At level one, both sides positioned very cautiously, staring at each other across the midline without making any reckless moves.
Both junglers started their clears with help from their bottom lane duos.
Lin Fan chose an extremely aggressive starting build: Long Sword and three Health Potions. Lucian already had strong early trading power, and although Akali's W had been buffed with twenty extra energy—a major improvement—she was still weak early. Not rushing a Serrated Dirk as her first item was already giving Knight plenty of respect.
As for mid lane Lucian versus Akali, there was no question he had to take First Strike and farm gold aggressively. He needed to snowball an item advantage quickly in the early and mid game. Dragging things out would be truly troublesome against Akali.
In the late game, Akali wouldn't even need her ultimate. An E–E–A–Q combo was enough to instantly delete Lucian. That was just how outrageous an assassin's damage could be.
So if Akali ever spotted a lone ADC, she'd be grinning from ear to ear. It was free meat delivered right to her doorstep.
Lin Fan's early-game plan was crystal clear.
Suppress.
Relentless suppression.
He stepped forward to auto-attack, forcibly poking for damage.
Knight could only retreat helplessly on his Akali. After eating a full auto–Q–auto combo, his health bar dropped by more than half. On top of that, Lucian procced First Strike and stole some gold, making Knight feel extremely uncomfortable.
There was no way to trade evenly with Lucian early on, especially with Ignite on the table. If his HP got chunked too hard, he could even be solo-killed at level two. That was the last thing he wanted to see.
"Endure it for six minutes! Once I hit level six, I can turn it around and solo-kill him!"
Kanavi glanced at mid. Lucian was pushing aggressively—there was a window for a gank.
After clearing red buff, he started moving toward mid. Even if they couldn't kill Lucian, forcing out a cooldown would make Knight's lane much more comfortable.
Seeing Lucian shove the wave under tower, Kanavi pinged on the map.
Knight immediately understood. Looks like yesterday's special discussion with Kanavi had paid off. With jungle support, gaining an advantage in mid would be easy.
Once he hit level six, he could tower-dive for a solo kill again and again.
Lin Fan was only benefiting from the patch, plus Tian being willing to play dog for him. His real skill level was just average.
So Knight didn't even bother last-hitting the cannon minion. He activated his shroud and walked out from under the turret.
But Lucian didn't retreat. The moment Akali showed herself, Lin Fan forced an A–Q trade, stepped back, then dashed forward with W–A–E–A to close the distance.
Lucian's early burst was fully maxed out.
Seeing his HP plummet, Knight didn't panic. Lee Sin was right behind him, and Lucian had already used E. This should have been a dead Lucian.
What JDG's mid-jungle didn't expect was that Lucian didn't panic at all upon seeing Lee Sin. Instead, he kept outputting damage, forcing Akali back into the shroud again.
Then Sejuani appeared from below.
She stood squarely between Lee Sin and Lucian.
"Xi ba, why is Sejuani in the bottom side?"
With this setup, there was no way to kill Lucian. If Lee Sin went in alone, he might even get killed himself. Akali could only eat the loss—after one full combo, she was left with barely one-third HP.
Kanavi had no choice but to back off. Knight swallowed the loss and ran toward tower, getting tagged by another Lucian auto on the way, increasing the pressure even more. After clearing this wave, he'd have to recall.
On the caster desk, Guan Zeyuan shouted, "Tian's counter-gank timing was perfect. With him showing up, both sides have to disengage and pretend nothing happened.
Honestly, Tian's jungle pathing this game is really strange. He didn't go for blue buff at all, instead hovering mid for a counter-gank—and it actually protected Brother Infinite Borders. Knight got hard chunked, but it's manageable. He still has Teleport, so the overall situation isn't affected too much."
"Mm!"
"Sejuani Q–Flash!"
…
Before Knight could even organize his thoughts, Sejuani charged straight into his face.
Q–Flash!
He was under tower, with Lee Sin right next to him, and yet TES's mid-jungle played this aggressively! Lucian flashed in, followed with Q–A and Ignite!
After Sejuani's W added damage, she turned and walked straight out of tower range.
Kanavi hadn't expected TES to commit this hard.
By the time he tried to save Akali, it was already too late. Lucian stood outside tower range as Ignite burned. Even if Akali retreated into Lee Sin's Safeguard range, Lucian could still gun her down.
To make matters worse, Knight panicked and burned Flash, pulling himself even farther away.
First Blood!
Since the cannon minion had already died earlier, even if Akali teleported back after respawning, she wouldn't be able to catch the wave. Kanavi could only grit his teeth and take the wave himself.
"Nice, well done, Tian."
"Hahaha, didn't expect them to react that slowly."
"Drop some vision around here later. I don't have Flash. They'll definitely look for chances to gank me during this window."
"Got it."
Tian nodded.
His jungle path this game was indeed very unusual. He skipped the top-side clear entirely. After red buff, he did Krugs, then Raptors, timing it perfectly for the mid counter-gank.
Because TES's bot lane had early advantage and would play aggressively, Tian chose to hover bottom side first and observe. He didn't even touch blue buff.
With Sejuani, Tian knew his role clearly: a top-tier utility jungler, protecting Kalista and Lucian.
As for Gwen top, she wasn't afraid of Lee Sin at all. She just needed to farm evenly against 369.
By mid game, the comp would fully come online. Double ADC would push towers rapidly and suffocate JDG's space.
As long as he hugged mid lane, victory was guaranteed.
After winning MSI, Tian had new ambitions.
One more Worlds title, and he'd be the only two-time World Champion jungler domestically.
As the replay of the tower dive played again, screams erupted throughout the arena.
Rita smiled and gave Guan Zeyuan a thumbs-up.
You really know how to curse teams.
Guan Zeyuan's face twitched.
Don't say that. Seriously, don't.
Who could've imagined TES's mid-jungle would go that hard? Three words summed it up: absolutely insane.
…
"That was an incredibly decisive play from TES's mid-jungle. Two flashes and Ignite committed—super all-in. They really went for it."
"If Akali survives lane, she can still perform well later on. But now she's died and lost Flash. The impact is huge. The next laning phase will be very uncomfortable."
…
Knight stared at his grayscale screen as his minions were eaten one by one under tower by the enemy jungler. It was pure torture.
"Sejuani really is playing fully around mid. She didn't even clear blue buff," Kanavi said.
"Yeah."
Hearing that only made Knight feel worse.
Damn Tian!
When we were teammates, why didn't you camp mid like this for me every day?
Back then, I was the number one domestic mid laner! Damn it! The more he thought about it, the more disgusting it felt.
"Once I hit six, we look again. He has no Flash. I Flash–kick."
"Mm."
As Knight and Kanavi spoke, Lin Fan finished his buy and headed toward blue buff. Thanks to his Long Sword start and extra gold from First Strike, he immediately completed a Pickaxe plus another Long Sword—forty-five bonus attack damage.
Any full combo on Akali would chunk half her HP.
With Tian's help, he secured blue buff.
Meanwhile, bot lane had already skirmished earlier. TES's bot duo already had an advantage, and after seeing Lee Sin appear mid, Mark proactively flashed in to force a fight, successfully burning Hope's Flash and Heal. JDG's bot lane was now under immense pressure.
They wanted Kanavi to relieve bot lane pressure, but mid lane was in even worse shape. He had no choice but to abandon the idea and turtle under tower, waiting for later opportunities.
With both mid and bot under pressure, JDG's outlook this game was grim.
When Lucian returned to lane with blue buff, Knight's already dark expression turned pitch black.
Overtuned items were one thing—but blue buff too?
Wasn't this going too far?
Looking at his own Dark Seal, his breathing quickened.
There was no choice.
Play safe.
So he stood under tower, farming alongside it, waiting for level six to turn the game around.
The current situation felt eerily familiar.
Hold on, play safe. Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river. Endure until level six…
Knight kept encouraging himself. A man had to believe in himself to stay firm.
But seeing the low-health cannon minion, he couldn't resist. He stepped forward to Q–auto it.
Lin Fan had been waiting.
He tossed W in Akali's direction to mark her, instantly dashed forward with a passive-empowered auto.
With First Strike adding 9% bonus damage and converting it into fifteen extra gold, the damage was terrifying—nearly 170 HP chunked off Akali. Even though he burned W's passive, the trade was well worth it.
At level four, Akali with Doran's Shield barely had over a thousand HP. That exchange alone took off one-fifth.
The good news was he got the cannon. Now he just needed to back.
He turned to run—but Lin Fan wasn't letting him go.
Using the movement speed from his passive, Lucian continued to pressure forward.
Under the pressure, Knight froze, hiding inside his shroud.
Lin Fan stayed calm. Akali's shroud only lasted five seconds. If he waited it out, his E and W would come back soon. When Akali reappeared, Q would proc his passive again and reduce E's cooldown—he might even solo-kill her without Flash.
Knight knew this too and finally panicked, using E to disengage.
But Lin Fan was lightning fast. He raised his gun and fired Piercing Light.
At rank three, Q had a base damage of 165, plus 90% AD. Lucian had already reached 117 attack damage. One Q blasted Akali for 214 damage—without even counting passive shots.
In an instant, Akali's HP dropped below half.
On JDG's bench, Knight's expression changed dramatically.
What the hell? I just wanted a cannon minion…
But now he had no abilities left.
He threw out a desperate Q for the slow, but that only put Lucian within auto range. Each shot chunked a bar of HP. Two autos landed, and just as Akali was about to escape range, Lucian's W and E came off cooldown.
E forward.
The true Relentless Pursuit.
Bang, bang—two more shots.
"It's over, Knight's about to die again!"
"Knight went up for a cannon and got chased down by Brother Infinite Borders! Can he escape? Relentless Pursuit is back up! There's no way out—but Lee Sin is moving mid. Brother Infinite Borders has no cooldowns left. Can Kanavi seize this chance?" Guan Zeyuan roared.
The big screen replayed the moment in real time.
Lucian dashed forward, fired two shots, then W—two more shots.
The damage was perfect.
The bullets gunned Knight down on the spot.
Lee Sin, approaching mid, couldn't take it anymore.
Lucian had no Flash and no E. This was the only chance to kill him.
Kanavi gritted his teeth, flashed over the wall, ward-hopped onto a minion, and slammed down with Tempest.
He had to get this kill. Only killing Lucian could stop his snowball. JDG still had comp advantage—drag it late and TES would be easy to handle.
Kanavi slowed him, lining up Q.
Lin Fan stayed calm and moved toward the bottom side. After solo-killing Akali, he was nearly full HP. Lee Sin would need two full rotations to kill him.
He posed no threat.
And you burned Flash and still think you can leave?
Glancing at Sejuani's position, Lin Fan stopped retreating and began auto-attacking Lee Sin instead.
Kanavi immediately felt something was wrong.
Could Sejuani already be here?
The thought had barely formed when Sejuani slammed into Lee Sin from the side.
His follow-up damage was completely shut down.
Kanavi's heart sank.
It's over.
With Sejuani's support, Lin Fan had zero pressure while outputting damage. He easily secured Lee Sin's kill, achieving a killing spree at five minutes.
…
"Holy shit, mid Lucian actually works."
"This is so weird. Akali plus Lee Sin, and Lucian still gets to play like this?"
"All you can say is Brother Infinite Borders is too strong. Trash Hand can't handle the pressure at all. He confidently took Akali as a counterpick and got smashed into this state."
"Tian's game plan is so clear. He knew JDG would target Brother Infinite Borders, so he stayed mid the whole time. Absolute bodyguard."
On JDG's side, Kanavi stared at his screen with the same expression Knight had earlier.
He had rushed that play, but at the time, it really was the best opportunity. Lucian had no Flash, no E. Without Sejuani, the kill was guaranteed.
But this Sejuani—she really went nowhere else. Just sat mid and stopped farming entirely.
But Sejuani didn't even need farm. Playing like this was still perfectly viable.
The Avengers' path of revenge… didn't seem to be going very smoothly.
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup