Both sides formed a long single-file formation. When everyone else appeared at their respective map positions and mid lane was confirmed safe, Lin Fan couldn't help wanting to step forward and proc First Strike.
After all, he'd taken the rune, and the enemy was right in front of him. Who could possibly hold back?
Absolutely no one.
And Jayce's A-Q-A combo would at least steal ten or so gold.
Doinb stared straight at Jayce. The moment Jayce dared to lift his hand to auto, he'd Q straight in and start chopping.
Conqueror Irelia definitely couldn't beat Conqueror Jayce at level one—but the opponent had taken First Strike. Daring to step up and touch him like that? That took some nerve.
Looking for death.
The instant Jayce raised his hand, Doinb thrust forward with Q.
Irelia's Q had a 600-range, while Jayce's auto range was only 500.
That was exactly why Irelia was considered so good into Jayce. If Jayce could auto Irelia, then Irelia could definitely Q in. Under Doinb's control, once he got in close, he immediately followed with an auto. With Bone Plating selected, even after taking follow-up cannon damage, Irelia still held the HP advantage.
After getting on top of him, Jayce instantly swapped to melee form.
Setting aside everything else, that extra 5 armor was actually very useful in a trade.
An auto attack procced an extra 25 magic damage. Jayce then leapt high with To the Skies!, slowing Irelia by 30% and quickly pulling back.
If the fight continued, he'd take a huge loss.
Especially since both champions dropped below half HP, and Irelia had already fully stacked Conqueror. Each slash felt like it was cutting into an artery—what had been three health bars was now barely over two.
Doinb built momentum. Even while slowed, he kept chasing with autos.
I'm Irelia, and you dare proc First Strike on me? That's some serious guts.
He shifted his focus to Q's cooldown. Unfortunately, since both sides had immediately popped potions, Jayce's HP stabilized at around 170. With that health, even a Q followed by an auto wouldn't kill—he'd need two autos.
And with potion regen ticking, maybe even three to be safe.
At level one, without Ignite, damage calculations were always tricky.
Seeing that Jayce wasn't giving any more opportunities, he retreated straight behind his turret.
"Huh?"
But just then, Jayce swapped back into ranged form—and walked back out.
Big guts.
No wonder he'd built such huge advantages in the previous three matches. A newborn calf really wasn't afraid of the tiger?
He was certain—at 200 HP, without turret damage, Jayce's damage was nowhere near enough.
Without hesitation, Doinb's Q came back off cooldown and he dashed in again.
Just as Doinb expected, even after Jayce landed his A-Q combo, killing a 200-HP Irelia was still far from possible.
Instead, Irelia tapped Jayce once and his HP dropped straight to 73.
One more hit—unfortunately, potion healing kicked in, and Jayce barely clung on with 5 HP.
Doinb continued forward, stopping right at the edge of the turret, watching Jayce retreat fully under tower.
"Xi ba? And he doesn't Flash? Is he really that bold?"
With Jayce at that sliver of HP, Irelia could absolutely Flash-auto to finish him—but that meant flashing into turret range.
Taking that turret shot, Irelia wouldn't survive either. It would be a one-for-one.
Trading Flash for a kill while handing over your own death, earning only a hundred gold—way too little.
And afterward, you'd be restricted everywhere. An Irelia without Flash would be under massive pressure in lane, especially with Tian as the enemy jungler. No need to say more—he'd definitely put on a brotherly love performance.
So Doinb resisted the temptation of first blood. A 1-for-1 really wasn't worth much.
What he didn't expect was that Jayce, with that tiny bit of HP, also had no intention of flashing.
His blood pressure instantly shot up. After calculating so much, the opponent was this fearless?
Damn it. If I'd known, I should've just flashed earlier and taken the trade.
"Doinb, you liar. You sounded so nice in the lobby, but in game you're this ruthless."
Lin Fan had genuinely felt enormous pressure just now. This was only possible because mid lane was short—if it were top lane, his Flash would've been forced long before reaching turret.
And against Irelia top, you definitely couldn't take First Strike. Without Conqueror, that'd just be feeding.
Still, this didn't feel like the usual Doinb. He hadn't expected him to be so ferocious at level one.
Charging in without hesitation.
"You were literally stealing money right in front of him. If he didn't Q in, I'd think something was wrong with him," JackeyLove immediately chimed in after hearing Lin Fan's muttering.
"If he flashed there, he would've gotten first blood, right? I even gave him the chance. Just couldn't make use of it."
At first, he really hadn't expected Doinb to be that bloodthirsty. Calling him old, yet he played like a youngster.
That was why Lin Fan didn't instantly disengage, instead opting to trade HP.
Only after reaching turret did he calculate the damage—realizing Irelia couldn't Q-A him to death—and then walked back out.
In the end, Doinb was the one who backed off.
No balls.
What a pity—didn't even bait out his Flash. Getting that Flash would've been a massive win.
But Doinb was still Doinb. Even though everyone said his Irelia wasn't that great, winning Worlds meant he really did have something special.
At level one, Doinb clearly came out ahead—but in reality, it had no real impact on the mid-lane state.
Both sides used Teleport to return and catch the wave.
Now with minions around Jayce, Doinb no longer dared to brawl like he had at level one.
Caster desk.
"Just from champ select, I could feel the gunpowder in the air. And sure enough, the mid laners fought this hard at level one."
"Once Irelia stacks Conqueror, First Strike Jayce just can't compete. Losing that trade is normal."
"If he flashed in, he definitely could've solo killed. But with Jayce entering turret range, following with Flash could've backfired.
If Rise of Kingdoms Bro reacted fast enough, both could Flash simultaneously, dodge the auto, and let Irelia eat turret damage. With that HP, she wouldn't survive—and Triumph wouldn't heal enough either." 957 adjusted his glasses.
"And even if Rise of Kingdoms Bro didn't react, trading one-for-one while leaving Irelia without Flash would make the lane incredibly difficult. It's a losing trade.
Coin Bro holding back there was actually very good. He clearly considered all this, which is why Irelia paused under turret instead of flashing in.
Most mid laners would've flashed immediately upon seeing that kill—but without Flash, mid lane is basically over."
As a former pro, 957's god's-eye view allowed him to immediately dissect the mental game between the two mid laners.
A truly spectacular level-one exchange.
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup