Chapter 31

Amidst hidden currents, the match continued to progress.

After showing off once, the purple team’s jungler and mid laner clearly shifted in mindset; the jungler’s tactical focus subtly veered off, and Ming Kai broke free from the deadlocked mid lane to activate the instinct for ganking bottom lane etched into his DNA.

Many players hold a fixed impression of Changchang: when he ganks bottom, he never misses, and his approaches are endlessly varied.

In fact, the origin of this habit traces back to his WE days.

WE in S2 followed a standard strategy: top lane absorbed pressure with a strawberry champion, mid lane roamed to support, and together with the jungler, they nurtured the bottom lane, waiting for the AD carry to mature.

Ganking bottom became a habit formed early in his career; whether it was Nami in S4 with EDG, or Deft in S5 and S6, the bottom lane of Ming Kai’s teams always had a strong AD, so just as Benji instinctively ganked mid, Changchang’s bottom gank mastery was honed through these experiences.

So regarding the issue of UZI being dominated by Deft in S5 and S6, it’s less about Deft being too strong and more about Qi Jiang’s bottom gank technique having reached full maturity.

With the jungler abandoning mid, Ruofeng’s Twisted Fate could only cower under his tower.

Jiang Ming, whose Flash was still on cooldown, did not insist on a kill but turned his gaze toward the fog of war above the river.

As time ticked by, Jiang Ming reached level six first after securing the first blood; ignoring the timid Twisted Fate cowering under the mid tower, he signaled and led the Prince in a pincer assault straight toward top lane.

Personally, before the ten-minute mark, Jiang Ming rarely prioritized bottom ganks unless there was a high chance of success.

In early-to-mid skirmishes, an AD’s combat power before completing two or three items is far inferior to that of a normally developed top laner.

(Ding—Barrel is on the way.)

After sending a signal to Gogoing, Jiang Ming moved through the jungle and arrived outside the purple team’s first top tower wall.

Seeing PDD’s Prince right on his face, the straightforward Jax initially wanted to counterattack; Jiang Ming’s impression of S2 IG was refreshed once again.

No wonder IG couldn’t beat WE—every single member was a hothead; how could they compete with WE?

Jax excels at poking and kiting early on, but that doesn’t mean he can stand and trade directly against an Alligator, let alone with a Prince beside him.

“Burp, wanna have a drink?”

Without overthinking—or even needing much calculation—Jiang Ming, positioned behind the lane, timed his gank perfectly as the Prince and Alligator initiated to lock down Jax; he simply tossed a detonating barrel, blowing the Flashing Jax back.

Blue-gogoing killed Purple-PDD!

In the kill distribution, Jiang Ming timely signaled retreat; he and the Prince willingly gave the kill to Gogoing’s Alligator.

Three hundred gold extra for him and the Prince wouldn’t significantly alter the mid-jungle dynamic, but giving it to the Alligator would make a difference.

In the top lane’s ecosystem of S3, whoever secured an early advantage with Ignite could dominate their opponent for the rest of the game.

…

“Damn it, Ruofeng, I’m playing a banana lollipop hammer!”

PDD roared inside the IG training base after being ganked and giving up the kill: “You fans keep praising him as the world’s best Twisted Fate—how come his Twisted Fate got outpaced by a barrel to top lane?”

“Lao Piao, didn’t I just remind you to ward?”

On the same queue, the jungler, Shadow, weakly chimed in: “JM and I’ve duo-ranked before—he has incredible awareness and supports every champion quickly.”

A flicker of embarrassment crossed PDD’s fat face; failing to ward and getting caught was a chronic flaw in his pro career.

In the past, Shadow always watched his back; now, paired with Ming Kai—who never ganks top—he completely forgot.

“Cough, cough, accident, accident—I forgot the other lanes were all WE players. I’ll buy a true sight soon. The Alligator getting the kill won’t matter much—I’ll still dominate Gogoing with my Jax at 0-1.”

PDD’s stubborn denial aside, Ming Kai and Ruofeng weren’t idle either.

Taking advantage of the barrel’s top lane gank, Twisted Fate, finally leveling six, immediately activated his ultimate [Fate], teleporting at lightning speed to bottom lane.

Jiang Ming, who had been waiting, also showed off a little move: sneaking a ward beyond the wall, he kicked the greedy Vayne into his teammates’ range.

Ding!

Gold medal awarded—Twisted Fate completed the crowd control chain; UZI, frozen in place, blushed furiously, as if ready to duel PDD in top lane over who had more “familiarity.”

Click.

Facing the immobilized target, the curly-haired player landed his hook with perfect timing; with Q and E, he helped Weixiao secure the purple team’s first kill.

Purple-weixiao killed BlueUZI!

Jiang Ming frowned slightly—bottom lane being so easily ganked was breaking their own rhythm.

Twisted Fate in mid was already unplayable; all they needed was to pin him there, preventing him from ulting or even just one teleport, and they’d firmly control the pace.

【Wait, is Vayne even a person?】

【Why did you go for that cannon minion? JM signaled retreat thirty seconds ago.】

【Is this a pro player?】

【Heh, I’ve watched JM’s tutorial videos for half a year—I’m 1800-ranked and I know the half-zone principle: when your mid and jungle are on top, bottom lane stays under tower—or even retreats to second tower for safety.】

【And the kill went to Weixiao…】

Viewers in the live stream were furious about blue team’s bottom lane giving up the kill to Weixiao’s Ashe.

Future audiences might not grasp the fear that some fans once had of WE’s bottom lane in this era.

While most players were still figuring out League of Legends, Weixiao already had the fundamentals and teamfight output of today’s top ADs—his damage conversion rate was unquestionably the best in the world, and during his peak, he dominated the entire meta with overwhelming power.

“Shitou, follow me.”

Yet Jiang Ming made no response to the live stream’s backlash.

The Vayne player was UZI—if he didn’t play aggressively and greedily, he wouldn’t be called the Crazy Puppy; he didn’t even bother to ask why UZI gave up a kill for free.

The rookie UZI was far from his personal peak; even if Weixiao’s form had declined, he still wasn’t someone UZI could easily beat now.

So there was no point in asking.

Asking wouldn’t help, and if the kid’s mindset cracked and he quit to go take a shower, it’d only make Jiang Ming’s climb to Master even harder.

In a normal 5v5, bottom lane being killed once isn’t even a problem—even if they blew the lane, he could still carry his team.

After all, if bottom lane blows, can it compare to the chaos caused by mid and jungle collapsing?

If Twisted Fate in mid fails, it’s not just one person’s issue—the jungler, who’s tied to mid, suffers first.

After leading a rhythm on top, Jiang Ming returned to base, bought supplies, and emerged with a brand-new Rod of Ages.

Yes—he was going for a burst-kill build this game.

In S3, no item brought more joy to a mage than the Liandry’s Anguish, making enemy health bars vanish before your eyes.