Rise

At first glance, things weren’t going well for Lin Feng in the Support role. His Garen had used Decisive Strike twice so far in the laning phase. The skill gave the champion a burst of move speed and culminated in a downward slash that dealt extra damage to an enemy champion while also silencing them. It was a move to quickly close distance and engage. But both times that Lin Feng had used it, he failed to close in on the enemy Jinx. Making things even worse was that he’d gotten hit with Morgana’s Dark Binding on one of those chase attempts, which resulted in his Garen taking a lot of damage. All in all, things did not seem to be going well at all. But Lin Feng was unfazed, because all of this was part of a plan that he’d been cooking up.

Everything was within expectations. The truth was that Lin Feng had no intention of actually closing in on Jinx while he was only at Level 1. He knew that he had no chance of actually pulling that off. If the Jinx couldn’t avoid a Decisive Strike charge from Garen, she wouldn’t even survive in the lowest tier of Silver. There was no chance of the Jinx making it all the way to Diamond. Given that obvious fact, Lin Feng never intended to target Jinx. His real target had always been the opposing Morgana!

Lin Feng smiled. I think they fell for it! That first Decisive Strike charge, that was just a feint. I was never going to catch Jinx. But it did get Morgana to drop her guard. And the second Decisive Strike managed to land on Morgana all because of that. But Morgana still doesn’t get what’s going on, and that’s how I need to keep it.

Lin Feng glanced down at his Garen’s experience bar as he continued to lane with Tang Bingyao. Hm… I’m going to hit Level 2 soon. Tang Tang’s Kalista has great wave clear and she’s pressuring the Jinx away from minions hard… we’re going to hit Level 2 before they do. That might be a problem…

“Tang Tang, slow down a little,” Lin Feng said in voice chat.

“Mhm!” Tang Bingyao nodded, understanding what Lin Feng was trying to do.

Once it became too obvious that Tang Bingyao’s Kalista and Lin Feng’s Garen would hit Level 2 first, the opposing duolaners start playing far more cautiously and have their guard up. They would start backing up towards their tower and wait for an opportunity. But if Tang Bingyao and Lin Feng slowed down and made it appear like the difference wasn’t too insurmountable, that would change things. Instead of backing up, the Jinx and Morgana would see a chance to hit Level 2 first by pushing a little harder. And in that rush, they would be more reckless and leave themselves open. Tang Bingyao and Lin Feng already understood this at an intrinsic level, which is why Lin Feng didn’t need to explain his plan in detail or use any extra words.

Tang Bingyao purposefully started slowing down her wave clear speed. And according to the plan, Gang Xi’s Jinx started trying to mow down minions faster in an attempt to hit Level 2 first.

As another blue minion died, Lin Feng glanced down at his experience bar again. Only one minion left… He spoke into the voice chat, “Tang Tang, get ready!”