Nofe held a small notebook and walked past Rich and Karsa, stopping behind Rookie.
"Does laning against Dine put a lot of pressure on you? Yesterday I watched videos with Zero all night and even checked his ranked history, but found nothing. It feels like his champion pool is incredibly deep—he can play anything."
"If you play LeBlanc in lane, are you afraid of his Syndra?"
Rookie thought about it, replaying those matches in his head.
"Purely talking about laning, I don't think there's a problem."
After all, he was an S8 World Champion. With the team riding such a long winning streak, he still had his pride.
He didn't think he'd lose lane. Whatever the outcome, it would have to be decided with real trades.
"Alright. Then we can first-pick LeBlanc for you. Before that, we'll ban Twisted Fate and Ahri so he can't get his roaming tempo going.
They rely heavily on mid right now. As long as mid has no presence, TES has no early-game rhythm at all, and we can do a lot of things very comfortably."
Nofe closed his notebook. Since Rookie had confidence in laning, they'd just fight it out in lane.
If Rookie could easily suppress Dine, winning this match wouldn't be too hard.
JackeyLove was strong, no doubt—but ADCs usually take over later in the game.
And V5's bot lane was in great form. Based on recent performances, he'd give Photic a 90 out of 100, not much worse than the already-famous ADCs.
Otherwise, V5 wouldn't have achieved a ten-game winning streak.
Even in the worst case, they could pick a safe bot lane and wait for mid-to-late-game teamfights.
In the early game, mid-jungle would suppress the opposing mid-jungle.
What level Dine was really at would be clear after today's match.
After all, the team currently ranked first in the league was V5, not TES. TES was clearly under enormous pressure.
…
"After six straight wins, we've run into a big boss. If we get past this one, the Spring Split really has something to talk about."
JackeyLove silently rolled up his sleeves. This match mattered too much—he planned to stay fully locked in.
V5 had ten straight wins, dominating the entire LPL.
If they could break that streak, it would prove that the team's system was already complete.
"I feel like our odds are better today. I fired a shot before leaving, and the Blade King finally beat Ma Mei. First win in over a month."
"Brother Fan, why do I suddenly have a bad feeling when you say that? You kept losing and we kept winning league games. Now you suddenly won one—are we going to lose today?"
"Think about it another way. I kept losing before and still won matches—that just meant bad luck. Now that I finally won one, my luck is overflowing.
With luck like that, how could we possibly lose the match?"
"That… actually makes sense." JackeyLove nodded blankly.
Lin Fan was extremely confident as well.
Recently, hero drops had been scarce, and he'd gotten several useless ones. But heaven rewards perseverance.
He finally hit a jackpot: LeBlanc.
Champion Pool:
Heimerdinger (100%)
Vladimir (100%)
Blitzcrank (100%)
Syndra (100%)
Varus (100%)
Viktor (100%)
Shaco (100%)
Kalista (100%)
Jayce (100%)
Twisted Fate (100%)
Ahri (100%)
Viego (100%)
Zoe (100%)
Thresh (100%)
LeBlanc (100%)
Passive Bonuses:
Game Sense +40%
Mechanics +35%
Farming +15%
Reaction +30%
So in lane, he didn't just have Syndra—he also had LeBlanc.
For scaling: Viktor, Vladimir.
For roaming: Ahri, Twisted Fate.
With reaction speed boosted by 30%, Lin Fan was feeling extremely confident.
"Based on my understanding of Nofe, he doesn't like opposing mid-jungle synergy. I feel like Twisted Fate and Ahri probably won't be available. Most likely they'll force lane matchups." Luo Sheng said.
"That's fine. Fighting in lane is okay too."
"Then we'll see what they pick. Play whatever you're confident with."
Including today's match, TES only had four games left in the Spring Split regular season.
They had already secured a playoff spot. The next goal was to keep the winning streak alive and raise their ranking for playoff advantages.
…
"Blue side V5 immediately bans Twisted Fate, Ahri, and Zeri. They came prepared—not giving Infinite Borders Bro any chance to roam."
"Indeed. In the previous two matches, Ahri and Twisted Fate performed extremely well, easily carrying the team's tempo."
"TES bans Aphelios, Renata Glasc, and Jayce."
"Jinx is left open. But JackeyLove has Draven, and there's also Kalista in bot lane. I don't think bot lane pressure will be too big. Rich's Jayce has been terrifying recently—banning it makes perfect sense."
"Alright, let's see V5's first pick."
"LeBlanc? Locked in! First-pick LeBlanc—Rookie is very confident."
"TES picks Syndra and Lee Sin on one and two. No fear at all—they're going head-on."
Gugu followed up: "V5 takes Jarvan IV and Irelia on two and three. Bot lane will be picked later."
"TES locks in Gnar for Zoom on three. Still no bot lane pick yet."
"Now let's see the second round of bans—targeting support or ADC?"
The second ban phase ended quickly.
Both sides targeted ADCs. TES banned Varus and Jhin.
V5 banned Jinx and Draven.
But having fourth pick was still an advantage—they secured Kalista for JackeyLove, a very strong laning ADC.
After buffs in Patch 12.3, Kalista finally returned to the bot lane and entered the T1 tier.
"Kalista… bot lane pressure might be higher. The best answers are Ashe and Caitlyn," Nofe said.
Photic looked bitter.
He wasn't good at either of those champions. Picking something else might let him survive, but in lane he could really get blown up.
"Then what about Xayah?"
"…
"Forget it. Lucian then. Pair him with Nami. Lucian–Nami is strong. When the enemy bot lane wants to engage, they'll have to think twice."
Back when Electrocute's E interaction hadn't been removed, the damage was terrifying.
If they found the right opportunity and dumped everything onto Kalista, it could produce surprising results.
Kalista's range wasn't long either—within Lucian's trading distance.
TES locked in Nautilus as their final pick.
Both team compositions were set.
Blue side V5:
Top: Gwen
Jungle: Jarvan IV
Mid: LeBlanc
Bot: Lucian & Nami
Red side TES:
Top: Gnar
Jungle: Lee Sin
Mid: Syndra
Bot: Kalista & Nautilus
"Fantastic. It's been a long time since we've seen Syndra versus LeBlanc mid."
"Absolutely. The hype was justified—just the picks alone are full of gunpowder. Every lane is ready to fight."
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup