Chu Fang was in charge of the East China Regionals, so he was present at the event. And he was also in charge of Team Shanghai, so he watched their games. Right now, he sat in a private room backstage in front of a large tv screen that showed the game between Fuzhou Tech and Team Shanghai. Staff members were walking into the room and asking him to sign off on things, but he brushed them away. His full attention was directed towards the screen, towards Lin Feng. Maple. He smiled and balled a fist. Hes good! Much better than the last time I saw him play! I dont think itll take him much longer to reach Goalies level. Thats a good start for him. And from there we can push him to the real top!

The last weeks since Chu Fang had rediscovered Lin Feng came to mind. He lost a lot of his skill during his four year hiatus. I really wasnt too impressed with what I saw Chu Fang shook his head and grinned. But he was the best. And he still is the most talented player Ive ever seen! If we use the normal grading system, Maple wouldve hit anywhere between 95% to a perfect score. And Lin Feng hasnt dropped that far down. Some things you just dont forget. Ill give him a solid A right now. Yeah, I think thats a fair grade.

The system to judge a players skill level was incredibly comprehensive. Lin Fengs ability in some aspects had declined sharply over the last few years, his game mechanics being one of them. But there were other aspects of the game that he didnt unlearn. He knew like no other how to roam around the map, follow up on engages and control the flow of the game. They were the aspects of the game that many professional players were still struggling with, yet hed mastered them. This was why he could still play at the highest level despite his break from the game.

Chu Fang was in an incredibly good mood. Some of these things just come so easy to him! As if its second nature! So many pros struggle with learning how to roam their entire career, yet he just knows how to do it! Its those little things that hes just so good at! And then there also is He turned his attention to the large tv screen which was currently focused on the mid lane.

A storm was brewing around the tip of Yasuos blade. Lin Feng had dashed through to one minion! Sweeping Blades cooldown was almost zero. He just couldnt target the same minion twice. He didnt want to. There was another minion closer to the Lux. He had his Yasuo dash through that minion and clicked on the Lux, his finger lightly pressing down on the D key.

Fuzhou Techs Lux panicked. She saw the fed Yasuo dashing towards her and knew she was dead if he got on top of her. Light Binding! She cast a sphere of light that flew straight towards the Yasuo!

Lin Feng was ready for the Light Binding. He cast Flash. Yasuo disappeared with a mottled flash of light, then reappeared on top of the Lux. He activated Steel Tempest. The storm brewing at the tip of the blade was unleashed onto the battlefield! Winds howled and raged, launching Fuzhou Techs Lux into the air! And then Yasuo used his ultimate skill. Last Breath! He blinked to the Lux and suspended her in midair! Then he unloaded a flurry of strikes on her before slamming her back to the ground! The unquenchable flame from Ignite started burning on Luxs skin and a sharp cut from Steel Tempest pierced her body!

You have slain an enemy!

The audience erupted into cheers! Lin Feng had achieved a solo kill on the Lux! And he got away with zero damage dealt to him! It was especially the dodging of the Light Binding that evoked a strong response from everyone watching. That wasnt just limited to the spectators, but also to other teams competing in the tournament. Even the players from Zhejiang University were feeling the heat. Their Midlaner, Zuo Cheng, started to realise that beating Lin Feng might actually be impossible, while Sun Ruinian began to reevaluate his earlier assessment of Lin Fengs skill level.

Chu Fang grinned when he heard the cheers and started laughing when he saw the stunned expressions from Zhejiang Universitys players on a second screen. Thats right! His game senses and awareness are slowly coming back! Hes getting better and better by the game! But whats even more important are his mechanics! No one had better mechanics than him! And theyre coming back to him! Were getting to see the real Maple mechanics again! Hell stand on the Rift and become invincible again! Just like we planned!

Maybe we can push him a little harder, Chu Fang mumbled. He was better than Phoenix back in Season 1. Only Rake could put up some kind of resistance! But Lin Feng Maple was the best! He just was! We need that player back so that China can finally grow into one of the big regions! He chewed on his lips and tapped his fingers on the table next to him. With the way hes improving, I dont really see anyone in this tournament being much of a problem for him. Even that Goalie guy wont be his match. It would help if everyone knew how good he is. They might prepare harder

Chu Fang shook his head and frowned. That Midlaner from Fuzhou Tech might be a Master on the Ionia server and a B grade Midlaner, but thats just not enough to make Lin Feng really try. And it also doesnt help that the rest of Team Shanghai is also doing great. If Lin Feng doesnt really get pushed, he wont show exactly how much hes capable of. Its a shame, really. Goalie wont know how good Lin Feng is and wont prepare for that. Hell be screwed. I kind of I really want to see a fully prepared Goalie take on Lin Feng. He sighed and focused back on the game.

Lin Fengs Yasuo was fed. There wasnt a single player on Fuzhou Techs team safe from him. But the other players from Team Shanghai were also playing at an incredibly high level. Tang Bingyaos Lucian and Zeng Ruis Thresh decimated their opposition in the bot lane and destroyed the outer tower 13 minutes into the game. They then rotated to the mid lane and helped Lin Feng get another kill on Fuzhou Techs Midlaner followed by finally destroying the outer tower. Lin Feng had kept it up until now, just so that he could farm a few more kills on Lux.

An Xin also found the flow of the game, and of her Champion. Evelynn was the mistress of the shadows. There were so many potential plays An Xin could make with this Champion, because Evelynn could move around the map invisible. And that was exactly what An Xin started doing. Whenever Fuzhou Tech got the idea of teaming up to try and fight Team Shanghai, she would find a flank on them. Then shed engage on them from behind, bursting their backline down and distracting them from the follow up by the rest of Team Shanghai.

The audience didnt understand what had changed. They mumbled questions about the Evelynn that started the game farming Jungle camps like a noob yet was now finding the perfect angle for every attack. There was only more confusion in the responses. No one knew what to say. They didnt have the answer. Most of all, Rollfire didnt have an answer. He sat quietly at the caster desk, letting Silent Reed hype everyone up for the next beautiful engage orchestrated by An Xins Evelynn!

Get ready, Im going in! Became the staple sentence for An Xin when shed found the gank. The other players from Team Shanghai knew that when those words arrived over the teams voice chat, they didnt need to wait any longer. They could rush forward and jump at Fuzhou Techs team! The ensuing teamfights were clean victories. Every last one of them.

The game time hit 20 minutes and the surrender option became available. But this was a tournament with serious money on the line. Fuzhou Tech wasnt willing to surrender, arguing over their teams voice chat that they still had a chance at a comeback as long as their nexus was alive. They finally agreed that they just had to play the game ultra-defensively and hope for Team Shanghai to make enough mistakes for them to catch back up. More importantly, the longer a game went on, the fewer mistakes Team Shanghai could permit themselves to make. Because there was a maximum level and maximum number of items each Champion could buy. Once those were reached, it was only a matter of time until the other team caught up.

But the game never reached that point, because Team Shanghai didnt make any mistakes. Zeng Rui made sure of that. He guided his team from one tower to the next, pushing for objectives rather than kills. When the Dragon spawned, the team was preparing something in the two lanes bordering the dragon pit. And after slaying the Dragon, theyd go back to taking down towers. Fuzhou Tech lost their outer towers and inner towers. They tried to protect their inhibitor towers and inhibitors, but Team Shanghai was too far ahead.

At 25 minutes, Team Shanghai made the final push into Fuzhou Techs base. They were buffed by Baron Nashor and a powerful pink-purple aura flowed through their minions, bolstering their stats! It was overkill. Fuzhou Tech was torn apart, after which their Nexus towers and finally the Nexus itself were destroyed. The energy that exploded from the nexus morphed into the red victory screen for Team Shanghai.

VICTORY

WOOOOOO! Silent Reed screamed her throat dry. She shoved the microphone halfway into her mouth and shouted, THAT IS 1-0 FOR TEAM SHANGHAI!

Rollfire stared at the screen, numb. H-how is this even possible? How did these fucking kids He took a deep breath. A staff member reminded him through his earpiece that he had a job to do. So he grabbed his microphone and cheered, Team Shanghai won this game! Yeeeey!

WOOT WOOT! BUNBUN IS THE BEST JUNGLER EVER!WOOOOOOOOOOO!Fuzhou Tech got wrecked by a bunch of high schoolers! HAHAHA!That Yasuo! HOLY FUCKING GOOOOOOOD!GO GO! GO GO! TEAM SHANGHAI! YAY!Lux spread her legs for that yasuo! LOL!HAHA! Didnt know Fuzhou Techs Midlaner was into hentai shit!

Sun Ruinian ignored the cheering crowd behind him and the blaring shoutcaster at the caster desk. His entire being was focused on Team Shanghais soundproof booth. More precisely, on the Midlaner. That dude Lin Feng? He isnt A-. Hes an A, maybe higher. Hard to tell from this game. Fuzhou Tech just isnt good enough. Fuck! I want to be happy that theres a talented Midlaner. Its just We need to play against him! He shook his head and glanced at the Midlaner on his team. Zuo Cheng isnt that good. Were going to have to find a strategy to deal with this Lin Feng. But its not just that either.

Sun Ruinian turned his attention to Zeng Rui and grimaced. Zeng Rui has also gotten a lot better. Hes right up there with that Midlaner, maybe a little bit worse. But still. Hes a good player thats going to require a lot of planning on my part. He bit on his lips and looked at An Xin. And then theres that girl. Her early game Jungling wasnt anything impressive. We can beat that. But then He shook his head. I dont really get what happened in the mid game there, but its like she woke up and decided to play a little. Ive got no clue how good she actually is. Maybe it was just luck and leaning on that Midlaner to carry her. But if any of that was real skill, then were in deep shit.

There was a little downtime between the first and the second game. The players from Team Shanghai and Fuzhou Tech were given the chance to take a toilet break and unwind for a couple of minutes. What the organizers did during this time was having the casters reflect back on the game while playing highlights on the large LCD screen. Silent Reed took charge in this. She smiled and said into her microphone, Team Shanghai really deserves some congratulations for that massive win! What a display of skill! She turned to look at Rollfire and continued, After a questionable start, Team Shanghais Evelynn really fell into her roll. What do you think, Rollfire? I know you had a few choice words for her early on.

Rollfire bit back. Dont think I cant see what youre trying to do! But I wont let you get to me! He forced a smile onto his lips and replied, Youre completely right. The start was really rough for her, which I pointed out. But its like she could hear me and took my advice to heart. She worked really hard to turn things around and by the end of it she looked pretty decent.

I think pretty decent might be underselling it a bit, Silent Reed argued. She giggled and added, Pretty damn goo

However, Rollfire interrupted. He narrowed his eyes and said, Fuzhou Tech got too comfortable with how the Evelynn played early on. They shouldve set up a proper line of vision to stop that Evelynn from getting all those flanks on them. Had they done that, who knows, maybe theyd have won.

Silent Reed looked at Rollfire and raised an eyebrow. Why cant he ever say something positive? Its like hes got a personal vendetta against Team Shanghai. Hes not even trying to hide it! She shook her head a little and said, I suppose youve got a point about Fuzhou Techs warding. If theyd invested more gold into vision wards, they couldve stopped a lot of these engages by Evelynn. But Im not sure if that alone wouldve been enough for them. The Yasuo was the real carry here.

Rollfire chuckled and concluded, Lets just hope Fuzhou Tech has learned from this first game. Im hoping to see a stronger performance from them in the next game. Then they might actually punish that Jungler for the glaring holes in her ga

I think thats enough of that! Silent Reed interrupted. She pointed at the large LCD screen and continued, Looks like were getting ready for the second game between Team Shanghai and Fuzhou Tech! The series right now is 1-0 for Team Shanghai! Lets see if they can bring this best of three series home, or if were going to an all deciding Game 3!

Game 2 of the East China Round of 16Team Shanghai (Blue) versus Fuzhou Tech (Red)Top: Gnar versus RumbleJungle: Fiddlesticks versus RekSai Mid: Zed versus FizzAD-Carry: Ezreal versus KogMawSupport: Leona versus Alistar

Silent Reed looked up at the large LCD screen and read through the line up. Then she mumbled, Fiddlesticks? What? Why?

A confused buzz murmured through the audience. Even the other teams competing didnt know what to make of this choice of Champion. Fiddlesticks wasnt a bad Champion, but he wasnt particularly strong in the current meta either. His entire kit relied on him getting off a good ultimate. But a well organized team could plan for this and play around it. This was the main reason why his winrate in low elo games was incredibly high, yet he was almost never picked in the higher ranked games. And it was unheard of to pick him in competitive play.

Jungle fid? Did they lose a few too many brain cells?Oh god, those high school kids got cockyWhat the hell are they thinking? Do they want to lose!?What bm! Holy sweetness! Gimme some of that!Fuzhou Tech better wrecks them for this!

Rollfire smiled a smile that didnt get anywhere near his eyes. He grabbed the microphone and said, Team Shanghai has chosen to go with Fiddlesticks Jungle! Hes a strong Champion that can easily ace Fuzhou Techs team! Hes a pentakill Champion! Its just He paused briefly before continuing, Its just that Fuzhou Tech only has to cancel or evade Fiddles ultie to make that Champion completely useless! And theres nothing Fiddle can do about it!

Silent Reed bit on her lips and then argued, He is not often seen in high ranked games. But that doesnt make him a bad Champion.

Oh, hes not bad. Im not saying that, Rollfire fired back. He shook his head and continued, Its just that when you play against a well prepared team, the threat a Fiddlesticks brings is greatly reduced. And we should be able to assume that the teams competing at the Winter Collegiate Cup have at least reached that level of skill. But I guess it all comes down to whether Fuzhou Tech can sort out their warding problems. Keep vision on the Fiddle and hes useless.

I guess so, Silent Reed said. She glanced at Team Shanghais soundproof booth. Why would they pick Fiddlesticks? Hes such a strange champion to go with. Do they have something specific in mind? I dont get it They must have a plan for this, right?

Rollfire chuckled and said, I was talking about Fuzhou Tech needing to sort their warding out, and now theyre getting to show us right away if they have learned from their mistakes! If Fuzhou Tech messes up again, they only got themselves to blame for a terrible ending to this tournament. But lets face it, they should be a strong team for making it this far. Im guessing theyll figure out how to ward properly.

Everyone was confused about An Xins choice of Champion. Even Zeng Rui wasnt feeling it. He knitted his brows and asked over the teams voice chat, BunBun, you sure about this? Fiddlesticks isnt in a great place right now. Its just how the meta works. We should be focusing on other Champions. Thatll also help us prepare for games further down the road. Why are we wasting a game to play with Fiddlesticks? I dont get how this is going to help us as a team, even if we win the game.

Dont worry about it! Im pretty good at Jungle Fiddlesticks too! An Xin replied, forcing a smile forward. Zeng Rui needs to know about the game plan. Ill just guide him through what he needs to know...

There was a strange silence. An Xin was clearly holding back, lacking her usual insightful explanation. It was painfully obvious to Zeng Rui, Tang Bingyao and Zhang Hao that An Xin wasnt telling them something, but Lin Feng didnt notice this. His focus was on the loading screen, which showed the lineup for the game. Fizz? FIZZ! He grinned and tapped his finger on Zhang Haos shoulder. HaoBro! HaoBro! Do you see that? Those idiots picked Fizz! He laughed and added, Ima have a fish steak sandwich!