Chapter 61: FPX Rapidly Shifts Tactics! The IG Inhibitor Turret Threatened at Ten Minutes

"Holy shit! This..." Tian was dumbfounded.

Fixated on securing the Twisted Fate kill, he was dragged straight down out of mid-air during his second-segment Q by a massive Ashe ultimate arrow.

A three-second stun! Completely immobilized!

The entire venue went wild.

Jie Ke’s voice reached a fever pitch as he began to cast frantically.

"It’s the Ashe R!! When did the Ashe loose that arrow?! It literally crossed the entire Summoner’s Rift, striking the Blind Monk dead in the top lane right as he was about to make his move! This scene feels so familiar!! Season 6, ROX versus SKT, the AD God Pray’s Ashe delivering a divine arrow to intercept the teleporting Ekko! Wink! My superman!!"

"The Blind Monk can’t move!"

"Your Jax might have teammates nearby, but my Twisted Fate has teammates—all the way from the edge of the horizon!"

"A single arrow pierces the clouds, ten thousand soldiers arrive to answer the call! Now it’s Twisted Fate’s showtime!"

"Shaqima seized the rare opportunity! He’s chasing down the Jax right in front of the Blind Monk! ...My god! Another critical strike!!"

"Two basic attacks! Jax is dead!"

"What kind of garbage gameplay is this? My mental state is utterly shattered! Are we getting played like monkeys by FPX this game?"

The distance between the tier-two tower and the inhibitor turret was nowhere near as long as the stretch between tier-one and tier-two. Once breached, the base defense would be in extreme peril.

Boom!!

"Ashe and Morgana still have over ten seconds before respawning! Oh my god!! Are FPX actually trying to breach the inhibitor turret at the ten-minute mark?!"

By the time they respawned, resupplied, and returned to the lane, the next minion wave would essentially be stalled in the middle or pushing directly toward their own defensive tower.

"FPX is grouping up as four to push the tower at incredible speed!! With a Caitlyn and a Jax! IG’s bot lane tier-two tower is barely holding on!!"

This guy was freakishly bizarre this match.

Taking a loss was guaranteed, but at this moment, it was the only way to stem the bleeding.

"Shaqima and Xun are both in the top lane! Rookie’s Ryze in mid wants to roam and assist! But Doinb’s Syndra is playing solo defense, locking him down! Not letting him budge!"

This...

He couldn't even bear to look any longer.

"Push for me!! Crush IG!!"

Ashe, whose health was already critically low, was snuffed out by a single gunshot, collapsing to the ground.

What kind of concept was this?

It was equivalent to trading blows at level one and instantly taking away two-thirds of the enemy's HP bar!

And this was merely probability—natural critical strikes could happen at any moment!

The tier-two tower was already crumbling, unable to take many more hits.

Yet... looking into Cheng Xian’s unwavering gaze.

Ultimate ability, Let Bullets Fly!

"The Lee Sin fires his Sonic Wave through the thick wall, successfully tagging Ashe!"

"Forget it, I’ll play safe, you go find plays in the other lanes," Nuguri sighed helplessly, fully aware his stage had vanished this game.

……

Decisive and resolute, he immediately conceded the lane!

Abandoning the lane and avoiding further confrontation with Twisted Fate, his sights shifted entirely to the bot lane!

At this moment, IG’s bot lane duo, Wink and TheShy, were preparing to clear two accumulated minion waves before recalling.

Luck value had reached 45%.

Comprehensive capability increased by 450%!

FPX also knew full well that IG’s duo was looking to push the wave, seizing this once-in-a-lifetime golden opportunity.

His expression grew solemn, fingers gently caressing the keyboard. After a brief moment, he exhaled slowly and made his decision.

The ever-shifting battlefield left the sparse audience in utter shock.

"Oh!! Wink’s reaction is also lightning-fast! The moment Lee Sin was about to R-Flash onto him, he instantly flashed backward! The Ashe wasn't kicked into Thresh’s embrace, but instead flew a distance toward his own minion wave!"

A 65% probability meant it had already surpassed the threshold of one crit every two hits, reaching two crits every three hits.

The minion wave was pushed into the enemy defensive tower, allowing the tower to shred the minions while they recalled.

"I’ll block! I can block!" TheShy controlling Morgana instinctively tried to intercept the bullet for Ashe.

A four-man pincer closed in, tearing her to shreds in an instant!

"Push the tower! Push the tower with everything we have!! Never give Twisted Fate any room to scale!!" Following a successful ambush, a series of roars erupted from inside the FPX team comms.

With her ultimate on cooldown and having already burned her flash, Ashe possessed zero escape routes remaining!

A gunshot bloomed with blood on Ashe’s forehead.

Entangled and brutally beaten by Jax! Her health bar plummeted like a roller coaster straight to the bottom!

Simultaneously, Caitlyn’s sniper rifle locked onto Ashe, the infrared sight casting a tiny, trembling red dot onto the pristine forehead of the ice archer.

Cheng Xian dragged his mouse, sliding his camera view down to the bot lane.

"You killed their Jax right under the tower, right in front of their Blind Monk, and still got away! Nuguri must be furious!!"

Knowing full well that once Twisted Fate returned to the lane, he wouldn't stand a chance regardless.

The tiny advantage Twisted Fate had established in the top lane was almost completely obliterated by this snowballing avalanche.

"The tier-one top tower was taken down using the Rift Herald dropped by Twisted Fate, but at the same time, FPX’s Caitlyn composition had already chipped away massive amounts of HP from IG’s bot tier-one tower in the early game! It goes down in a matter of seconds! ...Wait! FPX has no intention of leaving! All four members are joining forces to keep pushing!!"

There was a game of strategy inherent in minion waves as well.

Without suspense, the Herald was pocketed, picked up by Cheng Xian, and brought to the lane with the eye activated. (Summoning the Rift Herald could knock off two plating health bars from the first defensive tower—amounting to 320 gold in economy.)

Nuguri was indeed worthy of being a former championship top laner.

"Tian’s Lee Sin is so practiced! He wards-jumped mid-Q to forcefully alter his trajectory, dodging Morgana’s Q crowd control! An R-Flash Insec kick, trying to fling Ashe right into the faces of his own Caitlyn and Thresh!" Miller entered his frantic casting mode, each word sharper and faster than the last.

"Yes! Play it just like that!"

Completely unprepared, IG never anticipated FPX would push towers with such a desperate, all-in mentality.

In the blind spot of vision, Lee Sin warded over the wall, locked onto the angle, and landed a Sonic Wave straight onto Ashe!

Xun wanted to call out to Cheng Xian, asking him to stay and push the top lane together.

"Second-cast Q, Resonating Strike!"

+35% Attack Speed.

+20% Critical Strike Chance.

+7% Movement Speed.

Plus pulling out a "Shy Blade" (Cull, granting bonus economy per minion kill).

Instead, they could trade evenly, demolishing the top tier-two tower together while shaving half the health off FPX’s top inhibitor turret.

Once the inhibitor was taken at the ten-minute mark, FPX could leverage the super minions in the bot lane to control IG’s lower jungle quadrant, securing dragons and resources.

"It seems IG hasn't gained much of an advantage this game despite Twisted Fate's lead." At the caster desk, facing FPX’s sudden shift in gear, Jie Ke offered praise to the FPX squad: "FPX still has championship pedigree; this rapid tempo change caught IG completely off guard! Beautiful!"

"Goodness! What kind of certain doom luck is this?! A guaranteed death sentence saved by a teammate’s ultimate! Wink’s synergy can only be described as a divine stroke!"

Four-man dive on two!!

"Well played! Just like that! Push straight through in one wave!!" In the FPX backstage lounge, Steak clenched his fists and roared.

Whether it was the crazily triggered critical strike probabilities during lane trades or the passive bounty triggered while last-hitting minions, Cheng Xian’s stats continued to skyrocket.

"Half the health is gone!"

The IG fans in the livestream were equally holding their breath.

"Step aside!!" Liu Qinghong scoffed coldly, his Thresh swinging the chains in his hand.

Next up was nothing more than a useless Morgana.

"Is there seriously no one who can defend the inhibitor?"

The skirmish ignited instantly!

"Is IG’s bot lane safe?! ...No! A teleport visual effect lights up on the Krugs ward! There’s vision FPX planted in advance! It’s Nuguri’s Jax! He’s teleporting onto the flanking ward! Twisted Fate used his teleport to return to lane earlier, so his CD isn't up yet! He can’t assist!"

Xun’s lips parted, but ultimately no words came out.

Once an advantage was established by Twisted Fate in the top lane, contest for the Rift Herald basically became none of the enemy jungler’s concern.

"Are we really going to lose this game??"

Their bot lane inhibitor was clearly impossible to hold.

"Little Phoenix, charge on! Secure our ticket to Iceland this year!"

Wasn't this game looking like a massive victory for IG just a moment ago...?

"Though Jax collapsed in the top lane, he rotated instantly to the bot lane, coordinating with his teammates to secure a quick double kill!"

"Ryze, come down to bot and defend the base!"

At this moment, the clock ticked past eight minutes. Armed with Rapid Firecannon and maxing his E ability, Twisted Fate had established himself as the undisputed overlord of the top lane!

His second item itemization went straight into Infinity Edge! Maximizing his critical strike damage to the absolute limit.

"Twisted Fate escapes the turret range with sliver HP, slipping away into the tri-brush!! Mid-laner Rookie is already rotating to help... Twisted Fate is running! He’s actually running!!"

"Xun, you push the top tier-two tower with the Herald, I'll go defend the base!"

Stepping out of the Fountain and heading back to the lane, he called for Xun to take the Rift Herald.

Pushing aside the inner banter, Cheng Xian refocused his mind entirely back onto the game.

Was Cheng Xian’s luck that clean?

Cheng Xian figured it was okay. Had he not chosen the path of a professional esports player, he might already have been picked up by some wealthy socialite in her Maserati, shielding him from wind and rain.

"45% luck value, plus 20% critical strike chance, amounts to a 65% crit rate." Cheng Xian performed a simple math calculation in his head.

"This... how are we supposed to defend this..."

"Jax is charging out of the alcove!!"

It was precisely this minute detail with the hook that caused Caitlyn’s bullet to barely graze past Morgana’s delicate frame.

Seeing the enemy Ashe clearing minion waves near their own tower.

The snowball would only grow larger and larger.

In the bullet chat, IG fans fell silent, while FPX fans proudly stepped forward.

"Huh?" Xun hesitated for a fraction of a second, only to see Twisted Fate already channeling his Recall on the spot.

Stepping forward.

Cheng Xian glanced briefly, casting a glance at his status attributes for the match.

"I don't know if I can hold this, but I'll give it a try," Cheng Xian replied.

Smack!

Landing with pinpoint accuracy on Morgana while simultaneously yanking her closer.

"The bot lane erupts! FPX truly lives up to their championship pedigree; their playstyle is seasoned and slick! Realizing they couldn't break the top lane, they didn't hesitate for a second to redirect their focus to the bot lane!"

"Phew..."

Angry as he was, what could he possibly do?

"I wonder if I can withstand it. Let’s find out."