm Goddess.
Mark nodded and turned to the support. “Velon?”
Vitt had been frowning since leaving the stage and answered immediately: “Our vision control had issues. I focused on placing wards in PNG’s red side but ignored that their mid, marksman, and jungle can all dash over walls—they reach the river faster than us. With that time advantage, they set up deeper vision earlier.”
“My mind was stuck on Radiant Goddess. Damn it.” He slapped his forehead in frustration.
Meanwhile, over in the practice room, UG’s players were also reviewing the game with their coaches.
“SDB fell into a classic trap. When judging vision control, they still prioritize comparing supports. PNG’s Radiant Goddess indeed isn’t strong at early vision control, which gave them the illusion of equal vision.”
“They may understand PNG’s mobility advantage, but their brains didn’t process it in time. If you know they’re faster, why not clear vision? Why let Zakiah step forward and lose HP for free? Maverick was even forced to skill E early, and the lane collapsed.”
“This is a mistake you must never make,” Coach Yoonsoo emphasized. “Information processing on stage must be fast and precise.”
The players listened quietly. Coach Yoonsoo scanned their faces one by one, finally fixing his gaze on Choi Hyun-woo, the mid-laner, sitting on the sofa.
Adjusting his glasses, the coach continued: “In situations like this, remember what I’ve always said—”
——
“Clear vision first, then push. No matter what, don’t skip these two steps.”
Chen Chen reiterated to his team: “If this opening strategy gets copied, don’t panic. We’ve analyzed it many times—jungler and support should start with sweepers. Don’t get greedy for the free ward at level one. Securing your jungle is the priority.”
After confirming everyone understood, he went over optimization points from the previous game, specifically calling out Lin Zhaoxu.
Scarlett had used a lot of subtle tricks in wave management, and Lin Zhaoxu could easily fall into traps if careless.
Fortunately, their mid–jungle had shut Scarlett down early. Otherwise, a fully built, cunning Void Ranger in the late game would’ve been a real problem.
At the same time, Sui Ning was reviewing his lane against Holton in his head—his positioning habits, instinctive reactions.
The more he replayed it, the more he felt a quiet sigh in his heart. In several fights, Holton clearly anticipated his engage timing—often the first on SDB to realize the Soulreaper King was about to go in. But when it came to execution, his hands lagged just a fraction behind his mind.
That tiny delay—just a few tenths of a second—made all the difference. Even though it was happening to an opponent, Sui Ning couldn’t help but empathize with that sense of helpless frustration. Perhaps it was because he stood closest to Holton in lane that he could see the weakness most clearly. Sui Ning closed his eyes.
The feeling was hard to describe—like watching a flickering star on the verge of fading out.
——
Soon, the mid-game break ended.
In Game 1, SDB went against the norm and chose the red side. In the first three bans, they let Shadow of Vengeance through while banning the Soulreaper King.
It was obvious that their attempt to counter the Soulreaper King with Storm Goddess had failed. For the time being, SDB had no good answer to PNG’s “Withered Soul” system, so they could only ban it out.
“PNG’s first three bans haven’t changed.” Chao Mi felt conflicted—glad that SDB’s previous failed comp didn’t need to be banned, but worried that sticking to fixed bans might suggest PNG hadn’t fully targeted SDB yet. “After that loss, what adjustments will SDB make? The traditional four-protect-one doesn’t seem to trouble PNG at all!”
Qing Ci laughed. “It’s mainly mid lane. Maverick picking Storm Goddess just can’t deal with the Soulreaper King. Mid had zero presence, and it dragged the whole mid–jungle tempo down.”
[Maverick’s too old. He couldn’t interrupt Wind’s ult even once—what coach would trust him as the core like that?]
[No choice, mid laners have a harder time carrying late than marksmen. Low margin for error, that’s just how the game is.]
[True—Wind hard-carrying all game phases is just an exception, don’t take it as standard gameplay (lol)]
[Wind’s combo: Soulreaper King. My combo: disabled grandpa]
[After watching Wind’s R–Flash engage, I queued ranked and went 0/10. Teammates asked who I was, I said “search PNG_Wind.” Did I do right?]
[Your teammates: “So you’re playing Worlds and ranked at the same time?? Insane.”]
[LMAO, imagine they reply: “What a coincidence, I’m watching your match.”]
[Real talk—I started a ranked during the 15-minute break, didn’t finish it. Now all 10 players are AFK in fountain watching draft. That’s what you call star power.]
Qing Ci continued, “SDB probably won’t keep running four-protect-one. The margin for error is just too low! And this time they chose red side, giving up first pick—PNG gets to make the first move!”
PNG wasted no time and immediately first-picked Shadow of Vengeance for Ji Yunyu.
“We’ll just play our standard setup,” Chen Chen looked much more relaxed after Game 1. “No need to reveal too much. 1-3-1 or 4-1 split? What do you think?”
“Give me a strong support,” Cheng Su said calmly. “Their bot lane is decent.”
In other words, he didn’t want a passive, purely protective support—he wanted playmaking power to increase the duo’s lane stability. Chen Chen understood and stroked his imaginary beard. “How about White Bird + Shadow Hawk?”
This bot duo had been meta for two splits. While Korean and Western teams didn’t favor it much, Chen Chen believed it was still strong in the Worlds patch.
As PNG’s pool of strong comps expanded, draft priorities had shifted compared to the regular season—often by the time marksman and support picked, the duo couldn’t both be secured. But that also meant teammates were getting strong champions elsewhere…
Chen Chen sighed lightly. A “good problem,” he thought.
“Let’s see what we can get,” Lin Zhaoxu said. “But honestly, the more I play, the more I feel White Bird’s damage is low. Might as well pick Soul-Piercing Spear.”
Wei Ye immediately cut in, “That’s because your dad creates the perfect damage environment for you!” As a frontline player, he felt obligated to claim credit.
Lin Zhaoxu: “?”
Lin Zhaoxu: “Who do you think you are, calling yourself dad?”
Wei Ye: “Then pick Spear guy. Give me a fighter top, let’s see if your gameplay matches your mouth.”
Cheng Su, acting like both parent roles, rolled his eyes.
Chen Chen wanted to do the same but restrained himself. Ignoring their squabble, he tapped Sui Ning’s chair. “What about mid?”
Right then, SDB revealed their first two picks: Shadowmoon Gun (mid) and Dragon Monk (jungle).
Sui Ning looked at the Shadowmoon Gun icon in surprise. “...They’re playing this mid?”
“...Probably,” Chen Chen replied. “Scarlett doesn’t play it much.”
That wasn’t what Sui Ning meant. He glanced toward Holton’s seat.
In the latter half of the previous game, he had clearly felt Holton’s mechanics slipping. Combined with his age… it wasn’t doubt, just—was he really going to play Shadowmoon Gun mid?
——
SDB quickly answered that question.
Final compositions locked in:
[PNG] vs [SDB]
Top: Verdant Treant vs Shadowmoon Gun
Jungle: Shadow of Vengeance vs Highland Troll
Mid: Phantom Trickster vs Goblin Engineer
Marksman: White Bird vs Void Ranger
Support: Shadow Hawk vs Radiant Goddess
The green-headed Goblin popped up on the draft screen.
The commentators froze mid-analysis. Chao Mi stammered for two seconds before recovering: “Th-this… what does this mean?”
He had just spent ages analyzing, never expecting SDB to pull out Goblin Engineer—let alone send Shadowmoon Gun top!
Looking closer, PNG’s top lane was basically hell difficulty. Even if Verdant Treeant were buffed ten times over, it still wouldn’t qualify to lane against Shadowmoon Spear. Ranged vs melee was pure domination—like a father beating his son. SDB’s top laner Remy wouldn’t even need fancy mechanics—he could casually zone Wei Ye completely out of experience range.
Even someone like Wei Ye—an elite “pressure sponge” top laner who’s extremely skilled at soaking experience—could easily get completely crushed in lane here.
But the audience clearly hadn’t realized how serious the situation was yet.
[??? Marksman goes top, parents watching from heaven!!]
[People actually play Marksman top??]
[Damn, I’ve got goosebumps]
[What even is Goblin Engineer? Nobody plays that in my Silver games]
[I only remember he can place turrets to push waves… so Maverick can’t outpush Wind and has to rely on this??]
[For mid lane priority, how much are you willing to sacrifice.jpg]
“…Looking at jungle, Troll will probably build tank this game. Paired with Radiant Goddess, SDB has a solid frontline. Mid lane—Engineer doesn’t need anything fancy, just shove the wave!” Chao Mi frowned more and more as he spoke. “They don’t need kills, but they can still maintain lane priority! Top is also a pushing lane. Overall, SDB will have very strong control over the top side this game!”
Qing Ci couldn’t help but feel worried. “Freeing up top lane, securing Rift Herald, playing for a pushing tempo—this is very similar to PNG’s style. SDB’s draft this game is way better than last game!”
Even the Korean coaches watching lit up, muttering to themselves.
Compared to this, SDB’s previous “four-protect-one” comp looked primitive. This game’s Shadowmoon Gun + Troll + Engineer top-side setup was like a civilization leap—one side still rubbing sticks to make fire, the other already flying spaceships and flattening opponents into another dimension. The difference in understanding and strategy was on entirely different planes.
Sui Ning’s heart sank slightly. He instinctively glanced toward Ji Yunyu—and found the other man looking back at him.
No words were exchanged, but both their expressions had grown noticeably more serious.
Chen Chen didn’t look great either. As Coach Mark stepped off stage, he came over to shake hands, barely hiding the satisfaction in his eyes.
“Nice draft. Good luck, good luck!” Mark said, patting his shoulder.
Chen Chen forced a response through gritted teeth. “You too.”
——
Holton picking Goblin Engineer was something PNG hadn’t expected. And that “unexpected” factor didn’t just affect mid lane—it impacted top lane as well. PNG had already locked in Verdant Treant early for Wei Ye, so SDB naturally sent Shadowmoon Gun top to face him.
To be fair, many pro mids and marksmen—both domestic and international—are excellent on Shadowmoon Gun. With players like Meng Xiyue setting the standard, Remy’s version wasn’t even close—it was honestly painful to watch.
“But it’s just so obnoxious!!”
Tofu couldn’t bear to look, wiping imaginary tears as he watched Wei Ye suffer under tower. “After this game, Myerii is definitely going to have nightmares. At 2 a.m. he’ll wake up demanding—who the hell designed this champion?!”
At the same time, Wei Ye himself put on a “pain mask” and wailed: “Dear game designers, look at this guy!!”
The moment he tried to step forward for experience, Remy would slide in with an E and start auto-attacking him nonstop… and there was nothing he could do.
Which lunatic came up with marksman top? Are they trying to sabotage me?!
Yes, Shadowmoon Gun’s 500 range isn’t that long—but that depends on what you compare it to. Compared to 625, 655, even 700-range carries, sure, 500 seems short. But Verdant Treant?
50. Melee.
Wei Ye cried out in despair: “I’ve got 50 range! Fifty!! Damn it, you animal!”
What does 50 range mean?
—It means less than a minute into lane, Wei Ye was already zoned completely out of experience range.
And that’s far worse than missing CS. Missing CS just costs gold—you still gain experience and can remain relevant with levels. But without experience? If the enemy is level 6 while you’re level 3, how do you even play?
For top lane, levels matter more than gold. No experience means lane collapse no gold even worse collapse—a vicious cycle.
Wei Ye understood this too. Even if it meant tanking damage and chugging potions, he had to try to leech some experience.
Remy, however, was shameless. He simply stopped hitting minions altogether, grinning as he continued zoning Wei Ye off experience. “Mave, didn’t you say last game you couldn’t get XP? I’m avenging you now!”
Holton fell silent, placing a turret mid lane: “…You… I… never mind.”
“The only good news is Myerii hasn’t hit a single minion, so the wave will naturally push toward PNG—uh, scratch that.” Tofu noticed Remy only attacking champions and clutched his chest. “This is brutal. Just watching top lane hurts!”
“This bastard would rather not farm than let me get XP.” Wei Ye’s expression turned serious. “Can’t deal with this. If he keeps freezing, he can hold it for five minutes—I’m completely out of the game.”
As long as Remy didn’t push, the wave could stay in the middle of the lane indefinitely—a dangerous zone far from tower, where Wei Ye couldn’t safely get any experience.
[PNG_Myerii] is requesting assistance!
Fortunately, Ji Yunyu had already anticipated this before the game began. He took a breath and signaled: “On my way.”
“Cloud started blue this game and is pathing upward after finishing the buff—it looks like he wants to help top at level 2 to break the freeze,” Chao Mi said, relieved. “Myerii definitely needs help. If this continues, by the time Zakiah hits level 3, he might still be level 1!”
“However… Unique’s movement is a bit strange.”
Qing Ci frowned, noticing that Morsan started red but only took one buff, skipping the rest of the jungle camps and rushing toward the bottom side. That movement—
Qing Ci suddenly had a realization and shouted in shock: “He wants to invade Cloud’s red?!”
Right on cue, the observer switched to the fog-of-war view. Neither side had vision of the opposing jungler. SDB couldn't see Ji Yunyu's location either, but Meurs had already slipped past his own mid outer turret and was moving down along the river wall.
"Unique has probably guessed that Cloud is heading top to help," Qing Ci explained. "PNG's red-side jungle is completely undefended right now. This is definitely a great opportunity to invade!"
He couldn't help raising his voice in concern. "—But if PNG spots him, no one will be able to help Unique! Is he really going to take such a huge risk?!"
[??? Damn, he's that greedy? Not even clearing his own jungle? Just farming his camps and taking the River Crab would already put him ahead.]
[These pros really play with half the map blacked out and still somehow know exactly where everyone is. I'm exhausted just watching.]
[ It's not just that. SDB got punished by vision last game too. Their top lane is getting smashed so hard they have to help.]
"I really don't think he should invade," Holden said uneasily. "Their mid laner's instincts are terrifying."
Meurs curled his lips. "I don't know, maybe? Cloud's moving top. There's no way I'm letting this chance slip by. Otherwise Remy's going to chew me out."
"Hey, f*** you! When have I ever yelled at anyone?" Remy protested.
"Mhm. Like just now."
As Meurs approached the river, the Chinese audience—who hadn't thought much of it before—suddenly felt something was wrong. Meanwhile, viewers on the English broadcast had already begun murmuring, "Whoa..."
[PNG_Wind] is requesting assistance!
Almost simultaneously, Sui Ning spoke calmly. "Support, come to our jungle. They're invading red."
"OK."
Cheng Su couldn't simply walk over in full view of SDB. I'll have to sell them some fake information, he thought. Using the river's fog of war, he deliberately made it look as though he was heading toward the dragon pit to place a ward. Instead, he looped through the tri-brush at the river entrance before quietly circling into PNG's jungle.
Just as he'd hoped, SDB's bottom lane didn't suspect a thing.
Sui Ning, meanwhile, was even more patient. He pinged the location where Meurs was likely to be on the minimap, yet outwardly continued laning as if nothing was happening. He still had to wait. Wait until Cheng Su was in position. Wait until Meurs ventured deeper into the red-side jungle. Only then could he cut off the enemy's escape route.
Sui Ning calmly glanced at the in-game timer. 3:23. At the Troll's movement speed... just a little longer.
Cheng Su soon reached the brush beside the Red Buff.
Chao Mi quietly sucked in a breath. "—Wind just spammed a ton of pings. PNG knows! Erllit is in position!"
The observer switched to PNG's perspective. The entire red-side jungle was pitch black. But every viewer knew Meurs was already lurking nearby.
Silently counting to five, Sui Ning casually cleared a minion. Right then, Holden placed another turret in lane. Pretending to back away to avoid the engineer's poke, Sui Ning slowly retreated, disappearing from SDB's vision.
One second passed. Holden waited. Sui Ning didn't reappear. His heart skipped a beat. Alarm bells rang in his head. "The enemy mid is coming for you! Unique! Your position's terrible!"
That brief knock-up was enough.
Meurs frowned. "What? I— Holy sh—?!"
A streak of violet-and-gold light suddenly shot out from the darkness, taking the shape of spectral chains and flying straight toward him! Startled, Meurs immediately tried to retreat. Before he could react, Shadow Harrier leapt out from the brush on the opposite side. W – Grand Entrance The impact launched him high into the air, preventing him from flashing away immediately.
Sui Ning's E – Phantom Chains connected, rooting Meurs in place and leaving him unable to use any movement abilities.
"Sh*t! They had vision?" Meurs shouted.
Holden immediately realized things had gone horribly wrong. Controlling his tiny Goblin Engineer, he hurried toward the fight, gritting his teeth. "Damn it... I knew it! I'm coming!"
Even now, he still clung to a sliver of hope. Sui Ning's Phantom Trickster had only disappeared beneath his own outer turret a couple of seconds ago. How had he reached the Red Buff so quickly?
W – Phantom Trail could cross walls and shorten travel time, but it was also Phantom Trickster’s most important source of early-game damage. Without W, the champion's burst dropped dramatically. Maybe… Just maybe… With only the mid laner and support attacking him, Meurs might survive.
The very next second, Holden realized he was wrong. He had still underestimated the nineteen-year-old prodigy standing across from them.
Sui Ning raised his hand. W – Phantom Trail landed perfectly on Meurs. Combined with his basic attacks and Shadow Hawk’s damage, North America's rising-star jungler once again fell inside PNG's jungle.
[PNG_Wind (Phantom Trickster) has slain SDB_Unique (Highland Troll)!]
[First Blood!]
At the same moment, viewers noticed something on the ability bar. Sui Ning's Flash had already been on cooldown.
"Holy... Holy sh*t!" The English broadcast's play-by-play commentator was completely dumbfounded. He repeated the expletive four or five times before finally forcing himself to slow down. "—He actually Flashed from under his own mid turret into the brush beside the Red Buff camp? PNG didn't even have vision!"
The giant screen immediately replayed the sequence from Sui Ning's first-person perspective. More than a billion viewers worldwide watched exactly what had happened.
Under his own turret… For absolutely no apparent reason… Sui Ning suddenly burned Flash, blinking into the brush behind and to the right.
One minute earlier, everyone had been confused. Was it a misclick? Did his hand slip because he was nervous? Or maybe… No matter what people guessed, nobody imagined that Sui Ning had done it on purpose.
But he had. Exactly three seconds after he flashed into that brush… Meurs walked into PNG's vision.
[...??????]
[When Wind used Flash, I literally typed a question mark. I had 0.01% doubt in him. I deserve to be ashamed.]
[Good lord... this is the legendary Flash-without-a-trace?]
[Damn it... how does someone even have the guts to do that???]
“Guys, what do you call top-tier game sense? What do you call godlike understanding? Look—just look carefully!” Tofu wore a face of utter shock, banging his just-finished water cup loudly against the desk. “That Flash—I dare say anyone who truly understands it is at least King rank! Anyone even slightly lower—not only would they not dare to Flash, they wouldn’t even think of it! You simply can’t come up with something this tricky, you know?”
[True, if Unique had successfully invaded there, that’s a triple-buff start—Cloud would’ve had a really hard time!]
[Brother Su’s support was fast, too. The game sense of these two is just insane]
[I think Wind pinged first—he was also the one shotcalling in the comms earlier. This guy is ruthless]
[Hehehe, Wind—]
“If the invade had succeeded, it’s not just Cloud who suffers,” Tofu took a sip of water and shifted into a lecturing tone, analyzing step by step. “Top lane right now is literally a son getting beaten by his father—it’s completely dependent on the jungler helping out. If the jungler collapses, doesn’t top collapse too? If top and jungle collapse, isn’t Herald gone? Herald gets dropped mid, combined with the engineer’s turret setup to siege—doesn’t mid tower fall? Once mid tower falls, doesn’t mid collapse as well?”
He raised a finger for each point, counting them off like treasures. “If top, mid, and jungle all collapse, doesn’t the jungle have to shrink? And once the jungle shrinks, doesn’t bot lane get dove under tower?”
“—Don’t think I’m exaggerating. Unique rushed straight toward red after his first buff. He was only level 2—why so urgent? Because he wanted to wipe out Cloud’s entire red side jungle! High risk, high reward—this isn’t turning a bicycle into a motorcycle, this is turning it straight into a Maserati! And Cloud was still helping top—what could he do? At best, he could trade by invading SDB’s red, but there’s only one camp of Krugs to take. The rest are too close to mid—try to invade and Maverick would beat him up!”
Finally, Tofu clenched his five raised fingers into a fist and swung it decisively. “Holding the red side here is massively important—mid and support deserve a medal for this play!”
[66666]
[The more you think about it, the scarier it gets—if half the jungle got taken, Cloud would be level 3 vs Unique level 5, and top 2v2 would explode even harder!]
[Correct. Top-tier. Professional. Completely beyond my understanding]
[I get the logic, but in that moment, who would actually dare to Flash like that? There was zero vision the entire time???]
[Holy sht, holy sht, holy sh*t???]
“…That’s right, you didn’t see it wrong—Wind never had even a single second of vision on Unique the entire time.”
The male commentator was momentarily at a loss for words.
He could already imagine how stunned the livestream chat must be, but— “PNG_Wind, ladies and gentlemen—if that clean 1–0 earlier wasn’t enough to make you remember his ID, then this Flash at 3 minutes 27 seconds is enough to carve his name into all of our minds!”
“Wow…”
The female commentator stared wide-eyed, stammering in amazement. “…wow.”
“This was a bold, brilliant, and decisive call—without a hint of hesitation,” the male caster paused, then added pointedly, “SDB prepared a lot, hoping to pressure Wind through lane control and keep him stuck mid—but clearly, that won’t work. Maverick, you have to do something for your team!”
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