After graduating from Rare Atom’s LDL academy team, Chen “Strive” Liang is now the sole mid laner and starter for their LPL roster this Spring Split 2022.
After pulling off a commanding victory over Top Esports in their debut match of the season, Rare Atom found themselves up against a stronger LNG Esports lineup at the end of Week 1 comprising superstars Kim “Doinb” Tae-sang and Lee “Tarzan” Seung-yong.
Both teams were neck and neck in the mid game, but this one incredible Missile Barrage highlight play from Strive flipped the tempo in Rare Atom’s favor.
Rare Atom’s mid laner Strive on Corki made this team fight against LNG Esports so worthwhile
22 minutes in, Rare Atom had three dragons, and were looking to secure Cloud Soul. Unfortunately, not only did Tarzan manage to steal away the dragon, but they also lost their support very early on in the fight.
Kiting back from LNG Esports, the team temporarily retreated. However, watch closely how Strive placed Corki’s Special Delivery.
The moment Hu “Ale” Jia-Le’s Jax stepped a little too far forward, Rare Atom jumped onto their target. Scrambling to support their top laner, all four members of LNG Esports inevitably walked into Special Delivery’s trail of fire (which covered an area just around the bend of the dragon pit), received tick damage, and were slowed.
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Special Delivery’s damage alone was enough to eliminate Zuo “LvMao” Ming-Hao’s Lulu, which turned the fight into an even 4v4. Realizing that their HP bars were low, LNG Esports retreated.
At that very moment, Hu “iBoy” Xian-Zhao’s Jinx threw out his Super Mega Death Rocket ultimate, but it was not enough, and all three members of LNG survived.
On the chase, Strive’s Corki continued to push forward, and landed a single Missile Barrage. As Ale and Wang “Light” Guang-Yu split off from Tarzan’s Xin Zhao, it looked like LNG Esports were ready to cut their losses and sacrifice their jungler.
However, Strive had other plans. Turning on Gatling Gun, he flashed forward. With absolute precision, he angled and landed a single Missile Barrage on both Ale and Light, before finishing up Tarzan’s Xin Zhao for a surprising triple kill. We might as well call Strive the janitor since he cleaned up so well.
Rare Atom went on to win game one, but did not manage to find the same success in games two and three, and lost to LNG Esports 2-1. Despite this, Strive has shown great potential, and is a rookie mid laner we should keep our eyes on this LPL Spring Split 2022.
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