LPL didn't want me? I joined SKT instead!

The competition has officially begun.

The massive Summoner's Rift descended onto the screen, and accompanied by thunderous chants of "RNG, keep going!" from the audience, the decisive fifth game slowly began.

In the initial skirmish, both sides were extremely cautious, forming a long, single-file line, neither daring to launch a rash attack. In a life-or-death battle of this magnitude, any early mistake could lead to utter ruin.

At 1 minute and 30 seconds, the entire army launched an attack.

In the bottom lane, Uzi's Caitlyn and Ming's Taric arrived on time.

Uzi's gaze was more focused than ever before; he knew very well what choosing the female police officer meant.

"Suppress them! Shi Senming, we have to get to level two first!" Uzi shouted in the voice chat, clicking the mouse frantically as he controlled Caitlyn to dangerously probe the edge of the minion wave.

"Bang!"

A headshot landed precisely on CoreJJ's Luo, taking away a significant amount of his health.

However, Ruler and CoreJJ are incredibly shrewd.

As SSG's bot lane duo, they are all too aware of Xayah and Rakan's level 1 weakness.

They didn't trade blows with Uzi at all, just used Xayah's Q skill to last-hit minions from a distance, preferring to miss a few melee minions rather than give Caitlyn a chance to use Lethal Tempo.

"SSG's bot lane is too solid." In the SKT viewing room, Wolf stared at the screen with a slight frown. "They know Caitlyn needs to exert pressure in the early game, so they just let the wave go. Once the minion wave reaches the tower, Taric's short range disadvantage will be exposed, and Caitlyn won't be able to hit the tower at all."

Sure enough, when Uzi finally managed to push the minion wave to SSG's tower with great effort, he was devastated to find that he couldn't find an opportunity to attack the tower at all.

Ruler's Xayah is positioned in an extremely tricky spot. Whenever Caitlyn dares to approach the tower, CoreJJ's Rakan is ready to use his W skill "Grand Entrance" to lift her up.

Time ticked by, and six minutes into the game had passed.

Mlxg's Lee Sin was like a mad dog, constantly looking for opportunities in the jungle.

He knew this game couldn't drag on. Facing SSG's impenetrable defense with Gnar, Galio, and Xayah in the late game, RNG had no chance of winning if they didn't seize the early game advantage.

"I'm coming down! Dog, get ready to dive!" Mlxg marked the bottom lane turret.

At this moment, SSG's bot lane duo was low on health, presenting an excellent opportunity.

The Blind Monk circled around from the red team's triangular bush and landed a precise Sonic Blow on Rakan under the tower.

"Xiangguo is on! This is a chance!" Wawa shouted excitedly from the commentary booth.

However, just as the Blind Monk's second Q flew past, a dazzling light shone on Rakan's body.

It's teleportation!

In the mid lane, Crown's Galio immediately used his teleport, targeting the bottom lane's first turret! Not only that, Ambition's Gragas also emerged from behind the Krugs with his big belly.

"This is a trap! SSG has been counter-camping all along!" Miller roared in despair.

Facing a four-man encirclement by SSG, Mlxg had no way to avoid being knocked up by Gragas' E-Flash, followed by Galio landing and taunting him.

Lee Sin didn't even have time to use Flash before Ruler's Xayah secured the first blood.

"First Blood!"

This system notification sound was like a heavy hammer blow, striking the hearts of all LPL fans.

"Oh no..." Coach Kkoma shook his head. "The Lee Sin lost his rhythm in the early game, and Caitlyn not only failed to get the tower plate, but also lost a wave of minions. RNG's tactical plan has failed."

Xiao Yan leaned back on the sofa, looking at Uzi's tightly clenched lips on the screen, a complex emotion welling up inside him.

He could sense Uzi's anxiety. After respawning, the female police officer returned to her lane, her positioning becoming even more aggressive, each auto-attack carrying a reckless ferocity. Uzi, relying on his abnormal individual skill, managed to out-farm Ruler by ten CS.

But the advantage of those ten strikes seems so pale and powerless in the face of the gap in hero mechanics.

At the 15-minute mark, the second dragon (fire dragon) spawned.

This is a resource that RNG must fight for.

If SSG gets the Fire Dragon, their late-game damage will be even more terrifying.

The two sides engaged in a protracted tug-of-war in the Xiaolongkeng River.

Xiaohu's Malzahar was hiding in the bushes, trying to find an opportunity to flash and use his ultimate to stun Ruler's Xayah. If they could kill Xayah quickly, RNG would win this team fight.

"Look at me! Look at me! I can hit Xayah with my ultimate!" Xiaohu shouted in the voice chat. Malzahar appeared out of the bush like a ghost and used his ultimate "Nether Grasp" to target Ruler!

At this critical moment, a breathtaking maneuver occurred.

Ruler didn't even use Flash; he simply pressed the R key with extreme composure.

"Feathers flying everywhere!"

Xayah leaped high into the air and vanished into the untargetable void, perfectly dodging Malzahar's ultimate and scattering deadly feathers across the ground.

"He dodged it! Ruler used his ultimate to dodge Malzahar's pressure! That's Xayah! That's the true value of the meta pick!" Guan Zeyuan shouted hoarsely on the commentary stage.

The moment he landed, Ruler pressed his E skill "Backstab" without hesitation.

The feathers on the ground instantly retracted, not only immobilizing Xiao Hu's Malzahar in place, but also taking away half of his health!

"Counterattack! Counterattack!" Ambition shouted, and Gragas unleashed his ultimate, "Explosive Gragas," shattering RNG's formation.

CuVee's Gnar, fueled by rage, leaped into the crowd like an ancient beast, slapping Letme's Shen and Ming's Taric against the wall.

Under SSG's perfect control chain, Uzi's Caitlyn appeared so helpless. He desperately kited and placed traps on the ground, his actions were at their maximum, but when he hit Galio who had activated his W damage reduction, only a pitiful two-digit damage was dealt.

"Not enough damage! The policewoman's current equipment can't even scratch the front line!" Doll clutched her head in anguish.

Ultimately, the team fight ended with SSG achieving a 2-for-0 exchange and securing the Infernal Dragon.

The economic situation is poor, and the gap has widened to four thousand.

The entire Oriental Sports Center was eerily quiet. Tens of thousands of spectators held their breath, watching helplessly as the team, a symbol of hope, slid deeper and deeper into the abyss.

The SKT viewing room.

"Did you see that?" Xiao Yan pointed at Xayah on the screen who was recalling. "If that position had been Uzi, if he were playing Xayah, Xiaohu wouldn't have needed to risk initiating a team fight. Xayah could just stand there and be an unstoppable nuclear weapon. But because he's playing Caitlyn, he could only scrape the edges and watch helplessly as his teammates got engaged on."

Little Peanut fell silent.

Although he plays jungle, he can still understand the harsh realities of the bot lane meta.

"But... Uzi's Caitlyn is really good." Huni couldn't help but say, "Look at his positioning just now, dodging Gragas' Q, dodging Galio's Q, his fundamentals are simply perfect."

"What's the use of perfection?" Xiao Yan's voice carried a hint of coldness. "In the face of the power of a team, individual perfection is insignificant. Going against the meta isn't something everyone can do; at least Uzi doesn't have that ability yet."

Xiao Yan's thoughts involuntarily drifted back to that autumn in Season 6.