Teamwork

Miller watched IG pull off the tower dive, thought for a moment about what PYL had just said, and spoke.

"Let me tell you the scariest part."

"Hm?"

"The strongest thing about this lineup is that they barely need to practice coordinating. From start to finish, the only one who needs to coordinate his skill usage with anyone else is Lin Heng's Shen."

"..."

"Now that you mention it, you're right! Rookie's Twisted Fate and Ning's Nocturne are both playing normally. As long as Shen gets the timing of his ultimate right, the whole lineup works!" PYL exclaimed.

As for Uzi's Ziggs, he hardly needed much proficiency on the champion.

"This is so clever. It feels like this support has brought these veterans together. They only need to do what they do best to play an excellent game," Miller said with emotion.

And just then, with Nocturne's and Shen's skills on cooldown, Jarvan IV launched a gank on Ashe, who had pushed a little too far up the top lane.

"Huh?? How has Ashe pushed all the way to the tier-two tower?? His teammates just finished a play and recalled, so why is TheShy hitting the tier-two tower's plating over here? Jarvan IV has a really good chance of catching him! He's not quite respecting the half-map rule. With Jarvan IV coming around, it looks like Ashe is dead even with Flash and Ghost! And Taliyah has respawned and is coming over too. She'll have her ultimate in a moment and can come in. It doesn't look like Ashe can get away..."

Although Ashe's E had already revealed Jarvan IV coming out of the jungle to circle around Tri-brush, and she had immediately activated Ghost and retreated along the top lane, it seemed she was already too late.

The chat had already begun flooding in.

[Get ready for rain, get ready for rain!]

[The timely rain is here!]

[He always throws away the lead like this. Did he really have to take that one plate? His teammates just got an advantage.]

[Shen doesn't have his ultimate.]

[Nocturne recalled too. It looks like Twisted Fate would just be inting alongside her if he tried to save her.]

[Come on, the team spent the whole game getting you fed, and now you mess up?]

It seemed everyone was convinced that Ashe was beyond saving.

Many haters had even begun composing their posts in their heads, planning how to attack this "legendary top laner" who always threw away huge advantages at crucial moments.

The simple labels [timely rain] and [Sending TheShy] clearly weren't enough to satisfy them anymore.

The fans, too, fell silent as they watched the three AL players close in, feeling a little desperate.

They didn't know how to defend him.

Yes, was that one plate really so important?

Did he really have to do something so risky?

Was the reward worth the risk?

A rumble rang out: Sion's ultimate. Even if it didn't hit, it would at least force a Flash. Then Jarvan IV would trap Ashe with his ultimate, Taliyah would use hers, and Ashe would die no matter what.

But just then, the sharp-eyed PYL spotted something unusual.

"Wait, no, Twisted Fate is heading top, and he's almost in range for his ultimate. And Shen, who just recalled, has swapped to Teleport and is already teleporting top!!!

"IG is going to save Brother Shy!!!

"Shen is teleporting to the first top-lane brush on Red Side. Can he make it in time? Sion's ultimate is almost there, and it feels like he's a little too late!

"Flash into E! Shen takes Sion's ultimate head-on for Brother Shy!!! He saved him!!!

"Jarvan IV arrives, but Brother Shy dodges his EQ with the movement speed from Ghost, then avoids his ultimate with Flash! Twisted Fate and Taliyah activate their ultimates at the same time and head for the fight!

"Ashe starts auto-attacking! IG is fighting back!

"Twisted Fate lands and stuns Jarvan IV with a gold card. Ashe is high-level and well-equipped, and her attacks really hurt! Twisted Fate and Ashe instantly bring Jarvan IV down to half health, and Jarvan IV uses Flash to put some distance between them.

"Taliyah lands and joins Sion in attacking Shen first. Shen isn't tanky, but Taliyah and Sion don't have quite enough damage. Shen pulls his sword with Q, then activates W to create a sword zone and block some of the damage.

"Ashe's Lethal Tempo is fully stacked, and she's auto-attacking like crazy! Sion can't withstand it either. Ashe had already brought him down to half health. He wants to leave, but Ashe says no and chases him, firing away.

"Twisted Fate's W is off cooldown. He Flashes in and stuns Jarvan IV! Jarvan IV's EQ still isn't ready. Ashe also walks straight up and keeps attacking him. Jarvan IV won't have an easy time getting away. Just before dying, he turns and uses EQ, hoping to knock Ashe up and buy his teammates time to escape, but Ashe dodges it again with her movement!

"Ashe is attacking left and right! Taliyah uses EW, but Ashe sidesteps Seismic Shove again and stays on Sion, firing away. Sion uses Flash, but Ashe's W slows him again. Can he really get away? Finally, Twisted Fate's gold card comes off cooldown again and stuns him, and he falls to Ashe's arrows!"

"Taliyah is the last one left, and she uses Flash to escape!"

"Ashe picks up two kills! They can take the tier-two tower while they're at it!"

"This is teamwork, this is trust! And this is giving back!"

"The team gave TheShy the greatest protection, and TheShy gave the team the greatest reward!"

"Lin Heng could use every skill he had to protect TheShy, and TheShy could deliver the very best mechanics and aggression. In that fight, he dodged two of Jarvan IV's EQs and a Seismic Shove, Flashed to avoid the damage from Jarvan IV's ultimate, dodged several other basic abilities, and killed Jarvan IV and Sion."

"This is a team! This is trust and protection! This is executing a strategy to the fullest!"

"When some people's teammates get caught, all they can do is throw up their hands, keep farming the jungle, and laugh as they say, 'What can I do?'"

"But others have ways to save them. He swapped to Teleport with his spellbook, then used Flash and E to get there, all to save that most crucial teammate. Even with countless unknowns in that play, if he'd hesitated for even one more second, it would have been too late."

"But he still chose to trust his teammate. He believed that if he used Teleport, Flash, and E to take Sion's ultimate for TheShy, then TheShy would definitely be able to make the play, definitely dodge Jarvan IV's EQ and ultimate, and outplay Jarvan IV."

"And TheShy did it!"

The two commentators excitedly recounted the simple gank and rescue, line by line. It wasn't because the play featured particularly dazzling or intricate mechanics.

It was because they had seen too many regrets, like that bullet no one blocked, or a victory thrown away because of an aggressive Flash that teammates didn't follow up on.

They watched Shen use Teleport, Flash, and E to block Sion's ultimate, watched Twisted Fate land his ultimate without a moment's hesitation, and watched Ashe attack to the fullest.

The spirit of youth was something that could not be regained.

But they could still see those youths who had once possessed the greatest fighting spirit.

Back then, they didn't have the huge salaries players received now, nor did they have as many rules and restrictions. All they wanted most was to win.

"I'll go win you a fifth game."

"Honestly, with someone like Rookie, I really want to get him a championship, you know? He's been with IG for so long. I really want to get him a championship..."

"The strongest AD in the LPL? The three who make it to Worlds, I guess..."

"I am who I am. I am Tian..."

It was as if the old-timers' sincere words had returned to their ears.

It was as though they could see the LPL at its best that year, and those finest teammates and bonds of brotherhood.