"Congratulations to TES for taking the first game. They lead 1–0."
"Whenever Infinite Borders Bro pulls out Syndra, it just feels absurd. My suggestion is: if you're facing TES and you're not going to pick it, you should ban it."
"For MVP this game, I'd give it to him as well. His tempo and connections were perfect. TES played comfortably from start to finish."
"Yeah, I think it can go to him."
Hearing Wawa, Miller smiled.
"Rookie didn't play to his usual level this game. But that's what LeBlanc looks like when she doesn't get an early-to-mid lead. Infinite Borders Bro's Syndra was too seasoned—he gave absolutely no openings.
Hopefully V5 can adjust well during the break and figure out how to respond to this situation."
A one-sided stomp had entertainment value, but they still wanted to see a real clash of titans.
…
The livestream chat was flooding with opinions.
"V5 are fake strong. A bunch of random rejects other teams threw out. They lucked into ten straight wins, and now they kneel the moment they meet a real team."
"If Rookie was really that good, S11 IG wouldn't have looked like toys. Won Worlds and started coasting."
"Infinite Borders Bro is actually ridiculous. Feels like anyone who runs into him has to kneel."
"Rookie didn't even get solo killed. Doesn't that prove he's strong?"
"Doinb didn't get solo killed either!"
"Yeah but next game he got solo killed. If you can last a whole game without getting solo killed, I'd say you're a top-tier mid in this league."
"Rookie's just old now."
"Then what about Knight?"
"Knight is even crazier. Pure emperor-tier mid. Best at 1v6. Even Infinite Borders Bro probably can't do much to him."
"Honest question—does Knight still have any chance to play?"
"What chance? With all that 'rotten pants' stuff plus Infinite Borders Bro being this godlike, unless he leaves TES, he'll ride the bench forever."
"…"
V5 backstage.
"Sorry, Coach. I couldn't win lane." Rookie apologized to Nofe the moment he returned.
After all, during picks, he'd confidently said he wasn't afraid of Syndra.
But he got suppressed from beginning to end.
"He really is strong." Rookie wasn't trying to shift blame. Syndra's performance genuinely convinced him.
Even if it were him, he couldn't have played it better.
Even in Syndra's strongest meta, the matchup into LeBlanc was only 'okay.' You still couldn't force Flash and Teleport at level one.
But this guy's pressure was maxed out, and his little tricks were plenty.
Shoving past the wave, dragging minions, freezing for level two—because of that, he W'd forward trying to break the setup.
And that very move cost him his Flash.
One wrong step, and every step after was reactive.
He simply got out-calculated.
He lost. Cleanly.
"Yijin, don't feel guilty. I saw everything clearly backstage. Dine's mechanics in several moments were genuinely insane. Not exaggerating—he single-handedly brought the whole game to life.
Syndra did 37% of the team's damage. That means every time there was action, she was there."
Nofe flipped through his notebook, already thinking about Game 2 tactics.
They were on a ten-game streak. Of course they wanted to create an even bigger record.
"Since the first attempt failed, let's go back to the standard plan. Ban his Syndra, and you play Orianna or Azir to scale, okay?"
Those were Song Yijin's comfort picks.
Especially Orianna—she could guarantee her own farm while pressuring the opponent, and she had impact in every phase.
"Mm." Rookie nodded. No problem.
"As for Karsa, focus on map resources early. Pick a jungler that controls the map.
Tian likes hovering around mid to protect his mid laner's development. We'll play for objectives and build an advantage quickly."
"Rich—same as always. If Jayce is available, you get Jayce. If not, Gnar."
Rich's best pick was Jayce. Everything else was a little lacking—his shallow pool was a fatal weakness.
"Don't put too much pressure on yourselves. We're first in the league right now, playoffs are guaranteed. The real push comes in playoffs." Nofe said meaningfully.
"Let's go win Game 2."
Game 2 sides swapped.
TES on blue. V5 on red.
In the first ban phase, TES banned Jinx, Renata Glasc, and Orianna.
V5 banned Syndra, Twisted Fate, and Zeri.
They'd discussed it: if Syndra was truly S-tier, just ban it. If you can't beat it, don't give it.
That reduced pressure.
Between Ahri and Twisted Fate, they had to remove one.
Twisted Fate's level-six support tempo was even more oppressive than Ahri. Mid-jungle couldn't afford to be a step behind every time, so they banned Twisted Fate.
TES first-picked Ahri the moment she was left open.
If you dare leave it, they dare take it.
V5 weren't surprised.
They immediately answered with Aphelios and Jayce—two very comfortable picks.
Zoom wasn't the type to play Tryndamere, so V5 didn't have to worry about that.
And Jayce could pretend to be a flex.
More likely it was for Rich, but until mid was shown, who could be sure it wasn't going mid?
TES didn't overthink it. Ahri was already face-up.
They locked in Sion and the jungler Vi.
"Isn't TES's mid-jungle a little too violent? Lock-on engage. Aphelios's breathing room looks miserable."
"But with Ahri mid and Vi jungle, it's a great pairing. Vi can follow Ahri in. They've already shown two hard engages. If V5 wants to play poke, they need to abandon that plan quickly."
"V5 picked Azir on three. That means Jayce is top. Their early-to-mid damage depends heavily on Jayce."
Azir's damage curve was soft. Without three or four items, he did basically nothing.
Other mids were already one-shotting people, while he was only just starting to teamfight.
Of course, his advantage was equally clear: he only got stronger as the game went longer.
The longer you dragged it, the better your chances.
Both teams had their key roles.
The second ban phase targeted different things.
TES mainly targeted jungle, banning Hecarim and Sejuani.
V5 targeted ADC/support, banning Draven and Nami.
Then V5 locked in Thresh, leaving their last pick for jungle.
TES instantly selected Sivir and Yuumi.
V5 last-picked Volibear.
Clunky, yes—but strong in the jungle.
Comps locked:
Blue side TES:
Top: Sion
Jungle: Vi
Mid: Ahri
Bot: Sivir & Yuumi
Red side V5:
Top: Jayce
Jungle: Volibear
Mid: Azir
Bot: Aphelios & Thresh
…
Luo Sheng and Nofe shook hands again. The game entered the loading screen.
Looking at Ahri, Rookie felt a lot less pressure.
Ahri struggled to solo kill early, relying heavily on Charm. At minimum, Azir wasn't too afraid.
The main concern was still the enemy jungler—at level six, an ult onto mid could be troublesome.
But since they'd picked Azir, he had to prioritize scaling.
If Ahri couldn't gain an advantage mid, she'd definitely roam to sides.
"Rich, be careful top."
"Mm, I know."
Rich understood what mid meant.
TES mid-jungle synergy was terrifying. If there was a place to break through, top lane Jayce was the obvious target.
Bot lane had Thresh to protect Aphelios.
Top lane had to rely entirely on himself.
It was easy to become "gank once, die once."
"After I secure objectives, I'll lean top as much as I can." Karsa said.
Lin Fan started Corrupting Potion again.
This time, he had no intention of going for a solo kill.
Hard to kill. Over-aggression just gave openings.
The plan was to use Ahri's waveclear and mobility, then roam after level six.
At 1:30, the waves met mid.
Lin Fan took position first and Q'd the wave.
Rookie was ready—he slightly sidestepped and dodged the Q.
No extra moves. He summoned sand soldiers and started last-hitting.
His task was simple: scale.
Raise the team's ceiling for mid-to-late game—so no risky moves early.
Lin Fan immediately began pushing.
Meanwhile, TES bot lane didn't go to lane right away. They helped Tian invade.
V5 didn't expect it, and Karsa could only swallow the loss.
When he cleared down from top side, the entire bot side was gone—only wolves remained. Blue buff and Gromp were missing.
By the time he tried to contest top side, it was too late.
And with Ahri controlling mid priority, she could support at any moment.
Volibear was strong in the jungle, but not strong enough to 1v2.
So Lin Fan comfortably took blue buff.
He even "paid respects" to mid with it—Tian handed it over.
Rookie frowned when Ahri walked out with blue.
Last game, mid felt like a duo lane.
This game, at four minutes, they were already gifting blue.
Damn it, Tian—aren't you a little too much of a lapdog?
With blue buff, Ahri's mid pressure skyrocketed.
Azir already pushed slower early. Now it was even worse.
Rookie could only look for chances carefully from the back.
He couldn't stop roams. The best he could do was chunk Ahri's HP, easing side-lane pressure.
"Brother Fan?" Tian pinged Azir.
He'd just taken top river scuttle. The mid wave was about to crash—an opening.
"Yeah. Go to their raptors, then go over the wall and dive him."
As Lin Fan spoke, he used Q to shove the wave in.
Rookie wouldn't miss a chance like that.
He WQ'd forward, sending soldiers to poke Ahri.
The poke was poke—but with two extra soldier autos, Ahri still lost nearly 200 HP.
Tian was already at raptors.
He saw Azir line up a charged Q. Vi went over the wall with Q–Flash, extending the distance and knocking Azir up.
Rookie's spine went cold the moment Vi appeared from the side.
Fingers hammered the keyboard.
The brief knock-up ended. Azir flashed under tower.
But the moment he landed, Ahri's Charm arrived.
E pulled him right back out.
Two punches, plus Ahri's follow-up damage—Azir dropped below 100 HP.
Tian autoed once, then stopped.
Ahri finished with one more hit, taking first blood.
First Blood!
"Wow! Tian's really choosing to help mid build an advantage like this? That's outrageous—Q–Flash before he even knows it's guaranteed?"
"Azir's power spike is later. Getting killed early like this… it'll take a long time to recover."
"And that means side-lane pressure is going to be even bigger than we first analyzed."
…
With Tian's help, Lin Fan took a turret plate and caught another wave.
At 4:30, Lin Fan recalled.
Top lane had tried to dive Sion.
The Duke's corpse crawled up, trying to trade one back—but the opponent flashed away.
Early, Sion into Jayce was already a pressure lane. With jungle help, top lane pressure spiked.
"My bad. I should've recalled. Didn't expect them to dive me."
"It's fine. Once you finish armor, he can't touch you. Just stabilize."
With a turret plate plus first blood, Lin Fan came back with Boots, a Dark Seal, and an Amplifying Tome.
You could tell immediately: he planned to move.
V5 played very carefully, refusing to give openings.
By a little after eight minutes, there still hadn't been another kill.
It looked like V5 had stabilized.
Then, less than half a minute later, TES's tempo arrived.
They didn't gank a lane.
They ganked the jungler.
Vi hit level six. Ahri followed behind her. They invaded V5's top jungle.
They found Volibear.
Tian showed no mercy—ult lock-on.
Lifted up, then slammed down, smashing Volibear into the pit.
Seeing Ahri behind Vi, Karsa didn't dare stay. He tried to ult away.
But Ahri dashed in and taunted him back.
With nowhere to run, Karsa dumped everything onto Vi, trying to trade one.
Still not enough.
By the time Rookie arrived, Volibear was under 200 HP.
He hesitated.
If he went in to shove them away and got stuck, it would be over.
He had no Flash. Dying again was too costly.
That hesitation was all it took—Volibear dropped.
From near-even to behind, V5 needed only half a minute.
Once Vi's ultimate came back up, she could repeat the same scene.
At 9:57, Lin Fan pinged top.
Tian immediately followed. Zoom didn't hesitate—Sion ulted straight into Jayce.
You bullied me earlier. Now my big brother is here. Time to pay.
The moment Ahri and Vi appeared, Rich's legs went weak.
The kill went to Ahri again. Dark Seal stacks quietly reached six.
Zoom stood over Jayce's body and happily ate two huge waves.
Watching this, V5's coaching staff felt panic rising.
They didn't expect that after nine years, the once-tyrannical S3 mid-jungle duo could shine again.
Right now, the entire map was their hunting ground.
V5 were all prey.
Then bot lane delivered more bad news:
Aphelios died to Sivir.
Nofe's eyes widened.
What?
Aphelios–Thresh—even if they couldn't win, they shouldn't get killed in lane.
Nofe stomped like an angry bride.
No wonder he could only be a sub. Against the real deal, he just couldn't win.
Still, during Ahri's roam window, Azir could farm safely.
That was V5's last remaining hope.
At 11 minutes, Lin Fan completed Everfrost.
More damage, but more importantly, maxed-out control. If Ahri landed E, you couldn't run.
At 13 minutes, they targeted the "comfortable" Azir again.
Ahri and Vi deleted him with half a rotation, then took mid outer tower.
At that point, V5 fans' hope shattered. There was no comeback angle.
Top got ganked.
Mid got dove.
Bot lost lane.
Jungle got hunted.
All four lanes collapsed.
With such a huge lead, the moment Lin Fan had enough gold, he entered "studying mode."
If you're playing League, you should study hard—how can you not read?
At 20 minutes, TES started rushing Baron.
This time V5 were on red. When you're behind, a Baron steal is your one line of life.
So Karsa tried it—ulted into the pit.
TES instantly stopped and denied him the chance.
They turned and focused Volibear, deleting him in seconds.
Then they took Baron.
With Baron buff, they smashed through both mid and bot inhibitors.
At 23 minutes, in V5's base, the fed Ahri performed "endless ultimates" in front of the crowd.
"Wanna play with me? Don't blame my tails for being ruthless~"
That graceful figure weaved through the teamfight.
Every turn meant another victim falling.
Ace!
The dazzling performance made the crowd scream.
"TES! TES!"
At 24:22, V5's Nexus exploded.
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup