You call this thing stable?

"This is insane. Calling this AK when the shots are this accurate? Even if you don't like snipers, you could pick a name for a semi-auto sniper rifle."

"Sniper? The Pak 42 88mm gun was often used as a sniper in North Africa. One shot every Crusader beyond 1000 meters. If you want firepower coverage, that's what you do. Who the hell is playing one-shot-one-kill accuracy with you?"

The famous long-range target acquisition scene replayed, instantly igniting the atmosphere at the venue and in the live broadcast room once more.

Even V5's internal comms were flooded with "666" spams. 369 was so impressed he almost knelt. If his Jayce had the same skill hit rate as their AD, there'd be no top laner in the world he couldn't dominate!

"Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap!"

"Xiao Zhen, how did you do that? That's f***ing amazing!"

"I don't understand why Angel didn't call a pause. He's so calm, has he been through World War II?"

"Black screen upon returning to base. Maybe he didn't even realize what happened?"

In fact, Angel truly hadn't realized. In the final seconds of his recall, he still hadn't noticed EZ's ultimate when he instinctively opened his item shop.

Then, the screen went black.

He didn't even fully grasp what had happened. By the time he reacted, his screen was filled only with his teammates' question marks being spammed.

"Actually, it's very simple. Just study math and science well," Luo Zhen calmly picked up his water cup from the table. He reminded himself internally to keep his posture upright and elegant, as countless cameras were likely pointed at him. Then he continued, "I've faced many situations like this. But in the past, when I flipped open advanced mathematics, this problem had no solution. Crookedly, on every page, the words 'find x, calculate y' were written. I couldn't sleep, tossing and turning. After carefully examining it for half the night, I finally saw from between the lines that the entire book was filled with two words: 'Guessing'!"

V5 members: Huh?

"Yes, you heard right. It was a guess."

Although Luo Zhen really wanted to say with absolute certainty, "Everything was within my calculations," in reality, he was purely anticipating based on Uzi's famous quote from a vlog: "When you can make a play, you have to make a play. Mistakes just get you flamed, but if you pull off something flashy, you become a god!"

One ultimate ability couldn't change the overall situation.

But a successful prediction could create a new personal highlight.

If there was one player on the field who was most shocked at this moment, it was undoubtedly Theshy. In fact, since the very first game of the match, Rookie and Theshy had been constantly observing the opposing AD.

And the more Theshy observed, the more he saw the shadow of JKL in Luo Zhen.

Of course, there were some differences.

He didn't Q-snipe, but he lacked JKL's immense laning pressure.

He was steady, yet he didn't lack the ability to seize opportunities or creativity.

From a god's perspective, Luo Zhen's performance in the third game was naturally not as brilliant as Huan Feng's in the second game. But only by deeply immersing oneself in the game could one truly feel the terrifying despair that Luo Zhen's EZ brought them in the third game.

It was like how the effectiveness of playing a soft support well is best judged by the enemy's engage heroes.

So, this is your choice, Rookie?

With Corki's death, WBG's attempt to create momentum with Corki's Yordle Snap Trap fell through. In a 5v4 situation, WBG didn't dare to stop V5 from entering the river to secure vision, and vision was incredibly important when fighting for map resources in the early game.

WBG, already unable to defend against V5's poke, and now having lost the vision initiative, dared not initiate a team fight rashly, even with Sion as an engage tool. Because who knew when a hammer might suddenly swing from some corner, causing them to lose a member? The situation would become quite comical then.

Thus, WBG could only retreat.

With this retreat, the second Rift Herald was given away for free again.

With the power of two Rift Heralds, V5 directly broke through WBG's outer and inner mid-lane turret defenses.

"Kill, kill, kill, brothers! Even if I have to bear the weight of a crossbow, with my Gu Ding Saber in one hand, my EZ is still invincible in this world! Open fire!!!"

With the mid-lane turret gone, it not only meant the loss of a large portion of WBG's jungle but also another crucial point: the second turret position would be harder to defend against V5's poke than the outer turret because the space was too narrow.

As for why?

Because you couldn't charge out. Azir directly set up his Solar Disk at your outer turret, forcibly shortening the operational space between the two sides. If you charged forward, it would be 6v5. If you didn't charge forward, it would be a free-for-all where your long-range composition would beat their short-range composition. You'd lose no matter what.

And V5 was in a state of collective high spirits right now.

What's the most comfortable way for contemporary young people?

It's to have a good meal.

Have a good meal when you get paid. Have a good meal when there's good news. Have a good meal when you're unhappy. You think about having a good meal for almost everything. And what did the opposing WBG do?

They forced V5's mealtime to be after the third game. There's a good situation in the path to survival that can illustrate the consequences, which is:

The witch has been disturbed.

Chapter Twenty-Six: Isn't This Also a Kind of...

What's the most important thing in a poke system?

It's rhythm.

In normal ranked games, everyone has probably played poke compositions to some extent. And because poke compositions generally have their core items quickly assembled and their power curve is usually front-loaded in the mid-game, they can typically build an advantage quickly.

So why don't they win in normal ranked games?

Because everyone plays games truly for the sake of playing. When they get an advantage, they like to show off and often chase kills for a long time, thereby wasting time and slowing down the rhythm. An Elemental Dragon that could have been taken at 25 minutes might be pushed to 30 minutes. A Baron Nashor that could have been taken in over twenty minutes might be delayed until after a team wipe when they realize they're losing, and only then do they go for it.

But matches are different. The premise of a match is to win. Therefore, in matches, the most important thing for a poke composition is rhythm, and the most fatal thing is also rhythm.

V5's current rhythm is correct.

Because they tested that Elemental Dragons speed up the triggering of strategic points, they gave up the first dragon.

Because they knew they needed to play the early to mid-game, they firmly controlled both Rift Heralds and pushed down the mid-lane turret.

WBG was starting to lose patience.

Jayce and EZ both reached their peak damage output with a three-item power spike. This was also the time when their poke damage was at its highest, and WBG's defensive items were generally not yet complete. If they dragged the game out until then, they were confident V5 would simply take Baron Nashor after poking them down.

So, what should they do?

Engage, and engage decisively!

At the spawn time of the third Elemental Dragon, utilizing the narrow river area was WBG's only chance to disrupt V5's macro play rhythm.

"They're going to engage soon, this wave."

Glancing at the game's situation, Rookie and Karsa quickly exchanged thoughts and understood that the enemy was likely planning to initiate a teamfight this wave. Especially with Azir's Solar Disk on the lane, charging the tower in a disadvantaged state would be pure suicide.

"How's everyone's build coming along?"

"We can take it, but it depends on how well Corki throws his Yordle Snap Trap," Luo Zhen glanced at the components for Divine Sunderer and Lord Dominik's Regards in his inventory and felt they could fight this wave.

The only variable was Corki.

In the first game, that thing had placed its Yordle Snap Trap in a very tricky spot. If he hadn't secretly pulled off a rapid six-attack combo to catch the enemy off guard, they might not have been able to snowball their lead in the first game.

"Don't worry, I'll watch out for that. You just focus on your poke!"

Karsa was confident in intercepting enemy engages, a confidence unique to the hammer form of Tristana, making him fearless of anyone on the enemy team.

Soon, as the third Elemental Dragon was about to spawn, both teams occupied opposite sides of the river and began to kite. In this position, Jayce and EZ could play very comfortably.

After all.

With ten people in the river, picking whoever looked most pleasing to the eye and attacking them – wasn't that a form of orgy?

However, this round, the enemy clearly had no intention of giving V5 too many chances to poke. Theshy initiated the engage directly! As the horn of the old driver echoed across the Rift, everyone was finally reminded of the legends of the "Touge King" of Summoner's Rift:

Some people have been driving for years but only got their license last year.

Some people, young and accomplished, drive a Mercedes; love won't be too late; young and accomplished, drive a BMW; no need to drive their own plane; young and accomplished, drive a Porsche; every day is Valentine's Day; young and accomplished, drive a CT5, and a master technician dances on them.

And a very small minority of people, driving to deliver tofu, their girlfriends are also delivering tofu.

Theshy, however, was in an extremely exceptional category.

With no women in his heart, he transformed into a mud truck, charging straight towards Jayce's position. Seeing this, Rookie immediately turned with an EQ and blocked Jayce's path, unleashing his ultimate ability, [Wall of the Imperial Guard], forward.

In League of Legends, only a few champions could block the old driver's ultimate: Anivia was one, Jarvan IV was one, Camille was one, and Rookie's Azir this game was also one. Since they chose a triple-poke composition, how could they not be prepared for your engage?

Sion was knocked away, but Theshy felt no disappointment.

He knew being knocked away was normal, but... all he wanted was to get the enemy's carries to position themselves closer.

Corki charged forward with his Yordle Snap Trap!

Contrary to Karsa's expectation of a frontal assault, this time Angel had secretly teleported behind them. He activated his Yordle Snap Trap from the flank, an angle from which Poppy had no time to reposition and stop Corki from entering.

As flames rained down from the sky, V5's formation was instantly split into two by the fire.

It was over!

A disrupted formation meant this teamfight would become a series of individual battles, which meant WBG truly had a chance to create a miracle this wave.

Sion stood at the very front, Corki sought optimal output space through his second W activation, Rakan, as the secondary initiator, had already charged in before Corki, and Viego had long been lurking in the scorched earth, ravenously waiting.

Everything seemed fine.

It wasn't until Theshy endured for several seconds and realized his health was dropping several times faster than the enemy's that he finally sensed something was wrong.

He turned back.

To his surprise, he found that behind his own team's formation, their AD Xayah had been successfully solo-killed by the enemy EZ, and she had even activated her ultimate. He gaped in astonishment.

What was going on?

In fact, let alone Theshy, even Huan Feng himself hadn't expected the situation to unfold like this. Sion and Corki had initiated a good teamfight. If he had followed up with damage or landed a good E, they should have had a chance.

But just as Rakan initiated and he was preparing to follow up.

An extremely dazzling and precise bullet screen streaked straight across his body. Before he could even react to what had happened, the next moment, the signature little yellow man belonging to EZ suddenly appeared beside him again.

The enemy EZ had actually chosen to flank and assassinate from the backline!

Was this person insane?

In a 1v1, without EZ's passive stacked, Xayah with her ultimate and Q was not afraid of a 1v1 duel with him.

The problem was, after finishing his combo, Luo Zhen had also conveniently applied a Weakness debuff to him.

Now, Huan Feng completely lost it.

He had imagined a thousand reasons for the enemy AD to bring Weakness: perhaps to lock down enemies during the laning phase, or to defend against engages during teamfights. But he never would have expected that Weakness would be used to cut the backline during a teamfight.

What kind of AD playstyle is this!

Forced into a corner, Huan Feng could only cast his ultimate, scattering feathers everywhere, trying to use the invulnerability period to negate the effects of Weakness. But just as his ultimate ended and the Weakness debuff was about to wear off in the final second.

The enemy EZ suddenly turned and walked away.

Huan Feng: ???

What was the meaning of that?

You're the one provoking me, and you're the one providing covering fire. Now that you've brought out my human nature, you're suddenly putting your pants back on and trying to run away?

Hmph, you scumbag!

Just as Huan Feng rallied his spirits, preparing to thoroughly drain the enemy EZ's ammo once he landed, the very next second, a terrifying ripple appeared out of nowhere. It surged towards Xayah with an unbelievable speed.

Wait... this is!

Huan Feng's eyes widened. He finally recognized what this wave of energy was. He desperately tried to press Flash, but the information stream from his visual nerves to his reaction nerves couldn't outpace this long-planned assassination.

Poppy's ultimate ability—R [Heroic Charge] locked onto its target.

And then...

"Then don't come back!!!"

Chapter 27: This is Top ADC's Daily Training

The moment Xayah was knocked away by Poppy's hammer upon landing, the outcome of the team fight was already decided.

Because WBG lacked the damage.

The tacit understanding and intuition of professional players were evident here. When Karsa realized immediately that he couldn't stop Corki from engaging, he began searching the map for a chance to salvage the situation. It was during this interval that he saw Luo Zhen's ping.

The front line might not be the best place to swing his hammer. Knowing he had that move, they would definitely look for an opportunity to interrupt or dodge it.

But the enemy's backline was a different story.

EZ drew aggro and unleashed his ultimate, Poppy swung her hammer, waiting for Xayah's ultimate to land. Everything was completed with unspoken tacit understanding, the seamless execution even making Karsa feel a sense of enjoyment.

And then, the finishing blow!

[Holy crap, Karsa!!!]

[I'm impressed. Karsa camping in a bush is one thing, but how did AK get to the enemy backline again?]