TCWSITD – Chapter 38.2

Chapter 38.2 – I Won’t Let You Lose

The game screen loaded.

The commentators analyzed, “WG’s draft is absolutely top-tier, and Gangplank is wuwu’s signature champion. He’s practically guaranteed to carry in the late-game.”

“Practically” was an understatement.

Anyone familiar with wuwu knew that once his Gangplank scaled into the late-game, the entire Rift would tremble.

Lin Jiang had downplayed the danger.

Even if he managed to take out Sivir, a well-farmed Gangplank could easily 1v4 the rest of their team.

Which meant the true key to this game was Song Zhixu.

However long he could delay wuwu’s scaling would determine OT’s chances of victory.

Normally loud and energetic in comms, Song Zhixu played with uncharacteristic steadiness this game. He applied unexpected early pressure in lane, then abruptly backed off the moment the enemy jungler moved.

The commentators praised him, “K’Sante’s tempo is impeccable. It’s hard to believe how much metoo has improved. I remember his ranking was nearly at rock bottom during the Spring Split.”

Back then, not only Song Zhixu, even Shen Ju and the rest of the OT barely made the rankings—the entire team was rated at the bottom.

Now, just after one season, no one could have predicted that Lin Jiang would actually give them a miracle.

While the crowd was still caught in the moment, Lin Jiang’s LeBlanc suddenly blinked forward with her W[mfn]Distortion (W) – llows her to dash to a location, dealing damage to nearby enemies, and then return to her starting position within a 4-second window.[/mfn], unleashing a full combo followed by several auto-attacks, chunking Galio’s health bar to critical levels and forcing him to recall.

“Wait, what??” Even the commentator was stunned. “Why did Galio get sent home by LeBlanc? Hold on… she started with a Long Sword[mfn]Long Sword – a basic attack damage item that provides 25 Attack Damage. While it can be a starting item for some champions to gain an early advantage, it’s not optimal for LeBlanc, who is an ability power (AP) mage.[/mfn]?!”

This discovery sent the audience into a frenzy. The broadcast then displayed the stats, revealing that Lin Jiang not only bought a Long Sword but also took Conqueror[mfn]Conqueror (rune) – is a Precision keystone rune that grants stacking adaptive force and converts a portion of dealt damage to true damage when fully stacked. It’s designed to reward sustained combat and is particularly effective for fighters who excel in extended skirmishes and for dealing with tanky opponents.[/mfn] in his runes!

Everyone knew these two choices only made sense for AD champions. So why was an AP carry using them?

Some had noticed this when Lin Jiang first left the base, and many assumed he had bought the wrong items.

But once he reached the lane, a few basic attacks left Galio completely helpless. That was when they realized-00LeBlanc with Conqueror and Long Sword could be this oppressive!

Galio was indeed a counter to AP champions, but Lin Jiang used the Long Sword and Conqueror to boost his basic attack damage, completely reversing the matchup and suppressing Galio instead.

The low-health Galio had no choice but to recall and teleport back, only to be bullied out of lane again by LeBlanc in just a few hits.

By the time Galio returned, Lin Jiang had already hit Level 5, while Galio was still stuck at Level 4!

WG’s coach felt his vision darken at this sight. “It’s over, it’s over … “

At this point, WG’s Maokai was still struggling to hit level 6 and couldn’t help even if he wanted to. The best he could do was push the wave for Galio, but that would only further delay Galio’s experience!

Lin Jiang hit Level 6, while Galio was still struggling to reach Level 5.

Galio desperately needed to level up.

Summoning his courage, Galio stepped forward, only to hear what sounded like mocking laughter from LeBlanc: “Heh heh heh…”

Suddenly, a ward-hop R-Flash[mfn]Mimic (R) + Flash – allows her to instantly reposition herself after casting her ultimate ability, either to close the distance with an enemy for a burst combo or to quickly escape a dangerous situation.[/mfn] from the bushes sent the Level 4 Galio flying backward. Lin Jiang calmly followed up with his abilities, effortlessly securing the kill.

Galio only reached Level 5 the moment he died!

Meanwhile, WG’s Maokai had lost a significant portion of his jungle to A’Deng and was only Level 5 himself, lacking any ability to lock down enemies. He could only watch as the enemy walked away!

The sheer dominance of this play left the commentator in awe. “This game’s Lee Sin is playing even better than last game! He’s been exploiting the timing to steal so much of Maokai’s jungle!”

But even that wasn’t enough to get him to Level 6. The real highlight came when he ganked mid, soaking up experience from two of Lin Jiang’s minions just enough to hit level 6!

Two Level 6 champions against a Level 4? It couldn’t have been easier!

By the time Galio recalled and returned, finally reaching Level 6 and preparing to roam, he found that a team fight had already broken out on the bot lane, and it was too late to join.

Top lane, Song Zhixu was also playing aggressively. Gangplank was weak in the early-game and struggled against burst damage, so he kept letting the lane go, falling slightly behind in experience.

At this point, OT had complete control over the tempo.

In the break room, Li Qian sat up, finally giving OT some new respect. “That’s it. Keep this momentum going, and we have a real chance…”

WG was never strong in the early-game macro. To minimize losses, they made the smart decision: give up what they had to.

OT took down all three outer turrets and secured two dragons, while WG managed to sneak one dragon in return.

Both teams gathered in the upper-side jungle, preparing to contest the Rift Herald.

WG had all their ultimates ready, waiting for OT to engage.

But in the next moment, Lin Jiang teleported to the bot lane, joining Song Zhixu to kill Gangplank, take down the second turret, and push straight for the high ground.

No one expected Gangplank to die at such a critical moment!

WG’s tempo was completely thrown off. Their bot lane recalled to defend, leaving the remaining two members to face Shen Ju’s trio. They didn’t dare to engage head-on and were forced to concede the Rift Herald halfway through the fight.

A’Deng secured the Rift Herald, pushed down the top lane’s second turret, and now their team had a 5,000 gold lead over the enemy!

Everything happened so fast!

The most crucial question was, why did Gangplank die suddenly?

In the broadcast replay, everyone followed along to uncover the truth.

At first, Gangplank was the one baiting. He wanted to pin down Song Zhixu, preventing him from joining the team fight, while holding onto his ultimate to support his teammates at any moment.

But unexpectedly, Song Zhixu fought with shocking aggression, not even hesitating to take hits from Gangplank’s barrels just to trade damage.

The two of them kept trading blows, and before long, K’Sante was left with only half health.

Gangplank, who initially had no intention of killing him, now felt the urge to finish him off.

Just as he placed a powder keg[mfn]Powder Keg – is a placeable barrel that, when attacked by Gangplank or his enemies, explodes, dealing physical damage to nearby enemies. This damage also slows enemies and, if Gangplank destroys it, refreshes his passive, “Trial by Fire,” which applies bonus true damage over time to his next attack.[/mfn] and prepared to combo with his ultimate to burst him down…

Song Zhixu suddenly Flashed right into his face, raising his twin axes high!

You dare fight me at this HP?

Gangplank instantly ate an orange at the fastest speed of his life to cleanse the crowd control.

But don’t forget, Gangplank’s orange can’t cleanse K’Sante’s ultimate!

“You are finished!”[mfn]In raw, the actual line is actually 你走不掉了, which I checked is for Maokai. But it doesn’t make sense here since K’Sante was the one with the ultimate, so I just changed it and choose what’s suitable from K’Sante’s list of audio.[/mfn] The twin axes came crashing down—Mutual Destruction[mfn]The core concept behind “All Out” (K’Sante’s ultimate) is that it forces a 1v1 situation where K’Sante is willing to sacrifice his own durability to eliminate a single target, hence the term “Mutual Destruction”.[/mfn]!

K’Sante’s Q ability had been nothing but a feint all along! As he landed his ultimate, he slammed Gangplank behind a wall!

And on the other side of that wall, Lin Jiang teleported in, dashed in with a W, and unleashed a full combo to finish him off!

The entire arena erupted after this play!

The commentator shouted excitedly, “OT’s tempo is flawless! Every single one of them played so well! WG is being completely led around by the nose!”

WG had clearly drafted a strong composition, yet they played so passively in the early-game.

Old Mao cut straight to the point. “WG’s early-game tempo has always been weak, but OT kept giving them the illusion that they could do it—and they actually started believing it. Look at Song Zhixu’s play. Did Gangplank even need to fight him there? If he backed off, WG might’ve won that fight. But Song Zhixu baited him with a deliberate flaw, and Gangplank fell for it. What can I say? The apprentice of an old fox… is still a fox.”

Fans suddenly got hyped—

[Who’s coaching Song Zhixu? How’s he improved so fast?]

[Old Mao, is it you?]

[Damn, Old Mao, you’re this good?]

[I’m seeing you in a whole new light.]

Old Mao quickly denied it. “No, no, how can you guys not guess? When I say ‘old fox,’ of course I mean Lin Jiang…”

In the voice comms, Lin Jiang didn’t hold back his praise for Song Zhixu. “K’Sante played well.”

Song Zhixu grinned to himself, feeling quite pleased. Of course he was playing well—how could he not? Training daily against a crafty old fox like Lin Jiang meant every lane phase started with at least 800 layers of mind games. There was no way his opponents could outplay him.

This wave shattered WG’s dream of dragging this to late-game. No matter how you looked at it, Gangplank’s development was slightly behind. The commentators even said, “WG’s chances of turning this around are looking slim…”

But to everyone’s surprise, the five of them gritted their teeth and refused to give in, bit by bit, they held the game together.

They avoided direct confrontations with OT, conceding even the Dragon Soul. Under such extreme and relentless farming, Gangplank’s equipment was finally completed!

Victory or defeat hinged on this moment!

WG’s five players moved with the unity of a tightly-pulled rope, resisting OT’s offensive like their lives depended on it. Gangplank instantly detonated three barrels in succession, blasting three OT members to critical health and instantly killing Shen Ju.

What kind of damage was that?

Lin Jiang decisively ordered, “Retreat!”

He had underestimated wuwu’s Gangplank—this player was truly playing at an insane level.

WG pushed the minion waves, secured Baron, and relieved the lane pressure.

Lin Jiang’s worst fear had come true. WG had managed to drag the game into the late-stage despite OT’s aggressive tempo…

Li Qian’s warning echoed in his ears: “WG isn’t as weak as you think. They’re the gods of BO5.”

Lin Jiang’s nerves instantly tightened. They absolutely couldn’t let this drag into the next game…

After this wave, fans could already smell WG’s comeback brewing. The commentators changed their tune: “The next Elder Dragon fight will decide the winner!”

The buff from the Elder Dragon was unimaginably powerful—if OT lost this team fight, they would have no hope of winning the game.

But Gangplank’s damage was just too devastating!

As long as WG held their ground at the dragon pit, even Lin Jiang wouldn’t be able to find an opening.

The situation was changing rapidly, and the pressure was imminent.

In the break room, Li Qian was also on edge. Clasping his hands together, he couldn’t help but ask Lin Jiang silently. “Does this team really deserve your trust?”

Another grueling 60-minute game had left everyone exhausted, their willpower drained.

Just then, Lin Jiang’s voice came through the comms: “I believe in you all. Get ready for the final team fight.”

The moment he finished speaking, he flashed past Gangplank’s zoning control, landed two W dashes and chunked Sivir’s health by half. Then, he turned to deal the finishing blow, instantly eliminating Sivir before activating Zhonya’s Hourglass to survive.

Under Gangplank’s relentless bombardment, everyone knew Lin Jiang’s Zhonya was just delaying the inevitable!

He had used his Flash to engage, leaving himself no chance of survival.

If Lin Jiang died…

Fans couldn’t bear to imagine it.

In their eyes, Lin Jiang represented hope—as long as he was on the field, even the hardest match could become a miracle.

If he died, this game would lose all hope…

At the critical moment, another deafening shout erupted on the battlefield: “Now it ends!”

Song Zhixu’s K’Sante burst from the shadows. From an impossibly sharp angle, he Flashed in, slamming Gangplank across the wall—

The crowd exploded.

Gangplank was pushed away from his powder kegs!

The fearsome pirate, separated from his barrels, was no more than a chunky cannon minion now.

The faces of all five WG players instantly changed!

With Gangplank no longer a threat, Shen Ju instantly Flashed into the fight, landing a tight, clean combo on the opponents. Then, he used his ultimate to return to Zhou Wen’s side, continuing to pour out damage.

The remaining three players of WG couldn’t withstand Shen Ju’s output and fell one after another.

After killing Lin Jiang, WG managed to take down A’Deng at the last moment—but OT had eliminated four of their players!

Only a barrel-less Gangplank remained!

Shen Ju didn’t even bother with the Elder Dragon. With Zhou Wen in tow, he charged straight for the enemy Nexus, ready to end the game in one final push.

Gangplank scrambled to recall.

If only he could return and blow up Shen Ju, he could defend the crystal!

But Song Zhixu clung to him like a stubborn shadow, attacking relentlessly. Every time he placed a powder keg, Song Zhixu dashed in and shattered it with a single strike.

He tried again, but Song Zhixu fearlessly tanked the damage just to keep him from getting back to base.

By the time he finally took down Song Zhixu, the recall still took eight seconds, and Shen Ju had already started pushing the crystal!

Cheers erupted from the audience, already celebrating OT’s victory. The commentators shouted excitedly, “Gangplank wants to go back! But he can’t! Even if he does, it’s too late!”

As the recall animation completed, and Gangplank dropped onto the platform, Shen Ju landed the final hit.

BOOM!

The crystal exploded!

Game over.

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