League of Legends: League of Unknowns

There were many more viable champions for playing Mid compared to Top. Once again, with no knowledge of what his opponent was going for, Zhao Tinghua picked Riven straight away!

Playing Riven in Mid had been popular in Korea for a long time.

In truth, players in China were still stuck in the era of fielding AP champions for Mid. Meanwhile, players in Korea and the US were experimenting with new ways to play, resulting in the rise of AD champions in the Middle lane. These days, Pantheon, Zed¹, and Riven were trendy picks for high-level play in Korea. Ezreal Mid was a common sight, as well.

After Tinghua chose Riven, Lin Dong went with an old favorite, which was also a solo powerhouse: Orianna.

Both players were wearing noise-cancelling headphones, and neither could see which champion their opponent was selecting.

Soon, the game began. When Tinghua saw that Lin Dong had selected Orianna, he burst out laughing.

One might say that Riven, as a melee champion, might have some difficulty playing in lane against Orianna. Tinghua saw things differently: He’d won this lane against Orianna countless times, in complete defiance of the disadvantage of going melee vs. ranged.

“Let’s look at Blood Eagle’s stats for playing as Riven. It seems he’s been using her a lot in Ranked play, as Mid, Top… even as a Jungler! Even at the highest tier, he’s achieved a winning rate of up to 70%!

What did a winning rate of 70% represent?

The average player in a Normal game saw a winning rate between 50% to 55%. Anything beyond 55% suggested that your skill was far beyond that of the opponents being matched to you. 60% meant that, in most circumstances, you could completely dominate your opponent in the lane!

It was extremely rare for anyone to exceed a 60% winning rate, because the system would automatically compensate for this by matching you to tougher opponents, until your performance dropped back towards 50%.

For a player to achieve a 70% winning rate with Riven, as Blood Eagle had done, indicated that the system had been unable to find a suitable adversary who could stand up to him—who could bring him down.

In Ranked games, anyone who spotted Blood Eagle on the enemy team would immediately respond by banning Riven.¹

Playing Mid against Lin Dong, Tinghua hadn’t hesitated to pull out the champion with the highest winning rate in his regular games. One could call it a show of respect for Lin Dong’s skills.

Tinghua was a Jungler first, Top second, and after that Mid.

Using his favorite champion Riven, he could totally treat this Mid-lane duel as though he was playing in the Top lane.

The Middle lane was shorter, so minions reached the mid-point sooner compared to in the Top lane. As Tinghua’s Riven and Lin Dong’s Orianna came into the lane, the first thing they both did was get right to farming.

The same truth applied to both champions: Whoever reached Level 3 first would hold a tremendous advantage!

“Orianna’s basic attacks really hurt!” Qi Qiao exclaimed. “Wow, now I see that she started with Doran’s Blade!”

Starting Orianna off with Doran’s Blade? It echoed of Kennen!

Even Tinghua was taken aback by this unexpected move on Lin Dong’s part. No wonder her basic attacks were doing so much damage!

Orianna’s basic attacks were enhanced with bonus Magic Damage. Adding the effects of Doran’s Blade on top of that resulted in each basic attack slicing off sixty or seventy health—and Riven was not rich in health to begin with, early game.

Orianna soon attained Level 2, and then employed her high-damage attacks to harry Riven viciously. Riven was forced to put her next skill point into her E-skill ‘Valor’ in order to weather this aggressive assault.

Attack, advance. Attack, advance. Whenever Riven moved in to claim a minion, she would always have to suffer another basic attack. Meanwhile, Orianna used her Ball to finish off enemy minions and push the wave. Harassment and farming were being carried out simultaneously, independent of each other.

Very soon, Lin Dong had gained a clear lead of 3 CS, and the entire minion wave was about to come within reach of the tower. No matter how good Tinghua was at farming, he was bound to lose a couple more here.

“That’s the way!” Seeing the success of Lin Dong’s unorthodox strategy, Da Luo was all smiles.

Tinghua had gotten ahead of himself. Of all the times to challenge them, he chose the moment when they’d just successfully qualified for the LPL. If they didn’t give him a good what-for here, he might start thinking he was really something special.

Lin Dong’s ploy had genuinely thrown Tinghua off-balance. A conventional AP Orianna was already a potent harasser, but only as long as her mana held up. Just by dodging a couple of her skills, one could greatly blunt the threat she posed.

However, Lin Dong’s AD Orianna play-style was proving to be a huge pain in the neck. She was dealing exceptional damage with her basic attacks, and her skills added to that substantially, along with a Slowing effect to boot.

By the time he cleared off the minions under his tower, Tinghua had already used both the Health Potions he’d started with.

Broken Wings, first strike!

Riven suddenly slashed outwards with her weapon, an attack seemingly meant for one of the minions, until she unexpectedly lunged forward!

Valor! Broken Wings, second strike!

It was a deft succession of Dash moves, smooth and seamless!

Riven could be described as a champion with a plenitude of skills. If you wished to gauge someone’s proficiency at playing Riven, you only had to observe how well they used her Q-skill ‘Broken Wings’.

Even an awkward, lumbering champion like Darius became a whirlwind of death under Blood Eagle’s control. What would a nimble champion like Riven play like in his hands? Perhaps a crimson ballet with a frost-touched blade, graceful strokes evocating cold-blooded murder!

This attack came too abruptly. Orianna had already been moving away, but Riven reached her nevertheless!

The Runic Blade came down!

As the blade struck, Tinghua hit W for Riven’s ‘Ki Burst’!

Just managing to catch Orianna to Stun her in place, Riven struck her again with the blade, her innate skill¹ taking effect once more!

The instant her blade made contact, Riven delivered the third and final strike of ‘Broken Wings’!

Her lithe form somersaulted high into the air, and then she buried her blade into the ground at Orianna’s feet!

With a split-second response, Lin Dong hit Flash just before Riven caught Orianna with the knock-up effect of that third strike!

That Flash allowed him to evade the finishing move of Broken Wings, but Orianna didn’t fall back in panic, retaliating with a QW-combo against Riven!

Riven had expended all her skills. Orianna was badly wounded, but she didn’t hesitate to strike back!

Lin Dong was an ADC expert as well, and his kiting skills were no lesser to Xiao Bei’s own. Moreover, Orianna was a champion particularly well-suited for such tactics!

Giving pursuit, Orianna did far more damage to Riven in return, and soon she was forced back to the safety of her tower. With barely more than a hundred HP left, Riven had no choice but to Recall. Doing so would mean losing out on a great many minions and XP—and Lin Dong was already 13 CS ahead of Tinghua!

“He should be able to win this,” Wu Sen remarked.

“That remains to be seen. He was just forced to Flash.”

The other players of Team Skycrown gazed up at the large monitor. If he’d been up against anybody else, Lin Dong’s current lead and intimidating display could have been taken to mean that this duel was already in the bag.

But his opponent was Zhao Tinghua, the Blood Eagle. Nothing was certain.

From the start, Tinghua had been considered at least the equal of Yu Luocheng, with something that Luocheng himself didn’t possess: A brutal savagery in his play-style.

It was crucial not to allow Tinghua to find any gap in your defenses. The slightest sign of weakness, and he’d attack full-force, and in the end he would invariably be the last one standing!

“It’s now a difference of 14 CS. Blood Eagle is losing control of this game. It looks like that ‘Doran’s Blade’ Orianna is working a treat.”

Both champions returned to the lane. Lin Dong wasn’t messing around: He’d bought a second Doran’s Blade, along with some Health and Mana Potions.

He clicked on Riven to have a look. “Elixir of Fortitude¹?”

Lin Dong’s brow furrowed. Riven hadn’t picked up any new equipment at all—the only thing she’d purchased during her return to base was that Elixir.

Tinghua was planning to fall back on his usual gambit: kill or be killed!

Lin Dong had to keep a safe distance, and keep pushing the minions. Riven could not be allowed to get close!

Just seeing that item told Lin Dong everything about Tinghua’s plans. He wouldn’t allow him the chance to do things his way.

Orianna eased off on the harassment. With a lead of 12 CS, as long as she didn’t lose out on too many, and steadily built her way up to 100, it would be Lin Dong’s victory!

For a time, both champions just farmed quietly.

Lin Dong was flawless in this regard, and virtually never missed. Riven minded her own business as well, making no overt show of aggression.

This left the audience somewhat befuddled. Tinghua had bought himself an Elixir of Fortitude, but he wasn’t going to attack? Then what had been the point? Shouldn’t Elixirs be used right away, in order to help you gain some measure of advantage? Even if you couldn’t slay the enemy champion, you’d still claw back some of the CS and XP difference. The longer you waited to use it, the less of a boon it would be.

Seconds became minutes, and still Tinghua continued to farm… but the CS difference only kept growing, and many were beginning to feel nervous for him.

“Don’t tell me he forgot about the Elixir he’s holding…”

“I know, right? If this carries on for much longer, he’s gonna lose by CS.”

“Isn’t Blood Eagle known for playing aggressively? I’m not seeing it, here.”

The murmur of discussion was growing among the crowd, while the two MCs on stage speculated wildly about what Tinghua was really up to.

***

“He’s mellowed somewhat,” Zhou Yan remarked quietly.

Luocheng nodded. The Blood Eagle he remembered would never hesitate to throw himself into a fight, no matter the odds. His thirst for battle had seemed unquenchable.

Whether it was gameplay skills, instincts and judgement, or teamwork, Blood Eagle was every bit the equal of F-Hawk in his prime. The only reason F-Hawk had won more glory than him was because Luocheng was more calculating by nature.

If you can’t bend, you’ll break. This aspect of Blood Eagle’s nature was also a fatal weakness, whereas F-Hawk demonstrated more discretion, knowing when to bide his time, and when to strike decisively. When it was time to go all-out, he could be every bit as ferocious as anyone!

From the patient and measured way Tinghua had been playing Darius during the previous game, it was evident that he’d learned how to choose his moment more wisely.

Likewise, the way he was playing Riven now showed that he was no slave to bloodlust. Supposedly, both Darius as well as Riven were champions which had to be played with a bold heart for battle—and yet, he was playing them with such serenity here, it was hard to believe he was the same Blood Eagle they used to know.

Tinghua’s newfound temperance alone was not the main cause for concern. What was truly terrifying was the indescribable menace lurking behind it. Easing his restraints even by the slightest would allow the beast within to burst free, to tear his foes to shreds!

“He’s awaiting Level 6,” Zhou Yan stated.

Luocheng nodded.

The moment Riven reached Level 6, the carnage would begin.

Zhou Yan knew it. Luocheng knew it. Standing against Tinghua on the battlefield, Lin Dong was well aware of this as well.

Lin Dong was unable to estimate XP progression at quite the same degree of accuracy as Luocheng. All he could do was keep a close eye on Riven, watching for the moment when she attained Level 6!