League of Legends: League of Unknowns

“Screw this, hurry up and get me the Blue Buff—I’m being choked to death out there!” Xiao Guangjun whined.

“Alright, it’ll be respawning soon,” Li Sheng replied. “Your health is a little low. What if Twisted Fate jumps you with his ulti?”

“How would he dare? I’d kill him the moment he comes within reach,” Xiao Guangjun declared self-assuredly.

Li Sheng brought Xin Zhao over to their Blue Buff. At around the two-minute mark, he’d stolen the enemy’s Red Buff before taking his own Blue, so their Blue Buff would only be respawning a little after the seventh minute.

Xin Zhao had bought a Phantom Dancer, but everything else was tank equipment. He wouldn’t be able to deal that much damage at the moment, and the pace of his Jungling had slowed down as a result.

“Take it.” Xin Zhao had beaten the Ancient Golem to its last HP. From the other side of the wall, Brand tossed a ‘Pillar of Flame’ on it, acquiring this vital boon for himself . ¹

“With this Blue, see if I don’t clean his clock!” Xiao Guangjun had a score to settle.

For any Mid player, it was humiliating to be forced to farm under their own tower—especially a powerhouse like Brand!

With the aura of the Blue Buff radiating from beneath his feet, his dwindling mana bar quickly filled back up to full.

And then a pair of glaring red eyes appeared in the sky overhead!

Those menacing eyes looked down upon the entire battlefield, revealing the positions of all the champions on either side.

“Oh crap, Twisted Fate is using his ulti!” Brand wailed in alarm.

A circle of shimmering cards spiraled into existence in a long patch of brush, North of Brand. The next moment, Twisted Fate was there! He rose up from the circle of cards, as though stepping out of a mystical portal, and strolled forth casually.

The golden Stun card was already in his hand. He flung it, and it spun as it hurtled through the air, whistling with the promise of death!

Clang!

The golden card struck Brand resoundingly, rooting him in place and taking off another measure of his health!

Wild Cards!

Three razor-sharp cards spread out in a fan, the middle card slashing through Brand and lopping off yet another portion of his health bar!

Ignite on top of a ‘Stacked Deck’ attack!

The cards swirling around Twisted Fate folded together into a pile as he reached for another shot. Together with the damage boost from Sheen ¹ , this empowered basic attack bit off another chunk of Brand’s health!

He’d only had two-thirds of his health left to start with, and he’d already finished all his Health Potions earlier. With this withering chain of attacks from Twisted Fate, along with the damage-over-time from the ‘Ignite’ spell, his health was swiftly reduced to nothing.

Still holding on to life somehow, Brand began to retaliate with his own skills. However, panicked and flustered, he failed to hit Twisted Fate with his ‘Sear’ to Stun him. The Ignite effect still burning away, he was finally brought down with a couple more basic attacks.

With a hoarse cry of defeat, Brand burned away to nothing as he collapsed, leaving only a smoldering silhouette upon the ground.

Twisted Fate put away his cards with a flourish, his long coat billowing about him. He whisked away the Blue Buff from Brand’s ashes, and then returned to his lane to continue farming.

The kill had been smooth and effortless, a flawless demonstration of the artistry involved in using the mysterious powers of Twisted Fate to take a life.

“Oh! Calmly farming all this while, now Twisted Fate shines again with a solo kill against Brand! Rather than flying up Top to help out, or zipping down to Bottom for a gank, the first victim of his ultimate skill was none other than Brand!”

Another round of applause greeted Yu Luocheng’s kill on Brand.

“Ladies and gentlemen, you may think that was nothing special just now—anyone who plays Twisted Fate should know all about using his ulti to finish a kill—but playing LoL is not such a simple matter!

“Take this marvelous solo kill for example: Twisted Fate’s player chose the perfect moment, just as Brand was getting the Blue Buff for himself. While in lane against each other, Twisted Fate had constantly been forcing Brand to use up his own mana, so that when the Blue Buff respawned on his side, Brand would naturally want to get it. It’s a basic logical sequence.

“Add to that the damage that Brand had already suffered from Twisted Fate’s attacks earlier, while also noting his lack of healing items… therefore, when Brand went to collect the Blue Buff, Twisted Fate used his ulti to swoop in and take him down.

“You could all see it on the big screen: Team Aviator’s ‘Ancient Golem’ camp had already been warded by Evelynn in advance, and Twisted Fate had waited until Brand had actually picked up the Blue Buff before making his move, rather than intercepting him along the way.

“This was all for the sake of taking the Blue Buff for himself, and also to catch Brand while his skills were on cooldown. Otherwise, if Twisted Fate had used Destiny ¹ to perform a cold jump onto Brand, it’s likely he would have eaten a full skill combo upon arrival.

“When playing LoL yourself, you might feel frustrated for getting caught in an ambush, although the same thing happens even at the highest level of play. Well, there actually is a difference, and you can see it in details like these. The one who killed you was always one step ahead of you—perhaps even several steps.”

It was an insightful bit of commentary from the MC: in a game like LOL, you really couldn’t demonstrate too much of a difference purely through how well you controlled a champion, since there were only so many moves you could make . ¹

Did that make it a simple game to play?

Each champion has four skills and one passive—some champions can switch modes, giving them a total of eight skills. Do you know all the ways to use every skill on every champion—all the unspecified effect details and interactions?

Which Summoner Spells you should choose, which ones your opponent has chosen—as well as whether or not they’ve used them recently, whether they currently have those Spells available… have you gotten used to keeping track of these matters?

What items your opponent has gotten, how much of your health they can take off with a full skill combo—and the same calculations for yourself, against them… are you proficient at performing these calculations?

When the enemy Jungler isn’t visible on the map, are they moving to gank you?

When your opponent in lane is normally skittish, then suddenly moves in to attack, it’s a clear sign that he’s not alone!

When the Blue Buff will respawn, and when the opponent will go to get it, whether you’ll be able to lay an ambush for them… these are also judgments you’ll have to learn to make!

‘League of Legends’, rather than just being a test of teamwork and skill, is more a contest of wits.

And so, never say that the one who killed you had just gotten lucky. Heh.

***

Xiao Guangjun’s face was as red as the flames that wreathed Brand’s form!

What was the most unbearable thing in LoL? Being outwitted.

Against Twisted Fate, Brand should have had the advantage: he had superior burst damage, and he should be equal to Twisted Fate in terms of mana usage.

And in most cases, Twisted Fate wouldn’t dare to use his ultimate skill against Brand. Timing a ‘Pillar of Flame’ to greet his arrival through ‘Destiny’, and then immediately following that up with a ‘Sear’… although Twisted Fate would still be able to throw out his golden card, he himself would be Stunned nevertheless.

But Xiao Guangjun had never imagined that his opponent would jump him while his ‘Pillar of Flame’ was on cooldown!

“Evelynn must have warded the area!” This was the only thing Xin Zhao could say, as the Jungler watched helplessly from the other side of the wall while his teammate was slaughtered.

“What use is it telling me now?!” Xiao Guangjun bellowed in reply.