Knight stared at the scene in front of him and fell into deep self-doubt.
Wasn't today's match supposed to be him crushing Lin Fan and reclaiming the title of the number one domestic mid laner?
Especially when the opponent locked Azir into his Syndra.
He had to smack him in the face and let him know what happens when you get cocky.
But everything happening now was the complete opposite of what he'd imagined.
Azir kept stabbing him relentlessly. The early damage wasn't high, but it was constant. Little by little, it stacked up until his HP couldn't take it anymore.
And then there was that ridiculous footwork—up to now, his Q had only landed twice. If this weren't an official match, he'd already be reporting Lin Fan for cheating.
He hadn't even "rewarded" himself these past few days just to prep for this match…
So why was his form this terrible?
Unwilling to admit Lin Fan was simply far stronger, Knight could only blame it on bad form…
Lin Fan had no idea Knight was thinking all this. Wasn't he just getting smashed? Faker had played him five times and lost all five. What trophy does Knight have? Getting beaten into this state was perfectly normal.
Besides, there were more important things right now.
Lin Fan spam-pinged the bot lane on the minimap.
"Don't rush, don't rush. Let me solo-kill Syndra first, then I'll come bot. You're playing super aggressively—tower-diving pressure is pretty risky."
Seeing how hard bot lane was pushing, he reminded them.
Sivir–Yuumi was all about early shove. If you really committed to a straight brawl, it still felt a bit short on raw punch.
Aphelios and Renata weren't afraid—it's just that there wasn't a good opening yet.
And Sejuani still hadn't shown. She might already be on the bottom side…
JackeyLove had been getting excited in lane, but as soon as he heard Lin Fan, he cooled down immediately. Why obsess over killing them?
They already had a CS lead and had taken a plate. Waiting for teammates to come was the right way to play.
As for mid lane, without ultimate, solo-killing Syndra was difficult.
He needed a little help from his teammates. Chunk her low enough, then Tian could come for a clean combo.
That would be enough.
Once Tian hit level six, he quietly started moving toward mid. When you've got that kind of synergy, you don't even need many words.
The wave pushing toward their turret was the signal.
Knight looked at his half HP and felt enormous pressure too.
But seeing Sejuani waiting behind him, and with his own ultimate coming up, if the opponent tried to dive, this might be their mid-lane comeback window.
The core was mid-jungle coordination!
Kanavi had brainlessly farmed for so long—he had to contribute.
He finally came to counter-gank.
Mid-jungle, mid-jungle—what matters is the coordination.
Kill Azir, take the shutdown, then grab a plate. Advantage restored.
"Don't save cooldowns. Full combo and delete him. We don't know if Sejuani's bot or mid. After we kill him, we can even go bot and dive. My ult is almost up—just dump the damage and he dies," Lin Fan warned Tian, afraid he'd hold spells.
"Mm."
Hearing that, Tian immediately dropped any thought of holding cooldowns.
"God, is it another mid-lane package? But Sejuani is right behind him. If Knight reacts in time, it's hard to say…" Rita shouted at the big screen.
"Yeah… Kanavi's awareness is pretty high. Whether JDG can come back depends on this play," Guan Zeyuan said—only to see Wukong sneak in from the side with W stealth, then E into ultimate without even using Q first.
Instant hard CC.
Syndra got knocked up.
Then three sand soldiers stabbed her in the face. In nearly an instant, Syndra's already unhealthy HP dropped to the brink.
With the attack speed boost, the soldiers stabbed again—clean and easy.
Kanavi's reaction was already fast. He threw out Q to snipe.
But Tian flashed and dodged the ultimate effortlessly.
"What are you doing?" Kanavi asked sternly.
Wukong came in from the side and used E into R—how did you not react?
Knight's problem this play was massive—borderline absurd.
"…"
Knight could only swallow his bitterness.
His plan was to coordinate with his jungler and kill Azir.
Kanavi was right behind him. As long as he landed Q–E stun, it was guaranteed.
So he'd been staring at Azir's movement the whole time.
But the enemy… Wukong came.
Damn Tian.
Lin Fan's pet dog.
Hits level six and immediately comes to babysit mid, huh?
His score became 0/3, and it felt like last game all over again.
No. I have to hold it together. I have to.
I'm on Syndra. Don't give yourself so much pressure. Once I have items, it'll be fine.
I can always kill back.
Kanavi's scolding only made Knight inhale deeply. He had to calm down.
"Knight was already getting bullied in lane, and now he dies again. Without Teleport, he loses a huge wave. It feels unplayable," Rita said, with a trace of schadenfreude.
Women don't feel the same way men do when they see those Weibo apology essays—especially the "battle chapters."
No matter how good Knight's conditions were, Rita looked down on him from the heart.
The words "trash man" were basically carved into his family tree.
So watching him get beaten this hard? She was smiling happily.
She hoped Lin Fan would turn up the heat even more—keep doing this, so Knight learns what divine punishment looks like.
A few rats ruin the whole pot.
The LPL environment has generally been pretty good.
But this kind of trash keeps popping up, dragging the reputation down.
And yet you also have people like Brother Infinite Borders—clean, self-disciplined.
Every day, holed up in the base thinking about how to play better. A premium shut-in.
This kill went to Lin Fan.
It was a slight shame they couldn't take plates mid because Sejuani was there, but it didn't really affect the overall situation.
The two rotated straight to bot side.
JDG's bot duo had already gotten the information and started retreating.
But Lin Fan and Tian didn't route through the river to wrap behind the tier-one.
They went straight through blue buff to cut them off—clearly expecting the retreat.
Even without Tian's ultimate, as long as they could hold them in place, the kills were guaranteed.
Lin Fan's Azir slid out from the wall, stylish and sharp.
One ultimate—shoving JDG's bot lane duo right back in.
JackeyLove had been itching for this. The moment the wave was shoved in and Azir arrived, he activated Sivir's ultimate and charged!
After only two steps forward, Mark's Yuumi jumped off Sivir and attached to Wukong instead!
Final Chapter!
The magical cat unleashed her ultimate in a full spray.
Missing was forced to throw his ultimate as counterplay.
But honestly, they'd already been caught. They couldn't leave.
Most importantly, Lin Fan held the back angle, not even using E to dive in.
This was clearly a full wipe.
In barely two seconds, Hope was staring at a grayscale screen.
Missing's Renata couldn't avoid the same outcome.
"Sigh… mid gap," Hope and Missing both muttered in their hearts.
As if in sync, they looked at each other and shared a bitter smile.
Azir getting ahead was top-tier torture for bot lane. No matter which ADC you were, Azir restricted your output brutally.
Sand soldier range was too long. If he summoned them and stabbed your face, you couldn't dare step up to auto.
Especially with Aphelios—his range isn't exactly long, but it's not short either.
He gets kited to death easily…
So in that moment, JDG's bot duo already felt the game slipping away.
As for 369 top, he stayed silent.
Good grief.
I'm just farming top, doing nothing, and mid and bot have already exploded? The game's basically lost? This is hard to take.
Zoom, can we swap again? I go back to TES, you come to JDG. Everyone goes home, everyone finds their mom.
Knight, Knight… I only dodged you for one split. Why are you like a ghost? No matter how I run, I can't escape you.
By now, the whole JDG squad had been punched into silence.
TES, in sharp contrast, were all smiling.
"Brother Fan, that shuffle drift was too clean. Beautiful, beautiful. It'd be even better if you gave me the second kill—my Sivir really needs kills."
"Six hundred gold in my pocket. I can blow them up easily."
"Is it possible… that my Azir needs kills even more?"
If Azir gets fed, he can accelerate the end of the game faster than Sivir can.
As for bot lane turret, Lin Fan naturally took a plate.
On this recall, he immediately upgraded into Liandry's Anguish, plus Hextech Alternator.
His damage now couldn't be underestimated—one full combo could absolutely delete Syndra.
"Tsk tsk tsk… Brother Infinite Borders' items right now? I can only say invincible. JDG is completely doomed. Once Brother Infinite Borders gains an advantage mid, this roam is fatal. JackeyLove already had a strong advantage, and with Brother Infinite Borders helping him roll it, that lead just exploded."
"Dine's laning style is truly unique in the league. Lane pressure maxed out. Azir beating Syndra—and the Syndra is Knight, the guy with so many highlight moments!
When Azir is ahead, most people would just stay mid and farm. But Brother Infinite Borders thinks differently—he immediately starts roaming.
He breaks our stereotypes about Azir: weak early laning, no roaming, just farm…
Mid and bot are now fully open. The game becomes very easy to play."
Livestream chat scrolled like crazy.
"Guan Zeyuan is throwing shade!"
"He's pointing straight at you, Captain Tilt! Playing Azir like a lane-bound spirit!"
"Not just Azir. Aren't other champs the same? Feel bad for TheShy: jungler troll, mid lane-bound, bot 'ADC' cosplay. One god carrying three pits—how do you carry that?"
"SofM is even worse. Enemy is diving and he's still hitting Krugs!"
"Was it on purpose or accident?"
"I think it was on purpose."
"Don't. TES vibe is so good right now—if that long-face guy comes in, it'll collapse."
"I can only say TheShy fans are delusional. Since leaving IG, he's only won one BO5. I don't know what you're barking about."
"Brother Infinite Borders said it before: if a team loses, it can't be just one person's fault. It's the whole team's problem. As for Weibo, I think fans are the number one culprit!"
"But one thing they're not wrong about: a mid like Brother Infinite Borders is every club's dream. Even if he goes to TFT Worlds and then plays Naraka: Bladepoint—if he can win, he's still a good player."
The game timer hit ten minutes.
The score was 5–0. TES already had a 3,000 gold lead.
From here, you could tell JDG was basically done.
Their comp was supposed to spike mid game, and yet it turned into pure garbage.
Look at the mid CS.
Syndra had 61 CS. In Silver, that's actually great! Nice!
Lin Fan's Azir had 107.
Not much—just a 46 CS lead, worth over 800 gold. Add 900 from kills, plus 300 robbed by ten minutes, and mid lane lead was just over 2,000.
These numbers clearly told everyone exactly how mid got toyed with and blown up.
Even though Knight couldn't see online discussion during the match, looking at the item gap still made him panic.
After today, how much effort would it take to change public opinion of him?
He'd have to win the Summer Split finals…
But right as he waited for teammates to help, Zoom sacrificed a wave top and came mid to tower-dive with Lin Fan, turning Knight's score from 0/3 into 0/4.
Furious.
His whole face flushed red. Someone who didn't know better would think Uzi had come to JDG to play mid.
But over this period, you could clearly see Uzi's emotional swings weren't as intense. He rarely tilted. His mentality had improved—after all, he knew his career was truly over. There was no going back.
For Knight, he thought his future was bright. Losing one match didn't matter much.
He just didn't want to lose to Lin Fan.
"Xi ba, can you stop dying so much mid?" Kanavi couldn't take it anymore.
"They're diving me, targeting me. Look—Gwen even gave up top wave just to come kill me. There's nothing I can do," Knight replied.
"With this kind of targeting, I have no room to play."
"…."
Hearing that, Kanavi cursed him a dozen times in his mind.
Who dies every time just because they got targeted once?
Damn it.
Are you TheShy?
Even TheShy wouldn't die every single time. He'd at least hide behind turret sometimes.
Syndra losing to Azir is two words: absurd.
He'd looked good in previous matches—could it be that against strong teams, he just got exposed immediately?
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup