NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 461
Before the lane swap meta, early invade vision battles were already intense.
If you win the invade fight, you can force the enemy jungle’s route or make them suffer, and even if you only secure vision, you gain various strategic advantages like knowing jungle starting positions and whether a leash will occur.
If that was the case before the lane swap meta, it goes without saying how it is now that the lane swap meta has fully arrived.
If the invade combination is strong, it’s almost a certainty they’ll adopt an aggressive early invade strategy.
[“I think the enemy might come.”]
Baek Seong-an said.
All four of us were subconsciously aware of that atmosphere.
“What should we do?”
[“Yujin, what do you think?”]
“I think we should go bot side.”
[“Hmm… what about you guys?”]
[“Bot go go.”]
[“I think it’s better to invade bot side.”]
We quickly reached an agreement, abandoning other vision and rushed straight to the bush on the bot side.
The enemy was also aware of the importance of bot lane and potential variables during the lane swap, so the chances of something happening on bot were quite high.
However, while playing the game, there are times when you know what you should do but can’t back down, and that moment was now.
Our champions entered the first bush among the three bushes at the bot.
[“Ji-hoon, check the lens.”]
[“Yes.”]
Kim Ji-hoon’s Tahm Kench checked the middle bush with the lens.
The middle bush was empty.
[“Let’s go in with Tahm Kench first.”]
We were unsure whether the enemy had invaded bot or not.
If that’s the case, securing the middle bush as quickly as possible would give us even a slight edge in this early fight where initiating is crucial.
Finally, after entering the middle bush, Tahm Kench’s lens illuminated the enemy bush.
[“They aren’t here.”]
“Let’s go in right away.”
Not seeing enemy movement, we immediately entered the enemy bush.
With that, we had seized control of all the bushes in the bot lane.
Considering the importance of controlling bushes in an early bot lane battle, we already had a good sense of what the enemy might be thinking.
[“Looks like they might try a lane swap?”]
Giving up a bush against Senna-Tahm Kench means directly signaling that the enemy bot has no intention of fully committing to the bot lane.
But could that really be all there is to it?
Are they genuinely planning a lane swap and openly communicating that to us?
Was SY that easy of a team?
‘…No, maybe they’re deliberately playing it simple to lure us in.’
As my thoughts became complicated, Baek Seong-an spoke up as if to organize my thoughts.
[“In that case, Shante and I will back for now.”]
In the midst of our complex thoughts, we stepped back while placing a ward in the bush to return to the lane.
We still didn’t know the enemy’s intentions, but it was clear we had secured vision in the bot bush.
Let’s not think about what we lost.
Let’s think about what we can do with what we gained.
Due to over-investing in securing vision for the bot during the early invade, our jungle vision was left completely dark.
We had no information on the enemy at all.
“Let’s check the vision on the red side.”
[“Understood.”]
Since I’d also pre-swapped to a lens, I could clear some enemy vision.
Little by little, I cautiously checked the bushes one by one, turning the lens on as I approached the red side.
‘One is on the Razorbeak side. There’s none on the red side.’
It was a simple fact, but from this alone, it was clear that the enemy hadn’t clustered up for an early invade and had instead spread out.
If they were trying to come into our red side as a group, they would have taken that vision too.
-Minion has spawned!
Since the only vision I cleared was on the red side, it was fair to assume that the enemy had secured control on our blue side.
Thus, it was an unpleasant start for the jungler, but it was a sacrifice to secure bot lane dominance, so it wasn’t too bad.
For now, we decided to play standard lanes.
Even if the enemy opted for a lane swap, the top matchup was unfavorable for our team, so it wasn’t a disaster.
Above all, the biggest reason was that we were more accustomed to countering the enemy’s lane swap than doing the lane swap ourselves.
And, whether coincidence or fate, SY’s choice was also a standard game without a lane swap.
To be honest, it was an unexpected decision, but it wasn’t entirely wrong.
SY had picked champions favorable for the top lane matchup, and most importantly, expert evaluations generally indicated that SY’s bot was stronger than OLZ’s.
Normally, trying to gain a lane advantage against Senna-Tahm Kench wouldn’t be a wise choice, but with a Kalista-Ash combo, it was definitely possible to win the bot lane depending on skill.
It seemed like that’s the kind of landscape SY was looking at.
[“Looks like they’re trying to poke.”]
[“Don’t back off.”]
[“Okie.”]
[“Kim Jae-min, go in right away.”]
[“Ah, okie!”]
But there was one thing SY overlooked: we had already completely taken control of the bot bushes.
Proving the importance of gaining vision control in early bush fights, our bot started aggressively pressuring the enemy from the get-go.
[“Starting with Ash.”]
[“Yes!”]
A fierce trading exchange occurred in the bot.
The Senna-Tahm Kench combo and our bot champions showed an aggressive side, refusing to be outdone by SY’s bot.
I could also read some of the enemy jungle’s movement from SY’s bot actions.
‘The enemy bot could have reacted strongly but didn’t. So, it’s not a red start.’
Reading the movements of laners goes beyond just simple information like enemy cs.
There’s more detailed information.
For example… the jungle’s route.
If the enemy was coming from top to bottom, SY surely would’ve seized the opportunity for an even stronger trade.
But SY didn’t do that.
Why?
Because SY’s jungler was likely moving from bottom to top.
‘If so…’
Coincidentally, I was also on a route moving from bottom to top.
If I read the enemy’s route, I could utilize it depending on how I play it.
“Can we push mid?”
[“…Um, that might be tough.”]
“Understood.”
Though we couldn’t do what we wanted, it didn’t matter.
The game was just getting started.
The early laning phase rolled on without significant detriment to either side.
We maintained our bot advantage from our early invade investment, while the enemy seized the top and mid lane control.
Now was when I could consider things pretty dangerous.
The enemy jungler was Xin Zhao, and both top and mid were under constant pressure.
I had no clue when the enemy mid or top might come looking for me.
‘The first scuttle timing is coming soon.’
The first scuttle timing is very important.
If one of the two teams had done a lane swap, that team would naturally grab the scuttle. However, with the current state, it seemed likely that SY, with the top and mid control, would take the first scuttle.
According to the standard, it would be best to give the scuttle and use the bot lane control to take the dragon…
‘If I concede a trade that the enemy wants, I can’t win.’
Now was the time for a decision.
A decision to win the game.
For that, I chose to focus on bot.
Right now, the bot had lane control, and I intended to use that to look for a dive opportunity.
“Starting with Tahm Kench.”
[“Yes!”]
At the moment a big wave stacked up, we initiated a dive with Tahm Kench at the forefront.
-First blood!
With the tanky Tahm Kench absorbing turret shots, taking down both enemy bots was not difficult at all.
[“Nice!”]
[“Good good.”]
And I wasn’t planning on ending this snowballing here.
“Ji-hoon, can you back and then join me towards the scuttle? Let’s push mid while we’re at it.”
[“Yes.”]
Using the pressure gained from the bot, we transferred that into a play towards the scuttle.
Great momentum.
We had secured a double kill at bot from the start, which meant we were well-positioned to take the scuttle and even dragon smoothly, dominating the early objectives.
However…
What cold water was thrown in this virtuous cycle was none other than the world’s best mid laner.
-Our ally was slain!
The sudden death knell echoed from mid.
[“Ah… sorry.”]
With Taliyah’s powerful response capability and Xin Zhao’s intervention, even Azir, no matter how tanky, couldn’t survive.
The enemy was SY.
They weren’t just a team that took hits while we utilized our cooldowns.
And that death at this timing was brutally catastrophic.
Especially considering that this fire could spread to control over the scuttle and even the top.
After killing Azir, Xin Zhao and Taliyah vanished from our view with the minions they had pushed in mid.
What that meant was crystal clear.
“This means they’re looking for a top dive with Taliyah and Xin Zhao! K’Sante needs to get out!”