NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 18
Objectively speaking, the situation was the worst.
[Sylas – Level 2]
[Lee Sin – Level 4]
After successfully ganking bot lane, Lee Sin pushed the wave together and reached level 4, while the level gap between the junglers widened to a difference of 2 levels.
If this game had been a typical match with players of similar tiers, it wouldn’t have been strange for someone to have already opened the game by this point.
Of course, I wasn’t just sitting around either.
I skipped my blue buff and charged straight towards the enemy’s blade wraith, and soon succeeded in counter-jungling.
Still, I had only managed to secure a mere 2 camps.
This meant I was still far from reaching level 3.
‘I’ve certainly fallen quite a bit behind.’
If I were playing a different champion, by now I would have counter-jungled the enemy’s red buff completely and started to recover somewhat.
However, after continuous nerfs, Sylas had become virtually unusable as a jungler, with the biggest issue being his jungling capabilities.
Right now, Sylas was lacking in both clear speed and sustain; he was just missing everything.
‘At this rate, there’s no chance of winning.’
No matter how great Sylas’s late-game potential was or how much higher my tier was compared to my opponent, it didn’t do anything to close the massive gap in growth that had already opened up.
In other words, the timing of Lee Sin’s return was essentially the only chance to turn this game around.
I thought about it.
Sylas’s strengths.
The reason for picking Sylas.
‘Sylas’s strengths aren’t limited to just late-game carry potential. Sylas is also a champion with advantages in skirmishes.’
And so, I reached a conclusion.
‘Is it really just about ganking?’
For weak early champions, there were hardly any options available.
Especially if it was a Sylas that had fallen significantly behind early on.
The camps I had taken were just 2 in total, and no matter how much experience I tried to steal from minions, it wouldn’t be enough to hit level 3.
I had to succeed in ganking with only level 2.
‘Hmm.’
I quickly scanned the minimap.
The situation on each lane was visible.
The bot lane, having just secured a double kill, was now returning to the lane just revived.
Even if I rushed to bot lane right now, the wave was already pushed, so the chances of successfully ganking were low, and if things went poorly, I might even lose a 2v3 fight.
Top lane was quietly accepting the early aggression from Renekton.
Even if I attempted to gank there, unless Renekton overextended, Sion would not be able to catch him.
And mid lane…
‘It’s really just mid lane, isn’t it?’
There’s a concept known as a “blade vs. blade matchup”.
As the name suggests, it refers to champions with aggressive tendencies facing each other in lane; in such cases, things can go horribly wrong depending on which side gets ganked first.
Talon and Zed.
Both were mid lane champions of the assassin type and were classic blade champions.
[◎] [◎] [◎]
I pinged Zed.
However, amidst the already broken setup, Zed seemed to think that as long as he wasn’t the one dying, the game was secure, because he had entirely shied away from the turret line.
A wise choice.
If the enemy wasn’t me.
Typically, diving mid lane is said to be much more difficult compared to top or bot dives.
There are many reasons for this.
The enemy jungler is likely nearby, and unlike the top or bot, where one side is often blocked off, mid lane offers plenty of escape routes.
Moreover, the champions usually played in the mid lane tend to have strong wave clear abilities, so the dive itself might not even be feasible.
But in this case, what was happening?
The Talon vs. Zed matchup was a blade vs. blade battle, making it a situation perfect for a skirmish.
Any slight mistake from either side could give rise to a kill opportunity, and a minor jungle intervention could lead to a kill as well.
Maybe that’s why.
Zed made a critical mistake here.
He chose to completely disengage from the laning phase to avoid giving me a gank opportunity.
Because of that, an overwhelming dive situation was forming on the mid lane.
[Talon – Level 4]
[Zed – Level 3]
Moreover, the minion count disparity led to a level difference between the two mid laners.
If Zed were playing with challenger-level teammates like I was, even if the enemy jungler was nearby, he wouldn’t have allowed such a ridiculous dive situation to develop.
However, mid lane dives at diamond rank were quite rare, and Zed’s thought process simply couldn’t reach that far.
‘Alright, let’s see.’
As Talon pushed a massive wave and pressured the mid tower, Zed used his shadow to clear the wave.
Just as I had anticipated.
I immediately flashed over the blade wraith wall and used my e and w to close in on Zed.
Not to brag, but I made a lightning-fast dive there.
However, Zed was also at diamond tier.
He swiftly repositioned his shadow ahead to dodge my incoming e skill, showing his determination not to get hit.
And that was precisely the scenario I had set up.
It was straightforward.
The very position where I threw my chain was right where Zed’s shadow had been.
So-called prediction shot.
-Cheeng!
The moment Zed got caught in the chain.
My teammate Talon, who had been watching the angle, instantly used all his combos along with ignite.
-Bam!
Zed, caught by Talon’s full combo, attempted to escape using his flash as a last resort, but he soon succumbed to Talon’s bleed damage and ignite.
-Enemy killed!
The first victory cry rang out from our team.
If Zed had just let go of his unnecessary greed and simply flashed away from the back when I first flashed over the wall, he likely wouldn’t have been caught.
But the thick wave of minions piled up in the lane and Zed’s diamond-level false confidence got the best of him.
‘Well, I knew this would happen when I attempted the mid dive.’
In the end, the enemy mid was completely ruined.
Feeling bitter about missing out on a massive wave that caused the level disparity, Zed even ended up giving away a kill.
And in any blade vs. blade matchup, the champion that loses tends to lose all sense of presence until the game concludes.
[All][Master of Je-do Kim (Zed): Wow, so he saw the dive angle;;;]
[All][Triangle Mid Laner (Talon): For real]
Still, both Talon and Zed, who were still in diamond, seemed utterly flabbergasted at the recent mid dive.
Well, I understand that feeling.
I could imagine conversations popping up in the enemy team’s chat like, “Let’s not throw now,” or “Mid, please be a bit more careful.”
As if the recent events somehow fell solely on the mid’s blunders.
Even though I hadn’t obtained the kill myself, the assist along with a decent chunk of lane experience meant I was soon hitting level 3.
Judging from Lee Sin’s absence, it was likely that he had reached level 5 by now.
But there was no need to stress.
After all, until I had a certain level of items, it would be impossible for Sylas to jungle efficiently, meaning I couldn’t help but have a level gap against the enemy jungler.
*
Returning home, I headed straight for the top lane.
Considering the current lane situation and estimating Lee Sin’s movements, a top dive opportunity arose.
Just as I arrived at the midpoint between the top tier 1 and 2 towers.
As if they had been waiting, the enemy Renekton and Lee Sin attempted a top dive.
‘Just as I thought.’
Level 6 Renekton and level 5 Lee Sin.
No matter how much of a tank Sion was, it would be nearly impossible to survive against the overwhelming dive from those two champions without any tanking items.
Of course, Sion wasn’t just going to roll over and die. He used his q skill’s cc, w skill’s barrier, and even his ultimate to stubbornly hold out.
In terms of time, he lasted for about 4 seconds more.
Ultimately, Sion died, but in a way, it turned out better for the situation.
Sion’s passive allows him to revive briefly after dying.
That so-called tricky passive.
Typically, it would just be a nuisance, but the moment Sion died, my entrance changed the entire picture.