Rise

Yu Ping closed his eyes and focused on his breathing. Varus is the diametrical opposite of Ahri in terms of playstyle. He is an immobile, attack damage Champion who wants to snipe down opponents from a distance, while my Ahri is an in-your-face ability power assassin. But the first couple of levels will be skill based, especially since he went with Cleanse. But after Level 6—

《Welcome to Summoner’s Rift!》

Yu Ping opened his eyes and smiled. He mumbled, “But after Level 6, I’ve got my jumps and then there’s nothing he can do to me anymore. I just need to get there without falling behind.” He turned his head to look at his teammates. They were all focused on their screen, clicking their mice to buy items and have their Champions move down the different lanes. They’ve got this. I need to make sure I do too, because this game is going to come down to mid. If I take out Varus, we win the 5 vs 4 that remains. He clenched his fist and said over the team’s voice chat, “Standard opening.”

Across the stage in Team Shanghai’s soundproof booth, Lin Feng bought his starter item and then had Varus run towards the mid lane outer tower. Hmm… Winter Collegiate Cup. Teamplay. But I first need to win my lane. I’m playing against an Ahri and Yu Ping is a decent enough Midlaner. I have to be focused. Her Charm can kill me and after Level 6 positioning becomes far more important because of her ultimate. I’ve got Cleanse, but that is to make a play and not to escape from one. He panned his camera towards the Red team’s Blue Buff Camp, which was hidden from him by the fog of war. Their Gragas is most likely starting here, which means I need to hover closer towards the top of my lane at the beginning and then slowly rotate towards the bottom side as he runs up for his Red Buff…

The minions marched into the lane and started fighting each other at the halfway point. Lin Feng had his Varus join them, firing arrows at minions while keeping an eye on Ahri. He paid close attention to her movements, searching for habits and potential mistakes.

She just needs to— Lin Feng suddenly narrowed his eyes. Yu Ping’s Ahri had stepped forward to last hit a caster minion. He pressed down on the Q key, making Varus pull on his bowstring, charging up for an attack. And then he waited, patiently. The range of the shot kept increasing, so Ahri couldn’t outrun it. When the two minions between Ahri and Varus were almost dead, Lin Feng released his finger. A crimson blight arrow pierced through the minions, killing them, and then penetrated Ahri!

Lin Feng grinned and rolled his shoulders. It was pivotal for Varus to hit these long ranged Piercing Arrows if he wanted to win the lane. They were the primary damage dealers of his kit. Lin Feng rolled his neck and mumbled, “Not too shabby. Looks like I’ve still got it today.”

✹

Lin Feng pressured on the lane, pushing it forward to Red Team’s outer tower. The first minute since the Jungle Camps had spawned passed, so he started repositioning towards the bottom side of the lane. He continued pushing the minion wave from there while also keeping an eye on the top side brush. I’m pushing it. We’re 4 minutes in. It’s about time for Gragas to come in for a gank. If he’s coming mid. Hmm… He clicked on his minimap, moving his camera towards the top lane. He followed up right away with the spacebar to focus his camera back on Varus. The top lane was revealed to him for less than a second, but it was long enough to give him an idea about the way in which Team Beijing’s Darius was pushing the lane. Lin Feng repeated this process to check on several locations on the map, until he spotted Gragas. He’s mid, just a bit late.