TCWSITD – Chapter 43.2

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Chapter 43.2 – Summer Split Finals

The second game’s draft began. OT chose the red side, and both teams continued with the same style as the first game.

TG continued releasing champions, then first-picked Renekton.

OT immediately snatched Nocturne, then followed with K’Sante.

The commentator’s voice cut in: “Nocturne’s off the table now. Does TG have a better answer lined up?”

After brief deliberation, TG instantly locked in two champions: mid lane Lissandra and jungle Trundle.

Even if A’Deng provided timely support, he and Song Zhixu would still struggle to make an impact with this kind of matchup. Worse, there was even a high chance they’d get counter-killed…

TG had prepared two specific strategies just for them!

Such attention was unexpected even for Lin Jiang. Could it be that TG had been wary of OT all along?

In a sudden flash of insight, Lin Jiang realized something. As the draft countdown ticked away, Lin Jiang snapped to attention and shouted: “Pick Nilah!”

Nilah is a newly released champion—most teams haven’t figured her out yet and don’t dare to pick her lightly.

Lin Jiang had watched Shen Ju play her a few times and was deeply impressed.

Although weak in the early-game, this champion’s mobility in the late-game was too strong, her skills too perfect, and her sustained damage too full—she could be considered a stronger alternative to champions like Vayne or Kai’Sa.

And right now, TG’s lineup is missing exactly this kind of agile damage dealer!

Since the enemy wanted to play her and Shen Ju performed so well with her, they might as well pick her first to deny the opponent their strategy!

Without hesitation, Shen Ju locked in Nilah, causing varying degrees of reaction among TG’s members.

In the break room, Li Qian chuckled while watching the screen. “They’ve figured it out—not bad.”

Every team spent considerable time familiarizing themselves with newly-released champions, and TG was no exception. They might have even studied Nilah more thoroughly than OT.

TG’s choice of Lissandra wasn’t wrong, but it had an unspoken flaw: insufficient damage output. In teamfights, their lineup could feel sluggish, even clunky, requiring flexible teammates to provide sustained damage.

ADs like Kai’Sa, Vayne, and Nilah became the top picks.

But Kai’Sa never quite hit the damage numbers they needed. Vayne was lethal, but she took too long to scale and her short range was an unavoidable issue.

The new champion, Nilah, just happened to solve this problem perfectly!

Lissandra might have looked like a direct counter to Lin Jiang, but in reality, TG had been aiming at the bot lane all along.

Once TG’s strategy was exposed, they quickly shifted their tactical focus to target Lin Jiang instead.

Juzi saw it clearly, “They stole Nilah, so their early-to-mid game power is too weak. Lin Jiang will definitely have to pick an early-to-mid game mid laner to cover that.”

As he spoke, they banned Galio and Corki. Combined with the earlier bans—Jayce, Lucian, and Tristana—TG had now banned five of Lin Jiang’s potential mid laners.

Old Mao couldn’t help but exclaim, “This is insane! TG’s play here is downright ruthless! Their strategy is practically tailor-made for Lin Jiang! Notice how they laid two traps? The first is Nilah. If OT catches on, TG flips the switch and activates the second trap—effectively burying Lin Jiang.”

“Seriously, how do you even respond? Tell me! Lin Jiang literally has no champions left to pick!”

Lin Jiang was aware of his predicament, but he remained firm. “Prioritize the support pick. Just grab Taric.”

Indeed, Taric was currently the best support for Nilah—offering perfect protection and crowd control while elevating Nilah’s late-game performance.

If Lin Jiang’s guess was right, this was exactly the combo TG was aiming for.

OT secured Taric, slightly mitigating their disadvantage.

But it still wasn’t enough, and the mid lane issue remained unresolved.

TG quickly revealed their bot lane duo: Xayah and Rakan.

Sure enough, it was just as Lin Jiang guessed.

Having lost Nilah and Taric, TG would inevitably opt for Xayah and Rakan as substitutes.

The crucial question was how much early advantage OT could OT gain in the early game from their champion picks?

And how far ahead could Shen Ju push his farm?

The commentator on stage also analyzed this point. “Both sides have similar compositions. TG has Renekton and Trundle for mid-game, and Xayah-Rakan for late-game. OT has secured their late-game damage, but what about mid-game? Relying solely on K’Sante is too cumbersome. It seems like river doesn’t have a better choice besides Ahri, but then the advantage of picking Nocturne as jungler wouldn’t be fully utilized…”

They needed to pick a champion with early-to-mid game damage.

A champion that could outperform Lissandra in lane.

And with a crowd control to synergize with Nocturne.

Old Mao racked his brains but couldn’t figure it out. “Maybe just pick Ahri and try to poke them out?”

Lin Jiang scrolled through the champion list when something suddenly occurred to him. “Pick…”

In the break room, Li Qian simultaneously parted his lips: “Sylas.”

The Unshackled, Sylas!

A rebel who shattered the chains of hell, clawing his way out of captivity!

His strength comes from stealing his opponents’ magic, turning their ultimate abilities against them!

In other words, the stronger the opponent’s ultimate, the stronger he becomes!

When this champion appeared on screen, the audience erupted in shock. Li Qian, finally satisfied, smiled quietly and said, “Lin Jiang, doesn’t this champion remind you of yourself?”

Both struggled from the depths of adversity and grew stronger against stronger opponents.

Both possessed the power to shake the Rift with unwavering determination to see things through.

Sometimes, those who seem almost godlike need a touch of darkness to corrupt them—only then can they truly transcend their limits.

Perhaps it’s thanks to KUG’s betrayal that Lin Jiang was forged into who he is.

Li Qian gazed upon the scene like a connoisseur admiring a masterpiece. “Absolutely perfect.”

Both teams had locked in their champions, but the discussion about Sylas continued to dominate.

Some believed Lin Jiang’s pick was spot-on—such confidence was exactly what he needed. Others called it reckless. Could he really keep stealing Lissandra’s ult over and over?

On the other side, Old Mao analyzed for everyone: “TG used a very strange lineup against Lin Jiang. If Lin Jiang had taken the bait, he’d have fallen into their trap. Only by repaying them in kind could they win. Sylas’ ability to steal ultimates is the key to this match. Who he steals ultimates from doesn’t matter—as long as you have Lissandra, you have to fear Sylas.”

In short, Lin Jiang’s Sylas pick flipped Lissandra from a threat into a weakness.

Once the game started, Juzi immediately felt the pressure from Sylas.

This champion’s passive triggers after every ability, allowing him to push waves incredibly fast.

Lissandra’s waveclear was naturally slow. She could only push the lane bit by bit, all while being wary of Lin Jiang reaching Level 2 and making a move on her.

Early-game trades against Sylas were practically seeking death.

Seeing that Lin Jiang was one minion away from Level 2, Juzi immediately retreated, patiently waiting for him to clear the wave and push forward.

The commentator joked, “Juzi is always super cautious whenever he faces river!”

Laughter rippled through the audience.

Old Mao mused, “There is definitely no problem with Juzi playing like this. Right now, he just needs to avoid direct confrontation with Lin Jiang. But whether our Lin Jiang will allow that is another matter…”

No sooner had he spoken than Lin Jiang reached Level 2 and learned his E[mfn]Abscond/Abduct (E) – has two parts: first, he dashes a short distance and shields himself (Abscond), and second, he can recast to throw his chains, damage and stun the first enemy hit, and then pull himself to that target (Abduct). This two-part ability allows Sylas to engage, escape, and control enemies, setting up for his other abilities and his passive.[/mfn] skill. Calmly, he used the first segment of his E to dash toward a minion, swinging his chains to secure the kill.

Seeing Lin Jiang’s Q was on cooldown, Juzi felt confident enough to step forward, snag a minion, and prepare to back off.

Suddenly, amidst the chaos of battle, a deadly chain shot out, firmly locking him in place.

Juzi: “!”

Lin Jiang flew over, unleashing two consecutive Q[mfn]Chain Lash (Q) – ashes his chains in a target direction, dealing magic damage to the first enemy hit, stunning them briefly, and revealing them. After the initial hit, he dashes to that enemy’s location and briefly knocks them up upon arrival.[/mfn] strikes, hacking away nearly half of Lissandra’s health in an instant.

The commentators’ excitement soared, “river seized the moment when the minion died to land his second E segment perfectly on Juzi! He triggered the third level of his passive!”

Just those three passive stacks alone were enough to give Lissandra a serious beating!

Juzi hastily leveled up to 2, freezing Lin Jiang in place before scrambling backward.

Sylas’s damage was terrifying!

In the early-game, when everyone lacked skills, he could already deal lethal damage just with his passive and Q!

Juzi was still reeling, mentally replaying the fight in slow motion.

He had gone in to last-hit a cannon minion which had a brief windup animation. In that 0.2-second window, the cannon minion in front of Lin Jiang died, giving him the perfect angle to strike!

The slight delay from attacking the cannon minion had overlapped with the death of his own minion.

Could something like that really be just a coincidence?

If it was… then why had Lin Jiang’s casting motion begun at that precise moment?

If Lin Jiang did it on purpose, then that’s a whole other kind of horror story.

After all, Sylas’s passive can’t be manually controlled. So how could he possibly control the exact moment a minion dies?

Fear clung to him like a shadow.

It shrouded the battlefield in an oppressive weight.

Juzi was operating at full mental capacity, yet still couldn’t make sense of it—how had Lin Jiang, who had been declining for nearly two years, suddenly come roaring back like this?

What had happened to him?

The pressure in the lane made Juzi break out in a cold sweat. He kept his eyes glued to Lin Jiang’s every move, trying to anticipate his next step.

His throat tightened as he noticed Lin Jiang taking half a step forward during a basic attack—just enough to avoid damaging the backline minion.

Then, the miraculous happened again.

The cannon minion and the frontline minion in front of Lin Jiang died at the exact same instant.

If Juzi had insisted on last-hitting that cannon minion just now, he would’ve been instantly killed by Lin Jiang!

Brushing shoulders with death, Juzi swallowed again. That was close—thankfully, he’d trusted his instincts and held back.

Neither the commentators nor the audience realized that multiple lethal exchanges had already occurred in lane. Even Lao Mao hadn’t noticed.

Only Emperor F, watching from the training room, caught it.

Lin Jiang’s positioning looked a bit odd. A professional player’s intuition told him this wasn’t random. Upon closer observation, he finally understood the trap Lin Jiang had laid.

That cunning old fox.

Lin Jiang had become so twisted in his precision that he could manipulate the death of minions to set ambushes.

Emperor F suddenly felt grateful he wasn’t the one facing Lin Jiang today. Compared to his semifinals performance, Lin Jiang seemed especially ruthless now.

On the other side of the map, unnoticed by the crowd,Lin Jiang and Juzi had already exchanged hundreds of invisible blows, each one ending with Lin Jiang slightly ahead.

Juzi had no choice but to keep backing off. As Lin Jiang was about to hit Level 6, he could already smell the scent of death—but he still hesitated, tempted to grab that cannon minion.

He first used his E[mfn]Glacial Path (E) – a skillshot that sends a claw of ice in a target direction, dealing magic damage to enemies it passes through and allowing Lissandra to teleport to the claw’s location by reactivating the ability after a short delay.[/mfn] skill to carve out a glacial path behind him creating an escape route, then moved forward to last-hit the cannon minion with his Q[mfn]Ice Shard (Q) – a linear skillshot that deals magic damage and slows the first enemy hit, after which it shatters and continues to pass through, hitting all other enemies in its path while increasing its width and range[/mfn] skill—this would perfectly avoid Lin Jiang’s killing intent.

He released the frost and immediately pressed W[mfn]Ring of Frost (W) – deals magic damage to enemies in a circle around her and roots them in place.[/mfn] to teleport to safety.

But in the very moment he cast the teleport, Lin Jiang suddenly pulled off an E-Flash combo—using the second part of his E to predict Juzi’s landing spot, locking him mid-air!

Juzi: !!!

Mid-air prediction!

As Lin Jiang raised his chains high, stealing his ultimate, Juzi seemed to hear the deathly chant: “Freeze!”

It was Lissandra’s ultimate!

Lin Jiang had stolen his ultimate and turned it against him!

Layer upon layer of frost crashed down. Lissandra had no chance to escape. The black ice froze over the terror on her face—locking her in place mid-motion, still frozen in her fleeing stance.

But it was already too late!

With a furious shout—”Free Demacia!”—countless chains shattered Lissandra’s escape route. Lin Jiang finished with a Kingslayer[mfn]Kingslayer (W) – allows him to dash to a target enemy, deal magic damage, and heal himself, with the healing scaling with his missing health. He can recast the ability to dash back to himself for extra damage.[/mfn] strike, instantly eliminating his opponent!

The whole exchange didn’t even last two seconds.

A nearly full-health Lissandra was… killed just like that?

The audience finally witnessed firsthand how explosive Sylas’ damage could be!

The commentators were so shocked by the play that their scalps tingled. “Wow! That was lightning-fast! river’s move was insanely bold! He actually Flashed with E to cut off Lissandra!”

If he caught her, it was an instant kill. If he failed, he would’ve been delivering his head to the enemy.

With that single play, Lin Jiang sent his fans straight back to four years ago—back to when he had just debuted!

Back then, he was exactly like this—fearless and bold, delivering flawless performances even against world-class opponents.

Later, as the meta shifted, Lin Jiang was forced to adapt into a more passive role as a mid laner, to the point where many forgot just how ferocious he once was.

Four years later, he’s back at the top!

Everyone began wondering… what kind of shackles did KUG place on him, that even a top-tier mid laner ended up playing so timidly?

Some fans even shouted angrily, “KUG, how are you going to repay what you owe us?!”

Onstage, Lin Jiang seemed to draw immense courage from somewhere. He pulled off wave after wave of limit-breaking plays, until Juzi completely lost his confidence—his mechanics starting to fall apart.

Watching Lin Jiang grow more unstoppable with every move, Li Qian couldn’t help but sigh, “He’s really grown up… it’s like he’s transformed overnight.”

Zheng Yu asked curiously, “Wasn’t our captain always like this before?”

Li Qian shook his head with a smile. “No, no, it’s different.”

Lin Jiang, who had climbed back up from adversity, was even more dazzling now—like a soul reborn from death itself.

Besides being fearless, he also possessed the courage to turn the tide in desperate situations.

This was exactly the top-tier player Li Qian had been desperately searching for.

The figure on stage overlapped with Sylas as a voice echoed in his ears—the self-narration of a person who had emerged into the world:

“I was once imprisoned in a dungeon, and the cage made me yearn for the sky.

Power was innate to me, but Demacia branded me a criminal.

Once a person has seen the truth, they cannot live among lies with the world.

I will create a new world without masters and slaves—that is the perfect symbol for this nation.

Fifteen years in darkness, I shall reclaim the light.”

My path is not solitary.

Farewell, my prison.”

***

Finally, a faint light broke through, shining once more upon the world.

This is truly his kingdom!

Under Sylas’ terrifying damage output, TG quickly lost the advantage.

Logically speaking, Lin Jiang shouldn’t be this well-developed—Juzi only died once in his hands—o how was he able to build a 5-0 momentum?

The commentator marveled, “As expected of Sylas! As expected of River! Together, they’ve treated us to a breathtaking spectacle!”

Juzi’s fans were about to cry.

Just as he was beginning to recover, he was knocked down again in the second game. Wuwuwu…

Could it be that Orange is doomed never to overcome Lin Jiang in this lifetime? Like some kind of curse?

Lin Jiang firmly controlled the early-game tempo. Now, it was Shen Ju’s turn!

Sylas was excellent in every way, except he was too fragile—no life-saving skills, and had an extremely low margin-of-error during late-game team fights.

This was why many players did not favor this champion.

Some streamers even claimed Lin Jiang’s Sylas will now be in a downturn.

After Lin Jiang pulled off a daring 1v2, his moves began to show strain, and he wisely burned his ultimate to retreat.

At that moment, the dragon respawned!

This dragon was crucial for both sides. Both teams positioned themselves carefully, not giving an inch. Any ward planted wouldn’t survive more than five seconds before being swept away.

Amid this fierce contest and constant skirmishing, TG grew anxious upon realizing Song Zhixu’s split push outmatched Renekton’s by a slight margin. “Let’s just start it!” they urged.

Lissandra led the charge with her E, freezing opponents upon landing before casting her ultimate on herself for 2.5 seconds of stasis.

At the same time, Song Zhixu’s teleport lit up, cutting off TG’s escape route from behind.

A 5v5 team fight became inevitable!

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Author’s Note:

The self-narration monologue combines Sylas’ voice lines from League of Legends with minor edits, counted as citation.
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