Chapter 236: Shifting Shadows and Anomalous Seismic Waves

"Guma! How did he just..." the Roaring Emperor shouted from the LCK commentary desk.

Sitting beside him were two men, one stout and one thin.

These two are household names in Korean esports and have an inseparable connection to T1; both are currently signed streamers for T1.

"Yeah, Min-hyeong's positioning is really careless," Bang frowned, harshly evaluating his junior: "It's fine to want to save a ward for the laning phase, but he shouldn't be standing in this spot all by himself!"

"This isn't the first time he's done this; it's not at all the style our team's AD usually has. He really needs to be taught a lesson!"

Bang's gaze was sharp; he saw through what Gumayusi was thinking at a glance.

He clearly believed his laning strength in the bottom lane was superior to his opponent's and wanted to save a ward for the laning phase, which is why he stood in the path with his own body to scout for vision in the first place.

In a confrontation between top-tier players, an extra "laning ward" has a huge impact on the positioning and spacing of both supports—which in turn can trigger a chain reaction affecting minion wave control and more.

However, after Bang finished playing the "strict father" role, Wolf, acting as the "kind mother," still made excuses for the kids.

"Actually, you can't say it like that; Min-hyeong's reaction was already very fast this time."

"The position he moved to at first wasn't a problem either; he was very detailed in hugging the wall to turn around it as quickly as possible. The problem lies in that hook being too strange."

Even as a two-time world champion support, Wolf couldn't understand the reason behind it at all.

It was normal that he couldn't understand.

After all, by the time Nautilus had this mechanic, Wolf had already been retired for many years, and he hadn't specifically delved into such deep, minor details afterward.

By comparison, Keria, who witnessed this scene, clearly knew what was going on and was speaking up to clear things up for his partner.

"That's a small mechanic for Nautilus; it's not actually end-point compensation. It's actually quite difficult; it can only pass through thin walls..."

Not many in the LCK livestream knew about this, and they were all seizing the moment to vent their opinions.

【A single rotten egg really can spoil a whole pot of ramen!】

【Heh, winning only by relying on things no one knows about just goes to show that their raw skill is nowhere near our T1!】

【LMAO, I thought game knowledge and skill development were the most basic things for a pro player? Oh, you don't know that pressing B lets you recall quickly? Does someone else pressing B to recall mean they're being eco-unfriendly and should be penalized?】

【It's normal for Guma not to know since he plays AD. Shouldn't the question be why Ye, who plays mid, knows it? How many days could he have possibly practiced Nautilus for!?】

【What are you panicking for, you bastards! So what if our great T1 gave them a kill? T1 is invincible!】

In fact, this was a mechanic born only after the "visual update" to all of Nautilus's skills in version 10. of S10.

Among them, the visual update for the Q skill included a change: "Q skill changed from horizontal casting to vertical casting."

The original intent of this update was to correct the skill range indicator.

But as everyone knows, League of Legends is a very "realistic" game.

Nautilus's Q skill involves throwing the "anchor" in his hand, and the {volume model} of the anchor is extremely large, even bigger than the models of many heroes.

This led to the anchor "inserting" itself vertically into the wall when hitting it after the skill was changed to vertical casting. If it were a thin wall, a "small portion" of the anchor would pass through, creating the effect of a "wall-piercing hook."

Keria only knew of the existence of this mechanic, but he didn't care much about the principle or delve into it.

Ye Bo was different.

When he discovered a mechanic, he would immediately and enthusiastically get to the bottom of it to think and study it.

And after digging deep into this mechanic, one would realize that this is actually the foundation for many of Nautilus's flashy plays—Ye Bo called it the "Anchor is the Body" mechanic.

The war drums of level one faded away.

"V5's successful level one ambush got the First Blood for the Crocodile; now Saint Gun Brother's laning phase will be comfortable!" Guan Zeyuan stated excitedly.

"But to be fair, it feels extremely difficult to get a result from the laning phase of these two lineups. It's hard to make a play in all three lanes; it'll just depend on the movements of both junglers."

The lineups for both sides were very similar in both compatibility and structure, both being jungle-carry and big-carry AD.

In the top lane, Gragas versus Crocodile makes it hard for either to have a killing intent, and the mid laners are just tanks poking each other with no reason to fight to the death.

Although there is a Blitzcrank in the bottom lane, there's definitely not much to say about the laning phase; without jungle intervention, even a successful hook doesn't guarantee a kill.

Everyone's attention was naturally placed on the jungle.

And looking at it, they actually saw something meaningful.

"What does Oner want to do?"

The director's camera focused on the Kindred doing the Red Buff.

Since the early game jungle game is extremely critical, neither side's side lanes helped with the leash to avoid exposing the jungler's path.

And Kindred was pulling the camp toward the Dragon Pit, looking like he had ill intentions.

"Could it be that Oner wants to invade at level two??"

"Neither jungler used Smite while solo-starting at level one, but in a situation where both are solo-starting, Kha'Zix's speed and efficiency are clearly far above Kindred's!"

"Is Kindred really daring enough to go find Kha'Zix in this state!?"

Although Kindred's level one W {Wolf's Frenzy} percentage damage makes for a fast jungle clear, it's still in the fast tier.

But Kha'Zix, with {Isolated}, still has a much higher jungle clearing efficiency!

And because Kindred's pulling direction was fixed and he didn't use the {kiting} technique that ranged heroes use to preserve health, his state was much worse than Kha'Zix's, at only about half health.

To everyone, there was no reason for him to invade.

"Kindred Q-jumped into the Dragon Pit! He's actually going for it!"

Even the commentary desk with the god's-eye view didn't expect it, so naturally, Xun could hardly expect it either.

Xun understood Kindred extremely well, and it was precisely because of this that he concluded the opponent wouldn't dare to pull anything—other heroes might not be certain, but Kha'Zix's early jungle efficiency and 1v1 ability are not something Kindred can compare to.

But while Xun understood Kindred, he didn't understand Oner well enough.

This person would charge in headfirst even if he were playing Poppy or Sejuani, let alone a hero like Kindred, who has super high mobility and is fully capable of invading.

And Oner also had a fair understanding of Kha'Zix.

Kha'Zix's {Isolated} effect has a much higher yield in the Blue side jungle than the Red side—after all, the Red side has two {group camps}, the F6 and the Krugs, while the Blue side only has the three small Wolves.

So Oner guessed that since the opponent was solo-starting, they would very likely choose to start at Blue.

Kindred entered the Blue side jungle and arrived at the brush across the wall; seeing the empty Blue Buff camp confirmed the information, but he didn't immediately walk out.

He was waiting.

After waiting for about two seconds and feeling it was about time, Kindred pulled his bow and used Q to displace, jumping over the wall blindly!

Watching the Gromp's health, Xun was just about to use Smite when a Kindred with just over half health suddenly jumped out from below!

The first thing Xun thought of in his wide-eyed reaction was to use Smite.

But a ruthless bolt of lightning landed a step ahead of him, impossibly fast!

Because it was a blind landing, Oner had displayed his hand speed and instant positioning ability to the fullest—more importantly, while in the air during his displacement over the wall, his F key + right mouse button were already hovering over the Gromp camp.

So when he landed, he wasn't even looking at the monster's health; he aimed and fired, which is how he could be so fast!

Clearly, there was an element of gambling involved.

But this is Oner.

Combined with the Dance of Arrows fired while in the air during the displacement, he snatched the Gromp away steadily and accurately!

"What the hell!?"

Xun, having his jungle camp stolen like this, couldn't quite accept it.

"No! How does this guy play the game? Isn't he afraid of dying?"

Xun couldn't quite understand why this Kindred dared to come and invade.

You have to know that Kindred only had less than half health when he showed himself; if he hadn't stolen the camp and Kha'Zix had taken it instead, the health gap would have become an overwhelming advantage.

At that point, Kindred would have had to slink back to his own jungle, not to mention his jungle progress would have fallen far behind.

With that kind of health gap, he might even have been counter-invaded by Kha'Zix!

But at this moment, because Kindred stole the Gromp and used the jungle item's stacks to recover health, and because Kha'Zix had essentially wasted his time, both sides were instantly back on an equal footing.

"We can't come," Beryl said, cutting his screen to look at the minimap.

Since no one expected Kindred to invade at level two, the bottom lane didn't specifically push the wave; instead, the T1 bottom lane gained a slight minion wave advantage thanks to Lulu's long range.

"Don't come, don't come," Xun also quickly spoke up: "He's going to leave; I don't have E, I can't keep him."

Xun knew that Kindred's biggest reliance here was that both sides were only {level 2}.

Kha'Zix couldn't have learned E at level two, and Kindred, relying on the Q skill reset by W, would immediately be able to Q-jump over the wall and into the river.

Even if the bottom lane forced a collapse, Kha'Zix would have to use Flash to get over the wall, and Kindred also had Flash to jump away; Kha'Zix simply couldn't keep up with the damage.

And Xun was thinking about the purpose of Oner's action...

Regardless, Kha'Zix's jungle efficiency is what it is; Kindred definitely didn't have enough damage to kill Kha'Zix here, and all Kha'Zix lost was one camp.

To risk his own development potentially collapsing if he didn't steal it, just to earn one camp!?

Is this reasonable?

Oner might not understand Kindred as well as Xun, but he had his own train of thought.

The importance of Kindred's first mark needs no further elaboration.

And previously, apart from the special situation where V5 could get a kill mark for Kindred right from the start, every time there was a dedicated, targeted design for the contest of the first mark.

So what was Oner's idea?

It was very simple: it was based on the premise that Kha'Zix had no "chasing ability" at level two and that he himself had "no risk of dying" no matter what, so he took the risk to go and steal the opponent's jungle.

With one less camp, Kha'Zix couldn't clear his jungle normally to reach level four.

And Kindred, now, only needed to return and clear four more camps to reach level four normally.

In this way, at the time the Scuttle Crab spawned—there would inevitably be a level difference of level 3 versus level 4 between the two junglers!

At that time, Kindred could completely stand near the mid lane, wait for the mark to spawn, and then forcibly call his teammates to go and contest it!

And it can be said that as long as Kindred stole the camp at level two, even if this intention was discovered by the opponent, it would be very difficult to break.

Xun's mind worked fast; he had already thought of the opponent's intention.

The good news is.

As his signature champion, Kindred is one he has plenty of experience dealing with.

"Master Ye, I'm having a bit of trouble in the jungle, do you think you could..."

After hearing the request and inquiry from the jungle, Ye Bo immediately gave an affirmative reply.

Hearing the immense confidence coming from his mid-lane big brother, Xun's mood immediately steadied, and he began to execute the plan full of confidence.

The commentary desk was still analyzing the gains and losses of this jungle skirmish, with Rita helping her team save face with an explanation.

"Honestly, they didn't lose much here. Oner doesn't seem to have any intention of continuing the attack, so Xun only lost one jungle camp."

"And we can see that Xun is still very cautious. After arriving at the red zone, he went straight for the Red Buff instead of the F6; this must be because he's afraid Kindred will come to invade again."

Both junglers entered a farming phase.

The director switched to the perspective of Yang Jian.

Due to the unique nature of the champion Blitzcrank in the bottom lane, unless every hook lands, there is certainly nothing to be said about the laning phase; they basically have to hunker down and farm using the long range of Jinx's rocket launcher.

And the top lane, having secured First Blood, should theoretically be able to exert some pressure.

Furthermore, under normal circumstances, Renekton against Gragas can rely on the "no-cost" advantage to seize some lane priority early on, or force Gragas to use skills frequently, causing him to lose status and be forced to recall first.

But the actual result was that the minion kills and status of both sides were nearly identical; Renekton hadn't been able to pressure Gragas at all.

Through the details in a replay, one could see the clues: Zeus's Gragas seemed a bit different from everyone else's.

Gragas never gave Renekton a position to land a free Q.

And whenever he finally gave an opening, it was a "Q-hidden-W" combo released simultaneously.

Seeing the opponent enter range, Renekton turned to Q-A-W, but it hit exactly on the damage reduction of the W 【Drunken Rage】, and while the swinging animation was still in progress, an Explosive Cask had already been placed at his feet!

At this moment, if Renekton dashed forward with E, he would be knocked back by Gragas's E; if he dashed backward, he would fail to refresh the second part of his E, and he would still be solidly hit by Gragas's Q.

Gragas also possesses recovery abilities; the only difference is his mana.

Yet Zeus could always utilize positioning, skill mind games, and movement gaps to trade the most health with the fewest skills!

Of course, Gragas against Renekton can only do so much at most.

As long as both sides farm evenly and Renekton doesn't make a major blunder, Gragas will never have the opportunity or reason to get a solo kill; at most, it's a stalemate in terms of lane state.

And when the director's camera cut to the mid lane.

Everyone immediately sensed something was wrong.

"Faker's laning state today... it doesn't seem right, does it?" Jide raised an eyebrow upon seeing the health difference in the mid lane.

In less than three short minutes, K'Sante had not only finished his potions, but was also at a complete disadvantage in the health trades.

According to the conclusions from the matches over the past few days, the advantage of Nautilus against K'Sante seems to be his wave-clearing ability; after all, the wave-clear speed of Nautilus's E is too fast for K'Sante to match.

After hesitating, Jide spoke up boldly: "The Nautilus vs. K'Sante we saw a few days ago didn't look like this at all. Do you feel like Faker had a problem with his early-game trading?"

Rita smiled and teased: "I always have this illusion that Master Ye's Nautilus deals more damage than anyone else's. Is this the charm of the ID~"

"No, no, no, it's not an illusion!" Guan Zeyuan started acting like an expert again: "His E damage is just higher than everyone else's!"

"Look closely at his positioning control. Whether it's deliberately stepping back after an auto-attack before using E, or using E predictively while dancing for position, Master Ye manages to land all three waves of his E almost every time!"

"The precision of this distance control is almost like seeing him play Akali and pulling off that 'edge-Q-instant-passive' with ease!"

This time, Guan Zeyuan really wasn't wrong.

The core skill for Nautilus in lane is undoubtedly E 【Riptide】, and this is actually a skill with an incredibly exaggerated base damage—it has a total of three waves of damage, and the cumulative total at level one is an absurd 130 points!

The difference in damage comes down to these three waves.

Nautilus players who have practiced even a little know that to land all three waves, one needs to deliberately position themselves about 300 units away from the target to start.

And for the opponent, it not only tests their positioning, but more importantly, they must weigh whether to get close to the minion wave, preventing Nautilus from pushing the lane while also being harassed.

Yet Ye Bo manages to hit the ultimate position gap almost every time; the precision of his distance control is simply outrageous, as if it were at the "pixel-perfect" level!

Of course, part of it is because Li Xianghe is unwilling to hand over lane priority and has been pushing the wave the whole time.

But Ye Bo indeed had a feeling.

He felt that Faker's state today was off, seemingly different from their duel at the World Championship last year.

Although they only played two games at the World Championship last year, one of which was on a champion like Nunu where it was hard to tell the laning situation.

But at least in that LeBlanc vs. Akali matchup, Ye Bo could still feel the opponent's laning pressure and "proactive operation."

The most intuitive point: last year, the opponent would frequently perform "unconscious movement" and other behaviors to maintain a high DPI frequency.

This is a small habit of almost all "top players," including Ye Bo—it allows them to maintain combat alertness to the greatest extent and deal with various sudden situations.

But Li Xianghe today didn't seem to have that; his operation frequency had clearly decreased.

It's unclear if it's because of this clunky champion, K'Sante...

The fifth minion wave arrived in the mid lane.

The competition for lane priority between the two sides reached a fever pitch—because this wave of minions would directly determine the priority for the upcoming Scuttle Crab spawn!

Oner had long since coordinated with Li Xianghe, and they were determined to secure this Scuttle Crab mark.

And Li Xianghe, knowing his wave-clear efficiency was inferior to the opponent's, had already begun looking for opportunities to trade proactively.

K'Sante against Nautilus wins on melee combat ability!

Entering a fight with the same health, Nautilus provides mainly crowd control utility, while K'Sante provides both crowd control and combat utility!

He saved up a Q3 Ntofo Strikes.

Seeing Nautilus step forward and wanting to use the same trick again, K'Sante predicted the moment the opponent lifted his foot and struck!

Ntofo Strikes hit accurately!

The emerald glow of {Aftershock} instantly enveloped him.

K'Sante didn't get greedy for auto-attacks; he charged his W to the max in place while in the air, using the knock-up from Q3 to maximize the {maximum percentage health} burst from his W to deal a big hit to the opponent.

However, just as Nautilus's form was knocked back, he immediately twitched in mid-air and was then forcibly pulled back by the giant anchor in his own hand!

The effect of "Control Cancellation" made Nautilus look like he was flying!

He even stepped out the pre-released Riptide ripples on the spot, making K'Sante take the full hit while still standing in the minion pile.

Facing the Nautilus who had pulled far away, K'Sante's Aftershock and W naturally missed, and he could only turn to strike the minion wave.

"Oh, that control cancellation!"

"Nautilus used a reverse hook on the wall to forcibly pull away from the knock-up, and he even made K'Sante's W miss. Master Ye is looking a bit cool here!"

Guan Zeyuan spoke eloquently: "Some viewers might not know, but the {cast time} and {cooldown} of K'Sante's Q scale with bonus resistances, so the casting animation is very slow in the early game, and it's actually quite easy to react to in advance... though I can't do it!"

The commentary desk initially thought this was just a simple trading sequence.

But then they realized something was wrong.

"The Scuttle Crab mark has refreshed, and it's in the bottom half of the map!"

"The level four Kha'Zix, who was crouching behind the mid lane, immediately set off, but Xun has been crouching in this position—could he be trying to ambush Kindred? He's only level three!"

"This might trigger a small-scale skirmish... wait! Could V5's real target be K'Sante?"

Kindred had already rushed from the bank toward the river, completely unaware that there was a Kha'Zix in the bottom river bush.

Anti-gank wards in the early laning phase are basically never placed inside the bush because that creates a blind spot, making it easy to be flanked.

K'Sante's ward was naturally placed at the entrance to the bottom river.

This position could clearly scout the path to the bush and even detect the area near the river bush, which was enough to protect the safety of the bottom river area.

But Kha'Zix had jumped down using his E over a dozen seconds ago.

Kha'Zix's E skill has a cooldown of a full 20 seconds; under normal circumstances, it would be impossible to use it for such displacement in the early game!

But don't forget—Kha'Zix missed a camp in the jungle, so he naturally had a gap of idle time because he had one less thing to farm!

Just like Oner going to invade the jungle at level two.

This Kha'Zix was only level three, and with ward protection, Kindred had absolutely no suspicion that there would be anyone in the bush he had just passed by. "Brother Xianghe, if Kha'Zix isn't here, he must have gone to farm the top Scuttle Crab, be careful!" Oner gave the answer he deemed inevitable as a matter of course.

"Mm."

Li Xianghe could certainly guess that too; after all, it was reasonable for V5 not to take this fight.

Seeing that Nautilus also had no intention of assisting, K'Sante decided to retreat slightly and play passively, staying away from the top side where there might be danger, keeping his distance from Nautilus and moving slightly closer to the bottom side.

And at this moment, Nautilus still seemed to be auto-attacking minions and pushing the wave without any hostility...

But just as Nautilus raised his giant anchor to strike the minions.

A "rope" suddenly flew out from his "armpit" without any wind-up animation!

Nautilus's Q has a super long wind-up animation, and generally, those with displacement can easily dodge it; K'Sante could also use his E to step aside.

But this "no-wind-up armpit hook" left almost no time to react!

K'Sante was hooked directly, and Kha'Zix, who was right next to the bush, jumped out, triggering the Taste Their Fear damage!

Li Xianghe subconsciously wanted to press W for damage reduction, but the cooldown was still 5 seconds away!

The cooldowns of K'Sante's W and Nautilus's Q are actually the same: 14 seconds.

But {if Nautilus's Q hits terrain, it refunds 50% of its cooldown and cost}.

The reverse hook into the wall that Nautilus deliberately gave away in the previous Q3 trade was clearly not for the sake of "showing off"—the main intention was to bait out K'Sante's {Aftershock}, and baiting out the W was just an unexpected bonus.

By taking the Q3 first, then using Q to cancel the control, he could bait out the Aftershock, which has a 20-second cooldown!

Without Aftershock and W, K'Sante's tankiness was no different from a normal champion, and his health was already unhealthy due to the previous trades.

Nautilus landed, Q-auto-passive, landed A-W-A to deal all his damage, and delayed his E so that K'Sante was still slowed when he flashed over the wall.

"Kha'Zix follows with a flash over the wall to continue the pursuit!!"

"Xun has the Red Buff, it looks like he can stick to him!"

Li Xianghe was also very smart, walking toward the defensive tower without looking back.

{Defensive towers also count as allies and can remove the Isolated mark}

But due to the trading mistakes earlier in the lane, after K'Sante took the full brunt of both players' skills, his health was already in critical condition.

The Kha'Zix, intent on the kill, pursued into the tower.

Even a 1-for-1 trade would be a massive profit!

At the critical moment, K'Sante's W ability finally refreshed; with his health already critically low, he dared not channel it and instead instantly tapped W to dash away.

However, the Kha'Zix waited for the 0. 5-second stun to end, then lashed out with another claw from his Q ability, which has a range of 325 yards, dealing exactly enough damage to secure the kill under the tower!

He was even able to walk out of the tower range unscathed!

If K'Sante had still possessed Aftershock, the massive bonus resistances triggered by his instant W might have been enough to block that Q—which lacked the "Isolated" bonus—and perhaps he would have had a chance to trade 1-for-1 with the Kha'Zix.

But the trap had already been laid twenty seconds ago.

The crucial Aftershock had been baited out long ago!

"Faker has actually been killed first! T1 is a bit overwhelmed here!" the Roaring Emperor bellowed in pain: "T1's focus is all in the river; no one can come to look after this K'Sante!"

"It's fine, Li Xianghe has Teleport, and Kindred got the mark, it's acceptable."

Wolf was just short of shouting "not a loss."

But was that really the case?

Clearly, this attack on the mid lane was only a "secondary objective."

Even if he couldn't kill K'Sante, forcing out both summoner spells and sending K'Sante back to base meant Xun's core goal had already been achieved.

He had no intention of contesting the Scuttle Crab at all.

Xun had dug a pit for Kindred; he just hoped the opponent would go and take that Scuttle Crab mark!

Oner was still oblivious to this, even feeling happy about successfully securing the first mark that would allow him to "start the game."

But he would soon discover it.

Because, just 45 seconds after the Scuttle Crab was killed—a new mark refreshed on the Gromp in the bottom half of the jungle.

And just as Oner prepared to attempt to head over, the moment he stepped into the river, he immediately saw movement from the opposing bottom lane, clearly indicating they had vision set up at the entrance.

More importantly, when he glanced at the mid lane with his peripheral vision, he discovered that K'Sante's minion wave was firmly trapped under the tower!

As everyone knows, once Kindred has the first mark, the marks expand to refresh on the Raptors and the Gromp.

Yet, in a small detail that Rita had actually mentioned earlier but no one noticed, Xun's first jungle clear route was deliberately designed to kill the Raptors last.

The purpose was to ensure the Raptors wouldn't respawn until after 4 minutes and 20 seconds—this way, the mark would be fixed to refresh on the Gromp!

So why couldn't the mark be allowed to refresh on the Raptors?

Because the Raptors are too close to the mid lane!

Even if K'Sante lacked lane priority, if a fight broke out at the Raptors, he could still force his way into the fight quickly, making it impossible to leverage the mid lane's priority for support!

And now, relying on the lane priority established in the mid lane.

The Gromp was far enough from the mid lane and very close to their own bottom lane; if Kindred dared to come, he was just waiting to be surrounded and turned into a dumpling!

————Xun wanted to lock down Kindred's marks!

Oner soon realized this as well, and he pursed his lips.

He had already discovered he had been counter-schemed by the opponent, yet he remained just as stubborn as he was at level two!

"Oner still wants to force an invade to steal something, but the vision in the bottom river has clearly captured his movements! Nautilus has also surrounded him!" Guan Zeyuan shouted loudly.

"But Kindred uses Q to dodge the Blitzcrank hook, and before even landing, he flashes to dodge the follow-up Nautilus hook! Weaving between two hooks to escape, Oner's movement is amazing!"

Rita, however, had a unique focus: "Wow, Master Ye didn't buy tank items, he actually bought a Lost Chapter? That's quite intimidating!"

"As expected of him, he plays K'Sante like an assassin, no problem there!" Jide also said happily.

"It's just that Oner is really having a hard time now; it's very difficult to gank anyone in the top, mid, or bottom lanes, and Xun keeps refusing to take the Gromp just to control the mark. It seems he can only bury his head in farming!"

【Ye-style K'Sante! Xun-style Kindred!】

【Big O is just a pure brute! Does he really only know how to mindlessly fight without anyone directing him?】

【That's how sports students are; Big O is already the Sherlock Holmes among sports students.】

【Da Fei, Da Fei, Da Fei, Da Fei! What on earth is Da Fei doing! Can he even play K'Sante properly!】

【There isn't even a 1k gold difference, I don't know what the rush is. Does this T1 lineup have no late game or what? Besides, is this even considered a disadvantage? Have they never played from behind?】

【Hehe~ It's best if you're really not in a rush~~~】

But Oner was indeed a bit anxious.

Neither jungler was in a hurry to start the dragon; after all, neither had established a combat advantage, and both bottom lanes were late-game carries, so there was no guaranteed victory in starting the dragon rashly.

However, as a counter-pick, Kha'Zix had the advantage in a 1v1 in the jungle.

If they kept farming like this, he might start losing the 1v1s in the jungle.

By then, it would turn into Kha'Zix calling over Nautilus and Blitzcrank to take turns hunting Kindred in the jungle!

Don't think of Kindred as some "late-game hero"—in reality, if this hero doesn't have marks, his range is ridiculously short, and his utility in team fights is not much greater than Kha'Zix's!

He is basically an "ultimate ability tool."

And if that ultimate isn't placed well, it can even be a liability!

"Brother Xianghe, I have to go take that mark, can we group up to fight this?" Oner asked for instructions as he saw the mid laner reach level six.

Li Xianghe glanced at the opposing mid laner's equipment: "We can fight."

It's not that Nautilus can't build Ability Power; some professional players do it.

After all, the AP scaling on all of this hero's abilities is quite high, and the cost-effectiveness is not low.

But clearly, in terms of "brawling" ability, AP items are far less powerful than tank items that allow for longer survival and constant crowd control.

He could understand why.

Besides the fact that the V5 lineup lacked an AP hero, it was more importantly about supplementing a source of {instant burst}, making it easier to help Jinx get started.

And although Li Xianghe's operating frequency had decreased, it seemed to only affect his right hand on the mouse.

The speed at which his left hand pressed F1-F6 to switch screens was still extremely fast, and he didn't forget to check the three lanes while last-hitting under the tower.

"Support, head out and go into the river with the jungler to set up vision."

"The opposing bottom lane is missing too; their Blitzcrank might not be that well-behaved."

Upon hearing this, Keria immediately changed course and stepped into the jungle with Kindred.

Kindred's bottom jungle hadn't respawned yet, so logically, there was no reason for Kha'Zix to enter the bottom jungle.

But at the same time, that Blitzcrank actually hadn't returned to base; he was sneaking into the jungle with Kha'Zix, crouching at the entrance to Kindred's Raptors!

This move was purely because Beryl felt that Oner wouldn't easily let go of this mark.

When it comes to "understanding."

Having played against the entire T1 team for a whole year in the LCK league last year, Beryl's level of understanding was far greater than Ye Bo's, who had only played two games.

And because his own jungler was also a Kindred specialist, he knew very well how obsessed Xun was with marks when playing Kindred.

"Oh, here we go."

"Is Lulu there too? Then if we burn a Flash, we can..."

Before Xun could finish his sentence, Beryl had already fired his hook!

His decision was sound.

A long-range hook would directly separate Kindred from the Lulu behind him, creating an {Isolated} scenario for Kha'Zix to instantly create a health disparity!

Kindred had no Flash; there was a very high probability of killing him instantly!

But the biggest variable in this T1 team appeared—"muscle memory."

Perhaps it was because of the mid laner's reminder just moments ago that he was on guard.

Seeing the long-range hook fly out from the brush in a blind spot, Oner, in the instant his body jolted, instinctively dodged with a lateral Q jump!

The reason Blitzcrank is rarely seen in professional play is that both the wind-up and the projectile speed of his Q ability are too slow, making it too easy for professional players to react.

Even so.

The reaction to a blind-spot, narrow-path lateral Q was still a bit exaggerated!

Of course, it was also fortunate that this was a narrow jungle path, and the Lulu behind him wasn't as vigilant.

"He dodged it!! My god, what kind of reaction is that from Oner!"

"Lulu was hit by the hook, but if they can't focus down Kindred, this 2v2 might be hard to call!"

"Nautilus has already moved in advance!"

Nautilus, relying on his lane priority, moved first, approaching the wall inside the Raptors camp.

But K'Sante also directly abandoned the minion wave to force a follow-up.

Once Lulu was hooked, they could only focus on Lulu; Keria, who was only level four, was isolated by a claw from the 1-0 Kha'Zix, as if he had been slashed in the carotid artery!

But Keria, despite his health plummeting, did not use any abilities at the first moment.

He knew very well that he had Flash and wouldn't die; if he panicked and used all his Q, W, and E abilities to save his life, he would instantly become useless, and they would still fall behind in this frontal fight.

"We can fight! Kha'Zix has no Flash!"

Kindred summoned the Wolf Spirit to step forward.

And only then did Lulu use 【Whimsy】 on Kha'Zix!

The target was clear; the critically low Lulu didn't even retreat but pursued instead, waiting for the polymorph to end before using another Q to slow the two of them, all while continuing to move upward.

T1 had more than one person with muscle memory.

Keria was fully prepared; if the opponent wanted to Flash to kill him, he would immediately Flash over the wall into the tower!

Even if Nautilus used all his abilities to force a kill, it definitely wouldn't be a loss, because the opponent's front line would inevitably collapse, and Nautilus himself wouldn't have an easy time surviving.

"Sell me, I don't have Flash and can't get away!"

There were too many surprises in this play.

The extra person accompanying them, the blind-spot hook being dodged, and the failure to focus down the main combatant first, meant the original combat advantage seemed to have vanished.

Neither the Kha'Zix nor the Blitzcrank had Flash, and since it was hard for both to disengage, not sacrificing one would only cause their teammates to sink deeper into the mire.

"No need to sacrifice anyone, just pull back first!" Ye Bo said as he quickly assessed the battlefield.

If they didn't sacrifice the Kha'Zix in this exchange, they would have to prepare for a head-on fight.

The Kha'Zix didn't bury his head and run blindly, instead fighting while retreating, and only after landing one more claw did he use his E to jump away.

Seeing this, Lulu and Kindred were in no rush; Pix hung onto Kindred to help him frantically output damage onto the Blitzcrank, maintaining a safe distance!

After all, they were in their own jungle, and K'Sante could arrive almost right on the heels of the Nautilus!

"Xun, run against the wall, run against the wall!" Ye Bo pinged the map: "Keria, go stick to the Kindred!"

The Nautilus was the first to cross the wall and arrive on the scene.

Everyone on T1 had noted the opponent's items and knew this Nautilus's damage was not low; furthermore, with his R lock-on, it was very hard to "dodge."

But there was also a problem—the Nautilus only had one rotation of skills.

If he used his R-Q lock-on, he could only kill one person!

AP Nautilus's greatest advantage was his extremely stable damage; with his R as an opener, he was almost guaranteed to land full damage every time, truly deserving the name "Point-Blank Demolition"!

But the downside was that his skill cooldowns were not short, and even the shortest skill, his E, would have no time for a second rotation since it was impossible to stand in the middle of a crowd for long.

However, to everyone's surprise.

After turning the corner past the wall, that Nautilus acted as if he "couldn't walk away upon seeing a low-health target," heading straight for the heavily wounded Lulu in the pit!

The K'Sante behind him was very calculated, with eyes only for the Kha'Zix.

Li Xianghe knew that Kindred had no Flash in this exchange; if the Nautilus was determined to kill, there was no way to save him.

Therefore, his target was only the opposing jungler!

In any case, the Nautilus could kill at most one person, but with K'Sante's sustained combat power—after killing the Kha'Zix, he might even be able to kill everyone else when he turned back!

The Kha'Zix was already heading toward the river without looking back, also knowing that the ADCs from both sides were supporting from within the jungle.

Seeing that he was about to exceed the distance.

K'Sante could hesitate no longer; he instantly used his E-W double displacement to move forward, closing the distance to land his R and knock him up!

Yet the two were swept up together, crossing the wall diagonally; the direction they flew toward was actually the entrance to the Dragon Pit!

The position Ye Bo marked with a signal was an ultra-long-range knock-up angle for K'Sante—only this time, the "purpose and target" were different.

And on the main battlefield.

Kindred was still tangled with the Blitzcrank, and the Nautilus was still walking toward Lulu's face.

The strange thing was, the Nautilus didn't use any skills at all, as if he wanted to "save his skills" and kill Lulu with just one auto-attack.

Keria keenly sensed the opponent's intent and was immediately overjoyed.

He even deliberately auto-attacked in place to provoke the opponent, and the moment the Nautilus walked up to his face and raised his hand to attack, Lulu immediately flashed over the wall, entering the protection of his own tier-one turret!

But the Nautilus moved too.

Yet he only turned his giant anchor behind him and threw it toward Kindred.

"A feint?"

Oner looked disdainful, using the reset Q he held in his hand to easily jump to the side and dodge, causing the anchor to only hit the wall.

Although there was a high probability he would still be killed by the opponent upon landing, if he could live a little longer, he could deal more damage to the Blitzcrank and stall for time, waiting for K'Sante to turn back.

But immediately after.

A bizarre scene appeared!

The Nautilus first flickered with "green fluorescence," and then, while the anchor was still flying in the air—he used an unreasonable "Flash" to cross the wall and travel under the turret!!

And the lock-on 【Depth Charge】 targeting Lulu—yet not a single ripple of a shockwave could be seen?

"Ah!?"

"Axi!!!"

"Nautilus Q-Flash???"

The three people at the LCK commentary desk opened their mouths wide.

It was because they clearly saw that the ripples of the Depth Charge did not appear around the locked-on target, that Lulu who had been face-to-face with him.

It was as if it had "taken a turn underground"!

Instead, it appeared at the feet of Kindred, thousands of yards away, from behind the wall!!!

Even more terrifying was—that Nautilus, who had clearly flashed over the wall, was the next moment pulled in by the immense force of the anchor in his hand, forcibly walking with a "ninja moonwalk" to fly back over T1's middle tier-one turret!

He returned to the face of Kindred, who had just been knocked up and landed.

"Shifting Shadows, Divergent Seismic Wave!"

"What on earth is that!!!"

"Trickster Tank!!!"

"Lulu was killed by the shockwave chasing the lock-on! And Kindred miraculously took the ultimate from thousands of yards away! This means Kindred took the Nautilus's full skill rotation!"

"Kindred is about to be killed too! And the Kha'Zix below has already been killed, but K'Sante's position is very awkward, Jinx is about to surround them!!"

"What on earth happened in this play!?"

The entire arena erupted in sky-shaking shouts because of this scene!

(End of chapter)