Chapter 777

Game 3, both teams' lineups:

EDG: top lane Big Tree, jungle Rek'Sai, mid lane Flying Machine, bottom lane Vayne + Luo

VG: top lane Crocodile, jungle Jade God, mid lane Clockwork, bottom lane Skates + Bull Head

Moreover, this game EDG brought iboy back up; after being benched for a game, iboy played more cautiously in this lane.

Entering Summoner's Rift, Sima Laozei threw a spear onto the ground, and Liang Yan's Jade God picked it up directly.

Guan Zeyuan stared dumbfounded: "Ah?! Sima Laozei gave the contract to Jiao Shen? What about Xiao Duan?!"

Miller also looked bewildered: "What the heck, does this mean Skates lane loses a skill? Is VG playing like this?!"

Actually, it's fine.

Liang Yan took the Contract Spear; theoretically, it's as if Sima Laozei lost a passive that triggers every six seconds, causing basic attacks to deal an extra 12% of the target's max HP as damage, but that's only theory—actually you can't calculate it that way.

Because VG's support is a Bull Head, even if the contract were given to the Bull Head, it would actually be hard to trigger once every six seconds, since this passive requires both contract parties to land a basic attack on the same target within 1.5 seconds; Bull Head is a melee champ, so reaching the enemy means getting close, and the EDG duo knows they can't beat Skates in a fight, so they won't trade with VG and thus won't give Bull Head a chance to chain two procs. Objectively speaking, Bull Head triggering Skates' passive even once per minute (i. e., every two waves) is already pretty good.

Therefore, Sima Laozei giving the contract to Liang Yan instead of Xiao Duan isn't a big loss, and Skates won't be unable to pressure the enemy just because it lacks this passive.

At a small cost, they gained absolute safety for the teamfight core—Liang Yan's Jade God used this game is the sole Incense Burner Monster in the current patch's jungle.

Early on both sides farmed peacefully; Liang Yan never engaged, spending most of the time in his own territory, clearing monsters cleanly, giving all Smite to the river crabs, and only counter-jungled Changzhang once with an F6—Changzhang was furious, but nothing happened.

At 10 minutes, VG had a slight lead of over 400 gold.

Most of this gold difference came from the bottom lane's CS gap.

Ten minutes in, trailing by just over 20 CS, A Bu thought it was acceptable; seeing this, he indignant said, "Look, VG's Skates are just like that—this thing is clearly something they deliberately released to screw us over!"

Ai Luoli echoed, "We really got screwed; if we hadn't insisted on taking Skates earlier, we actually had a chance."

Coach Nofe didn't chime in, sitting like a stone statue behind A Bu, silently watching the screen, his expression numb, his eyes like a dead pool.

In this Bo5, only the first game gave Nofe free pick/ban rights; from the second game onward, EDG's picks and bans were essentially decided already in the locker room.

He's just a hired-gun coach they paid for—what could he do?

By now, Nofe regrets letting EDG's offer tempt him into losing his senses, blindly signing that contract; looking back, it seems it'll be a loss not worth the gain.

As for Nofe, the worst part is that after the LPL season ends he still can't leave, because EDG has already locked a ticket, so next month there's still an S7 World Championship awaiting him.

He's going to lose face in front of the whole world.

……

The turn of the match came so suddenly.

Both sides farmed amicably for ten‑odd minutes, then VG suddenly flipped the table—like a bottomless chasm appearing out of nowhere on a vast flat plain, utterly jarring.

At 13 minutes, Cui Shen, who had rushed straight to the incense burner after crafting his tier‑2 jungle knife, farmed the jungle to obtain his first complete item.

Liang Yan went home to craft an incense burner, then walked up with the duo he had summoned, seized the chance to swap lanes, pushed the top lane minion wave to the enemy tower, and without a word the three of them directly took Xia Gu Xian Feng.

The EDG duo followed the lane swap, saw that VG was attacking the herald, and the four members from mid and bottom lanes plus the jungler immediately surrounded them.

Easyhoon rushed in from mid lane, but EDG intercepted him halfway.

VG's four players were split into two groups: one side consisted of the three junglers near the top‑lane end of the river, the other side was Easyhoon's clockwork near the mid‑lane end.

Xia Gu Xian Feng lay between VG's three junglers and EDG's four players, with Xiao Duan's ox head drawing the aggro.

VG only had a support ox head at the front; although the ox head with its ultimate could indeed tank, in a local 4v3 EDG had no reason to be afraid.

Meiko engaged first, shot calling the team fight.

"I'm initiating, I'm initiating, watch me watch me watch me!"

"TTT, eye eye eye, A Guang here!"

"No problem, just keep hitting the ox head, hit the ox head, just hit the ox head!"

"I have no HP, I have no HP!"

"Watch the clockwork, watch the clockwork, don't get pulled by his ultimate……"

"Holy shit, Mingkai, what the hell is going on with you!!"

"I tm can't hold on anymore!"

Meanwhile, VG's in‑team voice channel went like this:

"Pull them out."

"Xiao Duan, hold the front."

"Marquis, don't engage yet, wait for the big tree to come down."

"Who will hit whom?"

"Can't kill him quickly, just push him away."

"Don't worry about me."

"No skills left, Ma Ge, go!"

Don't even mention that Mouse's big tree hasn't landed yet; even if the big tree joined the fight immediately, EDG's composition actually lacks any ability to cut the back line, and besides, we have many ways to respond here.

Meiko went in with his ultimate, made a grand entrance lunging at the ox head, but the ox head's ultimate instantly dispelled the charm and kicked him away; as he landed, the ox head struck him again, and in under three seconds of crowd control, Meiko's body was impaled by five or six spears from the incense burner's skate shoes, plus some other unknown damage, and the squishy Luo, when flung away, had already lost more than half of his health bar.

Meiko hurriedly used a light‑dance double‑blade to dash into Weiluosi's embrace; his ultimate hadn't finished, yet he already dared not re‑engage, otherwise the only outcome would be dying mid‑way.

Changzhang ducked into the dragon pit, dug a hole and popped out, flashed to try to ram Liang Yan's Cui Shen, but Liang Yan swapped flashes to dodge; Changzhang only hesitated a moment before Xiao Ju knocked him airborne, so his body also got impaled by four or five spears from the skate shoes. Changzhang wasn't at full health to begin with, and his health dropped to just a small half; panicking, he turned, rammed the ox head, and fled toward his teammates.

Sima Laozei chased after Changzhang, sliding forward.

Scout kept dealing damage, but most of it was blocked by the ox head's ultimate.

iboy followed Meiko's lead, constantly dealing damage to the ox head, but because his farm was far behind and Meiko still hadn't crafted the incense burner, his output was also quite mediocre.

When Sima Laozei began sliding forward, Xiao Duan shouted "Charge, duck!" and, wielding an ox head with still half a health bar, he charged ahead first.