Chapter 450: How marvelous, brother‑in‑law!

The scene.

After the cheers from both sides' fans faded, the screen returned to the game, with Summoner's Rift appearing on the big screen.

A dazzling white beam fell into the sacred spring, accompanied by rumbling booms, looking just like Artanis's orbital bombardment.

When the white light faded, ten heroes had each appeared in their own springs.

"Alright, the battle has officially begun!"

"Blue side VG in the lower left, red side WE in the upper right!"

"In the final match of the semifinals, who will grab the sole remaining finals ticket? We'll wait and see!"

"Well, from another angle, if you can get the spring finals ticket, it actually amounts to a high probability of also getting an S7 ticket by the end of September this year, so even if not competing for the championship, this match is very important."

"Hehe, Professor Miller's thinking is really far-reaching, his heart has flown all the way to the Bird's Nest."

"After all, this is the first global finals held in China; for LPL teams, its importance compared to previous editions is naturally incomparable."

"That's right! But let's get back to this match at hand; neither side intends to fight a level-one teamfight, both are positioning defensively at key spots along the river."

The two sides' level-one teamfight strength is roughly equal, making the outcome hard to predict if they engage.

Moreover, the crucial point is that if they want to fight a level-one teamfight, they must learn crowd-control skills, which will greatly affect the subsequent laning.

In the prevailing trend of stable gameplay, teams willing to engage in a level-one teamfight or devise tactics for it are dwindling, and the higher the skill level of the matchup, the less likely a level-one teamfight will erupt.

In WE's team voice channel, Condi was quickly communicating with the bottom lane duo, using signal pings to convey his intent, barely enough for the Korean aid duo to understand.

"The bottom lane can play more aggressively; this game I'll rush to level three and head down, watching the whole way."

With a few pings, Condi sent out several signals, marking his jungle path with normal pings and marking the blue side's red buff jungle and the next tower with attack pings.

"OKOK."

Mystic responded to Condi in a timely manner.

When VG picked Qing Gang Ying plus Garen in the fourth/fifth picks, Condi had already tossed aside Homme's advice given when he took Mang Seng: 'Try not to engage or invade actively, do more counter‑ganks.'

Qing Gang Ying jungling is just trash!

Mang Seng can't invade?

That's too cowardly!

Impossible!

Condi's idea and the duo's thoughts are basically in sync—originally, the Sheriff (Caitlyn) is the champion with the longest auto‑attack range in League of Legends, and adding Karma, who brings her R at level one, gives them very strong laning before level six; if they can't pressure the enemy, what's the point of picking this combo?

Mystic himself is also a player with strong offensive presence in lane; now that he has this exceptionallystrong early‑game laning combo, he naturally wants to exert some pressure.

What's more, the enemy jungler is still an ultimately weak Qing Gang Ying!

Just develop steadily early on and then wait until mid‑game, when we're weak, to get beaten black and blue by the enemy?

Mystic can't accept that!

So as soon as Condi's plan was spoken, Mystic immediately approved it.

Furthermore, to better coordinate with Condi's design, Mystic proactively communicated with Condi, pinging the blue side's red and blue buffs, then asked in broken Chinese:

"Which one?"

Condi instantly understood Mystic's meaning—Mystic was asking how the enemy jungler would start his jungle. Condi glanced at the game timer and began thinking rapidly.

Qing Gang Ying's level‑one jungle clear is extremely painful; if he tries to solo‑clear, no matter which monster group he starts with, even though Smite can restore a large chunk of HP, his remaining HP after the clear is less than half, leaving him in a low‑HP state after the second camp and unable to solo‑clear the third camp.

Therefore, to steadily clear three camps and reach level three, Qing Gang Ying needs teammates to help him clear. VG's top laner is Garen, whose assistance is limited; by contrast, the bottom lane duo both have long‑range auto‑attacks, allowing them to chip in a few hits before moving on, and Lulu can give Qing Gang Ying a thick shield, greatly reducing his HP loss.

Moreover, there is one crucial piece of information: as one of the LPL's top junglers, Condi certainly wouldn't overlook that the Frost Archer (Ashe) possesses the game's most unique and practical scouting ability—her E skill, Hawkshot. Although Ashe herself lacks mobility, she is widely regarded as one of the hardest AD carries to catch, precisely because of this scouting ability. By learning E at level two and repeatedly shooting it into the enemy jungle every few tens of seconds, she can combine her own and her support's vision to control the map, making it impossible for the enemy jungler to approach the bottom lane.

Thus, as the jungler Qing Gang Ying, he actually doesn't need to protect the bottom lane early on—Ashe can protect herself, so there's no need for him to linger in the lower half of the map. This means Qing Gang Ying can start his clear from the bottom and move upward without any worries.

So, how will Firrrrre start his jungle?

The answer is quite obvious.

"Most likely starting with red!"

Condi replied to Mystic with a confident tone.

Mystic understood, immediately pinged the blue side's bottom lane triangular grass, and communicated in Korean with his support Ben:

"We can lurk a bit, then after we whittle them down we can press harder."

VG's jungler will start at the red buff; the duo will definitely help, and to minimize Qing Gang Ying's HP loss they'll likely linger a bit longer, pulling back at almost the last possible moment, after which they'll very likely take a shortcut—behind the dragon pit, through the triangular grass patch—to return to the bottom lane.

At this point, Mystic has already located Ashe and Lulu; they're hiding in that patch of grass opposite them. Since VG's duo are both here, the jungle gap at F6 can only be covered by Easyhoon's Syndra, and the upper jungle must guard the upper half, meaning that this patch of triangular grass on the bottom lane is left unguarded.

This gives WE's duo an opportunity to exploit.

Although Condi doesn't understand Korean, he inferred from Mystic's signals and instantly felt delighted. If the enemy bottom lane collapses right at the start, it would also be a huge boon for Condi's subsequent jungle invasions, so he couldn't help but shout excitedly:

"How marvelous, brother‑in‑law!"