Chapter 92: I’m Being Targeted!
Both coaches came to the center of the stage and shook hands.
Accompanied by deafening cheers and sporadic boos from the audience, the game loading interface suddenly appeared on the big screen.
They soon entered Summoner’s Rift.
“Alright, the match officially begins!” Su Xiao Yan’s voice carried obvious excitement, “As we said before, this mid-jungle combo selected by both sides, Syndra plus Lee Sin versus LeBlanc plus Jarvan IV, is absolutely a top-tier mid-jungle matchup. Both sides were quite cautious in the level 1 team fight and didn’t choose to invade.”
“Exactly, the gunpowder scent in this game was maxed out from the BP phase, especially in mid lane. Unreal’s Syndra laning against Doinb’s LeBlanc—whichever side gains the advantage can decide the direction of this match.”
“Mainly it’s the last pick… EDG’s Malzahar seems very clever. In team fights, LeBlanc won’t be able to come in so recklessly, and in lane against Jhin and Tahm Kench, there’s not much pressure, and it can even perform suppression.”
Level 1 was a steady transition, and Doinb had also seen Li Fan using Syndra to lane against Wu Zhuang Tai.
So he didn’t act rashly.
If targeted by the opponent in this game, he should carefully build up the advantage and then lead the team to victory in the match—that would really stomp Unreal and prove his own strength.
No matter how EDG targets him, he can still carry.
Li Fan controlled Syndra to stand under the turret, calmly observing LeBlanc’s positioning.
Doinb’s LeBlanc seemed very careful, with no intention of trading.
Clearlove glanced at the minimap: “Li Fan, if mid lane feels hard to fight, just play safe. I’ll come right after finishing my jungle.”
“Okay.”
“…” Clearlove saw Syndra directly cross the minion wave to prepare suppressing LeBlanc, and really wanted to ask Li Fan, is this how you’re planning to play safe?
But at level 1, the jungler couldn’t come to lane either, and if LeBlanc cowers from the start, she really won’t be able to matchup Syndra later.
The reason is simple: LeBlanc’s level 1 W skill has a cooldown of up to eighteen seconds.
She’s simply no match for Syndra at level 1.
This is also why Li Fan’s LeBlanc suppressed Wu Zhuang Tai in front of the turret in that game, and many professional players kept rewatching it just to learn the laning handling.
But they all shook their heads one by one—they simply couldn’t learn it.
That minion-block auto attack… it’s already very difficult once you’ve adapted to it.
It requires cooperating with the timing to make a move.
Everyone felt that scene was impossible to replicate.
When facing Syndra, LeBlanc is better off playing honestly.
Clearlove didn’t say anything here.
After all, Li Fan’s choices had never had any problems.
Doinb watched Syndra so arrogantly cross the minion wave, his brows furrowed tightly.
He had indeed studied Li Fan’s laning and knew this newbie had extremely precise grasp of distance and timing, but attempting to force suppression at level 1 still made him feel a bit unexpected and annoyed.
“Not taking me seriously at all, huh?” Doinb muttered to himself.
He wasn’t one to take hits without fighting back; he forcefully used W skill to step up, wanting to bait out the Q skill and then retreat—that would make this trade profitable.
Moreover, from video research, Unreal doesn’t like to hold onto skills.
When using skills, he likes to immediately chain them in a short time.
In this situation, Doinb was certain Li Fan would use it.
But he never expected that Syndra wouldn’t rush and instead used auto attack to poke.
This way… the LeBlanc surrounded by minions lost health rapidly.
In this situation, she had no choice but to retreat.
Li Fan’s Syndra seemed to have anticipated it, countering with a Dark Orb that exploded right at the starting position of LeBlanc’s W.
It directly triggered Thunder damage, and LeBlanc’s health visibly dropped a full bar.
And this wasn’t over… because Syndra being a lane bully isn’t just due to short skill cooldowns; she also has a very strong point: attack range!
550 range in mid lane is virtually unstoppable—only pre-nerf Annie could steadily pressure her.
LeBlanc’s 525 range is completely insufficient in front of Syndra.
Li Fan continued chasing, stubbornly landing two more auto attacks.
If not for Doinb dodging the Q with positioning… that would have been completely unacceptable.
But even now, she lost nearly two bars of health.
In this wave of trading, Doinb’s LeBlanc not only failed to poke Syndra but took a loss herself, already at a health disadvantage.
“Wow! Unreal completely read Doinb’s idea!” Ji De exclaimed, “Q skill predicted LeBlanc’s return timing. LeBlanc ate auto attacks and follow-up damage—this trade was a huge loss for Doinb.”
“Most crucially, LeBlanc’s level 1 W cooldown is too long, a full 18 seconds. During this time, Syndra can push and suppress without pressure. Doinb is in a tough spot now.”
In the audience, the white fans led by Yu Luo burst into a suppressed cheer, while the hater section rang with some dissatisfied boos, but they didn’t sound as righteous anymore.
After all, the lane wasn’t favorable at all.
They all cursed Doinb inwardly… why the hell are you showboating?
When the opponent comes to suppress, just honestly back off.
You had to step up…
And got your underwear seen through. With this laning ability, playing LeBlanc is really embarrassing.
If they lose this match today, they’ll face face-slapping taunts—this is real face-slapping taunt now.
Mainly because they’re all at the offline event.
The screams from those people nearby made them feel immense pressure right now.
Doinb’s expression turned ugly; he didn’t expect his half-day of video research to be useless, and he took a big loss.
Looking at his current health, he could only down a potion, carefully using auto attacks to last hit while staying far from Syndra’s Q range.
“Bro, without levels, it’s hard to fight Syndra.” Clid said softly in voice chat.
“Right, without levels it’s indeed hard to fight.” Doinb’s expression improved slightly.
“If he keeps suppressing, you can come gank right away.”
“Okay, bro.”
What Doinb wanted was that slow rhythm suppression.
But he never expected Li Fan here to launch a storm-like attack.
Mainly because through auto attacks, he attracted minion damage from Blue Side. The front melee minions had already been pulled into his own melee minions.
This meant he could quickly clear Blue Side’s minions.
Damn it!
Doinb saw Syndra’s action and couldn’t hold back from cursing.
He originally wanted to farm safely, but had no choice but to step up.
Once the opponent achieves their goal, they can keep two extra minions compared to normal, or even dive and kill at level 2.
He couldn’t gamble on this…
Just in time, W skill was about to come off cooldown.
Step up and push the wave with poke!
As long as he blocks the opponent’s goal, it’s not a loss.
Li Fan saw LeBlanc indeed couldn’t hold back and stepped up, not rushing but marking and waiting for her to come.
This way, relying on the extra fifteen range, he started kiting LeBlanc.
Doinb reacted extremely quickly, immediately controlling LeBlanc to raise her staff to fight back.
However, Li Fan seemed to pre-read his action, immediately stepping back a tiny bit after the auto attack.
This negligible tiny step just made LeBlanc’s raised staff helplessly lower—range insufficient!
“Auto doesn’t come out! Unreal’s distance control is excellent. Syndra’s extra 25 range is utilized to the extreme by him—Doinb is so uncomfortable!” Ji De’s voice was full of amazement.
Almost simultaneously, a Dark Orb generated under LeBlanc’s feet.
Doinb’s heart jolted, his fingers quickly pressing W. LeBlanc immediately W active stepped onto it.
Though his reaction was already fast, the edge of the Dark Orb explosion still grazed LeBlanc, dropping her health another small bar.
This W step, Doinb originally planned to clear low-health minions and poke Syndra, but this trade actually wasn’t bad.
However, what tightened Doinb’s heart even more was that Li Fan’s Syndra didn’t stay in place but walked straight toward the landing point of LeBlanc’s W return!
Because he couldn’t stay in this minion clump either.
He’d used auto attack and was being attacked by minions.
In this situation, he had to return to the origin… and get poked.
“Still chasing! Unreal’s dominance is too strong. He’s not satisfied with just profiting from a trade—he wants Doinb to completely lose lane priority!” Guan Zeyuan raised his volume.
Doinb instantly made his decision.
He couldn’t just walk toward the river; he still had to return to the origin.
Doinb decisively triggered second W back to origin, trying to create distance.
However, the instant LeBlanc returned, Li Fan’s Syndra, as if waiting for a long time, fired another auto attack!
LeBlanc’s health instantly dropped to around three and a half bars!
But it wasn’t over; Li Fan’s Syndra showed no sign of stopping the chase, tanking the newly arrived second wave of QG minions and continuing to press forward!
“My god! Still chasing! Unreal has decided to kill! Does he want to single kill at level 2?!” Su Xiao Yan’s voice echoed through the entire venue.
Doinb looked at his rapidly dropping health and the relentlessly chasing Syndra behind, finally panicking.
One reason was that LeBlanc no longer had Mirror Flower Water Moon passive.
If beaten to dangerous health, she simply couldn’t control it.
Don’t look at the current 189 health.
But with two more Q skills and two auto attacks from Syndra, he might die right here.
The shadow of death instantly loomed.
Doinb no longer cared about saving skills, his fingers instinctively slamming Flash—he couldn’t be single killed…
A golden light flashed, and LeBlanc miserably escaped under the turret, dodging Li Fan’s follow-up chase.
Looking at Syndra at half health and his own near-death state.
He kept cursing damn it inwardly.
Mainly, if he drinks his potion here, his health can match Syndra’s, but he has no more potions while Syndra still has two.
Li Fan saw LeBlanc Flash and calmly stopped chasing, turning back to leisurely last hit.
“Flash! Doinb used Flash to survive, and it’s not even two minutes yet! Mid lane directly forced out Flash!” Su Xiao Yan’s voice was full of disbelief.
The whole venue instantly boiled!
Filled with shocked exclamations…
Unreal’s laning ability is too exaggerated, right?
It feels like whoever comes dies?
If he gets a lane-dominant hero, no one can gain advantage in these few minutes.
It really feels like you have to believe in the devil—can’t let him have this dominant hero.
Yu Luo was so excited he jumped up from his seat, high-fiving the surrounding white fans crazily.
EDG’s fans saw this and joined in, erupting in tsunami-like cheers and shouts.
Though no single kill, mid-jungle are now bound…
Clearlove can more comfortably take the rhythm.
Backstage, QG Coach painfully clutched his forehead.
In EDG’s lounge, Kuaisu Xing and Abu punched the air hard and laughed at each other.
“Almost single killed—Unreal’s suppression this wave was too perfect! From the level 1 setup to every step of distance control and skill release, completely crushing Doinb.”
Guan Zeyuan excitedly recapped: “With Doinb’s Flash used, in the next five minutes, he’ll have no sense of safety in mid lane. I think Clearlove is coming to mid right now.”
Sure enough, just as Guan Zeyuan predicted, after Clearlove cleared F6, he didn’t hesitate at all, controlling Lee Sin straight toward mid lane.
After all, with such a good opportunity in mid, not coming would be too unreasonable.
At this point, Li Fan had steadily pushed a cannon minion wave right under QG’s Mid Lane Tower 1.
Doinb’s LeBlanc could only cower behind the turret, still holding W skill and not choosing to step up for marks to last hit.
After the minion wave entered the turret, Li Fan’s Syndra didn’t retreat or harass as usual but suddenly Flash forward decisively!
Almost the instant Flash landed, Syndra pushed her hands forward—Dark Orb and Weakness Expelled combo instantly fired!
Because he’d kept a safe distance before, Doinb never expected it… couldn’t even use W and was stunned directly under the turret.
“Stunned! My god! This Flash QE was too decisive!”
“Clearlove is here too! Q hit! Doinb is done!”
Second Q Resonance Strike followed without hesitation, Thunder slap down for slow!
Clearlove’s Lee Sin even deliberately paused, leaving the final damage calculation to Li Fan.
Because with two Thunders, the damage was absolutely enough.
Recovering from stun, Doinb still wanted to struggle, but without Flash, facing EDG mid-jungle’s Thunder burst, he had no operation space.
Li Fan’s Syndra simply used W skill to grab a minion with telekinetic push, smashing it onto LeBlanc as she W back, killing her.
Clearing LeBlanc’s health in mid-air.
The Black Rose Empress crashed just like that.
First Blood!
The system female voice announcement echoed through the entire venue!
EDG Unreal killed QG Doinb!
“First Blood is born! Perfect mid-jungle cooperation, easily taking LeBlanc’s kill. Unreal’s Syndra got First Blood!” Ji De’s voice was full of passion.
The entire venue was instantly drowned in EDG fans’ celebration cheers.
This advantage came too fast—from forcing Flash to getting First Blood, the rhythm was wave after wave.
Perfect!
So perfect!
“Unreal’s Flash engage was too unexpected. Normally you’d wait for Lee Sin to engage or probe, but he was so confident to Flash stun directly, believing he could land it.”
“Exactly! And look at Clearlove’s detail—he held the last auto attack, giving the kill to Syndra. This First Blood to Unreal’s Syndra means Doinb’s mid lane is completely over.” Guan Zeyuan nodded as he spoke.
After tower diving, with Lee Sin tanking damage and last Flash pulling off turret aggro, they safely withdrew.
Doinb looked at his grayed-out screen and rubbed his throbbing temples.
“Damn it, I got targeted!”
