NOVEL NEXT Chapter 23
Nickname: SY YunGi.
Real Name: Park Yoon-ki.
It’s not that rare for professional gamers to create nicknames based on their real names. SY YunGi, the player Park Yoon-ki, was no exception.
While the loading screen was spinning, I hastily swapped back to the keyboard and mouse I had used yesterday. If it were someone else, maybe it wouldn’t matter, but against Yoon-ki, I couldn’t afford to be half-hearted.
“This match-up is especially crucial for early invade and skirmishes. I need to focus.”
Statistically speaking, the match-up between Elise and Karthus leans more in favor of Elise. Especially with a strong champion like Renekton on our side, who has excellent gank responses and can dive effectively, that win rate increases even more. No matter how you look at it, our team’s ban/pick seemed a bit more advantageous from a general perspective.
But…
“The opponent is Yoon-ki. I can’t let my guard down.”
To be precise, my head-to-head record against Yoon-ki stands at 6 to 4—no, more like 5.5 to 4.5, giving me a slight edge. Because of this, whenever Yoon-ki underperformed in tournaments, some communities would bring me up to trash-talk him, but that was merely for the sake of argument. Seriously, no one rated a Prisoner higher than Yoon-ki, and I didn’t think that way either.
In the first place, for professionals, solo rank tends to be played at the end of a long day, after tournaments and scrims, so there was no way I could be on equal footing with a perennial solo queue warrior like me.
The world’s best jungler. That title wasn’t just a slap on a label. Even though I had a better record against him in solo rank, I had never thought of him as beneath me.
And why? Because Yoon-ki had what I didn’t.
“I was pretty jealous, to be honest.”
If I had to express the player Yoon-ki in one phrase, it would be quite simple: a wild stallion. His aggression was palpable, and his overwhelming skirmishing ability went beyond typical levels, which made it his greatest weapon. A player who teetered on the brink between super plays and throwing the game.
Of course, where there’s light, there’s shadow; his excessive aggression often revealed a significant weakness in solo ranks. In fact, that was mostly why I had a better record against him.
But, that was all just in solo rank; it wouldn’t be a problem in tournaments. If there was a wild stallion, all that was needed was a competent jockey to rein him in.
Above all, SY had two exceptionally skilled jockeys.
[SY Rainbow]
[SY GuineaPig]
The mid and supporter of SY. They were both highly capable of controlling the aggression Yoon-ki possessed. Especially in the case of Rainbow, the mid-laner, due to the close relationship between mid and jungle roles and because Rainbow himself had the skills and renown of the world’s best, he perfectly managed Yoon-ki.
The reason I’m bringing this up is precisely because one of those skilled mid and support from SY happens to be right across from us.
-SY GuineaPig – Ruler.
“Are they duoing?”
That was an important question. If they were duoing right from the start, they would be in a voice chat, and if that were the case, Yoon-ki’s only weakness would be essentially nullified.
“…No way.”
I shook my head. I realized how meaningless my previous thought was.
“Even if they met by chance, if they’re gaming in the same dormitory, the existence of voice chat doesn’t really matter.”
In other words, from now on, I wasn’t going to be facing solo rank warrior Yoon-ki, but SY’s YunGi.
“At least it’s somewhat lucky that it’s GuineaPig and not Rainbow, though.”
Of course, this didn’t really mean it was fortunate, per se; even without Rainbow, the jungle support duo from SY was a calamity in itself. And adding Rainbow to the equation? Well… the outcome had already been proven on the verified stage of the Red Cup.
[100%]
Lost in these thoughts, the loading screen completed and the game officially began.
-Welcome to Summoner’s Rift.
Minions will spawn at 1 minute and 5 seconds. The first minion arrives at mid-lane at 1 minute and 28 seconds. The first jungle monster appears at 1 minute and 30 seconds.
Many people know one of these times as the game’s start time in Legends of League. But that’s not true. The real game starts the moment you step out of the fountain.
[↓] [↓] [↓]
As always, ping was flying all over the place. Our team’s base was in the upper lane. The red team.
I assessed our invade matchup.
[Allies / Enemies]
Top: Renekton / Sion
Jungle: Elise / Karthus
Mid: Galion / Akali
AD Carry: Ezreal / Jinx
Support: Maokai / Ruler
“Hmmm, slightly disadvantaged?”
Even if our team composition is good for early skirmishes, that only applies after at least level 3 when we engage. Moreover, level 1 team fights resemble late-game clashes, so it’s more accurate to consider them somewhat detached from typical early battle capabilities.
“At level 1, Karthus is almost a god. It’s better to avoid fighting.”
Karthus’s primary skill, the Q skill, has a mere 1-second cooldown at level 1. So basically, a level 1 Karthus shows godlike prowess in early skirmishes.
If that’s the case, where would the opponent, certain of victory at his invade, come from?
Honestly, the answer wasn’t hard to find. Without blue buff, Karthus can hardly jungle effectively. His starting jungles would be either our blue or their blue.
Given Yoon-ki’s excessive love for early skirmishes, there was no need to overthink what choice he would make.
“He’ll probably aim for our blue.”
I wasn’t planning to stop him. Our team’s crowd control was rather strong, but the issue was that it might disrupt our laners’ lane phases.
Renekton wouldn’t have a problem if he hits level 1 W against Sion, but if Galion or Maokai decided to level W early and didn’t gain significant advantage from the invade, they could be left crippled in their lanes.
Imagining Akali, often classified as a scaling champion, having a peaceful lane phase without early pressure? I didn’t even want to think about it.
In short, considering all factors, level 1 fights should be avoided if possible.
“Above all, if Karthus or Akali gets a kill during the invade, the game could easily be over.”
Both champions possess exceptional snowballing potential once they secure a kill. There’s no need to introduce unnecessary variables.
Wheeing—
It seemed my teammates had the same thoughts; Maokai’s sapling was planted in our blue bush. Rather than not leveling skills and waiting for an invade fight, he wanted to use his E skill to grant vision ahead.
“Good call.”
The fact that two or more had the same idea served as indirect evidence that my assumption was correct.
I confidently veered my path upward towards the red side. Given the situation, it’s quite likely that the opposing Sion would keep an eye on the blue side jungle early on, so I decided to start at our red.
“I’ll split it evenly.”
Typically categorized as a full-camping jungler, Karthus’s starting behavior suggests a split from our blue would be common.
[!] [!] [!]
As expected, the moment it hit 1 minute and 30 seconds, the opposing Karthus and bottom duo invaded our blue side. Thankfully, our side had already completely backed off, so there was no significant loss.
Just as I finished clearing our red and Karthus finished on our blue, something unusual happened.
“…Huh?”
Had he just finished stealing my blue and rushed over? Before long, Karthus appeared mid.
[Karthus – Level 2]
Though the champion itself was important, the timing of this seemed quite unexpected, yet it wasn’t a razor-sharp gank. No, it wasn’t even a gank at all.
Thud, thump!
Karthus fired off a few Q skills into thin air, but Galion casually moved around to dodge them. However, it wasn’t without cost, as Galion found himself in a position where he had to play cautiously for a while in mid.
“Look at that.”
Karthus’s intention was clear. By crossing mid openly, he was giving Akali control and heading toward the upper jungle to protect his own jungle.
Or rather, in different words…
“He’s looking for a fight.”
The world’s best jungler had outright challenged me.