The first two matches of rumble stage were extremely entertaining.
First, Faker's Twisted Fate couldn't beat Caps' Yasuo.
Then Tu Bro's Twisted Fate absolutely battered Jojopyun's Yasuo.
Of course, the match quality wasn't the same.
But when the champions were the same, the topic value skyrocketed.
For everyone, it was hilarious.
Especially because since S8, the LPL and LCK regions had become direct rivals—both always considered top championship favorites.
Each region also had four Worlds slots.
With stakes like that, friction was inevitable.
Comparisons happened constantly.
And now SKT lost while TES won.
So whether it was domestic forums and Weibo, or Korean discussion platforms, posts exploded everywhere.
In short: "Faker, learn how to play Twisted Fate. Stop going ten-plus minutes without being able to use your ult once."
At the same time, some fans of teams that *couldn't* attend MSI also started commenting.
"If Weibo had a mid like Tu Bro, TheShy top wouldn't be stuck with zero teammates."
"Even Zoom can carry. If that Gangplank were Shy-ge instead, it'd be a full-on slaughter…"
For a moment, you couldn't even tell if those people were real fans or fake fans.
But right now, TES had just won.
Nobody had the mood to argue with brain-dead trolls.
A win was a win.
You had to celebrate the victory moment.
TES took the first rumble win.
And next they would face G2.
Whoever won would temporarily take the lead and get a head start in the ranking race.
After all, the remaining three teams in rumble were basically trash fish.
The only real threats were SKT and G2.
And G2 had just beaten SKT, which meant their form was excellent.
In this situation, they had to be taken seriously.
Don't let the current atmosphere fool you.
If TES lost the next game, the blame storm would arrive instantly—covering the sky and earth.
First to get hit would definitely be Lin Fan.
A lot of people already disliked him.
You're talented, but you don't train—how are you allowed to keep winning?
It makes no sense.
Especially since over time, haters couldn't find a chance to flame because TES kept winning—
And Lin Fan kept carrying.
A pile of MVPs was the best proof.
So once they got an opening, the haters would never let it go.
They'd go full firepower.
But Lin Fan didn't care about those gutter rats at all.
He had already mentally prepared.
He wasn't a god—he'd just been charging forward with Deep Blue stat points this whole time.
Honestly, in three months his champion pool had expanded to an absurd degree.
Not every champion was stage-ready, but for mid lane matchups, he'd basically collected most of them.
Calling himself the #1 player in League wasn't even exaggerated.
Still, he didn't dare claim he could win every match.
If the opponent ran a five-man camp-mid strategy targeting him, and his teammates weren't in form…
If the enemy jungler kept coming, outleveled your jungler, and had more CS…
Then the situation might not be salvageable.
At the end of the day, League is an economy game.
With a massive gold lead, plus item and level advantage, you can fight however you want.
Even someone like Uzi—whose strength had declined a lot—
If you give him eight kills at the start, he can still carry.
The SGB vs PSG rumble match was so boring it nearly put people to sleep.
It perfectly demonstrated what "trash fish pecking" looked like.
Two batches of big trash fish.
Forty-plus minutes of torture.
Especially knowing you still had to wait for TES vs G2 afterward.
Two words: unbearable.
When Xayah finally started killing people in the crowd, viewers wanted to slap their own hands.
Finally the long, stinky match was ending.
Pure joy.
Even the short break before TES vs G2 didn't feel like much anymore.
"Welcome back. It's a shame SGB couldn't seize their comeback chance in the end, but that's how matches are—opportunities vanish in a blink. If you can't catch it, you can't change the outcome."
"Yes. Next is the match everyone's waiting for: TES vs G2. Let's see what surprises they bring us."
Guan Zeyuan and Wawa were commentating when the big screen shifted to the BP interface.
Both teams drafted quickly.
Especially G2.
Maybe beating SKT got them hyped, because they instantly locked Yasuo mid again.
No one expected that.
Honestly, it was confident.
In this meta, Yasuo had too many natural predators.
He was no longer the invincible mid from S3 when he first released.
Lin Fan didn't give them any face at all—he instantly answered with LeBlanc.
Soon, both comps were locked:
Blue side G2:
Top Gangplank, jungle Lee Sin, mid Yasuo, bot Xayah–Rakan.
Red side TES:
Top Gnar, jungle Xin Zhao, mid LeBlanc, bot Draven–Braum.
TES wasn't scared at all.
Their comp was equally violent.
Lin Fan's starting item was Corrupting Potion.
At level 1, he immediately started trading, determined to bleed Yasuo.
Caps didn't believe it.
He wanted to step up and do a trade combo.
Lin Fan didn't take W at level 1.
He took Q.
Less mobility, less waveclear—
But lane pressure was maxed.
He was trading levels for Yasuo's HP bar.
Caps hit level 2 first…
But his HP was already below half.
He was angry and wanted to step up and chunk LeBlanc back.
Lin Fan saw it all and gave him no chance.
He backed off patiently and waited to hit level 2.
Once he hit 2, with HP advantage, he could force QW and proc Electrocute.
After that, Yasuo couldn't lane anymore.
Tian could even come and tower dive.
Caps realized that and immediately retreated.
Even though Lin Fan didn't step on him, he still got AQA and procced Electrocute.
The damage was heavy—another two bars gone.
Then Lin Fan froze the wave.
He didn't push.
He just stared at Yasuo.
All he needed was W cooldown to come back up, and he could last-hit slowly.
By then he'd be level 3.
As long as chains landed, it was lethal—damage was perfect.
LeBlanc vs Yasuo is all about building early advantage.
Once level 6 hits, Yasuo becomes an ATM.
You can step on his face and one-combo him.
But if you *don't* build an early lead, the roles reverse.
Right now, anyone with eyes could see it:
LeBlanc's advantage was huge.
With the wave frozen here, Caps couldn't move at all.
But he wasn't willing to just stand there.
Seeing his passive shield up, he stepped forward to Q a minion and charge it.
Lin Fan glanced at his XP bar.
He stepped in, drank Corrupting Potion, broke the shield—and dinged level 3.
He threw chains upward.
Yasuo dashed up—perfect hit!
Q mark out, Electrocute procs.
Yasuo's already unhealthy HP bar dropped to just over a hundred.
Caps dashed forward, trying to break the leash.
But Lin Fan was faster—W back, still in chain range.
Second E procced, Q mark detonated, and Yasuo was rooted in place.
One auto.
Two autos.
First Blood.
Yasuo collapsed.
A clean solo kill.
Busan went silent.
A lot of Korean fans were hoping G2 would "teach TES a lesson" and stop them from being so arrogant.
From their perspective, any team that could beat SKT in a BO1 should be strong.
But they never expected mid to get solo-killed at three minutes.
What the hell?
Win-trading?
Even my grandma wouldn't get solo-killed in three minutes!
But the crazy part was still to come.
A solo kill was nothing.
A massively fed LeBlanc is a horror story.
By nine minutes, LeBlanc already had seven kills.
And he even turned into a scholar—Mejai's at 14 stacks.
Yasuo alone contributed ten stacks of that "ring."
And the epitaph carved into the tombstone?
Two words: Lee Sin.
Flakked listened to the repeated "enemy slain" sounds from mid, eyelids twitching.
Even if he was Xayah, his ult only bought him one more second.
It wouldn't change anything.
That LeBlanc was too terrifying.
He knew his mid laner's skill.
But getting solo-killed at three minutes… and then dying nonstop…
It was obvious Caps had kicked an iron plate today.
If he'd just played normal instead of Yasuo, it wouldn't be like this.
But that was always their nature.
Win one game, then want to do something flashy.
Faker was old and had no bloodfire anymore.
But the guy across from you—who'd been crushing mids in LPL—wasn't going to give you face.
He went straight for the throat.
LeBlanc exploding Yasuo.
Caps was numb.
Hearing those kill sounds made him numb too.
When mid gets fed, it means the bot ADC will suffer.
He had barely pictured the next scene in his mind—
Not even twenty seconds later, LeBlanc appeared from the flank and stepped on him.
A full combo—if he hadn't used ult fast enough to dodge one part, he'd be lying flat already.
Even so, he wasn't in good shape.
Under 200 HP.
Then Draven's axe flew in from afar—one, two—fully shaved him down.
You can dodge the first day, but not the fifteenth.
This kill didn't go to LeBlanc.
But Draven pressed S and stopped moving.
Legendary!
The godlike sound echoed through the Busan arena.
Now the only sound left in the venue was Chinese international students cheering.
Not many people, but full of spirit.
Everyone was hyped.
A godlike LeBlanc at just over ten minutes—who could possibly stop her slaughter?
G2 had no one.
Especially with Xin Zhao glued to her side.
This mid-jungle duo truly killed wherever they went.
They didn't even rush towers—kills first.
Wherever LeBlanc showed up, heads rolled.
TES completely controlled the tempo.
G2 couldn't make any waves.
Mid Yasuo was the most miserable.
From 0–5 to 0–7—one more and he'd hit "feeding streak."
Caps was dizzy.
He'd wanted to pick Yasuo for fun, win the opener, and start rumble with a bang.
Instead, his Yasuo didn't get fun—he became a walking ATM.
15:37.
In the ruins of mid outer turret, Caps carefully stepped up to last-hit, trying to farm back.
The match wasn't over.
CS couldn't stop.
At least he hadn't hit triple digits yet—too embarrassing.
No matter how optimistic or "happy gaming" you are, you still have shame.
A pro mid with under 100 CS at 15 minutes—
He wanted to find a hole and bury himself.
This wasn't Gold or Silver where you can't hit 100 CS at 15…
But the moment he touched the minion, he saw LeBlanc W in from the side.
He only caught it in his peripheral vision.
In less than a second, his screen went black.
He didn't even press Wind Wall.
Instant delete.
Legendary!
The godlike announcement kept ringing.
Every syllable was pain.
With that kill, LeBlanc's score became 14–0–2.
Slaughtering the map.
"Hahaha, this is Middle-finger Bro again! This LeBlanc is absolutely the most ouststanding in the whole match!"
"Tu Bro isn't joking. Give him LeBlanc or Syndra and the game is already over. The enemy can just fuck off."
"All I can say is Caps picked the wrong opponent to provoke. A 0–8 scoreline is a deep lesson."
"I wonder if Caps will still lock Yasuo instantly in the second round."
"Faker is probably dizzy right now… Caps can't beat him, and Caps got exploded by Tu Bro. How's Faker supposed to play Tu Bro tomorrow?"
"It's fine. Twisted Fate is just hard to lane with. Swap champions and Faker can show his real level."
Domestic chat was noisy—some cheering, some making excuses for Faker…
That's normal.
People don't share one brain.
18 minutes.
Xin Zhao stabbed Gangplank's butt, popped him up in three hits.
LeBlanc followed up from behind—one step, and the terrifying 25-stack Mejai's damage taught him a lesson instantly!
By this point, the match was just KDA farming…
…
26:37.
TES had already broken into G2's base.
The elusive LeBlanc secured a triple kill.
After an ace, TES one-pushed to end G2.
This match became the biggest massacre of MSI so far…
Who knew whether an even worse one would appear later.
G2's five players were half unconscious.
They nearly wanted to buy plane tickets home on the spot.
In the final moments, their hands were visibly shaking.
This was more painful than their 2018 games versus IG.
When the game ended, LeBlanc's kills had already surpassed twenty.
Once again, she shattered the MSI official-match single-player kill record.
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup