You call this thing stable?

He fell into thought.

There were two common builds for Jinx in this era. One was Kraken Slayer, Runaan's Hurricane, and Lord Dominik's Regards. With two items, she already had significant damage, and with three, her damage was considerable, giving her the initial ability to take over the game. This build was about enabling herself to shine.

However, considering the presence of Kennen, Zoe, and Leona on the enemy team, this build offered very little room for error. But precisely because these champions were present, the audience's acceptance of her dying suddenly would be higher. After all, it was easy to die without mobility when building Kraken Slayer.

As for the other option, it was the "Steady" build centered around Galeforce, which was Galeforce, Statikk Shiv, and Infinity Edge. The advantage of this build was safety, with Galeforce's mobility and Statikk Shiv's range, allowing Jinx to maximize her survivability.

But there were also drawbacks. With this build, no one could be damaged until Infinity Edge was completed.

This meant she had to consume more resources, and it would take longer to contribute to the team. Moreover, once Galeforce was acquired, the audience's tolerance for her mistakes would approach zero.

Heaven lies to the left, hell to the right.

But...

[Galeforce] has been purchased.

From the moment he decided to step onto the competitive stage, any semblance of a fallback had long since been personally sealed by him.

Chapter 50: Cliff's Edge

The entire early to mid-game situation was akin to the first game V5 had won: avoiding fights, defending, and then trading resources.

Although their opponents were the newly formed TES battleship of S11, one couldn't deny that TES possessed an unparalleled aggressiveness in the first fifteen minutes. If V5's composition was meant to directly clash with that, then the only two capable of withstanding the onslaught would be the mid and jungle. Gambling on a late-game composition was, in fact, a rather helpless choice.

Since Jinx had chosen Galeforce, V5's strategy had to be even more cautious.

Elemental Dragon, give it up.

Rift Herald, give it up.

Jungle? We'll decide whether to give it up based on who shows up.

Then, they would take advantage of TES's time spent on map resources to destroy their outer towers. With V5's effective resource trading, the economic deficit before 20 minutes was barely maintained at 3000. TES had lost all their outer towers except the mid outer tower, while V5 had lost their mid outer tower to two successive Rift Herald pushes from TES. However, their side lane outer towers remained.

At this point, Azir's advantage became apparent.

He could create towers.

Although the defensive towers Azir created had a limited duration, they could still somewhat delay the enemy's tempo and push. Then... the team's two carries could continue to farm safely.

"Little Zhen, go take the wolves and the raptors. I'll watch the jungle for you."

At this stage, Karsa was already starting to starve. Because Trundle's ultimate ability could steal enemy resistances, he didn't need to consume too many resources in the game to be tanky. He began to act as the third sacrificial position.

And if you ask who the fourth was?

That would naturally be Rich's Gwen. Due to the presence of two hyper-carries on the team, the safest lane for the ADC to farm was the safest, followed by the mid laner. When it came to him, only the most dangerous lane was left. TES's ganks were primarily aimed at him.

Fortunately, it was Gwen. Except for Kennen, she could do a lot in team fights with her W skill.

Luo Zhen didn't speak, merely ran towards the jungle, mentally calculating how long it would take for his third item to materialize.

Yes, at nearly 20 minutes, he had already completed his second item, Statikk Shiv.

But this was far from enough.

The Galeforce-Statikk Shiv Jinx had the initial ability to kite and occasionally use her cannon form with Statikk Shiv's extra range to poke the enemy for a lucky crit. As for damage... it was quite pathetic.

Before the third item, Infinity Edge, Jinx couldn't be considered an effective damage dealer on the battlefield. Her only advantage was her quick wave clear in conjunction with Azir. As long as they kept an eye out and didn't let Kennen flank, TES wouldn't be able to push in for a while.

[The pressure is terrifying.]

[TES before 15 minutes had their aggression maxed out. V5 is already defending very well.]

[With V5's composition, they should normally not know how to lose after 30 minutes, but at only 20 minutes, there's already a 3000 gold difference. Wait, TES might force a Dragon Soul or Baron fight.]

[Believe in Rookie, okay? Believe in Rookie.]

Looking at the offensive and defensive situation on the screen, Xiang Zhangmen, who was watching the match, got up, opened a bottle from the fridge, took a big gulp, and then sat back down in his chair with a yawn, exclaiming, "This is so boring."

Macro play.

Especially the macro play during the period when the attacking side is looking for a breakthrough against the defending side is the most boring. This is because there are almost no direct confrontations during this time. Even if a kill occasionally occurs, it's definitely a solo kill for taking a lane, a kill that has no impact on the overall situation.

The real crucial junctures depend on the performance in key resource team fights.

The current game was, to some extent, Shakespearean.

"No need to pretend. If you're feeling weak, you're feeling weak. Instead of trying to pass it off with drowsiness, you should go to the pharmacy now and get some mulberries and leek seeds. It's good for your health," said Shi Shao on the other end of the phone, not indulging him at all and immediately exposing Xiang Zhangmen's lie.

"You're the one who's weak. Don't you know how strong I am?"

"You're getting agitated, aren't you? But I'll say it upfront, are you sure you want me to bring up your dark history from the LDL days?"

"Watch the game, watch the game." This move, like an auto-attack, instantly triggered a critical hit in LWX.

"But... putting all the pressure on a rookie, aren't you afraid he won't be able to handle it? What if he farms three lanes alone and then dies instantly in a team fight? After this Demacia Cup, he might be done for." Shi Shao looked at Jinx's build on the screen, and a rare hint of agreement could be seen in his eyes.

Of course, only a hint.

"Ah, I actually told him about this. It's the Demacia Cup, we should rely more on the veteran players, at least that would be safer."

"So you were deeply moved and taught him your Jinx? What a third-rate, hot-blooded shonen drama script."

"Don't say it like that. I didn't teach him anything." As if recalling something, Xiang Zhangmen's smile gradually turned strange: "This Jinx, although I didn't teach him, it's not entirely unrelated to me, because this is something he figured out himself after being utterly crushed countless times."

"???"

In the Demacia Cup meta, if one side secures all three dragons in the early game, setting aside the rare six-minute dragon rush tempo, the most crucial dragon soul fight will likely occur around the 28-minute mark. At this point, Jinx's Infinity Edge would definitely be completed.

Theoretically, this might be the first time throughout the entire game that they possess the ability to teamfight head-on with TES.

It has to be said, they really have to thank Brother Zhuo for being able to drag the game out this long.

Because Brother Zhuo's engage ability is just too poor, and TES's overall engage capability was only finally shored up after Mark joined. This led to V5 being given a lot of opportunities in the early and mid-game. Although Knight tried his best to pull off surprise plays, facing a Jinx with Galeforce, his Sleepy Bubble rarely landed.

There was no helping it; Luo Zhen's instincts were just too sharp.

TES designed several traps to try and ambush him, but he skillfully dodged them with Flash or Galeforce.

As the casters put it: he was so steady, as if he had been through something before, completely giving TES no opportunities.

"My Infinity Edge is out."

After holding back for a full 27 minutes, having absorbed the fattest minion waves and the most jungle camps, just as the elemental dragon soul was about to spawn, Luo Zhen finally completed his third major item, Infinity Edge. Looking around, the only front-liner on the TES side was Viego, who had built Divine Sunderer and Hullbreaker. Jinx's damage was likely sufficient.

What? You ask about Leona?

She wasn't within his scope of consideration.

"Nice! We can finally have a proper fight with them this wave." PPGOD and Karsa were the first to cheer. After holding back for nearly 30 minutes, they finally had a chance to counterattack. They filled the remaining slots in their item builds with Control Wards, then spread out in a chain, inching their way towards the elemental dragon.

The dragon soul for this game was the Fire Dragon Soul, a map resource they absolutely could not let TES have. Therefore, they were convinced that the enemy would fight them to the death here. After all, if they secured the Fire Dragon Soul, TES's current composition wouldn't fear a lack of damage in the late game.

But... Karsa had miscalculated.

As the V5 members slowly scouted their way to the dragon pit, and the elemental dragon's spawn time was fast approaching, something terrifying happened before their eyes.

The dragon was unguarded.

The empty river seemed to mock V5's command decisions. And the moment they appeared at the dragon's location, the control wards that had been placed in the Baron Nashor pit were almost instantly cleared.

Relying on the residual vision from those few control wards, they saw that all the TES members were there.

They had been tricked!

TES wasn't planning to contest this Fire Dragon with them; their goal was a feint. They were going for Baron!

In voice chat, everyone's tone became anxious.

"Baron, they're taking Baron!"

"Quick, quick, let's go."

"Watch out for Kennen, watch out for Kennen! Our vision in the Baron pit isn't complete."

"Focus on preventing Kennen from engaging. Brother Ka, go first. Even if we can't get this Baron, we have to at least stall them!!!"

The situation had reached its worst point for V5.

Chapter 51: Flower of Hope

On the caster's desk, the commentators stared intently at the screen, their voices growing more excited.

"V5 is moving towards the elemental dragon pit, Jinx has completed Infinity Edge. V5 seems poised to contest this teamfight."

"But TES isn't planning to teamfight with you. Can V5 react in time? They can't!"

"Here they come, TES is starting the dragon. V5 discovered TES's intentions through the Baron control wards, but at this distance, V5 seems unable to get there in time."

"Can they rush it down? TES's dragon-taking speed isn't very fast, it looks like there's a chance!!!"

At this moment, millions of eyes on the big screen were fixed on the dragon pit. Yes, TES's plan was excellent: taking advantage of the enemy's movement towards the elemental dragon, they all-in'd Baron. If this move succeeded, their opponents, with their double carry's three-item builds, would be insufficient to threaten them with the Baron buff. As for that elemental dragon soul?

So be it if they lost it.

But similarly, why couldn't V5 have thought of this? It was because they noticed TES's slow dragon-taking speed.

This dragon call.

Whether for TES or for V5, it was a considerable shock.

Rich's Gwen teleported to the top lane, occupying the highest position in the river to provide vision for his teammates at the dragon pit entrance. However, he didn't dare to engage immediately. With his already poor development, if he rushed in without waiting for his teammates, it would surely cost the entire team.

At the same time... he was also acting as bait.

The language barrier made it difficult for Rich to communicate with his teammates in-game, so he could only maintain his usual communication with Rookie. But within the same team, he could feel the will and drive emanating from his teammates even without words.

They wanted to win.

They wanted to win so badly!

They all wanted to win this BO5 series together and claim the championship. For this, he not only harbored no complaints about Coach Homme's tactical changes but even actively cooperated with the composition, taking on a sacrificial role.

Everyone was making sacrifices for each other, everyone was believing in each other.

He felt that he might still be able to do something more for the team, so his movements became increasingly urgent.

Then, just as Karsa's Trundle stepped into the river, the W skill [Threaded Arrow] was suddenly activated. As the field expanded rapidly, the next moment, a Zoe carrying a Star Shard appeared before him over the Baron wall.

[Gwen is unaffected]

"They were here after all!"

He preemptively fired at the spot where Zoe's ultimate ability appeared, anticipating that the enemy would try to ambush him at this very moment. If they could force out Gwen's W skill early, the upcoming team fight would be much easier. Even if they couldn't force it out, he could still cripple the enemy with his headbutt, making it a win-win situation.

For rich, Zoe's appearance at least confirmed that there would be one less mid laner threat when his own backline arrived. Now, they only needed to worry about Kennen's engagement.

Before the teams had even formally clashed, both sides had already gambled some of their resources on their teammates.

Then...

The V5 main force arrived.

Karsa's Trundle charged at the front but was fiercely entangled by the enemy's support, Leona. Although TES's composition wasn't the fastest at taking dragons, the journey from the dragon pit to Baron Nashor was long enough for V5 to bring Baron's health down to the execute threshold.

This was the 28-minute mark. Even if they were slow, with the jungler having two Smite abilities, they could still take down Baron.

They wouldn't make it in time!

From the river vision provided by rich's constant repositioning, the situation inside the dragon pit was crystal clear. Baron's health was already nearing the execute threshold, and he was still being held by Leona. Stealing the dragon was basically out of the question.

Since that was the case, then...

"Leave them behind!"

He used his ultimate ability on Leona, and Trundle's size suddenly expanded by a third. The moment Baron Nashor let out a wail, he slammed his E skill, Glacial Prison, towards the entrance of the dragon pit.

With Baron Nashor's prior damage and the reduction in defensive stats it provided, This fight could be won!

As the pillar-like object rose, the TES members, who had just finished Baron Nashor and were about to leave the pit, were instantly slowed.

Trundle advanced, Gwen charged forward, and the top and jungle duo fearlessly assaulted TES's formation.

"Can we fight?"

"I'm flanking, I'm flanking."