After losing to TUP, SG has dropped to 11th place. There are still several strong teams they haven’t faced yet, and their next match is even against RAG led by Bai Yu, there’s basically no chance of winning.
If they drop any lower, down to 13th place, they’ll be forced into the relegation tournament in the second half of the year. If they mess up there, the 1-billion-yuan investment could vanish overnight.
Even if they don’t screw it up, just being in the relegation tournament would cause a major hit to their stock price.
At this point, upper management can’t take the pressure anymore. The whole team is at risk of being fired, so all they can do is push down hard on the staff below.
Yan An, as the general manager, is technically the one most responsible. But his background is too strong, he was parachuted in from HQ. Upper management doesn’t dare show dissatisfaction toward him, so all the blame is dumped on the coaching staff.
To be fair, the coaching staff isn't entirely innocent this time.
Bai Yu was a late addition to the team, but his say carried more weight than the coach’s. The coach didn’t have full authority but was still expected to take responsibility for match results. That was tough, so he tacitly allowed the team to ostracize Bai Yu, and sometimes even cooperated with Cheng Lin and the others’ little schemes. He didn’t expect it to become a habit. Eventually, things escalated on the world stage, and Bai Yu really got forced out.
Of course, as long as they don’t talk about it, the higher-ups will never know.
The coach sighed. “I really can’t do anything anymore. The players’ form is too poor. Cheng Lin’s mentality is completely off, he doesn’t communicate with the team at all anymore.”
The higher-ups didn’t care. “Don’t give me that useless talk. I just want results. Tell me directly, what do we need to do to avoid relegation?”
The coaching team exchanged glances, then presented their plan. “Actually, our score against YK is really close. If we win the next three matches against weaker teams, and then take just one game from the remaining four strong teams, we can avoid relegation...”
They each shared their thoughts, and finally came to a unanimous conclusion: “RAG is our best chance to grab a point. We’ll go all out in the next match and do everything we can to take one game off them.”
The upper management listened with a frown but had to admit the plan was feasible. After all, RAG even lost a game to BN. Stealing one game from them isn’t that far-fetched.
“Then we’ll see how the next match goes.”
When the meeting ended, Yan Min wasn’t directly criticized, but he didn’t look good either.
The others were still in heated discussion, even bordering on an argument, and eventually circled back to the issue of Bai Yu’s departure.
Yan Min grew irritated. “That was my decision. I’ll take responsibility. You all just focus on your own jobs.”
The rest fell silent.
After Yan Min left, someone couldn’t help muttering quietly, “He’ll take responsibility? With what? If we really end up in relegation, everyone behind him will get dragged down too...”
Soon, it was game day. The venue was packed, and online hype exploded.
After all, this was Bai Yu’s first match against his old team since qualifying.
To be honest, while there have been plenty of fallouts in the esports scene, none have ever escalated to this level.
A player like Bai Yu, with so many iconic moments and years of fan support, capital doesn’t even dare touch him. Even when SG terminated his contract, they didn’t make a big scene. After things blew up later, they tried everything to shift the blame onto the team’s double carry.
If Bai Yu had just retired and stopped competing, maybe the heat would’ve passed and SG would’ve gotten away with it.
But who would've thought Bai Yu went and built his own team, made it into the LPL, stood on equal footing with SG, and kept delivering highlight moments.
His actions were basically telling the world: It’s not that Bai Yu couldn’t do it. It’s that SG couldn’t.
This was the equivalent of standing right in front of SG and slapping them in the face.
[Haha I’ve waited so long for this day~]
[I have a feeling this match is gonna be fire!]
[Here we go again, Bai Yu clapping his old team, but this time it’s SG’s main roster. Even better.]
[Lmao, just half a year ago he was fighting SG’s second team. Who would’ve thought he’d be shoulder to shoulder with the main roster now.]
[SG’s execs really don’t understand esports. A player like Bai Yu, even if he couldn’t compete anymore, should’ve been kept on as a consultant. How did they think it was okay to cut him?]
[Fun fact: SG didn’t want to terminate him, they wanted him to step down.]
[Even worse. That’s just freeloading off him.]
[SG’s been losing so much this year. Their top-16 finish last year might’ve been their peak.]
[Oh, so “top-16” wasn’t sarcasm, it was a compliment.]
[SG fans are suffering. Fighting battles for them every day, only for the team to perform like trash.]
[I’m an SG fan🤡]
[Don’t mind us. SG fans have our own coping mechanisms. Once they fall out of the tier list, we won’t have to suffer anymore🤡]
[They might not even win in the lower division though...]
[What kind of horror story is this?]
[I’m starting to feel like jumping off a building...]
Amid all the buzz, both teams were now seated.
This time, Bai Yu subbed in Xu Bo, clearly not planning to hold back. On the other side, Cheng Lin still looked off, his form was visibly concerning.
The match began. Both sides loaded in.
Xu Bo picked Draven, clearly feeling confident.
Cheng Lin picked Caitlyn. She’s a long-range champion, but for some reason, he looked scared the whole time. He was just farming minions and didn’t dare cross the line.
The chat was full of criticism about his mental state, frustrated that he wasn’t playing boldly.
Then Cheng Lin finally saved up for a crit item. Right then, Xu Bo made a positioning mistake. It was a clear opportunity for a trade. Cheng Lin couldn’t hold back and stepped up slightly. But just as he raised his hand, a sharp “snap” rang out. A familiar voice echoed in his ears. His champion got yanked forward, and his Q was interrupted mid-cast.
It was Bai Yu’s hook.
Cheng Lin lost half his HP and had to burn a mobility skill to escape.
Both sides had used their Summoner Spells, so people thought there’d be a lull. But another “snap”, Cheng Lin got hooked again.
His face went pale.
[What the hell? What’s going on?]
[Why does Cheng Lin keep walking right into Bai Yu’s hooks?]
[Cheng Lin’s form has been off, sure, but he’s still been on the leaderboard. There’s no way his movement is this bad.]
[Uhhh... this is weird. Bai Yu’s thrown five hooks so far, and Cheng Lin’s eaten all of them.]
[Xu Bo has two kills now. He’s gonna snowball hard.]
[SG had a chance if they stalled to late game. Draven’s bad in teamfights later. But if Cheng Lin keeps getting hooked like this, they won’t get that chance.]
[Wait... can Bai Yu actually predict Cheng Lin’s movement?]
He can.
Besides Xu Bo, Cheng Lin was the AD carry who played with Bai Yu the longest. Bai Yu knew all of his movement habits and weak points inside out.
When farming, Cheng Lin has a habit of leaning to his right, because he’s better at kiting to the right side. So he subconsciously moves that way.
It’s not a huge issue in casual play, but once you hit the world stage, it gets exploited brutally.
Bai Yu had warned him about this a long time ago, and even trained him to kite left. But maybe giving up his old style was too painful, or maybe Cheng Lin had gotten results and stopped listening. In the end, he gave up after a few days and told Bai Yu outright, “I have my own movement habits. Don’t try to control everything.”
To be honest, Bai Yu didn’t hold much real power in SG.
Above him was the coach, and above the coach was upper management. He simply didn’t have that much authority.
Later on, Bai Yu even privately spoke with the coach about Cheng Lin, but the coach felt there was no need for Cheng Lin to change his playstyle.
The mid laner was cunning, the jungler was a fence-sitter, and the top laner didn’t care at all. The whole team seemed to isolate Bai Yu, and over time, he stopped voicing his opinions.
But whenever the team lost a match, they would instinctively treat him as a lifeline, asking him what to do. Once the crisis passed, they would go back to isolating him. Over and over again.
Bai Yu started to feel helpless and even thought about retiring.
He felt like what people online were saying was true. He was getting old, his time was up, and maybe it was time to step down.
If it weren’t for his stubbornness, he might’ve really retired.
Luckily, he didn’t.
After leaving SG, he built his own team from the ground up, gained a voice, and only then did he realize it wasn’t that he couldn’t play anymore. It was that he hadn’t found a purpose.
Once he found it, he was filled with motivation.
Bai Yu once again saw a flaw in Cheng Lin’s positioning. He was in great form, and his next hook landed perfectly. “Xu Bo.”
He didn’t even have to speak. Just a slight change in positioning and Xu Bo knew exactly what he wanted. He moved in and slashed a few times, securing the kill on Cheng Lin.
Xu Bo’s score reached 3–0. He was stunned. “Bai Yu, did you install auto-aim on your hooks?”
Bai Yu smiled without saying a word. When they returned to lane, Cheng Lin had already lost confidence. He missed many last hits, and his gold started to fall behind.
Even then, Bai Yu still held onto his Flash. He read the enemy’s movement perfectly, Flashed in and landed his E, then immediately threw his lantern to Xu Bo while hooking again to pull him in for the kill.
In the audience, Yan An’s face turned green.
He had thought even if SG lost, it wouldn’t look too bad. But Bai Yu came in and directly enabled Xu Bo, leaving them no room to make plays.
Seeing this, Yan An could no longer sit still.
He rarely admitted mistakes, but this time he had to. He had truly underestimated Bai Yu. Despite all the roadblocks he set up with other teams to hold Bai Yu back, Bai Yu still managed to form a team and make it work.
At this point, there was also a kill in mid lane. The enemy mid might not have had great mechanics, but he was very good at hugging turret. Lu Sheng caught a tiny mistake and managed to solo kill him. With the already significant gold lead, he solo-farmed turret plates after the kill, and his gold lead became astronomical.
After the kill, he finally spoke. “Mid’s done.”
Bai Yu glanced at the gold and saw that it really was a stomp. He chuckled, “That guy moves like an eel, and you still solo killed him?”
It did take some effort, but Lu Sheng kept his cool and just replied with a light “Mhm,” like it had been effortless.
Bai Yu never held back on praise. “That’s amazing.”
Not to be outdone, Fang Zhixu chimed in, itching for praise. “Captain, I’ve got control of their jungle too~”
His intention was too obvious. Lu Sheng snorted. Chen Shi’an, not one to miss a good time, joined in too. “Captain, I’ve got lane control~”
Bai Yu sighed, “What are you guys doing, we’re in a match.”
Their voice comms were full of laughter, while the other side was dead silent.
Cheng Lin was falling apart in lane, and there wasn’t much he could do in teamfights. The match ended in under 20 minutes as they were steamrolled up to their base.
Xu Bo was dealing insane damage. The enemy mid tried to burst him down, but Bai Yu blocked the damage just enough so he survived. Xu Bo turned around and landed two quick hits, leaving the mid at 1 HP.
The guy broke out in cold sweat, suddenly remembering. Three-Hit Style.
Back in the day, Xu Bo was known for his aggressive plays. Draven was his signature champion. Once he built crit, he could kill someone in just three hits thanks to his gold lead. That’s how the “Three-Hit Style” was born.
Back then, Xu Bo could land three hits in just 1.2 seconds.
This move took the audience right back to those days. They burst into cheers.
The caster had lived through that era and was fired up. “Draven’s classic Three-Hit Style. He only got two off this time, but it doesn’t matter!”
Xu Bo was still a bit unsatisfied. “Tch, hands too slow, didn’t get the third one off.”
Bai Yu replied, “Doesn’t matter.”
It really didn’t, because the next second Lu Sheng jumped in and wiped out the enemy mid and ADC. They could end the game right then and there.
Chen Shi’an barely had a chance to do anything before the match ended. He couldn’t help but sigh, “Guess good play still loses to good draft.”
The Nexus exploded. Another clean win.
Another game over in under 20 minutes. SG was playing so poorly that even their fans didn’t feel like flaming anymore.
Bai Yu thought Cheng Lin would cry, but he didn’t. He just stared blankly at the screen. The coach came up and said something to him, and he nodded and stood up.
Bai Yu suddenly had a feeling. “They’ll run a new comp next game.”
That’s exactly what Song Bo had predicted before the match. Just yesterday he told Bai Yu, “SG needs points badly. They might pull out a pocket comp to try and steal a win from us. Stay sharp.”
Bai Yu nodded. “We won’t lose.”
He looked at Lu Sheng behind him and could feel how well he was fitting in. It was especially obvious this game. Since bot lane needed to fight constantly, Fang Zhixu had to stay bottom to protect them. That meant if Lu Sheng wanted to get anything going mid, he had to follow Fang Zhixu’s tempo.
Surprisingly, the two didn’t argue and synced up perfectly.
Lu Sheng seemed to sense Bai Yu looking and glanced back. His expression was still as cool as ever, but Bai Yu could tell he wasn’t as resistant anymore.
Bai Yu smiled. “We’ve got Lu Sheng. What’s there to be afraid of?”
Game two started quickly.
Usually, both sides' fans would be flaming each other by now, but today’s chat was quiet.
RAG’s fans were all about banter and memes, while SG’s fans had already given up and resigned themselves to defeat. That, in itself, showed that SG was no longer a match for RAG.
As the game began, SG, the team everyone was mocking, suddenly locked in Ziggs and Nautilus.
The caster immediately sensed something. “Are they sending Ziggs to bot lane? Looks like SG is changing up their playstyle. They’ve never run a comp like this before.”
Seeing the draft, Bai Yu thought, as expected.
In Song Bo’s pre-game draft predictions, the chance of them picking Ziggs was as high as 75%.
Ziggs would go bot lane to safely farm, Nautilus would roam, and Tristana would go mid to create pressure. This setup avoided the issue of their weak bot lane in laning phase. Later, Ziggs would rotate mid to hold the lane, and Tristana was strong at side lane skirmishes. With a roaming tank support gathering early map resources, this compensated for SG’s overall laning weaknesses.
As for late game, RAG’s scaling wasn’t strong, so SG could still look for a win condition.
Bai Yu had already discussed this comp with Song Bo. The key to breaking it was figuring out how to breach Ziggs’ defensive line.
That champion was disgustingly good at waveclear. With just one item, he could hold an entire lane by himself.
If mid couldn’t be broken, they’d never get vision. They wouldn’t be able to split push, and if an early dragon fight broke out, Ziggs could zone them out with poke. It would be unwinnable.
Song Bo’s opinion was, “Ahri and Lee Sin can break mid. The only question is whether their synergy is good enough.”
That was Bai Yu’s thought too, but they only had one shot. Back then, he wasn’t sure if Lu Sheng and Fang Zhixu could pull it off, so he didn’t approve the draft. But now, he was sure.
He spoke calmly, “Pick Ahri and Lee Sin.”
As soon as Lu Sheng heard the champion names, he tensed up. Fang Zhixu asked cautiously, “Captain, you want to open the game through mid again?”
Bai Yu gave a low “mm.” “If you two coordinate well, you’ll get a chance. If not, Qi Yi and I will cover for you. Just lock it in.”
With that kind of reassurance, Fang Zhixu locked the picks.
As soon as these two champions showed up, Yan An suddenly felt confident. He straightened up and adjusted his suit, watching the rest of the draft intently.
The whole point of SG’s comp was to stop Lu Sheng from getting ahead, forcing RAG to rely on mid-jungle synergy. That would give SG a chance.
If they could win just one game and get one point, they wouldn’t have to play in the relegation tournament.
The game began quickly. The enemy support started roaming at level five, and Bai Yu followed as well. They clashed near the Rift Scuttler. Tristana was way too strong early, and they couldn’t win the skirmish. Fang Zhixu barely managed to smite one Scuttler and escape. At least they denied SG from getting all three.
In bot lane, Qi Yi was quietly farming under tower against Ziggs. He was known for his safe laning. He didn’t miss a single last hit and quickly built a CS lead over Ziggs.
The caster praised them, “RAG’s ADC rotation is on point. One is strong early, the other a late-game monster. They can flex their draft however they want.”
After realizing SG wanted a passive bot lane, Bai Yu had decided to put Qi Yi on stage to secure their late game.
That way, even if Lu Sheng couldn’t break open mid, they had a fallback plan.
But Bai Yu believed Lu Sheng would manage it.
He took a moment to glance at mid. Tristana’s lane pressure was overwhelming, and Lu Sheng’s Ahri couldn’t do anything in lane.
Fang Zhixu finished his jungle clear and proactively came mid. He ward-hopped forward but didn’t ult. When Tristana finally used her W to jump back in frustration, Fang Zhixu instantly cast R-Flash, kicking her into Lu Sheng. Lu Sheng ulted and hit his Charm, both of them unloaded their full damage, and Tristana didn’t stand a chance. She died on the spot.
First Blood.
The synergy was genuinely impressive. Bai Yu couldn’t help but praise them, “Well played.”
Those two words seemed to flip a switch. In the next wave, Lu Sheng went in with ult again to poke Tristana. He backed off right after using his skills, and when Tristana tried to chase him down, Fang Zhixu showed up once more. Thanks to Lu Sheng’s smart positioning, Fang Zhixu ward-hopped in and hit another perfect kick. Tristana was dead again.
The caster shouted excitedly, “Akoi has killed Tristana again! You’ve got to admit, RAG’s mid-jungle synergy has improved insanely fast. Just a few days and their coordination is already this tight!”
What the audience didn’t know was that Lu Sheng had already played countless Ahri-Lee Sin duos with Fang Zhixu in private. They’d practiced how to dive, how to invade, how to teamfight, it was all muscle memory at this point. Lu Sheng was already sick of playing it, but the coordination came naturally now.
[Who said Lu Sheng practicing Ahri was useless? Look at him now.]
[LMAO, SG forced the enemy to pick Ahri, but Lu Sheng had already covered that weakness.]
[Lu Sheng’s nickname is “King of All Trades” for a reason. There’s nothing he can’t learn. Back in NA, he once brought a brand-new champion into a pro match just seven days after release.]
[Akoi is honestly the most talented and hardworking player I’ve ever seen. His teammates said in interviews that none of them could outwork him.]
[Lu Sheng: Just Ahri? Easy.]
[No, you should say: Fang Zhixu? Easy.]
[LOL, Ahri was never the problem. Fang Zhixu is.]
[And don’t forget Captain Bai. He’s got Lu Sheng locked down too. Ever since he came back to China, it's been all uphill.]
[Did Lu Sheng expect this when he returned home?]
[Lu Sheng: I don’t get it. Back in NA, the team played around me. Now I’m the one adapting?]
[Ugh, poor Lu Sheng. Can Captain Bai just go easy on him for once?]
[Let’s go Lu Sheng! You’ve got this!]
SG’s first phase strategy failed and they quickly transitioned to phase two.
Ziggs rotated mid to stall, and Lu Sheng couldn’t do anything. Every time he got close, Ziggs would Satchel himself away, wait out cooldowns, and instantly clear the wave again. It never ended.
At that point, Qi Yi wasn’t able to contest waveclear yet, so Lu Sheng was stuck mid, unable to roam.
Just as the second Scuttle was about to spawn, Fang Zhixu noticed there was still no opening mid and started moving away. But then he caught Cheng Lin shifting slightly to the right.
No time to communicate. He instantly flashed under turret, hitting the perfect angle to Dragon’s Rage kick Cheng Lin out of safety.
But now what?
If Lu Sheng didn’t land crowd control, Ziggs could flash away and use Satchel Charge to escape. The combo wouldn’t be enough.
Fang Zhixu instantly regretted the move. He thought, “I’m gonna get flamed by Bai Yu again…”
But maybe it was all the duo games. Maybe he had finally internalized Bai Yu’s playstyle. Lu Sheng’s screen had been following Fang Zhixu’s movement the whole time. The second he saw the tower dive, he realized what was about to happen.
He activated Spirit Rush, dashed in, and just as Cheng Lin got kicked forward, he flashed and landed Charm with E. The full combo deleted Ziggs on the spot.
It happened in an instant.
Lu Sheng had been so far away he was off-screen. When Fang Zhixu kicked, everyone thought it was a throw.
Then Lu Sheng came flying in from outside the screen, using ult and flash for a perfectly timed cross-map kill.
That one play shattered SG’s entire game plan.
The crowd was stunned. The caster’s voice even cracked from the excitement:
“What the hell! How did he follow that up from so far away?!”