Chapter 36: He really is a little crafty devil!

6.11 was updated today; it's estimated that it will still take another one or two weeks before it's applied in the tournament, and there's a chance they'll skip 6.11 and go straight to 6.12.

This is something no one can predict; it depends on how often the developer updates.

The current patch's strong champions are already clear, and moreover, EU's opening day is much later than other regions, which gives a big advantage: we can learn from other regions' experience and avoid being guinea pigs.

Copying blindly isn't necessarily correct, after all region strengths differ, but when it comes to identifying the patch's strong champions, LCK and LPL are undoubtedly authoritative.

In the 6.10 patch, the only two T0 champions are Lu Xi An and Leopard Woman; the former relies on item adaptability, the latter on environmental fit.

Besides those, there are two controversial pseudo-T0 champions: Ryze and Shah.

The rest can only be called patch-strong or popular.

However, if we take Liang Yan's understanding of the patch as the standard for evaluation, this Spider champion absolutely ranks in the top five of the patch, at least on par with Ryze and Shah.

The reason is multifaceted, the biggest factor being——

In this patch, the only popular tank champion is Big Tree; the others are either squishy or have low pick rates.

Although top lane Ekko builds tanky, it's not a traditional tank, and its durability is far less than that of a true tank.

Spider is a burst damage champion that loves to hit squishy compositions.

Late-game stealth?

Just dominate them in the early and mid game!

Aside from Leopard Woman, Spider is Liang Yan's favorite champion in this patch.

Getting her on his debut was an unexpected delight.

Moreover, this patch has no individual kill bounty, so getting many kills doesn't fear giving the enemy a comeback; it's really free to roam.

His four teammates were honestly defending at the key riverbank intersection, their positioning similar to Liang Yan's signaled spots; any slight difference might be their last stubbornness.

When the first wave minions left the high ground, Liang Yan left his current defensive position and headed for the Stone Armor Beetle camp.

As he was about to arrive, he directly put out the Self-destruct Spider early.

The Self-destruct Spider, flashing with dangerous red light, crawled into the monster camp; two Stone Armor Beetles spawned simultaneously, with a boom, the Self-destruct Spider exploded.

The Spider Queen lay on the ground, turning into a deep purple, eerie large spider; a slight side-step, three small spiders smoothly surged forward to draw fire.

The large spider's hind legs followed.

After the small spiders secured aggro, Expect's Big Tree came forward and cast a Q ability Arcane Smash, then used basic attacks to help output.

When the big monster had around 500 HP left, Liang Yan directly applied Smite, gaining the Heavy Hand's Gift buff, took a bite of the small monster with half HP remaining, then turned and left.

Midway, he reverted to human form, again pre‑emptively releasing the Self-destruct Spider; upon entering its range, he sipped the Neurotoxin on the red‑buff monster, turning into a spider's Deadly Sting that lunged forward; while auto‑attacking, he pulled back from the pit's bottom to let the small spiders absorb all damage, after a few auto‑attacks triggering Heavy Hand's Gift stun again.

When the small spiders were all dead, the red‑buff monster had little HP left; two auto‑attacks and a Deadly Sting finished it off.

He cleared the two small monsters, turned a corner, reverted to human form, and continued clearing F4.

When the director switched the camera over.

Liang Yan had just killed the last little bird.

He didn't get the heal from Smite on the red buff, but after clearing three jungle camps, Liang Yan's Spider was near full health.

And he didn't use any potions.

The time had just passed 2:30.

Perfect jungle clear!

Tang Anna backstage was both surprised and delighted.

In this game, Liang Yan's Spider opening was even more perfect than his performance in the video.

The commentator Quickshot on the analyst desk couldn't help but exclaim:

"Wow! The Elise that cleared the jungle smoothly, without getting the red buff heal, was at full health after clearing three camps!"

"Although I don't understand jungling, just watching his jungle play I can tell his Elise is very proficient!"

"As he walked toward the river, he wasn't going to eat river crabs; he wanted to catch Night's Vampire!"

"But Perkz had already pushed the lane clash point forward a certain distance; Night's position should be relatively……"

"Without any hesitation, he dashed out of the brush, used Web to swing up to the sky, launching off the cannon cart as a springboard! But the distance wasn't enough to attack directly in spider form; the spider turned into Elise!"

The moment he reverted to human form, Liang Yan pressed the S key.

Under his control, the Spider Queen exhibited a momentary pause in movement.

Just like the stiffness before a skill's wind‑up.

"Elise's Cocoon lands! Night flashes back under the tower!"

"No! That's not Cocoon! It's Neurotoxin!"

"Night was completely fooled!"

"So creative! He really is a little crafty devil!"

"However, Night had already retreated under the tower; although Firrrrrre had a trick hidden, Night's position was already safe, and Firrrrrre didn't aggressively pursue."

"But as soon as he appeared, he gave us a surprise! His playstyle is very clever, and this deceptive tactic of his is too seasoned!"

"So, is this really a newcomer making his debut on the professional stage?"

"Wait, what is he doing?!"

After flashing the Vampire's flash, Liang Yan didn't pause, directly cut across the middle lane, walking in front of the Vampire facing the middle tower one, entering the small path behind the blue side's F4.

Ding ding ding!

The sharp alert blared, meaning dangerous red signals were marked one after another on the Spider's head; Night's warning simultaneously sounded in GIA's team voice channel:

"Jungler be careful, he's gone past!"

"Shit!"

Maxlore, who was controlling Rek'Sai to hit the red buff, cursed; all he could do was keep dealing damage while pulling into the brush.

"Don't panic, we're here!"

The support from hustlin made Maxlore feel much more at ease.

But Xia Lu is far away.

Almost at the moment hustlin's voice fell, a red side ward was thrown into the red buff camp through the wall.

Liang Yan has arrived.

The moment vision was gained, I happened to see a punishment laser strike down and slay the crimson-marked treant, but I didn't see Rek'Sai's figure; he must be hiding in the grass nearby.

Just a bit more time, and the red buff would have fallen into Rek'Sai's pocket.

But this was within Liang Yan's expectation.

Liang Yan's intrusion mainly aimed to ease the pressure on Xia Lu; the Ezreal + Janna combo is indeed strong, suppressing the G2 duo from level 1, putting heavy pressure on Zven and Mithy.

Secondly, it was also for his own benefit.

Anyway, since I'm passing by, I'll take a few swings regardless of whether there are dates; if I really spot the position and the opponent's jungle clear goes wrong, even being off by just two or three seconds would give me a chance.

Now Rek'Sai's position has been spotted, but the chance to steal the red buff is gone; it's no matter.

Besides, there's still some soup left to snag.

Grabbing a red buff minion nets 20 bucks; if you don't grab it, you get nothing.

Liang Yan watched the two remaining minions in the red buff pit head into the grass, confirming that Rek'Sai was hiding there.