Chapter 23: The Supreme Art of the Top Lane!

With the conclusion of the opening ceremony, the Demacia Cup finals began in short order.

Game one.

Just as Coach Nofe had anticipated, White Moon’s drafting logic was straightforward. In his view, V5’s strongest system was the "double-ring" composition of Xin Zhao and Gwen, so he decided to leave it open to test them. As an insurance policy, he banned several high-tier bottom-lane champions, while simultaneously taking Twisted Fate and Sylas off the board.

Thus, the lineups for the first game were set:
TES: Top Jayce, Jungle Viego, Mid Viktor, Bot Tristana + Alistar.
V5: Top Gwen, Jungle Xin Zhao, Mid Azir, Bot Lucian + Nami.

Even Luo Ji, upon seeing these lineups, couldn't help but inwardly marvel at White Moon’s arrogance. In terms of proficiency, the double-ring was indeed their most practiced system, but to leave Azir open and let Knight play Viktor into it? The intent was sound, but Knight was a player whose performance leaned toward the metaphysical; he was notorious for being "invisible" when playing scaling champions, effectively avoiding any blame for a loss.

In this game, the jungle focus was almost certain to be the bottom lane. Lucian/Nami and Tristana/Alistar were destined to clash—one pair representing pure romance and the other representing the "Cuckold" archetype; they were natural-born enemies. Karsa’s ability to peel for his carries was unquestionable, but the only question was whether the bottom lane would crumble on its own.

Of course, these were just passing thoughts. For Luo Ji in the top lane, the priority was figuring out how to survive the lane against Jayce.

Indeed. He was counter-picked again.

Gwen, the Hallowed Seamstress, had many "daddies" and "mommies." Her physical-damage "daddy" was Jax, and her magical-damage "daddy" was Akali. Jayce, strictly speaking, was a type of foster father—the kind you could backstab.

This brings to mind the top-lane data from the S12 Spring Split in the original timeline. In the first half of that season, TheShy maintained a 100% win rate on Gwen, while Bin and Huang each held over 90%. In fact, the win rate for Gwen across the entire LPL was absurdly high. The few games where these elite top laners lost on Gwen were mostly against Jax or Gnar. Curiously, Jayce rarely won against Gwen and was often schooled in return. The core issue wasn't that Jayce couldn't pressure Gwen; it was that there were very few elite Jayce players in the LPL. One had to admit that with long-range champions, performance really depended on the player’s ID and current form.

And so... even though he was in a counter-matchup, did Jiang Bao not have dreams of becoming a legendary general like Lu Bu?
Foster father? I specialize in stabbing foster fathers!

As the game began, Karsa’s voice sounded clearly in Luo Ji’s ear:
"Meng, the usual rules for this game."
"I get you."
"Hard work ahead."
"It's not hard work, it's just a hard life."

Although Karsa had said he would focus on the bottom lane, that was just his plan. The silent and stoic Tian on the opposing side hadn't made any such promises. Who knew if he might have a sudden flash of inspiration and gank top early? For Tian, who had just joined TES, his only reliable jungle picks at this stage were Viego and Xin Zhao. It was ironic that he ended up with one of them.

There was no helping it. As a transmigrator, Luo Ji knew this, but the coaches wouldn't believe it if he just said it out loud. The league would have to spend the entire Spring Split regular season verifying it before they slowly realized the issue.

While Luo Ji worried about getting his kidneys stabbed by the enemy jungler, Zoom was looking at the Gwen in front of him, who was playing so cautiously it was almost cowardly. Several large question marks flickered in his mind.

This... this isn't right, is it? He’d heard that the opposing top laner was terrifyingly stable, but from Zoom’s perspective as a veteran, no 18-year-old top laner could actually be that disciplined. Even if they could, it was usually an act that would fall apart given time. But what was he seeing now? A rookie top laner whose experience in pressure management was as seasoned as a veteran’s, while he, the actual veteran, was the one acting like a rookie, constantly pushing forward to force a mistake?

"This... this is supposed to be my job!!!"

"What's wrong?" Sensing the shift in Zoom’s mood, Tian instinctively asked, his gaze drifting to the top lane. It looked normal enough. Wasn't their veteran top-lane big brother currently pressing the opponent?

"Nothing. It’s just that this rookie on the other side... he’s a bit more than I expected." Zoom took a deep breath. If the opponent was going to play like this, he had to change his approach. Defensive counter-attacking clearly wouldn't work; he had to be more aggressive. The problem was, this style wasn't his strongest suit.

"Is it starting again?" Outside the screen, Ale, who had been disgusted by Luo Ji’s "Great Wall" top-lane playstyle, grinned from ear to ear.

Normally, professional top laners were friends, or at least in a massive group chat for bragging and sharing information. And so, he had intentionally kept the "disgusting" nature of V5’s top laner a secret. Yes, disgusting. Even though he was a rookie brought up by Flandre, he showed none of Flandre’s "greasiness." Instead, he exuded a kind of sleaziness; every strategy he used existed solely to annoy his opponent.

Since he had been annoyed, why shouldn't everyone else be? *Aren't we all brothers?*

On the screen, the situation was clear. In the top lane, Gwen was doing her best to play cowardly and avoid a beating. Facing the artillery fire of the wealthy, handsome Jayce, she was playing the classic game of a "Tickle Mouse" player.
*What? You want to bully me? Let me tell you, I don't care if you bully others, but if you bully me? You're just hitting cotton.*
Purely taking the beating.

In the bottom lane, JackeyLove’s prowess at the end of S11 was unquestionable. But his support was mediocre, and Alistar was somewhat trashy in the early game. Plus, he was wary of Karsa, who knew his playstyle all too well. Thus, his early laning was average and conservative, currently being pressured by the Support "Xiao Yan" Ppgod.

Mid lane? Two farmers. What was there to say? One could only hope their farming friendship would end like Louis XVI—without a head.

The situation fit the audience’s expectations, but for Tian, it was absolutely rotten. Viego was a scaling hero; he only ganked if there was a clear opportunity. Right now, there wasn't one in the bottom lane, as Karsa was nowhere to be seen. As for top lane, the opponent was playing so cowardly it didn't even look human, offering no openings. It was as if he’d undergone professional anti-pressure training—his W and E skills were used solely to dodge Jayce’s EQ.

That was how Gwen versus Jayce went: as long as you dodged the Jayce EQ, he couldn't do much to you unless his mechanics were a full tier above yours.

The situation was deadlocked because Luo Ji knew exactly how to play Gwen against Jayce. But there was no choice—top lane was the most actionable area. He needed to wait for Jayce to whittle down Gwen’s health and then coordinate a tower dive.

In the TES voice comms:
"Zoom, is there an opportunity top?"
"I'm trying."
...
"Zoom, what about now?"
"Almost, almost."
...
"Zoom, still not ready?"
"I really am trying, QAQ."

To be honest, he was being driven numb by the opponent’s playstyle. He could gain an advantage, but it was always just a hair’s breadth away from what he wanted. He couldn't force the opponent to recall, nor could he whittle the health down enough for the jungler to secure a kill. And he was running out of time. He could play aggressively before level six, but once he hit six, playing that recklessly would invite a counter-kill.

It felt like being in the middle of a private, late-night "manual craft" session, just a tiny bit away from completion, only to find you’ve run out of supplies, the ordinary ones don't interest you, and your family is about to walk back through the door. This state of "almost there" was the most lethal.

In contrast, V5’s Karsa was in his element. Their bottom lane wasn't afraid of Viego coming, and the 3v2 pressure forced JackeyLove and Zhuo to stay under their tower.

By the seven-minute mark, both teams entered the second phase. The mid, top, and jungle all hit level six!

Only now did Karsa start thinking about a new plan. Although the bottom lane had an advantage, without forcing a kill or a Flash, he hadn't achieved his expected goal. He knew deep down that the reason for this stalemate was simple: while he knew TES well, TES knew him just as well. After all, he had played for that team for an entire year. Standard strategies would be seen through, so what if he tried something unconventional?

"Meng?"
"Yeah?"
In the top lane, Luo Ji, who was busy "mingling" with Zoom, almost misclicked when he heard the voice.
"Control the wave. I’m heading up to gank after I back."

"For real? Foster Father!?"

Perhaps the stars were aligning. Just as Karsa prepared to gank top, Rookie in the mid lane realized he could push the wave at the same time. Hearing Karsa’s plan, he thought for a moment and said, "In that case, I'll go up too. But I need to set a trap first."

Luo Ji: "!!!"

The "trap" Rookie spoke of was to engage Knight and trade health. Once both were low, his disappearance would seem reasonable. Of course, that was just the first layer. If Knight overthought it and guessed it was a feint, he would fall into the second layer, thinking Rookie was heading bottom—especially since V5 had focused on the bottom lane all game.

And he? He was actually on the fifth layer! This was Rookie’s thousand-layer-cake stratagem.

Clearly, Knight fell for it. Due to the champion difference, Viktor needed to be locked in lane to upgrade his hex core more than Azir did. Seeing Rookie engage and then vanish, he instinctively pinged a missing signal to the bottom lane and continued his duty of loving his minions.

*Huh? This signal?*
*Rotating to the top half? Does V5’s tactical style change this fast? They’re doing a 3-man dive top?*
*That makes sense. Jayce is an advantage if he stays even. They have to deal with him, or he’ll land two shots in the mid-game and the team fight will be over.*
*Run away! You two-hundred-pound big brother!!!*

At this moment, Zoom clearly hadn't realized the severity of the situation. Mid lane was indeed missing, but in the team comms, Knight’s info on Rookie’s movement was vague. Looking at the minimap and seeing his position under the tower, it was normal not to be sure where the enemy mid went—either he was backing or heading bot.

Thinking this, he looked at the Gwen in front of him who only knew how to cower. Relying on his minion advantage, he became the "Happy Superman" again, muttering, "I am Happy Superman, when I'm happy I want to be a Superman!"

"I'll super-kill you!"

Relying on his range and minion lead, Zoom’s positioning was aggressive. In his mind, the enemy jungler was protecting the bottom lane, and the mid laner had likely backed. Didn't that mean he had infinite freedom to attack? Even Tian wasn't bothering to hover nearby, which meant he was perfectly safe.

However... the moment he pressed his advantage, the Gwen in front of him suddenly turned to fight back.

Zoom: ?
Is he crazy?
No!
There’s a f***ing third party!!!

His immense competitive experience allowed him to make the right choice instantly. It was like a scene from a movie—when the conceptual weapon of "My father is Zhang Erhe" was invoked, the opponent couldn't prove it was real, but they couldn't prove it was fake either; they had to act as if it were true.

"He ran so fast." Watching Zoom retreat without hesitation, Luo Ji was shocked. Is this the true "food-power" of a veteran? He thought his own cowardice was enough to be an eyesore, but there was always someone better at it. This guy was a talent!

Too bad... he’d taken so many beatings, endured so much pressure, and finally filled his ultimate. You think you can just escape? Where would they hide their faces if he let you go?

"You think you can run away like that?"
"Watch closely, this is the supreme technique of the top lane!"
"Daddy's here!"

As the words fell, Karsa’s Xin Zhao lunged from the river, targeting Jayce. But Zoom’s reaction was too fast. His experience allowed him to retreat, giving him a high chance of survival. Facing the spear aimed at his kidneys, he switched to melee form to hammer him back, then immediately burned his Flash.

No hesitation, completely decisive!

The difference between a veteran and a rookie was clear here—they were bullies who feared the strong but valued their lives above all else. Under normal circumstances, he might have escaped.

But! They had been fully prepared. Luo Ji took a deep breath, gathered all his internal energy in his dantian, and roared:
"If 'Daddy's here' isn't enough..."
"Then..."
"Mommy's here too!!!"

Just as Zoom dodged the Xin Zhao gank and thought he was safe, a yellow flash appeared at the edge of the jungle entrance!

Dead Water, reporting for duty!