Chapter 22: with translation of chapter title

The match has started!

The first game, QG is on the blue side, RNG on the red side.

Wawa Miller sits in the commentator's seat.

QG bans: Ryze, Corki, and Poppy.

RNG bans: Lulu, Viktor, and Nautilus.

As soon as the game started, both sides went on a banning spree for mid lane, banning a total of four mid lane champions.

To be honest, this is somewhat unexpected; QG, on the blue side, actively banned Ryze, perhaps they just wanted to play it safe at the start.

The two commentators were quite surprised.

QG first picked Ekko; this was expected, as Ekko has a high priority in this version.

When it was RNG's turn to pick, their head coach Fly was discussing with the players in front of the camera.

Xiaohu and Malatang's voices are loud!

No problem, no problem!

Let's just take these two; we'll have a strong mid-jungle.

Thresh + Lulu

RNG locked in their two picks simultaneously, taking less than ten seconds.

"Wow, this mid-jungle strength is quite high." Wawa took a deep breath.

QG's second and third picks: Lucian + Braum.

They plan to leave mid-jungle for last pick; to be honest, I think RNG's composition is better so far.

Miller commented: "The main issue is that Thresh and Ahri as a mid-jungle pair are too strong; the jungle position is fine, but mid lane has had too many champions banned this game. To be honest, I'm a bit worried about Doinb's champion pool—his best champions, Lulu and Viktor, have both been banned."

RNG's third and fourth picks: Varus + Thresh

RNG really knows what they're doing; next they'll add an engage top laner, making the composition very solid.

With 'Wheel Mom' guaranteeing late game, and Thresh-Ahri guaranteeing early-to-mid strength, they can smoothly transition into late game to teamfight with you.

The dilemma has been passed to QG; they must choose what mid-jungle pick to break the deadlock.

QG player bench.

Xu Dongmen and the others were also thinking about this problem.

The coaching staff hopes he and Doinb will take Graves + Azir, giving them late-game capability on par with RNG.

First, not talking about Graves, he is one of the top two AD junglers in this version, and Azir is among the top three mid laners in play rate this spring split.

Both are meta champions, and their strength is not lacking!

The only problem is that Doinb last played Azir all the way back to last summer's split.

He hasn't played it at all this entire spring.

Da B showed a troubled expression.

Xu Dongmen understands him: "Forget it, let's just switch champions; Azir gets countered by Ahri, making lane rough."

"Hmm..." Cui Jiaolian shifted thoughts: "How about Graves and Kassadin? Kassadin doesn't fear Lulu in lane, and Taixiang has played it twice this season, winning both."

"Don't, big brother; if I take Kassadin mid, I can't play jungle." Xu Dongmen really will thank.

It's true that Kassadin lanes well against Ahri, but before level 11 he almost never gets lane priority, and by then the jungle might already be ruined.

Moreover, the enemy has Thresh this game; even if Kassadin reaches level 16, trying to assassinate the carry in teamfights is no easy feat.

Unless the enemy base explodes on its own, it's really not recommended to pick it.

I think Dongmen is right; if RNG gets an early advantage, we'll have a hard time playing. Doinb strongly supports Xu Dongmen.

In the regular season, we lost to RNG; both games we were crushed by a snowball.

RNG differs from other teams, having the veteran mercenaries Mata and Looper as anchors, plus the mid-jungle powerhouse duo of Xiaohu and Malatang; their strength is a tier above any team they've faced before, including EDG.

Second, Da B also has self-awareness.

In the regular season, the two Kassadin games we actually won were against OMG and M3, neither of which made the playoffs.

Beating weak teams with Kassadin feels great to farm, but pulling it out against strong teams just puts pressure on teammates.

"Then only LeBlanc remains." Cui Jiaolian spread his hands helplessly.

As the coach solely responsible for BP and training, no one knows the players' champion pools better than him.

Doinb's champion pool is already shallow, and with so many mid laners banned this game, he can't think of any other usable champions.

"We could take Anivia, but if I take Anivia I can't take Graves; I'd have to switch champions." Xu Dongmen's brain raced.

A 200% power boost, not only reflected in his mechanics but also elevating his game sense and strategy by a tier.

Graves + Anivia; if the enemy is a fast-paced composition, fighting violence with violence, this combo is fine.

But facing Thresh and Wheel Mom, it's not so suitable.

"Xu Dongmen player, no matter what you want to pick, our coaching staff fully supports you." Pu Longyun spoke.

As head coach, he mainly handles player mental development, controls the overall direction, and during matches serves more as a stabilizing force, calming the troops.

"Hmm, I'll take the barrel." After a bit of thought, Xu Dongmen confirmed his champion.

——You pay the bill, I'll come.

BP ended, the coaches exited.

Brothers, give it your all; let's knock the opposition flat!

Before leaving, Pu Longyun cheered and gave a hype shout.

After coming down, he immediately wiped off his smile, replaced by a solemn expression.

"Coach, our composition..." Cui Jiaolian's face showed worry.

From a lineup construction perspective, their roster this time can only be described as barely adequate.

In the version where AD is king, our side has only one Lucian.

If they fail to make an impact early, one can imagine what the late‑game team fight will look like!

Facing the assistant's worry, Pu Longyun said only one sentence.

"Believe in Dongmen!"

"Team fight, level 1 team fight!"

"Come on, follow me!"

Xu Dongmen finished buying his starting items, then led his teammates into RNG's jungle, forcefully placing vision in the bottom half.

RNG knew they had entered the jungle, but dared not clash head-on.

Blitzcrank and Drunken Rabbler are both heroes not to be messed with in a level 1 team fight.

RNG chose to retreat, sending Looper from the upper half to QG's blue area to place a mirror ward.

Drunken Rabbler is the initiator in the upper half!

Through the ward left by Looper, RNG saw Xu Dongmen's jungle route.

Like Spicy Hot Pot, they clear from top to bottom.

Standard route!

"Wuxin, position yourself a bit further back; we'll try not to trade damage with the enemy early on."

Mata reminded his own AD carry right from the start.

They are a weak lane duo; although the level‑1 Wheel Mother and Hammer Stone are actually not inferior to the enemy, they have a chance to reach level 2 and seize the initiative, but Mata doesn't want to take that risk.

Drunken Rabbler is clearing downwards, surely to come to the bottom lane to apply pressure.

We need to ensure we're in good shape to handle the upcoming gank.

RNG's bottom lane pushed the wave and braced themselves mentally to withstand pressure.

Just then, Drunken Rabbler appeared in the top lane and instantly killed Looper's Titan.

"He actually went to top lane at level 2?"

Mata's heart jolted, and a feeling of annoyed vexation rose within him.

He immediately reacted, pushing the lane together with Wuxin.

But it was too late; by then the bottom lane minion wave was unstoppable, and QG's duo had successfully pushed it under the tower.

At level 1, with little resistance, they simply gave up; trying to hold the lane afterward would naturally fail.

Lane control failed, and the third wave of minions converged in front of RNG's tower.

Next, they would push toward QG!

This also means that even if Xu Dongmen just appeared in the top lane, RNG couldn't find anything to farm in the bottom lane.

The director also knew this, and immediately aired a replay of the first blood.

In the footage, as Drunken Rabbler took the blue buff, the ward Looper had placed disappeared just then.

Before a ward disappears, it loses its invisibility; Xu Dongmen learned the ward's position, confirming there was no enemy vision in the upper half.

The footage sped up; Drunken Rabbler used a flash‑E to rush to the top lane and smash into the enemy's face.

At that moment, Looper's Titan was still only level 1.

What's worse, he took W—Titan's Fury—as his first skill to contest the lane.

Even if Looper flashed to create distance, he couldn't subsequently use 'Commune' to hook the wall and escape.

"Just one minion, just one minion!" the baby‑voiced commentator exclaimed, escalating.

"XDM timed this wave perfectly; Titan is just one minion's experience away from level 2."

Miller's voice boomed as he played armchair general after the fact: "Stay calm—this flash actually didn't need to be used, because you were already dead to rights; even after flashing you'd still be slowed by the rolling Drunken Rabbler and couldn't escape."

The baby‑voiced commentator wailed: "If I'd known, I wouldn't have placed that ward in the enemy jungle—this ward got Looper killed!"

The replay ended, and the live feed switched back to Xu Dongmen.

He was eating river crabs.

The first Mark of the Thousand‑Pierced was applied to the upper river crab.

"Spicy Hot Pot just finished clearing F4; there was a chance to contest this, but Looper had to teleport back to lane after respawning, so the river crab had to be left."

"After eating the river crab, Drunken Rabbler hit level 3, returned to base, and crafted a Stalker's Blade."

"Wow, he got the green jungle knife in just three minutes—XDM, this game feels great!"

The green jungle knife is officially known as the Stalker's Blade.

This is a piece of jungle equipment added in Season 6, whose impact on the jungle role is profound, and indeed it has significantly affected the whole game's ecosystem.

Like other tier‑2 jungle items, it is crafted from Hunter's Machete, Hunter's Talisman, and 350 gold.

Price: 1050!

As everyone knows, since Season 5's major smite buff, jungle items have branched into blue, red, purple, and many other variants.

And to get by in life, how could one not have a touch of green?

Setting rank aside, the pick rate of the green jungle knife in matches is terrifying.

Compared to it, all other jungle items pale in comparison!

"I'll take red first; Thousand‑Pierced should be on blue."

Xu Dongmen constantly broadcasted the enemy jungler's position, alerting his teammates.

Mainly mid lane!

In this game, Doinb and Xiaohu have been trading blows fiercely early on; neither has returned to base yet, their potions are long gone, their conditions are all a bit off, and they almost simultaneously called out for the jungle dad.

Ma La Xiang Guo is one step ahead of Xu Dongmen; even though he cleared five camp groups, Xu Dongmen had cleared only three groups.

A top lane gank plus a recall to buy items caused Xu Dongmen to fall behind quite a bit in his jungle clearing progress.

But Ma La Xiang Guo didn't go to mid lane right away; he wanted to eat the river crab first to reach level 4.

After taking the red buff and leaving the jungle, Xu Dongmen placed a scouting ward in the dragon pit brush and happened to see Qian Jue at the enemy crab.

He did not go to contest the crab with Qian Jue.

Without Flash, and the bottom lane minion wave was still on our side, going up now would be unwise.

On the battlefield, the wine barrel hesitated not, veering left into mid lane, helping Li San Zhuo gain the advantage to push the lane and recall first.

Then, he turned back to take the F4.

At that very moment, Ma La Xiang Guo invaded the blue side jungle.

"Qian Jue is up to no good!"

"He knows Li San Zhuo is out of mana and needs to recall, the wine barrel is only level 3 and hasn't Flash yet, so if they fought he'd definitely not be a match."

"But there are wards in the brush; Ma La Xiang Guo was already spotted by XDM on his way in!"

"Level 4 versus level 3—will Qian Jue make a move? Hold steady or not?"

Holding Smite, Ma La Xiang Guo very much wanted to go up and contest the big bird, but at the crucial moment Mata stopped him.

This wave, we can't go up!

Ma La Xiang Guo glanced at the F4, then grudgingly slipped away.

"Good thing we held; Qian Jue will run into trouble if he goes up this wave!"

Miller belatedly realized, figuring out the reason: "In the previous wave, XDM had placed a ward in the river brush; if Qian Jue dares to come up and contest, he will surely be flanked by a TP."

"Exactly, this game Doinb is bringing Teleport, and Xiaohu is bringing Ignite." Wawa also noticed this.

At this moment, Xiaohu's Ahri had not yet recalled, but her blue mana was empty, leaving her with no combat ability.

Once a fight breaks out, Qian Jue will immediately become a turtle in the jar.

Ma La Xiang Guo reined in at the brink, ultimately receiving guidance from an expert.

Xu Dongmen wasn't in a hurry: "I'll take down a stone person first to catch up on farm."

After clearing the stone-armored beetles and reaching level 4, the bottom lane minion wave had already been pushed out.

Xu Dongmen passed through the triangular brush, used a sweep to clear the river brush vision, applying pressure to RNG's bottom lane.

UZI can freely and boldly push the lane.

At the same time, Xu Dongmen, beer belly in tow, ventured into the enemy jungle; Qian Jue had already cleared the lower half, leaving the jungle completely empty.

Xu Dongmen didn't come for the jungle monsters; he entered the jungle and placed the remaining scouting ward between the blue buff and the magic swamp frog camp.

Two wards: one defensive, one offensive.

Both are wards that come with the green jungle knife, lasting 150 seconds!

Xu Dongmen recalled, and the passive 【Ward Placement】 reset, giving him two charges again.

This is the benefit of the green jungle knife: it comes with a ward stone effect.

"Ying Bi Ge, keep your status."

Xu Dongmen headed to the upper jungle while glancing toward mid lane.

In this game, the mid lane on both sides is hard to tell apart, and the lane advantage isn't very clear.

Li San Zhuo is a minor counter to Ahri, but Doinb's mastery of the ice girl isn't high either; instead, in last-hitting, Xiaohu's Ahri is ahead.

In Xu Dongmen's view, being behind by a few last hits is no big deal.

Just guarantee good condition!

On the battlefield, the wine barrel began his second jungle clear.

Still starting from the magic swamp frog, except this time there was no buff monster.

By comparison, Ma La Xiang Guo's jungle clearing progress was at least half a minute faster than Xu Dongmen's.

Similarly, in the second round from top to bottom, the wine barrel had just finished the magic swamp frog when Qian Jue had already cleared the lower half's three wolves and was heading toward the magic swamp frog.

Then, he was exposed under QG's vision!

The scouting ward left from the previous wave took effect.

Xu Dongmen turned his view toward mid lane; at this moment, Doinb was still one wave away from reaching level 6.

"Don't rush; wait for me to finish the F4."

Xu Dongmen ate the sharp-beaked bird and reached level 5.

In the frame, the wine barrel used an E to go into the dragon pit, crossing the river into the red side jungle.

One must say, Mata's awareness is spot-on.

Just as Xu Dongmen sneaked into the brush behind the tower, a fresh red side ward popped him out.

Thresh even hooked him!

But the wine barrel not only didn't retreat, he swaggered out of the brush.

Pap—

In front of the two RNG bottom laners, Xu Dongmen placed a scouting ward.

The next second, blue light flared, and the teleport swirl swayed in the wind behind RNG's defensive tower.