Chapter 133: Mirror Flower, Water Moon! The
The cheering at Madison Square Garden is deafening.
As the most anticipated matchup of the group stage, both teams possess a massive number of supporters!
The audience is clearly divided into waves of black and red; the fans of both sides seem to have already begun competing outside the arena, vying for the volume of their chants.
The giant screen at the venue plays a pre-match interview clip.
Li Li Xianghe's face appears, and the voiceover kicks in at the right moment.
{The next match you face is your old rival, EDG. Faker, what are your thoughts? }
Li Li Xianghe's expression remains unchanged, answering very calmly: "It's just a normal group stage match, nothing special. We will take every match seriously."
{Then, what about EDG's new mid laner this year, Ye? }
Upon hearing this question, his tone fluctuates slightly: "We've had some exchanges. He is a very interesting player, and I'm looking forward to facing him."
The director is skilled at building atmosphere, immediately cutting the footage to Ye Bo's segment on the other side.
It is the same question.
"This is my first World Championship!" Ye Bo's tone is relaxed, wearing his usual sunny smile: "So, at least for me personally, every opponent at Worlds is a first-time encounter. There really isn't much difference."
"As for Faker, he is a mid laner I really like. I remember the first thing I said to him was, 'I'm your fan!'"
"It's just that it seems everyone I've said that to has ended up being solo-killed by me on the Rift."
Ye Bo's helpless shrug looks exceptionally humorous.
But when everyone thinks about it carefully... it actually seems to be true!
Amidst the heated discussions in the bullet comments, Summoner's Rift finally descends with a boom.
The continuous sound of pings echoes, and the ten players rush out of the fountain!
"The match has begun!"
The "Haier Brothers" at the LPL commentary desk are still analyzing the team compositions.
"Both sides have brought 'combat compositions' that we are quite familiar with. You could say neither side has any intention of dragging out the tempo!"
Miller goes on a roll: "If we talk strictly about the laning phase, T1 has a slight advantage in the top-jungle, while EDG has a slight advantage in the mid-bot. LeBlanc versus Akali should be considered a favorable matchup for LeBlanc."
His partner, Wawa, focuses his gaze on the Rift, watching for any potential combat.
But upon hearing this, he suddenly remembers something.
"That's not necessarily true. I remember when Ye used Akali and solo-killed Rookie's LeBlanc. This laning phase might not necessarily be an advantage!"
Wawa's words immediately bring back everyone's memories.
That was the third match of the Summer regular season; it was a while ago, and many only have a vague impression, but they remember a few key turning points vividly.
In that match, Ye Bo's level-one handling of Akali involved "luring the enemy deep" and "kiting minions to block paths," resulting in a brilliant counter-E trade.
Then, he used {Fleet Footwork} and the double recovery of Doran's Shield to survive the early-game difficulties.
But Li Li Xianghe's understanding is clearly different.
He is running {Electrocute}.
Every hero has multiple playstyles and ideas; this has nothing to do with proficiency, and there is no so-called "correct answer."
The theoretical counter of LeBlanc against Akali comes from the "reveal" mechanism of the E skill, and the fact that LeBlanc is agile enough to easily dodge Akali's skills.
But the biggest difference between the two lies in their base stats!
In an ideal state where all skills land, LeBlanc's damage—whether it's the QWE combo or including the ultimate—is far inferior to Akali's!
Even after level six, Akali has the potential to kill LeBlanc from full health in one combo.
But LeBlanc needs at least one and a half combos with equal items!
Therefore, the key to the game between these two is—
LeBlanc must try to poke "for free" as much as possible.
Akali needs to land her full damage as much as possible.
Ye Bo took {Fleet Footwork} back then to enhance his "kiting" ability to achieve this.
And Li Li Xianghe's choice is relatively direct: Electrocute to try and trade you down to low health in one go, then rely on Akali's superior base recovery to achieve a laning advantage.
Ye Bo knows Li Li Xianghe's logic the moment he sees the Electrocute.
There is no right or wrong between the two approaches; it depends on the player and the in-game duel.
However, the suspended camera, when floating in front of Ye Bo's seat, captures the confidence in the young man's eyes perfectly.
If it were a different hero matchup, he might not be this calm.
But he is just too familiar with the matchup between these two heroes.
"Neither side seems to have any intention of invading at level one, standing across the river."
"Hey? Why is LeBlanc standing in that position?"
The level-one team compositions are evenly matched.
One has a root, the other has a hook; both could be caught and killed instantly. No one has a guaranteed win, so there's no need to take the risk.
A standard line formation; T1 chooses a 2-top, 3-bot setup.
The focus is on the bottom half of the map.
"Top and jungle, watch your positions. If they invade the bottom half, place your wards and come over to fight level one. We cannot let them swap halves," Li Li Xianghe commands calmly.
"OK," Oner and Zeus reply immediately.
EDG's first match of the group stage didn't have much replay value either.
After all, the strength gap between G2 and them was obvious; it's hard to say if it was a system issue or a skill issue.
So T1's analysis of their opponent is based on EDG's most recent playoff footage.
They discovered a tactic EDG loves to use—utilizing a strong level-one composition or a small design to force a jungle swap, then using the half-map advantage to launch an attack on the strong lane.
In matches against BLG and JDG, this EDG tactic was invincible!
T1 has specifically prepared for this tactic.
This includes not picking a weak level-one composition against EDG, practicing level-one defensive and counter-attack strategies, and knowing how to force a swap back after being caught in a timing difference.
Ensuring that in various situations, T1 can forcibly maintain autonomy over their half of the map.
And clearly, since they picked Caitlyn, the core of EDG's composition this game is the bottom lane; they will definitely focus their tempo there.
That is why T1 made this positioning arrangement.
However, every time Ye Bo designs a tactic, he sets a "principle" for himself.
Unless there are special circumstances, he tries to avoid using the exact same tactical design to prevent giving the opponent a chance to study and counter it.
Just like this game.
He believes T1 has definitely studied them, and their level-one defensive focus will definitely lean towards the bottom half due to the Caitlyn system.
Then this might mean there could be a "Defensive Line Vulnerability" in the top half.
"What is LeBlanc doing?" Wawa exclaims in surprise.
"Damn, he's so bold! Can he not see them!?"
LeBlanc stands alone in the lane bush at level one, waiting for his jungler in the river bush to provide vision information.
With the defensive focus leaning towards the bottom half, and a high probability of only two people in the top lane...
There are only two possibilities for T1's level-one positioning.
1: The top laner stands in the tri-bush, and the mid or jungle stands at the entrance of the top jungle, providing vision on both sides—
Then there will be a vision blind spot on the path between the dragon pit and the Red Buff pit.
And if the jungler isn't standing at the entrance but is crouching in the bush to avoid exposing their position...
Then, hugging the wall from in front of the mid-lane defensive tower, there is an "open and above-board" path.
There is also a half-inch vision blind spot!
And this has nothing to do with the half-map.
A team only has five people; if they lean to one side, there will inevitably be a gap on the other.
If EDG is prepared to play the top half, and the opponent's focus is on the top half, the bottom lane can also sneak up from the river bush designed for Gragas's start to complete a breakthrough.
It can be said.
As long as it's a hero with a dash, they can basically attempt this kind of infiltration at level one.
Then why is it rarely seen?
Because the risk is extremely high!
Like the Gragas design, if the opponent's defensive focus is on the bottom and you actively dash in and get caught...
The infiltrator will be trapped in a dangerous situation after dashing over the wall and unable to get back down, getting surrounded!
But LeBlanc is an exception.
The reason is simple: the "return dash" characteristic of W 【Distortion】!
Only LeBlanc can easily infiltrate the jungle at level one!
Even if she is truly discovered, she can W back over the wall to ensure safety.
By detecting information from Viego's few steps, finding no one waiting at the entrance, one can conclude with high probability that the opponent is standing in the bush—otherwise, the top jungle would be an open city gate!
LeBlanc hugs the edge of the tower's vision, arriving outside the F6 pit.
Distortion steps in from the shadows, then hugs the edge to walk beside the Red Buff, drops a ward, and immediately Ws back.
Just like that, silently, at the entrance of the Red Buff, she places a ward that "only LeBlanc can place"!
"LeBlanc's infiltration ward hasn't been discovered!"
"In that case, T1's jungler's path should be detected! And detected without them knowing at all!"
The god's-eye view naturally discovers the key to this ward.
The jungle has always been an information game between two junglers: where the opponent's jungler is, whether you should counter-gank or reverse-gank, will directly affect the tempo of the game.
And if EDG invades at level one, T1 will naturally guess whether the opponent has placed vision in their jungle and will definitely perform vision clearing.
Or even "use baiting"!
But T1 is completely unaware of this ward.
1 minute 30 seconds, the jungle refreshes.
Oner observes the mini-map while clearing camps.
He quickly notices that the opponent's bottom lane has been playing very aggressively since level one.
"The opponent's bottom lane is pushing so hard, their jungler must be going bot. Choi Woo-je, play your own game this time; I'll come to give you some vision next wave."
"Yeah, this Renekton is very cowardly; feels like there's no opportunity," Zeus gives the same thought.
The Caitlyn+Lux long-range combo, relying on range advantage and both having AOE skills, has no reason not to win the push.
The biggest difference between a soft support and a hard support is that one has stable or multiple hard CCs, making it easier to find tempo and coordinate with teammates.
The other has protection or long-range poke ability, making the laning phase stronger.
If a jungler really comes to gank, a poke-style soft support like Lux, combined with Thresh, is quite dangerous!
So, seeing EDG's bottom lane pushing so arrogantly at level one, as if they aren't worried about Lee Sin ganking at level two, naturally implies the jungler is likely protecting them from behind.
This also fits the core of EDG's composition.
Li Li Xianghe doesn't say anything after hearing Oner's analysis.
The 30-plus seconds after placing the ward are enough for LeBlanc to recover her mana; without more information, he cannot detect anything abnormal.
Especially at this moment.
Li Li Xianghe is completely focused on the mid-lane laning phase.
LeBlanc vs. Akali originally has a level-one skill-learning game.
It's just that Li Li Xianghe's laning logic is already in the "simplifying" stage; he doesn't want to engage in too many mind games and is just prepared to learn Q.
Li Li Xianghe's Akali proficiency is not low, but by comparison, he understands LeBlanc better.
Akali learning E at level one is nothing more than trying to trade when LeBlanc uses W.
But the way to break this is for LeBlanc to use her range advantage to push the wave first; if Akali learns E to farm, she will definitely be "stepped on while near minions."
And Ye Bo, this game, didn't use the "kiting minion auto-attack" suppression technique like he did against Yagao's Sylas last time.
The reason he could crush Sylas that time was because Sylas is a true melee, and the Q long-range skill has a long cooldown and likely only hits once.
Trading with LeBlanc had no threat, and he could only try to use E to fight for his life, but Yagao didn't dare to.
But Akali is different.
Akali's Q skill is a mere 1.5 seconds, and the stats aren't low, just limited by energy.
However, the casting distance is exactly equal to LeBlanc's auto-attack!
In other words, if LeBlanc goes to auto Akali, she will definitely be Q'd by Akali; trading like that is definitely a loss!
Ye Bo just steps into the minion pile when the opponent farms at level one, and Li Li Xianghe also performs a normal QA trade.
Neither side manages to trigger Electrocute, passing level one peacefully.
But once they reach level two.
Ye Bo's aggressiveness begins to stand out, just as he said before the match: he won't change because of who the opponent is.
LeBlanc steps forward, Akali also paces back and forth in place, ready to counter with Q at any time.
LeBlanc raises her right hand, but it's not an auto-attack; it's just a light 【Sigil of Malice】 floating forward, and she immediately moves backward the moment she casts it.
Li Li Xianghe is sensitive to distance and isn't baited into using Q.
Because he knows clearly that the move didn't enter LeBlanc's 525-yard auto-attack range, so his Q naturally couldn't hit.
The reason he continues to press forward is that LeBlanc might continue to follow up with an auto-attack to trigger Electrocute, and he must keep his position tight to avoid being poked for free.
And if LeBlanc just uses a simple Q, since it's a "targeted skill," it will attract minion aggro, so even if Akali can't hit back, it shouldn't be possible to trade...
Immediately, Li Li Xianghe notices something wrong.
Because the minions aren't attacking LeBlanc.
It's the kiting minion auto-attack technique again!
It's just that this time it's not kiting auto-attacks, but the targeted lock-on of the Q skill; the principle is the same.
Fortunately, skills require cooldowns and mana, and the threat is far smaller than auto-attacks.
Although it's free poke.
A single Q is only 80 damage.
Even with {Scorch}, after deducting magic resistance and the double recovery of Doran's Shield, Akali can still handle it.
But although it doesn't hurt.
It can't be helped; Ye Bo's desire to attack is continuously strong.
He steps up to poke once every 6 seconds, and never gets greedy for auto-attacks, only Q.
Li Li Xianghe is no stranger to this move.
But he didn't expect the opponent to be so proficient at it, without a single mistake!
In the 30 seconds between the second and third waves, Akali still loses some health and has to temporarily give up lane priority.
LeBlanc reaches level three first and uses Q again!
Only this time, her movement is clearly strange, and she presses forward directly after casting Q.
An auto-attack is launched, and she dashes forward with a 42-yard stride!
But Li Li Xianghe is prepared, knowing that since the opponent is so aggressive, it's impossible not to try something after hitting level three.
The moment he sees Distortion, he immediately kicks back with Shuriken Flip!
The best opportunity for Akali to gain an advantage against LeBlanc is to use "backward E" to dodge LeBlanc's W while also landing an E!
This way, she can dodge LeBlanc's key output while landing her own key damage and closing the distance to chase.
Of course, this is absolutely not easy to do.
Otherwise, no one would think LeBlanc is good against Akali; they would only think Akali counters LeBlanc.
After all, LeBlanc's W has a clear animation and cannot be canceled during casting, but the dash speed is not slow!
And Akali's E has a casting wind-up; this not only tests reaction speed but also requires prediction and early use to hit.
Li Li Xianghe is predicting with intent this time, his fingers already resting on the E key.
But... the Shuriken Flip flying straight forward misses!
Because—LeBlanc's Distortion wasn't stepped towards Akali, but towards the empty space on the right!
It's a "diagonal" Distortion!
The moment Distortion lands, an 【Ethereal Chains】 is already drifting diagonally towards the direction of Akali's backward E!
The backward Shuriken Flip and the chain arrive almost at the same time.
{Akali's E skill backward distance and flight time are fixed}
This is clearly a predictive E as well!
The chain hits, triggering the second stage of the sigil, and triggering Electrocute in succession!
LeBlanc's skill damage order is:
{Two-stage E > Two-stage Q > W > One-stage Q > One-stage E}
So although she lost the damage of one W used to dodge the skill, the health difference created by this full combo is still not to be underestimated, instantly creating a health gap of over one-third!
And the key is that this was free damage!
【Faker is just this? Just this, just this!】
【I said it long ago, as long as Master Ye makes a move, who cares if you're Faker or not! I'll make you fly!】
【No one understands Akali better than him!】
【Hehe, are you going to give an award for hitting a skill? Look at how anxious you are!】
【LeBlanc poking Akali early game is something to brag about? I don't know what to say. I advise you not to pop the champagne so early!】
【Thanks to "Hard-Headed" for the plane!】
"A brilliant level-three trade in the mid lane! Distortion dodges Shuriken Flip, and she counter-attacks with the two-stage QE damage!" Miller shouts excitedly.
"Ye's laning, the pressure is maxed out. He truly deserves to be his two signature heroes; he understands this matchup very well!" Wawa laughs and follows up.
"Just need to be careful of Oner's position... but there shouldn't be any threat."
Lee Sin, who was clearing the bottom half and preparing to fight, observes the mid-lane movement.
Seeing LeBlanc pressing so hard, Lee Sin turns to the mid lane to see if there's an opportunity to protect his big brother.
"Any chance, Sang-hyeok?" Oner asks.
Li Li Xianghe has been focused on laning, especially keeping an eye on the 150-yard distance for auto-attacks and Qs.
He hasn't even switched screens once since the laning phase started.
Seeing Lee Sin's position, he quickly says: "No need to come, it's a waste of time. You can't kill him early, and my laning is fine."
In fact, Li Li Xianghe has doubts.
Akali vs. LeBlanc is a huge disadvantage in the first three levels. His pressure management is already on point, and the health lost in this level-three trade can be recovered with just one potion.
It's just a temporary discomfort.
What Li Li Xianghe is confused about is... what is the point of the opponent playing like this?
Don't look at how LeBlanc seems to have won the level-three trade; adding the previous Kiting Q trades, she has already created a considerable health advantage.
But the cost is that LeBlanc's mana is already half gone.
Especially in this level-three trade, LeBlanc did a cool "drift chain" to get a perfect trade, but the W also stepped on air.
This is simply LeBlanc hard-spending mana to trade for Akali's health.
You know, Akali's base health recovery is more than double LeBlanc's mana efficiency, and that's not even counting the double recovery and Doran's Shield!
In fact, once played like this past level four, the laning situation will reverse!
Akali is a noble "energy hero"!
Li Li Xianghe is laning against Ye Bo for the first time, but he roughly knows Ye Bo's laning style.
It's not the kind of mindless aggression.
Seeing LeBlanc push the third wave into the tower and then disappear, Li Li Xianghe suddenly feels a hint of something strange.
He quickly performs his first screen switch of the match, and the top-lane scene makes his back go cold.
"Choi Woo-je! Retreat!"
Jayce vs. Renekton, the key suppression period is also the first three levels. Zeus does this quite skillfully, even creating a more obvious health gap than in the mid lane.
But because of this, Jayce's positioning is a bit forward.
The minion wave is naturally on the other side of the river.
Of course, although Zeus didn't feel any danger, he placed a protective ward in the river.
But the river vision is empty, and there seems to be nothing unusual.
However, Li Li Xianghe's words are the highest command within T1.
Zeus hesitates for a second before preparing to retreat.
But at this moment—from behind the dark tri-bush, scorched earth suddenly spreads!
Looking at this posture, it clearly emerged from their own jungle, otherwise, it couldn't have bypassed the vision Jayce placed in the river!
Li Li Xianghe quickly reviews the situation; there are still many minions under his tower that he can't move from, and Lee Sin is in the bottom half!
"Go counter their bottom half!"
He commands calmly from the mid lane, and Oner, who was already in the river, enters the jungle in two steps.
Logically speaking, Viego should have gone to the top lane after a blue start; since Lee Sin definitely won't have time to support, as long as they can counter Viego's bottom half, even if Jayce dies, it's barely acceptable for T1.
But the next moment, Oner's voice of surprise comes again.
"He actually started Red!?"
The F6 camp is empty, and at the same time, Viego, who has appeared from the scorched earth in the top lane, is carrying the Red Buff!
Oner cannot understand why Barrier would make such a choice.
You know.
With the health advantage Jayce created in the top lane, if Lee Sin had counter-ganked in the top lane, it could have created a fatal tempo, and EDG's top-jungle would have collapsed directly!
The key is EDG's bottom lane!
Until now, EDG's bottom lane has just started to shrink their line.
Before that, they were so arrogant they wanted to shove the gun barrel into the opponent's mouth!
It made T1's bottom lane duo afraid to fight, worried that as soon as their health dropped, a Viego would pop out.
It can be said that whether Lee Sin started Red to gank top or Blue to gank bot, EDG's opening posture had the potential to collapse!
Yet Lee Sin's path was exactly where neither lane could be interfered with!
This is the impact of jungle information exposure.
And Viego made this choice naturally because of that key invasion ward.
Lee Sin's initial act of starting Red Buff was completely exposed to EDG's vision.
That vision at the Red Buff entrance, which lasted until 2 minutes 30 seconds, perfectly showed Lee Sin's direction after finishing F6 and heading bot!
Both heroes have similar clearing efficiency; both bottom lanes delayed their arrival to avoid exposing the jungler's path, but Viego had the bottom duo to help him start, so he was naturally one step faster.
Zeus above has already suffered.
Viego walks out from behind, Renekton uses two Es to force Jayce's Flash, and Viego relies on the Red Buff to chase and slash.
"Don't stand under the tower! LeBlanc is coming! Just leave!"
Li Li Xianghe also can't understand why the opponent would dare to make such a choice.
Logically speaking, even now, the opponent shouldn't know Lee Sin's position; if Lee Sin is crouching in the back, EDG could also be counter-ganked.
But now they can only deal with the situation.
LeBlanc can jump over walls; the jungle support speed is too fast.
Jayce has only taken two steps out from under the tower, and LeBlanc, who came over the wall from the Krug camp, has already walked out of the bush behind him, forcing him to retreat and defend under the tower!
Viego has already joined LeBlanc, and Renekton quickly pushes the wave.
"Akali decisively uses TP to protect! But EDG's killing intent is set!"
"An Akali might not really be able to save this Jayce!"
Renekton pushes the wave and successfully builds up Fury.
And as the commentator said, Akali isn't Galio; she doesn't have strong teammate protection ability.
"Flandre, use W directly! Trade with him!" Ye Bo shouts resolutely.
Renekton hears this and resolutely brings the minions to shove his face, using W under the tower to bite Jayce and tank the tower!
"Trade for Renekton!" Li Li Xianghe also issues a focus-fire command.
Akali's Shuriken Flip hits, she flies in to smash her face with a shuriken, and simultaneously activates Twilight Shroud to go invisible.
And Akali, with extreme detail, "quietly" uses her physical body to hug Jayce inside the shroud—to help Jayce block Viego and LeBlanc's skills.
This small play highlights the key.
Viego's Heartbreaker fails to continue the CC chain; Jayce breaks free from the CC and focuses all output on Renekton!
Fortunately, Ye Bo's operation has no mistakes; he QWs to step on the face before connecting the E skill, waiting for the chain's second-stage burst to cooperate with a Viego sword slash, instantly bursting to harvest life!
LeBlanc takes First Blood!
But Renekton, due to eating the full counter-attack of two people and having unhealthy health himself, is killed by the defensive tower, with the kill going to Jayce.
"Ah!! Oh, that's okay..."
The "Roaring Emperor" at the LCK commentary desk was just about to grab a pizza, but seeing Renekton traded, he breathes a sigh of relief.
"But Faker used TP to come over, didn't get the kill, Renekton still has Flash next time, Jayce is going to have a very uncomfortable time!" His partner, Jin Dong-jun, frowns tightly.
"EDG's level-one ward was too critical; that tiny invasion ward became the biggest vulnerability in T1's defensive line!"
The Roaring Emperor listens to his partner and quickly tries to make up for his team: "The kill is LeBlanc's, it shouldn't be a big problem. On the contrary, Zeus earned some profit this time; even without Flash, he will still have an advantage in the top lane..."
In the Roaring Emperor's view, the mid lane is undoubtedly the most trustworthy person.
And Jayce getting this kill, reviving and TPing back to lane, can be said to not have been affected much, still having a laning advantage.
Of course, for Flandre, it is completely acceptable.
After all, he was being pressed very painfully before level three; resetting the lane now, while still holding a double-summoner advantage, is already considered breaking the early-game slump in the top lane.
Both sides return to the mid lane.
And the laning situation doesn't seem as optimistic as the Roaring Emperor thinks.
LeBlanc, having eaten First Blood, returns to base to buy items and continues the previous laning mode.
But clearly, Akali's health is dropping faster.
Li Li Xianghe realizes the opponent must have maxed the Q skill!
LeBlanc has an "ultimate laning" approach, which is to put 3 points in Q before maxing W, which is especially useful when facing heroes that are hard to start W against.
It was shown before; W's damage only ranks third in LeBlanc's skill sequence, so it won't affect LeBlanc's damage.
And the reason to max W is because it's LeBlanc's only AOE skill, for wave clear.
But the problem is, since LeBlanc generally can't actively use W against Akali, even if she maxes W, it doesn't actually improve wave clear speed.
Instead, maxing Q, continuously maintaining health suppression in the mid lane, means lane priority is naturally in her hands!
This is tactical flexibility.
However, Li Li Xianghe and T1 are clearly not that easy to deal with.
Ye Bo has already felt this deeply.
Despite holding the advantage, Li Li Xianghe didn't choose to play cowardly and avoid fighting like others; he was still very active in looking for trades, and Ye Bo couldn't afford the slightest relaxation.
Akali already has ways to trade with LeBlanc after level three.
For example, "backward E, smoke, QA, then E back," or "smoke, close-range QE kiting," or "direct naked E"...
And, because Viego's whereabouts were exposed, it's clear he's going to clear his own blue zone.
So this is T1's offensive turn.
Akali uses the smoke screen again to gain a sudden speed boost, stepping up to land a Q shuriken on the edge for a slow!
LeBlanc turns and successfully chains with QE, but she holds onto Distortion, eyes fixed on Akali, waiting for her to use Shuriken Flip before stepping to the side to dodge!
But at this moment.
Lee Sin, waiting for LeBlanc to finally use Distortion, suddenly flies out from the side over the wall with a ward-hop, landing a precise Sonic Wave!
LeBlanc can't W back to dodge, otherwise, she would send herself into Akali's face, so she can only be hit by Resonating Strike and then Tempest.
And Akali's Shuriken Flip before had a little trick.
Although dodged by LeBlanc's W, the aiming direction was slightly offset, hitting the minion in front for displacement, and then following up with another shuriken!
"T1's mid-jungle ambushed the mid lane!"
"Fortunately, Ye is steady enough; he didn't W to step on the face, didn't give an opportunity!"
"But he still lost half his health... he should go back to base, anyway he has one more TP than Akali!"
"But the good news is, T1's move was quite big, Thresh also secretly came to the mid lane, but unfortunately, it seems he couldn't find an opportunity."
Ye Bo is indeed prepared to return to base after eating this wave of tower minions.
Although he still has potions, his health has actually entered the danger zone.
Akali's E and Lee Sin's Q both have "tracking" effects, and both have Flash; if he doesn't leave, he might really be in danger of being caught once he leaves the tower.
Not to mention his own bottom lane reported that the opponent's bottom lane is missing.
Viego is clearing camps in the top half, so Caitlyn and Lux naturally have to temporarily retreat, and T1's bottom lane takes this opportunity to push a wave and choose to return to base.
It's not just T1 studying EDG.
EDG is also studying T1.
They know Keria, this support, loves to roam, especially at the 3-minute 50-second sixth cannon wave, the time when the bottom duo usually makes their first return to base, he will try to move.
Because of this gank, Lee Sin's jungle progress is already behind Viego's, and he is about to enter the second wave of jungle refreshes.
It's equivalent to the mid lane helping the top and bottom attract a wave of fire, at least buying them a minute and a half of peace.
However.
LeBlanc eats the tower minions but doesn't immediately return to base.
Li Li Xianghe looks at the minion wave coming out, but doesn't see LeBlanc, his eyes changing slightly.
"Is he that cautious..."
Before this match started, he never thought this opponent would be so difficult to deal with.
Not only are there no flaws in his laning details, but he also puts considerable pressure on himself in terms of offense, even making it hard for him to be distracted, requiring full concentration!
And under normal circumstances, this aggressive laning style is accompanied by a lack of discipline—his own top laner Zeus is a typical example!
If it weren't for Li Li Xianghe's frequent screen-switching warnings, Zeus's anti-gank awareness would be far lower than his suppression awareness.
This seems to be a common problem with most aggressive playstyles.
But Ye Bo has managed to hold onto opportunities for several consecutive waves, as if he braked just one step away.
"Forget it, go back," Li Li Xianghe commands the crouching Keria.
But at this moment.
A LeBlanc with green stars glowing on her body walks out of the defensive tower.
Seeing LeBlanc has already "popped a potion," it's clear she isn't prepared to return to base and wants to stay for one more wave.
"Wait a minute, it seems there's an opportunity."
"He should want to place a ward!"
LeBlanc looks very cautious, pacing in place.
Li Li Xianghe understands LeBlanc very well and detects the opponent's intention!
Thresh, crouching in the bush and having just activated his sweep to detect, also feels the opportunity.
Just as LeBlanc is swaying and pacing, approaching the bottom bush from the wall, Keria's Thresh swings his 【Death Sentence】 and throws it out!
"Hit!!!" Keria is ecstatic.
Thresh decisively applies Ignite!
Li Li Xianghe's eyes narrow, his fingers dancing rapidly on the keyboard, performing a clean "delayed dash E-Flash" forward!
The recoil-less Shuriken Flip successfully hits LeBlanc!
The reason for the delayed dash E-Flash instead of Flash-E—is because Akali needs to close in first to land QA to deal burst damage, forcing LeBlanc to use Flash or W first, then use the second stage of Shuriken Flip to follow up and complete the kill!
This handling and detail can be said to be maxed out!
And, Thresh, who successfully hooked, also has the ability of the E skill to interrupt LeBlanc's W.
No matter how you look at it, LeBlanc seems to be in a dead end.
But, the next moment.
When Akali's AQ triggers Electrocute and LeBlanc's health drops sharply.
Li Li Xianghe's expression changes drastically!
Because there is a deviation from the scene he expected... this LeBlanc didn't trigger the passive of 【Mirror Image】!
【Mirror Image】 automatically triggers a clone when LeBlanc's health drops below 40%.
This combo had already passed 40% long ago!
Then this can only mean...
"Ah~~~ya!!!" The Roaring Emperor lets out a long roar.
"It's fake! Faker, this is fake! How could you use so many skills!!"
"This... this is psychological warfare! He can trigger it like this!?" Jin Dong-jun is full of shock.
The god's-eye view watched the whole process.
If LeBlanc triggered the passive in front of his face, with Li Li Xianghe's experience, he would naturally have ten thousand precautions.
At least he would never go all-in like this.
But the problem is, LeBlanc clearly hadn't triggered the passive while in vision just a moment ago!
There was no vision for the whole process, and there was no sign to guard against.
"Wow wow wow, Ye played a beautiful body-bait! He hooked both Faker and Keria like a couple of suckers!" Wawa is so happy his mouth can't close.
"Thresh used Ignite, Akali used Flash! Everything was given to the fake body!"
"T1 is losing their minds this wave!"
Miller sighs repeatedly: "Using F6 to 'trigger' the clone from a distance, this is really something I didn't expect..."
LeBlanc's operation isn't difficult, but it highlights Ye Bo's understanding of this hero everywhere.
W jumps into the newly respawned F6 pit, waits for the raptor family to shoot a volley, and immediately "carries" the W back.
The volley chases outside the wall and hits, just bringing LeBlanc's health to 40%, achieving "splitting outside the wall"—instead of a clone walking out from the pit.
Then there's that most deceptive red potion.
Why would the clone drink a potion?
As everyone knows, for all clone-type skills, the easiest way to identify them is by potions and continuous buffs like Aery; Rookie was caught by Ye Bo like this before.
It was also because of that red potion, plus Ye Bo's continuously exquisite "puppetry" movement acting.
It made Li Li Xianghe not have a hint of doubt throughout the process!
The operation is still not difficult.
In fact, you only need to {drink a potion before the clone triggers, and the clone will inherit all the status display effects of the main body at that moment. }
And to appear with a potion, you have to drink the potion at the same time the clone triggers to ensure the potion's duration is sufficient.
Ye Bo originally just thought about operating the clone to explore vision while returning to base to see if he could find out more information about the opponent.
He didn't expect an unexpected harvest!
And Akali used Flash...
Suddenly, Ye Bo senses an opportunity.
His eyes show a bit more killing intent and heat.
No mid laner can refuse the temptation of solo-killing Faker...
(End of chapter)
(End of Chapter)
End of Chapter
