Rise

Master Noob was a common nickname for Master Yi. Players all across the world called him this because of the low level of skill required to play him. He had no skillshots or any complicated abilities. All he had was a sword and abilities that increased the damage of his sword. The player merely had to right click on an opponent and face-slam the Q, E and R keys. And then when their Master Noob was in danger of dying, they could just heal his health right back up with the W skill Meditate.

Despite all of this, Master Yi was almost never played in high ranked games. There was a simple explanation for this. Crowd control. It was Master Yi’s Achilles’ heel. Once he got stunned by a Leona Solar Flare or rooted by Maokai’s Twisting Advance, there was nothing he could do. The opponent would decimate his health bar and kill him before he could ever attack them.

An Xin knew all of this before she locked in Master Yi. But she also knew that she had the awareness to not put herself in a situation where Master Yi’s weaknesses could be exploited. Better even, she had Lin Feng on her side. His Morgana’s Black Shield was the best failsafe in the game for Master Yi. She made full use of it as she slew Shi Hang’s Yasuo in the mid lane for first blood, and then to pick up a double kill in the bot lane. Her Master Yi was unstoppable right now.

At 7 minutes, An Xin’s Master Yi and Zeng Rui’s Braum ran up the river towards the mid lane. Shi Hang’s Yasuo spotted them well in advance. He’d been pushing the minion wave towards Red team’s outer tower and now started retreating. An Xin smiled when she saw this. You haven’t met my Yi yet! Wait… You have! She pushed down on the R key, activating Highlander! Master Yi suddenly moved with unparalleled agility! He used the bonus movement speed to race into the mid lane and then targeted Shi Hang’s Yasuo with Alpha Strike! He teleported towards Shi Hang’s Yasuo, slaying three minions on his way!

Shi Hang gritted his teeth. Shit! I should’ve seen this coming! I can’t push this far… He shook his head and placed his pinky finger over the Q key. Then he hesitated. What’s the point…? Black Shield stops all crowd control. And she’s picked up so many kills already… His screen flashed red. 20% health. Ah great, Braum’s here too! I’ll just...– Shit! He pushed down on the Q key to activate the third cast from Steel Tempest. The storm brewing at the tip of his blade was unleashed onto the Rift! A tornado carved a path straight through Master Yi and Braum! But only Braum was knocked up into the air. Master Yi’s sword flashed back and forth. Two more auto attacks. Shi Hang breathed out loudly. I’m dead.

《You have been slain!》

“Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?”“HOLY SHIT! She’s wrecking AyDeeCee! She’s destroying him!”“Former pro for a reason… Losing to a Yi, lawl.”“This shit is crazy. Crazy! They’re walking all over Zhejiang University!”“That Yi has some skill!”

Shi Hang let his head fall forward as his screen turned grey again. I died twice seven minutes in… What is this game? I’m a former pro for fucks sake! I shouldn’t let myself get caught to these stupid tricks! Why do I keep letting myself get tempted into pushing the minion wave? Freeze it! All I need to do is freeze it near my tower! Well… He grinned and shook his head. That was before. That Yi has so many kills now, he can probably just jump on me under my tower. And with the damn Black Shield… Ah, fuck me!

Across the stage in Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth, Lin Feng complained over the team’s voice chat, “BunBun! You already got the first kill! Why did you have to take this one too? I wanted it!”