87 Lack of Early Game Advantage (1/2)
The game transitioned into mid-game. Yuel's team failed to establish the early-game advantages which their lineup desperately needed. Roi was locked out in Top, Julia turtled in Mid and Lars was killed before he got a chance to push much.
This was bad. Extremely bad. Dark Knight and Gunslinger were supposed to carry the team through the early game and that should have opened the path to winning the game during the mid-game. But, the enemy stalled them out all across the board.
What's worse, Taison scored three kills already and that put him on a roll. He was two levels ahead of most players and one level above Lars. A fed Jungler had lots of flexibility with its rotations and ganks because it didn't need to fear getting countered as much, so it naturally put all the laners on edge. Well, except for one...
”Come at me, yo!” Lars fearlessly charged into the jungle as soon as a Ward exposed Taison. That goof...
”Oh!” Taison exclaimed. ”He's coming at me!”
”Back,” Howard ordered. ”No need to fight him right now.”
”But, I can totally destroy him-”
”I said BACK. You'll get plenty of chances to score kills before this game ends.”
”That's right,” Ellen winked. ”I'll make sure to arrange some nice situations for you~”
”Tch, okay,” Taison shrugged and declined Lars's duel invitation. Seriously, what was the deal? Taison could have totally wrecked that loser right here and now. Howard totally commanded like a pussy sometimes, but whatever. As long as Taison gonna get some other good fights later down the road, he ain't gonna complain yet.
”Hey! Don't run away!” Lars called so loud that his voice pierced through the wall. At least, he had the decency to turn off his mic because otherwise, everybody's ears would have bled.
”I ain't running away!” A reply thundered from the other side of the wall. ”I just got more important shot to do right now!”
”My... ears...” Ellen took off her earplugs with shaky hands. That shout raped her ear. ”... you alive?”
”Yeah,” Howard answered nonchalantly as if nothing happened. ”I figured he'll shout something back, so I muted him.”
”Jeez, thanks for the advance warning...”
”Haha, my bad.”
The entire team was inflicted with stun for two seconds. Thankfully, nobody was in the middle of making any major plays, so they weren't affected too badly.
”Hah!” Lars exclaimed out loud. ”I bet you're just sc-”
”Enough already,” Yuel jabbed Lars's side. ”It's bad etiquette to shout during a match.”
”But dude, both Ellen ad Tai keep running away from me! How am I supposed to get my revenge like that?”
”Focus on pushing instead. If you push enough, they'll have to come after you themselves.”
”Oh! Genius, dude! I'mma push so hard they can't ignore me anymore!”
”Just please don't get into unnecessary trouble,” Yuel pled. ”Don't 1v1 Taison in areas from which you can't retreat and don't chase Ellen too far.”
”Yeah, yeah.”
[Does he really get it?] Yuel frowned. The enemy must be banking on Lars's gung-ho mentality. After killing Lars once, Taison had been avoiding unnecessary contact and Ellen was the same way. Lars couldn't execute his vendetta on any of them, which irritated him and hampered his judgment.
There was no way an aggressive player like Taison would play defensively like this of his own volition, so it had to be Howard's doing. This was undoubtedly all part of a plan. It was unclear whether this ”plan” had an end goal in mind, but for the time being: it has been doing a good job rattling Lars.
How should Yuel respond to this? The optimal solution would be to corner Ellen or Taison in a disadvantageous situation and let Lars finish them off. This way, Lars will deliver his revenge and will be on a roll, so he'll be able to bring the team back into the game.
But, that was easier said than done. Cornering Ellen was like cornering a fly. She'll find a way to wiggle out of any situation, that was one of her strong suits. Worst of all, even if they manage to somehow corner her, it may turn out she was the one who cornered them instead. It was pointless to even try.
On the other hand, Taison should be an easier fish to bait, but his movements so far have been careful and well-calculated. When Taison played in the club, he was usually reckless and aggressive, but the Taison this game was relatively tame. Howard must have been leading Taison by hand because he understood how important of a piece Taison became in this game. With three kills under his belt, Taison was the greatest threat on the enemy team and best candidate for carrying it to victory. Therefore, Howard made sure to protect Taison well.
If all of that wasn't hard enough, the enemy team also employed a very defensive game plan during the mid-game. Enemies always grouped in duos and trios everywhere on the map, leaving no isolated targets for Yuel to pick off. Ellen joined Gilbert to push against Julia in Mid, whereas Howard and Taison rotated to Top against Roi. It was much harder to catch anybody off-guard like that.
”You know,” Roi said. ”I could really use some help in Top here. It's a 1v3.”
”Sure,” Dan volunteered. ”I'll be right there-”
”No, wait,” Yuel objected. ”Rotate to Mid instead. With you and me there, we can push against Ellen and Gilbert.”
”Hey,” Roi exclaimed.” What about Top then? They gonna run all me over.”
”Fight them for as long as you can, then retreat. You're still at 0/1 and it's already mid-game, so there's no much you can do. We'll have to use you as a tank.”
[”Not much I can do”?] Roi clenched his mouse. Yeah, that sounded fair. First, Roi was forced to play that stupid Dark Knight and now he was dismissed as useless because he couldn't get an early-game advantage. How FUN. ”... okay, I got it.”
”You okay?” Dan whispered over the shoulder with the mic on mute.
”Sure,” Roi sneered. ”Having the blast of my life.”
”If you think we can turn things around in Top, I'll go there-”
”Dan?” Yuel asked. ”You listening?”
”Yep,” Dan turned his mic up and threw one last glance at Roi.
[It's okay.] Roi just shook his head to dismiss the offer. They were soldiers on a battlefield and Yuel was the commander right now.
”Okay,” Dan nodded in response. ”So, I'm rotating to Mid?”
”Yes, please.”
”Roger, cap.”
Dan and Yuel both rotated to Mid and turned it into a 3v2 situation together with Julia. Meanwhile, Lars was left completely alone in Bot.
”Where do I rotate?” Lars asked.
”Just push,” Yuel said.
”Eeeeh? Why only you guys get to have fun?”
”Don't worry,” Yuel smiled meaningfully. ”If you push hard enough, they'll come to you themselves.”
”Okey-dokey! I'mma blast that Turret in no time!” Lars booted Fan the Hammer and barraged the enemy tower.
Gunslinger's efficiency fell substantially during mid-game, so, for now, it was best to let Lars grind and push instead of fighting. The power curve of Gunslinger was wild and will pick up again during the late-game, so Lars will just have to be patient until then.
To keep Lars safe, Yuel warded Bot Jungle with Sentry Wards to counter any Teleport tactics. It was a costly operation, but he borrowed Julia's help for it. She was already wasting a lot of gold on Wards anyway, so Yuel just mentioned how important it was to ward Bot Jungle to keep Lars safe, that made Julia cooperate without hesitation. If only she was always this agreeable.
Even though Yuel's team was still lagging behind, the current position wasn't terrible. Howard, Taison, and Gregory were pushing Top against Roi, whereas Yuel, Dan and Julia kept Ellen and Gilbert busy in Mid. This gave Lars complete freedom to push Bot. Eventually, the enemy will be forced to break their thick defensive formation and rotate to Bot to stop Lars. That should create some openings to exploit.
『An ally has been killed!』
”Damn,” Roi fell. He was about to make his escape, but Gregory denied it with a timely pull of Nature's Grasp. Following Roi's death, the enemy busted the lane wide open and they'll take down the Turret in no time if they combine their firepower.
It was an unfortunate, but reasonable sacrifice. The interesting question was: how will this trio move next? Surely, they won't rotate together all the way from Top to Bot, that'll be too inefficient. Then, how will they proceed? There were multiple possibilities.