Game 3.
Before the match had even started, SDB had already fallen into the ultimate BP dilemma.
“SDB are down 0–2 right now, so this draft absolutely has to be done carefully! Every single choice needs to be thought through!”
Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Chao Mi cleared his throat and analyzed in a deliberately neutral tone, “Obviously, triple-banning mages isn’t wise. They simply have no answer for Cloud’s Vengeful Shadow! That champion is flexible in teamfights and picks alike, excels at diving the backline and splitting fights, and can function in basically every scenario. The moment Cloud gets it, the result is just a repeat of last game—SDB’s entire mid-jungle tempo collapses!”
“And they can’t let Soulreaper King through either. SDB can’t handle that comp at all,” Qing Ci added with a smile, sounding slightly malicious as he offered “advice”: “So really, they can only consider leaving either Stellar Sprite or Specter of Shadow open. Which one do they release?”
Hearing that, Chao Mi also broke into a knowing grin. “Personally, I definitely recommend releasing Aeria. Fan’en comes with a built-in mid-jungle system, and system-based mids are insanely strong in the current patch! Every other quarterfinalist team, including UG, is playing around systems too!”
Qing Ci coughed lightly to suppress his laughter. “Exactly. War of Glory is a 5v5 game after all. A mid like Aeria that emphasizes individual mechanics is naturally weaker than system champions. I honestly think SDB should consider letting it through. Their last ban in the first three absolutely has to go toward jungle, otherwise how are they supposed to survive their mid-jungle exploding every single game?”
[???? You two are really starting this, huh??]
[Coach Mark: damn, these two absolute trolls]
[HAHAHA help, I can hear your scheme all the way from Shanghai!!]
[Currently in Paris, but all I hear is nonstop abacus clicking. Doctor, is this treatable?]
[Help, I can hear it from Mars!!]
[Honestly though, it’s match point anyway. Go all in, SDB! We support you!!]
The camera conveniently cut to Coach Mark’s bitter expression. Looking closely, you could even see sweat forming at his temples. The chat clowns became even happier. Panic, yes, panic more! Our side’s up 2–0 anyway—feels great!
Being down two games in a BO5 elimination series, even Coach Mark couldn’t help scratching his head.
Finally, at the very last second of the timer, SDB made a painful decision that defied their ancestors.
SDB BAN: [Soulreaper King], [Shadow of Vengeance],[Specter of Shadow]
The portrait of Fan’en appeared on screen, instantly triggering waves of shocked cries from the audience. The broadcast immediately cut to PNG’s player booth. Wind’s handsome, refined face showed little emotion as he quietly discussed something with his teammates.
Behind him, however, Chen Chen kept nodding repeatedly, the corners of his mouth rising uncontrollably, smugness practically overflowing from the screen.
[prprprpr licking my wife’s close-up pics furiously, hehehe]
[I hereby declare my wife’s visuals are unbeatable from every angle. Already made it my phone wallpaper hehe]
[Still can’t figure out how entertainment agencies rejected this face??]
[This one goes to the entertainment reporters MVP award!]
[Chen Chen, control yourself, look how hard you’re grinning!!]
[If I were Chen Chen I’d be laughing my ass off too. SDB’s bans clearly show they’ve been cornered. What, should he be mourning instead?]
PNG PICK: [Stellar Sprite]
“YES!”
Chao Mi clenched his fist excitedly. “If they leave it open, we take it! Doesn’t matter what weird gimmicks SDB drafts to target it—we’re not afraid!”
“Wind’s Aeria just has that kind of magic,” Qing Ci said with a smile. “Strength-wise, Aeria is the classic solo-carry champion. Dominates solo queue, but usually struggles in pro play. If literally anyone else locked it in, I wouldn’t have faith. But if the player ID says PNG_Wind? Then it’s fine.”
[Pick Aeria mid and you’re asking to lose. Huh? Wait, it’s Wind? Oh then never mind!]
[I’m saying Wind’s Aeria is in a tier of its own. Anyone disagree?]
[Too real. My team’s mid, Doll from TMX, watched Wind play it and got insanely addicted. He stomps ranked every stream with Aeria, then picked it in playoffs and nearly got mentally destroyed LOL. Got rolled in 25 minutes by a bottom-tier team, can you believe it??]
[ Isn’t that anonymous mid laner surnamed C from Nv the same? Ranked demon, stage liability. If your ID isn’t right, don’t touch this cursed hero]
[LMAO Wind-chan’s Chinese server score is already 25,000, and rank 2 only just barely hit 20k. And that’s with Wind barely playing his main account during Worlds^^]
[Rank 2 already renamed himself: “Living in Second Place Forever.” Think about it]
[I’m dying laughing. Coach Mark calls an HPL insider the night before the match asking how to deal with Wind’s Aeria. Insider says: “Just defend once.” Coach Mark instantly understands—time to gamble everything!]
SDB had no choice but to make adjustments based on last game’s draft. In jungle, they swapped out the clunky Trundle for the more flexible and teamfight-oriented [Stone Sentinel]. Mid lane also “returned to normal” with the standard poke physical mid [Electromancer].
“Sentinel jungle emphasizes support, skirmishes, and teamfighting, but its 1v1 is weak. That means the team’s overall style needs to lean toward macro and map pressure, and it pairs well with mids that can push and siege towers. Electromancer is an excellent choice,” Chao Mi evaluated objectively. “But this means their mid-jungle now has no AP damage. Let’s see if SDB wants to add a magic tank top.”
Unfortunately, SDB’s intentions were too obvious. PNG had already banned the strongest AP tank top option, [Blood Count], in phase two.
Once Count was banned, only off-meta AP tops converted from mid lane remained. Every single one had glaring strengths and weaknesses. Picking them wasn’t about choosing the best option anymore—it was about picking the tallest dwarf, while also considering player champion pools…That left SDB in a difficult spot.
“How about… Goblin Engineer top lane?”
Qing Ci rubbed his chin and started theorycrafting through the screen, but the moment he finished speaking, he shook his head and rejected the idea himself. “No, just imagining it already feels kind of cursed. Engineer would definitely have an easy time shoving top lane, but once he gets camped he’s doomed every single time. That little stubby-legged thing is terrified of ganks! Last game Shadowmoon Gun at least had mobility and still got destroyed—Engineer would suffer even worse. And SDB wants to play grouped fights with numbers advantages, but Engineer’s roaming and AOE damage just can’t keep up.”
“Count would obviously be the best pick, but PNG would never let them have it.” Chao Mi spread his hands helplessly. “And Zakiah isn’t known for AP tanks anyway. If they really can’t decide, they might as well just go full physical damage comp!”
Coach Mark had the exact same thought. Rather than forcing players onto uncomfortable picks like last game, they might as well let everyone play signature champions. At 0–2 down, why keep hesitating? Dead either way—might as well swing freely.
In the end, both teams locked in their drafts.
[Blue Side PNG vs Red Side SDB]
Top: Furnace Ram Spirit vs Verdant Treant
Jungle: Void Devourer vs Stone Sentinel
Mid: Stellar Sprite vs Electromancer
Marksman: Soul-Piercing Spear vs Void Ranger
Support: Shadow Hawk vs Dark Soul Angel
The moment he saw the first line, Chao Mi burst out laughing. “Wait, Zakiah’s actually playing Verdant Treant? For a second I thought I misread the IDs!”
Qing Ci cracked up too. “HAHAHA, seriously rare! Verdant Treant’s pick rate in the domestic league is basically carried single-handedly by Myerii. Didn’t expect people to start fighting over it at Worlds too! Marksman’s still on Void Ranger though. Scarlett’s Void Ranger didn’t really get to do much the last two games—the matches ended way too quickly. Hopefully he gets to show something this time.”
“But support locking in Dark Soul Angel…” Qing Ci paused uncertainly. “That’s an enchanter support! Right now both HPL and the Korean league heavily prefer engage supports. Support is basically the team’s second frontline. Picking enchanters is really rare.”
Chao Mi nodded. “Exactly. No one questions enchanters’ laning strength, but in teamfights they lack tankiness and engage potential. Neither enchanters nor engage supports are inherently better—it all depends on team style! SDB is severely lacking AP damage this game, and Dark Soul Angel can build AP items to act as half a mage. Its Q and R roots help supplement crowd control, and the E shield granting magic absorption plus CC immunity is specifically designed to counter AP assassins. Overall, it’s actually a really solid pick.”
[? Dark Soul Angel counters AP assassins? Since when?? Why’s nobody ever picked it before??]
[Because Dark Angel’s shield scales with AP. You get it now? Supports don’t have the gold for AP items. Without money, that shield’s made of paper—at best it blocks one CC if your reactions are good enough]
[Yeah, sounds beautiful in theory. In practice you realize the damage, CC, and protection are all just slightly lacking]
[The most expensive stat in the game is armor penetration, second is crit, third is ability haste and AP scaling. Think about it. A support could murder their whole team and still not afford a full AP item…]
[JOJO, I refuse to be a support anymore!!]
[North America always drafts this “looks amazing on paper, garbage in reality” stuff. Damn it, the casters analyzed it so seriously they almost had me nervous]
——
At match point, SDB abandoned the weird experimental picks and instead drafted a standard poke-and-siege composition centered around mid and marksman.
Both domestic and international audiences were surprised. The first two games had left such a strong impression with SDB’s unconventional drafts that this game felt strange precisely because it looked too normal.
The English broadcast male commentator folded his arms and pondered for a moment. “Well… alright, I have to say this draft actually looks pretty solid. SDB already liked playing around mid-marksman siege during the regular season, and today they’ve clearly strengthened the tankiness of top and jungle on top of that.”
On paper, SDB’s composition had decent strength across lane phase, teamfights, and all stages of the game. The champions also covered each other’s weaknesses well—a classic “well-rounded” pro-play composition.
As a result, SDB’s early and mid-game playstyle became noticeably steadier.
“But PNG doesn’t care about this kind of comp! Think about it!” Tofu leisurely took a huge sip of cola while holding chips in his other hand. “How many ‘normal’ and ‘stable’ teams has PNG already beaten? I guarantee at least 90% of HPL teams try this exact style against PNG. Y’know, ‘we need stability, we need balance, let both mid-jungle and bot lane flourish’—and then what happens?”
“This style basically comes down to pure fundamentals. Mechanics, macro, game understanding. And if it goes to the final game of a BO5, even stamina becomes part of the battle. From the first two games, SDB still looks a bit lacking.”
Tofu shrugged. “Honestly, if they’d gone for some bizarre cheese strat this game, maybe they’d actually have had a chance. But with this ‘classic comp’? I’ll be generous and call it a 1–9 matchup.”
[???? Calling it 1–9 is “being generous”?? Without generosity it’d be 0–10??]
[For real, everyone already took their pants off waiting for SDB to pull out some insane tech!]
[After losing two straight, they really don’t have the courage anymore]
[Another Stone Sentinel jungle. Fun fact: every Sentinel jungle against PNG has lost LOL]
[What kind of cursed magic does this champion have? Why does everyone keep picking it??]
“Fast support rotations and strong teamfighting. Isn’t that enough?” Tofu spread his hands like, what more do you want?
[Too bad that’s only in theory. PNG has slaughtered enough Sentinel junglers to circle the globe]
[PNG probably has anti-Sentinel tactics engraved into their DNA by now…]
[Please stop engraving weird things into DNA!!]
The audience was familiar with Sentinel. Did people really think PNG wasn’t?
Please—they knew this champion way too well.
And so SDB jungler Meurs gradually discovered that this game felt strangely suffocating to play.
Was it because his jungle was getting invaded? No.
Was he massively behind Cloud in gold and experience? Also no.
Even though every one of his teammates was losing lane, the jungle shouldn't have collapsed as a result.
But somehow, it still did. Meurs just couldn't shake the feeling that he was playing with both hands tied behind his back, as if he'd spent the entire game throwing punches at empty air—he had the strength, but nowhere to use it.
It wasn't until 10:30, when he finally used his ultimate to fly down and support bottom lane, that it suddenly dawned on him—
Wait... it's already been ten minutes?
"The Sentinel hit level six at 8:10, but didn't cast his first ultimate until 10:30!"
The commentator couldn't help sighing. "Those two whole minutes were completely wasted! PNG understood this matchup perfectly—they knew exactly when Unique's strongest power spikes came after level six, and they shut every one of them down!"
"Look at Wind's first two ganks bot lane. They were incredibly quick. If they landed crowd control, they'd instantly burst someone down. If they couldn't, they'd immediately disengage. They never gave SDB room to kite things out, and they never gave Sentinel the opportunity to channel his ultimate! Two whole minutes—that's enough time for Unique to get off two more ultimates!"
"Those two minutes are such a shame. Sentinel's early-game tempo revolves around his first two ultimates after reaching level six. It's like Unique was born missing two opportunities to impact the game. Once the clock passed ten minutes and everyone started grouping around mid and side lanes, the entire game changed."
It didn't matter how perfect Meur’s opening clear had been. It didn't matter how efficiently he'd rushed to level six. All of it amounted to nothing. By ten minutes, even someone AFK in the fountain at the start of a solo queue game would've reached level six.
Since the enemy bot lane had been splitting experience, Meurs should've been able to abuse the timing window—hitting level six first, diving two level-five opponents with no ultimates, and snowballing the game from there.
Instead, those wasted two minutes had crippled Stone Sentinel's early game by half.
PNG's marksman and support still had every major cooldown available. Meurs’ ultimate accomplished absolutely nothing.
At 11 minutes, disaster struck mid lane again.
Taking advantage of an empty lane, Holden tried to pressure the mid turret. Sui Ning wrapped around through fog of war and caught him on the retreat.
Holden tried to fight back. But Aeria was simply too mobile, while Electromancer was a fragile mage with almost no self-peel. Caught first, there was nothing he could do.
[PNG_Wind (Stellar Sprite) has slain SDB_Maverick (Electromancer)!]
[PNG_Wind (Stellar Sprite) is on a Killing Spree!]
Combined with the kills he'd picked up from his earlier roams to both side lanes, Sui Ning now sat comfortably at 3/0.
Chao Mi clicked his tongue. "Once mid lane starts snowballing, this game's looking rough for SDB again. Maverick can't beat Wind one-on-one anymore. Maybe he should just rotate between mid and top to soak extra farm?"
Qing Ci laughed. "That's not realistic. It's way too early to start funneling two lanes into your mid. Zakiah hasn't even finished his own core items yet. Besides, Wind's lead isn't just from CS. Most of it comes from kill gold—that's wealth created out of thin air. Maverick simply can't catch up."
At 13:47, PNG secured the dragon before grouping as five to siege bottom lane.
SDB tried to defend. Holden arrived just in time, firing empowered [Q – Thunder Orb] from long range to poke. But— His items were far too weak. Electromancer hadn't reached his power spike yet. The empowered shot slammed into Wei Ye… ...and barely scratched him.
Wei Ye immediately perked up. "I'm tanking, I'm tanking! What's the call? They don't have damage! My ult's ready!"
"Slow down, slow down! Don't rush! Watch our mid laner's position!"
"Watch their marksman! How many people are watching the marksman? He still has Flash—don't force it!"
"OK, OK! Watch me!"
"I'm ulting! I'm—I'm going, going, going!"
"Don't get separated! Slow down, damn it, slow down!"
At the same time, Sui Ning was searching for an opening onto SDB's backline.
Wei Ye sounded the [R – Horn of Fury], charging straight toward Edmond's position. Edmond's heart skipped a beat. If that ultimate connected, he'd be knocked airborne for 2.5 seconds. That was certain death.
His positioning...
Without another thought, Edmond instantly burned Flash. The dodge saved his life. But in flashing away, Void Ranger briefly emerged from behind the wall of tanks protecting him.
The instant the marksman appeared… Sui Ning activated [R – Interstellar Leap], adjusted his position, and fired [Q – Meteor Orbit] from maximum range.
Edmond's pupils contracted. There wasn't enough time to dodge. "Flying Star! Aria! Block it! Block it!"
"Got it! Don't panic!" Remy had been watching his carry all along. Before Edmond even called for help, he'd instinctively stepped forward to shield him with his own body.
The meteor struck. A crimson damage number exploded onto the screen.
-629!
Seeing the skill intercepted, Sui Ning lightly bit his lip. A pity.
"What the hell?!" Remy shouted. "WTF? What kind of damage is that?!"
He only had 2,000 HP. One hit had erased almost one-third of his health bar.
And you're saying that's "a pity"? Brother, I'm the frontline! If that had landed on Edmond instead, he'd have evaporated on the spot!
Compare that to Electromancer’s empowered Q earlier. It had only dealt just over 200 damage to Wei Ye. And that had been an empowered ability!
Holden's eyes widened. "WTF? What items does Wind even have?"
"We can't fight this! Give up the tower!"
"Back! Back! Keep the formation together—F**K! Don't get caught by CC!"
"Watch their support! Watch the support! His ultimate's up! Don't let him—"
As SDB scrambled backward, their formation briefly fell apart.
Cheng Su seized the opportunity without hesitation. His W + R combo clipped the edge of the formation, knocking two players airborne!
[PNG_Mior (Soul-Piercing Spear) has slain SDB_Velon (Dark Soul Angel)!]
[PNG_Mior (Soul-Piercing Spear) has slain SDB_Unique (Stone Sentinel)!]
[Double Kill!]
"Tch. Only caught two." The moment Cheng Su finished speaking, his expression returned to its usual icy calm. "What a shame. If only Flash had been up."
Otherwise, he could've Flashed forward into W, chained it into his ultimate, and locked down the entire SDB lineup.
"Hehehe! Thanks, boss!" Lin Zhaoxu grinned so hard his mouth nearly split in half. Ignoring his team's incorrigible show-off of a support, his eyes were glued to the shop's expensive marksman items. He swallowed eagerly.
What's not to love about casually dealing a little damage and pocketing 600 gold? Getting rich really is this easy.
"666666!"
"Push the tower! Push the tower! Shove mid and top too! Rift Overlord spawns in one minute!"
"OK!" Lin Zhaoxu replied. "Su and I'll swap to top. Shepherd can go bot and keep farming!"
"..." Wei Ye looked speechless. "I'm a Ram Spirit, not a shepherd."
"Same thing, isn't it?!"
Amid the noisy bickering, Cheng Su completely missed Lin Zhaoxu's outrageous remark.
He said coldly, "Push every lane out. I'm going to establish vision. They'll probably contest the Herald—don't give them an opening."
"Hehe, got it."
By 14:30, PNG had all three lanes pushed and their entire upper jungle covered in vision.
At 15:07, the Rift Herald spawned.
SDB was unwilling to give it up for free. But all three lanes were shoved against them. Their support, Vitt, had died during the earlier chase in bottom lane—a fatal setback. They simply didn't have enough time to clear PNG's vision around the pit. Charging in blindly would be suicide.
At 15:29, Ji Yunyu calmly secured the Rift Herald. He summoned it top lane, helping his marksman and support demolish the outer turret. Meanwhile, Sui Ning returned to the jungle, collected Blue Buff, then regrouped with his jungler, marksman, and support to invade SDB's red-side jungle.
The four-man squad moved together. Zakiah and SDB's jungler could only retreat helplessly.
"The only way to describe PNG's tempo..." Chao Mi paused before enunciating each word. "...is smooth as flowing water."
"They didn't waste a single resource. They didn't waste a single second. The moment bot lane's objective was done, they immediately rotated Myerii—the player who still needed farm—down there. Their marksman and support pushed top. Zakiah had no chance of defending unless SDB also sent their bot lane up—but by then it was already too late."
"When Cloud's jungle camps respawned while he was busy pushing a tower, what did they do? Let Wind take them. That immediately started the next respawn timer. As soon as they were cleared, everyone invaded red. The jungler never fell behind in gold. He even secured the far more valuable Red Buff. And by the time they invaded, the ward Erllit had placed earlier was still active!"
Shaking his head in admiration, Chao Mi sighed. "Beautiful. They're playing beautifully."
[This feels just like the Summer Split again!]
[My favorite episode from childhood. Shame it got deleted before. Thanks, SDB, for letting me watch it again!]
[Once Aeria gets fed, her siege tempo is completely unreasonable. Whoever dares defend a tower gets hit with a fully charged Q and watches their health bar disappear!]
[SDB understands all of that too. They just don't have enough bans! Dear War of Glory designers, please come take a look!]
[The designers: "We already emergency-nerfed Fan’en before... do we seriously have to do another one?" (sarcastic)]
[PNG has mastered this composition. Their execution is on a completely different level from SDB's. I actually feel bad for the other side.]
At 16 minutes, SDB's top outer turret fell.
At 17 minutes, their mid outer turret followed.
Cheng Su swaggered into SDB's jungle with several teammates acting as bodyguards, setting up vision as though he wanted to plant wards right on the enemy high ground. There were still three minutes before Baron spawned. Yet SDB's entire jungle was lit up. From PNG's perspective, the minimap looked almost like they had map hacks enabled.
Vitt nearly ground his back teeth to dust. Losing the vision battle first was disastrous for a Dark Soul Angel support. Enchanter supports were already weaker than engage supports at establishing vision. Even Cheng Su's tank support needed escorts to ward safely. With SDB's jungle now completely dark… Vitt didn't dare leave base alone.
And if the support couldn't leave… Then the team couldn't establish vision at all.
"The root of the problem is still mid lane," the commentator remarked. "Losing the mid outer turret has an enormous impact on vision. Without the natural vision provided by that tower, both sides of the river and mid lane become completely dark. The entrances to the jungle are dark as well. Their effective vision has been cut by nearly half."
But the game still had to be played. And someone still had to place wards.
Vitt cautiously ventured into the upper river. He was nearly turned into a fallen angel on the spot, escaping with a sliver of health only by instantly burning Flash.
After that, no one in chat questioned how dangerous warding was anymore.
At 20 minutes, Baron spawned.
SDB had failed to find a Baron comeback in either of the previous two games. Each time, things had spiraled out of control immediately afterward. This game… No matter what… They had to try.
Meurs had already been poked several times on the way over, leaving him at roughly 60% HP. Normally, he should have recalled immediately. But Baron buff was simply too tempting. The team's only hope of a comeback rested on this one objective. He had no choice but to gamble everything.
"How much HP does Baron have? How much?!"
The entire pit was dark. Meurs shouted anxiously, "Quick! Somebody get vision!"
"Not yet! Don't rush!"
Vitt finally placed a ward. Baron still had 10,000 HP. Its health was dropping rapidly. PNG's Baron take was every bit as fast as expected.
"Can we harass them? Can we mess with the jungler's Smite?"
"We'll try... Don't go into the pit! F**K! Nobody goes into the pit! Are you trying to die?!"
"I've saved an empowered Q," Holden said rapidly, his lips trembling with tension. "When you're ready to contest, tell me." To make sure his calculations were correct, he repeatedly hovered his mouse over the skill description, checking the numbers and factoring in his attack scaling. "...It'll deal 529 damage."
“OK.”
Knowing that losing this Baron would basically mean repeating the first two games’ script—slow death and inevitable collapse—Meurs was extremely tense. He kept calculating in his head: the Stone Sentinel wasn’t originally designed as a jungler. Its skills had no execute mechanic and relatively low damage. Q only dealt around 100 damage. Add his Smite’s 900-damage execute threshold, and that totaled about 1000.
So when Baron’s HP dropped to around 1600–1800, he could have his mid laner fire the empowered Q first, then instantly follow with Q + Smite himself. PNG would also naturally deal some extra damage during that moment, maximizing the odds of stealing it.
So Meurs said, “Use Q at 1800 HP.”
“Got it.”
This was probably the peak of Meurs’ mathematical ability. He’d never been this serious even during actual math exams. Muttering to himself, he opened the scoreboard and calculated Ji Yunyu’s damage based on his items. Conclusion: Void Devourer’s Q + Smite combo dealt around 1300 damage. Add in PNG teammates helping hit Baron, and their execute threshold would also land around 1600.
“…Haa.”
Meurs took a deep breath nervously. There was no helping it—when both junglers’ burst damage was similar, stealing Baron came down to timing, positioning… and whichever side fate favored.
——
Baron HP: 9300 / 12600.
“They want to contest Baron. Should we reset it?” Sui Ning noticed SDB’s movements and frowned.
If PNG wanted to play it safe, they could absolutely abandon Baron here and spend another ten minutes widening the gold gap through macro play.
“My Smite is 1362,” Ji Yunyu answered instantly amid the chaos, as enemy skills kept flying toward him trying to disrupt him. “Their Sentinel’s Smite is 1127. If Electromancer saves Q, it should be around 1650. Maybe 1700.”
Sui Ning understood immediately. With his current items, a full-charge Q from Stellar Sprite dealt between 880 and 910 damage. If Stellar Sprite helped burst Baron, Ji Yunyu’s Smite threshold would exceed 2000 HP—far beyond SDB’s reach.
But there was a fatal weakness. Stellar Sprite’s Q had travel time, and its animation was incredibly obvious.
If he started charging Q at 2000 HP and it landed, bringing Baron down to around 1300, then Baron would also enter SDB’s execute range. SDB weren’t blind. The moment they saw Sui Ning charging Q, they’d immediately prepare to contest.
That was why execute combos for Baron steals usually relied on abilities with nearly invisible effects, instant activation, or extremely short travel distance—the key was surprise.
Stellar Sprite clearly didn’t fit that requirement.
Ji Yunyu didn’t want to give up this Baron.
After a moment of thought, Sui Ning calmly said, “I can’t help lower Baron’s HP safely… but I have another idea.”
—If they killed the enemy jungler, could SDB still steal Baron?
A ten-thousand-HP Baron might be hard for an AP assassin to burst down, but was a three-thousand-HP jungler really some kind of invincible tank? Especially when Meurs was already low, sitting below 2000 HP.
Without hesitation, Sui Ning shifted his target onto Meurs.
Baron HP: 7200.
Baron HP: 5130.
……
Cheng Su cleared another ward SDB had placed inside the pit. Unable to see Baron’s real-time HP anymore, Meurs was panicking. “Ward! Who still has wards?!”
Even Vitt was getting nervous from the pressure. He shouted, “Last ward! Relax, relax! Get ready to ult in!”
A few seconds later, Vitt placed their final ward into the Baron pit.
Baron HP: 4050.
Stone Sentinel’s ultimate had a several-second animation, so Meurs had to factor that in too. There was simply too much information to process simultaneously: Baron’s continuously dropping HP, the rate it was falling every second, the timing of his ultimate landing, how long he could survive inside the pit…
At that moment, Lin Zhaoxu fired a Piercing Arrow through the air, hitting him directly.
Already on edge, Meurs couldn’t help cursing under his breath. In this condition, there was no way he’d survive even if he stole Baron.
Finally, when Baron’s HP neared 3200, Meurs activated his ultimate.
The Stone Sentinel crouched slightly, stomped both feet violently, and shot into the sky.
The next second, the circular targeting zone of [R – Hero’s Entrance] enveloped the entire Baron pit. At the center of the circle appeared a giant sword embedded in stone, symbolizing the Sentinel’s fearless courage.
“—Match point game, twenty-minute Baron fight! SDB are behind, but they absolutely don’t want to give up this Baron! This is their final chance! If PNG gets this Baron buff, it’ll be terrifying!”
Chao Mi shouted rapidly, “Unique has ulted! He wants the steal—Hero’s Entrance!! Is there a chance?!”
High above the Rift, the Stone Sentinel hurtled toward the landing point of his ultimate. As he descended closer to the battlefield, his untargetable state disappeared, revealing his massive dark-gray stone body to everyone. The magical runes carved across his bulging rocky muscles glowed faintly blue.
At this moment, audiences both domestic and international were holding their breath.
Sui Ning lifted his gaze and quietly watched the Sentinel descending from the clouds.
Aeria obediently tilted her head upward as well, hiding the dazzling meteor in her hands behind her back. In their minds, both of them silently counted down together 3, 2, 1...
“The Sentinel’s about to land! [Hero’s Entrance] has a knock-up effect—Cloud may not be able to Smite!! PNG absolutely cannot let this Baron get stolen by SDB—!!”
In the audience stands, Chao Mi grew so tense that he stood up. Watching Meurs getting closer and closer, he shouted: “Don’t give SDB a comeback opportunity! What can Erllit do here? Can he CC him?! Mior, give them more damage!! Finish Baron! It’s entering execute range!”
Baron HP: 2210. Meurs had half a second before landing.
“This HP is way too close! SDB really might steal this!! PNG!!”
A streak of dark purple light shot across the battlefield, trailing a long violet-gold tail behind it like lightning piercing through the heavens. Chao Mi only managed to catch sight of a tiny blue figure bouncing around on the big screen a few times before the kill notification sounded—
[PNG_Wind (Stellar Sprite) has slain SDB_Unique (Stone Sentinel)!]
[PNG_Wind (Stellar Sprite) is Godlike!]
“Holy f— I— K— AHHHH!!!”
The curse words reached his lips, only to be forcibly swallowed back down by the last shred of his rationality! The literature major found himself completely speechless, able only to express his shock and excitement through a near-scream:
“AHHH—?! My god, WHAT?!”
“What… just… happened?!”
SDB’s hope of a comeback, the vanguard of the Baron steal, the Stone Sentinel descending heroically from the heavens—
Hadn’t even landed yet. Its ultimate knock-up hadn’t even gone off. And in the blink of an eye, it had already become a corpse on the ground.
A corpse falling from the sky.
[?????]
[HOLY SHIT???? HOLY SHIT????]
[…???]
[Huh?? Wait, I, you, what??]
[That’s possible?? The Sentinel can DIE mid-air?? Isn’t he immune during ult?!]
The barrage of comments, previously busy discussing Baron details, froze momentarily before instantly being flooded by question marks.
Even the professional flamers on the internet suddenly had no idea what angle to attack from anymore. What the hell was this? Killing the Sentinel in mid-air during his ultimate? What kind of monstrous play was that??
“6666666—!”
“As expected of Wind!”
“HAHAHAHA SDB players must be losing their minds!”
“Holy shit, holy shit!”
Forget the audience—even Lin Zhaoxu, currently playing on stage, was stunned. “What the hell just happened?? Why did their jungler die??”
“You can hit him during the landing animation,” Sui Ning explained calmly. “It’s just hard to aim.” Then he praised him: “That arrow you landed earlier was important. Otherwise I wouldn’t have had enough damage.”
Q-R-E-W-Q-R. He had pre-charged the falling star, perfectly timed the combo, and unloaded all of Stellar Sprite’s damage within half a second. In the end, the killing blow only overkilled by less than twenty damage.
Without the lucky arrow Lin Zhaoxu had landed earlier, Meurs would’ve survived.
“…” Lin Zhaoxu was still dazed, mechanically attacking Baron on pure instinct. “No, wait a second—you’re not seriously telling me killing a flying Stone Sentinel mid-ultimate is basic mechanics, right?”
Sui Ning fell silent for a second, hesitating between showing off and insulting him. Then he replied: “Otherwise?”
Lin Zhaoxu: “...You fucking—holy shit…”
After struggling for words, he could only dig up two words to describe his mid laner: Absolutely monstrous.
“Can someone control this guy?” Lin Zhaoxu questioned sincerely. “Where’s the law? Where’s morality? Where’s the carry? Hehe, the carry’s right here with me, mwah!”
Sui Ning: …
——
Having their Baron steal attempt turned into a “corpse falling from heaven” completely shattered SDB’s will to fight back, both physically and mentally.
With the enormous gold deficit plus Baron buff, SDB had no strength left to resist.
And mentally, the team’s spirit had visibly changed compared to earlier.
The pressure of losing two straight games, being down 7000 gold in a match point game, and failing their desperate all-in attempt—everything piled together, making their resistance in the later stages feel hollow and lifeless. They could no longer produce any truly impressive plays.
When the broadcast camera cut back to the SDB player booth, Holden was waiting to respawn, absentmindedly biting his fingers with unfocused eyes. He seemed to be thinking about many things… and at the same time, nothing at all.
Slowly, his gaze landed on Stellar Sprite. Watching the champion weave effortlessly through enemy lines without taking a scratch, he belatedly realized: He really couldn’t pull off plays like that anymore.
Even with a mechanically demanding champion like Electromancer, he no longer had the same confidence in his own mechanics as before. No longer the kind of player who, with Flash available, would dare charge headfirst into an entire enemy team to assassinate the carry.
Then another thought surfaced. When exactly was “before”?
Maybe eight years ago. When he was eighteen.
The high ground fell. The twin carries that the fans had placed all their hopes on still failed to find a path back into the game.
At 28:54, the Nexus turrets were destroyed.
At 30:16, SDB’s Nexus fell.
Game over.
The first quarterfinals match of the knockout stage had its result— PNG 3:0 SDB!!
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