Chapter 191: Chin Up, Princess, or the Crown Slips
Game 2 of the High School 13 versus Shanghai International showed many similarities to Game 1, especially in the mid lane. The Twisted Fate lost his tower fairly early on in the game, and with that the pressure he normally enjoyed. He was forced to passively farm underneath his inner tower, unable to leave its safety and search around the map for an opportunity to get back in the game. That was part of the reason why Yan Liang had lost so badly in Game 1. His Twisted Fate was hunted down by the Annie and he could barely get any farm in. But Lin Feng wasn’t Yan Liang.
Lin Feng had identified how Shanghai International could hunt him down. He’d prepared for it before the game even started by picking Teleport instead of a more aggressive Summoner Spell like Ignite. His preparations extended into the game. When he came back to lane, he brought with him two wards; one pink and one green. The pink ward was a vision ward. It revealed everything around it, including hidden things like other wards or invisible Champions. He placed it on the top side of the lane, near the river. If the Lee Sin wanted to gank him from that side, the ward would spot him. He used the green ward, which only granted vision, in a similar fashion on the bottom side of the lane. Then he pushed the minion wave out, but only as far as the ruins of his outer tower. When he got there, he went into his Jungle to clear a camp. Like this, he never felt any of the pressure Yan Liang had felt in Game 1.
At 9 minutes, Lin Feng orchestrated a second play for High School 13. At his command, Tang Bingyao had frozen the minion wave just out of reach of her own outer tower, while Wei Dong had placed a ward on the far end of the lane in the brush closest to the Blue Team’s outer tower. Shanghai International’s Botlaners were oblivious to this ward and were only worrying about breaking the freeze. The Twisted Fate had ganked them only a little more than a minute ago, so they didn’t even think he would come again. They almost even missed the teleport animation. A red, blazing light descended on the ward, announcing the arrival of Twisted Fate!
Westwind didn’t miss it. He was already up on his feet, his microphone clutched tightly in his grasp, screaming, “Twisted Fate is ganking bot again! He’s doing it again! Lucian and Thresh don’t have their Flash! Double kill! Say it with me, people! DOUBLE KILL!”
Back on stage, Liu Zhengjie was grinding his teeth, fuming! He glared towards the other side of the stage, locking onto Lin Feng, and felt the urge to shout, “YOU MOTHERFUCKER! The fuck did I ever do to you! You fucking pussy! Come at me! I’ll kick your ass!”
Shanghai International reacted immediately to Lin Feng’s Teleport. They had their Toplaner teleport to a minion in the bot lane, who was followed by High School 13’s Toplaner a second later. Shanghai International’s Irelia arrived first. She dashed towards the Twisted Fate and stunned him with a strike of her blade–Equilibrium Strike! But not before a Golden Card flew from the hands of the Twisted Fate, hitting the Lucian and stunning him.
Tang Bingyao activated Fate’s Call. This was Kalista’s ultimate skill. At the start of the game, she’d made an Oathsworn bond with Wei Dong’s Leona. Now, she could teleport his Leona towards her, granting him the ability to dash in any direction he desired and knocking up all Champions he knocked into. Wei Dong had his Leona dash towards Shanghai International’s Botlaners, launching them up into the air. He followed up by slamming his shield in the Lucian’s face–Shield of Daybreak! From a stun into a knock up into another stun, the Lucian couldn’t move at all. Then the Leona finished her attack with her ultimate skill. Solar Flare! A blast of solar energy slammed down on the Lucian and Thresh and locked them down. In the meantime, Chen Ze’s Rumble had teleported to the bot lane and joined the fight. He used his ultimate–The Equalizer! His Rumble fired off a barrage of rockets that rained down in a straight line, setting the ground ablaze and damaging all enemy Champions caught within its range.
The crowd fell silent. They sat on the edges of their seats, watching the fight unfold. Shocked and enthralled. In the Champion Select, this game had looked completely different from the first game. This came mostly down to High School 13’s team composition. They didn’t have the Champions with powerful crowd control skills that could seamlessly work together in this game, nor did they have an aggressive Midlaner. But though it looked different. Though it sounded different. Though everything about it seemed different. It really was the same tactic of layering ultimate skills on top of each other and winning teamfights.
“How did we not see this…” “The hell…” “My god. Look at that damage. Shanghai International can’t do anything…” “High School 13 just copied the same tactic from last game…" “How did Shanghai International fall for this…?”