Chapter 61: Doinb: "Coach, are you trolling me?!"

Inside the livestream room, as the draft for both sides concluded, the viewers began to banter and joke around.

"Hahaha~ 369 is playing Gangplank this game! Is he trying to teach GimGoon how to play Gangplank?"

"I think the biggest highlight of this match is Doinb's Zoe. I'm just wondering, can he even play it? Their opponent is Knight, after all."

"To the user above, why do you say that?"

"Let me tell you, because FPX actually let Jinx through this game."

"Anyone who watched those top-tier Korean server ranked matches back in Season 8 knows that Lu Ziang's Jinx—if you let it through, bad things are going to happen!"

"Are you sure? Not necessarily, FPX's bot lane duo is Ashe plus Thresh this game, that's two forms of crowd control!"

"EDG's win rate this game is 99.9%!"

"Is the person above being that cautious? Are you saving the remaining 0.1% to reproduce?"

"Because the remaining 0.1% is just leaving a shred of final dignity for FPX (doge mask for self-preservation)."

……

The match had already begun.

The livestream's popularity was steadily climbing, and as the time approached 7:00 PM, traffic across major platforms continued to surge.

At the caster desk.

Miller touched his chin, a rather intriguing expression on his face. "Why do I feel like FPX's lane assignments are a bit off?"

"Look at that, how did Doinb's Zoe end up in the bottom lane? Did he look at the wrong lane? The minion waves are about to clash."

Waha was also stunned for a moment. Looking at the observer feed, he saw that Zoe had already arrived at the bottom lane defensive tower with no intention of leaving.

"What kind of strat is this? A lane swap? Even if it's a swap, it should be top and mid swapping, right? Doinb's Zoe is so strong, and they swapped him all the way down to the bot lane?" Waha couldn't comprehend it.

PDD was equally baffled. FPX had lost the previous game quite decisively; could they be planning to pull out some dark technology this time?

Meanwhile, in FPX's team voice comms.

Lin Weixiang, who had already arrived in the mid lane, spoke with a hint of worry, "Coin Bro, are you sure you can hold your own?"

"How can I not? Trust me, we played too wretchedly in the first game. If someone from FPX has to step up, it has to be me, Doinb. You guys need to trust Coach Steak's arrangements, and you need to trust my Zoe!"

Unlike the relaxed atmosphere of the previous game, Doinb's expression appeared extremely serious this time. His posture was as straight as a javelin, fully in the zone, as if he had turned into a completely different person.

"Alright." Lin Weixiang could only nod. Back in the players' training room, Coach Steak had already thoroughly laid out the draft and tactical plan for this match.

Inside the FPX lounge, Coach Steak was holding a bottle of mineral water, taking a sip while gazing at the observer screen with hopeful eyes.

The data analyst standing beside him looked somewhat concerned, "Steak, will our arrangement actually work out?"

"Trust me. Only with this arrangement does FPX stand a chance of winning!"

Steak's blood began to pump. "First is the mid lane. Lin Weixiang and Liu Qingsong will smash the enemy Syndra within ten minutes! Then take the mid lane's first blood tower!"

"After all, this is a 2v1, and it's a Thresh plus Ashe pairing! I ask you, how is a Syndra with no mobility supposed to play against that?"

"With an absolute advantage in the mid lane, Jiejie's jungle will be liberated, and he can practically set up camp in the top lane."

"After eleven minutes, we'll be able to secure the first Rift Herald."

"By the fifteen-minute mark, we can use the Rift Herald to tear down EDG's mid lane tier-two tower and push straight into the base!"

"Before the twenty-minute mark, EDG will fall into a disadvantageous state! Lin Weixiang will take flight, and the advantage of the ADC and support will radiate across the entire map."

Steak laid out his train of thought completely, just as he had told the entire FPX roster moments ago.

"What if an accident happens in the bot lane?" The data analyst asked with a startled expression.

"You're underestimating Doinb too much. His Zoe is exceptionally strong; he has been practicing Zoe relentlessly recently. To put it plain and simple, Zoe is one of Doinb's few trump cards this season! Her proficiency ranks easily in the top three of the league."

"Fine..." The data analyst felt like he was playing the role of a fake data analyst, though that was normal—the analyst's primary job was to research the opponents.

"Victory belongs to FPX!" Steak couldn't help but take another swig of mineral water.

Over on EDG's side, seeing the FPX bot lane duo run up to the mid lane left everyone dumbfounded.

Knight: "What is this? What are they trying to pull off?"

369: "I think they've lane-swapped, probably planning to fight outnumbered. Left hand, take good care of yourself, once your brother takes off, I'll come mid to gank!"

Tian: "It's fine, let them outnumber us, don't I still exist?"

Meiko: "Their Zoe is in the bottom lane, it's totally fine. They are purely underestimating the strength of our bot lane duo. Give it five minutes—if Doinb dares to walk up for CS, he's going to explode right on the spot this game!"

However, when Lu Ziang caught sight of Doinb's Zoe, a jolt of shock went through his heart.

Good grief, no wonder he dared to come to the bottom lane—because he saw three stars floating above Zoe's head, though the last star was only half-lit.

In other words, Coin Bro's Zoe possessed half a star higher proficiency than Lin Weixiang's Kaisa from the previous game, boasting a proficiency level of two and a half stars.

"Ziang, what's your take on this?" Knight couldn't help asking. For some reason, everyone had grown to deeply trust whatever Lu Ziang said.

Lu Ziang smiled and said, "Try your best not to let their bot lane duo secure any kills. Leave the bottom lane to me; after five minutes, Zoe won't be able to farm properly, and within ten minutes, FPX will proactively swap their lanes back."

"Ten minutes, you say? Got it!" Hearing these words, Knight felt a wave of reassurance wash over him. "Ten minutes? I can definitely manage to absorb the pressure."

At that moment, the minion waves spawned, and the match officially commenced. Up at the caster desk, seeing FPX's cheeky maneuver left the casters feeling slightly awkward.

"Playing completely without honor, Coach Steak's tactical setup is truly something else. FPX is practically treating Doinb as two people at once!"

"To be honest, this game comes down to the performances of Knight and Doinb. Whoever can absorb pressure longer gains the advantage." As soon as Waha finished speaking,

Miller shook his head and explained, "What you said is right, but not entirely correct. This match still boils down to the clash between the bot lane duos! It's just that, in my opinion, since FPX dared to pull out this strategy, it means Doinb's Zoe genuinely packs a punch."

"It's just that they picked the wrong target, the wrong person, and severely underestimated Lu Ziang's Jinx..."

On the observer screen, three minutes in, Doinb looked like a god of war, overflowing with confidence. He had practiced Zoe bitterly for this, and the results were remarkable.

He reckoned that across the entire LPL, there probably weren't many people whose Zoe could rival his!

Yet, before even five minutes had elapsed on the clock,

Doinb gradually put on the mask of agony. His entire expression turned extraordinarily hideous, resembling someone who had just chugged a bowl of bitter melon juice.

"Coach is trolling me! Didn't you say his Jinx couldn't possibly be as strong as Jhin?!"

Hearing Doinb's inner agony, Lin Weixiang felt a secret wave of delight. "Good thing I didn't go bot lane this game."

……

(And so it begins! Chapter One, the journey continues!)