The commentators for this match were once again Guan Zeyuan and Rita.
As the camera cut to the analyst desk, Guan Zeyuan immediately spoke up:
"Both teams are ready, and the match is about to begin. This is easily the most heavyweight matchup of Week Two, absolutely worthy of prime time and a golden slot. I'm sure everyone has been looking forward to today's game for a long time!"
"Just listening to the screams from the live audience makes me feel like I've gone back five years. Back then, I had just started casting LPL matches. Wow… I was just as nervous as I am now."
"Yes. On the blue side, TES's starting lineup is: top lane Zoom, jungle Tian, mid lane Dine, and the bottom lane duo JackeyLove and Mark."
"On the red side, JDG: top lane 369, jungle Kanavi, mid lane Knight, and the bottom lane duo Hope and Missing."
"Knight's recent form has been excellent. In the first two matches, he's put on some very strong performances. I even checked his recent stats yesterday. Since transferring to JDG, he's been maintaining extremely high-intensity training, averaging over 18 ranked games per day. That's a crazy number."
"Mm… as for Dine, ever since the Teamfight Tactics World Championship ended, he's been playing five or six games every morning. If you average it out, that's about one game per day. But Dine has never been the type of player you judge by ranked volume. If you try to analyze Brother Infinite Borders that way, you're completely off target."
"At the very least, judging from Brother Infinite Borders' performances, he's still maintaining his peak level. I haven't seen the slightest sign of decline. Truly a talent-based player. And he's still messing around with slashing games right now. From what I've heard, he's already advanced to the knockout stage."
Guan Zeyuan glanced at the director repeatedly shaking his head, so he didn't continue down that line. There was no way Tencent would allow a commentator to promote a competitor's game during a high-traffic broadcast.
Guan knew the boundaries well, so he stopped there.
After all, he'd already gotten his point across. Most of the audience, both live and online, understood what he meant.
"Yeah. Maybe that's the real difference between geniuses and 'ordinary people.'"
Knight ordinary? In the esports scene, Knight could hardly be called ordinary. He was absolutely among the small group of truly talented players. In reality, to everyone watching, all professional players were geniuses. Anyone capable of going pro was one in ten thousand.
"Every time I watch Brother Infinite Borders play on stage, I feel a strange sense of contrast. Right now, TES is leading the entire league with a three-game win streak."
"JDG has played one match fewer, but they're still undefeated with two straight wins. When I was in the lounge earlier, I saw Knight's condition. He looks very active today, almost like he can't wait to face Brother Infinite Borders head-on."
Guan Zeyuan laughed.
"I get what you mean. After all, this is a showdown between the former starting mid laner and the former substitute mid laner. Just thinking about it makes it interesting."
As he spoke, the livestream chat exploded.
"Does Trash Hand really think he's got it? Who were the mids he beat earlier? Let's not even talk about Creme. What is Yeg? A toy? Beating weak teams and acting tough?"
"Look at that expression though. Trash Hand really does look a bit inflated. He hasn't experienced Brother Infinite Borders' beating yet."
"Come on. I watched that solo between Brother Infinite Borders and Knight. Knight's LeBlanc getting solo-killed by Twisted Fate was something I'd never seen or heard of before. First time in my life."
At this moment, the screen switched to the BP phase.
"Alright, Game 1's draft officially begins. Let's see what both sides choose…"
On JDG's player bench, Knight stared intently at his screen. Even though the match hadn't started yet, his focus was already razor sharp. Today felt like the best form he'd ever had in competition. He didn't participate much in team communication, making him seem particularly serious.
On TES's side, everyone was grinning widely, chatting nonstop. Judging by their expressions, they felt no psychological burden at all heading into this match. They looked relaxed and happy, with no pressure to speak of.
"JDG really likes to fight."
"Then let's fight them. Whether people are here or not, we fight them anyway!" JackeyLove shouted.
"You idiot, Yu Wenbo."
"Ref, he's directly insulting me. Shouldn't that be a fine?" JackeyLove immediately turned to complain to the referee behind him, pointing at Lin Fan as he spoke. It was honestly pretty hilarious.
"Dine, please be mindful."
"Hahahaha…" Hearing that, JackeyLove laughed like a grade schooler who'd successfully tattled.
"You were fined twenty thousand before."
That instantly wiped the smile off JackeyLove's face.
Lin Fan had only received a warning. JackeyLove, on the other hand, had actually paid the fine.
"Alright, enough messing around. JDG feels pretty strong to me. We still need to be careful. Fighting is fine, but pay attention to cooldowns. Don't fight without skills. You don't want to lose to JDG, do you?"
Luo Sheng picked up his notebook and began laying out tactics.
In the first ban phase, TES banned Senna first. Recently, the Tahm Kench–Senna combo had become extremely popular. In the current patch, it was known as a T0 bottom lane. If you got it and still lost, that was purely a skill issue. JDG responded by banning Syndra.
TES's second ban was Sylas. Seeing Sylas banned made Knight feel slightly annoyed. That champion was simple and brutal in his hands. Once he got ahead, he slaughtered everyone. Using Sylas to put on a show and win was easy for him. Clearly, TES had been thinking hard about how to target him.
So you finally realized how strong I am and started regretting it?
JDG's second ban was Ahri.
"Ahri isn't really a problem. Brother Infinite Borders' Ahri has been famous for a long time. If you don't ban it against TES, the pressure on both side lanes becomes enormous. It's just too hard to play. Dine always has one must-ban champion each season. Syndra in Spring, Ahri in Summer."
TES's third ban was Viego. Since Spring Split, this champion had been an evergreen pick and a top-tier jungler in the meta.
When JDG banned Galio, everyone had already grown used to JDG triple-banning mid against TES.
TES first-picked Lucian.
JDG thought briefly and didn't choose to deny-pick Nami. Instead, they directly locked in the bottom lane duo of Zeri and Yuumi. Against Lucian–Nami, they could hold pressure just fine and play for mid-to-late game. Hope was confident he wouldn't get suppressed too hard in lane.
"Zeri with Yuumi. They'll be slightly weak early on, but once Zeri scales with Yuumi attached, she can run wild! TES will most likely pick Nami though. The Lucian–Nami combo has strong early pressure and solid mid-to-late teamfighting."
As soon as Rita finished speaking, TES locked in Thresh and Gwen on picks two and three.
"Thresh? Not Nami… Well, Thresh is actually okay. In bot lane, you just hook Zeri and that's it."
"But this pick really surprised me. It's quite unexpected."
The chat continued to scroll rapidly.
"What is this? Is White Moon starting to mess around? I thought his drafts were pretty good before. Why start trolling after just two or three games?"
"Not taking Lucian–Nami? What's Thresh even doing here? Isn't bot lane just going to get blown up? There's almost no lane pressure."
"Bullshit. Zeri can only take Cleanse here. Without Cleanse, if she gets hooked once by Thresh and follows up with Lucian's damage, she dies instantly. It's way more decisive than Nami. No need to drag it out and scale."
"Thresh works, but it still feels slightly off."
On JDG's side, Homme was also puzzled.
What exactly was White Moon trying to do? This was a very novel draft.
Still, it didn't affect his overall plan. He first secured Renekton for 369.
Since TES picked Thresh, they absolutely couldn't be given the Shadow Isles duo. If Zeri got locked down, she'd have nowhere to run.
With three mid bans already used, mid lane pressure wasn't that high anymore.
Knight was very solid in Homme's eyes. His laning was clearly stronger than Yagao's.
Homme greatly appreciated players with strong laning ability. Combined with Kanavi's early pressure, JDG's mid-jungle duo was absolutely the strongest in the league.
In his view, TES lived and died by mid lane strength.
And in this meta, mid lane impact had dropped sharply. In recent games, TES had been picking roaming mids, which showed they had already recognized the issue.
This was just how the mid lane environment was now. No matter how strong you were, the patch simply didn't favor you.
The red side still held counterpick. If TES tried to play aggressively in lane, JDG could simply pick Viktor for Knight and drag the game late. With Syndra already gone, TES wouldn't be able to threaten Knight no matter how strong they played. JDG would be unshakeable.
Homme was very satisfied.
"Isn't this a bit too all-in?"
"It's actually fine. Bot lane advantage is massive. There could even be a level two or three solo kill."
"Of course. I'll smash his head in with this pick," JackeyLove said confidently after hearing Lin Fan.
After JDG picked Lee Sin on fourth pick, TES immediately locked in Kalista and Sejuani.
The moment Kalista was locked in, both the commentators and the audience froze for a long moment.
What kind of comp was this? No one could understand it right away.
"Kalista mid? Brother Infinite Borders has played it before, but that was as a counter to Azir. JDG hasn't even picked mid yet, and they lock Kalista anyway? That doesn't seem right."
"Or is it still mid Lucian?" Rita asked.
"Because it's mid Lucian, they didn't take Nami and instead went with Thresh. Bot lane becomes the Shadow Isles duo. This was planned from the start. Picking Lucian was a deliberate bait to trick JDG into grabbing Nami. But JDG didn't take it and instead chose Zeri and Yuumi. In that case, Kalista is actually a very fitting pick."
Guan Zeyuan thought for a moment and explained seriously.
Once he said that, everyone felt it made a lot of sense.
Kalista countering Zeri was well known. Especially after buffs, she was even more ferocious. If she caught an opportunity in lane, she could burst Zeri down instantly. JDG had clearly been outplayed in the draft.
Homme realized this immediately, but instead of panicking, he smiled.
Double ADC…
Wasn't this just letting Knight shine?
"If it's mid Lucian, picking an assassin would be pressure-free, right? LeBlanc, Akali…"
Knight originally wanted LeBlanc, but suddenly remembered a post he'd seen yesterday.
Someone said Lin Fan's Akali was an absolute signature pick. He even used Canaan in Naraka: Bladepoint to practice Akali mechanics.
Thinking of that, Knight didn't hesitate.
"Akali. Take Akali. I've got shroud in lane. He can't do much to me. Once levels come up, if I touch him, he dies."
"Okay."
After hearing the exchange between coach and mid laner, Missing locked in Akali on fifth pick.
"Akali! This lock-in puts enormous pressure on TES's backline. Once she scales, TES will have a hard time dealing with her. Aside from Gwen, the rest of the comp feels like target practice."
"Going later into the game, TES's comp will definitely feel more pressure. Still, it all comes down to player performance and form."
With champions swapped, Lucian was indeed sent to mid.
Both compositions were now locked in.
Blue side TES: top Gwen, jungle Sejuani, mid Lucian, bottom duo Kalista and Thresh.
Red side JDG: top Renekton, jungle Lee Sin, mid Akali, bottom duo Zeri and Yuumi.
As both coaches walked to center stage to shake hands, the match officially began.
On the loading screen, Guan Zeyuan was visibly excited:
"This is Brother Infinite Borders' Lucian. To be honest, it's been a long time since anyone's played mid Lucian. And now, after multiple patch changes, mid Lucian is coming out again. There's definitely a unique understanding behind this pick. Let's look forward to Brother Infinite Borders' performance in this game."
Rita nodded continuously.
"Syndra and Ahri, these traditional mid lane mages, are all Dine's signature champions. Sometimes, Brother Infinite Borders suddenly pulls out niche picks like mid Renekton or mid Kalista, both of which have worked extremely well. But those were counterpicks. Today's Lucian is a first-pick. I believe he won't disappoint us."
The live audience buzzed with discussion.
Could Lucian really be comfortable against Akali?
It probably wouldn't be easy to get shots in.
Would this really be an upset? Traditional mids would definitely crush Knight's Akali, but Lucian was much harder to judge.
Amid the fans' concerns, both teams entered Summoner's Rift.
And under the official hype, fans on both sides began cheering for their teams.
"TES, let's go!"
"TES—let's go!"
"JDG! Let's go!"
But it was easy to tell that the volume on each side wasn't quite the same.
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup