Chapter 62: Lu Zi'ang is far more than just talented

In less than 5 minutes, Doinb had already been forced out of the experience zone. Before his Zoe reached level six, even with the advantage of long-range attacks, farming minions was completely out of the question.

Because EDG’s support, Meiko, would immediately head-butt him away the moment he stepped forward, freezing the minion wave right in the middle of the river. Doinb couldn't even soak up experience.

"Damn it! Jiejie, Big Brother Jiejie, hurry down to the bot lane and relieve some pressure for me! I literally cannot play anymore. The enemy Alistar and Jinx are so disgusting!"

Doinb cried out while calling for backup.

Jiejie, currently clearing the jungle camps, knitted his brows. "I had to solo-clear my camps at the start, you know. I've got it tough too. Just hang in there; the enemy Syndra is about to crack under pressure."

"Fine." Doinb had no choice but to drop it. He knew that even if Jiejie came, it wouldn't change anything. Bot lane already had him playing solo as Zoe; adding a jungler would still just be a 2v2.

What would be the point of coming?

To soak up experience?

Initially, Doinb thought this match would be his chance to show off and style on the opponents, but who could have imagined things would turn out like this?

Alistar was annoying enough, but Lu Zilong’s Jinx was simply outrageous. Doinb felt that even if he had to solo against her, the chances of him coming out ahead were slim to none.

It felt terrible!

Truly.

Doinb not only began to regret his choices, but he also put on the mask of pure agony.

Playing this match was a miserable experience.

Moreover, as the enemy's level increased, his disadvantage would only snowball because he couldn't get experience, his level was lagging behind, and he had no gold... What was he going to do soon?

At the caster desk, Miller looked at the matchup in the bot lane and calmly spoke, "Actually, you could tell right from their starting items. This game, Lu Zilong still didn't build any scaling items; he went straight for a Long Sword plus Refillable Potion."

"After all, before the game started, he had no idea FPX would swap their mid laner to the bot lane. This just goes to show how immensely confident Lu Zilong is in his Jinx!"

"However, EDG's mid laner Knight isn't having an easy time either. Thresh's hooks and Ashe's slows are no joke," WaWa added.

"The mid lane is short, while the bot lane is long. At least Knight is getting solo experience, whereas FPX has two people sharing experience in the bot lane. Not only will they not fall behind in levels, but they might even take the lead!"

Miller further analyzed.

To be honest, he had no idea what FPX's coach was thinking when coming up with this strategy; it felt a bit too idealistic.

***

Inside the EDG player lounge, Clearlove watched the OB screen showing Zoe standing helplessly behind her defensive tower, and couldn't help bursting into laughter:

"FPX is really something else. Pulling off crazy tricks like this—I couldn't even figure out what they were doing at first. Fascinating!"

Chen Dong shook his head continuously: "From FPX's perspective, this kind of absurd lane-swapping isn't wrong; it even carries a hint of taking a desperate, unorthodox gamble."

"Their only mistake was letting Jinx through in the draft. If they had banned Jinx as well, or if they weren't playing against us EDG, they probably would have gotten unexpected results."

Over in the FPX lounge, Coach Steak lowered his head to check his wristwatch, remaining completely silent.

The data analyst beside him couldn't help reminding him, "Coach, it's already been 5 minutes."

"Don't panic yet. We'll see the outcome at the 10-minute mark. Right now, all the pressure is on Lwx and Crisp. They have to break through Knight's defense, otherwise..."

Steak didn't finish his sentence, but the data analyst knew the outcome all too well.

Tonight's season opener had a terrifyingly high viewership. Aside from regular fans, LPL clubs and even LCK clubs were tuning in.

At this very moment, inside the RNG waiting room, the current RNG members were all watching tonight's Spring Split opening match.

Standing near the monitor was a refined-looking young man named GreenTea, the current head coach of RNG.

To be able to withstand the pressure after the S8 season and join RNG proved that GreenTea had some serious competence; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to shrug off public opinion so easily.

"Did everyone see that? FPX's playstyle this year is out of the ordinary. Steak choosing to use this strategy proves one thing: Doinb's Zoe must be exceptionally strong!"

GreenTea analyzed the situation while glancing down at Xiaohu sitting nearby.

"In the current patch, Zoe's pick rate is extremely high. Xiaohu, you need to step up and master Zoe as quickly as possible!"

He paused for a moment, then looked over at Uzi sitting at the edge, adding:

"You too, Uzi. Lu Zilong has already pulled out Jhin and Jinx, displaying terrifying proficiency on both. None of us know if he has other champions mastered to that same horrifying degree!"

"Therefore, you must hurry up starting now and get your Xayah proficiency up to par."

Uzi and Xiaohu both nodded in tacit agreement.

GreenTea looked at the morale and current state of the RNG squad and felt quite satisfied; they were like a sharp sword ready to leap from its scabbard!

He believed that this year's RNG team would definitely shock everyone.

***

Back at the tournament venue, the OB feed showed that the game time had reached 10 minutes.

Doinb had gone from initial high-spirited ambition and confidence, to wearing the mask of agony, and now his expression was one of total despair!

At the caster desk, WaWa, Miller, and Teacher Ma's expressions were extremely colorful as they looked at the bot lane matchup.

They could only do their best to save face for Doinb by delivering a standard, objective evaluation of Lu Zilong:

"Tsk~ Lu Zilong's farming last game was already near perfection. At first, I thought it was just luck. But his minion score this game is maintaining that exact same standard—this fundamental technique is just way too solid!"

"Indeed. You can only imagine how hard this young player must be working during practice sessions. Fundamentals require a bit of talent, but more importantly, they come from massive amounts of training to build muscle memory, allowing a player to reach near-perfection!"

"There's a standard for ADCs: 80 minion kills at 10 minutes is already considered good in ordinary solo queue. The professional player standard at 10 minutes is 90 cs."

"Anyone who can exceed that benchmark is considered a top-tier ADC, even within the LPL."

"Lu Zilong reached 107 cs at the 10-minute mark. Keep in mind, only 107 minions spawn in total during the first 10 minutes... I can only say that his talent goes far beyond ordinary!"

In the official livestream chatroom, viewers watched the casters endlessly hyping up Lu Zilong.

They instantly began flooding the chat with frantic messages:

"All I know is that a certain someone's minion count is barely scraping past double digits. I won't say how many cs it is!"

"Coin Brother: Please ignore me already. Don't look at me, switch the camera away!"

"Hahaha, so tragic, seriously. I'm starting to pity Coin Brother. Exactly a dozen-something minions at ten minutes. As absurd as it is, he genuinely has no way to farm."

Right at that moment, Miller's tone suddenly pitched higher:

"Look, Lu Zilong is starting to cycle his Q ability to clear the wave. Is he planning to dive the tower?!"

The OB perspective shifted rapidly, and over in the mid lane, Lwx's Ashe suddenly unleashed her ultimate, as if she intended to forcefully assassinate Knight!!