On the players' stage, Lin Fan glanced at Xiaotian and felt that this guy was getting better and better at making things happen.
Overall, this game was extremely comfortable. He barely had to do anything—Hecarim was practically glued to him the entire time.
Lee Sin came to mid several times, but not only did he fail to threaten Lin Fan, he actually donated several kills instead. All of it was because Xiaotian always appeared behind him at exactly the right moment.
Otherwise, the mid–jungle advantage wouldn't have been established so easily.
Doinb really was stubborn to the extreme.
Ryze, as a champion, is genuinely hard to give opponents openings against in lane.
So those two key plays from Xiaotian were absolutely critical.
After that, Doinb simply couldn't lane against Ahri anymore.
He couldn't out-damage her, and he couldn't tank her either.
Ahri could freely move in and out of every lane, while LNG had no answers at all.
Lin Fan deliberately gave Xiaotian a fist bump.
Well played.
If Xiaotian keeps performing like this in future matches… and with Lin Fan's ever-expanding champion pool—forget the playoffs, even Worlds doesn't seem out of reach.
…
"For this match, I think the MVP should come from either mid or jungle," 957 said.
"Agreed. Rise of Kingdoms Bro and Xiaotian were both outstanding. Their mid–jungle synergy was excellent."
"We said it before the match—whichever side's mid–jungle gets moving will have a much easier time winning."
"And in these two games, you could clearly feel TES's mid–jungle pressure was maxed out."
"The most impressive moment was still that Jayce solo kill—bold, precise, and confident."
"Alright, let's cast our MVP votes," Miller said.
"My vote goes to Rise of Kingdom Bro. His Ahri landed multiple crucial Charms on carries in key fights, which made the teamfights so much easier to win."
"Same here. I'm also voting for Rise of Kingdom Bro. I think Hecarim's tempo was driven by Ahri. Every time mid wave was cleared, Hecarim followed—Rise of Kingdoms Bro clearly took the lead."
Both caster votes went to Lin Fan.
Of the remaining four votes, two went to Lin Fan, one to Xiaotian, and one to JackeyLove.
The MVP of the match was once again Lin Fan.
"Rise of Kingdoms Bro gets the MVP! Out of TES's eight wins so far, he's taken seven MVPs—red-hot form, the most consistent player at this stage!"
"My question now is—how long can this form last? How long can he stay this strong?"
"Rise of Kingdoms bro individual form has triggered a chain reaction. You can feel the other four TES players catching fire as well."
"This suffocating tempo—that's the TES we're familiar with!"
As soon as Miller said that, he nearly wanted to slap his own mouth.
The 'familiar' TES mid laner was supposed to be Knight—now it was Rise of Kingdoms Bro.
But he wasn't wrong.
At the start of the Spring Split, when TES announced their lineup, everyone thought this 'galaxy roster' would soar.
Instead, it was Rise of Kingdoms Bro who stepped up and saved the entire team.
After six straight losses followed by four straight wins, TES had pulled one foot back from the edge of the cliff.
Whether they make playoffs is now in their own hands.
No need to rely on others.
Between being dictated by opponents and dictating the game yourself—the choice is obvious.
"Rise of Kingdoms Bro, who changed everything for TES, pulled out two Tier-1 champions today—Jayce and Ahri."
"Mid laners from other teams are probably going to have headaches preparing for him now."
"With this win, TES's four-game streak brings them up to tenth place. From here on out—who knows what's going to happen next?"
As Miller spoke, many viewers immediately opened the standings.
Even though they hadn't updated yet, TES really had climbed to tenth place!
From last place to tenth—I'm crying.
Is this the power of TES48's grind?
Amid the discussion, it was time for the post-match interview.
The officials clearly saw Lin Fan's massive popularity and knew what the audience wanted, so once again they invited him to the interview desk.
This time, the host was Yu Shuang.
Before she even raised the microphone, screams erupted throughout the arena.
As the league's strongest 'macho man,' Lin Fan naturally deserved this kind of reception.
"Rise of Kingdoms Bro! Rise of Kingdoms Bro!"
"So strong! No man can resist Ahri's temptation—they said you couldn't play her, and I never believed it!"
Lin Fan subconsciously looked toward the loudest voice.
No wonder popular boys' form drops so fast—it's easy to get lost in pleasure.
Just one glance and the quality was sky-high.
With a bit of star power, pro players really could charm a massive crowd.
"Welcome, Rise of Kingdoms Bro. You won today's match 2–0—how are you feeling?"
"Pretty happy. Before the match, I checked the standings. Winning today meant we'd reach tenth place—successfully completing the Northern Expedition. Next comes the Eastern Campaign."
"The Northern Expedition?"
Yu Shuang wasn't unfamiliar with the term—Zhuge Liang's Northern Expeditions—but hearing it in a post-match interview was a bit unexpected.
TL:
Zhuge Liang's Northern Expeditions were a series of military campaigns during the Three Kingdoms period (220-280 AD).
Background:
Zhuge Liang (诸葛亮) was the brilliant strategist and chancellor of the state of Shu Han. He launched five major northern expeditions (228-234 AD) from Shu (in modern Sichuan) trying to conquer the rival state of Wei and reunify China under Liu Bei's heir. Despite his tactical genius, all campaigns ultimately failed due to various factors: supply issues, death of key generals, and his own death in 234 AD.
"Think about it—we climbed from last place upward. That's moving north, right? Now that we've reached the top of the west, the Northern Expedition is complete. Next, we march east."
After hearing the explanation, Yu Shuang nodded—it actually made sense.
Using 'Northern Expedition' and 'Eastern Campaign' for TES really did fit.
As expected of Rise of Kingdoms Bro—play too much 'Rise of Kingdoms' and even your metaphors come straight out of the Three Kingdoms.
"What a Northern Expedition! TES, it's time to rise!"
"Is there a possibility—just a possibility—that TES won't lose a single game from here on out? A perfect ten-game streak to end the regular season?"
"That completely depends on Rise of Kingdoms Bro's form. If he can maintain it, it's absolutely possible."
"Right—especially with V5 coming up. Rookie looks terrifying right now."
"As for the other teams, they're pretty average. Winning isn't that hard—especially WE, they're basically free points."
"Rise of Kingdoms is actually a really good casual game. If you've got time, you should download it—it's great for killing time," Lin Fan said into the mic.
Every time I get tired of playing League of Legends, Rise of Kingdoms soothes my soul.
"And right now in Season 1 there isn't much to do—just log in and grind some merit points."
As soon as he said that, the chat exploded.
"A capital G."
"Addicted to Rise of Kingdoms, not doing his job—there's no way he keeps this form."
"Believe first, question later. Rise of Kingdoms Bro has already created so many miracles."