READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 30
‘Hmm.’
At least there’s one good piece of news: the enemy isn’t exactly cruising on a perfect lane either.
[SCV WhiteCat – Samira]
[MAX Lineover – Nautilus]
Support duo.
According to some statistics, support users are said to perform significantly worse when they venture into other positions compared to those mainlining other lanes.
But… most supports understand bot lane dynamics well enough, so it’s really pretty much meaningless anyway.
Even if weaknesses shine through, it’ll only happen during mid or late-game teamfights, not in the laning phase.
-Welcome to Summoner’s Rift.
The game had officially begun.
Even excluding Rainbow, the enemy team was stacked with formidable players.
‘That jungle looks familiar… isn’t that the Chinese pro from back then?’
Players who won, placed second, or made it to the top four of the Red Cup gathered in one place.
Truly, this was the gateway to rank 1.
‘This is how it should be to feel the thrill.’
The game had already started.
No need to whimper unnecessarily.
All I needed was determination and focus.
‘The enemy jungler is Elise. The key to winning is clearly in the top lane fights.’
That means I absolutely cannot let things go smoothly.
Elise and Renekton are called a meta combo for a reason.
If that Elise ever gets a successful gank or dive on top, the game becomes hard to salvage.
Elise’s standard route is Buff-Buff-Turtle, commonly known as the “Burbudoo” route.
In short, it’s all about hitting level 3 as quickly as possible and then intervening in the lanes. The outcomes of the game can often hinge on Elise’s performance during this time.
So, I must find a way to put a brake on this standard route.
‘Leaving top alone for a 1:1 is fine. My job is to prevent Elise from interfering with it.’
There are various methods.
I could follow a Buff-Buff-Turtle route like Elise and head to top.
Or just clear the top three camps faster than Elise, breaking the gank opportunity entirely.
Or how about…
‘Just outright challenge her with a strategy that prevents her from following the Buff-Buff-Turtle route from the start.’
Though I say ‘challenge,’ an early invade strategy is one of the best ways to not take ranked games too seriously.
Especially since we have Alistar, known as the level 1 guardian angel.
‘And let’s not forget Kamal.’
Even though I have my doubts about the pilot, Kamal is a force to be reckoned with during level 1 invades.
Someone once said.
Prisoners are doing well these days, but aren’t they just one-tricks at invading?
Well…
I can’t fully agree with that opinion, but you know, games always taste best when you can just breezily stroll through them.
Especially if it’s the pathway to rank 1.
[⬇] [⬇] [⬇]
[Prisoner(Diana) is on the way]
[Prisoner(Diana) is on the way]
[Prisoner(Diana) is on the way]
We frantically ping at the bottom tri-bush.
[⬇] [⬇]
[3 Min Top School Honorary Member(Kamal) is on the way]
[3 Min Top School Honorary Member(Kamal) is on the way]
Someone pinged top along the way, but I shrugged it off.
Still thinking they’re top, huh?
In no time, we had reached the bottom line bush, leading with Alistar into the tri-bush.
-Wheeee.
Alistar’s lens revealed a ward in the tri-bush.
[+10G]
Nice ten gold.
‘But that’s not what matters.’
This is where it gets important.
[❕] [❕] [❕]
I kept pinging retreat while guiding my allies to make a withdrawal, leading them to think we were escaping before the ward’s sight was completely lost…
[⬇]
[Prisoner(Diana) is on the way]
And then we naturally re-engaged.
Such tricky maneuvers, often executed by players affectionately referred to as “vision magicians,” sometimes create memorable moments.
Well, I’m pretty confident in my vision game too.
And…
Nautilus, who was waiting in the bush, suddenly started fleeing in panic.
“What’s this? Wasn’t he supposed to be escaping?”
His movements screamed confusion, as if everyone could see the trepidation on his face.
In that moment.
-Swoosh!
Kamal’s hook clung to the wall.
One of the reasons level 1 Kamal is so powerful in invades is his long-range initiation.
-Swoosh!
Kamal charged toward Nautilus.
‘Seems like he’s a little short of the distance?’
It was painfully evident how far apart they were.
-Flash!
E E Flash.
That’s Kamal’s specialty.
-Flash!
Did the enemy Nautilus sense danger or was simply desperate? Either way, he used his flash without hesitation.
Ultimately, Kamal and Nautilus’s flashes crossed paths with nothing happening.
Watching Nautilus flee, Kamal expressed his feelings.
‘👍’
Wasting a flashy move like that, and he’s all happy.
Sure, it’s at least a flash trade, so it’s not entirely a loss, but we’re talking about mid’s flash versus support’s flash here.
Those values can’t be the same.
Let alone, there’s different values on each champion’s flash.
Especially with Kamal, the importance of his flash could make or break a deadly gank response, making that quite a regret.
‘No mid gank until my flash is back.’
Of course, I wouldn’t say that out loud.
Anyway, thanks to Kamal’s aggressive approach, the enemy had retreated from the red jungle without a second thought.
The audacity of the top devotee had thrown the enemy off balance.
‘They pulled back too smoothly. They’re probably trying to hit the upper route or heading straight for my red.’
In that case, I had to make a bold decision too.
‘I suspect the enemy warded either the red bush or the mid river tri-bush.’
So…
-Swoosh.
As I moved to a place presumed to be out of the ward’s sight, I could sense confusion among my allies.
[❗] [❗] [❗]
“Shut up you guys.”
[❕] [❕] [❕]
“You guys should fall back as well.”
The reason I deliberately moved to a spot outside the ward’s range was to make sure Elise didn’t recklessly return into the red area.
This way, she wouldn’t have a chance to start at red while also not targeting mine.
-Zoom!
Returning home, I headed straight for my red.
[⬇] [⬇] [⬇]
[Prisoner(Diana) is on the way]
[Prisoner(Diana) is on the way]
[Prisoner(Diana) is on the way]
Of course, I didn’t forget to bring Kun and Kamal along for backup against any potential surprises.
‘The enemy composition is Renekton, Elise, and Jui. Even if the enemy is waiting, we have a guaranteed advantage in a level 1 3v3.’
Jui from Rainbow is one thing, but Renekton and Elise aren’t nearly as strong early-game considering the reputation of their early game ferocity.
In fact, they’re rather the weaklings.
And how about our champions?
Diana with powerful basic attack passives and Conqueror.
Kun, the ranged auto-attack champ.
Kamal, born a cheat champion.
When you look at it, every angle shows that in level 1, we should be absolutely dominating.
‘Nothing there anyway.’
Either they retreated after seeing Kamal join Renekton, or they always started at blue, but the important thing is that the early game setup went as I wanted.
Still, I was slightly disappointed.
Not because of anything else, but due to a recent patch concerning jungle experience.
After the patch, even if you clear 3 camps on the blue side early, you can now still hit level 3.
Resultantly, it’s a buff to the jungler’s early viability, but at this moment, I couldn’t help but feel a bit of sorrow.
‘If it were before the patch, I could’ve forced the path for sure… it’s such a shame.’
If it was prior to the patch, even if the blue jungle was fully cleared, Elise would’ve only reached level 2, meaning she would only have to head down to the lower jungle.
That’s how you force the jungle route.
However, in the current version, that’s no longer possible, so Elise’s route freedom has increased slightly.
‘Still, having the red buff versus not having it is a world of difference.’
It’s an early window where a single auto-attack can change the game’s trajectory.
The slow and damage from the red buff could almost be described as an early elder dragon buff in terms of feel.
Elise is likely to jungle in a manner that leans toward grabbing the red buff.
‘After all, she wouldn’t want to tussle against a level 2 Diana with her red.’
And the rest is simple.
I let top stay in a 1:1 situation naturally while I influence other lanes, widening the gap.
But…
Variables are precisely what we call variables because we can’t predict them.
-First Blood!
-Our ally has fallen!
Before even two minutes into the game, our mid lane went down.
No flashes to escape, I presume.
-3 Min Top School Honorary Member(Kamal): Jui flashed
-3 Min Top School Honorary Member(Kamal): Jui ignited
This is it.
Absolute power that can crush any strategy or tactic in an instant.
That’s the true strength possessed by Rainbow.
[Overall][3 Min Top School Honorary Member(Kamal): Agent T mission accomplished.]
[Overall][3 Min Top School Honorary Member(Kamal): I won’t hand over the sacred rank 1 to some butcher.]
Speaking of which, wasn’t the rank 1 player a top laner?
‘…No, that doesn’t matter right now.’
[Prisoner(Diana): Excuse me?]
[3 Min Top School Honorary Member(Kamal): What do you think? I just made the enemy let their guard down.]
Honestly, it sounds like he genuinely means it.
[3 Min Top School Honorary Member(Kamal): I beefed up mid so it’s nice and plump, come get it ㄱㄱ]
…Is that ‘plump’ or ‘muscular’?
More like something that could probably bench press 500.
‘…sigh.’
What can I do?
Taking this dubious duo offer from that mega-sketchy guy at such a crucial moment is truly a sin.
‘But hey, Jui’s spells are all down, right?’
I quietly observed the mid lane.