The mid lane is the most prone to solo kills because even the slightest difference can be infinitely magnified.
It may seem like Qi Mo was solo-killed, but in reality, Qi Mo was just one step behind Lin Lan. It’s this step that cost him first blood, turning the tide completely against him.
This is also why the mid-lane is considered of utmost importance because even the slightest gap in skill can escalate into irreversible consequences.
After killing his opponent, Lin Lan shows no interest in further combat, promptly retreating to the base under the tower.
He knows that ENG’s jungler is nearby, and continuing to push the lane would undoubtedly invite danger upon himself.
The commentator is still immersed in the recent skirmish. Even in the replay, he fails to comprehend how Lin Lan evaded that wave of damage. He can only explain what he understands, repeatedly mentioning Lin Lan triggering the electric punishment during the laning phase, believing it to be the reason for Qi Mo’s misfortune.
Although Qi Rong isn’t very familiar with the game, she still has some understanding. She expresses confusion, “Isn’t electric punishment supposed to be triggered after landing 3 hits? Lin Lan only hit twice, so how did it trigger?”
The person next to her glances at the sign in her hand but ignores her. He’s an ENG fan, and with Qi Mo getting solo-killed, he is visibly upset.
The person from the adjacent seat leans over the hoodie-wearing guy who was sitting next to Qi Rong earlier, “It’s you! What a coincidence.”
Qi Rong also recognized him, “Why is it you again? Aren’t you a JIO fan?”
The hoodie guy and the audience next to her changed seats, sitting beside her again. “JIO collapsed. I’m not their fan anymore. Now, I’m a fan of ENG.”
He settled in, holding his backpack, and asked her, “Weren’t you just asking why Lin Lan could trigger the electric punishment?”
Qi Rong quickly perked up her ears, “Why?”
The hoodie guy explained to her, “During each hero’s basic attack, the model goes through a complete motion. Let’s take the example of Ashe, the Frost Archer. Every time she basic attacks, she raises her hand, takes an arrow from the quiver on her back, puts it on her bow, and shoots it. This is called the basic attack wind-up. After shooting the arrow, there’s a motion of putting the hand down, known as the follow-through.”
Qi Rong could understand this part. Her cousin had explained it to her before, and she nodded, “And then?”
“The basic attack wind-up cannot be canceled, but the follow-through can be canceled by clicking the ground or using abilities in succession. Let’s still use Ashe as an example. At the moment she shoots the arrow, if you press her W ability, Ashe will instantly cancel the follow-through motion, cast her W, and then follow it up with a basic attack, canceling the follow-through of the W. This operation can save almost half the time, allowing her to deal three hits in less than a second.”
Qi Rong suddenly enlightened, “So, Lin Lan just used A-Q-A to trigger the electric punishment?”
The hoodie guy snapped his fingers, “Exactly. The deceiver’s Q ability has a very short wind-up. At the moment Q is released, quickly press the A key to transition into a basic attack, the whole process taking less than 0.5 seconds.”
Lin Lan managed to unleash the electric punishment in 0.5 seconds because the transition was so swift, with Q and basic attacks overlapping, creating a sensory illusion as if Lin Lan had encountered a bug.
But in reality, he did land three hits!
The hoodie guy, being a seasoned player, focused intently on the screen. Even with the replay, he couldn’t decipher how Lin Lan dodged the double Q.
Similar to him, Qi Mo couldn’t figure it out either.
In the game, unlike the God’s-eye view, what Qi Mo perceived was different from what others saw.
He felt trapped, shrouded in layers of mist. No matter how hard he tried to clear it, the depth remained elusive.
Unlike other positions, in the mid-lane, any small gap would be infinitely magnified. Qi Mo felt his body sinking into a quagmire, countless demonic hands pulling at him, making progress nearly impossible.
Qi Mo knew he had to calm down. He needed to conceal his intentions, no longer giving Lin Lan the slightest chance.
On the other side, Lin Lan was also concealing his intentions. Qi Mo and Xiao Zeng were not players of the same caliber.
When facing Xiao Zeng, Lin Lan didn’t need to use his brain at all. Relying solely on muscle memory, he could effortlessly take him down with his hands guiding the actions.
However, in dealing with Qi Mo, a seasoned player whose mental speed surpassed even his hand speed, Lin Lan had to engage a 12-point spirit, advancing cautiously and never giving the opponent a chance to see through his intentions.
The two returned to the lane again, both reaching level 5. The next objective was reaching level 6, another crucial strategic point.
Regardless of whether it was Lin Lan’s enchantress or Qi Mo’s assassin, reaching level 6 marked an explosive damage phase. During this time, neither jungler dared to rashly intervene in the mid-lane. If their intervention didn’t yield results, it would split the experience of the mid-laner, hindering their ability to reach level 6. On the other hand, if the opponent reached level 6 first, they would have the power to confront the two level 5 mid and jungle champions.
Xiao Shengjing decisively chose to support the mid lane, while ENG’s jungler opted for the bottom lane.
Lin Lan’s experience bar gradually filled up, approaching level 6. He controlled the minion wave right in the middle, presenting an excellent opportunity for a kill!
Lin Lan immediately used his W1(LeBlanc)Distortion: LeBlanc dashes to a location, dealing 75/115/145/195/235 (+75% bonus Ability Power) magic damage to enemies near her destination.
For the next 4 seconds, activate Distortion again to return LeBlanc to her starting location., stomping fiercely. While hitting Qi Mo, he also crushed a minion, instantly reaching level 6.
Qi Mo immediately used his W to create distance, swapping positions with Lin Lan. The current exchange could be considered quite skillful.
But Lin Lan was a level 6 enchantress!
The enchantress’s ultimate could replicate the last-used ability and add extra damage!
Lin Lan used R2(LeBlanc)Mimic: LeBlanc mimics her most recent spell, casting it again.
Mimicked Sigil of Malice and Ethereal Chains deal 70/140/210 (+40% bonus Ability Power) magic damage, plus 140/280/420 (+80% bonus Ability Power) magic damage from their mark and root, respectively.
Mimicked Distortion deals 150/300/450 (+75% bonus Ability Power) magic damage. to replicate the W3(LeBlanc)Distortion: LeBlanc dashes to a location, dealing 75/115/145/195/235 (+75% bonus Ability Power) magic damage to enemies near her destination.
For the next 4 seconds, activate Distortion again to return LeBlanc to her starting location. ability, almost landing simultaneously with Qi Mo’s assassin. As the damage landed, Qi Mo’s health plummeted rapidly in their mutual exchange, seemingly putting Qi Mo at a disadvantage.
However…
Lin Lan furrowed his brow.
Qi Mo’s final basic attack wasn’t aimed at Lin Lan but at the low-health minion. In an instant, Qi Mo reached level 6!
Suddenly, the surroundings went dark, and a deep “hehehehe” sound echoed. Qi Mo transformed into multiple shadows, infiltrating Lin Lan’s body and marking him with a black imprint.
Qi Mo’s ultimate involved infiltrating the enemy’s body, marking them, and then landing near the enemy. During this time, regardless of how much damage Qi Mo dealt, the mark would explode after 3 seconds, executing the enemy!
In the moment when Qi Mo initiated his ultimate, Lin Lan used the enchantress’s unique passive skill to ignite, creating a decoy of himself.
This is a passive ability exclusive to the enchantress. When her health drops below 40% of her lifeline, she becomes invisible for 1 second and then creates a decoy identical to herself, useful for confusing enemies.
Qi Mo held back his damage. The Ignite not only revealed Lin Lan’s crucial decoy but also didn’t copy the Ignite effect onto the decoy. This was the best way to distinguish between the real and fake enchantress!
After being invisible for 1 second, the enchantress created a decoy, but at this point, the decoy was meaningless. With the Ignite effect, Qi Mo instantly recognized which one was the real enchantress!
After the ultimate, Qi Mo also left behind a shadow clone, along with the one from the previous W, resulting in two shadow clones of Qi Mo on the field!
At this very moment, Lin Lan was surrounded by three Qi Mo clones. He had two choices: either return to the starting position of W or return to the starting position of the ultimate. But regardless of which position he chose, a Qi Mo was guarding each spot.
Lin Lan knew that Qi Mo’s E skill, Shadow Slash, was still available. No matter which position he returned to, he would undoubtedly suffer damage from the E skill, and with the mark explosion, his fate was sealed…
The moment Qi Mo raised his hand, he set up a series of traps, sealing off all escape routes for Lin Lan!
The audience erupted in excitement, and even the commentator couldn’t fathom how Lin Lan would escape. He exclaimed on the stage, “Lader is turning the tables on Kiner!”
Truly, Qi Mo lived up to his reputation. Even in such a dire situation, he managed to set up a counter-kill scenario…
Lin Lan’s long-dormant competitive spirit suddenly ignited. It had been a while since he experienced such intense maneuvers. He had to admit that Qi Mo was indeed a talent, but that was without Lin Lan in the equation.
Controlling the enchantress, he moved forward, avoiding the range of the three Qi Mo clones’ E skill, Shadow Slash, forcing Qi Mo to use his Q skill to attempt the kill.
Qi Mo raised his hand, and two shadow clones simultaneously followed suit, each throwing a deadly Shuriken at Lin Lan!
This was Qi Mo’s most explosive skill, known as the Triple Q. Once it hit, even the divine would struggle to save you!
No one understood why Lin Lan chose this path. Wouldn’t he die faster this way? Why not take the E skill and possibly endure it?
The three Shurikens formed a mesh-like pattern, densely assaulting Lin Lan, even more concentrated than an “X” formation!
As the Shurikens were about to hit Lin Lan, he pressed the second part of his W skill, returning to the starting position of W and dodging the damage from the Triple Q in a lightning-fast 0.2 seconds!
When Qi Mo threw the Q skill, there was a noticeable forward tilt, very apparent. Upon realizing Lin Lan’s positional shift, Qi Mo hesitated. He pressed the E skill and the wind-up gave Lin Lan a buffer.
Just as Lin Lan was about to take the damage from the Shadow Slash, he once again shifted positions, returning to the starting point of the R4(LeBlanc)Mimic: LeBlanc mimics her most recent spell, casting it again.
Mimicked Sigil of Malice and Ethereal Chains deal 70/140/210 (+40% bonus Ability Power) magic damage, plus 140/280/420 (+80% bonus Ability Power) magic damage from their mark and root, respectively.
Mimicked Distortion deals 150/300/450 (+75% bonus Ability Power) magic damage. skill, evading the Ghost Slash damage in another 0.2 seconds!
The mark left by Qi Mo’s ultimate only dealt a tiny bit of damage to Lin Lan. His remaining health was decent. Lin Lan flashed, executing an A-Q-A combo on Qi Mo, directly eliminating him in less than 0.5 seconds!
Everyone: Huh???
Was Lin Lan exploiting a bug?
If avoiding the Triple Q could be explained by coincidence, dodging the rotating Shadow Slash seemed impossible. Besides a bug, no one could think of any other reason.
The commentator had just mentioned Qi Mo attempting a counter-kill on Lin Lan, barely catching his breath, when suddenly, Lin Lan killed Qi Mo. He quickly changed his tune, “A counter-kill… is impossible! Kiner actually solo-killed Lader again, with no intervention from either side’s junglers. What’s going on with Lader today?”
The barrage of comments from ENG fans displayed numerous question marks. They were also wondering what was happening with Qi Mo. How could he, who rarely made mistakes in the World Championship, be solo-killed twice?
On the broadcast, Qi Mo’s brow furrowed, his complexion slightly pale.
He hadn’t made a mistake.
He was simply being outplayed by Lin Lan.
Just now, Lin Lan had executed two consecutive moments of disappearance, and in that heightened state of concentration, Qi Mo finally grasped something.
At that moment, at a speed almost impossible for the naked eye to catch, Lin Lan momentarily disappeared from the map!
How did Lin Lan capture something even he, with his dynamic vision, couldn’t see? Moreover, he didn’t make a single mistake…
Returning to the mid-lane once again, Qi Mo’s gaze towards Lin Lan had changed. It evolved from curiosity at the beginning to appreciation in the mid-game and now to a sense of awe. Only the heavens knew what Qi Mo had been through.
Just as he was about to grasp the key point, a time-worn man and a level 6 blind monk suddenly dashed out of the bushes, accelerating towards him for a flashy kick.
Qi Mo immediately used W to retreat, which resulted in him being kicked very far away. Then, Lin Lan, Xiao Shengjing, and Jiang Jin, the three of them, relentlessly dismantled his defensive tower, leaving only a thin layer standing.
This put Qi Mo, who was already at a disadvantage, in an even more precarious position.
Why was the blind monk level 6?
Wasn’t their own jungler still level 5?
Normally, the jungler’s economy would be much lower than that of the mid laner. Both junglers hadn’t absorbed any lane experience, and the jungle had been equally shared, so their experience bars should be identical!
“It’s Zilean’s passive,” the commentator with the God’s-eye view understood everything. “Zilean’s passive can give experience to nearby teammates about to level up. Morri gave the jungler two experience boosts!”
This is the correct usage of Zilean, creating an experience gap through his passive!
After securing the mid-lane, Jiang Jin and Xiao Shengjing returned to the bottom lane, pushing the opposing team back and joyfully taking the first dragon.
With the rhythm set here, DT was simply soaring.
No one expected that ENG’s disadvantage would actually start with Qi Mo!
When Qi Mo picked Zed, everyone thought he would be the team’s pillar, expecting him to shut down Lin Lan. However, it turned out that Qi Mo was shut down, and it was Lin Lan who took off!
Both sides had similar assassin-type heroes, and gaining an advantage would lead to dominance, while being at a disadvantage would render them useless.
Qi Mo tried to find a way to catch up in experience, but Lin Lan and Xiao Shengjing were like conjoined twins. Whenever one was in danger, the other would rush to the rescue.
Even Feifei in the top lane couldn’t do much against Qi Mo. Qi Mo himself played a tanky champion, making it difficult to kill him, and his impact on the overall situation was limited.
Jiang Jin was constantly guarding Xu Shengwei. His ultimate ability was resurrection, so no matter how skilled Qi Mo was, he couldn’t possibly assassinate Xu Shengwei twice!
With the advantage in hand, Lin Lan found it ridiculously easy to attempt a swift assassination on their AD carry. As long as their AD wasn’t at full health, two brutal stomps, plus A-E-A-Q combo for ignite, almost guaranteed a swift kill!
As the game progressed, Qi Mo finally understood why Lin Lan chose LeBlanc.
The core of the ENG lineup rested on Qi Mo. If Feifei faced off against Qi M, Zed would inevitably develop and, by timing the moment when Zilean didn’t have his ultimate, could endlessly assassinate Xu Shengwei.
So, DT decided to send Feifei to the top lane to off-lane, arranging for Lin Lan to face him.
And Lin Lan, he had confidence in facing Qi Mo, hence the unwavering choice of the Deceiver, going head-to-head…
Under Lin Lan’s influence, Xiao Shengjing’s rhythm was exploding. They secured dragons, took down turrets, and even the Rift Herald, all in a compact and coordinated manner that didn’t resemble a team of newcomers.
Lin Lan also played LeBlanc to perfection, utilizing the “deception” aspect to its fullest. He consistently approached their formation from unexpected angles. Even if he couldn’t secure a kill, he would undoubtedly bring them down to half health, unleash another combo, and surely claim their lives…
“This is too hard to play, right?” Nami, unable to keep the AD safe and fearing Lin Lan’s assassinations, felt her morale crumble. “Our composition is like cabbage in front of LeBlanc; so easy to cut through.”
ENG has never dealt with such a troublesome LeBlanc before. Those who dared to play Leblanc in front of Qi Mo were mostly shut down by him. So, when Lin Lan took off, the entire ENG team felt overwhelmed and stiff, unable to cope with the situation.
Qi Mo had to admit that Lin Lan’s skill was indeed superior to his own. In this match, he lost gracefully, “This game is my fault; I truly can’t beat him.”
Same assassin heroes, same starting line, and losing without jungle intervention meant only one thing – his skill was inferior.
From the shadows on the side, Lin Lan executed a quick double stomp, directly sending the ENG bot duo back to their base. Feifei immediately activated his ultimate, Xiao Shengjing charged into the crowd, Jiang Jin accelerated wildly from behind, throwing bombs, and Xu Shengwei had the perfect environment for output. A barrage of devastating damage almost wiped out the entire ENG team.
The minion wave pushed onto the high ground, breaking through the front tower. ENG was left with only their jungler still barely alive. Disregarding everything, he rushed in to try and stop them but ultimately fell victim to the group assault.
The front tower shattered, and the crystal’s health slowly diminished. ENG was helpless to turn the tide.
The commentator on stage shouted incredulously, “DT secures the victory in this game, successfully tying the score! It’s unbelievable, let’s congratulate DT! LeBlanc played exceptionally well in this match!”
Qi Mo released the mouse and once again admitted, “I indeed can’t beat him.”
However, this is a team game.
It tests the strength of the team.
“In the previous match, we did underestimate DT,” Qi Mo took off his headphones, his brow furrowed, “In the next game, let’s stick to the lineup we’ve planned. Don’t take it lightly, don’t lose like JIO did without understanding why.”
Teammates, equally caught off guard by Lin Lan’s performance, nodded in agreement, “Alright, we’ll follow the captain’s lead.”
Translator’s corner:
In the last chapter, I put Leder instead of Lader as Qi Mo’s IGN. It was a mistake on my part. I’ll be changing that. Also, I forgot which chapter but I put Zimo instead of Qi Mo. Do let me know which chapter if you know so that I can change it. Thank you~
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