Chapter 105: Three In, Three Out, the Tower Dive is Still Flashy! Pure Technique's

"Welcome to the League Arena! Today's winner's bracket semifinal matchup will be between EDG and JDG!"

The familiar duo of "Haier Brothers" continued the commentary: "In the summer matchups, JDG and EDG have only met once, and in that game, 369's Gangplank secured the first pentakill of the summer!"

"I wonder if, after a whole summer of settling in, EDG can 'avenge' themselves today."

"Haha, I remember in the second game of that best-of-three, Scout even pulled out a Riven to counter the Gangplank, though the results weren't ideal," Jiejie added with a laugh.

Wawa said confidently: "But it's no exaggeration to say that EDG is a completely different team from the one at the start of the summer; today's duel will surely be a clash of titans!"

"Whether the 'Jingtao' waves of the S10 season will surge again, or if EDG has rediscovered their championship form, will all depend on the results of this best-of-five!"

The players from both sides were already preparing at their stations.

The semifinals were still held online, which left Ye Bo feeling a bit regretful.

He had always wanted to take in the scenery from a higher stage.

However, because the entire summer season had not been fully open to the public and the playoffs were changed to online matches, he had only played in the small Hongqiao Tiandi venue, which could hold about a thousand people.

Having experienced the passionate atmosphere of a live match where the cheers hit you head-on, playing in the quiet of an online match always felt like something was missing.

Fortunately, it was rumored that the finals might be unsealed.

Ye Bo, full of fighting spirit, inserted his noise-canceling headphones; the familiar white noise washed over him, helping him cast aside distractions and quickly enter the zone.

The major streaming channels were already packed.

Chu Jun, streaming on Bilibili, felt a surge of secret joy as he watched the barrage of comments flooding in.

"Who does the streamer support? Oh, today it's all the same, brothers! Whoever wins is fine!"

"Hey, what do you mean by 'the streamer's true colors'?"

"Let's put it this way: for the top lane duel, I favor Brother Bai; for the mid lane duel, I favor Master Ye!"

After saying that, he added a clarification: "Actually, the streamer is very neutral and fair. One team focuses on top-jungle synergy, the other on mid-jungle synergy. Analyzing their previous performances, these are indeed the strong lanes for both teams."

As for Ye Bo, he had sparked a second spring of traffic for Chu Jun; during this period, he had made plenty of money by creating videos about him.

It was truly a case of "both the palm and the back of the hand are flesh"!

【Chu Jun: Since ancient times, loyalty and filial piety have been hard to balance!】

【Love your brother or love the gold!】

【Just wait for Master Ye to beat 69's head flat; let everyone see what 'Man-Made: Top-Tier Top Laner' is all about!】

【So you're the one they call Ip Man? Well, I, Superman Qiang, am no pushover either!】

【Then let me ask you, then let me ask you】

Ever since JDG advanced to the top four in both the spring and summer seasons, and even took first place in points during the summer regular season, 369's reputation online had undergone a 180-degree turn.

From the "ingrate" label when he left Top Esports, he seemed reborn this year under the tutelage of Homme.

His original flaws, such as "messing up on stage and dragging things down off-stage" or "mindlessly flanking in team fights," had all been improved, but the most important thing was his top-jungle synergy with Kanavi, which felt like a match made in heaven.

JDG's tactical style this year could indeed be summarized by the 369 + Kanavi "Kindred" combination!

With a crisp sound, the pick-and-ban panel appeared before everyone's eyes.

"Because JDG ranked higher in the regular season, they have the priority side selection for the first game. Coming to the blue side, they first ban Master Ye's Akali!"

"No problem at all! I don't believe anyone is stubborn enough to leave Akali open on the blue side now!"

"Unless you're planning to first-pick it, but honestly, I don't think many people in the LPL dare to first-pick Akali in front of Master Ye, maybe only Knight~"

Chu Jun shook his head and repeated the popular science about the strategic point of being able to ban Galio later on the red side.

Yagao hadn't played a single game of Akali all year, so it was clear he couldn't play the hero at all.

"But actually, I'm quite curious about how these two teams will handle their picks and bans, because it's quite difficult for both."

"Both teams have several hero-pool monsters, and there are just too many things to target!"

As a professional coach, although not top-tier, Chu Jun had a deep understanding of picks and bans and was explaining it to the confused barrage.

The vast majority of JDG's lineups were built around the jungle position as the core.

Without a doubt, JDG's main carry was their jungler, Kanavi.

Not only were his individual mechanics top-tier, but his hero pool was also quite deep.

In addition to his two signature heroes, Wukong and Viego, he was also the first this season to pull out jungle Morgana to counter Poppy, use Pantheon in the jungle, and be the first to use the new hero Bel'Veth.

Not only that, but a series of jungle carries like Nidalee, Graves, Kha'Zix, and Diana were all Kanavi's specialties.

Jiejie's hero pool was by no means weak, but compared to him, it was indeed a step behind; for instance, he couldn't play several niche junglers, including the new hero.

The first two bans for both sides—

JDG: Akali, LeBlanc

EDG: Viego, Kalista

Both sides' first two bans were standard picks and bans.

Akali and LeBlanc weren't necessarily the strongest heroes in the current meta, but they were both very strong at fighting in the early-to-mid game, and combined with the intimidation of the players' IDs, it was a standard pick-and-ban strategy to face EDG head-on.

As for EDG, it was a normal red-side pick-and-ban, both being meta bans.

"Since JDG has already banned these two, their goal is clearly to curb the mid lane's early-game combat power. Should they consider banning Sylas too? Or ban Poppy and grab Wukong?"

"EDG will probably target Renata or Wukong based on their final ban~"

Chu Jun analyzed and guessed seriously: "Previously, if the blue side picked Wukong, the red side basically defaulted to Poppy, but now because Kanavi has a Morgana to counter it, it's caused a lot of variables in the picks and bans."

The next moment, Poppy was indeed sent to the ban list by JDG.

Chu Jun looked smug, as if he had seen through Homme's picks and bans: "See! That's the streamer's understanding. Now there's no suspense; EDG should ban Wukong, and then JDG will grab Renata for the bottom lane."

"Hey, why ban Lucian!?"

However, EDG didn't play by the rules at all, slapping him in the face on the spot.

"In that case, leaving both Wukong and Renata for JDG to choose from..." Chu Jun found it increasingly strange.

"The only significance of this Lucian ban should be to reduce the laning pressure on the bottom lane. If you take Wukong, I can take Renata. But the problem is, besides the mid lane, the biggest advantage lane for EDG against JDG should be the bottom lane!"

This JDG bottom lane was clearly a relatively weak link; both Hope and Missing were the type of players with steady floors, without many flashy performances, and rarely becoming a liability.

And EDG's bottom lane, in terms of laning alone, was definitely at the top-three level in the LPL; only teams like TES and RNG, which specialized in playing around the bottom half of the map, could go head-to-head with them in lane.

Logically, there was no reason to give the bottom lane such high priority in the picks and bans.

But compared to Chu Jun, who was slightly less skilled, Homme, sitting behind the opposite side, was not panicked at all.

He quickly saw through the opponent's little scheme.

"They probably want to pick Sylas and Renata as a counter, which is actually about the same as what we prepared."

"Don't worry about them, let's pick according to our own plan."

JDG, as usual, picked Kanavi's signature hero in the first slot, which was also the most popular jungler in the current meta: Wukong.

In fact, JDG was prepared to intentionally give the opponent Sylas today.

Because even if Sylas were banned, Ye Bo still had Zoe, or even unorthodox heroes like Akshan; wanting to completely ban out all early-game heroes was unrealistic, so they had to make trade-offs.

And among the early-game fighting options in Ye Bo's hero pool, Sylas was already the easiest to suppress and the easiest to exploit for weaknesses.

Compared to those other heroes, Sylas had quite a few difficult matchups in the laning phase, and the hero's mechanics were destined to require a "desperate" style of consumption in every fight, making it easy for Kanavi to find gank opportunities.

EDG countered by picking Sylas, but they didn't pick Renata; instead, they took Viego for the jungler first.

This clearly exceeded everyone's expectations once again.

"What does this mean? Are they giving Renata to the opponent too?" Chu Jun was getting more and more confused.

"I originally thought the bottom lane might take Draven and Renata, although Hope has Ashe to put up a fight... but now that Renata is released, Draven can't be picked; at most, they can only take Zeri and Yuumi, which is a mid-to-late game team fight choice with no laning pressure."

"Did they pick Sylas and want to play for the mid-to-late game?"

Homme didn't care at all; just as EDG had proven before, there was no need to weaken their own lineup too much just to guard against Sylas, so he directly countered by picking the Lucian-Nami combination.

He wasn't worried about the opponent restricting the mid lane in the second round.

Zoe, Orianna, Azir, and Taliyah, all of which Yagao excelled at, could all play against Sylas.

What Sylas feared in lane were long-range heroes; after all, laning strength depended entirely on whether the E could hit, and the longer the opponent's range, the higher the difficulty of hitting naturally became.

EDG took Renekton in the third slot, entering the second round of picks and bans.

As expected, both sides targeted the bottom lane, banning Zeri + Tahm Kench, while banning Zoe + Taliyah.

"EDG can only take Senna for the bottom lane; there's really nothing else to take, but Homme already anticipated this and banned Tahm Kench."

"The bottom lane isn't a big problem; anyway, no matter how they pick, they can at least have an even lane. The problem is that the top and mid lanes will definitely be counter-picked; it won't be easy to play in the early game."

"369, what do you want to use to play against Renekton?" Homme looked at his prized student and asked gently: "I feel like Gnar or Gragas would both be fine; there shouldn't be any pressure in lane."

"Gnar and Gragas are a bit annoying to have their ultimates stolen; how about Jayce?"

Since coming to JDG this year, 369 often picked carry heroes and wreaked havoc under Kanavi's cover; Jayce, Kennen, Camille, and Jax were not uncommon, already washing away the stereotype from his Top Esports days that he could only play tanks.

And Jayce was undoubtedly a choice that could counter Renekton in lane.

Homme readily agreed, his eyes showing a hint of doting as he looked at the opponent's confident expression, then turned his head to the mid lane and made a firm decision, his expression turning serious again.

"If Jayce is picked for the top lane, then pick Orianna for the mid lane to supplement AOE and cooperate with the jungler to initiate team fights."

"Our lineup is much better than theirs; don't have any problems in lane, and wait for the jungler's tempo to be steady!"

Orianna's ultimate wasn't very easy to use for Sylas.

After all, Orianna used the ball to pull people from a thousand miles away, while if Sylas wanted to pull, he had to enter the fray with his "flesh and blood," and the difficulty and danger level were not on the same level at all.

Most importantly, Orianna's 1v1 laning ability was significantly stronger than Azir and Taliyah, both of which were purely functional heroes in the early game.

It also had the "ball-carrying combo" with Wukong.

Chu Jun sighed the moment he saw JDG's lineup.

"JDG's lineup is very good! Three long-range heroes + poke + strong initiation; it almost feels like a custom pick-and-ban. They got everything they should have on the blue side, and all three lanes have laning advantages!"

"Let's see what the EDG support is preparing to pick. It's quite strange, though; they didn't give the counter-pick to the mid or jungle, and they didn't even give it to Flandre. What else could this support possibly pick?"

"Holy crap!?"

A strange accent and tone suddenly erupted in the livestream room.

This was because EDG's fifth pick had instantly locked in the Unforgiven, Yasuo!

The lineup, which had looked so bizarre just moments ago, suddenly made perfect sense to everyone the moment Yasuo appeared.

Although the team that used this strategy last week, DK, had suffered a crushing 3-1 defeat, many people had naturally watched that match and still had fresh memories of this strange bottom-lane combination.

Both sides' lineups were finalized.

《Blue Side: JDG || Red Side: EDG》

【Top: Future's Protector vs. Butcher of the Sands】

【Jungle: Monkey King vs. Ruined King】

【Mid: Orianna vs. Sylas】

【ADC: Aphelios vs. Yasuo】

【Support: Renata Glasc vs. Senna】

After the lineup was set, Chu Jun finally had a realization: "My goodness, so it's this! Did EDG practice this so quickly? They trained it in just one week?"

"Looking at it this way, EDG's lineup actually feels pretty good now. Yasuo hard-counters the two people in the opposing bottom lane. No wonder they deliberately gave you Aphelios!"

"Plus, with Sylas stealing an ultimate, they have a lot of room for imagination in team fights. It feels like the team fights are hard to call now, because these three carries on JDG are long-ranged, which is exactly the type most afraid of being hard-engaged on."

"Is this the current drafting strength of EDG? To make a draft like this on the red side, it's really impressive!"

After Chu Jun finished his analysis, he saw comments in the chat mocking him for guessing everything wrong.

He immediately couldn't hold it together and anxiously tried to defend himself.

"This really isn't the streamer being amateur! I didn't see it earlier because the Monkey King was on the other side, and EDG's first three picks had absolutely no large-scale AOE knock-up. No one even thought in that direction, but I don't think Homme thought in that direction either!"

That was indeed the case.

The moment Homme saw Yasuo, his heart skipped a beat, and he remembered that LCK semifinal match from last week.

He then immediately understood the opponent's strategy for this draft game.

Although the team that used this strategy didn't win, as a championship coach, Homme could naturally see the strength and core of that lineup.

It was just that many key nodes in it were destined to make it a difficult lineup to learn.

After all, there really aren't many teams that can pick a bottom-lane or mid-lane Yasuo.

However, the lineup was already locked in, and Homme couldn't make any adjustments. He could only give a few final instructions to the jungler Kanavi before being ushered out of the match room by the referee.

The pieces are set, Summoner's Rift descends!

The three official casters had just been analyzing the lineup, and seeing this, they immediately shifted their focus with renewed energy.

"Let us enter this winner's bracket semifinal!"

"The level-one positioning is standard; after all, neither side is strong at level-one fighting."

"Wow, wow, wow, Ignite Sylas? He's really looking to fight you in lane; so aggressive!" Wawa let out a surprised frog-like cry as soon as the screen appeared.

Yagao also noticed this.

"He brought Ignite?"

"... hen I'll look for an opportunity to see if I can come over," Kanavi said after a pause.

"That's not necessary, just watch your own tempo; I can hold the lane steady."

Kanavi was still more accustomed to grouping with the top lane, letting the mid lane act as a "support position" to coordinate with his own tempo.

Come to think of it, JDG is a very special team.

Among all the current top teams, they are almost the only one that often treats the mid-laner as a "third carry."

Looking at a position's tactical status isn't about whether they pick a Nautilus, Twisted Fate, or Galio and call it a utility role, nor is it about picking an Azir or Orianna and calling it the primary carry role.

It's very simple: just look at the gold distribution.

As the dignified first-place team in the regular season, Yagao's creep score per minute actually only ranks in the bottom 12!

In stereotypes, Doinb, who seems to love playing utility heroes, ranks 4th in this statistic.

As a mid-laner for a top-tier team, unless Yagao's basic last-hitting skills are abysmal, this only proves that his tactical status within the team is extremely low, and many times he doesn't even rank as the third priority.

So where did the gold go?

It's not in the top lane, and it's not in the bottom lane—it's in the jungle!

Kanavi's {damage per minute} and {gold per minute} statistics are proudly ahead of all other junglers, even leading by a massive gap over everyone else!

Therefore, JDG is a rare team where the mid-laner often gives up resources and sacrifices for the jungler to find opportunities.

What Yagao does is pick heroes that can coordinate with the jungle; even the Orianna in this game is only intended to withstand Sylas in lane while being able to coordinate with the Monkey King's engage.

But at this moment, from the god's-eye view.

Everyone is watching the mid lane.

Both sides' level-one setups were clearly not going to result in anything, so they just took standard positions.

At the same time, because neither jungler's pathing was exposed, the top and bottom lanes both went straight to their lanes, maintaining the battle for key information.

But unexpectedly.

Meiko's Senna had actually been standing in the mid-lane river bush since level one—and hadn't left even now that the minion wave had arrived!

At the same time, there was also a Sylas in the upper river bush.

The two of them, one above and one below, formed a pincer movement.

"Is EDG trying to mess with the mid lane? It looks like the support wants to come and annoy you!"

Orianna followed the minions to the lane, completely unaware.

Sylas waited for the minion wave to settle, observed the health bars, and then walked straight out of the upper river bush to charge at Orianna.

Yagao, seeing this, was not panicked at all and stood directly in the minion wave, side-by-side with three caster minions.

Clearly, the purpose of the opponent walking over like this was self-evident; they definitely wanted to use E at close range to trade health, which fit the intention of a Sylas with Ignite looking for a solo kill.

And Orianna only needed to stay close to the minions at all times; Sylas couldn't hit her in the minion wave and would only end up taking free damage.

Just as Yagao was thinking this.

Senna walked out from the bottom bush!

"???"

Yagao blurted out a Pingxiang dialect curse and hurriedly tried to pull back, but because he was close to the minions, he was body-blocked and spun in a circle in place.

And as soon as he left the minion wave, he gave Sylas an opening; Sylas used E to dash forward through the minions to chase.

E-A-E-A landed the knock-up!

Senna closed the distance, waited for the coordination, and then found the right moment to throw out W, Black Mist, forward, connecting the crowd control and chasing to extract a soul.

Of course, a kill was impossible.

Orianna took a beating, losing nearly half her health, and barely escaped back under the tower.

"Because Sylas deliberately waited a moment before coming out, it seems Orianna missed the first three melee minions!"

"That's a nice little design; if you get a kill, it's a huge profit, and if you don't, it's fine. Anyway, their bottom lane is Yasuo, who can't get minions at level one anyway. As long as Yasuo gets the experience, it's a profit!"

Because Sylas didn't come out immediately, the JDG bottom-lane duo initially thought the two opponents were just normally hiding in the bush and didn't push forward, which allowed Yasuo to successfully soak up the experience.

Now, seeing the mid lane being messed with, they naturally didn't dare to freeze the lane and had to push quickly to force the opponent's support to return.

This resulted in Yasuo getting a "solo lane" all to himself.

At the same time, Sylas also used this level-one design to start playing aggressively in the mid lane, causing Orianna's laning pressure to increase sharply.

For these long-ranged champions against Sylas, the most important thing is the pressure before level three.

But because Sylas brought Ignite, Yagao was very clear about the opponent's damage; once his health dropped, he would easily enter the opponent's kill range, causing his trading and positioning to become timid.

And Sylas, by using his body to pull the minion wave, kept the wave controlled in the middle of the lane.

This kind of minion wave would cause Orianna to inevitably leave an opening for Sylas's E when the two waves met, which also made it impossible to avoid trading health.

Sylas therefore performed two more aggressive trades.

Neither side's health was very healthy, but Orianna, considering the Ignite factor, was already in a slightly dangerous spot.

"Orianna is having a hard time laning like this. It would be best to call the Monkey King over to help clear the wave; otherwise, this isn't a matter of Teleport, it's that for at least 2 minutes, Sylas can keep this wave controlled, and Orianna can't push it out alone!" Chu Jun saw some of the logic.

"Oh, I think I understand!"

"EDG's goal might be to force JDG to fight a mid-jungle skirmish? They want to pull their opponents into their own domain!"

"Orianna has no pressure laning against Sylas, but if it becomes a 2v2, Sylas's hero advantage will be realized! And if they choose to leave the mid lane alone, Sylas will have the initiative to roam!"

Originally, JDG thought it was simple: anyway, it's unlikely for Sylas to break through Orianna in a normal matchup, so just let Orianna keep Sylas in check. As long as the two of them just grind each other in the mid lane, it's already an advantage for Orianna.

But an unexpected situation occurred in this game.

Can Kanavi just leave the mid lane alone?

Although Yagao's tactical status is low, the importance of the mid lane to the jungle is self-evident. Kanavi couldn't really accept a situation where, after the mid lane falls behind, the opponent's mid and jungle can frequently invade his own jungle.

"369, you shrink the lane a bit first, be careful of them tricking you into a gank, I'm going to the mid lane to help Yagao clear the wave." Kanavi changed his planned path after reaching level three.

"Mm-hmm, he's also very cowardly." 369 responded obediently to his twin brother.

Considering that the Ruined King might be in the back, the Monkey King walked straight out of the river, not thinking about ganking, just wanting to help the mid lane push the wave.

And sure enough.

Just as the Monkey King appeared, vast scorched earth erupted in the other side of the river!

EDG was waiting for you, Monkey King!

And their intention was incredibly clear!

Sylas immediately initiated with E-W, charging at the Monkey King. Kanavi reacted instantly and used 【Warrior Trickster】 to dash backward—but the shadow of the invisibility was flickering with blue fluorescence.

"Sylas uses Ignite in mid-air immediately! Is he really that decisive!"

"Jiejie relies on the vision from Ignite, confidently flashes in with W, and predicts the hit!"

JDG absolutely did not expect the two opponents to be this decisive.

Using all their skills on a full-health Monkey King that was impossible to kill?

Orianna is in the back, anxious enough to leak oil, but a level-three Orianna can only provide a shield of up to 55 points, and then can only help by casting W to slow them down as a gesture of support.

But the damage of a level-three Sylas is no joke.

After triggering {Last Stand}, and following up steadily with the second cast of E, Abduct, after the Viego W crowd control, he lands and follows up with an auto-attack and Q to finish the full Whiplash combo!

The Monkey King's health drops like an avalanche.

The moment the crowd control ends, he also decisively flashes backward to escape into the tower.

Admittedly, it is very difficult for EDG to kill a full-health Monkey King in this exchange.

But they never intended to kill him in the first place.

"I'm numb, Kanavi! You wanted to go mid to help break the wave, and now you've almost lost your life!" Chujun analyzes the situation for the audience.

"Don't look at it as if EDG used a lot of skills; in reality, they just used one extra Ignite, and the jungler traded Flash for Flash. The cost is that the Monkey King's current health makes it impossible for him to enter his own top-side jungle!"

"This is an open conspiracy! If you don't come mid, Sylas will bring Viego to invade with an advantage; if you do come mid, the two of them will beat you up!"

The expressions of the JDG mid-jungle duo are both quite unpleasant, especially Kanavi's.

He knows what he is about to face in the top-side jungle.

Viego has already disappeared, most likely heading toward the Blue Buff. If he gets counter-jungled, his development will be ruined, and his early-game movements and gank opportunities will vanish, leaving him only to look for chances to counter-gank.

Fortunately, at this moment, Yagao in the first game is still in a fully focused state, and his experienced mind starts working.

"You take this tower wave, I'll recall first, and I'll Teleport out to accompany you into the jungle."

"Sylas should be recalling too. We can defend our jungle; if we hold this, we haven't lost anything!"

This is a clear decision, effectively meaning Orianna is "transferring" her advantage back to the jungle.

If the Monkey King can share this tower wave, even if the Blue Buff cannot be defended, at least his development will not be affected at all, and it might even be better!

And the early-game design EDG made is actually very simple.

JDG's tempo relies heavily on the jungle; therefore, as long as the jungle's tempo is restrained, the entire team's tempo will be throttled.

But if they simply let Jiejie counter-jungle, first of all, the Monkey King has no natural enemies in a 1v1 in the jungle, and under normal circumstances, both top and mid lanes have lane priority. With the advantage on the opponent's side, it would just be suicide.

So what to do?

Then, by creating a crisis in the mid lane, force the enemy jungler to run to the mid lane themselves, using a forceful method to "hard-trade" development!

After this exchange, Orianna is actually ahead.

Without a kill, Orianna holds Teleport, and after teleporting back, she will definitely be able to earn more minion waves.

Sylas has to walk back to the lane, which can be seen as "the Monkey King forcing Sylas to recall at level three," which is essentially a mid-jungle development swap.

If the opponent weren't JDG, and the jungler weren't a "jungle carry" type like Kanavi, this would actually be perfectly acceptable, and the jungler would have done their job.

But Kanavi is too important to JDG's tempo.

In any case, Yagao cannot exert much deterrence on Ye Bo in lane, so they use mid-lane development to check the tempo of the opponent's entire team, helping the team drag it out to their "power spike."

This has already achieved a tremendous effect.

You must know that this EDG lineup needs to reach a certain point to "start the game."

This was also the plan Ye Bo formulated initially.

But when Ye Bo finished pushing the wave and prepared to recall, he saw Orianna also recalling under the tower, choosing to give the minion wave to the Monkey King.

He realizes the opponent's intention and did not expect them to be able to make such a choice.

"Oh my, Yagao!"

"No, can this tower wave really be given to the jungler to eat?"

Chujun's eyes go wide watching this scene, feeling that even when he plays Galio, he hasn't been this self-sacrificing.

"Jiejie has only just rushed toward the blue zone. Although Flandre is pushing up to prepare for support, 69 has to guard his back and doesn't dare to push back, but it feels like they really might not make it in time."

"Hey, what does Master Ye mean? He seems to want to annoy Len!"

Seeing that Sylas seemed to be preparing to recall, but upon seeing Orianna's position, he suddenly changes his mind, cancels, and walks back toward the tower.

It is obvious that he intends to go deep into the tower to interrupt Orianna's recall.

"Stop him, stop him!"

"If he doesn't recall this wave, he's done for! With his health, if we enter the jungle, we have the advantage!" Yagao, who is about to finish his recall, shouts anxiously.

The Monkey King has already used a health potion to recover to nearly half health, and he is still holding his W clone; as long as he doesn't get hit by all of Sylas's skills, he is clearly in no danger.

On the contrary, Sylas, due to his extremely aggressive trading during the earlier laning phase against Orianna, has long since emptied his potion, and his health is even less healthy than the Monkey King's.

Furthermore, because he shared some experience when Viego helped push the wave earlier, and also had experience shared by the support at level one, he failed to level up at the 3-minute mark for the fifth wave, and is still at least 2 melee minions short of level four.

The sixth minion wave has already clashed under the tower.

Kanavi sees Sylas's health and suddenly gets an idea.

Orianna's recall position is actually not far out; if Sylas wants to force his way into the tower to cast Q, he will at least take one tower shot.

So Kanavi is thinking of more than just intimidation; perhaps there is even a chance for a kill!

The Monkey King turns his staff, meets the approaching Sylas, and charges in with Cloud Navigator to strike with a crushing blow!

Kanavi's staff technique is very proficient; at close range, he uses "Q-hidden-E" to first cast the "no-animation" Q skill to deal armor penetration, then follows up with the E skill to select the minion cluster on the side, using the Q+E combo to quickly reduce the Q skill's cooldown!

And Ye Bo, seeing this, also changes his mind.

Then I'll just beat you too!

Sylas raises his 【Chain Lash】 high.

But it is in the form of a short-range strike, aimed at the monkey in front of him!

Watching for the moment the tower laser fires, he times the "attack interval."

He whips out the chain and immediately follows with 【Kingslayer】 to propel his body forward for a leap strike, his body surrounded by the circular whip shadow of 【Abscond】, and then almost simultaneously uses 【Abscond】 to instantly slide out of the tower!

A combo so fast it leaves an afterimage, completed in an instant!

Kanavi is not panicked but happy, thinking the opponent is about to take tower aggro, and reacts in time by pulling out his monkey clone.

But after the full combo is dealt—Sylas actually did not attract tower aggro!

The tower laser emits a series of harsh buzzing sounds, but it simply never fires!

Not only because the speed of this Q-W-A-E was too fast, but more importantly, because Ye Bo timed the tower's "attack interval," thereby avoiding the target acquisition!

"Such fast speed."

The Monkey King's health is left with less than 200.

But Sylas's initial W did not restore much health, and he was also hit by the Monkey King's full combo.

If the tower had fired that shot, Sylas's current health should have been nearing death!

Kanavi's breathing suddenly becomes rapid.

Because, at this moment, he sees with his own eyes that Sylas, the moment he steps out of the tower's edge, immediately turns around and walks back into the tower!

Initially, Ye Bo indeed only wanted to interrupt Orianna's recall—this way, the Monkey King would definitely not have time to save the jungle, and their plan would not be affected.

But seeing the Monkey King trying to force a stop, he changed his strategy—as long as he beats the Monkey King to very low health, the opponent will still find it difficult to defend the jungle.

But now, he is changing his formation for the third time on the fly.

Because he has sensed an opportunity.

Sylas drags his flashing Abduct chain, walking straight into the tower to close the distance.

The previous Q-W-passive-A had already beaten the front-line melee minions to low health; Sylas walks into the tower and casually sweeps with Abscond to finish them off, clearing the obstacles in front of him while also leveling up to four!

The two were originally supposed to have comparable health, but because Sylas dodged the initial tower shot, after leveling up, he now has the chance to take two tower shots.

Kanavi knows Sylas is still holding Flash, and at this moment there is no way to escape, so he can only seek a trade!

He calculates the health in his mind rapidly.

Sylas has no skills left and should need an E-A-A double passive to kill him.

And the clone that lasted 3. seconds has been gaining E-skill attack speed and has been attacking continuously; plus Kanavi's detailed short Q-E, the Monkey King's second Q skill is about to reset and refresh.

A single strike from the Monkey King can deal at least 100 damage, and an A-Q that resets the auto-attack can deal at least 150 damage, while the opponent's E-A-A, no matter how fast, will at least take one tower shot.

That would be enough to make Sylas die in one hit!

Since running is impossible no matter what, all he can do is try for a 100% trade!

As the thought arises, Kanavi decisively turns around, rapidly tapping A-Q-Q-Q-Q to aim and fire.

【Crushing Blow】 and 【Abscond】 are unleashed simultaneously!

Kanavi lets out a long sigh of relief the moment his A-Q successfully lands.

This exchange is guaranteed to be a 1-for-1, so he can even make a small profit.

It is equivalent to the jungler helping the mid-laner complete a gank kill, and a kill on an opponent without Teleport, while the jungle only loses one Blue Buff, which is completely acceptable.

But he does not stay happy for long.

Kanavi's small eyes suddenly widen, as if he has seen something incredible!

He sees Sylas land an A-E at point-blank range—but at the moment of the strike, golden light flashes from under his feet!

Sylas, facing away from the tower with his hands bound behind his back, suddenly flashes, pauses for an instant behind him, but is then immediately pulled back under the tower by the second cast of the Abduct chain in his hand—and the blue-side tower still has not fired!

The blue-side tower stands by as a bystander the entire time; this time, it doesn't even emit a harsh buzzing sound.

A "reverse E-Flash" out of the tower to create a "point-blank E from outside the tower"!

Because the tower did not detect any enemy situation within its range, even after the second E back into the tower, it still could not complete target acquisition.

Furthermore, Sylas doesn't even need to auto-attack after landing; the second E actually deals an outrageous 151 points of damage, which, combined with the previously triggered Abscond, is almost exactly enough to complete the kill!

【First blood】

"Huh?"

"Awesome, Master Ye!"

"What happened? How did Brother Movie get solo-killed!"

It wasn't just the voice channel.

Screams and questions were erupting all over the arena.

"Holy crap!!!" Ye Chujun stretched his arms out, clutched his head, and roared: "That was a pure mechanical solo-kill! So damn cool, Master Ye!"

"He even outplayed the turret! Can you even play like that? What a unique train of thought!"

"But the damage from that final E doesn't seem right!"

Kanavi's damage calculation shouldn't have had such an obvious error, because he had just taken a full combo from Sylas not long ago; normally, a level one E would deal at most a little over 100 damage, and it would indeed require nearly two passive procs to have a chance at a kill.

Even if Sylas had flashed out of the turret range immediately after finishing his auto-attacks, he definitely would have taken at least one turret shot, so the Monkey made what he thought was the most correct choice at the time.

The problem is, that wasn't a level one E.

It was a level two E that Ye Bo had instantly leveled up using Ctrl+E the moment he hit level 4!

The Sylas E ability is his highest single-target damage skill, and each level of growth adds a full 50 points of damage!

Even though the ability had already been cast and had entered its second stage of activation.

{In League of Legends, all abilities can still receive the benefits of all buffs one second before the damage is actually dealt.

The injection of one skill point instantly brought it to the power of level two, and the original 109 base damage—surged directly to 159 base damage!

Added with 8 stacks of Conqueror + 12% damage increase from Last Stand, and after subtracting 30 magic resistance, it still dealt nearly 150 damage.

The status bar in the bottom left corner of the replay screen also proved this point.

【Damn, that's so precise! Precise as a silver needle!】

【666, this guy is hacking! How come the defensive turret didn't hit him even once? If it had hit him once, he would have died! He's strolling under someone else's turret like he's going in and out three times.】

【@Defensive Turret, honey, say something!】

【Defensive Turret: "Spectacular, spectacular!"】

【Not only do I want to kill you, I'm going to kill you right in front of your defensive turret, and let's see if your turret dares to let out a peep!】

【Movie is starting to feed! Only sucking up resources but not carrying, watching movies? Stealing movies!】

【Master Ye's first blood is in the bag? Wuhu flight, requesting tower approval for takeoff!】

In this sequence, Ye Bo went from initially just wanting to interrupt Orianna → to feeling that crippling the Monkey would also be fine → to discovering that leveling up seemed to offer a kill opportunity → and then, when the opponent wanted to force a trade, he thought of using a "flash outside the turret" to execute the play.

His train of thought shifted several times in just a few short seconds!

This is what is called wartime maneuvering.

"Kanavi has been solo-killed under the turret! A crucial solo-kill!"

"It will take 4. seconds for Orianna to TP out, Sylas has already walked far away and cannot be chased, and defending the upper jungle has become a pipe dream!"

"EDG has won the first mid-jungle confrontation, and Sylas has almost single-handedly forced a breakthrough; it can be called the Summoner's Rift version of 'breaking through with sheer force'!"

"In that case, JDG's early jungle tempo will undoubtedly become extremely restricted, and this will certainly not be good news for them!"

The three commentators excitedly reviewed the outcome of the battle.

Those who understand know that these words are not empty.

Because this EDG lineup has not yet begun to enter its power spike.

(End of chapter)