Chapter 55: Solo Killed Right at the Start! Is a Disadvantaged IG Heading for Defeat?

Chapter 55: Solo Killed Right at the Start! Is a Disadvantaged iG About to Lose?

At the start of the match, Twisted Fate did not join the four members of iG in their sneaky jungle invasion.

His teammates had already communicated in the team chat that they wouldn't fight; they were just grouping up to secure some vision.

Cheng Xian stood in the fountain, pondering for quite a while before finally purchasing his first starting items.

Doran's Blade plus a health potion.

"AD Twisted Fate? I've noticed something about this player, Shaqima: not only are his thought processes extremely unconventional, but even his itemization choices are distinct. Rapid Firecannon Thresh, a one-shot machine, and now he's preparing to play AD Twisted Fate?"

"Will wave-clearing become difficult in the late game? If he goes AD, the pressure he can exert on FPX through side-lane splitting in the late game won't be very significant."

The casters began speculating about Cheng Xian's subsequent item path.

In reality, Cheng Xian's reasoning was very simple.

He wanted attack speed. With high attack speed, the passive ability would trigger more frequently, leading to a greater increase in his lucky value.

Meanwhile, inside the FPX voice chat.

Facing his teammates' jubilant discussions, Nuguri adjusted his collar and straightened his back. He shifted into a more upright posture, the corners of his mouth curling upward into an arrogant smile.

And unexpectedly.

The minion wave crashed into the turret.

By this time, Jax had already reached level three.

Having died a sudden death once, iG suffered the consequences as FPX's bot lane rotated with the jungler to secure the first fire drake.

This was the first time iG had fallen into an overall early-game disadvantage since fielding this player, Shaqima.

"Alright, that's enough," Cheng Xian said lightly. "Although I fed, technically speaking, I didn't feed."

It was practically equivalent to collapsing his own lane.

"Permission to take off granted!" His teammates responded one after another, bestowing the utmost degree of trust upon Cheng Xian!

"That was a bit careless..."

During this time, he also used abilities to weave in and secure last hits.

Now that he knew he couldn't win a direct fight, he intended to play safely and farm cautiously.

"Nuguri, how's this looking? Jax against Twisted Fate, father beating son," Doinb said, sweeping away the gloom of the previous game as he joked.

[Lucky Star status triggered! Lucky value +1%, overall strength +10%!]

However, his foundational last-hitting skills had already caught up significantly.

"Shaqima actually got solo killed!"

Twisted Fate is indeed heavily countered by Jax in the matchup.

During this time, Xun also attempted to gank and help Twisted Fate alleviate the pressure.

"Hold on, Brother Xian! I'll path toward top lane as soon as I hit level three!" Xun's words had barely faded.

"Holy crap! Brother Nuri is nuts!"

[Lucky Star status triggered! Lucky value +1%, overall strength +10%! The Lucky Star trigger probability features a baseline guarantee mechanic: for every accumulated 100% value, the probability mechanism is guaranteed to trigger in full!]

Coupled with the fact that his personal mechanical skill still couldn't rank among professional players, this result was hardly surprising.

After the melee minions took two turret shots, he dropped a single auto-attack.

"Maybe earlier it was just pure luck; he's not as strong as people imagined."

He carefully secured every single minion under the turret.

For the remainder of the time, Cheng Xian learned his lesson.

"But Brother Nuri is so weird!" Nuguri, who understood a bit of Chinese culture, naturally knew what this title signified.

iG members: "???"

Are you playing word games with us?

Although he was solo killed in the matchup, the one piece of good news for Cheng Xian was that...

The side that surrendered First Blood was actually Cheng Xian's Twisted Fate...

The system's female voice emitted a cold notification.

"Very good, I already have 5% lucky value. According to the baseline guarantee of the Lucky Star status, that means a guaranteed trigger at least once every 20 last hits," Cheng Xian thought to himself.

Even more regrettably, during a trade in the bot lane, Wink's Ashe mispositioned and stepped into a Caitlyn trap hidden within the minion wave.

Jax could only push the wave into the turret, then stand in place dancing while watching Twisted Fate slowly farm under the tower.

Yet Twisted Fate remained at a pathetic level one.

Soon, First Blood erupted in the top lane.

The caster desk fell into a momentary daze.

Gone was the reckless brawler playstyle from the early match against WE.

He only missed a single minion under the tower.

"Brother Xian, don't take this game to heart. It's mainly because Twisted Fate has a terrible matchup against Jax, but..."

Of course, this was just the worst-case scenario.

Otherwise, if Jax froze the wave and denied him experience and gold, it would be even more agonizing.

"Brother Xian, should we swap lanes?" Wink asked right at the start.

Everyone knew how hard the Twisted Fate versus Jax matchup was, and iG's members thought so too.

Confidence is a good thing, but being this confident after being solo killed by Jax once...

He fed, but he only fed a tiny bit, right?

Then they heard Cheng Xian's tone become incomparably serious.

"Because back in our country, being given the suffix 'Brother' is an affirmation of a player's strength."

"There's no helping it, Twisted Fate playing against Jax is just too miserable. At level one, Jax walks up and freezes the wave right in your face—either you step out of experience range, or you get traded on. A level-two Jax with an experience lead can jump right on your face and you can't do a thing."

He needed to be a reckless brawler possessed of both wisdom and courage!

"However, I have to admit, Coach Steak's strategy is actually quite solid. The actual head-to-head strength of this player Shaqima is indeed very mediocre."

Previously, it was always: figure out if you can win, and if not, fight anyway and see what happens.

"Flexing, he's hard-flexing!"

A burst of cheers erupted within the FPX team booth.

However, Viego's ganking capability before level six was limited.

...

Meanwhile, the Lucky Star triggered several more times in succession.

Several dying minions unexpectedly dropped an additional six gold in bounty.

"No need, let's just start normally," Cheng Xian said with certainty.

Now, having reached 6% lucky value, the time required to trigger the guaranteed mechanic became even shorter.

"Watch closely! From now on, I will die zero times and achieve a godlike streak! Take off!"

For ranged minions, he auto-attacked once, let the tower hit them once, and then auto-attacked again.

First Blood!

Two minion waves had been pushed in, and the third wave was on its way, allowing him to calmly collect them the moment he returned to lane.

However, the early game was merely the appetizer; the real show was yet to come.

Nuguri pushed up his glasses resting on the bridge of his nose, the lenses reflecting a sharp glint. "Don't worry, I'm going to make sure he doesn't even get experience in the early game. Twisted Fate can never beat Jax."

Furthermore, Jax had zero fear of Twisted Fate's W ability.

That left only one option.

Twisted Fate turtled under the turret for the entirety of the phase, leaving the opposing Jax momentarily without any good solutions.

"Feels good, feels good."

"He's got nothing left, brothers! This silly bird has completely run out of tricks! Put all your money on FPX to win!"

After resurrecting, he purchased two more health potions and hurried back to lane.

Both attempts to gank had ended in failure.

In reality, the subsequent minions entering the tower triggered the status once again.

Compared to the astonishment or excitement of the others.

Looking at Jax, his health bar was still above fifty percent.

A half-month of rigorous practice had not significantly increased Cheng Xian's overall strength.

Returning the lens to the game.

Because Cheng Xian's previous performances had been too dazzling, the others found it difficult to say much, and Wink only tentatively asked if they needed to swap lanes.

The rest grew somewhat worried, and Wink asked once more if a lane swap was necessary.

Inside the iG team voice chat.

Cheng Xian's expression appeared much calmer.

"This is just the beginning. In this game, I'm going to kill him ten times!"

...

Right at the start, they were already at a massive disadvantage!

This scene drove countless iG anti-fans who had been holding back for a long time into a frenzy.

[Lucky Star status triggered! Lucky value +1%, overall strength +10%!]

He only needed the mechanism to adjudicate roughly seventeen random events before he could reliably rewrite a random event into a guaranteed lucky event!

[Lucky Star status triggered! Lucky value +1%, overall strength +10%!]

"I understand the logic, but why do you call me Brother Nuri?"

Inside the iG team.

iG members: "..."

"Good! Well killed!"

At this moment, inside the FPX players' lounge.

Steak was comfortably crossing his legs, tilting his head back to gaze at the screen where iG was gradually falling behind, and couldn't help smiling with confidence.

"It seems iG's undefeated core in the playoffs has been broken by me. Once you restrict that single point, Shaqima, the entire team loses all effectiveness."

"They can no longer win. Leave the spot for the World Championship to us, FPX; only we can shoulder the heavy burden of winning the title!"

(End of this chapter)