Knight walked back under his turret while watching Azir's movements. Honestly, Azir wasn't doing that much better than him—at most he had a tiny bit more HP. Their mana was basically even.
Playing this aggressively and not fearing the jungler at all—his guts were enormous!
Thinking that, Knight glanced at Kanavi's clear path. He was heading up toward Raptors.
Idiot.
After seeing how aggressively Azir was playing, he should've come earlier and hovered mid to see if there was a chance.
If he had been there during that last trade, how could Knight have been forced to burn Flash?
They might've even gotten First Blood.
If Syndra got Azir's First Blood, lane would be over—complete domination.
Too bad Kanavi had no sense for it. They'd already discussed it before the match: pay more attention to mid, gank mid.
In Game One, he came at the wrong timing.
In Game Two, he didn't even move toward mid at all.
Just now, Knight had forced himself to trade for the sake of jungle resources, and Azir seized the opening to force out his Flash. He'd made such a huge "contribution" for the team—so why was Kanavi being so selfish, only caring about farming and scaling?
Maybe Tian was already in mid, ready to smash him to death…
The thought popped up out of nowhere, and Knight's face changed instantly.
There were still about five hundred units to the turret.
I should be safe. I'll recall, teleport back out, and deal with it then. It's just… this gold is awkward. If I want a Dark Seal, I'd have to wait another thirty seconds.
"Sure enough, Tian's also an idiot. Both junglers are even—now it's all on mid to decide the game…"
The thought had barely lasted a second when a monkey flashed out from the side!
Wukong's E slammed into Syndra's face, and the follow-up staff strike practically cracked Knight's skull open!
First Blood!
Lin Fan was a bit farther back, but since he'd done damage earlier, he still picked up the assist—two hundred gold, no summoner spells spent. More importantly, the wave was frozen in front of the turret. If Syndra didn't teleport back, walking to lane would be catastrophic.
But if she teleported back… she had no Flash. If Wukong came again, she was basically guaranteed dead.
A brutal dilemma.
Damn Tian.
Every time, because of you, mid lane balance gets warped.
If we played normally, how could Lin Fan possibly be my opponent?
Looking at his gold, Knight let out a long breath…
He bought a Refillable Potion, then used the remaining gold for a Control Ward.
Hold the pressure.
As long as I hold it, I can still turn it back.
I'm about to hit my power spike.
Azir needs a lot of items to function, but Syndra only needs to stack her spheres. One ultimate and you can pour all the damage into someone's face.
With Luden's, it's even more terrifying.
Lin Fan cleared the wave and recalled.
Compared to Knight, he had far more item options. CS advantage, plus "robbed" gold, plus an assist.
He bought Boots, a Dark Seal, and only used one potion. After thinking for a moment, he decided not to buy more pots and picked up a Control Ward instead.
Setting up vision could also relieve pressure for other lanes.
Bot lane was pushing so hard—if Sejuani suddenly came down for a gank, it would be a real headache.
If bot lane died once, their early pressure would vanish. Sivir–Yuumi's whole plan was to shove endlessly, wave after wave, into the enemy turret.
As long as something happened on the bottom side, he could rotate to support.
So bot lane's advantage couldn't be allowed to break.
This Control Ward was worth a fortune. Necessary.
Backstage, JDG lounge.
Homme saw Lin Fan's Control Ward and his vision went dark. This was giving them zero breathing room. Kanavi's jungler pick was Sejuani—her gank ability wasn't amazing.
If that Control Ward went down, what the hell could they even do?
No—Knight, weren't you playing well in scrims and earlier matches?
Why are you playing so badly today?
It's like a dream.
Homme couldn't understand it. In the key match, you start messing around?
Lin Fan teleported back to lane, holding the wave for a slow push.
Under level pressure, Knight also teleported back, but he only dared to watch from afar. If Wukong came again, with that distance he'd be dead for sure.
Naturally, he missed half a wave of experience.
No choice.
He was honestly too scared to move.
As soon as Syndra reappeared, Lin Fan started stabbing her butt without hesitation!
Chunking her HP felt good—and it came with extra money. A top-tier deal.
"JDG picked Syndra to play mid-jungle tempo and control map resources, but right now… Syndra's power spike is getting delayed further and further. That's a big problem."
"The mid-jungle linkage was too fast. Didn't expect it. Normally, Azir should be sitting near his turret, waiting for Syndra to shove. But Brother Infinite Borders walked up and forced trades, even forcing Knight's Flash…
Tian seized the opportunity and successfully killed Syndra. Even if it's Flash for Flash, jungler trading Flash with mid is always worth it.
And by the time level six arrives, Tian's Flash will be back. Tempo won't be affected."
"Brother Infinite Borders' Azir is really playing with confidence." Rita's eyes sparkled. Confident men are attractive—especially when they can also earn tens of millions in salary for playing games.
Zoom checked the minimap.
Mid and bot had huge advantages. If JDG wanted to find a play, they could only look top.
He glanced at the wave and immediately backed under his turret.
This wave state was the most dangerous—stuck near midline, looking "edible," making you think the jungler might not come.
But if the jungler did come, that long lane meant even double Flash could chase you down to the tower and still kill.
As long as I don't step out, you can't kill me.
From the spectator view, Sejuani, holding red buff, was waiting in the brush.
But Gwen refused to walk up…
"Xi ba!" Kanavi cursed, pulling Sejuani away from top side.
He'd wasted more than twenty seconds.
This guy could really endure.
But if it were him, he'd do the same. With mid and bot so ahead, top just needed to not feed.
Just like me—if I had lane advantage, why would I think about any of this? Just farm and control the jungle, right?
He looked mid.
Every step Syndra took forward was torture.
An Azir was actually pressing Syndra's head down.
Kanavi couldn't help thinking yesterday's "revenge plan" was kind of hilarious.
You can't even win lane. The hard skill gap is this big—what are you even playing for?
Knight is worse than Yagao. At least Yagao can pick something and play mid on his own.
If I have to spend the whole game thinking about how to get mid lane online… last time we lost because they roamed. But now, before they even roam, mid and bot are already losing hard.
This is the hardest kind of game for a jungler to play.
"Knight, your HP is pretty unhealthy. Shouldn't you just recall?" Kanavi said.
"The wave is about to crash. I don't have Teleport. If I recall now, I lose too much. Either you come help me catch it," Knight said, staring at his pathetic 34 CS. He couldn't accept leaving like this.
Kanavi thought about it—it made sense. So he immediately started moving Sejuani from top toward mid.
As the team's elder brother, he was worrying himself sick for his teammate.
The plan was fine.
No major issues.
But they hadn't accounted for how decisive Lin Fan was.
The instant he hit level six, he went W–E–Q, stabbing forward, then shoved Syndra backward with a reverse ultimate, pushing her into the minion wave.
Her HP was already low. That shove dropped it to the brink.
Knight hurriedly tried to respond, using the Q–E stun combo.
But Lin Fan only needed to summon soldiers and keep stabbing. Even if he got stunned, the soldiers' damage still erased Syndra's remaining HP.
A beautiful solo kill!
The timing was perfect, and Knight had no Flash—and he got greedy for the wave.
Greed… is the number one cause of death for pro players.
Knight didn't die unfairly.
He deserved it—he didn't even get the wave, gave up another three hundred gold, and got cleanly solo-killed.
The arena erupted with thunderous applause.
Knight wasn't popular. No one cared how many times he died.
They were excited about Lin Fan's solo kill.
As the wave crashed under turret, it officially announced JDG's mid lane was completely collapsed. Taking a strong Syndra and still losing to Azir was simply unacceptable.
Everyone thought even if mid lost, it could at least hold steady.
Clearly, they'd overestimated.
"The gap in raw mid-lane skill is pretty big."
"First Strike has quietly stolen 180 gold? With the First Blood assist, plus the kill and plates, Brother Infinite Borders' gold is insane!" Guan Zeyuan shouted while staring at the gold panel the director pulled up.
Total gold: 2,900.
Meaning aside from the initial 500, he'd earned 2,400 by six minutes—and he still had 1,600 on him.
This farm was top of the game!
Compare that to Syndra's 1,300—how is that even possible at six minutes?
It was absurd.
This looked like those ancient patches where Ryze could complete Rod of Ages before seven minutes.
The game was over.
It was just a question of whether it would take twenty-something minutes to bury the corpse.
"Brother Infinite Borders really dares to fight. With this kind of wave state, if you don't back off, the jungler will probably come. From the spectator view, we can see Kanavi moving toward mid—but Brother Infinite Borders seized the timing gap and struck for the kill."
"Even though Brother Infinite Borders is this ahead, Azir actually isn't that easy into Syndra… I originally thought TES's plan was to have mid absorb pressure and then look for teamfight opportunities mid-to-late. But now I realize I was completely wrong. With Brother Infinite Borders' personality, how could he ever choose to absorb pressure?"
"Yeah, that's always been his style." Rita followed along as the Desert Emperor recalled on the big screen.
Meanwhile, livestream chat flew by at warp speed.
As the game's bloodiness has been toned down patch after patch, mid lane is still the best to watch.
The lane is short. The moment waves meet, people start fighting.
Especially with two mids who have beef.
Knight was the one who got swept out of TES. Brother Infinite Borders took his mid position. But esports has always been like this—the weak step aside for the strong.
Everyone had been sure this matchup would collide hard.
Sure enough, the moment Game Two started, the gunpowder smell was thick.
Knight even picked Syndra, and Brother Infinite Borders "reverse counterpicked" with Azir.
Then came the drama.
Azir solo-killed Syndra!
Damn!
"LMAO. Getting down 20+ CS by six minutes—this is really Syndra versus Azir? Are you sure it's not Azir versus Syndra?"
"People say Brother Infinite Borders doesn't grind, but that's exactly proof of strength. Can anyone else become the league's number one mid so effortlessly? Even the world's number one mid?"
"Number one mid in the league is fair. World number one still needs a question mark. Faker still exists, and LCK has Chovy and ShowMaker. When Brother Infinite Borders smashes them, then he'll be world number one."
"Bro, how are there still people this old-fashioned? The one who didn't show up is the strongest? Absurd."
"Honestly, there's no point debating it. Knight first-picked Syndra and Brother Infinite Borders still picked Azir and destroyed him. That alone proves everything."
"Hahaha. Brother Infinite Borders: I'm waiting for level six. What are you waiting for? Trash Hand: I'm waiting to die."
LPL secondary stream.
Gangzi couldn't help shouting, "Look at him! Look at him! Azir's E is always forward!"
After saying it, he realized something was off and immediately covered his mouth.
Silence was tonight's Cambridge Bridge…
TL: This is a playful twist on Xu Zhimo's famous poem "Farewell to Cambridge" (再别康桥), which is a melancholic, quiet, romantic poem about leaving Cambridge. The original poem emphasizes softness and silence - "quietly I leave, just as quietly I came."
The meme/joke: When someone says something awkward or inappropriate and suddenly everyone goes silent, Chinese internet users will joke "沉默是今晚的康桥" - basically meaning "awkward silence has fallen" or "crickets chirping."
In this scene:
Gangzi loudly shouts out an observation about Azir's playstyle
He realizes he just revealed strategic information he shouldn't have (possibly to opposing team or stream)
He covers his mouth
Everyone goes quiet in that "oh crap" moment
Hence: "Silence is tonight's Cambridge Bridge" = the awkward silence after someone says something they shouldn't have
To be fair, Gangzi wasn't kicking someone while they were down.
Syndra getting solo-killed by Azir—what kind of garbage player does that?
Their early damage isn't even on the same scale.
Even if you can't win, can't you just back off?
Top-tier idiot.
But then he glanced at the IDs above their heads.
Syndra: Knight.
Azir: Dine.
Ah.
Then it made sense.
Knight getting solo-killed had already become a hot topic. People clipped the moment into GIFs and posted it across Tieba and forums.
Today's most classic clip was born!
It completely surpassed the earlier "Akali doesn't dare to dive the carry."
Because that one could still be defended.
People could say Brother Infinite Borders' items and levels were too far ahead, and seeing Galeforce dash in made Akali panic. Reasonable.
But this one was lane phase…
Hard to understand.
Is Knight really just bad? Good stats and nothing else?
Both mids returned to lane.
At this point, Azir's items were far ahead. Just a W–Q stab was enough to rob seventeen gold, even without follow-up.
So in just a few minutes, Knight had been stabbed into dizziness and scalp numbness.
It's over.
This time I'm really going to be ruined…
Lin Fan is clearly trash—so why can't I beat him?
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup