As long as they didn't give up the Nexus, they could give up every other damn thing. In exchange, while the other side contested Map Resources, the V5 group quickly entered Demolition Team mode around Ziggs.
If you dared leave your towers to contest Map Resources, your base was gone!
This was the difference between the Pro Scene and Ranked Match. With the same Composition, ordinary Players could actually operate well in the early game too. So why did the final result look completely different from an actual match?
There were two major reasons:
First, when the team was ahead, disadvantaged teammates thought they were ahead too and started getting reckless!
Second, when the team was behind, disadvantaged teammates thought they were still doing better than their teammates, so they continued getting reckless.
Put simply, it was like looking at lewd pictures—your pituitary gland couldn't control your corpus cavernosum, and the impulse became impossible to resist.
But...
Just because TES couldn't start a Team fight didn't mean V5 couldn't.
Having spotted what looked like a good opportunity, PPGOD decisively pointed his sword. His R skill, Solar Flare, flew fiercely toward the enemy support Thresh, who had been exposed by vision.
"Boom!"
As a blazing ray descended from the sky, Leona's ult perfectly stunned the enemy support, Zhuo.
What... was that for?
At that moment, not only the TES players, but even the LPL viewers generally couldn't understand what V5 was trying to accomplish with that ult.
But soon, Luo Zhen's excited voice rang out through V5's Team Voice:
"Let us work together with one heart and secure the realm!"
"Follow my orders."
"Archers, prepare to fire!"
R Scientific Hellfire Cannon
R Rocket Barrage
R Ultimate Bombardment
Since they had no intention of contesting early-game resources anyway, there was no point saving their ultimates. They might as well use them to claim a few kills. As Leona's ult landed, the artillery from V5's top, mid, and bottom lanes fired in unison.
A few smaller abilities were mixed in as well, but in TES's eyes, it was nothing but an overwhelming barrage of artillery fire.
"Holy shit! What kind of fucking firepower is this?"
"The enemy firepower is Li Yunlong! Retreat, retreat!"
Supports were already the lowest-level, lowest-experience role on the Pro Scene, so there was no need to even mention resistance boots. Thresh, stunned by Leona's ult, had to endure a full 1.75 seconds of crowd control. That was already enough time for V5 to complete an entire round of Firepower Cover.
V5's Rich has slain TES's Zhuo
With the first wave of bombardment over, V5 successfully took down the enemy's most fragile target, Zhuo.
And then... the tempo returned.
The enemy had no support and no vision; V5 had both support and vision. Once they activated their sweepers and spread out their Composition, TES's jungle vision went dark across a huge area in just a few dozen seconds. Without vision to protect them, TES didn't dare start a Team fight rashly, giving V5 over another minute of Development Time.
Poor Thresh.
For a moment, I almost thought V5 was playing ARAM.
And this was without Corki taking the Yordle Snap Trap. If he had it... this wave would probably have been even more explosive.
That's exactly why TES didn't dare force their way in. Corki with Teleport and the Yordle Snap Trap could turn things around in minutes, okay?
Exactly.
Poppy alone could only stop people from engaging. If the enemy insisted on starting a fight, there wasn't much they could do, because V5 had used almost all of their ultimates in that bombardment.
But that was the key.
My Corki had Teleport and a Yordle Snap Trap waiting at home. If you forced the engage, I could definitely stall your first wave, then keep you tied down. Once your Team fight went wrong, Corki could B back, pick up the Yordle Snap Trap, Teleport out, and hit you with a Pincer Attack plus a route-blocking siege. Tell me, wouldn't you be scared?
Their margin for error was way too high.
With just a small test of their strength, V5's Composition had already shown the viewers a great deal.
Did Leona's ult have to immobilize someone?
Not necessarily. A slow worked too, because the three ranged damage dealers had enormous Firepower Cover.
What if all three ultimates missed?
That wasn't a problem either. Whether it was Graves, Corki, or Ziggs, all of them had extremely strong sustained fighting power.
As long as they weren't flanked, with Poppy and Leona holding the line in front, V5 could continuously POKE the enemy under pressure. That pressure would only grow as their items improved. Eventually, TES might even lose the ability to Kite V5 in Team fights.
It was clearly an unremarkable BP, yet at the crucial moment, it stabbed TES viciously in the back.
JKL's Aphelios was already very well developed. He had barely been disturbed throughout his Development Time, and his second major item was nearly complete. Under normal circumstances, this was the sort of situation where Bai Seyueya could sit below the stage and quietly laugh with delight. The problem was, JKL had no room to deal damage.
It was like having a lifetime of skill that couldn't be used—like having a full set of flirting techniques, only to discover that all the girls in question were actually girls themselves. It became a pointless discussion.
At this moment, the pressure quietly shifted onto the two-hundred-pound Qing Tian.
Turn End!
"They need to flank. If TES wants to win the Team fight, they can only rely on Qing Tian flanking from behind."
"V5 is still choosing to give up the third dragon. That means it can only come down to Baron Nashor or the Dragon Soul teamfight. This is a Wind Dragon Soul game. All I can say is that TES's luck is truly awful."
By now, even the commentators on the Commentary Desk had gradually seen the situation clearly.
Because V5's POKE was simply too vicious.
In the current version, Manamune-Luden's Corki already dealt incomprehensible damage once completed. Combined with the poke from double-penetration Ziggs, V5's Double C alone was already more than TES could handle. And that wasn't even counting Rich's Graves.
TES had to force a fight, and they had to engage. If they dragged this out any longer, their Frontline would no longer be able to withstand the enemy's poke.
"Be careful. The enemy Gnar is definitely going to flank."
"It's fine. There are only a few flank routes. I brought a Blue Trinket, so I can check them. Brother Ka, just make sure to lock down their Jarvan IV."
"Huh? I can only stop his EQ engage once. As for my ult, they'll probably be prepared for it this time."
"It's fine, just play One-on-One Defense. Use Earth's gravitational pull, the universal gravitation of the cosmos, plus the Turbo from multiplying your and the enemy's weight by two. If you still can't lock him down after that, come back and find me."
"???"
To be fair,
TES didn't dare force a fight at Baron Nashor, because Baron's attacks reduced Dual Resistance. If the enemy really had the nerve, V5 only needed to POKE from the side and TES would naturally collapse.
So the rest was simple. TES would definitely force a fight at the Dragon Soul teamfight.
No matter what, what V5 feared now was Gnar's Buddha's Palm. In this fight, Luo Zhen's Ziggs most likely wouldn't have his ult for the Dragon pit battle, because he needed it to Clear Wave.
Although V5's POKE was strong, TES still held the initiative at this stage.
Four people could lock down the river while one person, their AD, cleared the Mid Lane wave. This gave TES Lane Control in the mid game. Even if both sides stalled at the Elemental Dragon Team Fight, when the top and bottom lane waves were balanced, TES would still have the advantage of a Mid Lane push.
Which meant:
Even if they were poked low and couldn't take the fight, they could immediately rotate to Mid Tower, force down V5's second mid tower, and then retreat.
That was the question of whether to hurry or not in macro play.
So how would V5 respond?
Simple. Ziggs threw his ult into Bottom Lane!
Your Mid Lane wave went to my base, while my Bottom Lane wave went to yours. If both sides stubbornly dragged things out, V5 would definitely have the greater advantage.
Because after poking you away, you could go push my second mid tower, but I could directly head to Baron Nashor and continue Kiting with you. And because the Bottom Lane wave had been pushed over earlier, if you didn't send someone to defend it, your Bottom Tower would fall. If you did send someone, your Team fight would be doomed.
As the Elemental Dragon's respawn timer drew ever closer, both teams' five players finally appeared at opposite ends of the river. As for their ultimates, they had already been thrown out.
"Be careful. Don't actually let Gnar flank us and slam us into the wall." Rookie earnestly reminded his teammates. Unlike Ziggs and Graves, he was currently standing at home beside the Yordle Snap Trap. Only when the Elemental Dragon was close to spawning did he pick it up and target a minion with Teleport.
"True, that would be pretty serious." Luo Zhen understood, because he had seen far too many Dragon pit games get overturned by a flank like that.
"How serious?"
"In real life, it would probably mean being drugged, passing out, losing a kidney, and bleeding from the ass."
"???"
Because the river was narrow and both sides were clearing wards, while the vision they could bring into a Team fight was limited, aside from a few wards placed forward to contest Dragon pit vision, almost all the remaining wards were placed in the bushes along their retreat routes.
They couldn't guarantee absolute safety, but being relatively safe was enough for them at this point.
After all... when had anything on the Pro Scene ever been perfect?
As he counted down the Elemental Dragon's respawn timer into the single digits, Luo Zhen's heart suddenly tightened. At that moment, he began to put himself in the enemy's shoes.
In his Previous Life, he had seen countless Team fight engages born from Wild Imagination.
In this life, he had also dominated matches by using Mid Lane assassins to exploit Vision Block and catch people.
And after eventually choosing to play AD, he had likewise been flanked and instantly killed by many assassins or Warriors like that.
As he immersed himself in the situation, drew on his memories, and shifted his perspective to the enemy side, Gnar's possible positions narrowed down to only three or four options.
The Blue Side Tri-bush, above the Elemental Dragon Pit, Red Side's Frog Consort area, and the ward in Bottom Lane.
Those four locations were the likeliest places where wards could be planted for a breakthrough.
So where would he be?
Time passed, and the tension intensified. Just as the Elemental Dragon spawned, Luo Zhen's Blue Trinket quietly fell from above the Rift, landing directly in the Vision Fog of Bottom Lane.
[Good, this area is safe.]
[Eliminate the possibility of him coming from the Bottom Lane ward, then eliminate the possibility of entering Dragon pit from above and jumping out afterward, because he'd most likely run into Poppy with W activated. That leaves only two possible locations: Blue Side Tri-bush and Red Side Frog Consort?]
[If it were me, I couldn't stop the enemy from flanking.]
[But if I only need to delay him long enough for my teammates to react... perhaps I can try.}
With that thought, Luo Zhen gradually made up his mind.
Meanwhile, on the Commentary Desk.
"Qing Tian is flanking, Qing Tian is flanking! V5's trinket ward didn't spot him this time. There's an opportunity!"
"V5 has a ward in the Tri-bush, but Gnar activated his sweeper. This might really be a chance."
"Here it comes! TES can't hold back anymore. Xiao Tian is going in!"
When both sides had poked and Kited each other down to just over 3,000 HP after the Elemental Dragon spawned, Tian finally couldn't suppress his thirst for blood any longer and charged forward. As TES's Engage Support, he had to step up first and draw the enemy's attention.
A Team fight was about to erupt.
Karsa activated W and directly blocked Jarvan IV's engage. He then slammed him viciously into the wall with an E skill. Beside them, Knight's Syndra stared intently at Rookie's Corki. In this cramped river position, if Corki managed to fly out with a strong upgraded W, the consequences would be unimaginable.
As for JKL, he had to wait for a relatively good opportunity to deal damage.
At this moment, everyone was waiting for Qing Tian's engage. Qing Tian, with Gnar at nearly full rage, finally appeared in Blue Side's Bottom Lane Tri-bush.
From this position... with just a Flash plus E, he could easily reach Ziggs and Graves.
As long as he landed a good ult.
Just one good ult was all he needed!
Carrying the belief that he would become famous in a single battle, Gnar fiercely used his Flash.
But just as the white light faded beneath his feet and he prepared to follow up with his E skill dash, the sensation of stepping onto the river ground after landing felt somehow different from his usual flanks.
"Why does this feel like I stepped on something?"
Looking closer, wasn't this Ziggs's only mobility skill, Point Target Demolition?
"Holy shit! Mine!"
Realizing something was wrong, he hurriedly tried to press his E skill. His finger frantically hammered the E key, but... everything already seemed too late.
From the moment Luo Zhen resolved to risk being engaged on and planted a Trap Card on the Duel Disk, TES's defeat in this Team fight had already been decided.
"Come on! Try and defeat me!"
"Turn end!"
Before you continue