Doinb irritably scratched his head.
The timing of that play was crucial—both sides were about to hit level six. With a bit of chip damage, Irelia had a real chance to kill Jayce at six.
Or both sides could trade, back off, reset for items—one of those unspoken agreements between mid laners.
Instead, this guy completely ignored the rules and straight-up called Tian over.
Earlier on, Doinb really had been on guard. He was certain Tian would come mid at some point. But after more than four minutes of laning, Sejuani hadn't even shown a toe.
He relaxed.
And then—bam. The trap snapped shut.
So it really was true: the moment he dared to move, the gank came.
Tian, this xi ba bastard—how can someone's scheming be as small and sharp as a needle?
TL: Xi ba is likely dumbass or motherfucker...? Idk chat. It's an insult.
It was easy to predict that after dying once mid, the rest of the lane would be extremely stressful.
The good news was that Flash was still up. As long as he didn't blindly Q in like before, Sejuani wouldn't be able to complete the full package.
"Sejuani's timing was perfect there. When mid laners are fighting this intensely, whichever jungler arrives first wins the exchange."
"At level one they were so aggressive that I thought mid would be constant brawling, but instead they probed each other all the way to level five before truly committing."
"The higher Irelia's level, the easier it is to play into Jayce. That might be why Doinb immediately pulled Flawless Duet when Jayce stepped up."
"Right—and if you noticed, when Jayce moved forward, Sejuani was already hovering near mid, fully ready to support."
"The mid-jungle linkage is really frequent. It feels like Rise of Kingdoms Bro and Tian already have chemistry," Tongxi added after Miller.
Everyone nodded instinctively. They fully agreed.
TES's current results largely came from how well their mid-jungle tempo synced up.
—
For a jungler, the most important thing is knowing how to help teammates—and making sure the teammates you help can carry.
Tian clearly understood this now.
That was why in the first fifteen minutes' heat map, he occupied mid lane for the vast majority of the time.
To a large extent, Lin Fan dared to play like that precisely because someone had his back.
He wasn't afraid of the enemy jungler coming.
At that moment—
A fight broke out top lane.
Seeing Sejuani appear mid, Tarzan knew he had to do something.
He immediately coordinated with Ale for a tower dive.
Although they burned both summoners, they successfully killed Gragas—and the kill went to Fiora.
That made the dive extremely worthwhile.
With a lead, Fiora had massive room to operate against Gragas.
Hearing the good news from top, Doinb quickly bought items and adjusted his mindset.
One kill… that's just 400 gold.
Stabilize the lane and it's fine. Fiora can fight anyone in mid-to-late game.
Jayce's tiny advantage was basically nothing.
"Nice. Ale's taking off. I'll just sit under tower—he can't do anything to me."
…
Even Duke, usually quiet, couldn't help but grab his head hard at this moment.
Perhaps for a pro player, after getting killed, this was the only action that made things feel slightly less awkward.
"Man… with them doing this, I'm under a lot of pressure."
"Jungler no Flash. Fiora no Flash."
Tian frowned. Fiora getting that kill was definitely not good news for them.
But LNG's commitment to the dive was huge.
Still, Diana burning Flash meant bot lane pressure could ease up a bit.
"Top, get your vision down. I'll look mid or bot at six—just try not to get caught."
"OK…" Zoom didn't hear the answer he wanted and felt a bit disappointed.
"It's fine. I'll kill Irelia in a bit, then we'll go top and dive Fiora. No Flash—she won't have room to outplay," Lin Fan followed up.
This recall picked up a Serrated Dirk plus a Long Sword.
Jayce's attack damage jumped to 131.
If he could unload his kit within three seconds, the damage would be terrifying. The execute threshold was extremely high—even Irelia could be deleted in one rotation.
With Teleport off cooldown, to maintain pressure, Doinb also used TP.
Both mid laners returned almost simultaneously.
The director knew exactly what the audience wanted and immediately switched the camera back to mid.
"Top lane's successful dive gave Ale a kill—LNG's pressure eased a bit. Mid lane though, I still trust Doinb's ability to absorb pressure. Rise of Kingdoms Bro probably doesn't have many options…" Miller said—
And then Jayce straight-up crossed the wave and shoved Irelia under tower.
"That pressure is insane!"
"He can't even get the wave—there's no way to hit level six."
Doinb was anxious too. At this rate, he'd be forced out of XP range.
He tentatively stepped out from under tower and cast Flawless Duet.
That single action gave Lin Fan the opening he wanted.
One auto to break Bone Plating, then W and rapid autos.
Three autos landed, followed by a small sidestep forward to dodge Flawless Duet.
Times had changed. Jayce's damage was now something Irelia simply couldn't endure.
From full HP, nearly a third vanished instantly.
Estimating his health, Doinb panicked. Afraid of a sudden Shock Blast–Acceleration Gate combo, he immediately activated W to block damage.
But that turned him into a stationary target.
Thankfully, Jayce's two hits during the channel didn't hurt much.
But Lin Fan had already predicted this. The instant Irelia's W ended, a lightning-fast QE combo blasted her straight in the face.
Her HP dropped another huge chunk.
Watching his health plummet, Doinb's heart raced as he desperately ran back under tower.
Only inside the tower did he feel even a shred of safety.
But when Lin Fan saw Irelia retreat under tower, he didn't back off at all.
He swapped to hammer form. Using the fresh minion wave, he leapt in with To the Skies!, smashing the ground and splashing damage onto Irelia beside it.
At that moment, Doinb froze in shock.
This guy wants to tower dive me?
Irelia's HP was indeed below 200. Jayce had already maximized his damage.
With passive bonus movement speed and ignoring unit collision, Jayce stuck right onto her, autoing for additional passive damage.
At close range, the burn from W ticked relentlessly—her HP evaporated.
Doinb's brows knitted. Without hesitation, he Flashed away.
TES player booth.
Lin Fan's expression was razor-focused.
When he'd returned to lane, he'd simulated multiple scenarios in his head. This exact one was among them.
He flashed after her.
One E—hammer strike.
Irelia fell.
Doinb stared at Jayce with wide eyes.
In and out, Jayce had to tank three tower shots. With that HP, he should be able to trade back…
If it was a one-for-one, the massive wave stuck outside tower wouldn't fully reset. When he respawned, there'd still be plenty left—overall, not a loss…
As Jayce exited tower range, the third turret shot landed squarely on him.
A blood-red 262 popped above his head!
But Jayce did not fall.
Doinb's face twisted.
His hand gripping the mouse began to tremble.
Five HP.
Jayce had five HP left!
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup