Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
At the twenty-minute mark, both teams skirmished near the mid lane inner tower at Team SHU’s side.
Team SHU had given up hope on getting the Dragon, since their own red and blue buff had been conquered by Team Skycrown.
This was inevitable as the balance had shifted heavily toward Team Skycrown once Kennen began to take part in the team fights.
Finally, Team Skycrown was ready to go all out.
Taking advantage of their high-pressing minion line, Team Skycrown was going to tower dive.
This team fight was initiated by a successful charm from Ahri on Orianna. Orianna returned to safety using Flash just in time, but Team Skycrown charged directly under the tower like a group of madmen, and Orianna could only bolt out of fear.
Xin Zhao had no choice but to come forward, using his ulti to push the enemies back. That didn’t hold them back for long and he soon became the target of the enemies’ firepower.
Ahri’s damage was completely devastating at the moment, and Xin Zhao, with low magic defense, was left with only half of his HP after he sustained a chain of skills from Ahri. Kennen, with his magic build, could finish him off at any time now.
The trend for Xin Zhao now was to focus on a tank build, otherwise, he would not survive long enough to have an impact in a team fight.
Xiao Jia was rather confident with this jungling champion. He was often the foundation of his team when playing Xin Zhao and had no problem tanking damage from several champions at the same time.
However, in this match, he had failed most of his earlier ganks and did not develop well due to Lee Sin’s counter-farm. He was still rather fragile despite the tank build and in most of the fights, he was, by default, the first to get killed.
Xiao Jia’s individual skill was supposed to be above that of Yang Ying’s, but he ended up as the worst feeder in this game, and this greatly upset him.
Following a painful shriek, Xin Zhao couldn’t escape his fate and was killed by Ahri.
Team Skycrown became more daring after the frontline of Team SHU collapsed.
Da Luo saw his opportunity and directed Kennen to rush in with his ulti activated.
Kennen sparkled as the fierce Shuriken Storm began to surround his body. It carried a demolishing aura that was going to engulf and destroy anything it crossed paths with.
Team Skycrown’s formation crumbled when they saw Kennen charge in with his horrifying ulti. Leona seized the opportunity and Flashed in to retain the four champions busy dodging Kennen with her ulti. This blocked their escape route and stripped away Team SHU’s last straw of hope.
Asmodai was seen furrowing his eyebrows. The combo play made by Leona and Kennen was executed close to perfection, and the four of them were most probably going to be buried under the tower.
Luocheng was their only hope left. Whether they could survive this calamity relied heavily on Alistar’s next move.
Asmodai glanced at Alistar’s position and realized he was pacing forward, his target none other than their greatest threat, Kennen.
Asmodai nodded as he and Fighting Hawk were on the same page.
This team fight was still salvageable if Alistar could knock Kennen back and keep him at bay.
Alistar led the line and charged fearlessly toward Kennen, who was covered by the Shuriken Storm.
Headbutt!
Alistar flew in with his monstrous figure and pointed its horn right at the relatively tiny Kennen.
Undaunted, Kennen ran straight into Alistar’s Headbutt.
Flash!
Kennen suddenly disappeared from the original path right before the moment of impact.
Alistar could only catch Kennen’s shadow, and at the very next moment, Kennen reappeared far behind Alistar and continued to jump on Team SHU’s main attackers.
Luocheng watched in awe and was at a loss. Da Luo had known Luocheng was going to target him, so he had prepared to evade the skill using such an elegant way.
Da Luo’s maneuver impressed everyone inside the club room.
It was common to see Kennen use Flash to instantly jump into the crowd after activating his ulti, but this was the first time they had witnessed how Kennen had used the Summoner Spell so precisely to evade the enemy’s assault while still advancing toward the right direction.
‘This guy named Da Luo is one hell of a player!’
***
Letting Kennen through meant they no longer had any hope to win this fight.
Other than Asmodai who had escaped through the wall using Flash, the other Team SHU members were killed shortly, including Alistar.
Twitch made use of his camouflage and conveniently brought down Lee Sin, who had been bearing the tower damage for his teammates, but after that, he could only sneak away and watch from afar as Team Skycrown took down the mid-lane inhibitor tower.
After the inhibitor turret had collapsed, Team Skycrown moved back and looted the entire jungle next.
Judging by the situation, a comeback for Team SHU was most probably not going to happen.
***
Asmodai continued to clear the minion line at the bottom lane while Luocheng persisted in establishing vision for the team.
Someone had to push back the minion waves after the mid lane was breached, otherwise, the other lanes would tumble easily as well.
Asmodai peered at Luocheng. Sensing the attention, Luocheng said with a bitter smile, “My bad, Da Luo is a clever guy.”
Da Luo’s timing of Flash had caught Luocheng off guard, and there was nothing he could do about it.
The good news was, for the next five minutes, Kennen would be out of Flash. However, their chances of winning the next team fight in their current state was still rather slim, with or without Kennen in the mix.
“They have someone pushing the bottom lane. Follow me,” Asmodai said to Luocheng.
Luocheng looked over at Twitch’s position and immediately understood his intention.
They took to the bottom lane and hid inside a small brush near the inner tower.
It was a classic spot to set up an ambush. A lot of players would neglect the underlying danger here when pushing lanes, and this was exactly the mistake Xiao Bei was making now.
Due to the advantage they had, Xiao Bei had carelessly marched into a deeper region, hoping to lure Team SHU out into defending the bottom lane while his team could divert and attack the Baron.
What he didn’t expect was for Twitch and Alistar to already be in position before him, and they stared coldly at his champion through the long blades of grass.
Camouflage!
Twitch walked silently up to Graves.
Alistar was just at the edge of the brush, waiting for the moment when Graves would come within his range and…
Headbutt, Pulverize!
It was the classic WQ combo again. The Minotaur emerged from the grass and pinned on Graves’ chest with his horn.
Before Graves was knocked away, Pulverize hit first and forcefully knocked him up into the air.
Twitch had begun to attack before Alistar had made his move, and the 1.5 second CC time was more than enough for him to land a great deal of damage.
Graves was obviously panicked as he threw every skill he had clumsily, and in the end, Asmodai finished him off with little obstruction.
“To the Baron!” Luocheng and Asmodai said to the other three SHU members, almost at the same time.
Great players often think alike. The successful ambush and instant target diversion to Baron Nashor had slightly tilted the balance of the game back to Team SHU’s favor.
Everyone in the game, including Team Skycrown that had lost their ADC, swiftly gathered near the Baron’s pit.
Baron Nashor was the only chance that Team SHU had now. If they could hold firm to it, then Asmodai and Luocheng would have saved them from the edge of an embarrassing defeat.
The onlookers were keen to witness such a development.
They were no doubt, godlike players. Their actions always brought a light of hope, even when all seemed lost.
***
Luocheng began to counter the opponent’s ward while his teammates took on Baron Nashor, but he was infuriated when he realized Zhou Yan had planted a long row of wards along the cliff. He had to walk up the dangerous cliff if he wished to deny them all.
Firstly, this would stall him and reduce his time in guarding his team against the Baron; secondly, Ahri and Kennen could exhaust his HP as much as possible while he denied a ward. Hence, he gave up and fought the Baron with his team under broad daylight.
Kennen was still without his Flash making it difficult for him to control a few heroes simultaneously like the last time.
Twitch was well farmed, although the entire game disfavored team SHU, he had only died once but killed seven. On top of that, his CS was the highest among all players at 250. Hence, their speed at harvesting the Baron was faster than expected.
With the Baron’s health getting lower and lower, Team Skycrown could no longer stand aside and rounded toward the entrance of Baron’s pit.
Kennen was again at the forefront with his ulti equipped. He must have seen Alistar charge out, so he activated Zhonya’s Hourglass before he entered the pit. His sole purpose was to seal off the pit entrance.
Suddenly, Lee Sin jumped down from the rear of the pit. He went straight toward Twitch after landing but found that Twitch had agilely hidden behind Xin Zhao.
Without many options, he turned to the nearest target and kicked Orianna toward Kennen’s raging Shuriken Storm.
The kick was executed brilliantly, not only did it send Orianna flying, it also knocked Xin Zhao and Alistar away before Orianna fell into Kennen’s ulti range.
Yang Ying had not had enough farm to build Zhonya’s Hourglass, and could only watch in silence as Orianna was helplessly kicked away and then electrocuted by Kennen’s outrageously high damage.
Kennen was blockading the entrance; Leona had called upon the Solar Flare into the pit; while Ahri stayed safely behind Kennen and continued to pile up damage on Team SHU. In that instance, Team SHU felt like they were being harassed behind a closed door, and Luocheng’s Alistar was powerless in such a situation.
Twitch moved relentlessly and used his high damage to kill Lee Sin quickly, but just as he began to aim at Kennen, most of his comrades were already on the verge of death.
As Graves reached in time to put on the final touch, the team war in the Baron Pit concluded with Team SHU being wiped out.
‘What a disastrous ending!’
The one-sided “manslaughter” was unbearable to watch.
Obviously, even Asmodai and Luocheng were unable to salvage this huge disparity in strength.
Xiao Jia, Yang Ying, and Jinbei stared at their grayed screen blankly. They didn’t know how to face Asmodai and Luocheng, who had created chance after chance for the team even when they fed so hard.
They resignedly clicked on the surrender button.
‘Next game. We are going to come back stronger next game.’
Four players clicked on ‘agree’ and the game ended with Team SHU admitting defeat.
It was a regrettable result, they were simply overwhelmed by Team Skycrown’s prowess.
“It’s alright. Just try to play better in the next game,” Asmodai maintained his composure and consoled the three of them.
They nodded and swore not to fail in the same way again during the next game.
