This is not QILIN’s only defeat in recent years, but it is the only one in this year’s global league.

VIT has lost a game to CH, while QILIN has fought its way to the highest finals with a series of victories. In a sense, the single elimination format of the league in recent years is also to add fuel to QILIN’s unstoppable momentum.

Countless people hoped to see them succeed all the way through. They have dominated the world championship for five years, almost creating an unshakable and mythical dynasty.

But now, they were defeated by a rookie team.

There is always someone better.

The 1-0 victory in the first round caught everyone off guard.

The coach and referees stood up, and both team captains called for a break and overtime. The halftime break lasted for twenty minutes.

In e-sports, the consumption of energy is extremely apparent in large-scale games, especially when strong players face each other. The high-frequency game of mental and reaction agility is no less demanding than burning a CPU.

In the training room, everyone took off their headphones. Instead of immediately getting up, they leaned back in their chairs, feeling dizzy.

No one spoke because they were exhausted. They had never encountered a game lasting over sixty minutes in training matches, even against high-defense operation-oriented teams like CH. They had never been this tired.

Xiao Yin stood up first and poured everyone a cup of sugared water. Everyone obediently drank it.

“How do you feel?” Xiao Yin asked softly, looking at Rong Yi.

The mid lane is the most stressful and demanding position in a normal game, and Rong Yi had managed to locate the enemy’s jungler several times, which was undoubtedly dangerous.

“It’s alright.” Rong Yi drank the cup of sugared water handed to him, moistened his lips, and said, “The intensity is rare, but I’ve gotten used to it.”

His extra practice every day was not just for fun. While others played for eight hours, he played for ten hours. When others played for ten hours, he played for twelve or even fourteen hours. This constant effort not only accumulated experience but also provided a dual enhancement to his mental and endurance.

“Don’t relax, don’t relax, everyone.” Rong Yi clapped his hands, and his voice made the others straighten their backs. “Let’s do a quick review.”

Everyone gathered around.

In fact, there wasn’t much to review. Everyone had played exceptionally well in this game, almost close to perfection.

Hui Mao could control the timing of each rewind without needing his guidance. Ci She didn’t need his command to inquire about lane swaps. In a real battlefield, excessive command is inefficient, only the repeated cooperation and instant reactions matter.

On one side, VIT was discussing in low voices, while on the other side, the QILIN members were clearly also discussing, although the atmospheres on both sides were somewhat different.

“The atmosphere within VIT is really stable. They seem to always be like this, not showing much change even after winning a game.”

“QILIN is stable too, but it seems their emotions are indeed not high… but who could be in high spirits in this situation!”

The commentators also chimed in, “Losing the first game is indeed a big blow. Now we’ll see if QILIN can make a comeback and enter the final game. Also, whether both teams will have any new preparations.”

“To be honest, VIT was restricted in the previous draft. Both teams are adaptable as second-pick teams, but they drew the first pick, which resulted in being banned out and Hide being taken away.”

“That’s the key to QILIN being able to focus on the mid lane. Let’s take a look at the solo laner’s performance in the previous game, 1-5. Whenever Yin and Huibai Zhi Zhu teamed up, there was not a single instance of survival.”

“Of course, the pick of Yin by the enemy can be said to be ‘If Hide wins, it’s Xiao He. If Hide loses, it’s still Xiao He.‘ With Yin, the pressure on Easy’s side was immense, to the point that it took an hour before the first significant advantage was gained. But at the same time, it was also because VIT knew Hide so well that they picked Silver Hook to counter him.”

“Yes, indeed. Furthermore, the jungler was Brother Y, who created numerous vision disruptions, preventing QILIN from flying recklessly.”

“We can only say that both teams have brought out their highest-level strategies and gameplay. The League World Championship feels incredibly honored and proud to have such teams.”

The second game started quickly!

During the brief review, the twenty minutes passed like flowing water.

In the VIT training room, the same style of reviewing as usual made everyone temporarily forget about the score and immerse themselves in the discussion.

The second round did not involve a position draw. In the first round, QILIN banned first, and VIT chose first; in the second round, the roles were reversed.

The first ban was in Rong Yi’s hands.

The commentators and audience started discussing.

On the screen, Rong Yi tilted his head slightly and whispered something to Xiao Yin next to him. Both of them leaned towards each other, but there was no intimacy in the atmosphere, only trust and solemnity as they fought together.

Everyone saw that Rong Yi left the pre-selected ban slot for Aphelios.

However, with three seconds remaining in the countdown, Rong Yi still hadn’t made a decision.

“No decision yet?”

The commentators looked at each other. “Or is there going to be an unexpected ban switch?”

The countdown reached three seconds.

Three…

Two…

One…

The countdown ended, but Rong Yi hadn’t made a decision, leaving the ban slot empty.

VIT left one ban slot!

The atmosphere on the field was quickly ignited once again.

“Leaving one ban slot to force QILIN’s picks! VIT has been making extreme one-for-one swaps since the drafting phase!”

The commentators exclaimed excitedly, almost pounding the table.

In the World Championship, heroes cannot be selected again, which means that the heroes used by both teams in the previous game cannot be used again.

This is an interesting point in the drafting game.

In this season, the powerful heroes that could determine the outcome in their hands, QILIN can no longer pick the ones that fit their usual playstyle, such as Yin. They are left with Jungle Di and AD Mofa.

VIT, on the other hand, cannot pick Silver Hook, Di, and Princess. They are left with Li and Yin.

Although VIT used up more heroes, the remaining ones are the strong heroes for their core positions.

On the other hand, QILIN must secure their super core, the bottom lane Mofa.

QILIN’s Mofa is too terrifying. VIT already banned it in the previous game, and according to the rule that heroes cannot be banned repeatedly in the league, they cannot ban it again.

VIT is now banning first, no matter who they ban, the enemy can still pick Mofa, and then use the pick to replace the ban and take away one of VIT’s strong heroes because QILIN’s Jungle Di, theoretically, will definitely be banned.

But now VIT leaves one ban slot, which is forcing QILIN to make a choice:

Do they pick one of their strong heroes and one of the enemy’s strong heroes or do they pick all their own?

The playstyle that Di and Mofa can bring out is different from what other jungle heroes can bring out.

One has high burst damage, while the other has high AoE damage. It’s basically grenades and explosions in the jungle. A hurricane sweeps through, leaving nothing behind.

This is a great temptation.

Picking all their own heroes means using a different strategy, no longer targeting VIT’s composition but using their most stable and honorable bot-focused playstyle.

It also means completely giving freedom to VIT, allowing them to pick their most proficient core composition with Li in the mid lane.

Ten seconds passed.

The enemy picked Mofa, and the second floor picked Di!

QILIN regained their playstyle!

Almost at the same time, VIT opened up their picks.

Without any hesitation, Rong Yi picked Li, and the second floor, Ci She, helped lock in Yin! At the same time, QILIN banned two strong bot lane heroes.

They are playing as a bot-focused team and want to dominate from the bot lane.

They directly limit the bot lane.

VIT used their last two bans on the mid lane and top lane.

Both sides confidently picked their strongest lineups.

There is no room for counterpicks, no specific counters, just the most confident and proficient compositions from both sides.

This is a true clash of titans, a match at the highest level.

The final answer they have been pursuing this season will be revealed in this game.

Thirty seconds into the game, both teams showed extreme coordination.

Just like in the previous game where Ci She was completely restricted, QILIN’s mid laner in this game is also completely restricted. Both sides are sacrificing one aspect of their composition.

In the previous game, both teams focused on the mid lane and fought for vision control, but this time, both sides scattered.

In the first wave, Mofa straightforwardly started farming in the mid lane. At the same time, Jungle Di took control of the jungle vision, boldly entering Xiao Yin’s blue area within his vision range.

In the early game, Di combined with Mofa is almost invincible.

VIT has no intention of forcing team fights. Rong Yi directly lets go of the mid lane minions and goes to the bot lane with Ci She to farm minions. Xiao Yin doesn’t take the risk of entering the enemy’s top jungle, he chooses to take our bot jungle red buff, adapting to the situation.

VIT cannot engage in team fights and should avoid them as much as possible.

The commentators continued to follow the game.

“Where is the dominance of QILIN’s jungle core? Developed by Xiao Yin, Hide’s ultimate flies up, and the rest of the team follows. This is a team fight that you have to engage in even if you don’t want to. It’s unimaginably fast and incredibly dominant.”

“Of course, now that Xiao Yin has left, QILIN is still primarily focused on the jungle core, and their bot lane ADC Mofa is showing his true strength. Even though they are a jungle-focused team, their bot lane synergy is incredibly fast. They basically clear the bot jungle in the early game, and when they both hit their power spikes in the late game, their damage explodes. You absolutely can’t catch up with their pace of development.”

“No team can avoid being at a disadvantage against QILIN.”

VIT is feeling the same.

It is difficult to decipher the violent tactics of the high damage and high mobility duo of VIT’s bot lane: Li and Yin. They are like gears, gears that need to mesh tightly, cooperate at any time, like a machine.

Now, it’s like a heavy hammer pounding on the machine.

QILIN’s mid lane is at a disadvantage. Rong Yi is controlling the lane tightly, and the opponents’ attempts to engage have been unsuccessful. They now turn to focus on the top lane.

Wu Dao Gu’s conventional hero in this game doesn’t have strong mobility, he can’t escape. In order to defend this tower, he risked using his skills before leveling up his ultimate to clear the minions.

QILIN’s plan to clear out all the champions and the tower failed, but VIT’s blue area was completely lost.

In just twelve minutes, QILIN’s economy is already three thousand gold ahead of VIT.

“VIT is facing headwinds!”

“In the previous game, it was a hard-fought battle that lasted for sixty minutes. Could it be just a coincidence? This game, QILIN is showing an overwhelming force!”

“Ci She is at a significant disadvantage in the bottom lane matchup. Mofa’s economy is far ahead of him, and with support vision positioning, it’s hard for him to have a sense of control in the lane without vision. He can’t know where Mofa is.”

But just as the commentators spoke, Rong Yi and Xiao Yin made their move!

Xiao Yin took the initiative, diving into the tower and instantly taking down the support with one strike. Rong Yi had already moved from the river and joined in, together they eliminated the support in the tower!

QILIN initiated a strong move, and Rong Yi and Xiao Yin also made a decisive play.

In the QILIN’s footage, the jungle Di, who lost the high ground in the previous game, frowned at first, but his actions were ahead of his awareness. He and Mofa hurried to the bottom lane.

There were fewer people in the bottom lane, but VIT couldn’t gain an advantage either. QILIN’s wave control level was top-notch. When Mofa was present, he would farm, and when he wasn’t, the support controlled the wave. They completely held back Ci She in this lane.

Their support pick is Rainy Night Hunter, also a damage-oriented support, so clearing waves is not a problem.

Rong Yi and Xiao Yin retreated.

Seeing that no one was present, Mofa waited for the minions in the bottom lane while guarding their blue area, calmly clearing the blue buff.

After Di finished scouting the vision in the bottom lane and returned, he wanted to take VIT’s red buff, but something felt off.

Xiao Yin had actually taken this red buff.

Xiao Yin had just been in a closer position to them, taking the red buff would provide him with health recovery and a buff, allowing him to switch lanes directly. But for some reason, Xiao Yin passed by this buff.

According to VIT’s risk-reward style, this situation couldn’t happen. They had already killed someone in the bottom lane, so they must seize resources.

One can only believe that Xiao Yin misjudged their vision and position.

It seemed unrealistic, but they couldn’t figure out the reason for now.

Xiao Yin misjudging his position? How is that possible?

“Xiao Yin is taking a huge risk. He was just in the closest position to Di, and he’s only at half health.”

The commentator was also taken aback by this unconventional choice. “From the choices, we can’t see Y’s intention for now. The best choice would be to directly take the enemy’s blue buff since it would take Mofa longer to arrive.”

Then, Xiao Yin started jungling in a very strange order in the jungle.

Usually, junglers have a stable plan for their jungle routes, considering lane swaps and speed of support. Going top is convenient for supporting the top lane, going bottom is convenient for supporting the bottom lane, and squatting near the double buffs is to control the middle vision and dragon area vision.

But Xiao Yin only took the blue buff and not the red buff. In an absolutely safe situation, he arrived at the enemy’s red area, only taking two small jungle monsters before retreating.

“Not taking the red buff but clearing the rest, what does it mean?”

Everyone in the audience started discussing in hushed voices. “The red buff provides a significant bonus for Yin.”

Soon, the audience learned why.

After Xiao Yin left, Di and Mofa pressured Ci She and forced him to retreat. They then took the dragon and entered the second phase of the global dragon buff, retreating to clear the jungle.

Due to the dragon being contested, all members of VIT showed up to clear the waves.

Xiao Yin appeared in the top lane.

Di and Mofa didn’t hesitate to approach the top lane; splitting into two paths, with Di slightly moving forward to scout the vision. VIT’s blue area had been completely cleared, but they still had a red buff in their own jungle.

After clearing the red buff, they initiated a strong move!

At the same time, Rong Yi left his position and went to the enemy’s blue area, taking their blue buff before rotating to the bottom lane with Ci She, who had just finished his recall, to forcefully engage the bottom lane support!

“Both sides are engaging forcefully! The top lane, Yin barely escaped with his ultimate, but Wu Dao Gu falls again– but the top lane minions were cleared! The bottom lane, Rainy Night Hunter can’t withstand the combined assault of an ADC and support! Hunter falls!”

“But there are still minions in the bottom lane! Hunter failed to clear the last minion–“

Fifteen minutes in, VIT’s first tower was taken down.

On the QILIN side, the jungle’s expression changed, and he muttered, “There’s a problem. Let’s see if we can–“

Change tactics? It’s already been fifteen minutes, what else can they change?

That familiar feeling surged again.

The feeling of not being able to make it back in time.

They still didn’t know that VIT was intentionally controlling the blue buff globally. As long as it respawned, Rong Yi or Xiao Yin would immediately take it.

They didn’t contest the dragon or the red buff.

By keeping the two red buffs, they also constrained their opponents’ routes–

“To dominate the jungle core and invade the jungle area, we have to aggressively seize resources.”

“To aggressively seize resources, let’s make them eat.”

Ten minutes ago, inside the game room, Rong Yi’s clear and melodious voice said, “Their anti-jungle composition is not easy to deal with, but we can still hold onto both blues.”

“As long as they keep fighting, they have to take both red buffs and keep rotating between the top jungle and bottom jungle.”

“This also means that they can only group up in either the top lane or the bottom lane. In the meantime, they have to rush the longest route.”

“The significance of the mid-core lies in its synergy.”

“I can control both blue buffs alone, I can roam between top and bottom alone, something no other core can do.”

“They are strong, strong in opening fights, strong in catching opponents off guard, but they won’t realize that their jungle route is within our plan.”

“They open fights in the top lane, I open fights in the bottom lane. They take the dragon, we take resources and control the lanes. Once Y and I get ahead with our picks, no one can stop us.”

“The synergy between jungle and AD is not as efficient as the synergy between jungle and mid. It’s determined by the routes, not anything else.”

This sentence finalized everything, it was their chosen configuration, the unwavering answer.

They firmly believed that this was the answer in the current patch.

As long as Princess and Mofa reached their peak, the bottom core would reach its peak. If Yin and Di were dominant, the jungle core would occupy its central position for as long as they did.

Only the mid-core hadn’t been attempted by anyone, only taking Li, this unpopular hero, as the mid-core, had never happened before.

“Let’s go.”

The third team fight erupted. Rong Yi stared at the screen.

QILIN already felt that something was wrong—their gold difference was shrinking, they had lost one bottom tower, and their jungler hadn’t been able to secure the blue buff the whole time.

Di was a hero that needed blue. They were being controlled by their opponents.

Realizing that something was wrong, they immediately adjusted their tactics!

After a brief pause, QILIN started to scout Rong Yi’s vision and movements as a team. They halted their steps and migrated to the bottom lane, which also entered a defensive mode, alert for Rong Yi’s arrival.

“Let’s bet, am I going top or bottom,” Rong Yi whispered, “50-50.”

For the first time, QILIN guessed correctly. Mofa urgently returned to the bottom lane, no longer following Di to engage at any moment, while the support constantly roamed, vigilant for Rong Yi’s arrival.

But it was futile.

“This is actually a flaw in their composition. They want to invade the jungle, so they can only choose a support who can deal damage in the bottom lane, essentially having two mages.”

“They gave up a support position themselves. Even if they picked the Key of Memories, this game wouldn’t have been so difficult.”

The pressure in the jungle decreased, and Xiao Yin didn’t hesitate to aggressively engage—targeting Di!

Rong Yi had just finished clearing the mid lane and immediately rushed back.

They were waiting for this opportunity!

The chance to split and surround.

Even though Di had an economic lead of three to four thousand over them, when the two of them converged, Xiao Yin and Rong Yi, with low health, pinned Di down in place.

The outside world was buzzing with discussion.

“It was almost a double kill.”

“They would have gotten a double kill if they had mana. Unfortunately, they never had mana because VIT always controlled the blue.”

In reality, there weren’t as many “almosts.”

Every single “almost” that VIT had displayed so far was meticulously planned. Every “almost” on the battlefield was due to a difference in strength.

With a player down and a tactical gap, VIT completely regained the initiative.

Xiao Yin immediately started the Baron Nashor, while at the same time, Rong Yi went to steal the enemy blue buff and blocked the river, guarding against Mofa who wanted to contest the Baron.

Mofa knew where Rong Yi was— the blue buff had disappeared again, the enemy mid-laner was free.

After a moment of hesitation, Mofa returned to the tower and cleared minions, waiting for Di to respawn.

This wave lasted less than ten seconds, but for QILIN, it was a snowball effect. Mofa was still hovering near the tower, hoping for a comeback, but VIT didn’t give them that chance.

The fourth team fight, a strong opening!

Xiao Yin dove under the tower, followed by Rong Yi, and Hui Mao flashed in to join them. The three of them instantly killed Mofa.

“This is a huge mistake. He didn’t mentally prepare himself to be aggressively engaged.”

The commentator spoke, “But if Yin isn’t there, who should they engage? This is actually a common flaw for teams in a favorable situation.”

The bottom core was reduced again.

In fact, at this point, there was no way to turn it around.

Or rather, even earlier, when Di first realized he “couldn’t make it back,” when he noticed that Xiao Yin didn’t take that red buff, they were already helpless.

“Something’s wrong” is the most frightening, it means you have fallen into the enemy’s rhythm without even realizing it.

This match ended in just 32 minutes.

Only the players inside the game understood what they had experienced—while the spectators could only watch in confusion, witnessing QILIN suddenly collapse, making consecutive mistakes, without anyone understanding why.

QILIN didn’t lose in tactics and technique but in strategy.

When the victory screen appeared, except for Rong Yi and Xiao Yin, VIT didn’t move.

Xiao Yin took off his headphones and stretched his fingers. Rong Yi also took off his headphones and took a sip of water.

The others still had serious expressions as they looked at the screen. The settlement page appeared, and everyone’s statistics were clearly displayed.

“Still dreaming?”

Rong Yi clapped his hands and placed the plastic cup on the table, looking over with a smile, “The match is over, world champions.”