Backstage at TES, Luo Sheng clapped his hands hard, his excitement obvious.
Looking at the game as a whole, Doinb had been suppressed from start to finish—beaten so badly he couldn't even tell east from west.
This was Doinb.
You might see him lose lane, but you almost never see him completely collapse in lane.
Yet this game, it really happened. Not only were the stats ugly, he had zero presence throughout the entire match.
"Clean. Lin Fan's Jayce can be directly built into our tactical system."
For Jayce's first appearance on the pro stage, Luo Sheng gave extremely high praise.
And Tian had finally found his role—no longer running around like a headless chicken like in previous games, completely unsure of what to do.
This change alone proved that Lin Fan was absolutely the most suitable mid laner for the team right now.
How mid and jungle could properly link up had always been something the club studied.
After all, not everyone is born with perfect synergy with teammates.
It takes constant trial and error…
But the former rookie duo of Tian and Knight had been playing together for so long now and still showed zero chemistry.
Each doing their own thing, with no linkage whatsoever.
In the end, it still came down to the individual.
Luo Sheng knew Knight was strong. Strong was strong—but if he couldn't integrate into the team, he would still be glued to the bench with no chance to play.
Knight sat to the side in silence.
He knew there was no chance for him to play today either.
Judging by Lin Fan's current form, there was no way he'd collapse in Game Two.
But then—
Luo Sheng suddenly called his name.
Left jolted, looking up at Luo Sheng with a face full of hope.
Had they won Game One—did that mean Game Two was his turn?
"Lin Fan's form is too good right now. Those two laning sequences just now were textbook Jayce-versus-Irelia. You should go ask him privately and learn from it.
You're younger—TES's future will still be yours in the end."
"…."
Knight lowered his head.
Once the starting mid laner, now reduced to a substitute. From boundless glory to barely being seen—this shift in mentality was extremely hard to handle.
He believed there were no longer any outside distractions affecting him, that he could maintain his current form and slowly look for opportunities.
He refused to believe that a mid laner who couldn't play Ahri would never give the opponent chances later on.
"Nice. My Draven was chopping people down one by one—pulling it out to fight just feels different. You guys were clutch."
"You guys had fun. Look at me—I got beaten up nonstop. A 0–3–7 scoreline, tower-dived from start to finish," Zoom joked.
After spending some time together, even though he wasn't fully integrated yet, joking around with everyone was no problem.
After all, with this string of wins, the team atmosphere was excellent.
"Doesn't matter. Zoom-style top laner—no need for kills. Just soak damage for the team," Mark grinned.
"If that's really the case, I'd be living the dream. They were camping top nonstop."
"Come on, it's Ale. You held pressure with Gragas into his Fiora. I'm telling you—this game alone probably knocked at least five hundred thousand off his price tag. Tonight he's bleeding money," Lin Fan said with a smile.
"He camps you this game, we camp him next game."
On the way back to the lounge, everyone chatted about what had happened in the previous game.
The mood was extremely upbeat.
Of course, that was only because they won. If they'd lost, no one would be talking about the previous game—it would only affect their mentality for Game Two.
At the venue, all three casters and even the referees cast their MVP votes for Lin Fan.
Naturally, he became the MVP of Game One.
Jayce's match stats were displayed on screen.
Even without a godlike streak, the numbers were still absurdly stacked.
7–0–6.
37.7% damage share.
The chat instantly exploded again.
"Support god ×, mid god √."
"LNG's comp wasn't weak, but this game it felt like every lane except top got crushed."
"Rise of Kingdoms Bro's form really exceeded my expectations. This is genuinely insane."
"Taking back what I said earlier… first time I've ever seen a player who doesn't need to train."
"Rise of Kingdoms Bro has always been someone no one can quite figure out. If you can't understand him, that's normal."
…
The short break ended quickly, and both teams returned to the stage.
Doinb really lived up to his reputation as a veteran. In just that short time, he had already fully adjusted his mentality—you could clearly see the smile back on his face.
——
Game Two began with sides swapped.
With preparation on both sides, the draft went extremely fast, and the final comps were locked in.
Blue side LNG:
Top: Jax
Jungle: Lee Sin
Mid: Ryze
Bot: Zeri + Yuumi
Red side TES:
Top: Ornn
Jungle: Hecarim
Mid: Ahri
Bot: Draven + Nautilus
As usual, TES didn't ban Zeri on red side.
With JackeyLove's Draven, they could heavily suppress Zeri in the early and mid game.
At level one, Doinb had learned his lesson. The moment he saw someone, he backed off immediately.
Do whatever you want—this game he picked Ryze. There was no intention of laning with you. He'd just look for roams.
Top lane, on the other hand—Zoom might have been traumatized by getting camped last game. Seeing Jax, he didn't retreat but instead stepped forward and forced a trade.
It scared Ale so badly he thought a whole squad was behind him and immediately ran back under his tower.
That exchange not only gave Zoom momentum, it also procced a Grasp stack.
Mid lane minions met.
Lin Fan controlled Ahri and stood back.
A mid Ahri pick—something no one expected.
Because in past matches, Ahri was always banned rather than picked.
In his limited solo queue records, there were only Heimerdinger, Vladimir, Syndra, Blitzcrank…
No one imagined he'd pull out two new champions in one series.
Jayce.
And Ahri.
Just how deep was Rise of Kingdoms Bro's champion pool?
"We still underestimated Rise of Kingdoms Bro!" Miller exclaimed.
But Ahri truly was Lin Fan's best choice this game. Ryze roaming was genuinely troublesome.
Of course, in the current meta, Ahri's damage without items was still quite low. Solo killing was only possible if the opponent made a mistake.
So this game wasn't about winning lane—it was about using Ahri's mobility to support, snowball, and end quickly.
TES's comp simply couldn't afford to drag past thirty-five minutes. At that point, Jax top would be extremely difficult to deal with.
Tian stuck to his usual rhythm—red start bot side. After clearing blue buff, he immediately hovered mid to cover.
Even though Ahri's early damage wasn't high, it was more than enough against Ryze.
They quickly shoved the wave and pressed all the way up to the tower.
In this position, it was very possible for Lee Sin to gank mid.
Tian wanted to see if Tarzan would come. If he showed up, tempo would immediately swing.
And he really did.
Of course, that also had something to do with how outrageously Lin Fan was playing.
Right under the tower—Ryze plus Lee Sin meant a guaranteed kill if they connected.
But mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.
Tian instantly activated Devastating Charge and Ghost.
The moment Tarzan saw Hecarim charging out, his heart sank.
He had deliberately waited for the Scuttle Crab spawn before making his move—never expected this guy to still be mid.
It was over.
And he even kicked Ahri…
Against a Hecarim with Ghost and red buff active, Tarzan had no way out.
First blood.
The first kill of the game erupted.
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup