TES may have a huge fanbase, but an even larger portion of the audience is made up of spectators who just enjoy the chaos. After all, the messier things get, the more fun there is for these onlookers to enjoy every day.
And isn't the fall of a genius prodigy also pretty interesting to watch?
After IG's trident broke apart, they never achieved results again. Even after winning championships, they just coasted along, waiting to rot. Chinese esports has no future anyway.
But the barrage didn't stay chaotic for long. As the broadcast switched to the BP screen, everyone's attention shifted to the draft.
Game three, sides swapped.
Blue side: TES.
Red side: JDG.
TES immediately banned Ahri. Yagao's Ahri had been outstanding last game, with his form clearly blazing hot. There was no way they could leave it open.
On JDG's side, ever since their last scrim, they'd been paying close attention to Lin Fan.
And knowing that he was the one who had ended TES's losing streak last match, they took him even more seriously.
Out of respect, they banned Syndra straight away.
"Fan-ge gets targeted as soon as he comes in," JackeyLove laughed, trying to lighten the mood.
Losing the previous game was frustrating, but you couldn't carry that frustration into game three, or the match would be impossible to play.
"No problem. I don't only play Syndra."
Luo Sheng nodded. Players needed confidence. With the right mentality, good performance would naturally follow.
After that, both sides continued banning Corki, Kennen, Caitlyn, and Heimerdinger.
The Heimerdinger ban was mostly precautionary. Yesterday, Mark had played nine straight games of Heimerdinger, and with dine entering the match, there was a high chance of Heimerdinger support appearing.
TES wanted to secure this win cleanly—they didn't want any unexpected variables.
So far, JDG hadn't found a reliable way to deal with Heimerdinger. They weren't stubborn—if they couldn't beat it, they banned it.
TES didn't hesitate. With first pick, they immediately locked in Hecarim.
JDG responded by taking Jinx and Nautilus on picks one and two.
"With this draft, Zeri is left open, but JDG doesn't dare first-pick her."
"Right. Mainly because TES still has Draven and Thresh available. If JDG takes Zeri first, bot lane becomes very hard to manage. So instead, they go with Hope's more confident Jinx—no problem with that."
Seeing the opponent's picks, Luo Sheng nodded slightly.
He won the first round of draft mind games.
TES then picked Zeri and Leona on picks two and three, with the core of their composition basically complete.
JDG stayed calm as well, locking in Sion for 369 to secure a tank engage top lane.
Then came the second ban phase.
JDG opened by banning Vladimir. They were wary of the double-engage from Leona and Hecarim, whose early and mid-game strength was maxed out. With Sion already chosen top, if TES picked another strong solo laner, Vladimir could easily slot into TES's comp.
If the game dragged late, Zeri plus Vladimir, along with double hard engage, would put enormous pressure on JDG.
TES's second ban phase mainly targeted Kanavi—Lee Sin and Viego were both sent to the ban list to prevent JDG from snowballing tempo.
For JDG's fourth pick, they locked in Xin Zhao.
Xin Zhao is relatively stable into Zeri and has strong ganking ability.
Their fifth pick counter slot was saved for Yagao, whose form was red-hot and could easily play for advantage.
"Xin Zhao… that puts a lot of pressure on mid again. Can you hold steady in lane?"
With mid not yet revealed, Luo Sheng was still a bit worried. TES had won the first ban phase, but were a step behind in the second.
But there was no helping it—JDG had clearly saved a mid counterpick.
"No problem."
The calm reply, combined with the fact that he didn't randomly alt-tab during this BP, finally gave Luo Sheng some confidence.
"Alright. What are you picking?"
"Viktor."
"Viktor?"
JackeyLove's face twitched when he heard the name.
The burdened Viktor from earlier today was still fresh in his mind—those two games where mid lane had absolutely no game experience.
"I'm fine. Xin Zhao won't be able to catch me."
The confident tone earned a bit more trust from everyone.
—
Since they'd already subbed him in, they decided to let him play his comfort pick. That also allowed Zoom to take Gnar top lane to help relieve pressure elsewhere.
JDG's final pick was LeBlanc, clearly aiming to maximize early and mid-game lane pressure.
Viktor had no mobility—force out Flash, come again, and it was a guaranteed kill.
Kanavi smiled. Looks like TES's mid laners were all cut from the same cloth—mid lane was another ATM.
Backstage, Knight's expression turned ugly.
His Viktor performance today had been atrocious.
And now this guy comes in and immediately picks Viktor—what did that mean? Was he here to give a lesson?
Heh. Enemy mid LeBlanc plus Xin Zhao jungle—let's see how you survive lane.
If Lin Fan knew what Knight was thinking, he'd be crying injustice.
Who told you I just happened to roll this reward—and you just happened to play so badly?
How else would there be a sharp contrast if I didn't pick the same champion?
Team compositions were locked in.
Blue side TES:
Top: Gnar
Jungle: Hecarim
Mid: Viktor
Bot: Zeri + Leona
Red side JDG:
Top: Sion
Jungle: Xin Zhao
Mid: LeBlanc
Bot: Jinx + Nautilus
Both coaches stepped onto the stage and shook hands as the big screen transitioned to the loading screen.
"What are you thinking about, Fan-ge?"
"I'm thinking… why my Blade King can't beat other people's horse-girl blade stacking."
"..."
JackeyLove wanted to slap himself twice. Why ask that right before the match started?
"Fan-ge, focus up. Mid against LeBlanc is a lot of pressure."
"Okay."
Yagao's LeBlanc was indeed strong, but as long as he didn't look to trade aggressively or force health advantages into solo kills, it would be very hard for him to find lethal angles.
Especially with Lin Fan's current understanding of Viktor—it was absolutely not something ordinary mid laners could compare to.
This game only required stable farming: don't get solo-killed, don't get caught by jungle.
In teamfights, his impact would naturally exceed LeBlanc's, and by mid game, he could take over.
Of course, Viktor couldn't truly suppress LeBlanc. All that could be said was that JDG's pick was very good.
Guan Zeyuan used the loading screen time to analyze the drafts.
"JDG's mid-jungle duo has very strong skirmishing power, and they also have Nautilus, which can restrict Zeri," he said—clearly favoring JDG's composition as more comfortable to execute.
But the chat's mood shifted.
"TES is winning—Guan Shen has activated. Who can survive this?"
TL: Guan Shen is a bad luck charm/jinx.
"It's locked in."
"Don't poison it, don't poison it. JDG's comp is terrible."
"At this point, if TES wins, Guan Zeyuan definitely deserves some credit."
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup