Chapter 23

### Chapter 23: Sechojeong

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Nickname: SY YunGi.

Real name: Park Yun-gi.

It's not uncommon for professional gamers to use nicknames based on their real names.

SY YunGi, like many others, was no exception.

While the loading screen spun, I carefully switched the keyboard and mouse back to the ones I used yesterday.

If it were anyone else, I might have been able to take it easy, but since my opponent was Yun-gi, I couldn't afford to be complacent.

'Early invades and skirmishes are especially crucial. I need to focus.'

Statistically, the Ellison vs. Kassadin matchup favors Ellison.

Moreover, if there's a champion like Renekton on our team, capable of strong ganks and dives, the win rate increases even more.

Even with the time attack or fireball compositions, our team's ban and pick (ban/pick) phase is slightly more advantageous from a general perspective.

However...

'My opponent is Yun-gi. I can't be careless.'

Strictly speaking, my head-to-head record against Yun-gi is 6-4, or 5.5-4.5 in my favor.

Because of this, whenever Yun-gi performed poorly in tournaments, some communities often mentioned me to criticize him, but this was merely an example used to attack him.

No one seriously considered me to be a better player than Yun-gi, and I didn't think so either.

For professionals, solo queue is often played in a very tired state after all the scheduled events like tournaments and scrims are over, so it's not fair to compare my conditions with his.

The world's best jungler.

This title isn't just a label.

Even though I have a better head-to-head record in solo queue, I have never once thought that he was below me.

This is because Yun-gi possesses something I didn't have before.

'I envied him a lot.'

If I had to describe Yun-gi in one word, it would be quite concise.

A wild horse with the reins loose.

His aggression and the overwhelming combat ability that supports it are beyond the norm, making it his greatest weapon.

A player who walks the tightrope between super plays and throwing.

Of course, just as light has darkness, his excessive aggression often revealed significant weaknesses in solo queue.

This was the main reason I had a better head-to-head record against him.

However,

This is only a story in solo queue. In tournaments, it's a completely different story.

If there's a wild horse with the reins loose, all it takes is a competent jockey to control it.

Most importantly, SY has not one but two competent jockeys.

[SY Rainbow]

[SY GuineaPig]

SY's mid laner and support.

They are very competent jockeys who can control Yun-gi's aggression.

Especially Rainbow, as a mid laner, has a very close relationship with the jungler and, with his world-class skills and reputation, perfectly controls Yun-gi.

The reason I'm bringing this up now is because one of SY's mid laner or support is on the opposing team.

­SY GuineaPig – Rell.

'A duo lane?'

This is a significant issue.

If they started with the intention of duo laning, they would use voice chat, and if so, Yun-gi's only weakness would essentially disappear.

'...No.'

I shook my head.

I realized how meaningless my previous thoughts were.

'Even if they met by chance, if they're playing from the same accommodation, the presence or absence of voice chat is essentially meaningless.'

In other words, I'm not facing the solo queue warrior Yun-gi but SY's YunGi.

'The only somewhat fortunate thing is that it's GuineaPig, not Rainbow.'

Of course, this is only relatively fortunate. Even without Rainbow, SY's jungle-support duo is a disaster in itself.

If Rainbow were added, the result would already be proven on the Red Cup stage.

[100%]

Amidst these thoughts, the loading screen completed, and the game officially began.

­Welcome to the Summoner's Rift.

Minions spawn at 1 minute 5 seconds.

The first wave of minions reaches the mid lane at 1 minute 28 seconds.

The first jungle monsters appear at 1 minute 30 seconds.

Many people consider one of these times to be the start of the game in League of Legends.

But that's not true.

The real game begins the moment you leave the fountain.

[↓] [↓] [↓]

As usual, pings are scattered.

Our team's base is the top base.

We are the Red team.

I checked the invade synergy.

[Allies / Enemies]

Top: Renekton / Sion

Jungle: Ellison / Kassadin

Mid: Galio / Akali

ADC: Ezreal / Ziggs

Support: Maokai / Rell

'Hmm, slightly disadvantageous?'

Even though our team composition is good for early skirmishes, this is only true after at least level 3, when river skirmishes and the like can occur.

On the contrary, level 1 team fights have a lot in common with late-game team fights, so it's correct to see them as somewhat separate from the commonly known early skirmish ability.

'At level 1, Kassadin is almost a god. It's best to avoid engaging.'

Kassadin's main skill, Q, has a cooldown of just 1 second at level 1.

This means that level 1 Kassadin has a god-like presence in early skirmishes.

So, where will the opponent, who is confident of victory in the invade, invade from?

Actually, the answer is quite simple.

Kassadin, who can't jungle without the blue buff, has two starting options.

Allied blue or enemy blue.

Given Yun-gi's pathological love for early skirmishes, it's obvious which choice he will make.

'They'll target our blue.'

I didn't plan to stop them.

While our team's CC combos are quite powerful, the problem is that doing so could ruin our laners' lane phase.

Renekton can take W at level 1 without much issue against Sion, but if Galio or Maokai also take W at level 1 and don't gain significant advantages from the invade, they could suffer fatal damage in the lane phase.

Can a champion like Akali, often classified as a kingmaker, have a smooth lane phase without early pressure?

I didn't even want to imagine it.

In other words, it's best to avoid level 1 skirmishes.

'Most importantly, if Kassadin or Akali get a kill during the invade, the game is over.'

Both champions have unparalleled snowballing abilities when they get a kill.

For the same reason, there's no need to create unnecessary variables.

Whirr

It seemed my teammates were thinking the same way, as Maokai's sapling was planted in the allied blue bush.

The idea was to use the E skill to provide vision rather than waiting without using skills for the invade fight.

'Good judgment.'

The fact that more than one person made the same judgment is a good indirect proof that my previous judgment was correct.

Without hesitation, I changed my path and headed towards the red side.

Given the situation, it was likely that the enemy Sion would guard the blue side jungle early, so I planned to start with the allied red.

'I need to split the map.'

Kassadin is generally classified as a full-clear jungler.

This means that if the enemy starts with the allied blue, the typical setup is to split the map around the mid lane.

[!] [!] [!]

Sure enough, as soon as it hit 1 minute 30 seconds, the enemy Kassadin and bottom duo entered the allied blue side.

Of course, our team was already completely out, so there was no significant loss.

After I took the allied red and Kassadin took the allied blue, an unexpected event occurred.

'...Huh?'

After eating my blue, Kassadin quickly appeared on the mid lane.

[Kassadin – Level 2]

Perhaps because he is a champion, even though the timing was unexpected, it wasn't a particularly sharp gank.

In fact, it wasn't even a gank.

Boom, Bang!

A few Kassadin Q skills were cast in the air, but Galio easily dodged them with his movement.

However, there was some damage, so Galio had to play it safe and farm minions in the mid lane for a while.

'Look at this.'

Kassadin's intention was clear.

By openly crossing the mid lane, he was giving mid lane control to Akali and signaling his intention to protect his jungle by heading to the top jungle.

Or, in other words, this was...

'He wants to fight.'

The world's best jungler was openly picking a fight.

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