Douyu Cup official stream.
The three casters didn't even know what to say anymore. They could only keep repeating formal lines, congratulating Lin Fan on winning game one.
At first, they were just memeing—"a pro player crossing over to TFT."
To be honest, when he advanced to finals, it still felt like it was mostly luck. Those five games didn't show much micro—mainly dog luck.
As people always say, "dog-luck streamers don't go far."
But this game was pure skill.
His thinking was too clear: loss-streak for economy, then roll at six to save HP.
Sure, hitting units had some luck involved, but it was all created by macro.
Then the lightning-fast board swaps—absolutely top-tier.
Douyu's original plan was to farm hype—use Brother Infinite Borders' heat to boost tournament viewership.
But they didn't expect the "heat guy" to be this strong.
In a finals full of monsters, he took first place in game one.
"Feels kind of embarrassing. Brother Infinite Borders is a pro, sure, but he's a League pro. TFT has nothing to do with him."
"If Brother Infinite Borders really represents Douyu in the TOC 3 China qualifiers, then every streamer in the TFT section is going to lose face."
"But that last play was so stunning! I'm going to his stream now. Xun-ge, good luck!"
A chunk of TFT players never touched League, but most were League players.
The moment Lin Fan started operating, how could they stay in other streamers' rooms?
They rushed over immediately.
And once they arrived, the chat tone completely changed.
"Nice, Brother Infinite Borders. Take one point first. Not gonna lie, advancement chances look huge now."
"Charge! We League streamers are good at TFT too! We joined this tournament to wreck the place."
"Last game still had a lot of luck. It's finals, pressure's maxed—hard to say. We can only try our best. I wouldn't dare guarantee we can advance."
The moment Lin Fan spoke, gifts started flying—one after another.
For most viewers, they loved seeing Lin Fan eliminate the Douyu TFT streamers and take a slot. If he could win the title too, even better.
A League pro coming over and stealing the spotlight from TFT streamers—just imagining it was hilarious.
When it comes to watching chaos, no one minds it being bigger. Of course they'd stoke the flames.
"Thanks to Uzi for the gift—wow!"
"Thanks Teacher Piao for the Super Fire~"
"Thanks K-God for the gift…"
"Thanks Teacher D for the gift."
"Thanks Teacher Ma for the Super Fire…"
"Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thanks everyone."
During the break, Xiao Gou, Teacher Ma, and the others all came to Lin Fan's stream to send gifts.
That's when viewers realized: Brother Infinite Borders' social circle was already this huge.
Half the streamers across the platforms were his friends.
But thinking about it…
What other League pro is like him? Plays every game except League.
Other pros go live and immediately queue League.
His social circle naturally became broader. Add his fame—and being friends with so many big streamers felt normal.
But… why were they all men? Not a single female streamer?
Brother Infinite Borders' composition needs investigation.
After the referee asked, the players all pressed 1.
Then the next game began.
"You know? This is gift buffs. With us sending gifts, Brother Infinite Borders' luck is definitely max. Whatever card he wants, it'll come! If he really wins the title, I deserve credit too." PDD shouted while watching.
"Fat bro is taking credit again."
"But with Brother Infinite Borders' skill, I really think he has a chance."
"I'll call it: ends in three games. Three straight first places, speedrun."
"I think these streamers are going to start targeting Brother Infinite Borders."
Back when people were climbing, rumors said some streamers loved doing small dirty tricks—
calling friends to enter the lobby to hold opponents' units,
forcing competitors to bleed out, then sitting in first place.
It's disgusting—but it works.
Of course, those were just small-circle rumors, no hard proof.
But from streams, some plays did look intentional.
Augments don't fit, items don't fit, yet they still force the same comp—hard to understand.
In high-elo ranked, people's logic is similar. Items basically decide comps. If items don't fit, you don't grief your LP.
So Lin Fan quickly felt something was off.
They were targeting him.
If an item wasn't directly in front of him, he couldn't get it.
And other people were splitting all the meta comps—like they had an agreement.
Two players on Adventure Xayah. Two on Jade 9-5. Two on Mudhead Truck.
The last one was rerolling Nidalee.
They were forcing Lin Fan into the grinder.
So he clenched his teeth and pivoted straight into Ao Shin.
But Ao Shin needs enough HP and economy.
Lin Fan thought for a moment and forced out two-star Tristana and two-star Shen to stabilize.
That kept his HP afloat.
Still, the pressure was huge.
But once the comp was chosen, there was only one road.
He stumbled to level eight, holding 47 HP—barely acceptable.
"Brother Infinite Borders' second game is much harder. He needs perfect quality. Without two-star Ao Shin, and two-star Ornn with items, it's rough. Item grabs are pressured too—he can't get anything."
"He's getting targeted. But if he wins one more, he triggers the match-point mechanic and can win the title. It's normal to target him."
"If he can take first this game, he's an actual god!"
"Hard. That HP isn't enough to go nine. Comp probably can't complete."
He got full-smacked again. HP dropped to 26.
Now he truly had to roll!
At eight, he had to find two-star Ao Shin, two-star Ornn…
He put in the Nidalee and Skarner he'd been holding.
Astral started printing rolls.
Time to show mechanics.
Roll roll roll roll…
No, no.
Sylas, Sylas…
Second Ao Shin.
Seven Sylas on the tracker.
Pick up the gold and keep rolling.
Ornn still didn't hit two-star, but thanks to Astral, Sylas actually hit three-star!
The third Ao Shin finally appeared.
No hesitation—he sold Ornn, Nidalee, and Skarner, and on the last second bought Ao Shin.
Two-star Ao Shin, three-star Sylas!
Items were a bit scuffed, but with Spear of Shojin and Archangel's, even if the third item was Hand of Justice, the damage was still massive.
And with three-star Sylas frontline tanking hard,
he kept knocking out Juanzi and Liliuo…
But without going nine, Ao Shin's ceiling was locked.
Against a strong Jade 9-5, the pressure was too huge.
He only got second place.
Total: 15 points.
So it wouldn't end in three games—but ending in four was still possible.
Even if Lin Fan went eighth in game three, he'd still trigger 16-point mode.
But game two was clear as day:
Even while being targeted by everyone, he still forced Ao Shin.
Ao Shin is the least suitable comp for tournament tempo.
While everyone else spikes fast, you have to save gold and look for a chance to go nine.
If Lin Fan hadn't lost that one round, he never would've rolled hard at eight.
Luckily, his mechanics were solid. With Astral plus a bit of dog luck, he hit two-star Dragon Lord at the last moment.
The gold was barely enough too. Otherwise he'd already be out in seventh or eighth.
"If he could've gone nine and added a Soraka, he probably could've eaten first."
"Unlucky. But Brother Infinite Borders is still so cool. Getting second is already great."
"Being targeted and still holding it is acceptable."
"Game three, just play for fun. You're already at 15 points."
"Shimmerscale!"
"Do it, do it. Play Shimmerscale. Go full tryhard in game four."
"After game three, it feels like a lot of players will hit match-point mode."
"16 points isn't that high. Average top four is enough. So after this round, we might see four players hitting it."
Chat's thoughts matched Lin Fan's.
After two high-intensity rounds, it was time to relax a bit.
If he couldn't win and only wanted to "scrape" a slot on points, it wasn't that necessary.
After all, he was a League pro, not a TFT main.
If he couldn't make it, it just meant his skill wasn't enough.
If a little targeting keeps you from breaking out, what's the point?
So in game three, he chose a "happy game."
He entered and immediately went for BF Sword.
If he got Afu's Treasure Trove, wouldn't that be a Shimmerscale emblem?
Then he checked Mirage effect.
Dawnbringer? Boring.
So it had to be Shimmerscale.
But this game felt like "saving karma" for the next.
The units were awful.
Not until 3-2 did he finally hit three Shimmerscales.
And Shimmerscale's combat power was weak.
He kept bleeding and bleeding. His HP dropped like crazy. He couldn't hold at all.
Final result: eighth place, out.
"Brother Infinite Borders went eighth this game. The pressure is high in finals, but now he's triggered match-point mode—16 points exactly."
"Based on the current points, Liliuo, Xun-ge, and Juanzi also triggered it. Game four: if any of them takes first, the Douyu Cup ends…"
"Yeah. But since Brother Infinite Borders forced Shimmerscale, his combat power was too weak. Hopefully he adjusts well in game four."
Of course, now there were more sarcastic comments too.
"TFT isn't for you. Go play your League."
"This placement is so abstract—first, second, then eighth."
"What are you arguing for? Brother Infinite Borders isn't a TFT main. He just joined for fun."
"Then I say game four, keep playing Shimmerscale. If you lose, you can say 'I was playing Shimmerscale.' Isn't that great?"
With 9 million viewers, all kinds of people showed up.
A lot were troublemakers from other rooms.
In that atmosphere, game four began.
First priority: attack speed.
He grabbed it easily, then checked Mirage effect.
Pirate Mirage!
Holy crap—Lin Fan got energized instantly.
Let's see if the units fit. If so, Mirage is absolutely playable.
Mirage comps are strong.
And if you can print gold, you can roll three-star Yone and stabilize forever.
The first shop showed two-star Leona, and the second refresh had Yone.
How could he not play it?
Two Mirage plus Taric—early fighting power was solid.
He even fought someone who was selling HP, took Pirate Mirage gold, then leveled to four to keep win-streaking.
Because Mirage pays whether you win or lose.
Then he free-hit two-star Yone, leveled to five, and started win-streaking.
Before neutrals, treasure chest econ already hit 30 gold.
Then in the neutral round… Daeja dropped!
"Holy crap—find a Nunu and go six Mirage! One proc is six gold, with a chance to drop components!"
"I figured it out. Brother Infinite Borders must have saved Daeja's life. Why does Daeja always show up first for him?"
"Neutrals drop Daeja. This is unplayable."
After neutrals, Lin Fan didn't hesitate—he leveled to six and rolled for Nunu.
Luck wasn't great; it took three rolls, but it was enough.
Six Mirage was online!
With a dragon plus decent frontline quality, it was strong.
Another long win streak. Plus six-gold procs, his board quality got juiced.
At 3-2, Augments rolled and Afu's Treasure Trove appeared.
And Mirage dropped MR too.
This game could go eight Mirage!
No one expected such a dreamy scenario in game four:
Pirate Mirage in finals!
And he was still win-streaking.
Six gold, seven gold per round, plus occasional component drops.
Daeja's items were stacked. Two-star Daeja plus massive economy.
At 4-3, he leveled to eight.
And after leveling, he still had 47 gold left.
His board quality was insane.
If he could find Yasuo, it would be perfect.
Lin Fan thought the same.
Forty-plus gold should hit it, right?
But instead, he rolled and hit three Daejas.
Now everyone was sure—Daeja really was "repaying kindness."
This many copies was not normal.
Yasuo showing up after that felt normal.
Even though he didn't win every fight, with eight Mirage, he printed 12 gold per round, plus completed item drops.
It was so satisfying he felt high.
Every unit on the board had items.
"Brother Infinite Borders is absurd. Check if anyone is holding Daeja."
"Only one copy got held. Brother Infinite Borders actually has a chance to three-star."
The caster finished speaking, and the system ping showed Lin Fan three-starred Daeja.
When the camera cut over, Daeja stood in the corner, glowing gold.
"Eat!"
"So satisfying. I guessed the opening but not the ending."
"My palms are sweating. Brother Infinite Borders really dares—he even dared to play Pirate Mirage?"
"Why wouldn't you? Pirate Mirage is ten thousand times stronger than the old Pirate. This game is just a god-roll."
"True. Units came perfectly, plus so many item drops. How could he lose?"
And that was exactly what happened.
Three-star Daeja crushed everyone.
Then he leveled to nine and added two-star Zoe.
After that—it was harvest time.
He sent Liliuo home, and the victory screen appeared on Lin Fan's stream again!
Eat!
That meant: champion! He secured a TOC 3 qualifier spot!
"My god—Brother Infinite Borders really kicked the door in…"
"Brother Infinite Borders won the title!!!"
——
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup