When SKT returned to the lounge again, the way the players looked at their coach had completely changed.
He could clearly feel the mockery in their eyes.
He lowered his head and picked up the TES dossier on the table.
Especially the part about player Dine.
At the very bottom, it read: "Recently used Kalista, seemingly to counter the Shurima Emperor…"
And in the later matches, against Azir, Kalista really did come out.
So the coaching staff reached a consensus: he practiced Kalista specifically to deal with Faker's Azir.
In the earlier stage, they endured it. Even in the final game, they didn't use the "tactic"—all so they could ambush TES with it in the finals.
But they never expected they were digging their own pit.
Now he'd become the primary culprit of the team's failure—Ban-Pick got completely outplayed…
After today, if the result was bad, then with such a stinking misplay, he'd probably have to pack up and leave.
He took a deep breath. Even his voice trembled.
"For the Republic of Korea, for all the fans supporting you—I'm begging you. In the next game, please give it everything… Don't disappoint them. Look how many people came here."
"And most importantly… keep my job." Of course, he only muttered that in his heart. Saying it out loud wouldn't be pretty.
The whole roster lifted their heads.
Seeing that his words drew a response, the SKT coach felt like he'd made it work.
"This game, no regrets—full power! Don't think about tactics or targeting. Just pick your comfort champions and, on the world stage, show your own style! We are SKT T1, the strongest team in the world, carrying the glory of a three-time world champion. We have to live up to the jersey with three stars embroidered on it."
"Do you have confidence or not?"
In that moment, the coach felt like he'd poured out every drop of toxic pep talk he had.
The players' eyes… seemed to glow—
But reality was: everyone just nodded weakly.
Zeus had been numbed by two straight games. Top lane never found an advantage, and teammates kept inting.
Damn it. How do you even play this?
Do I just watch myself perform alone? If I can't stand up, does waiting only mean losing?
And Oner, in the late stage of the last game, just to avoid getting tortured—despite knowing that if he ulted onto LeBlanc she'd pull him back anyway—still went in.
It was obvious their state was chaotic.
In this condition, trying to pull themselves together and win was truly difficult.
After the coach finished, the lounge fell into a strange silence—an indescribable feeling. Maybe the next second, maybe tomorrow… the entire team would fall apart.
Just like the saying goes: once people's hearts scatter, it's hard to gather them again.
When staff knocked on SKT's lounge door,
the five players and their coach walked step by step toward the stage.
In the arena, the crowd had already lowered their signs.
By the time they sat down, there were almost no cheers to be heard. The six of them silently put on their headsets.
It felt like they were preparing to listen to the final verdict.
Faker stared at the TES logo on the monitor, then looked down and found his opponent's ID: dine…
He stared at it for several seconds, wanting to carve it into his mind.
Then he rubbed his eyes—they felt dry.
Soon, Game 3's Ban-Pick officially began.
TES banned: Jayce, Caitlyn, Gwen.
SKT banned: Syndra, Lucian, LeBlanc.
After last game, they were terrified of LeBlanc. No way they'd let it through again.
TES's first pick immediately locked Azir!
"My god… Tu Bro… this is outrageous. This is really outrageous."
"They're forcing him to the death?"
"Look at SKT's little expressions—this is delicate. Now I have no idea what they're thinking."
"I already really liked Tu Bro. After the Azir lock, I like him even more!"
Game 3's script looked identical to Game 2.
The difference was that SKT banned LeBlanc. If LeBlanc were still available, it would've been hilarious.
But even like this, it was already an incredibly entertaining "teaching match."
Before it was Twisted Fate. Now it was Azir.
This MSI, Tu Bro really was trying to step on Faker to climb.
No face given at all.
But esports is like that: strength is king. If you're strong, you can say and do whatever you want. Win the match and fans will speak for you, investors will handle the mess.
If you're weak and lose, even breathing is a mistake.
Cruel?
Not really…
"Is them taking Azir mid actually good for us?" Oner said softly.
Azir's early laning is relatively weak. His power spike leans later.
Mid pressure wouldn't be as high. Maybe this game really could blow the horn of a comeback.
"And besides a few players, the LPL really doesn't have many good Azir players. We've never seen Dine play Azir before—he's probably inflated and trying to affect our mentality."
"But that gives us a chance to turn it around…"
"If they can't build a mid advantage, top and bot are dead. Win this one, then flip two more—reverse sweep!" The coach's tone was extremely excited.
He seemed to already see them lifting the trophy.
The "mental victory method" works in every region…
Except NA.
As long as the other side gets inflated, you don't need to care about anything else—just draft your own comp.
So they counter-picked Ryze for mid and locked Lee Sin jungle.
This game, they wanted to make noise through mid-jungle synergy.
Then TES locked Zeri and Yuumi on picks two and three.
Not just mid—bot lane also started "teaching."
Honestly, Zeri–Yuumi's MSI performance hadn't been great.
It was the classic "dreams are full, reality is bony."
It just didn't make things happen. The strongest bot duo was still Lucian–Nami.
But with bans being heavy, it was hard to draft.
And SKT had trauma with that duo—when they picked it they got lane-killed; when the enemy picked it they still got lane-killed.
If you can't sort it out, just ban it.
Save your brain from turning into mush.
"Hahaha, no matter what, I'm still looking forward to Game 3—especially Tu Bro's Azir. In this series he's pulled out several hidden reserves."
"I never imagined Tu Bro would play champions like Ryze and Azir."
…
With mid and bot locked, the second ban phase was just filling out the comps.
After SKT locked Fiora on fifth pick, both drafts were set:
Blue side TES: Top Renekton, jungle Hecarim, mid Azir, bot Zeri + Yuumi.
Red side SKT: Top Fiora, jungle Lee Sin, mid Ryze, bot Varus + Rakan.
…
On the walk back to the lounge, SKT's coach even glanced back at the big screen.
This game, Fiora could split push, Ryze could coordinate with Lee Sin to catch picks. If they got an advantage, they could run a 4–1 split and snowball hard.
Bot lane just needed to do its job in teamfights—don't die in lane and it's fine.
As for TES's comp… it looked like a pile of crap. In early and mid game, they'd rely entirely on top-jungle to hold things up.
You could tell the other side really was inflated.
If they couldn't win even this game, then they deserved to die.
He clenched his fist hard, believing his players would seize this last chance.
Back in the lounge, he sat down and stared at the screen.
Less than a minute into lane phase, his heart jolted.
His heartbeat spiked. Something was off—mid lane felt like it was going to be a problem.
At level two, Azir already shoved the wave under turret.
With lane priority, Azir started moving.
The only good news was that TES mid-jungle had no hard CC, so even if they coordinated, it shouldn't be too effective.
And the level-two river crab hadn't spawned yet either. It should be fine. Just take it slow, wait for Lee Sin to hit level three, then gank—Ryze's root plus Lee Sin would easily smash Azir.
But the imagined scene never happened. Instead, Ryze was stuck farming under turret, with no good chances at all.
"It's fine… once levels go up, Ryze's shove will completely beat Azir. Even if we can't kill him, mid-jungle tempo will be maxed out and we'll start rolling."
At four minutes, both mids recalled for a resupply.
Because Lin Fan's state was better, he cleared a wave and recalled for Sapphire Crystal plus Dark Seal.
Faker came back with only Tear of the Goddess and a Control Ward.
At this stage, gold was roughly even. Both sides were developing steadily. TES didn't feel rushed, while SKT simply couldn't find openings.
At five minutes, Lin Fan played aggressively in front of the turret, trading with QE.
Overall, he had the item edge and a slight HP lead. But Faker had Corrupting Potion, so it was still acceptable.
And with Azir pressuring so hard, Faker could only back off.
Then he pinged on the minimap.
Signaling Oner to come gank.
The wave was pushed up—this was a perfect chance.
TES's vision was mostly on the lower half, far from top side. Lee Sin sat for a long time with no angle, so he could only give up and path toward bot-side jungle.
And right then, Tian went hidden in plain sight, looking to sneak dragon…
Seeing Lee Sin walk bot, Lin Fan glanced at Tian's position and rotated bot as well.
Faker saw Azir's position and felt he could try—so he stepped forward two paces.
"Stop the dragon. This is a chance."
Hearing that, Tian didn't hesitate—he popped Ghost.
At the same time, Mark detached from Zeri and ran toward mid on foot to support.
SKT's bot duo frantically pinged.
But it was already too late.
Azir's engage speed was too fast.
WQE plus ultimate shoved Ryze right over, and the Ghosted Hecarim kicked in.
After all the earlier trading, Ryze was only a bit above half HP. One full burst later, he dropped under a hundred.
Lee Sin quickly dashed back in, but that paper-thin shield was a drop in the bucket.
Ryze died instantly.
Lee Sin's best option was trying to trade Hecarim.
But then the most despairing scene appeared—unattached Yuumi jumped on and healed Hecarim, then even pressed Heal.
Despair.
There was no way to trade him.
Lin Fan waited for his second Q, and with his teammates' two sand soldiers, they easily poked Lee Sin to death.
Double kill!
On the Korean caster desk, they screamed.
Two kills on Azir isn't scary—two kills at six minutes is lethal.
Back in the lounge, SKT's coach leaned back and collapsed in shock.
It's over. It's all over.
SKT's head coach is changing in summer. The superteam he built with one hand is about to be handed away.
And worse: other teams don't have SKT's salary.
But on the Rift, TES's tempo kept going.
Just two minutes later, Hecarim came mid. Lin Fan did a shuffle-ult and pushed Ryze straight into Hecarim's face.
Tian instantly popped ultimate—Fear!
With both of their damage poured in, they easily collected Ryze again.
Faker stared at his greyed-out screen.
Expression blank.
Is this really a pro who's supposedly addicted to other games, who never plays ranked, who never properly tunes his form?
His performance was already this outrageous.
If he truly devoted himself to daily training… what would that look like?
He fell into deep thought…
TES's mid-jungle rotated top and easily secured Rift Herald.
At eleven minutes, with Rift Herald, they easily took mid outer turret.
By this point, TES's gold lead was already 3,500.
If Fiora couldn't build an advantage, the pressure of a 4–1 split push in mid game would be hard—especially since Zoom had a claw build and wasn't afraid of Fiora at all.
At fourteen minutes, mid-jungle ganked top.
Zeus played it well—he W-parried Renekton, then tried to proc the healing zone.
But Lin Fan shoved him back, then with Hecarim's control follow-up, he could only die.
Once top outer turret fell, SKT fell into confusion.
Why does their Azir look different from ours?
Can Azir do this much in the early game? He's everywhere.
After six minutes, SKT—already in a desperate hole—didn't want to lose like this. Under Zeus's strong demand, Faker used ultimate toward Baron.
They wanted to sneak Baron.
But Lin Fan had been watching. When they were halfway through, he shuffled into the pit and ulted, pushing four out.
Ghosted Hecarim chained the combo.
For the first time, JackeyLove felt like he could output this comfortably. The feeling made him hum and squeal—he was flying, sparks ready.
Only Fiora escaped with her mobility. Everyone else died.
That reckless attempt tasted bitter.
Baron got taken over, and SKT's mid inhibitor fell too.
Zeus's Fiora stood alone in front of the nexus turrets, looking tragic and heroic.
But two fists can't beat four hands—let alone ten.
The headmistress ultimately fell beneath the nexus turrets.
Watching TES begin to tear down the base, Zeus shut his eyes in pain.
GG.
The nexus turrets collapsed, then the base exploded.
Across three games, the longest was Game 3—because it actually reached Baron.
For SKT, this best-of-five was a full, start-to-finish stomp.
All their ambition and confidence before MSI became a joke in this instant.
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup