League of Legends: League of Unknowns

“Baron! Take Baron! I’ll tank it!” Lin Dong’s voice verged on hysterical.

Rushing down the Middle lane to clear off some of the minions, the three of them raced towards the Baron Pit with the speed boost from Homeguard.

At least ten seconds before any of the enemy champions came back to life. They could totally make it.

As Anivia endured Baron Nashor’s attacks, Tristana swiftly cut the monster down to size.

“Lee Sin is back! Watch out!” Zhou Yan called out in warning.

Since Lee Sin had been the first to fall earlier, he would certainly be scrambling for the Baron Pit as fast as his legs could carry him. It was not impossible that he might arrive before the Baron Buff was secured.

***

“Team Skycrown has no one with Smite there, so the odds of getting the Baron stolen away from them are quite high! Lee Sin is already circling the pit!” Qi Qiao observed.

With the way this game was turning out, who could avoid getting excited?

Securing this Baron Buff was crucial: It could help Team Skycrown claw back no small amount of their financial disadvantage, while providing them with a leg-up so they could stand on equal footing against Team Fudan during the next team fight.

And if the Baron Buff was stolen from them now, Team Skycrown’s defeat would be assured, and their miraculous triumph from just a moment ago would be nothing more than a passing fluke.

The Baron Nashor’s health continued to fall, and as it approached the last two hundred HP, Lin Dong planted a ward on the bluff overlooking the Baron Pit, and spotted Lee Sin awaiting his moment!

As if they’d let him get it!

Anivia raised up a wall of ice there, impeding movement. At the same time, she threw a Flash Frost at Lee Sin!¹

Smack! The ball of ice exploded on target, Stunning Lee Sin where he stood upon the overlook!

Da Luo responded with breathtaking speed as well. Even as Anivia locked down Lee Sin, Kennen unleashed a couple of skills and a basic attack onto him, Stunning him again!

At the end of this chained CC, Tristana used her Rocket Jump to come crashing down atop Lee Sin!

With ‘Rapid Fire’ on, Tristana’s damage output was the stuff of nightmares. Despite his tanky item build, Lee Sin’s health was falling away in great chunks!

“Jayce is coming! This is bad news for Tristana: With the items he’s got now, Jayce could outright delete Tristana with a single skill combo.” Qi Qiao’s voice was tense.

Tristana had recklessly thrown herself into a duel with Lee Sin on the cliff above the Baron Pit, which resulted in her now having to contend with Jayce as well. The rest of Team Fudan was also back in action, and they were passing through the Red Buff as they hurried over directly.

Xiao Bei didn’t panic at the sight of Jayce. Glancing at Lee Sin’s current health, he deftly stepped to the side, and then let off one last attack!

Bang! Lee Sin ate her ulti, the Buster Shot!

For a moment, Lee Sin thought he’d be able to drop a ward and escape—but he hadn’t expected Tristana to pounce on him so viciously!

The Buster Shot sent him careening through the air. Mid-way through his flight, the ‘Explosive Charge’ that Tristana had also applied on him went off, and Lee Sin fell back to ground a corpse.

Lee Sin had been killed off by Tristana again!

Even better, Lee Sin collided into Jayce, knocking him back as well. Still a thousand units away, he hadn’t even managed to get within reach of her before being sent back the way he’d come, so that he was no closer to her than the rest of his team.

“Beautiful! Tristana takes down Lee Sin and knocks Jayce back. With the cooldown reset on Rocket Jump, Tristana hops right back into the Baron Pit as Lee Sin falls! Just a little bit more… Team Skycrown has secured the Baron Buff!”

Team Fudan had been just a moment too late to stop Team Skycrown from claiming the Baron.

By now, Zhou Yan’s Elise and Wu Sen had regrouped with their team at the mouth of the Baron Pit. All five of them were wreathed in the violet aura of the Baron Buff!

With the Baron Buff on their side, the tides had turned. The five champions of Team Skycrown made no move to retreat—they wanted to start another team fight with Team Fudan!

“Is Team Skycrown raring for another fight already?” Qi Qiao anxiously wondered aloud. “True, they have the advantage in numbers at the moment, but the minion waves are not in their favor: Super Minions are advancing on their Nexus Towers from two directions. If they’re not careful, they could lose their Nexus to those Super Minions! I think they should first—oh, Thresh is starting things off!”

Flashing in to hook, Wu Sen had found an excellent trajectory, and Thresh’s ‘Death Sentence’ flew straight towards Team Fudan’s Orianna!

Evidently, Team Fudan was still rather shaken after that surprise upset from earlier. They’d assumed that Team Skycrown would head straight back to fend off the attacking minions, and had been paying no heed to the positioning of their champions!

Wu Sen had missed with every one of his hooks this whole game, but this surprise Flash-and-hook was golden!

Upon the screen, everyone watched as Thresh snared Orianna with his hook-and-chain, and then descended upon the enemy team like a demon!

He used his E-skill ‘Flay’ towards himself, then laid down his ultimate skill, ‘The Box’!

With a textbook demonstration of how to dive with Thresh, Wu Sen had caught Orianna, Jayce, and Zyra!

For your information, the walls of ‘The Box’ inflicted such a powerful Slowing effect that it was little different from just being Rooted to the spot!

“Ooh-hah!” Eyes flashing, Kennen activated his secret ninja techniques!

“Aa-hya!” Lightning danced through the area!

With the combined effects of the Blue Buff as well as the Baron Buff, Kennen already had his ulti ready to take full advantage of the opportunity Wu Sen had created!

Kennen was a living maelstrom of lightning, tearing through Team Fudan’s ranks!

Boom, boom, boom!

The three enemy champions who’d been Slowed were locked down once again! The circle of lightning didn’t just Stun them, it was also dealing enough damage to sear the flesh from their bones!

They were finished!

Lin Siyong had managed to get his Ezreal away from that death trap, but now all he could do was watch as his remaining three teammates were engulfed by the storm.

They’d been caught again!

It was a cardinal sin for a poke-based team to cluster together and get caught by CC. This kind of situation was their worst nightmare.

Once two or three of their champions got caught, they’d basically lost the whole team fight!

“Triple Kill!”

In mere moments, Jayce, Orianna, and Zyra were slain by a furious barrage of skills. Kennen had claimed all three of their lives!

“Triple Kill! Kennen has gotten the Triple Kill! Team Fudan… are they about to get Aced again? My word, getting Aced twice in less than two minutes’ time—it would likely spell the end for Team Fudan!” Qi Qiao was squealing.

It was a catastrophe. For the spectators in the arena who’d come to cheer for Team Skycrown, seeing the three champions from Team Fudan getting slaughtered was like watching a scene out of a nightmare.

It was absolutely horrifying!

Two minutes ago, Team Fudan’s poke composition had been a flawless spectacle to behold.

Now, in the face of this onslaught from Team Skycrown, they seemed as helpless as newborn babes!

How could such a drastic change have taken place?

***

Ezreal continued to flee. Lin Siyong’s mood was in the pits right now.

The poke strategy was undeniably effective, in that it could apply tremendous pressure on the enemy, while giving them no opportunity to retaliate.

However, there was a fatal flaw: If they were forced into a full-on team fight, or got caught in a massive ulti, not even a gold lead of ten thousand could spare them from a total wipe-out!

They’d gotten too careless, and now they’d messed up.

How could they have been so naïve as to assume that Team Skycrown would immediately return to defend their base after they’d picked up the Baron Buff? How could they have overlooked the possibility that the enemy team might turn around and press the attack right away?

They’d only suffered one Ace, and it had thrown them into utter chaos.

This second Ace would mean game over for them, no question about it. Already, all five champions of Team Skycrown, augmented by the Baron Buff, were storming down the Middle lane!

The first tower fell instantly. The second one barely lasted a few seconds. Two minutes ago, Team Skycrown had been like a mewling kitten, feeble and feckless; now, with the Baron Buff and two victorious team fights under their belt, they’d transformed into a ferocious tiger, and nothing could stop their savage advance all the way into their home base!

The Inhibitor Tower fell without a struggle, with the Inhibitor soon to follow. Glancing at the minimap, Lin Siyong noticed that his own Super Minions were just about to bring down both of the enemy’s Nexus Towers!

“It’s okay, the minions are in our favor.” It restored a flicker of hope in Siyong’s heart.

Team Skycrown was in danger of losing their Nexus to the Super Minions right now. After they broke the Middle Inhibitor, they would naturally have to leave in order to take care of things back home.

So their Mid Lane had been broken through… whatever. So they’d lost two team fights… so what? Team Fudan was still ahead in gold. As long as they regained their composure, and took extra care with warding their flanks and dodging Thresh’s hooks, not to mention keeping Kennen at bay… They’d breached the enemy’s base from two directions. They still held the advantage. They could still win this!

“Team Skycrown can’t push any further. They’ve already lost both Nexus Towers. Hurry back and defend your own base!” Qi Qiao cried.

Zhao Tinghua, the Blood Eagle, watched the screen in silence.

He had to admit that Team Skycrown’s miraculous turnaround had surprised even him, but he understood that if they made the wrong choice here, this game would still end with their defeat!

Whether or not they’d make it into the LPL, it all came down to what they decided to do after they broke this Inhibitor.

“We’re losing our Nexus! Fall back!” Zhou Yan barked in consternation.

“Zhou Yan, you Recall first!” Da Luo commanded.

Lin Dong felt a moment’s despair. After they brought down this Inhibitor, they would need to find a safe place to Recall, otherwise Ezreal would certainly use his skills to interrupt them. If he could delay them until the rest of Team Fudan returned to the field, then it would be their turn to get wiped out here!

Could they, with what health they had left… could they shatter the enemy’s Nexus?

***

No Recall! They couldn’t turn back!

Watching from backstage, Logan’s fingers were clenched tight around the steel bar of the barrier!

If they broke off now, it would be game over!

Ezreal was still alive. If they tried to Recall now, he would use his skills to disrupt their Channeling. Even if they split up, it would still mean leaving someone behind.

Now that they were in the late game, it would take sixty seconds for a champion to respawn after death. Team Fudan could use their advantage to push in another minion wave, going straight for Skycrown’s Nexus. Now that both of their Nexus Towers had gone down to the Super Minions, there was no way they’d survive another push from Team Fudan!

They absolutely could not turn back! That would be digging their own graves!

Their only hope of victory now was to boldly keep pushing all the way to Fudan’s Nexus!

There were still another ten seconds until the next champion was revived. Those ten seconds meant that victory was well within the realm of possibility!

This was the deciding moment: heaven or hell?

Lin Dong, Da Luo, Zhou Yan, Xiao Bei, Wu Sen… Don’t screw up now!