LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 450
In Legends of League, operating basically means the numbers game.
When your team is bigger than the enemy’s, you fight, and when you’re outnumbered, you run away.
That’s the most fundamental principle of operation.
The reason lane control is important is also connected to this.
If you have control in your lane, your chances of winning a numbers fight during an engagement are much higher.
Even if the enemy abandons their lane to follow, that alone should be enough of a loss for them.
It’s the same right now.
Currently, OLZ’s mid has no control, while SCV’s mid does have control.
The effect of that naturally transitions to the nearest lane, which in this case is the jungle.
Under normal circumstances, the jungler on the side without lane control would have their movements severely limited.
Because if a fight breaks out, the enemy’s response would be almost instantly quicker.
This results in an operational disadvantage.
It should clearly be the case…
But Outlaw didn’t hesitate at all and continued on his path.
It was as if he could see through the judgment of SCV, who assumed Outlaw would take safer options.
However, every choice comes with its price.
Naturally, SCV wouldn’t let this slide, and Outlaw’s Lee Sin was quickly thrown into a crisis.
Jarvan III and Lee Sin faced off, and from above, Sandra was approaching.
Below, OLZ and SCV’s bottom duo were also coming up, but all responses were inevitably faster on SCV’s side.
[“I survived.”]
Even in that situation, OLZ’s jungler Outlaw declared his survival.
In the process of chasing Lee Sin, all of Jarvan’s spears missed.
Maybe if the spears had hit Lee Sin, it would’ve been different, but none of his skills connected.
Jarvan III, missing his spears, squared off against Lee Sin.
Considering Jarvan III’s persistent damage and 1v1 ability weren’t that great, it should have been an easy fight, but the real issue was that Sandra was right next to him.
Therefore, Lee Sin’s ideal decision here was to simply back off and let the enemy take their turn.
But Outlaw was different.
[“Hmm, I think I’ll give it a shot.”]
Confirming that Jarvan III’s skills were down, Lee Sin immediately turned around and revealed his aggression towards Jarvan.
Jarvan didn’t back down either.
Although his skills were on cooldown, he had the numerical advantage.
There was no reason to retreat, nor could he.
So, he began fighting face to face with Lee Sin.
Of course, there was no way he could win the damage exchange against a fully-skulled Lee Sin, but he figured it would be okay since Sandra was nearby.
However, Baek Seong-an smiled faintly.
He knew all too well what mistake Jarvan III had just made.
‘Did he forget what kind of champion Sandra is?’
Sometimes, players forget the responsibilities that players from other lanes must carry.
Jungler’s smite.
Non-target champion skills.
AD carry’s balance.
You know, those things.
Sandra’s skills are fundamentally all non-target skills except for her ultimate.
This means that theoretically, if you can avoid all her skills, it’s not impossible to completely nullify Sandra’s presence.
However, many often think Sandra’s skill shots are just handed to her.
Skills they should obviously hit.
But that’s all an illusion.
How many times do we see crucial moments lost because players mess up their skill shots?
Jarvan III began to feel something was off just as Sandra’s skills started to miss one by one.
Naturally, his health situation, lagging far behind Lee Sin in combat ability, quickly deteriorated, and he found himself forced to run away in a 2v1 situation.
The moment Jarvan III used his flash to dodge Lee Sin’s sonic wave…
Gotcha!
The sonic wave landed exactly where Jarvan III had flashed.
He had preemptively flashed because he couldn’t possibly see a sonic wave that close, but Outlaw had anticipated even that.
Although Jarvan’s health had plummeted, his flag’s cooldown had come back.
In a hurry, Jarvan III tried to escape with his spear but sadly, he was already at a dead end.
Although he was a step late, Pizhu was already waiting for him there.
Pizhu’s mobility was quite famous, and there were no remaining means for Jarvan III to escape.
-First Blood!
[“Nice!”]
[“This one’s for Sandra.”]
[“Okay.”]
With Jarvan III down, Sandra’s position was now sandwiched between Pizhu and Lee Sin.
Pizhu and Lee Sin closed in from both sides.
Being a ground champion, Sandra had to rely on her only escape skill, E, to navigate this situation, and it was clear where Sandra should use her skill.
In Pizhu’s case, he could easily dodge Sandra’s skill with his E, so targeting Lee Sin was the right call.
But the opponent was Outlaw.
Known for not hitting non-target skills, but right now, he had no choice.
Sandra’s skill was launched toward Lee Sin.
Was it what we expected?
In a dire situation, Outlaw was not an easy target to hit with a skill shot that was used carelessly.
Sandra’s fate, surrounded by Lee Sin and Pizhu, was already sealed.
-Enemy eliminated!
-Double Kill!
In an instant, Getback’s Pizhu scored 2 kills.
It was the result of a jungler’s super play.
The crisis that had just unfolded was due to a lack of mid lane control, but everyone could foresee that if they could get through this hurdle, the differences in champion matchups would start to emerge.
The moment Sandra was cornered by Pizhu, the game was practically in Pizhu’s pocket.
But theory and practice seldom align.
With Getback’s steadfast trust in his teammates paired with Outlaw’s super play, the unfavored mid-jungle situation completely flipped.
Pizhu with 2 kills.
He was no longer someone Sandra could handle.
*
After Pizhu bought items at home, the level gap and item discrepancies between Pizhu and Sandra in mid became evident.
Furthermore, with the lane pressure that had been barely maintained finally released, Sandra could no longer pressure Pizhu.
No, rather, she began to feel intense kill pressure from Pizhu.
Ground champions in the mid lane become incredibly vulnerable when crossing the central line.
That’s why most ground mid champions avoid crossing that line, but now Sandra couldn’t even approach it.
If she crossed the line even slightly, she would be pounced on by Pizhu.
Once Sandra lost lane control, she became like a being that couldn’t dare to step in front of Pizhu.
In contrast, Pizhu was completely relaxed.
Pizhu smoothly pushed the lane in first, clearing out the vision around mid with red lenses and pink wards, establishing dominance, while Sandra was unable to do anything.
As soon as Pizhu attempted to stop his actions, a massive hole would open up in mid.
Pizhu kept disappearing from sight.
Each time, AllDay had to warn the top, jungle, and bottom that Pizhu was missing.
With each disappearance, the pressure on the top and bottom lanes had to rise.
It was because the moment they tried to exchange blows or seize control, the fear of Pizhu appearing became real.
Especially the Caitlyn-Lux duo, which was incredibly strong in the lane phase, needed to apply pressure, but since Pizhu had grown so well, it became difficult to pressure as strongly as initially planned.
Naturally, SCV, the whole team, started to creak.
Had it only been that, SCV might have found a way to push through the laning phase, but OLZ wasn’t an easy team.
[“We’re not giving up bottom.”]
[“Okay.”]
As Pizhu’s vision play continued, slight gaps appeared in SCV’s movements in the bottom lane.
Then, as Lee Sin and Pizhu showed themselves together, they simply took down SCV’s bottom duo.
Additionally, Jason hurriedly attempted to teleport in for support, but it was a moment too late, and so Jason ended up falling too.
It goes without saying that Aatrox had free rein to farm the abandoned top lane.
All lanes crumbled.
[“Niceee─!”]
[“This is it!”]
After that, everything went OLZ’s way.
They took the dragon, the Rift Herald, pushed the tier one mid, took the dragon again, followed by the second Rift Herald and then Baron.
At this point, OLZ was considered one of the most threatening teams in LCKR, not giving any chances for a comeback.
[Victory]
OLZ vs SCV.
Set 1 OLZ wins.