Chapter 442
The first set ban/pick between YSG and OLZ is as follows.
[YSG / OLZ]
Top: Renekton / K’Sante
Jungle: Nidalee / Kha’Zix
Mid: Jason / Nikon
Bot Lane: Zeri / Kai’Sa
Support: Alistar / Rakan
Overall, the ban/pick structure showed YSG’s desire to take control early in the game and finish it off.
Indeed, with Renekton leading the charge and Mid Jason coming out, the addition of Nidalee at the peak showed their determination to snowball effectively.
[“Nidalee? Nidaleee─?”]
“Shut up, Jaem-min.”
[“That’s just too cocky. How do you look at my sister like that! I’m gonna wreck him! I’ll give him a leash!”]
“I said to be quiet.”
But honestly, I shared similar sentiments.
The fact that they picked Nidalee indicated they saw the opposing team as beneath them.
It’s what you call a dominant pick.
Nidalee is a champion with clear pros and cons, and because of that—
“Alright, everyone calm down, we just need to win. Let’s go for it.”
Seo Yeon-woo responded to Baek Seong-an’s words after glancing at him.
“Let’s go.”
And thus, the game officially began.
-Welcome to Summoner’s Rift!
No sooner had the game started than the pings began blaring loudly.
[⬇] [⬇] [⬇]
[⚑] [⚑] [⚑]
[⨷] [⨷] [⨷]
From that alone, it was clear that our team members were unknowingly excited.
Yeah, even I was.
“Let’s go.”
The Kha’Zix versus Nidalee matchup is undeniably in Kha’Zix’s favor.
But that’s only true early on.
As time goes by, the momentum will shift toward Kha’Zix, and if Kha’Zix scores a kill, Nidalee will have to keep a keen eye on his movements from that moment on.
The moment Kha’Zix disappears from sight is likely the moment one of our team members bites the dust.
Anyway, it’s a fact that Nidalee has considerable advantages early on, and furthermore, the enemy composition is optimized to empower Nidalee.
If we expose any weaknesses in the early game, the game might slip out of our hands entirely.
We decided to adopt a defensive posture for our initial invade.
The opponents, not wanting to create any unnecessary variables either, didn’t experience any incidents or variables during the invade.
My jungle start was red.
Typically, when junglers start from the blue side, they begin at the red in the lower jungle, and when from the red side, at the red in the upper jungle—a common route, nothing special.
However, I decided to throw in one more twist.
“Yeon-woo, can you give me a leash?”
[“Sure.”]
Asking not only the top but also the laners for a leash really isn’t the best strategy in the current meta, but still, if I can get a leash, it would make things easier from the jungle’s perspective.
Especially in a matchup like Nidalee versus Kha’Zix, it would help a lot.
Of course, it would leave top lane without control over the minions, but that was not a big concern.
When the top gives a leash, it accelerates the jungler’s turnaround while pulling the enemy top lane.
It set the stage for an optimal top lane gank.
However, Kha’Zix isn’t as powerful early on for ganking as one might think, so it’s generally more common to prefer jungling.
The opponent knows the gank angle is obvious, but they also understand that it carries significant risks.
“So, what should I do…”
The answer would reveal itself through Renekton’s movements.
Renekton seemed aware of the gank, opting to play it safe rather than applying pressure or diving. Instead, he pushed the lane slowly and played relatively normally.
Clearly cautious about a gank.
It could have been a ruse, but a ruse itself comes with considerable risk.
There’s little reason for Renekton, who is in a favorable position, to take such a gamble.
Moreover, this behavior conveyed another piece of information.
“Nidalee’s position is far from top.”
If Nidalee were nearby or en route, there would be no reason for Renekton to be that cautious.
Even with just setting up a dive line, if Nidalee showed up to execute a dive, K’Sante would be as good as dead.
However, Renekton didn’t do that.
He played alarmingly cautiously, allowing Honor’s K’Sante to carry on with the lane quite comfortably despite having had a leash.
Being far from top implies being close to mid or bot.
Just from Renekton’s single movement, the entire team’s intentions became clear.
[“Confirmed.”]
[“Okay!”]
After clearing all the top camps, Kha’Zix, now level 3, headed for top lane.
[Kha’Zix – Level 3]
To gobble up the unguarded Renekton.
*
For YSG’s jungler, DieHard Choi Woo-jin, Outlaw held tremendous significance.
Once, YSG was a team that lingered at the bottom for ages.
Colorless, odorless, and tasteless.
That was the assessment of the team, confirmed by their performance and other aspects.
During that time, DieHard Choi Woo-jin had been the savior within YSG, trying anything to drag the crumbling team to victory.
The crumbling team’s ace.
While facing such an evaluation, he struggled hard to lead the team to victory, until Outlaw appeared.
Outlaw, already a famous streamer, became the center of YSG almost instantly upon entering.
That was fine up to a point.
A promising newcomer had joined, and he thought that when it came to fair competition, losing the chance for a starting position was just part of the game.
But Director Choi Tae-dal saw it differently.
“Let’s have Outlaw as the starter. He’s better, right? Then he should start.”
Of course, Woo-jin understood it logically.
Ever since Outlaw arrived, their scrim and practice results had improved tremendously, and the atmosphere within the team had become unfathomably better than before.
It felt like everything would go well as long as Outlaw was around.
Honestly, it was frustrating, infuriating, and left him with unspeakable emotions, but Woo-jin did his best to accept it.
He knew, of course, that despite his intentions, he hadn’t treated Outlaw particularly well within the team.
And then it happened.
Outlaw left the team.
“Outlaw… left the team?”
“Yep! We’re doomed!”
The cause was obvious.
Director Choi Tae-dal’s reckless and poorly planned advertisement shoots and bizarre schedules.
It’s known that Outlaw had quite special contract conditions, so there was no reason for him not to exploit those unique clauses.
YSG was in an emergency.
Yet during that process, DieHard Choi Woo-jin solidified his standing as a starter even more, with the remnants left behind by Outlaw helping to lead YSG into mid-tier placement.
Thus, today’s match was both a thread of ill fate and an entwined fate for YSG and Woo-jin.
While Outlaw undoubtedly brought a lot to YSG, he also took something away.
“Let’s do this.”
DieHard Choi Woo-jin had been watching Outlaw’s plays all along.
Then he noticed one of Outlaw’s peculiar habits—his decisiveness was frightfully accurate.
Outlaw would only move if his plans had at least two or more merits.
It’s reasonable yet makes him quite predictable.
Thus, many players tried to block Outlaw, but they all failed.
He was truly impenetrable.
Each play was incredibly heavy, and sometimes even Outlaw was unexpectedly baited into his traps.
Even if one won through lane control in a battle, Outlaw would render that strategy pointless in direct fights.
“But then again, that might have been part of Outlaw’s strategy.”
Honestly, thinking one could beat Outlaw without any losses was foolish.
Sometimes, to gain something, one must sacrifice something in return.
[“Kha’Zix top!”]
With Mingki’s urgent shout, Outlaw’s Kha’Zix revealed himself.
Renekton had finally gotten a chance at exchanging blows thanks to the changing skills, but unfortunately, Outlaw dug in like a ghost at that moment.
-Our champion has fallen!
-First Blood!
The carefully cautious Renekton fell helplessly.
Renekton’s slip up was getting snagged by K’Sante’s W just before Kha’Zix showed up.
No matter how versatile Renekton may be, with W and even E skills on cooldown, that was it.
But for DieHard Choi Woo-jin, it was also an opportunity.
In a spot where the opponent’s attention momentarily faded.
Mid.
“Let’s check mid.”
The shadow of death began to creep toward Nikon of Getback.