You Call This 'Steady'?

"Did you spot it? But it's already too late!"

From the moment Luo Zhen revealed his pick, FPX was doomed to sink into the quagmire of bot lane.

Rich, the top laner, had pressed Teleport a step faster than Gori. At that moment, FPX had three players tower diving near the turret. The arrival of this TP only intensified the mental strain on everyone at FPX.

And the worst part was yet to come.

The instant Viego chained his crowd control and the bot duo finished off Jhin, Jarvan IV, Corki, and Rakan appeared on the bot lane battlefield almost simultaneously, surrounding FPX's battered remnants from all sides.

You thought this was a simple 3v1 in bot lane?

Wrong. This was actually my long-planned 6v4, turret included!

Holy crap, does this count as an ADC engaging with his life?

Beyond this natural barrier of the Yangtze River lies... Sorry, wrong set.

What a fast Cleanse. Do all 18-year-old ADCs come with Purify Instant Cleanse built in?

Just a Hero-level weapon skill, that's all.

In a six-versus-four, FPX had virtually no room to kite or escape. Hang and Beichuan had already panicked. The instant they saw the encirclement take shape, they instinctively began backing toward their own turret.

"Don't!"

LWX's warning came a little too late. Just as Viego stepped toward his own ADC, the foreshadowing Luo Zhen had planted beneath the turret finally revealed itself.

E: Crowdcast

The 35% slow became a deathly nightmare in that instant. No matter how hard FPX tried, they simply could not understand it. Their surprise bot lane play had been decided on the spot, so why had their opponent seen through it immediately as though they had God's perspective?

Under the triple pursuit of Camille, Rakan, and Jarvan IV, FPX had not even figured out what had happened before V5 forced a 1-for-4 trade through their advantage in foresight.

The tide had turned!

"What sharp instincts. What a strange playstyle."

Even Hong Mi, as the coach, was stunned when he saw his team make that decision and react that way. Especially Luo Zhen—he had clearly seen through the opponent's plan, yet still refused to leave. No matter how he looked at it... it felt like their young ADC was deliberately engaging with his own body?

"Who did this kid learn ADC from before? Or rather, what kind of Support did he have?" Seemingly recalling something, Hong Mi immediately asked the assistant coach beside him.

Tracing it back to the source, every pro player's style was subtly influenced by their idol. A player capable of turning an ADC into this kind of player could not possibly have been unknown in the LPL. Not even in the LDL.

"No. In fact, we already investigated his time in the LDL. Back then, his Support was just a standard LDL-level Support, and often couldn't even keep up with his thinking." The assistant coach behind Hong Mi tapped his pen as he pondered. Looking across the LPL, ADCs who used themselves as bait to lure engages were not unheard of, but none of them were as calm and... insane as Luo Zhen.

Yes. Two completely different words, yet both suited the same person perfectly.

"Sixty percent of Uzi's Basic Skills and Last Hit pressure, sixty percent of LWX's experience farming solo lanes, sixty percent of JKL's body-engaging, tower-tanking baiting, and sixty percent of Viper's timing for finding openings in Team Fights. This kid keeps giving me more and more surprises."

As the seed of talent began to sprout, V5 found it increasingly impossible to ignore the light radiating from Luo Zhen.

For coaches, analysts, and assistant coaches like them, what could be more fulfilling than personally cultivating a top-tier player? Hong Mi laughed heartily. He had never felt that his decision had been so wise.

"Maybe we can start looking forward to it."

"Hm?"

"I have a feeling that this year's meta may return to bot lane. He might really become your... no, our V5's Savior!"

"Holy crap! Xiao Zhen, you did a fucking great job this time!" After the Pseudo Team Wipe, Karsa, the Jungler, finally could not contain his excitement and began wildly praising Luo Zhen's awareness.

"Come on, come on. It wasn't that I predicted it well. The opponent just happened to come deliver themselves. Any other ADC could have noticed it too."

"Don't be modest." PPGOD joined in. "If every ADC had your prediction and sense of danger, there wouldn't be so many Rookie Players retiring the moment they debuted, then switching careers to become bucket-carrying bros in Civil Engineering Bar."

"Now that's just forced slander against us Civil Engineering Bar bros. You can flame me, but please, if you don't understand civil engineering, don't flame it. This is a profession our country has passed down for thousands of years. In ancient times, this job was called corvée labor."

V5 members: ...

The four kills brought more than just gold from kills and assists. They also brought countless hidden resources—turret plates, Dragons, minion waves, Rift Scuttlers, and even the development of FPX's Double C.

The only way the opponent could Stop Loss was for Kennen, who had been suppressed by Camille all this time, to finally get a brief chance to breathe and farm a wave.

But that was all.

The early deaths meant FPX's Jungler could not Reach Level 6 for the Rift Herald fight at 7:30. They could not contest this Rift Herald and could only give it up.

The price was that Luo Zhen, who had put them at such a disadvantage, suffered for it.

Beichuan brought Gori straight down for a tower dive. This Time, Luo Zhen had no way to respond. It was not that he could not react in time; even if he did, he had to die for this wave beneath the turret if necessary!

The pre-set Lotus Traps were all used to clear the wave. His Q and W skills were both thrown into the minions. Even when he was tower dived, not a single Auto Attack struck an enemy. At that moment, Luo Zhen's eyes held only Soldiers.

No Choice.

Last time, he had already traded his own Sudden Death and one and a half waves of Soldiers to bait the opponent into their tower dive and secure victory.

If he gave this one up too, then his Jhin might as well be dead. Or rather, dying outright would be better. At least before dying, he could deal more damage, stay in lane a little longer, and gain a bit more experience.

As for PPGOD, he had abandoned Luo Zhen's ADC long ago.

That instant of decisiveness even made him feel as though he had seen that person again.

"Give me a chance."

"How am I supposed to give you a chance?"

"I had no choice before, but now... I want to be a good person."

"Fine. Tell the opponent that and see if they'll let you be one."

"So you want me to die?"

"Sorry, I'm Support." With that, PPGOD ignored AD Jhin, who had been trapped beneath the outer turret, and instantly activated R+W to flee at light speed. The bond between ADC and Support could be this cold sometimes. From PPGOD's perspective, Luo Zhen had designed a tower dive last time and made the enemy suffer. Now that they had come back for revenge, why should he face them himself and drag PPGOD down with him?

What a lunatic!

Seriously, if it were something like Jinx or Caitlyn, PPGOD might have protected him. If it were a hypercarry ADC, he definitely would not dare be so ruthless. But Jhin?

Selling him came with absolutely no pressure.

Watching this scene of "ADC-Support fallout," even the knowledgeable Commentators and countless Spectators could not hold it together.

This PPGOD was really skilled at selling his ADC.

Since it was a guaranteed death from a bot lane gank anyway, this was actually a pretty rational choice. One death was better than two.

But that relationship...

Couples fight at the head of the bed and make up at the foot of it. ADC and Support are the same—sleep it off, and it'll be fine. No problem.

V5 took Rift Herald, and FPX tower dived bot lane to Stop Loss.

Seeing This.

The experienced Karsa and Rookie immediately dropped Rift Herald in mid lane. Once the Herald came out, FPX's Mid-Jungle had to return to defend mid. With Corki's Yordle Snap Trap, even just Mid-Jungle could pose a threat, and Thresh would probably have to come too.

With mid, bot, and Support all going there, Jinx alone could not push down the bot lane turret, so she would still be locked in lane.

That was how professional macro worked.

I hit you once, and you quickly hit back. But that did not mean the exchange ended there. It would continue into the next exchange, until one side could no longer respond.

In other words, the essence of a MOBA game was actually a turn-based game.

Alright.

Just when FPX finally defended their mid turret, which was hanging on by a thread, and thought they could breathe a sigh of relief, something happened to Kennen in top lane again.

Taking advantage of the remaining duration of the opponent's Yordle Snap Trap after they returned to defend, Rookie forcibly flew in. Right in front of Kennen, he activated the Yordle Snap Trap and W-charged forward as though he intended to tower dive, forcing out Kennen's ultimate.

Once Kennen's ultimate was used, Gang Leader Qiao became invincible in top lane again.

After two rounds of Kiting in mid lane brought down FPX's low-health mid turret and V5 pushed their vision forward, it was time for V5's classic New Tactic: Jordan mode activated.

Mid-Jungle-Support spread vision, tracked the opponent's positions, created space for top lane split-pushing and 1v1s, then let Camille snowball endlessly in top lane.

At this point, FPX was in a very awkward position.

If they swapped lanes, there was no Rift Herald left in top lane, and switching over would mean freely giving up the second Elemental Dragon. Furthermore, with Kennen's ultimate down, they might not be able to threaten the split-pushing Camille after swapping. Meanwhile, the enemy Jhin and Rakan could threaten Kennen without his ultimate at any moment.

But if they did not swap lanes...

Camille's top lane advantage would keep snowballing. Kennen could not do anything to Camille in a 1v1 now. Once Camille got her items, more than one person would be needed to defend against her. But if they sent too many people, they would have to concede Map Resources and be forced into a vicious cycle. Even worse, Jhin in bot lane looked completely unfazed. After reaching level six, he no longer even stood beneath the turret—he stood between the outer and inner turrets and activated his ultimate.

Damage +1, deterrence +10, morale +100.

Although Luo Zhen used every bullet to clear the wave, he had to ask: weren't you mad when he used his ultimate to clear minions?

That was what peak-level games were like. Every opponent possessed top-tier strength, and any tiny mistake from either side would be magnified infinitely. After suffering such a huge loss in bot lane, FPX could only defend passively. At that point, they had only two paths left:

First: Viego and Thresh could look for an opportunity to Catch a solo, especially Camille, disrupting her split-push development rhythm.

Second: stall. Just stall it out, Wait It Out for the Double C's Three Item Set, and wait for a Heavenly Thunder plus a God-Tier Team Fight.

Victory seemed Within Reach.

Bounty

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"Demacia!"

"We can't stall. We can't give the enemy Jinx and Viktor a chance to reach late game. We have to fight them!"

FPX's composition had Viktor and Jinx as a Double C hypercarry setup, and their Wave Clear Ability in the mid game was simply too strong. One Viktor E, followed by a couple of shots from Jinx's Cannon Form, and V5's wave would be unable to advance.

And if the minion wave could not advance, the tempo would slow down. Once the tempo slowed, the enemy Double C would have room to catch their breath and farm.

So at this point, V5 had to find an opportunity to force the opponent into a fight.

Elemental Dragons were definitely not an option. This game was not on a Fast Dragon pace. By the time Dragon Soul arrived, it would be close to thirty minutes, and by then it would already be too late. The enemy Double C's items would be nearly complete, and V5's advantage would be reduced infinitely. That left only one simple option.

"Baron Nashor! V5 can only use Baron Nashor to force a Team Fight."

At the commentator desk, the invited Guest San Dadiao made the call, immediately seeing through the situation.

Using Baron Nashor to force a fight was not actually difficult. The hard part was whether the team could remain coordinated in their calls. Even Professional Teams often had situations where half the team wanted to take Baron while the other half wanted to Team Fight, resulting in neither getting Baron nor winning the fight, and handing the game right back to the opponent in one wave. Even though V5's Head Coach was Hong Mi and he was experienced, he still needed time to develop the team.

In less than half a month, just how far could V5's execution improve? Many teams watching the Demacia Cup Semifinals were extremely interested in that question.

"I've thought of a perfect way to engage." Just as Rookie and Karsa were still discussing whether Azir should shove or Jarvan IV should engage, Luo Zhen's voice suddenly sounded in Team voice chat.

"Hm? Xiao Zhen, what do you have in mind?"

Rookie was undoubtedly very satisfied with Luo Zhen now. He could play steady, he could carry, and he had a good temper. He could even liven up the atmosphere sometimes. Rookie knew this ADC Template all too well.

Little JKL.

Even when Karsa occasionally spoke with him, he felt that This Guy sometimes gave him an especially strong sense of Déjà Vu.

"Oh, this is what I'm thinking. If the two of you engage, the opponent will definitely notice. Given how blackened LWX is right now and our current level of coordination, I think forcing an engage onto them would be a little difficult."

"Then what do you mean?"

"What if we let them engage on us?"

"???"

One minute later...

When V5 pushed another wave beneath the enemy turret, PPGOD, in the Support Role, finally pinged an attack signal at Baron Nashor. As Support, he had to record and Pay Attention to when the enemy Support placed wards and when their vision refreshed. If he remembered correctly, this Time Point was exactly when all of Thresh's previous ward timers had expired.

That meant they would briefly have vision priority.

V5 moved.

The entire team began retreating in an orderly manner from their positions across the map. From the direction of their retreat, it was obvious that they were heading toward Baron Nashor. Moreover, as V5's frontline pulled back toward the jungle, the Rift faintly echoed with the sound of Corki stepping onto his Yordle Snap Trap.

"Are they really starting Baron, or are they forcing a fight?"

"They might fake the fight and actually take Baron. Their vision just disappeared, so we need to pressure forward slowly."

"Spread out. Be careful of their engage. Corki has Yordle Snap Trap."

"Wait! Their ADC seems to have made a mistake!!!"

Just as FPX prepared to repeat their slow, methodical warding style and restore vision around several key points, the Control Ward they had previously placed in the Blue Side Blue Buff brush clearly spotted the opponent heading toward Baron Nashor.

More importantly... they discovered that Jhin seemed distracted by the Vastayan on the road. At that moment, he was standing directly on their Stealth Ward while Kiting the Monster's aggro.