Image via Riot Games

League players use Bard’s portal to backdoor Nexus in ARAM game

A truly masterful display of Bard mechanics.

On a one-lane League of Legends map like the Howling Abyss, the very idea of pulling off a backdoor play feels futile. But with the help of a Bard player’s portal, one League team secured a dramatic game-ending backdoor right under the enemy team’s noses.

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In a clip posted to Reddit earlier today, one Bard player allowed their team to end an ARAM game of League on the Howling Abyss through the use of their Magical Journey (E). In the clip, the Bard player’s portal created from Magical Journey extended past nearly the entirety of the map’s single lane and gave their team a one-way entrance into the enemy team’s base. 

The Bard player was able to set up their portal so effectively thanks to a nearby distraction made by one of their teammates, an Alistar player. While the Alistar player drew the attention of the entire enemy team, going in one-vs-five into the enemy team, the Bard player led their teammates through their portal. The Alistar’s tankiness and “unkillability” allowed them to stay alive long enough for the Bard player and the rest of their teammates to coordinate their mission into the base. 

The Bard player’s portal was placed just past the red team’s outer relic, directly in front of the “broken” part of the bridge on the Howling Abyss, and its exit point spat the four infiltrating players just within the walls of the enemy team’s base. Upon arriving at the enemy team’s Nexus, the Bard player unleashed a cast of Tempered Fate (R) behind them, entrapping three of the five enemy players and preventing them from stopping their assault. 

With a free route to the wide-open Nexus, the Bard player and their teammates took advantage of their Alistar-playing teammate’s valiant sacrifice and won the game in just over 18 minutes. 

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Author
Michael Kelly
Staff Writer covering World of Warcraft and League of Legends, among others. Mike's been with Dot since 2020, and has been covering esports since 2018.