Designer, is this...
I couldn't understand it, but I was deeply shocked.
With V5's composition, being 3,000 gold behind at twenty minutes was basically no different from not being behind at all.
At this point, V5 was clearly the team with victory in hand. Nearly all the Offensive Pressure had shifted onto RA, yet at this crucial moment when both sides' carries were working toward their third major item, bounty objectives had somehow appeared instead?
"Holy shit, Elemental Dragons can really trigger strategic objectives ahead of time."
Luo Zhen and the others were stunned.
When they first raised this question, they hadn't been too sure either. They had no match footage to use as a reference, and Hong Mi had only vaguely sensed that something like this might be possible, so he had casually mentioned it.
But now, how was this any different from hard proof?
Many people didn't understand what these bounty objectives meant. At the start of S12, teams relied on their understanding of bounty objectives to give themselves more late-game Big Carry options, such as Jinx, Caitlyn, and Moon Man, or Corki, Azir, and Viktor. Late Game Lineups were reliable when ahead, and even when behind, they could turn things around through bounty objectives.
But what about now?
V5, the Disadvantaged Side, wasn't even that far behind. Both teams' gold was already concentrated on their Big Daddy carries, but the enemy bounty objectives had appeared first. That meant that if both sides took towers, V5's Big Daddy, as the losing side, would earn more gold than RA's Big Daddy, as the winning side.
In other words, at the same twenty-six-minute mark.
Through Map Resource trades, V5's Double C could reach their Three Item Set faster than RA's Double C, while RA's other three players would have more gold than V5's remaining three players. The priorities had been completely reversed.
My Big Daddy came online first, while my utility components were just a little worse than yours. Was there a problem with that?
There was no problem at all.
By now, one could probably understand just how absurd these strategic objectives were. This thing had clearly been designed by Designer without using his brain, probably squeezed out of his ass.
At the very least, RA was starting to get a headache.
But Luo Zhen's eyes gradually began to shine.
As the saying went, you couldn't hide the look in someone's eyes when he wanted to stab somebody. The same went for secretly siphoning tower gold. But if he tried to siphon gold from a whole pile of towers at once, no one would be able to tell what he was really doing. Very practical.
He would gladly take these strategic objectives!
Big Brother, I'm About to Start Spinning
The appearance of strategic objectives was absolutely terrible news for teams with poor mid-game macro.
Both sides were still trading resources as usual, and based on Combat Power, RA still had a few minutes of composition advantage left. Yet as time passed, before the fourth Elemental Dragon spawned, V5's Double C had completed their Three Item Set ahead of RA's Double C. By fifty seconds before the fourth dragon spawned, Luo Zhen and Rookie each had an extra Stopwatch over their opposing carries.
The speed at which that gold had accumulated left everyone on RA utterly baffled.
They absolutely had to secure the fourth Elemental Dragon's Dragon Soul, because it was the newest Chemtech Dragon Soul. Countless New Patch RANK games had shown them that once you got this Dragon Soul, it was nearly impossible to lose.
So before the Elemental Dragon had even fully spawned, RA began fighting V5 for Lane Control across the map.
They couldn't do anything about the side lane where Jax was split-pushing, so they would give that up. But there was no way V5 was taking Mid Lane priority.
Qiyana protected Lulu as they fought for vision in the river, while Azir protected Jinx as they contested Mid Lane against Aphelios. Looking at his Galeforce, Ravenous Hydra, and Serylda's Grudge, Luo Zhen fell into thought.
With his current items, it seemed like he could try something big.
So...
"Hey, Diao Shen."
"What?"
"Did you know I don't have a mother?"
"And?"
"I've always believed that resolve means carving out a bright Da Dao through the pitch-black wilderness."
"Can you speak normally?"
"What I mean is: Big Brother is about to start spinning~"
"???"
Aphelios currently held Green Blue Blade. Considering the enemy had Gwen, Qiyana, and Azir, all of whom made it difficult to enter a fight, Luo Zhen had originally intended to act as a long-range grenadier in the river. But now, it seemed being a Tanya wasn't out of the question either.
So, as Luo Zhen used the lack of vision to position himself by the wall corner, at the instant Azir and Jinx stood nearly on top of each other while last-hitting, Luo Zhen suddenly went in.
R [Moonlight) was unleashed.
Blue moonlight blasted out from Aphelios's hands.
Then came—
"Whoosh~"
Flash Over Wall plus Galeforce sent him almost simultaneously with his ultimate to a spot near RA's Double C.
Q [Frostfall]
The flamethrower blasted forward, and two Tongbi marks appeared on Azir and Jinx. The previously launched Lunar Eclipse exploded at that exact moment.
Finally, he clicked the lantern thrown by PPGOD behind him and retreated safely. Switching to Tongbi, the attacks of Soul-Returning Flash Moon began chasing the enemy Double C who had been successfully marked.
It looked complicated, but it was really just two or three seconds of execution: throw the ultimate, go in, throw Q, retreat, switch weapons, and follow up with Auto Attacks.
RA's Double C had no time to react to that sudden dive. From their perspective, they would never have imagined an ADC charging in like some damn Trickster LeBlanc to combo them. By the time they came to their senses, Moon Man had already returned to safety through the lantern.
What they had taken was a two-stage explosive ultimate, the damage from a flamethrower Q skill, and one extremely long-range tracking Auto Attack from Moon Man.
Double C, crippled.
Holy shit, AK!
Trickster Moon Man?
An AD went in like that to Deal Damage? Others had adaptive force, while you had adaptive steadiness, huh?
It really was cool, but the damage was just a tiny bit short.
That full combo hadn't directly brought the enemy Double C below Serylda's Grudge's Kill Threshold, but it had still pushed Azir and Jinx down to one-quarter HP. At the point when the Elemental Dragon Soul was about to spawn, having both carries at critical HP was no different from personally handing over the tempo advantage.
Then something even more terrifying happened.
The sky went dark.
Seeing this, Strive's Azir immediately cast [Wall of the Imperial Guard] directly toward the Dragon pit, while Jinx blindly fired her ultimate toward the Nocturne position she had seen on the Map Vision before the screen went dark.
If they died now, this entire sequence would completely Collapse.
Silence. Dead silence.
IBoy and Strive prepared themselves completely for Nocturne's arrival, because they absolutely didn't believe their opponents would let this opportunity go. Even Qiyana and Lulu had returned at that moment, just to protect their Double C from getting picked off alone.
But... Nocturne didn't fly in.
"What is going on? He used his ult just to scare us without flying in?"
"No, we've been baited!"
Only after Nocturne Ult had completely ended, and still no one from V5 had charged at them, did the RA group finally realize something was wrong.
The next second, the sound of the Chemtech Dragon wailing came from the Dragon pit. A few seconds later, just as RA's Double C needed only one or two more seconds to complete their recalls, they finally saw where V5 was.
They... weren't avoiding RA's view at all. They were charging straight toward Baron Nashor!
Nocturne's ultimate had never been meant to enter the fight and clean up. From the very start, it had been meant to lure the tiger away from the mountain, creating the illusion that he would dive in to finish them off. It delayed RA's Double C recalls while directing his teammates to quickly transition from dragon to Baron.
Karsa was too experienced!
"Nice coordination, guys! Their Double C really stood there like idiots instead of recalling, and they even used their ultimates." 369 was grinning from ear to ear. He had originally thought he had taken the most resources this game, meaning he would have to shoulder the most responsibility, and he had already prepared for a hard fight.
Then the AD made a few moves, and the enemy Double C was crippled.
Then the jungler made a few moves, and the enemy's brains Collapsed too.
With V5's Three-Core Lineup damage, they could absolutely secure Baron before RA's Double C got back from base. Even if they dragged it out until the enemy Double C arrived, Azir without his ultimate to stop engages had lost more than half his threat.
Nearly perfect execution and macro.
"The enemy got too cocky. They probably saw your positions through a Control Ward and figured an AD like me wasn't much of a threat, so they gave us an opening." Luo Zhen had no intention of being polite to them. Any Player who chose to play AD, no matter his style, definitely did so with the mindset of showing off and saving the world.
They didn't guard against him picking them off alone?
Then they really had underestimated his damage.
It was like a dragon riding your face—sounds invincible. But in reality, a dragon couldn't beat any unit capable of fighting back.
"Nice, nice. Xiao Zhen, you made a huge contribution this time."
"Quick, quick, once we take Baron, the bounty objectives should disappear. Use this massive lead to macro them to death."
"Received. Templar Assassin, reveal your blades!"
"Ura~"
Once they took Baron and set up a 1-3-1, the pressure from Super Minions alone began to overwhelm RA.
Even two versus one in the top lane couldn't stop Jax from pushing forward, while down bottom, Corki with absurd damage was tearing down towers. That lane setup instantly left RA completely lost.
If they sent people, Nocturne would fly straight down Mid Lane, and Galeforce Moon Man could easily follow up with damage.
If they didn't, they could only watch their side lane High Ground Turrets and inhibitors get destroyed, without the slightest chance to fight back.
Under this suffocating macro, RA finally could no longer bear the humiliation. During the final push with Corki carrying the Yordle Snap Trap, they launched a desperate suicide attack.
Even as their Nexus exploded, their heads were still buzzing.
It felt like they hadn't made a wrong move anywhere, yet the match had somehow just ended.
1:0
V5 took the first victory.
Rich People's Weird Habits
After taking the first game 1-0, RA lost Blue Side initiative, and in the second game, they were even less able to contend with the stronger V5.
In the second game, 369 finally found his chance to shine. His Gragas not only generated plenty of meme material, but also secured two Solo Kills in lane.
Although his Team fight performance still carried a bit of a strange smell, considering he had only just joined V5, perhaps under Coach Homme's guidance, he could gradually change and become stronger.
At least V5 had already shown everyone its vitality.
2:0
V5 had completed (1/8) of their journey toward a Playoffs ticket. With the joy of victory, the atmosphere within V5 was harmonious.
Competitive sports were like this. Whether Esports or traditional athletics, as long as you maintained enduring victory, the atmosphere in the training room would never be too bad.
That was also why so many clubs liked signing players who had already made a name for themselves. Fame represented skill, skill indirectly meant win rate, and win rate meant avoiding many things you didn't want to face.
"Brother 9, not bad. I don't know if you've learned Gnar after a whole season, but this Gragas is definitely pretty good, right, Brother Ka?"
"True. I didn't expect it. Just a few months, and your rebellious phase is already over."
Karsa was also an old hand at memes. Since he had personally coined the Gnar meme, he used it naturally. Of course, 369 didn't dare argue. As his former teammate, Karsa truly knew how 369 had performed last season.
Besides... if V5 hadn't pulled him out of TES, then TES would currently have Zoom, Qing Tian, and him as three top laners.
Wouldn't he be eternally dominating the water dispenser bench?
"Alright, alright, stop teasing 369. Didn't he play pretty well today?" Rookie stepped up at the right moment to play the good old peacemaker and draw everyone's attention. Then, under the gazes of everyone in the room, he comforted 369, "It's fine. You have to believe in your potential. If you can't sleep at night, try throwing two punches at the air. Don't do anything else—just do it for this world! Your confidence will rise very quickly."
369: ???
You too, sir?
As usual, the post-match interview was handed to Rookie. After all, it was his debut match after switching teams, and plenty of Incheon people online were waiting to cry. The change from white to black uniforms also suited that so-called darkened identity quite well.
Yeah, marketing. Just keep marketing.
While they waited for Rookie to finish his interview and return for review, the bored group played on their phones and chatted nonsense about gossip. Among them were quite a few teammates curious about Luo Zhen.
Most of the others had played in the LPL for quite some time, so everyone knew a little about each other. But Luo Zhen had genuinely come up from the Second Team, and no one knew what his life had been like before.
"Me? Let me think." Luo Zhen thought for a while, organizing his words before slowly saying, "At first, I went pro because they provided food and housing here, and they paid a salary. After all, I really didn't have anything else I could do."
At the beginning of his transmigration, he had only two hundred yuan on him besides his identification documents.
He didn't want to work in a factory, and he couldn't compete with all those uncles and aunties collecting scrap. So he could only start by grinding through game boosting and companionship services, trying hard to survive while waiting for an LDL tryout notice.
At the root of it all, it had been for money.
Before you continue