In scrims against BN, RAG had basically swept every game.
It was just like the promotion matches. All three lanes dominated from start to finish. No need for late-game scaling or team coordination. Pure individual skill was enough to crush the opponent.
BN might have made it to the LPL, but compared to the other LPL teams, they were clearly a tier below. They hadn’t won a single match all split and were currently dead last in the standings.
On the surface, it looked like RAG couldn’t possibly lose.
But in the LPL, there were no weak teams. If RAG used unfamiliar comps or tried out untested coordination, there was still a real chance they could drop the game.
Bai Yu had been thinking about this for two nights straight, barely sleeping.
On game day, he got up early to observe his teammates’ conditions. They all seemed completely unbothered by BN, lazy, relaxed, none of them taking the match seriously.
Bai Yu reminded them, “There’s a game this afternoon.”
Xu Bo yawned and lazily mumbled, “Yeah, yeah,” then shouted ahead, “Qi Yi, you going to the cafeteria? Grab me two buns and an egg, skip the soy milk, thanks.”
Downstairs, Lu Sheng and Fang Zhixu were doing their training sets, completing the tasks Bai Yu had assigned. In the middle of a match, Fang Zhixu frowned.
“God Lu, that fight should’ve followed my lead, right? I was the one engaging first. You’re the damage dealer, you should be playing off my setup.”
Lu Sheng didn’t even lift his eyes. “I could one-shot them.”
Fang Zhixu insisted, “Still, you should’ve followed my call. And the captain said yesterday, when he’s not around, I call the shots in small skirmishes.”
Lu Sheng snorted. “If I can one-shot them, why would I follow you? By the time you react, the fight’s already over.”
He didn’t finish the sentence before a hand landed on his shoulder, firmly. He turned around and saw Bai Yu, leaning over slightly, looking at him calmly.
“Lu Sheng, come to the meeting room after this.”
All the arrogance drained from Lu Sheng in an instant. His eyes cleared, and he quietly replied, “Okay.”
By the time Lu Sheng entered the meeting room, Bai Yu was already waiting.
He was leaning back in his chair, flipping through a document. The lights were off, and only the faint light from the hallway cast shadows across his face. His expression was calm, almost emotionless, but something about him radiated a quiet authority.
Lu Sheng didn’t dare speak or step closer.
Despite Bai Yu’s delicate, almost harmless appearance, everyone knew once he got mad, he meant it.
Bai Yu closed the file, looked up, and spoke in a flat tone. “It’s been two months since you signed. Still not planning to integrate with the team?”
Lu Sheng glanced at him, sensing the anger, and explained, “I could one-shot in that fight. No need to play it the way Fang Zhixu said. My approach wasn’t wrong.”
“Did you communicate that with him?”
Bai Yu asked just one question.
Lu Sheng fell silent.
The truth was, he didn’t really respect Fang Zhixu and hadn’t even thought about talking it through. But he knew Bai Yu was clearly angry, and this time, he really was at fault.
Bai Yu’s gaze felt heavy. He placed the file folder on the table and calmly said, “I don’t know how you trained in North America. But now that you’re part of my team, you follow my rules. It’s not about what you like or don’t like. It’s about whether you can cooperate. Can you?”
Lu Sheng quickly admitted, “I can.”
Even as he said “I can,” his eyes were still distant. There was a lingering edge of defiance beneath the surface, but at least he was reining it in. For now, that counted as acceptable.
Bai Yu had come to understand that reasoning didn’t work with people like Lu Sheng. He had his own logic and wouldn’t listen to others. What he needed were clear, hard lines. What was allowed, and what wasn’t.
Bai Yu crooked a finger. “Come here.”
Lu Sheng didn’t want to. But Bai Yu’s gesture was just a little too compelling. He couldn’t resist. He walked over.
Standing in front of Bai Yu, towering over him, he had to look down to meet his gaze. And up close, he finally saw it. The phoenix-shaped eyes were sharp as blades. No matter how calmly Bai Yu spoke, no one could truly earn his trust unless they proved themselves.
For a moment, Bai Yu really did want to bring Lin Kun onto the team, just to see if Lu Sheng could actually be trained.
But in the end, he decided to give Lu Sheng one more chance.
“I know you could one-shot,” Bai Yu said quietly. “And yes, that’s how you maximize the advantage. But Lu Sheng, no matter how strong your individual skills are, there are limits. I need you to let go of your usual style and try to play with the team. Even if it doesn’t go smoothly, I won’t blame you. Got it?”
Lu Sheng still didn’t fully agree. But something about Bai Yu’s gentle voice smoothed down the irritation inside him. Staring at him, a strange itch stirred somewhere deep in his chest.
He swallowed. “Got it.”
Bai Yu didn’t care whether he really got it or not. He just informed him, “This afternoon, we’re giving you a mid-jungle synergy comp. Play it well.”
As he spoke, he reached out to straighten Lu Sheng’s collar. His tone was calm, encouraging, but the gesture made it very clear. Screw this up, and you’re dead.
Lu Sheng stared at him, curious how Bai Yu would handle him. But that was just idle curiosity. He didn’t have the guts to actually test it.
“…Okay,” he muttered. His bangs drooped slightly over his eyes, making him look a little more obedient.
Bai Yu was tentatively satisfied. “Then I’ll be watching you this afternoon. No attitude toward your teammates.”
Lu Sheng thought of how Fang Zhixu clung to Bai Yu like an annoying puppy every day and smiled way too much, and instantly felt annoyed again. Still, he nodded. “Got it.”
Seeing Lu Sheng clearly unwilling but still trying to act obedient in front of him, Bai Yu found it funny.
Do you really like me that much?
—
Back in the training room, Bai Yu joined the team for scrims. Recently, he’d been duo-queuing mostly with Qi Yi, and Qi Yi had been getting regular playtime in matches. The results were promising.
They ate lunch and played a few more games in the afternoon.
Then Bai Yu checked the time and said, “Finish this match and start getting ready to head to the venue.”
The players slowly wrapped up and lazily packed their things. No one was taking BN seriously. They hadn’t realized what kind of risk this match actually posed.
At the venue, the place was packed.
RAG had built up a solid fanbase by this point. Their banners and lightsticks lit up the entire crowd. BN, on the other hand, looked like they'd been forgotten. No cheers, no chants, no presence.
Before the match started, the casters gave some extra commentary:
“BN actually qualified alongside RAG. Both teams were the top of their groups during promotion. They even took a big group photo together at the time.”
[Wait, these two got promoted together?]
[Lol I completely forgot until the caster mentioned it.]
[One's 6–0, the other's 0–6.]
[BN’s in trouble.]
[Feels like BN’s headed right back down next year.]
[LPL’s brutal. Everyone mocks it, but it's the hardest league to survive in. Most teams that get promoted don’t last past their first year.]
[Every year someone underestimates the LPL and gets sent packing.]
[To be fair, BN's actually played decently. The real issue is... since Bai Yu left SG, it feels like every other team’s been turbocharged.]
[Probably the pressure from Bai Yu building a team.]
[And don’t forget Lu Sheng came back to China. That lit a fire under all the domestic mid laners.]
[Lol right, I almost forgot about that.]
[No wonder this season's been so intense.]
The match kicked off in a relaxed and cheerful atmosphere.
Almost no one believed RAG would lose. A lot of viewers switched to other streams once the game started, just looking for some entertainment without planning to watch seriously.
Both teams entered the champion selection phase.
BN banned three of Lu Sheng’s champions, showing plenty of respect.
RAG banned a few top-tier meta picks, which also seemed fairly standard.
BN first picked Nocturne to counter Fang Zhixu, then took Maokai for top lane to pressure Chen Shi’an, and Viktor mid for a safe laning phase.
RAG responded with Lee Sin, Sivir, and Nautilus. The draft looked balanced, with both sides having ways to counter each other and room to perform.
But things started to go wrong when BN banned two more mid laners.
The commentator was the first to notice.
"BN has now banned five mid lane champions. RAG also banned two meta picks, and Viktor's already been taken. That leaves Akoi with very few options. Right now, only Ahri and Corki are left. Corki would do more damage later on, but Ahri fits the team comp better. What will RAG choose?"
The chat lit up with "Corki" spam. Even though Corki didn’t exactly fit the composition, with Lu Sheng’s skill, he could still put out insane damage.
Then RAG locked in Ahri. The chat was filled with disappointment.
It wasn’t that Lu Sheng couldn’t play Ahri. People just felt the champion didn’t bring out his full potential.
To put it simply, if the whole team fell apart and Lu Sheng was on Corki, he could still carry solo. But with Ahri, it would take more teamwork and coordination, and there were too many unpredictable variables.
That’s exactly how Ahri felt to Lu Sheng too. He sensed the game slipping out of his control and frowned slightly. He was about to object.
But Bai Yu asked, "What? You can’t play her? Ahri’s been buffed a lot this year. We’ll definitely use her more often. As the team’s core, you need to get comfortable with her."
Lu Sheng swallowed his words.
"No, I can play her."
It wasn’t that he couldn’t. He just didn’t like her. Something about the champion felt unnatural to him. Just like how Fang Zhixu felt.
The game began and all eyes turned to mid lane.
Even on Ahri, Lu Sheng played with fierce aggression.
He had taken Electrocute as his keystone.
He walked up, auto attacked, landed a Q, then chased for another auto to trigger Electrocute and instantly chunked a quarter of Viktor’s health.
The opposing mid laner had never seen such a ruthless approach and was completely thrown off.
He backed up slightly, out of Ahri’s range.
They continued trading a few waves, but Lu Sheng couldn’t find an opening.
He started to grow a bit impatient.
Then the enemy jungler showed up at level 3 and landed a few hits on him. Fang Zhixu rotated in and helped him regain a slight HP advantage.
So far, so good. Lu Sheng’s Ahri was doing fine.
Once he hit level 5, the enemy jungler flashed in while Lu Sheng didn’t have his ult and forced out his Flash during a heavy trade.
Ahri losing Flash wasn’t a big deal. Lu Sheng recalled, returned for the next wave, and hit level 6 right after clearing it.
Fang Zhixu and the enemy jungler also arrived mid at the same time. A 2v2 was about to happen.
Ahri and Lee Sin had better synergy. If they coordinated properly, it should’ve been a clean win. But then things took a turn.
Lu Sheng spotted a small misstep in Viktor’s positioning.
He instantly ulted through the minion wave and landed a perfect Charm, just barely clipping Viktor.
Fang Zhixu noticed it too.
He didn’t hesitate, ward-hopped in and kicked Viktor toward Lu Sheng.
Both plays were flashy and clean, catching Viktor completely off guard.
But because they both focused the same moment, it ended up a bit awkward.
Lu Sheng hit the Charm and followed up with Q-W for burst.
But Fang Zhixu’s kick had already knocked Viktor away, causing all his skills to miss.
Lu Sheng quickly used another ult charge to chase and finish the kill.
His Q fell just short, and Viktor flashed to safety.
Lu Sheng still had one more charge. Without thinking, he dashed in, dropped Ignite, and added some extra damage. Viktor was left with just a sliver of health.
But Lu Sheng couldn’t get the final auto attack in.
The Flash he burned earlier during the jungle gank came back to haunt him, like a boomerang straight to the chest.
Lu Sheng gritted his teeth.
"Fang Zhixu, do you even know how to play?"
Fang Zhixu had his own view.
"He could’ve flashed your Charm. My ward-R was guaranteed CC. I should’ve been the one to engage, right?"
Lu Sheng scoffed.
"You think I would miss?"
Before they could argue any further, the enemy jungler was already on top of Lu Sheng.
Because he had wasted a charge of his ult chasing Viktor, he had no mobility spells left.
His only hope was for Fang Zhixu to land a slow so he could escape.
But just as Fang Zhixu’s Q was about to land,
Lu Sheng threw out his E and charmed the enemy jungler, causing Fang Zhixu’s Q to miss.
Without the slow, Fang Zhixu couldn’t follow up.
Lu Sheng was auto-attacked to death by the enemy jungler.
His screen turned black and white.
BN secured first blood.
The audience erupted in shock.
Even the casters were caught off guard.
"RAG just had a massive misplay. That was huge!"
[Are their mid-jungle combos really this bad?]
[I never thought so before, but today really opened my eyes. They don’t even talk about who should initiate?]
[I always found it strange when watching RAG’s games. Mid-jungle has the most chances to work together, yet they rarely do it.]
[The comment above nailed it. RAG is deliberately avoiding mid-jungle coordination.]
[So RAG’s mid-jungle synergy is just trash?]
[Looks like the scrims didn’t lie. RAG’s scrims were always messy, but on stage, they could rely on draft to cover it up.]
[Then why did they draft like this against BN?]
[Probably thought they wouldn’t lose and used this game for practice.]
[This draft is completely trolling.]
[I felt off the moment I saw the comp. This isn’t RAG’s playstyle at all.]
[Could it be the new coach's draft?]
[Feels like it.]
In the already-tense team lounge, Song Bo suddenly sneezed hard.
Xu Bo couldn’t wrap his head around the draft either. He turned and asked, “Did you make this draft?”
Song Bo instinctively shook his head, but then remembered it was actually his suggestion to Bai Yu and nodded.
Xu Bo immediately gave him a look full of disdain.
Yeah... nothing about this feels right.
The screen started replaying the previous kill. Watching it again was straight-up embarrassing.
If Lu Sheng had finished off the enemy mid and refreshed his ult, or if Fang Zhixu’s slow had landed, he would’ve lived. But both sides were just slightly off.
Lu Sheng couldn’t hold it in. “You actually missed that Q?”
Fang Zhixu was also annoyed. “I predicted him turning back. How would I know you’d E him out of nowhere?”
Just as the two were about to start arguing, Bai Yu’s calm voice came through the headset.
“No need to fight now. If we lose, I’ll sort it out once we’re back.”
Lu Sheng immediately held back his temper. Fang Zhixu also fell silent and went back to farming quietly.
Even though the enemy got first blood, no one on their side really thought they would lose.
Lu Sheng quickly regained pressure in mid, punished a misstep with a clean combo, and looked certain to get the kill.
But the enemy popped a shield just in time and absorbed the damage.
Once again, just barely short.
Lu Sheng had a bad feeling.
Ahri’s damage was already lacking, and Fang Zhixu’s Lee Sin didn’t have reliable kill potential either. They had to combo well to get an edge.
Then it hit him, Bai Yu picked this comp to force them to work together.
Fang Zhixu realized it too and hesitated before asking, “God Lu, wanna go for dragon vision?”
Lu Sheng gave a short “Mm” and started moving bot.
This time, Fang Zhixu had learned his lesson. He ward-hopped in and said first, “I’ll engage.”
Lu Sheng waited for him to kick the enemy over, then followed up with a Charm. The kill was clean and effortless.
But just then, the enemy AD misstepped.
Lu Sheng still had all three ult charges. With a flash combo, he could easily kill and retreat safely.
He dashed in with ult and flash, landed a surprise Charm, but Fang Zhixu’s Q missed again.
The enemy AD flashed out of danger.
Lu Sheng didn’t get the kill. His ult expired.
Once again, he became a sitting duck.
Staring at the black-and-white screen, Lu Sheng said nothing.
Fang Zhixu didn’t dare say anything either.
The team comms were heavy with silence.
It was Chen Shi’an who finally broke the tension. “It’s fine. I got first turret. Losing one dragon’s no big deal.”
Fine. Lu Sheng went back to farming.
Now his farm was worse than Viktor’s. If this kept up, his Ahri would soon turn into dead weight.
Damn it. Playing like this really pissed him off the more he thought about it.
That’s when BN caught on.
They realized RAG’s mid-jungle synergy was horrible, so they started forcing mid-jungle plays, constantly invading RAG’s jungle.
To keep the team in the game, Lu Sheng had no choice but to start linking up with Fang Zhixu.
They fought several skirmishes in the jungle, most of them even trades.
The worst one was when they finally got both enemy champs to low HP,
but then one chased left, the other chased right.
In the end, both targets got away.
Again, just barely.
[What the hell are they doing? Isn’t Ahri and Lee Sin supposed to be a god-tier combo?]
[I thought they’d be hunting people down nonstop. I was hyped. But instead, they each pulled their own disaster...]
[Now I get why their scrim win rate is only 50 percent...]
[So weird. Lu Sheng’s plays are fine, Fang Zhixu’s plays are fine, but together they’re just a mess?]
[Both of them want the whole team to play around them. And neither is willing to adapt. Of course they’re just doing their own thing.]
[Honestly, they’d be better off playing separately.]
[Don’t forget Chen Shi’an. His tempo doesn’t match the rest of the team either.]
[Guess having too many "star players" isn’t always a good thing...]
[If I were Bai Yu, I’d be losing my mind.]
[Feels like Bai Yu might have to give one of them up.]
[This is a jungler they paid 30 million for, and a mid they basically lost 90 million on. Dropping either would be heartbreaking.]
[SOS. Someone save this team.]
Ahri is a mid-to-early game champion. Without an early advantage, Lu Sheng was basically useless in the late game.
BN could sense victory. It was like they’d been injected with adrenaline, diving in like madmen. After all, they were already 0–6. What did they have to lose?
Under this relentless assault, even Chen Shi’an couldn’t hold out. He died twice in a row, and their earlier lead started slipping away. Feeling things going south, he urgently asked Qi Yi, “How’s your farm looking?”
Qi Yi had picked a scaling AD this game, focusing on farming. He nodded firmly and replied, “Good,” full of confidence.
The teamfight was about to break out.
Viktor’s damage was insane. He chunked Fang Zhixu down to half HP in seconds. Fang Zhixu risked everything to kick the enemy jungler back, but Lu Sheng’s damage wasn’t enough. His combo failed to secure a kill, and his overextension left him dangerously exposed. He had to retreat at low health.
But the fight wasn’t over yet.
Bai Yu stayed calm, sticking close to protect Qi Yi at all costs.
But Viktor's burst was just too much. With Lu Sheng no longer a threat, Qi Yi became their top target. The enemy dove in like maniacs.
Bai Yu blocked one after another, tanked wave after wave of damage. But eventually, he went down.
Once he died, Qi Yi had no way to protect himself and fell shortly after. Then Fang Zhixu, then Chen Shi’an. By the time Lu Sheng had healed and rushed out of base, the rest of his team was already dead. The enemy still had Viktor and their top laner alive, and they were marching down mid with a minion wave.
Their inhibitor turret had already fallen. With super minions leading the charge, the enemy launched their final push.
Lu Sheng had no way to clear the wave. His only hope was to instantly burst down Viktor. But what could an Ahri without ult do?
The enemy top laner dove under turret, locked Lu Sheng down, and Viktor followed up with a full combo. He dropped instantly. At that moment, the super minions destroyed the nexus towers and started attacking the crystal.
Comms were dead silent, like someone had just died.
Lu Sheng stared at the screen, refusing to believe they’d lost like this.
Bai Yu was calmer than expected, with a quiet stillness that felt like the calm before the end.
“They’ve reached match point. One more loss and we’re done. Don’t forget what you all said yesterday.”
Qi Yi looked up in shock.
Fang Zhixu seemed to remember too, stammering, “C-captain…”
And Lu Sheng’s hand gripped his keyboard so tightly it almost cracked.
His eyes turned cold. A dangerous intensity gathered in them.
Next game, he was going to destroy the enemy bot lane.