Chapter 61

FirstBlood!

NXG eliminated BLQG-NovaSlash!

Not fast, not slow.

When NXG appeared in view, the ADC had time to react, but BLQG’s ADC never expected that in the instant the Blind Monk used his Q, Thunderclap, and confirmed the support wasn’t nearby, the remaining duo would so decisively sync up with Flash.

The three chased to the blue buff, even the mid laner, Fiddlesticks, didn’t need to add extra damage—she simply used her E to shield and snagged an assist to secure the kill.

“Hey, BLQG’s ADC is being way too careless.” Joker sighed.

“Yes.”

“But in a way, NXG’s duo lane paid for the summoner spells to lock down the ADC—next time if the Prince can capitalize on this opportunity to gank, giving up first blood isn’t too much of a loss.”

“Haha, are you trying to talk about WE’s Strawberry?”

“In previous matches, many teams spent too many summoner spells trying to catch Strawberry, leading to lost momentum and eventual losses.”

“Yes, WE’s first blood strategy was extremely successful.”

Here it comes—the classic first blood not a loss!

The mindless hype tradition that later players despised in LPL commentary began with these two guys.

Back in the backstage lounge, Jiang Ming listened to the two commentators’ wild claims and couldn’t help but smile.

ADC lost both summoner spells at level one and gave up first blood—how could you possibly maximize losses any further?

As for the description of WE’s “First Blood King” Strawberry, it was even more absurd.

Why does WE’s top lane always give up first blood?

There’s truth in Strawberry’s limited individual skill, but more so because WE’s entire team strategy centered on Smiling, with the jungler permanently stationed on bottom, and the mid laner, Ruifeng, not the type who could carry his lane solo and support the side lanes. It was only natural for other teams to study and target this weakness.

Under the commentators’ deliberate prompting, some obsessed WE fans actually believed the myth that Strawberry’s first bloods brought WE more victories.

Yes, enemy teams targeting top lane does make bottom lane’s play more comfortable.

But that only held true in S2. As the meta evolved into the blood-soaked S3, ADC dominance declined while mid, top, and jungle gained strategic weight. In early S3, WE still relied on Smiling’s individual skill to turn games around, but as teams deepened their meta understanding, you’d realize that by the second half of S3, the invincible WE didn’t win a single league title, let alone qualify for Worlds.

Back to the match.

With NXG securing the ADC’s first blood, the Blind Monk’s rhythm instantly became clearer.

Whether they continued pressuring the enemy’s cooldowns or used reverse thinking—exploiting the window when the enemy jungler might come to help the ADC—NXG held full initiative in those few minutes before Flash was back.

Moreover, without both summoner spells, the ADC wouldn’t dare push too far, meaning even if the Blind Monk ganked top, the bottom lane’s Vayne and Janna wouldn’t suffer much from the Prince’s presence.

From a team core perspective, BLQG would likely choose the latter, since ADC is their purple side’s most crucial carry.

“I’ll start at F4, rush level three, gank top. Lao Song, trade more with Kayn.”

“OJBK, bro, I love you!”

At 1:30, minions began slowly walking out from base, but both junglers were already fighting the jungle creeps.

As an experienced jungler, the purple side’s Prince, with help from mid and top, cleared the golems together, splitting the experience evenly among the three.

(This was the first detail I learned in the pro league—don’t think the meta is too far back; back then, pros didn’t have all these understandings.)

In S3, buffs respawned slightly slower than other jungle monsters, and since minions arrived late, even helping the jungler clear camps wouldn’t cause you to miss experience.

The duo helped clear the red buff, while the mid laner, Fiddlesticks, cleared the three wolves alongside the crocodile.

This opening strategy of taking jungle experience allowed solo laners to level up quickly, making lane clashes extremely bloody.

Protected by Fiddlesticks’ shield, the crocodile taking the wolves didn’t lose much health.

On the way back to lane after clearing the jungle, Song Yuan, who had started with a Giant’s Belt, began thinking.

He needed to find a way to harass that electric rat.

“Balance exists between all things!”

Pfft!

The sound of skill hitting flesh echoed.

The moment the top laners met, BLQG’s Kayn tentatively cast his Q, Thousand Birds.

The initial blood drain gave BLQG’s top laner a sense of relief.

Honestly, seeing the opponent’s Giant’s Belt start, he’d panicked for a second.

The old saying goes: level one Captain, level two Xin Zhao, level three crocodile kills you.

This rhyme didn’t spread through the league by accident—the level three enraged crocodile with Giant’s Belt had terrifying kill potential.

But now that he’d managed to harass the opponent, it proved that even with rank differences, he was still a long-range Kayn fighting a short-range crocodile.

The crocodile with Giant’s Belt had lower base stats than his Doran’s Blade, and since the potion was a consumable, if he kept trading and harassing early, staying away when the crocodile reached level three or built up rage, he could safely farm.

Thinking this, BLQG’s Kayn grew bolder, stepping forward to auto-attack the crocodile again.

On the blue side’s player bench, Song Yuan grinned. “Haha, kid’s still young—fell for it so easily?”

As a top laner with almost no sustain early, the electric rat had to endure minion damage just to harass.

The crocodile hit by Q and A took a visible health drop, lacking Doran’s items to buffer his HP.

But don’t forget—crocodile’s Q heals him, and the Giant’s Belt instantly restores 120–235 HP and +10 attack upon use, so current HP doesn’t reflect true condition.

Besides…

“Besides, I’ve got a jungler dad!”

At 2:40, the level three Blind Monk arrived on time.

“We see NXG’s Blind Monk heading straight to top, but Kayn’s still full health—seems like no chance here.”

Unlike traditional LPL teams that focused on farming ADC for late-game teamfights, NXG’s play resembled a solo queue jungler ganking top—drawing all eyes.

The live audience was baffled: how could a level three Blind Monk possibly engage a full-health Kayn, especially when the crocodile hadn’t even built up much rage?

【What’s wrong with this crocodile? Jungler’s coming and he’s not even building rage?】

【Wasn’t NXG’s players hyped online as super strong? Even a Silver player knows crocodile needs to build rage before jungler ganks.】