WCG Chapter 71.2

Just as Jiang Shi predicted, Lion went in for the offense. After he reached lv 4, Jiang Lele reminded him, “Lion’s mid-laner is missing[mfn]as in, from the mid-lane. So the mid-laner must be roaming somewhere.[/mfn].”

The next second, four people Flashed and tower-dived Jiang Shi.

Jiang Shi didn’t even have the time to use his Flash.

However, Lion’s support was still at their tower, and the AD was hit until half-health by Jiang Shi’s skills. Xu and Back, who came to support him in time, killed two enemies. 

Xie Xu clicked on Jiang Shi’s avatar, “You played well.”

Had Jiang Shi failed to deplete Lion’s AD until half-health, they wouldn’t be able to kill the AD. 

Jiang Shi, who was a little upset after being killed, felt a bit satisfied. His lips curled up an inch. 

However, this play did succeed in suppressing Jiang Shi’s development. Jiang Shi’s strong period was about to end. 

[After 15 minutes, Time’s hero will be useless.]

[Lion is waiting to push.]

The bottom tower was pushed down by Lion with no resistance, and without the constraint of needing to protect the tower, Jiang Shi was freed.  

Not only could he be seen in the middle lane, but sometimes he even went to the top lane to farm some minions.  

The enemy top laner came out to clear the minions, just finished using their abilities, and the next second, Jiang Shi appeared from the bushes and hit them with a combo. With Nine’s control, they successfully secured a kill.  

Jiang Shi was off to a good start.  

Originally in second-to-last place in terms of economy, he silently climbed to second place, just behind the jungle core, Back.  

Lion’s top laner was stunned, “What? Why is TLG’s AD on the opposite lane?”  

Wasn’t the plan for a real man 1v1?  

The late Sun cleared a wave of minions and helplessly said, “He’s a free agent now, stealing economy, very cunning. Plus his displacement skill makes him hard to catch.”  

They had thought that in this match, TLG would play with a jungle-support dual roam. So they target the bottom lane early. However, it caused Sun’s small jungle monsters to be stolen. Not only did he have to divide his attention to defend, but he also had to be wary of the unpredictable Time.  

Before they could finish speaking, Juzi in the mid lane was forced to flash away.  

[Haters, come out and speak now!]

[Who is pushing who?]

[Do you really think your T Father’s sacrifices were in vain?]  

[T Bao is growing up. If it were before, he’d have fought Lion’s AD to death.]  

[He’s just coasting along and winning, who can’t do that…]

[Show me if you can, then!]

In the end, Xie Xu and Jiang Shi performed a perfect combo, killing the enemy’s mid and support, opening up an economic gap, and securing the first win.  

When the match summary screen appeared, even the male commentator was surprised. “Time did 25% of the damage?”  

In this match, Time spent most of his time just farming lanes. Not only did the audience think he was coasting, but even Time himself felt like he was.  

“Many times, he just went up to harass the enemy’s health to help his teammate secure a kill,” the female commentator said with a smile, “Time got 6 assists.”  

That was 2 assists less than Xu.  

In the second game, when the enemy picked their top lane hero, Zhao Jiu couldn’t help but frown. “Beiji also knows how wto play this hero?” 

Beiji is Lion’s top laner.  

Yuan Yang’s eyes narrowed, “Lion’s showing their true power now.”  

As expected, Lion brought out a never-before-seen double-side setup, tanky with damage in the early game, which heavily countered Jiang Shi and Xie Xu’s playstyle.  

However, in this match, Jiang Shi picked a late-game ADC, and despite Xie Xu picking a tank support to protect him, they couldn’t delay long enough for Jiang Shi to scale.  

After this match, the score was 1:1, leading to the deciding match.  

Zhao Jiu felt it the most. “They’ve been hiding this lineup all season, and we didn’t even notice it in the training matches.”  

Double-side strategies are not uncommon, but Lion had never used them before. Their AD is more late-game oriented, considered their core.  

Jiang Lele also felt frustrated. “Did they specifically train this to target Time?”  

Jiang Shi and Xie Xu’s aggressive playstyle was completely blocked by this double-side, like two walls creeping towards them.  

Yu Hui said grimly. “Then we attack their jungle.”  

Yuan Yang, observing the whole game, shook his head. “It’s difficult. Double-side play with the jungle as the core, they won’t give us any chances.”  

At least they didn’t invade the jungle, which was a small victory.  

Even though the atmosphere was tense, the match continued, quickly reaching the BP phase.  

Yuan Yang said, “Let’s see if we can break their double-side composition.”  

Jiang Shi didn’t say anything.  

They knew too little about Lion’s double-side to break their strategy through bans.  

As expected, after banning the champions used in the previous game, Lion still had other options, and it remained double-side. TLG, having banned those two champions, allowed Sun’s signature jungler Wings to be picked.  

Jiang Shi was the last to pick, and the AD was still undecided.  

[Ahhh! Damn Lion, hiding everything so well!]

[It’s over, I’m sweating for Little White Hair, this is so tough.]

[I suspect this lineup from Lion is specifically to target Time, so ruthless.]

[T Bao finished the second game and looks so mad.]

[Forget it, to be targeted by a veteran team like Lion, losing doesn’t feel that bad. As long as we make the playoffs, who cares about going undefeated?]

[Wait, did you guys not notice that Lion released Senna?]

[Even picking Senna in this lineup won’t change anything, it’s too countered.]

[T Bao, stop struggling, go back and review the match. As for those crazy CP fans, we’ll block them for you.]

Xie Xu, seeing Jiang Shi in silence, spoke. “I know what you’re thinking, you can pick.”  

Jiang Lele was stunned for a moment, eyes lighting up. “Are we going with Senna? Pick, pick, pick! Damn, she’s been banned twice, I’m going for it now.”  

Yu Hui nodded. “I’ll give you my second red buff.”  

Zhao Jiu was also frustrated and said firmly, “You guys focus, I’ll hold off the enemy, keep him from going anywhere.”  

Jiang Shi, originally unsure, gradually steadied his resolve and locked in Senna.  

At the start, Jiang Shi swapped lanes with Zhao Jiu, heading to the top lane.  

In the first two games, the enemy’s bottom support had been sticking together, suppressing Jiang Shi’s farm, but in this game, Jiang Shi caught Lion off guard with the lane swap.  

Normally, Lion’s top laner Beiji would have an advantage over Jiang Shi’s Senna, but Jiang Shi’s positioning was tricky. He dodged all of Beiji’s abilities, then was able to poke down the enemy to half health. He trapped them in the minion wave and eventually, for a cannon minion, was caught by Jiang Lele’s control.  

[First Blood!]

Jiang Shi secured the first kill.  

He returned to base to recover, telling Zhao Jiu, “Jiu-ge, let’s swap back.”  

The commentators and the audience, seeing from both teams’ perspectives, watched as TLG’s AD went down the same lane as Lion’s top laner.  

“This prediction was amazing!”  

With early lane advantage plus Jiang Lele’s lane transfer, Jiang Shi’s economy shot to first place in the game. Ten minutes into the match, he was already ahead by 1,000 gold compared to the enemy’s core jungler, Sun.  

The two met in the river. Sun retreated, but Jiang Shi immediately Flashed in to deal damage. Xie Xu shielded him, and with the arrival of support, a small-scale team fight broke out. TLG traded 1 for 2, with the enemy jungle and support dying, and Jiang Shi barely escaping with a sliver of health.  

Jiang Lele, even with a black screen, couldn’t help but yell. “Damn, Time, how dare you Flash in to engage Sun like that!!!! So handsome!”  

Jiang Shi returned to base, wiped his palms on his pants, his voice still calm. “Fortune favors the bold[mfn]OG Chinese is more like, “Fortune is won in danger.”[/mfn].” 

At that moment, Sun clearly didn’t react in time. Normally, they should have just exchanged and walked away, but Jiang Shi went straight for the damage. The key was that Xie Xu followed up with control, and Sun was wiped out in an instant.  

On the other side, Sun laughed in disbelief. “What’s with all this hatred?!”  

The fans below were starting to shout, some frustrated murmurs coming through the headset.  

Jiang Shi glanced towards the CP fans in the stands.  

“Don’t get distracted,” Xie Xu’s voice came through his earpiece, “You don’t have fFash, they’ll try to catch you. Be careful.”  

And then, in the blacked-out vision of Lion, the highest bounty on the map, Jiang Shi appeared alone in the bottom lane clearing minions.  

The closest to him, Sun: “…”  

This kid was so reckless.  

He glanced at the dark river and turned to head to the top lane, thinking, “TLG must have five, ambushing in the bottom lane.”  

He had seen Time’s tactics before.  

Quickly, Sun made his decision. “Mid and support guard the tower, we three will take down their outer top tower.”  

To save time, Sun moved ahead. When he reached the river bush near the top lane, he instinctively used his skill to check—  

He revealed TLG’s four players.  

Sun: “?”  

In the sudden 3v4 situation, all three of Lion’s players died. This large-scale shift in momentum broke Lion’s double-side setup. With a massive economic lead, Jiang Shi’s ADC, with armor penetration, took down tanks like they’re made of paper.  

By the third game, at 18 minutes, the match was finished. A lightning-fast win, TLG won 2-1, with Time contributing an insane 37% of the total damage.  

After the match, both teams shook hands.  

When it was Sun and Xu’s turn, Sun couldn’t hold back and gritted his teeth, asking Xie Xu: “What was that crazy play you guys did?”  

Jiang Shi, the core of TLG, was left alone to clear the bottom lane without his Flash. And these people actually left him alone to clear his lane? 

Xie Xu enjoyed Sun’s shocked reaction and casually said, “It was Time’s idea.”  

In the final game, whether it was the lane swaps with Zhao Jiu or the final ambush that changed the momentum, all of it was planned by Jiang Shi. He had only suggested the plan after carefully considering its feasibility.  

Sun still wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Jiang Shi behind Xie Xu. “Are you done shaking hands?”  

Jiang Shi grabbed Xie Xu’s wrist, pulling it back behind him, looking at Sun with a poker face. “If you want to shake hands, do it with me.”  

“Don’t touch my captain.”