"TES are already 2–0. This momentum can't be stopped at all! Looking at MSI as a whole, their strength is clearly the best."
"Right. Congratulations to TES on another crushing, satisfying win. Dine has once again broken the kill record he set not long ago."
"Twenty kills! His slaughter continues. This is the first time I've ever seen a player with such outrageous match presence…"
The official casters couldn't stop praising them.
Viewers around the world also left a deep impression on the ID "Dine"—especially that Black Rose in full bloom, drenched in blood!
That elusive LeBlanc fused into Summoner's Rift, becoming the most iconic assassin.
A twenty-kill record was the perfect answer sheet.
"Before this, I believe not many people truly knew player Dine. But after this MSI, that ID will become a target of study for major clubs!"
"And beyond that, he'll become the focal point of attention across every region. I'm even more excited for TES's performance at Worlds this year."
TES were the Spring Split champions.
To put it arrogantly, their Worlds slot was basically guaranteed.
After all, the LPL had four slots.
And the points from winning Spring meant they were at least qualified to play in the regional qualifier.
Unless their later performance became unbelievably disastrous—losing every single game—it would be hard for them to miss Worlds.
But with TES playing like this, no one believed that kind of collapse would happen.
So "looking forward to Worlds" was not an exaggeration at all.
"Caps paid the price for his pride and arrogance. He's absolutely a genius, but if you don't take the match seriously, you won't get a perfect ending either."
"If G2 faces TES like this again, they need to adjust their tactics—otherwise they'll stop at top four…"
"As for tomorrow's TES vs SKT, I'll watch SKT's form first before I analyze. But based on these two games, I can give Dine a perfect score! His performance is absolutely the best among all mid laners."
"Yes, I completely agree. After Dine locks in a champion, he already knows what he needs to do next—how to help the team win better."
"When he picks Twisted Fate, he doesn't stay in lane trying to win purely through laning."
"Instead, he roams top and bot nonstop, suffocating the opponent in ways they can't handle. I noticed that every time EG tried to make a play, Twisted Fate would arrive first and help his teammates secure kills."
These two commentators analyzed the match and players to perfection.
They weren't just spamming praise.
Every line was full of substance.
No wonder they were Riot's official casters—the value was maxed out.
"LeBlanc is all about laning—aggression and pressure at the absolute limit. One thing I didn't expect was his level-1 Q. It created an even more perfect lane choke."
"He chose to give up minions just to trade for Caps' HP. A true old schemer."
"And after securing an HP advantage, he froze the wave and set up the level-3 solo kill."
"So I'm certain this MSI will be the tournament where player Dine becomes famous worldwide!"
"No matter who you are, if you don't face him with full focus, what awaits you is a devastating strike!"
Someone with a sharp eye recorded this segment, planning to clip it tonight and upload it to Bilibili.
Whenever there's an international event, people love checking other regions' streams—listening to them praise LPL teams.
If nothing else, hearing them scream in disbelief feels satisfying.
It's national pride—something other countries don't really have.
Western countries emphasize the individual, the self.
We emphasize the collective…
Of course, some nearby small countries, long influenced by our culture, are similar too—
Just poorly learned.
One has small virtue but no great virtue.
The other is shameless and has nothing at all.
…
With the G2 match finished, TES had no more games today.
The rest of the time was break time.
That was the advantage of playing from the club—no need to rush between venue and hotel and end up eating who-knows-when.
So everyone was in a great mood.
They greeted the referees, then started discussing the match.
"Holy crap, Fan-ge—your LeBlanc was a killing spree! Too bad we weren't onsite. If we had a handshake segment, I'd really want to see Caps' face… what kind of expression he'd have," JackeyLove sighed regretfully.
For international matches, he only believed in one thing:
Match first, friendship second.
Every game you go all-out—ideally you smash the other side into 0–8.
As for mercy, face-saving, etiquette?
All of that can get lost.
If it's time to hit, you hit.
"Is LeBlanc into Yasuo really that easy? Watching Knight play it before, it felt kind of rough," Tian scratched his head, confused.
"Nonsense. I think Fan-ge's LeBlanc is the best in China—top three worldwide at least," Mark replied for Tian.
If viewers heard this, they'd definitely roast them.
Aren't you basically insulting Tu Bro?
Knight is Tu Bro's sub.
Not just LeBlanc—every champion is worse than Tu Bro.
Otherwise Knight wouldn't have dragged the team into the gutter and gotten smashed 0–5 at the start.
In the fourth round of playoffs they almost got crushed by V5.
If Tu Bro hadn't stepped in and led that insane reverse sweep, there wouldn't be TES's current MSI massacre at all.
Tian realized it too.
"True. True…"
What level is Knight?
When he's playing, I don't even know what to do as jungler.
Pure dead weight.
But when Fan-ge is here, I can finally show my real level.
"Achoo—"
At JDG's base, Knight had been grinding for days.
He felt like his form was coming back, and he was already looking forward to Summer Split.
He even fantasized about grinding Lin Fan into the dirt and making TES regret it—
They missed a truly strong mid and picked up a sesame seed instead.
Then he suddenly sneezed and snapped back.
Was he training too hard these past few days?
Was his body starting to struggle?
Should he reduce his training plan and relax his mood?
Maybe then his training would be even better going forward.
Knight got excited, pulled out his phone to contact someone…
But then a push notification at the top instantly killed his mood:
"Tu Bro: 20 kills! Breaks MSI kill record again!"
His face turned dark again.
Why are MSI mids so bad…
9 PM.
SKT returned to the stage.
After their opening loss, they took the final match of the day extremely seriously.
They wanted at least a 1–1 record to close Day 1—so they could save face.
And their opponent was PSG.
Overall, the pressure wasn't high.
But SKT's early game still went badly.
Their "world's #1 ADC," Gumayusi, got lane-killed again…
Imp laughed so hard tears came out.
"Trash. I told you he's trash. And these idiots keep hyping him. I saw through his essence a long time ago—trash ADC."
Whenever SKT lost, Imp was always the happiest person.
He didn't even want to watch MSI—especially SKT games.
But the moment he heard SKT had lost, he happily came to watch the last game today.
When SKT fell behind, he got excited.
To be honest, Imp never put Faker on a pedestal.
Plus, he'd been attacked and harassed by Faker fans forever.
So he really wanted to see Faker embarrass himself.
Back then, when "The Lone Swimmer" got popular, people thought it was a song mocking Faker.
The first lines sounded hype, so Faker even sang along happily…
Then he realized something was off and didn't dare breathe.
Of course, as S4's world #1 ADC, Imp wasn't scared of Uzi.
He was scared of Uzi's fans.
The fighting power of GSL was beyond imagination.
Honestly, today's fandom wars look fierce.
But compared to Liu Shishi's "Little Lions" back then, they were all kids.
TL: Liu Shishi's "Little Lions" (刘诗诗的小狮子) - Liu Shishi's fanbase, known for being particularly organized and fierce. Liu Shishi (刘诗诗) is a popular Chinese actress, born in 1987. She was particularly big during the 2010s golden era of Chinese costume dramas, when fandom wars were intense and fan communities were highly mobilized on platforms like Weibo.
In esports, GSL was the same.
In front of GSL, "Zombie Sisters" and "Water Ghost Sisters" were paper tigers—one poke and they shattered.
That group faded from view after Uzi retired…
But once bitten by a snake, you fear ropes for ten years.
Imp was still scared…
Imp didn't stay happy for long.
PSG's bot lane had an advantage, but Faker's Zoe stepped up mid and carried the pressure.
He slowly clawed the deficit back.
"Damn it. I hate to admit it, but this guy is still pretty good."
"I'm done watching, I'm done. SKT's winning this. PSG is still too weak overall. If it were G2 with that early advantage, they probably could've won."
"But whatever. TES's form and strength—definitely smashing SKT. That trash ADC won't last one round against JackeyLove. 'Flying Emperor' only bullies these second-rate mids. Against Dine, he can't win."
Imp talked as he turned off the stream.
Privately, his relationship with JackeyLove was actually very good.
Especially during those years when Imp got dragged into a divorce scandal.
JackeyLove went to his home under that public pressure and even lent him a lot of money to survive the crisis.
That's why Imp made it through and didn't collapse.
Later, his name was cleared—he really was innocent.
After the divorce, the four million he'd earned as a pro and streamer got transferred away by his ex-wife…
Even now, if you watch his stream, you can see his small room has no decoration at all.
Compared to other retired pros' rooms, it's night and day.
Imp's character is unquestionable—an excellent Korean import.
After all, when some Korean imports heard Koreans talking trash about Chinese people, how many would stand up and argue back—
Some even got physical later.
It's just a pity: he plays games well, but he doesn't fight well—he just gets beaten up…
A champion pro's eye really is different.
When he said the match was over, it really was over.
Even though SKT only had a 1k gold lead, one tempo play rolled it from 1k to 6k instantly.
From there it was completely one-sided.
In teamfights, Faker threw a few bubbles—"lottery fishing."
If he didn't hit, they played it slow.
If he hit, everyone swarmed in.
That's the aura of a strong team.
In the end, at 31 minutes, after wiping PSG, SKT ended in one push.
Faker let out a long breath.
Half the pressure was gone.
Losing one game was acceptable.
From here on, win everything.
Especially against TES.
As long as they snapped TES's win streak, standings would reset to the same starting line.
Then first place and advancement would still be acceptable to the public.
Listening to the cheers in the arena, Faker walked proudly toward PSG's seats.
This was the winner's privilege—looking down on the losers.
He loved this segment.
He hadn't tasted this feeling in a long time.
This MSI, he had to win the championship!
Meanwhile, domestic chat exploded with debate.
"Demon King Faker is back at his peak!"
"Not really? He just beat a Southeast Asia mid and he's getting lifted into the sky?"
"This form isn't good? We already said it—Twisted Fate doesn't suit Faker. He needs those 'spiritual' champions like Zoe."
"Other champs restrict Faker too much. If I were coach, I'd pick LeBlanc for him every game!"
"Hahaha, Faker's Zoe performance was insane. Who's still saying he's washed?"
With SKT taking a win in rumble and Faker's Zoe getting MVP, the chat tone shifted.
Of course, this was built on his accumulated popularity—true loyal fans…
It also showed just how terrifying Faker's global influence was at the time.
With SKT's final "perfect" game, discussion increased domestically too.
To be fair, they really did look solid.
Theory-wise, being down 8,900 gold against G2 and still dragging it to 40 minutes showed strong macro and stall ability.
If Diana hadn't forced the engage, and the game dragged five more minutes, who knows?
SKT really might have completed the comeback.
So no matter how you framed it, SKT was the big enemy TES had to face.
And rumble was BO1.
TL: BO1 is Best of 1, play only one match to decide the winner. Readers, if I miss any terms or you're confused on some, please let me know. I forget to explain sometimes.
There were plenty of variables.
Sometimes losing a BO1 doesn't mean your team is weaker.
Especially in the West—BO1 formats were still common.
In that environment, they often looked better.
"Mm. The expectation for TES is simply first in rumble. If they can beat SKT once, that's enough."
"What nonsense? TES is unbeatable on raw strength."
"I agree. If it were S5 SKT, maybe they could touch them. This SKT? Forget it."
And in that atmosphere, the night passed…
Soon, it was the Day 2 everyone had been waiting for!
Of course, the organizers knew how to schedule.
They didn't put TES vs SKT as the first match.
Instead, they placed it as the second-to-last match.
And before that, they scheduled both teams' other matches first.
Give the players time to rest, so the focus match would be the most exciting.
5:00 PM—TES versus PSG.
Honestly, the gap was huge.
Mid lane solo kill at level 5.
At level 6, with jungle support, they dove for another kill.
The advantage grew larger.
TES snowballed from mid and won easily in 24 minutes!
SKT seemed to have found their form.
Against SGB, everyone played well.
Full-map advantage—22-minute push to end!
After one more long, stinky trash-fish brawl—EG beat PSG—
The fifth match everyone was waiting for finally arrived.
TES vs SKT!
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup