Rise

It was time for Game 3 of the Semifinals match between High School 13 and Shanghai International! This was going to be a real thriller! The match of the century! 30 minutes that no one would ever forget! At least, that was what the crowd was desperately hoping for it to become. The previous two games had left them thoroughly disappointed, with both games being decided in the first 10 minutes. They wanted something more. The first signs of Game 3 looked promising. Lin Feng had switched to the Jungler-position, with a substitute taking his place in the mid lane. He’d been the most dangerous player on Summoner’s Rift this Semifinal. High School 13 had won the first two games because of him. And now he was going to play another role. Most players excelled at only one role. Everyone thought Lin Feng would be the same, so they didn’t understand why High School 13 made this substitution. Maybe it was overconfidence, arrogance, or a carefully planned strategy. Honestly, it didn’t matter which it was, as long as the change would put new life in this Semifinal.

Lin Feng played Olaf, a Champion he’d always liked. “Throw axe, pick up axe. Throw axe, pick up axe…” was how he explained it. That was the essence of Olaf. He was a viking with thick, burly muscles and two large axes. One of his skills was called Undertow. He could throw one of his axes forward. It would damage and slow all the minions, monsters, and Champions it passed through. Then he could chase it down and pick the axe up from the ground. That lowered the cooldown to almost zero, allowing him to throw it again.

High School 13 and Shanghai International started the game off fairly normally. They bought items in the shop and went into their own halves of the Jungle to ward. It looked like the same start of the last two games and some people in the audience started booing. But then something different happened. Shanghai International gathered up as a team and moved towards the bottom side river to place a deep ward near the Blue Team’s Red Buff Camp. High School 13 was gathering up in the brush in the middle of the river. Shanghai International would have to walk through it to place their ward. The crowd got rowdy in anticipation.

Westwind’s face lit up when he saw what was happening. He started beaming, shouting into his microphone, “OH! OH! A Level 1 teamfight!” The last two games had an uninspiring first couple of minutes. He would read out the team compositions, and discuss potential game plans with his co-caster Silent Reed. He could still hype up the crowd, but it wasn’t nearly so much fun as hyping them up for an actual play! He clutched the microphone tighter in his grasp and said, “WOO! I hope you guys watching are as excited as I am! Let’s fight!”

Silent Reed smiled and said, “This can go either way! Yan Liang’s team has the Morgana. But High School 13 has Thresh’s hook and Olaf’s axe! Anything can happen!”

The people in the crowd weren’t as reserved as Silent Reed. She was the caster. She had to be neutral and evaluate both teams. They didn’t. They could say whatever they were thinking. Right now, they thought it was obvious who was going to win this Level 1 teamfight.

“3-0. Game over.” “Man, I can’t believe this shit luck. All I wanted was one good game.” “Thresh and Olaf. Lol. Easy win.” “High School 13 doesn’t even have to try. Shanghai International is just giving it to them...” “GO LIN FENG! Kick some ass!” “YAN LIANG! Don’t go in! GO BACK!”

Shanghai International’s team was walking through the bottom side of their Jungle, along the wall of the Blue Buff Camp. There was an opening to the river here, half of it covered by a brush. They headed down through the brush and into the river together, while Yan Liang was explaining part of their game plan over the team’s voice chat. “We want Rek’Sai to make an early gank in bot to help keep that Jinx down. Then we want to place our attention on mid, so th—” They stood in the middle of the river. There was one small brush right in front of them. The Thresh from High School 13 walked towards it, while the Jinx stepped out of it. “SHIT! BACK! BACK! BACK!” Yan Liang yelled over his team’s voice chat.

High School 13’s entire team was hiding in that one brush. Lin Feng was the first to see the players from Shanghai International appear right in front of them. He directly pinged on top of them and shouted over his team’s voice chat, “OH! Look! Them! Let’s fight! Wei Dong, ENGAGE! Kill them all!”