Chapter 163: Invisible Explosion! Triple-Chain Ejection Face-Smashing Frost Missile

"Hmm?"

"Jiejie, he seems to be wanting to..."

Peanut, having been sanctioned in the jungle for two games, seems to want to do something big this game as well.

Maokai stealthily arrived in the top half of the jungle, wanting to learn from that EDG setup against Canyon at level one.

However, the problem is.

Maokai wasn't originally a champion GEN primarily researched; when Peanut and the GEN coaching staff reviewed this design, their focus was entirely on replicating the positioning for casting skills.

They didn't realize one issue.

Why was it that although EDG picked Maokai for three games, they only let Maokai use this technique in the second game, rather than the first game, which was actually more critical in a best-of-five?

That was no coincidence.

The reason is that in that second game, EDG was on the red side!

As everyone knows.

League of Legends is not a 2D plane game, but a 【2. D】 game.

Although Summoner's Rift looks symmetrical, it is actually not a mirrored map; there are differences in many tiny places.

Among them, the point with arguably the greatest impact is—the angle of vision.

For the exact same spot, standing from the red side perspective versus the blue side perspective, the skills cast and the vision obtained both have subtle differences.

Take the "mountain-flipping sapling" spot for Maokai as an example.

Like when EDG threw saplings upward into the small dragon pit back then, even if the enemy mid-laner stood in the jungle entrance parallel to the grass outside the wall, they couldn't see the trajectory of the sapling flying over the mountain.

But, if this spot is moved to the top of the map.

If it's thrown upward from the Baron pit.

The same position, the same spot.

Here, if the mid-laner stands in the same defensive position—the sapling's flight trajectory will be exposed for an instant due to the "angle difference" in map vision!

If the GEN coaching staff wanted to discover this detail, they would have to open two accounts, then constantly try to replicate the vision difference of {every single spot} step by step in a custom game—and only then, based on the enemy's position obtained from their own mid-laner's level-one standing, could they know whether the sapling could actually be seen there.

Ye Bo originally discovered this tiny positional difference in the "holographic" perspective of the trial grounds, and even then, only by using this method.

But clearly, the GEN coaching staff didn't have people that "idle."

And the true purpose of this setup wasn't to counter-jungle, but an unexpected flank gank on mid!

That is why GEN wanted to replicate this move to target the mid lane.

Peanut was actually quite detailed this time; upon reaching the dragon pit position, he first threw a sapling into the grass outside the wall to confirm the opponent hadn't warded that bush.

After confirming the vision information was safe, he then replicated the mountain-flipping sapling, and when the jungle monsters respawned, he used Flash over the wall for a second confirmation sapling.

Both in the bush and inside the pit, it was confirmed there was no Sejuani vision.

Only then did Peanut dispel the worst-case thought of "wasting Flash"—and headed to steal the Red Buff!

The clever point of this design is that the second sapling thrown into the bush after flashing over the wall not only doesn't lose damage, but even if the opponent really discovered the first sapling and was deliberately waiting for him, the second bush sapling could also cover his escape.

At most, it would just be wasting a level-one Flash.

After all, a full-health level-one Maokai, even if truly caught by someone, has no reason to die if teammates provide quick support.

Peanut, while fighting the Red Buff, observed the mini-map with extreme tension.

Although he had already used a Sweeper to scan the circle of the jungle and the buff camp under his feet, confirming the opponent hadn't placed a ward.

And they had also calculated that even if Sejuani started at the Raptors, since this hero isn't fast at clearing Raptors at level one, and the priority for Raptors is clearing the small monsters without using Smite, Maokai would have enough time to kill the Red Buff at the point before the opponent arrived after finishing the Raptors.

But for some reason.

Peanut always had a feeling of panic.

Perhaps it was because he had been counter-jungled for two consecutive games, and now that the roles were suddenly reversed, he felt a bit shaky?

The Red Buff's health reached 900.

Suddenly—————from inside the wall of the Krug camp above, a pig-rider abruptly lunged out from the wall above!

"Nandeyo?!"

Peanut thought of countless possibilities.

But he never dreamed that Sejuani would appear from this position!

He had clearly made foolproof preparations!

In fact, it could be considered that he had prepared for it.

Because if Sejuani wanted to arrive in time, she would have to use Smite to clear the Raptors.

But if she used Smite, she wouldn't be able to stop Maokai from tanking the damage to kill the Red Buff and hit level two, and Maokai could recover a large chunk of health with the jungle item stacks.

But, what if it was a direct "level-one snipe"?

That would be exactly when the jungle thief is—at their most vulnerable!

"There was no need to ward at all! The grasp of health in blind vision is incredibly precise; Maokai is now caught between a rock and a hard place!"

"EDG knows this routine way too well; after all, this is something they created themselves!"

A level-one Smite only deals 450 damage.

But the Red Buff currently still had over eight hundred health.

Maokai couldn't kill the Red Buff quickly for a moment, but without Flash and without skills, it was impossible to create distance from Sejuani!

When Jiejie's Sejuani lunged out, it was quite detailed; he immediately twisted his position, not letting his {Aftershock} ripple onto the Red Buff.

He was even teaming up with the buff for a "mixed doubles" beatdown!

Peanut knew he had no choice but to forcibly ignore Sejuani, wanting to tank the damage to get the buff first.

But clearly.

Even if he could win the Smite battle, it was highly likely he would die anyway.

Because no matter what he leveled up at level two, Maokai's state would definitely not be recoverable, and since it was in the opponent's jungle, a Maokai in this state without Flash would have no chance to escape.

"Both mid and top from both sides have gotten up to support in the jungle... but they didn't win the fight!" Wawa's voice was so excited it cracked: "Peanut didn't win this Smite! He's clearly a bit panicked!"

"The jungle confrontation has lost its suspense; both mid and top have stopped their support, and they've both been poked down for a rotation!"

"Peanut has given up First Blood!"

The advantage of having long range could already be glimpsed in this wave.

During the support from both top and mid, Jayce took the opportunity to chase and poke Ornn wildly, and Ziggs also threw two grenades at Ryze; by comparison, Ryze could only helplessly throw out a single Overload in a fit of rage.

Ryze's range is just too short; both his W and E skills are 615 units——————Ziggs' shortest skill, his E, is 900 units!

It could be said that as long as Ziggs doesn't think about auto-attacking, it's as if there is an invisible chasm between the two!

Of course, there was definitely no pressure in the laning phase.

No matter what, Chovy's top-tier fundamentals were still online; in a 1v1 lane with no interference, there was no reason for Ziggs to land too many skills from long range.

Furthermore, before buying Lost Chapter in the early game, Ziggs definitely wouldn't have enough mana to "only use skills" to farm, unless he was willing to miss many minions he shouldn't miss.

Ye Bo also discovered that the opponent seemed to have fire in his heart this game.

Playing Ryze, who also isn't particularly strong in the early game, he was constantly taking the initiative to press forward to provide deterrence————or rather, it was like he wanted to suppress his farm?

If he followed the original plan of picking Ziggs, Ye Bo could actually accept losing a bit of early-game farm; anyway, as long as he waited for his items to be completed and wasn't lacking mana, it wouldn't be something Ryze could keep under control.

However, because of the problems with Maokai's tempo, he was still level one after respawning.

With Ye Bo's temperament, he naturally didn't want to take this abuse.

"My goodness, the mid-laners from both sides are playing so aggressively in this lane; it's clearly the lane where trades should happen the least in the early game..."

Guan Zeyuan had a sudden realization: "Could it be that Chovy has finally woken up this game, and he is finally going to shoulder the heavy responsibility of carrying the team!"

Miller noticed the jungler's path: "But Jiejie is clearly very confident in his mid-laner, and he also knows that Ziggs doesn't have the ability to coordinate strongly with the jungler in the early game, so he didn't even think about coming to the mid lane, directly changing his route to gank the bottom lane for a tempo shift!"

Wawa suddenly pointed at the screen: "But it seems Peanut is going to the mid lane!"

The mid-lane trades were so fierce, and Ziggs' positioning was surprisingly "arrogant"; as soon as he had his passive, he would step up to trade with Ryze.

In GEN's eyes, they were certain that this Sejuani must be coming.

Although Peanut wanted to come, Sejuani might have already reached level four by this wave.

If the opponent doesn't initiate, GEN definitely wouldn't dare to initiate either; they might have to camp for quite a long time.

But Maokai's role this game was already determined from the start; at worst, he would just be treated as a pure suicide utility like that Kayn game—camping is camping!

"Don't rush, they're definitely going to make a move this wave; if Sejuani initiates, I can only Flash; wasting Flash is already a big win," Chovy judged with extreme confidence as he watched Ziggs' positioning: "He should be right here."

"Yeah," Peanut had just given a firm response when he noticed a change on the mini-map: "Hey, bottom lane! Behind!"

"!?"

"???"

Ruler and Chovy simultaneously revealed heads full of question marks.

Although Renata isn't strong in soft-support laning, she is at least a long-range champion; she could still manage to contest the wave against a clumsy hard-support in the first few levels.

Xayah hid a feather in the back with detail this wave, timing the moment she hit level three to cast E and Q simultaneously; the "delayed pull-back" Bladecaller instantly rooted the level-two Amumu in place, and Renata immediately followed up with Q for control!

There were no surprises this wave; they could get a big health advantage and directly create a laning advantage in the bottom lane!

But clearly.

This positioning error was something the EDG bottom lane intentionally or unintentionally exposed to you.

The bottom duo pushing the wave suddenly had their backsides knocked into the air by a pig; Amumu landed a Bandage Toss at close range, and although Xayah used Cleanse to instantly remove it... Amumu still had another Q!

"Oh, this is painful!" the Roaring Emperor shouted, heartbroken.

"Ruler has had both summoner spells burned; this wave should have been a huge advantage for the bottom lane!"

It wasn't just the bottom lane that paid the price due to incorrect information.

Chovy in the mid lane couldn't understand it at all.

Aren't you my bro? Since your jungler isn't here, isn't playing like this just asking for death!?

Trading your life to give your teammates information?

"Peanut is circling around, the scan confirms there is no vision here." The Roaring Emperor, who was just shouting, suddenly lowered his voice, afraid of disturbing the players on the field.

"Hextech Flash is charging! The Ziggs doesn't seem to have noticed!"

Seeing his bot lane teammates already engaged, Ye Bo had already begun to retreat, repositioning himself further back.

But the Gen. mid-jungle synergy was very fast; they acted almost simultaneously.

Maokai flashed over the wall.

He didn't reveal his vision at the first moment.

And the moment Maokai revealed his vision, Ryze instantly flashed, quickly opening his tome with EW to {root} the Ziggs in place for 1. seconds!

Ziggs was suddenly trapped in a helpless situation on the spot.

But Ye Bo seemed to be waiting for something.

Maokai had reached the distance and unleashed his Twisted Advance!

However, just as the root effect had two-thirds of its duration remaining, Ziggs suddenly threw a 【Satchel Charge】 at his own feet—then, pushing through the {root} effect, he used the "recoil" to knock himself backward toward the defensive tower!

That's right.

Ziggs's W, Satchel Charge, can also use "forced displacement" while pushing through a {root}!

And W is also Ziggs's only "instant" skill; especially when thrown at his own feet, it can be said to have zero wind-up or follow-through.

That is why Ye Bo did not act immediately.

It is because while the {root} effect allows for forced displacement—it does not allow the use of Flash.

And under normal circumstances: "Whether it is the {knock-up} from hitting a Blast Cone yourself, or any {knock-up} effect created by enemies or allies, none of them can be followed by a Flash while in the air."

Only Ziggs's W is the exception!

Ziggs can use Flash in mid-air during the knock-up he triggers himself!

If he hadn't waited that half-second for the detail, and had used his W to bounce away immediately, he would have been caught by Maokai's follow-up W root upon landing, and then knocked back by a Q; it might have actually been quite dangerous.

But the short 0. -second delay was enough for the root effect to end during the latter half of Ziggs's flight in the air, while Maokai's W was still chasing him due to the path change!

Just before Maokai's root was about to make contact and take effect, Ziggs was forced to use Flash while in the air.

He flew into the safety of his own defensive tower!

"A forced displacement cast in mid-air! Maokai has been brought under the tower!!"

Backhanding a 【Hexplosive Minefield】 behind Maokai, the Maokai who wanted to walk out could only endure the slow, stepping on one mine after another, each one refreshing the slow!

Ziggs indeed doesn't have much damage in the early game.

However, the defensive tower does!

The Maokai, dragged deep into the tower, was slowed continuously the whole way; he would have taken at least two tower shots just from the pathing, but he ended up taking a third!

The defensive tower alone was almost enough to solo kill the level 3 Maokai, not to mention the QA follow-up from Ziggs.

This wave was almost equivalent to letting the opponent take the full brunt of all skills!

"Peanut has fallen again." The Roaring Emperor's voice trembled slightly, and he suddenly realized a terrifying fact.

"And he had his own blue buff on him!!!"

Even Ambition found it hard to watch for a moment.

Less than four minutes in, level 3, 12 CS, died twice.

Even more miserable than the first two games combined!

【Peanut, it really is you—wait, why is this scene so familiar?】

【"Langx, I..."】 【"I'm f***ing talking about Chovy! Can't you tell the difference between a wolf and a blue cat!!!"】

【Giving Volibear a red buff at level 3, giving Ziggs a blue buff at level 3—truly, great minds think alike!】

【Peanut looks like a casual player, still trying to use 'Spellbook' on Sylas; anyone who has played knows that stealing Sylas's ultimate is just stealing emptiness!】

【Spellbook? Reverse Spellbook!】

The chat was mostly roasting Peanut's death.

Ambition, at the commentary desk, noticed something even more ominous.

"If this is the case, the mid-jungle seems completely unable to gank Ziggs..."

Not to mention that Ryze and Maokai, these two short-legged guys, couldn't reach the long-ranged Ziggs anyway.

The W of both Ryze and Maokai just happens to be a {root}!

Even if they flash in hard like this, no matter who flashes to W, Ziggs can force a landing displacement and jump away!

This is why there are many heroes that can be picked to play poke on the field.

Besides Zoe, even the Project: Varus proficiency Ye Bo just acquired—he could play mid Varus himself and let the bot lane pick Ezreal.

But when he saw the opponent pick the "Maokai" + "Ryze" pair of stable double roots first.

Ye Bo decisively picked Ziggs on the fifth pick; whether for the safety of output space or the guarantee of this forced displacement, it was the best choice!

Now for Gen. , there is another truly ominous thing.

The Volibear, a stat-check monster who was already invincible in lane, started with First Blood + red buff, which could make the Renekton act like a grandson from start to finish.

And now, a blue buff for a level 4 Ziggs.

What does that mean?

It means the blue-skinned bald guy is already preparing to put on his mask of pain!

Ziggs's weakest time is the early game; his mana isn't enough, his wave-clear efficiency isn't that fast, and he has to choose between laning and farming.

But this blue buff means that within 2 minutes, the mid lane will lose all laning rights!

Ziggs can easily get through his awkward phase, while Ryze will have to face a bombardment of infinite mana!

Forced into a corner.

Ryze can only give up some CS he can't auto-attack, causing the originally stalemated CS gap to gradually widen.

"EDG starts the dragon on time at five minutes!" Miller said excitedly.

"The advantage from the early laning phase is not small, especially the gap between mid and jungle; Gen. shouldn't be planning to take the team fight for now!"

It was indeed hard to dive either top or bot, and Chovy in the mid lane didn't give many opportunities, so EDG simply kept looting the jungle, making Maokai miserable.

However, this Gen. lineup was built to drag the game out, and there was no reason to look for a fight in this situation.

This game could be called the least bloody game for EDG.

Until nearly 7 minutes in, there were still only 2 kills.

"Peanut has no rhythm this game; although the EDG lineup is indeed hard to gank, it's actually hard for them themselves, but Sejuani found him in the river at level 6!"

"But both mid laners should be able to move together! The minion wave is fine, but Ryze can drive; he should be able to arrive first!"

"Oh, why did Chovy turn back?!"

"Go! You have to go!"

The Roaring Emperor widened his eyes at the commentary desk, constantly calling out that name.

But Ryze saw Ziggs leave the minion wave directly, and his first reaction was indeed to follow.

But halfway there, it was as if his soul had been hooked by something unclean; his footsteps suddenly locked in place as he struggled, and then he actually turned around and returned to the mid lane!

Of course, in his view, he had a reasonable reason.

After all, Ryze's mana wasn't particularly high, and even if he ulted over to support, he would probably just land one rotation and not kill anyone.

Chovy made the incredibly decisive choice to dump that entire rotation onto the minions!

Although Peanut was an orphan in the jungle, his desire to survive was extremely high this time; it was like triggering a life-and-death limit reaction, and he actually successfully used a "point-blank flash" to dodge the ultimate thrown by Sejuani!

Flashing downward, frantically moving toward his teammates in the mid lane.

"Jihoon! Jihoon! Save me!"

"Coming, coming."

Ryze's shockwave did come—aimed at the minions.

Comfortably draining his mana and happily catching up on a wave of minions, Ryze finally turned back to go support.

But Ziggs, who had moved out early, had already walked into the river and fired a 【Mega Inferno Bomb】 aimed at Maokai's path!

Peanut immediately changed his steps, wanting to circle around the edge of the bomb.

But just at this moment.

A 1000-range Satchel Charge was positioned at Maokai's feet, bouncing him backward—bouncing him back into the center of the Mega Inferno Bomb!

This scene was just like Gragas's geometry barrel, using the "Geometry Bomb" of the Satchel Charge!

The high burst damage almost set Maokai on fire instantly!

Sejuani was chasing from behind.

But actually, up to this point, as long as Ryze could help hold Sejuani, the opponent had no other means of keeping them there.

However... Ryze had just enough mana for one more skill!

He barely managed to use a W to help slow, but Sejuani's whip had already applied a slow, and Ziggs followed up with a minefield to keep the slow going.

In the end, they slowly beat Maokai to death.

"Why!?" The Roaring Emperor was completely baffled: "Chovy could have totally come! The minion wave was fine, there was no need to deal with it extra!"

"Maokai's point-blank flash to dodge the ult was very brilliant; even if he had just walked over to open a portal for Maokai, they could have left together!"

Ambition didn't like to dwell on what had already happened, sensing a glimmer of opportunity: "But it's six and a half minutes now; EDG's mid and jungle might not have ultimates for the Rift Herald fight!"

"For this Rift Herald fight, Gen. has a chance to try!"

The Gen. members naturally wouldn't fail to notice this opportunity.

However, there is a small problem.

The reason Jie Jie's Sejuani used her ultimate was that if she could secure another kill on Maokai, she could continue to invade the newly respawned half of Maokai's jungle, causing the stunted Maokai to fail to reach level six by eight minutes.

Although the ultimate was dodged, it still forced the mid-laner to burn an ultimate of their own.

Yet, the result was still a successful kill.

So, even though the EDG mid and jungle had no ultimates, the opposing jungler didn't either, so the gap didn't seem that obvious.

No one in the GEN team voice chat was speaking.

Especially the two big brothers, Ruler and Peanut, who hadn't opened their mouths—and so, it was as if they had tacitly agreed to give up the contest.

"Are we not going to fight for this!? The gold gap between the two sides isn't actually that big!" Ambition was baffled, his brows furrowed with clear displeasure in his tone.

"What is their shot-calling doing?"

"This is a life-or-death match! A life-or-death match!!!"

It was no wonder Ambition was angry.

The so-called "Black Tortoise Formation" passed down by Samsung's ancestors was absolutely not about giving everything to the opponent, but rather about using avoidance to secure valuable trades to maintain the economy, just like in the first two games.

Furthermore, once the opponent gave any opening or chance, they had to immediately, without hesitation, poke their heads out and take a fierce bite of meat!

That is what a Black Tortoise is.

Like this play, clearly having an opportunity yet still choosing to avoid the fight was truly no different from a turtle!

And when GEN gave up this Rift Herald, they clearly didn't realize one thing.

For other heroes, the mid tower was still near full health, so a Rift Herald was nothing more than taking two plates, which was harmless.

But, this was Ziggs.

"No! It seems the opponent can't defend this mid lane!"

"woooooooo~~~"

The Herald consistently knocks off two bars of health, and Ziggs' W can demolish 25% of a turret's health, which happens to be equal to two plates.

In other words, as long as the mid tower is missing one bar of health—it can be force-demolished from full health!

The Rift Herald is summoned directly in front of the tower.

The moment Ziggs' passive auto-attack is launched, Q, W, and E are thrown out simultaneously to reset the passive, then the second passive auto-attack is launched.

The Herald charges, the second passive auto-attack lands, and the confident, synchronized detonation of the targeted demolition occurs.

"One-Second Demolition"!

In the span of a single second, the turret that was near full health a moment ago instantly turned into a pile of ruins!

The rare visual experience caused a wave of jeers and screams from the venue.

"Although the score gap isn't large, and the previous gold gap wasn't large either, the speed at which EDG pushed down the mid lane this game is the fastest of all three matches!"

"Is this the power of Ziggs!?"

The power of Ziggs had only just begun.

Besides the three main purposes mentioned earlier, this hero actually has a "hidden" function.

The function of an "AP Caitlyn"!

When it comes to taking down towers, if Ziggs claims second place, no one in Summoner's Rift dares to claim first!

Of course, in a normal situation, Ziggs cannot have the laning ability of Caitlyn, so naturally, he cannot truly replicate Caitlyn's role; there is still an essential difference between the two.

But coming to this point in the game, the situation had already become somewhat uncontrollable.

"Ziggs has arrived in the bottom lane! GEN has also gathered three people to defend; they absolutely cannot let the opponent's pushing rhythm progress this rapidly!"

"Ruler is dodging frantically... but it seems he still can't hold his ground!"

Maokai also arrived in the bottom lane to help defend.

But EDG also knew the opponent was hard to dive.

Xayah has Featherstorm, Renata has Hostile Takeover and timely saves; if they couldn't instantly kill both of them, they might very well be counter-killed.

Therefore, they were in no hurry to dive the tower.

Varus' Blighted Quiver and Hail of Arrows.

Ziggs' Bouncing Bomb and Hexplosive Minefield.

The two of them stood a thousand yards in front of the tower, taking turns bombarding!

You, Ruler, can dodge.

Can you, Lehends and Peanut, also dodge?

You can dodge one, dodge the second, but can you dodge the third?

"Ya-i-shi-ba!" Ruler, who finally took a Bouncing Bomb, couldn't help but hiss in frustration.

"Can we engage!?"

Ziggs had taken a first tower, plus two kills under his belt; his item progression was more than just good!

After spinning and dodging for a long time, a single bomb took away a quarter of Xayah's health; anyone would get high blood pressure from that.

But the problem was, they really couldn't reach anyone.

Ruler cursed in anger, and Maokai and Renata charged forward together, wanting to force an engage; Renata even used R-Flash.

But Hostile Takeover and Nature's Grasp had trajectories that were very "slow" as they spread forward.

As a counter-move against a face-rushing team, it is very powerful; if the opponent rushes into your face, they naturally cannot dodge.

But if you want to use it as a primary engage... that's just a joke!

However, it wasn't as if there was no "good news."

GEN had one person playing very happily right now—Ryze, who was ignoring the mid-lane defense and farming crazily while Sejuani was elsewhere.

At exactly 10 minutes, the bottom tier-one tower fell.

They turned to take the second dragon.

As the Rift shook, it triggered another reality that sent a chill down the spines of the entire GEN squad and their supporters outside the arena.

"Hextech Dragon Soul!!!" The Roaring Emperor's eyes widened like copper bells.

"Is EDG's luck just too good?! The fighting composition last game spawned an Infernal Dragon! This poke composition spawns a Hextech Dragon!"

Ambition's voice was extremely grave: "Besides the increase in poke efficiency, the most important thing is the Hextech Rift Gates; they will make EDG's rotation rhythm even faster. This is indeed a huge bonus for the attacking side... their luck is indeed very good."

【Luck is all they talk about, did they never take math class? How long has it been since a Hextech map spawned since that T1 match in the group stage? Just by probability, it was their turn—this story tells us that ignorance really doesn't work!】

【No doubt, it's definitely good luck. Why is it that only EDG can take this dragon? The Crown Prince Team! It's really unfair!】

【Bounce~ Bounce~ Bo~mb! I'm super, this Klee is too fierce!】

【Is this our LCK's number one seed? Not a shred of ability to fight back~】

【GEN haters just want them to lose, right? Can't we just unite against outsiders in international matches? Anyone who doesn't support GEN right now will be classified as a 'Tied-Tadpole'!】

The LCK stream chat was already in an uproar.

Using the Hextech portal, the EDG troops quickly arrived at the battlefield to push.

In front of the top tier-one tower, Ziggs and Jayce were firing cannons and bombs, nearly roasting the goat.

In less than 12 minutes, all three of GEN's tier-one towers had been completely uprooted!

At 14 minutes, the second Herald respawned.

Because the plates in all three lanes had fallen too quickly, and their composition wasn't meant to be strong at this time, plus they couldn't fight due to the gold gap, they chose to concede it again.

However, GEN did take this opportunity.

Three people pushed the mid tower, while the mid and jungle rotated to the bottom lane to attack, wanting to trade for some resources.

The reason the mid and jungle went bottom was because the jungler didn't need to take resources, which wouldn't affect Ryze's growth.

But EDG simply chose to let Ziggs defend the mid tower alone, and it was already like one man holding the pass, making it impossible for the three GEN members to cross the line!

And just at the moment the Herald was finished.

Teleports from Jayce and Varus suddenly lit up, heading to the bottom lane to defend the wave.

"Push hard, you guys push hard! There are strategic points!"

"We can't push the mid lane!"

Ruler, as the only one whose mentality was still holding up and whose mind remained clear, took over the team's shot-calling.

GEN had no problem executing the order; Maokai and Ryze force-pushed the tower, ignoring the crazy damage from the two who had just landed their Teleports!

"I'm baiting, I'm baiting!"

The moment the turret was demolished.

Peanut stepped forward, used W to root with Nature's Grasp, then flashed backward to escape separately from Ryze.

After all, only two EDG members were present, and Ryze, who had his ultimate and was positioned further away, was clearly harder to kill, so they chased Maokai into the jungle, where Varus finished him off with a long-range arrow.

But looking back at this moment... that Ryze actually hadn't left!

Just as Maokai was helping to draw the fire, Ryze, who had been preparing to leave, actually ran back!

Because—a wave of minions had arrived.

Perhaps he felt that since those two went to kill his teammate, and he had 【Realm Warp】 in his hand... he shouldn't die?

"What does this mean, is he crazy?" Jie Jie, who was watching from above, asked in confusion.

"Doesn't matter, kill him!" Flandre directly called for Viper to turn back again, jumping down from the Blast Cone on the bank.

Ryze still hadn't noticed a thing until the two walked out of the brush and charged at him aggressively, only then did he hurriedly cast Realm Warp to escape.

However, Jayce directly used Q to dash to a minion + Flash and landed a clean hammer blow!

He knocked him out of his ultimate channel!

Varus followed up with an arrow, and Ryze, realizing there was nowhere left to run, turned back again, wanting to finish off the last few minions he hadn't killed.

However, because the equipment gap was already significant, and there was even a 【Hell Bomb】 flying over from the mid lane at an ultra-long distance, it simply wouldn't let you farm!

Ryze failed to successfully kill the minion.

However, at the same time, a sudden change occurred in the mid lane!

"Engage them!!"

Ruler made a prompt decision; he knew the problem with their team composition, as it would be extremely difficult to break through in a frontal fight later.

This 3v3 actually presented some opportunities.

Ornn shouted "Call the Forge God," aiming at the side after finishing the Rift Herald, wanting to flank the jungle-support duo from the jungle back to the mid lane!

"Damn it, they actually dare to engage us! Fuck!"

Jiejie didn't give an inch, directly throwing out a Frost Lasso with a QR combo to lock onto the AD.

Amumu also threw out a bandage aiming at Ornn, flying in to land and using his mummy curse to bind all three, also interrupting Ornn from casting his second-stage ultimate!

Ye Bo, having returned after throwing the bomb, wasted no time and immediately followed up with his skills.

But this exchange demonstrated the ability of a team composition like GEN to face a hard engage.

Renata Glasc stuck close and released her poison mist!

Ruler collided head-on with the lasso, yet his movement barely paused for even a fraction of a second.

With split-second timing, he pressed {Cleanse} to instantly remove it, activated his W 【Deadly Plumage】, and staged a storm of feather blades!

Amidst smooth and silky attack-moving, he also managed extreme edge-of-hitbox positioning, twisting to dodge the bouncing Q from the Ziggs behind him, and instantly responded to the E minefield he couldn't walk around by leaping up with his R 【Featherstorm】.

Not a single leaf touched his body throughout!

It was completely a template-level play from a top-tier AD of the current era!

The Roaring Emperor raised his arms with great force: "Ruler!! One of the most powerful marksmen in the history of League of Legends!"

"He is going to stand up and save GEN from the fire and water in this play!"

The LCK commentary desk, which hadn't yet had time to mourn the bottom lane, saw their fluctuating emotions instantly reverse.

"Run onto my landmines!"

Xayah's W auto-attacks grant high movement speed; Sejuani and Amumu were deep in the crowd and couldn't escape quickly, so they could only use Ziggs' minefield to stall, waiting for Ziggs' skill cooldowns.

Sejuani and Amumu, having woken up from the Chemtech poison mist, fortunately had good equipment and sturdy bodies, so they immediately flashed in the opposite direction.

Just like that, they circled around the minefield that Xayah had "walked through in the sky" using her R, staging a scene of "Qin King Circling the Mine"!

But Ruler's killing intent was firm!

The fired-out feather daggers heard the call at this moment and returned in a flash to beneath Xayah's blue robe—instantly flashing to the side!

While using E-Flash to force a path around the minefield, he also pulled back the feathers at a unique angle to control both, dealing maximum damage!

"No, the support can't get away, trade him!" Ye Bo commanded decisively, shouting: "Cover the jungler and let him go!"

The entire EDG team had good gold and none had died yet; everyone was carrying bounty gold!

By comparison, the support's bounty was naturally the smallest.

Amumu decisively turned around and fired his stored Q again, hitting Xayah who was almost face-to-face.

And Ziggs also finally took this opportunity to land a Q skill, the damage of which was quite terrifying; combined with the AOE damage Sejuani and Amumu had dealt earlier, Xayah's health was already below half!

This showed just how extreme Ruler's play was; if he had taken even one more skill, he wouldn't have dared to keep chasing at this moment.

But at this point, there seemed to be no other way.

Ornn acted as a bodyguard, and Renata Glasc applied her rescue in advance.

The short-statured Amumu could only use his big head, crying while standing on tiptoes, frantically bumping into Xayah's backside with all his might!

Seeing this, Ye Bo suddenly noticed something.

"Amumu has been killed! Xayah takes the shutdown bounty!" The Roaring Emperor only felt the emotions suppressed for three games instantly become refreshed: "Ruler! Ever since the Royal Shield of Samsung, he has always been the hope of the entire team!"

"As long as Xayah is alive, as long as Ruler is still here, the GEN shield emblem will never be extinguished!"

"Beautiful, Jae-hyuk!" Ambition also nodded in admiration at his old brother's decisiveness and play: "Plus the strategic objective taken in the bottom lane, if it weren't for the two deaths in the bottom lane, they could have at least recovered two thousand gold!"

"However, Amumu's final counter-attack dealt quite a bit of damage; Xayah's state is also a bit dangerous, he has to go back, he probably can't keep pushing..."

"Hey, be careful!!!"

The three GEN members naturally knew the gravity of the situation; this play was already a counter-gain in an adverse situation, and Ziggs' damage was indeed quite terrifying.

Although Xayah's health looked like it wouldn't be killed by one Q, continuing to push was still very dangerous, so the three prepared to retreat after the kill.

But it was at this very moment.

Ziggs suddenly threw a Satchel Charge under his own feet and bounced high into the air!

The Satchel Charge doesn't deal much damage in the early game and is usually kept for final self-defense or combo purposes.

The three GEN members were instantly on high alert; Ruler was twitching his movement frantically on the spot, guarding against the opponent wanting to pull off a "fadeaway jump shot."

But fortunately, the distance between the two sides was far enough, and they didn't see Ziggs make a move...

However, the next moment.

A bomb that seemed to have "drilled" out of a shadow space—suddenly popped into existence right in Xayah's face out of thin air!!!

No casting animation, no projectile trajectory, no sound effects or warnings.

It was as if the Q had truly become "invisible."

"Invisible Bomb"!

Even more terrifying was that Xayah's health did not originally look like it would be killed by one Q.

But a string of extra true damage white text popped up, perfectly making up for that portion of damage————precisely detonating the Rakan in the crowd!

{Passive Skill 【Cursed Touch】: Amumu's auto-attacks curse his enemies for 3 seconds, causing them to take an additional 10% true damage from "all sources" of magic damage}

It was precisely because Ye Bo saw the circle of curse marks on Xayah's body that he calculated this damage accurately.

"Sibal-nom-a!!!" Ruler, who had also experienced the roller coaster, had a look of unbelievable shock.

"What the hell is that?!"

"I didn't even see that bomb being thrown!"

No one could answer his question.

But clearly, if he had actually seen that bomb being thrown, given the distance and his reaction time, dodging it would not have been difficult.

Global commentators and the audience also witnessed this scene after a moment of delay.

But even from the god's-eye view, they were equally shocked!

This was actually a small trick Ye Bo had discovered by accident while practicing Ziggs.

As one of the most practical real-combat techniques for Ziggs, Ye Bo had practiced the "fadeaway jump shot" for a long time, wanting to improve his accuracy.

And it was during his practice that he discovered: {If you cast Q the moment you throw W, and detonate W at the same time, pressing the W-Q-W keys simultaneously—it will cause the Q's casting animation to be canceled and interrupted by the W's casting animation}

This would result in the trajectory of the first half of the Q skill being invisible!

This required extremely high operational coordination and hand speed, but compared to the other heroes Ye Bo excelled at, it was clearly not a difficult task.

"This wave... we rotate bottom!"

With the AD dead, Ye Bo suddenly noticed the gap in the opponent's defensive line that had been exposed.

He made a key, correct command.

Ziggs and Sejuani headed directly to the bottom lane, coordinated with the two who had just brought the wave to the bottom lane, and dropped the Rift Herald to crash directly into the second turret!

The second turret was smashed.

The key core, Xayah, was still five seconds away from respawning, and the GEN members didn't dare to defend the turret at all.

By the time Xayah respawned, the Rift Herald had already crashed into the high ground!

Ziggs used a Satchel Charge to directly destroy the bottom lane high-ground turret!

"My god... sixteen minutes, sixteen minutes and the bottom turret is gone!"

"My god!"

The Roaring Emperor's mood plummeted to the bottom again.

This time, Ambition also had nothing to say.

At 17 minutes, EDG took the third dragon in stride, and everything seemed to be moving in an expected direction!

Everyone on GEN was in a somber mood; even Ruler, who had just felt he found hope and opportunity, was somewhat silent at this moment.

But there was one person who was still frantically pressing the scoreboard.

At 19 and a half minutes, the EDG members began to set up and clear vision around the Baron.

Ziggs held Teleport in his hand, preparing to go to the bottom lane to clear the wave that Ryze had brought over.

But when he walked near the Gromp, he suddenly discovered a blue-skinned bald guy who was harassing the Frog Queen!

Clearly, someone's little hands weren't very clean and they still wanted to steal jungle monsters to farm!

Ye Bo hadn't intended to care, as there was a wave about to enter the turret in the bottom lane, and he was in a hurry to clear it.

He threw a bomb casually toward the Gromp.

But who knew, Chovy was like a frightened bird; seeing this bomb, he suddenly and inexplicably flashed backward as if he had gone mad! Then he directly used his ultimate, the Realm Warp!

It was as if he wished he could flash all the way back to the fountain!

"Huh?" Ye Bo was stunned.

Not just him, but the entire venue's various stands were instantly filled with an uproar caused by this inexplicable operation.

"What is Chovy... doing?!" Guan Zeyuan opened his mouth wide, his questioning voice pounding his chest and abdomen.

"I don't understand! What on earth is he trying to do this game!"

"Could it be that he thought there were many people behind the opponent? Afraid that Ziggs would flash and use Everfrost to lock him down?" Miller guessed, but soon felt it wasn't right.

"But EDG has three people on the map, and in the last exchange, except for Ziggs, they had all already used their Teleports, right?"

Wawa was between laughter and tears: "The fact is, there's absolutely no one from EDG in the bottom half of the map; the Ziggs is just here to clear the wave~"

The reaction in the chat was particularly intense.

【《Startled Bird's Hand》】

【Someone's gone crazy! I won't say who!】

【Disaster is always one, two, three, four, five, six steps behind me!】

【What Sun Yeyou said this wave made me laugh like an idiot; Chovy has the mentality of a petty thief this wave, caught red-handed by his nemesis, pure guilty conscience!】

【Don't force the hate; to escape this wave, Chovy actually gave up that wave of minions on the right. You can imagine how scared he was at the time, he was truly scared!】

【I'm reporting! Chovy is hacking! His Ryze ultimate actually has a silence! And it's an AOE silence! It even silenced the casters' desk outside!】

The LCK caster desk was indeed collectively silenced.

Along with them, the teammates of GEN were also silenced.

Moreover, they were in the front-line battle, originally wanting to stall and wait for an opportunity, but by now they had already been worn down to the limit.

Even if the Ziggs wasn't on the front line.

But once the equipment gap widened, Varus and Jayce already made the opponents completely unable to endure it——————the members of GEN were all at low health before they even saw a face!

More crucially, they couldn't easily recall now!

Baron was about to respawn; if they recalled, the opponents would likely start Baron directly.

"We can chase! I've TP'd over!"

Ye Bo naturally wouldn't let such an opportunity slip; feeling the excitement of a huge turning point, he wanted to press the advantage!

The members of EDG immediately gave chase.

And the four members of GEN, facing the hail of bullets, also guessed that the Ziggs must be coming to join the fight, so they hurriedly retreated to give up space.

GEN didn't take it seriously; after all, they were hoping to find a chance to recall and resupply, as long as the opponents couldn't immediately start the Dragon, there was still a chance!

But they didn't know the landing spot of the Ziggs' TP.

Only to see the Ziggs land on a control ward in the brush at the entrance of the blue jungle, flanking all the way down from the side.

"Look at my position!!"

But it looked like the members of GEN had already run into the narrow path, seemingly just a step away from their own high ground, and a pincer attack could no longer be completed.

Relying on the movement speed from TP, the Ziggs quickly rushed to the Blast Cone.

"Ye! What does he want to do!!"

With a flick of the hand, the satchel dropped.

The satchel was tossed over the wall first————then he took flight————the moment his toes touched the ground he bounced again————in mid-air he R-flashed to dash over the wall, and pressed Everfrost while in the air!

《Triple-Link Ejection & Face-Dashing Frost Missile》!

The Ziggs' figure bounced continuously three times in the air!

In an instant, he jumped and flashed from over the blue buff wall to the corner in front of the high ground gate, almost throwing the Inferno Bomb point-blank as a human weapon, and used Everfrost to freeze all four in mid-air!

The terrifying gunpowder bombs poured down crazily, world-destroying!

At this moment, it felt as if the Summoner's Rift itself was shaking.

In the sky, it looked just like a mushroom cloud!

Ziggs transformed into a golden statue, standing alone amidst the sea of fire.

Behind him, the bandage and the pig whip followed in succession, arrows and cannons firing in unison, contributing the final seasoning to this feast of flames.

"Wow wow wow wow wow!" Wawa habitually blurted out his catchphrase, his shouts echoing through the LPL broadcast room.

"Master Ye, what are you doing!!!"

"He instantly blasted almost all of GEN to low health! The terrifying AOE sea of fire ignited the opponent's jungle! It's as if he turned this place into a scene of the San Francisco firestorm!" Miller shouted at the top of his lungs, lost in the moment.

In the end, he fortunately braked professionally and changed the less-than-refined words.

Someone else stopped talking again.

However, as the commotion at the venue had already erupted in advance, the LPL caster desk seemed to have sensed something.

"Hey, in that case... it seems there's no need to do Baron anymore?!"

"There's a Ziggs, and only Ryze is alive for GEN, and there's a minion wave in the bottom lane, a high-ground minion wave! Could it be that?!"

"Must be careful of Ryze's TP! Will he try to cut off the minion wave?"

"Eh?"

On the other side, the LCK caster desk.

The Roaring Emperor was replicating the tone and tongue-rolling shouts from the promotional video——————

"Cho~~~vy~~~~ where are you going!!!"

Just past the 20-minute mark, with no defensive obstacles left, the main crystal base of GEN.

Just like the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, it exploded.

The Atlanta arena was buzzing with voices, and the roar of the entire crowd rose from the ground in an instant!

(End of chapter)