Chapter 28: What Kind of Champion Are You?

Although JM had previously defeated numerous professional mid-laners in head-to-head matchups—including the core player of Team OMG, Cool—the latter had yet to truly cement his status among the elite, ultimately lacking the weight of major tournament titles.

Now, facing off against Misaya, the core of the WE squad that had just captured a world championship, many spectators were eager to see if this solo-queue streamer could keep his legend alive.

Since his sudden rise to prominence, JM had subverted players' perceptions with his unfathomable understanding of the game. From minion wave management to skill-shot anticipation, he seemed to master every high-level technique with ease. Many players were curious to see if JM could maintain his impeccable form today.

At level one, Misaya displayed the poise expected of a veteran Twisted Fate player. He utilized the W-cycling pattern (Blue→Red→Gold) to deceive his opponent, deliberately pausing for 0.5 seconds when the third card locked onto gold, attempting to goad Jiang Ming into a misstep to win the trade. This combination of feints and reality allowed for effortless last-hitting while setting up a "WA" combo—a gold card stun followed by an auto-attack—should his opponent overextend.

Jiang Ming, intimately familiar with the intricacies of the mid lane, was not about to fall for such tricks. Instead, he proactively used his own character model to block the pathing of three minions. Playing Gragas into Twisted Fate is somewhat akin to an Irelia versus LeBlanc matchup; at level one, a melee champion should focus on soaking up experience and playing safely to maintain health. Level three is when the Gragas power spike truly hits.

In the Season 3 meta, a level-three Gragas possessed combat utility far beyond that of Twisted Fate. His Q offered significant damage and a slow, his W provided damage reduction and an attack damage bonus, and his E provided both mobility and damage. Conversely, Twisted Fate’s E damage relied on auto-attack delay, and his Q was inconsistent; in a direct scrap, the two were simply not in the same weight class.

Meanwhile, Jiang Ming was not one to just take hits without retaliation. Successfully manipulating the wave, he waited for the three melee minions to drop to low health, then wiped them out with a single Q, incidentally chipping away at the Twisted Fate who had stepped forward to harass.

"Fighting Twisted Fate is a battle of wits; the card-cycling rhythm is the opening. If you surrender lane priority out of fear of the gold card, you’re just inviting a slow death."

Since Misaya’s laning strength was average and he couldn't exert sufficient pressure, Jiang Ming even had the spare breath to explain his logic to the viewers in his stream. "Furthermore, if a level-three Gragas wants to secure a solo kill, you have to lay the groundwork while the champions are still level one or two. You won't find a full-health execute range in the early game, but at half health, all bets are off."

Unlike the later years where everyone carried Teleport, at this stage, mid and top laners almost exclusively locked in Flash and Ignite, favoring a hyper-aggressive playstyle. As soon as Jiang Ming hit level two, he executed a synchronized EQ combo, slamming his belly into the Twisted Fate.

"Wait, this guy is a bit ridiculous, seriously."

Only a few minutes into the lane, Misaya felt sweat beginning to bead on his forehead. Was JM really not a professional Twisted Fate player? His grasp of attack ranges and the timing of card-cycling felt even sharper than his own. At IPL5, many world-class players had struggled to track those split-second card rotations, yet the Gragas before him hadn't eaten a single gold card warning.

Regarding wave management, even though he should have held the advantage before level three, the minions remained in an awkward, neutral position. His jungler, Clearlove, couldn't find a gank, and he couldn't find an opening to roam and assist in the jungle against the enemy Jarvan IV.

As he pondered this, a sudden EQ combo slammed into him, knocking him back.

"Damn it!"

Taking the full brunt of the Gragas EQ, Twisted Fate’s health bar took a massive chunk of damage. While Gragas was considered somewhat squishy in Season 3, it was all relative. Compared to the melee Gragas, Twisted Fate’s frame was far from sturdy.

*I have to blow my Flash.*

Misaya pressed Flash decisively. He knew that if he continued to let Gragas pressure his health pool, he wouldn't be able to stay in the lane by level three, let alone dominate it. He was well aware that the Gragas E ability had its cooldown halved upon hitting an enemy champion.

"Clever, though!"

Watching the Twisted Fate flash away to create distance, Jiang Ming felt a flicker of regret. If his opponent had been greedy with his Flash, he could have squeezed out two more auto-attacks, and once his E came back up, a kill would have been inevitable. Regardless, it was no matter; if the opponent blew their Flash early, he would simply secure the kill at level four instead.

[???]
[What the hell, he forced his Flash!]
[Blew Flash at level two? Is this what a world champion looks like?]
[Careful now, JM, who are you to talk to Misaya-god like that?]
[Lol, you’ve been hyping up your Twisted Fate for so long, and this is the skill level?]

Misaya being forced to blow Flash at level two naturally sparked a flurry of discussion among the viewers in the YY90001 channel.

[I haven't seen Misaya practice since IPL5 ended. Look at Clearlove, he’s grinding high-intensity ranked games every single day.]
[He’s gotta chase that influencer money. Now that he’s finally won a championship, he’s busy with all these events.]
[Looking at it this way, it’s not certain who is stronger between pros and solo-queue players. At the very least, JM’s laning is god-tier.]
[So what if his laning is strong? Can JM really win against the Blue team, which has four WE players?]

Some WE fans began to argue based on the team compositions.

In reality, while the junglers hadn't made a major impact yet, the bottom lane duo of Weixiao and Fzzf—Caitlyn and Thresh—hadn't gained much of an advantage over Uzi and Tabe. In Season 3, Vayne’s EA mechanism was still intact, making her lane strength quite formidable. Paired with Zyra, a support with high harassment potential, as long as the Thresh didn't land a lucky hook, the Purple side wasn't necessarily at a disadvantage in Vayne’s scaling.

Therefore, the only advantage on the right side at the moment was PDD’s Jayce in the top lane. With a long-range champion bullying a melee one, Jayce held a slight lead over the Crocodile.

Then the question arose: what did the IG top laner have to do with WE?

...

"Brother Ming, be careful. Clearlove’s Lee Sin has been hovering near the mid lane."

As all the champions on the field hit level three and unlocked their basic kits, his jungler teammate reminded Jiang Ming. However, Jiang Ming didn't pull back his aggression at all; in fact, he was practically begging the Lee Sin to come and stir up trouble.

"Stone, come over and counter-gank. I’ll leave a bait out and see what happens."

Jiang Ming had no intention of fighting a solo battle. If you’re calling for backup, I’ll call for backup too. It was a 2v2 mid-jungle skirmish; Twisted Fate and Lee Sin versus his Gragas and Jarvan IV. It would come down to who had the sharper mechanics, not to mention that he currently held an advantage in both health and a Summoner Spell.

"Come to mid and help me out."

Gragas was about to hit level four, and the consistent harassment from his level-two Q was becoming too much for Misaya to handle. But since he had taken Ghost, returning to base would mean losing a significant number of minions. Unlike some stubborn players, Misaya, possessing a degree of self-awareness, directly called for his jungle father. Picking Twisted Fate was all about coordinating with a strong jungler; otherwise, if you truly wanted a "man-to-man" 1v1, why not just pick a stronger duelist?

The plans of both sides collided. The Jarvan IV crept toward the F4 monster camp, while Clearlove’s Lee Sin simultaneously arrived in the brush outside the Blue buff wall.