You Call This 'Steady'?

Wasn't the most ridiculous part that Doinb had been camping there forever without getting any response, yet the moment he took a step, Void Seeker came flying over? No wonder he was called AK. FPS Players all had zero Static Vision and perfect Dynamic Vision.

One W skill not only exposed Akali's position, but also let his teammates keenly spot an opportunity.

Rich went in.

Stealth + guaranteed QE + E Flash + R Havoc in Heaven, all aimed straight at Jayce, who had stepped up to poke LNG!

There was no need to consider whether his teammates could Follow Up. From the moment this composition was drafted, it had been built to engage. No matter the position, they were all meant to Charge Forward in Team Fights.

Lee Sin followed with Q. Sylas, who had stolen Xin Zhao's ultimate, rushed in as well. Only Rakan hesitated slightly, watching over the ADC's survival environment. Once he saw that the area around the ADC seemed safe enough, he used his E skill to shield himself and charged forward.

So what was Luo Zhen supposed to do now?

Wait.

Wait for the right moment to enter. Wait for Akali to come over.

The reason many AD players suffered Sudden Death in Team Fights was because the moment they saw their teammates successfully engage, they rushed in at First Moment without keeping track of how many enemy skills remained. Leona still had E, Akali was missing, and Xin Zhao had yet to use EW. If he carelessly went in, he might get treated like a soft persimmon, locked down, and Instakilled.

Early-game Warriors fighting each other was basically a Battle of Gods. He was just a weak, pitiful, helpless ADC. Other than eating three big bowls per meal, there was nothing else he could do.

"What a smart Rookie Player."

Even amid the chaos, Lü Mao, who had been watching Kaisa's movements the whole time, could not help sighing. V5's engage had indeed been excellent, and Doinb was indeed not on the Frontline Battlefield. Their sudden charge had made LNG uncomfortable for a moment, but... V5's Early Game Output was simply too low.

Wukong only had one rotation. Lee Sin only had one rotation too. Sylas might have two, but his early damage was still limited. Even if V5 executed a perfect Team Fight, their Follow-up damage would have to come from Kaisa. LNG knew exactly what they had to do: wait for Kaisa to approach and Instakill her. Even if they lost this Team Fight, the loss would not be too disastrous.

But... the enemy ADC was too steady.

"I've never seen a Rookie Player in the Demacia Cup who didn't want to show off. Could their player be some old League monster reincarnated?"

"I think so too. Look at how normal XLB is. Maybe their personality is as steady as Deng Huang's?"

As the side that had been engaged upon, once they realized the enemy ADC had no intention of Getting Carried Away, they had no choice but to use their skills and Fight Back. They had to. Sure, V5 lacked damage, but if they did not Fight Back, were they just supposed to sit there and wait to die?

Xin Zhao activated his ultimate to retaliate. Jayce used Flash to pull away, switched to Cannon Form, and knocked Wukong back. Lü Mao's Leona held onto her Q skill as insurance, but her E skill still neatly rooted Lee Sin as he charged toward the ADC. Then Jhin followed with a W and locked him down.

When a group of Old Monsters fought, even if they got engaged on, they had already prepared their response.

As for the ADC...

"By the command of balance!"

A graceful green figure flew out from the jungle. The first dash of Akali's ultimate allowed her to easily cut across the mountain path and circle behind V5's formation. This was LNG's Follow-up killing move. Even if their frontal engage failed to bait Kaisa into Getting Carried Away, they fully trusted Doinb to solo-kill the enemy ADC.

"Holy crap, you really came to discuss life with me, Buddy? We're both Female Heroes. Isn't that a little inappropriate?"

Her E skill, Ultimate Overload, accelerated its cast and pulled her away.

With preparations already in place, Doinb's Akali did not have enough range to Q the Kaisa in front of her, though her E skill could barely reach. Just as he hesitated over whether to use E, he discovered that Kaisa had actually taken a step forward and fired an Auto Attack.

An opportunity!

Her Q skill landed at maximum range, applying the slow. She stepped forward a few paces to pick up the passive mark, then fired another Auto Attack.

As a Veteran Player, Doinb loved teaching these arrogant Rookies a lesson. Akali was solo-killing your ADC, and you still dared to turn around and hit me? Had you never died before?

After landing the QA damage, he threw out the next E skill shuriken with complete confidence.

Doinb had already planned the combo.

QAEER, a full combo to Instakill her. He would not even need to chain a second Auto Attack. ADCs in this version were just that weak early on. If he waited until she had items, this combo might not even finish the ADC off before he lost several hundred health himself.

But...

At the instant Akali's E skill flew out, Luo Zhen sat at V5's Player Seats with a faint curve at the corner of his lips. Then his fingers slammed down on the R skill on-screen.

R Hunter's Instinct

He was not using it to gain a shield and evade. He was... entering the battlefield to deal damage!!!

When Doinb saw his E skill's targeting indicator vanish into a streak of light in an instant, he was dumbfounded. Not only had he failed to lock down the ADC, but he had also missed both his E skill and the first cast of his ultimate. Now he only had the second cast of R and Smoke Bomb left, but... looking at the chaotic battlefield in the middle of the river, His Mom, he was an assassin, yet it seemed like he could not even get in there!

From the very beginning, Luo Zhen had never intended to duel the enemy AKL.

What status did they each have?

AKL might not even need a full combo to kill him, while he could activate Kaisa's passive twice and still fail to kill Akali. From the start, his plan had been to pretend he was getting carried away and fearlessly challenging AKL, when in reality, he was baiting out the enemy's entry skills.

And now, he had succeeded.

He entered with his ultimate and flew into the center of the battlefield.

He used Cleanse and instantly removed Leona's control.

He used Flash to pull away, then returned under his teammates' cover.

The enemy had used all their Control Skills. Their assassin could no longer enter to threaten him. Nearly every threat to Luo Zhen's survival had vanished. So... it was his turn now!!

ADC battlefield mode switched!

Ammo loaded: 60—reloading.

Arc Star being thrown. Arc Star launched. Wide Area Bombardment incoming!

Cluster Bomb deployed. Arc Star launched. Cluster Bomb firing. Arc Star being thrown. Thermite Grenade launched!

Defense System shut down...

Harvesting System activated.

Now, time to kill!

ADC Survival Rule #2

"Kaisa's W did enormous work there. Wukong is going in!"

"V5's Composition has very strong engage potential. Their teammates Follow Up, but their Early Game Output still seems a little lacking. They can't Instakill Jayce immediately, and Jayce survives."

"AKL enters, but Rakan has already left. Can AK withstand Doinb's engage? He's fighting back! Is he trying to duel? An ADC is challenging an assassin?"

"Ah... beautiful! Player AK used a feint to fool everyone!"

When that purple beam flew into the battlefield, instantly cleansed the crowd control, and used Flash to adjust his Damage Position at top speed, the Commentators at the Commentary Desk finally could no longer contain their emotions.

That was insane!

He flew from the safest place into the most dangerous one, even tricking the enemy assassin along the way. Visually, it was utterly spectacular. Although Kaisa was still dealing Scratching Damage after landing, that did not matter... once the enemy got stuck to her, even scratching would eventually scratch them to death.

666666

This ADC is pretty interesting. He found the engage opportunity, and he was the one baiting skills too.

He's playing everything at the limit, then continuing to scratch them to death. Haha.

Kaisa doesn't even have her Mythic Gear yet. What more can you expect from her? Staying alive is already a profit.

That Eye-catching play immediately made a portion of the Audience watching the match light up.

But inside the game, it was an entirely different scene.

"Don't take it, don't take it. Aigo, don't take it." After pulling off the play that split the battlefield and gave him a perfect entry, the next stage was simply beating a drowning dog. However, while chasing the enemy, Luo Zhen quickly realized that his burst damage was far lower than his teammates'. If this continued, he might not get any kills at all. So he once again used his begging technique. "Good Brothers, can you let your little brother have a few kills? This ADC is so poor he can barely afford items. Please."

The moment he said that, Rookie Couldn't Hold It. He even held back the Q skill he had been about to throw, allowing Kaisa to finish off the low-health Xin Zhao with two shots.

There was No Choice.

The ADC had found the opportunity himself. He had baited Akali's entry skills himself. And now, when it was time to split the rewards, he was humbly asking them to give him kills. If Rookie took those kills, he would not be able to get past his own conscience.

In short: he was too thin-skinned.

Even the team's Big Brother, Rookie, stopped attacking to give up kills. The others had even less reason to compete. XLB wanted them too, but he truly could not bring himself to ask, so he could only let them go.

A zero-for-three Team Fight. Jayce had died too quickly to last until Luo Zhen could Harvest him, but the other two kills both went into Luo Zhen's pocket.

Looking at the sudden windfall of gold in his inventory, Luo Zhen's smile never faded.

Eight minutes. 2/0. Over seventy CS. Wasn't this match about to take off?

Ah~

Never had there been such a wonderful start. Luo Zhen almost wanted to declare loudly:

Cheer for me, applaud me!!!

After the Rift Herald fight ended in complete victory, V5's pressure instantly eased. Once their Jungler secured the Rift Herald, the first wave of early-game tempo came to an end. LNG, needing to Stop Loss, could only take the Elemental Dragon. But the first dragon was Mountain Dragon. Those minor defensive stats were nearly worthless early on, so it was little more than emotional comfort.

His itemization plan this match was very clear.

If this were ranked, he would tell the Bullet Comment that he should build One Dragon Minus a Horse + Gu Ding Saber + A Bottle of Wine. If the enemy had lots of card draw, he could build Eight Trigram Formation and Ren Wang Shield. Remember, do not use Plum Blossom Eight Trigrams! Do not build Hurt Armor either; the value was too low. If the enemy had many people, first use Iron Chain Link, then drink wine, equip the saber, use Fire Kill, Po Jun, and Cover Card! Remember the order. This was an execution-heavy Warlord, so he needed plenty of Extra Practice.

Unfortunately, this was a tournament, so he could only go for the Kraken Slayer build.

If he had taken Hail of Blades, he might have considered a Gale Force, Charge In, Instakill build for Kaisa. That idea was tempting, but after thinking about it, he ultimately gave it up.

It was not that he did not want to play it. It was that if he wanted to play it in the future, he absolutely could not play it now.

Hong Mi was a coach who pursued team efficiency. He did not like players having too many ideas of their own. Of course, that only applied to the early game. In the mid and late game, anything went, because those were matters of execution and on-the-spot performance. Even if the coach watched, there was nothing he could do.

But when it came to early-game itemization and strategic thinking, areas where the coach could exert influence, Hong Mi needed absolute authority.

And what Luo Zhen was doing now was offering his Pledge of Allegiance.

Also known as: paying respects at the dock.

First, he had to prove on the surface that he was obedient. Once he grew stronger later on, he refused to believe the team would not adjust its style and give the bot lane more resources.

He was not asking for much.

At the very least, let him have some fun games on Lucian-Nami. Using E face to Charge In and kill people was a man's romance.

After securing Two Kills, V5's strategic focus immediately shifted. The most obvious change was that they no longer had situations like the previous Team Fight, where even the Support charged in and left the ADC without protection.

Instead, if the Support left, the Jungler would stay nearby to protect him.

And if the Jungler was absent, then the Support would definitely be by his side.

Ah~ This damned sense of security was so intoxicating.

An early-game composition facing a late-game composition had already let the late-game side gain an advantage. LNG's situation was truly hanging by a thread. In this First game, it was clear that LNG was still in the process of adapting and meshing together. After all, the team's most crucial Mid-Jungle duo, and its most important Jungler, had joined later. It was normal that they had not adjusted yet.

But... they still had a chance to turn things around with one Team Fight.

All V5 needed to do now was hold their advantage and drag things out. Even if the game eventually became even, that was fine. Against LNG's lineup with almost no Frontline, as long as Kaisa developed, once she had her Three Item Set, she could fly in and massacre them all!

As for why she would fly in?

Because by the mid game, once the enemy damage came online, there would definitely be no chance to wait and enter late like in the previous Rift Herald fight. It was not just that the enemy would be unable to withstand his teammates' damage. His teammates would also be unable to withstand the enemy's damage.

The most fundamental rule of playing ADC was to deal the damage you were supposed to deal, then die however you wanted.

With a composition like theirs, where everyone Charged Forward, if he did not even dare to Auto Attack during a Team Fight, then what would he do after all his teammates died and only he remained? At that point, the enemy would cut him down as easily as chopping vegetables. So when his teammates went in, he had to Follow Up and deal damage. Hit whoever he could hit.

It could be summed up in one simple sentence:

Once damage came online, if an ADC wanted to avoid dying, then aside from Four Protect One, the only option was to kill the enemy first and use damage to protect himself.

ADC Survival Rule #2: As long as every threat is eliminated beforehand, no one can threaten you.

The Last Card

V5's steady style made LNG extremely uncomfortable. V5 directly gave up the Elemental Dragon Team Fight and handed the Elemental Dragon over to LNG. At the same time, they relied on their powerful engage tools to constantly force small skirmishes without ever taking them to the end.

Whenever a fight started, they would run once the enemy arrived. If they could not run, they would sacrifice someone.

This kept LNG in a constant state of exhausted rotations and reinforcements, while also slowing their development.

The fundamental reason was that LNG's engage relied too heavily on Lü Mao's performance. More importantly, the players' form was generally poor right now. The Demacia Cup was essentially a warm-up tournament played right after everyone returned from vacation, so during the mid-game Kiting, the players on both sides took turns acting up.

Either Rookie got caught while split-pushing and flashed into a wall without escaping, or Lü Mao got carried away and forcibly engaged with E away from his team, or Doinb confidently went for a flashy play only to get Counter-Ganked by V5, or XLB got lost in the jungle and wandered right into the enemy's faces. In short, everyone was taking turns pushing the hearts of the Audience and Fans to their limits during the mid game. Only the AD players on both sides were diligently farming.

LNG could not engage the enemy themselves, while V5 had a pile of engage tools and could always catch them. The game was temporarily locked in this stalemate.

Right now, the impression Luo Zhen gave both the Audience and his Opponents was steadiness.

He was an ADC player whose template was almost identical to Deng Huang's steady style. The only question was whether he could take over games in the late game, because this match had never reached the late game. Instead, XLB and the top-lane Storm Jordan had caught many people's attention.

Especially Jordan.

V5's mid-game strategy was simple now. While avoiding Team Fights as much as possible, they created 1v1 dueling opportunities for top-laner Jordan. Rookie and Karsa were not in particularly good form due to the vacation, so they could only place their hopes on top-laner Rich.

"So, coach, did you come to V5 because of Rich?"

Seeing that the match had temporarily stalled, Karsa suddenly started chatting with coach Hong Mi. As Everyone Knows, Hong Mi had two requirements when choosing a team. First, he almost only considered teams he had never joined before. Second, he wanted a team where he had authority and where the roster also contained promising players.