“Oh, shit!” Taison saw the lion dude jumping on him from the jungle! Shit! This was bad! He won’t be able to dodge in time...!

  Taison was low on HP, so that leap was gonna have ara knock-up effect that’ll pletely kill Taison’s ces of getting away. Craaaaap! He should’ve started retreating earlier to dodge all this bullshit! Damn, now it was all over... or not?

  The Lionfolk crashed on the ground, but the sm didn’t knock Taison up. In fact, it didn’t even hit him. That scrub missed the nding! Khaha! What an absolute tool!

  All this time, Taison thought it was a dumb idea to run so close to the walls, but it paid off! Howard’s advice totally saved his skin.

  “Huh?” Dan blinked. He should’ve nded on Taison and knocked up that boy, but nope. Did he jump too early? Dang it, what a dumb mess up.

  It was all because Taison has been running so close to the walls, which made it awkward tet Majestic Leap on him. Dan had to make sure that Majestic Leap’s target location didn’t overp with the wall at all because, otherwise, the game treated the target as invalid. Dan thought he , but...

  Still, this wasn’t over yet! Dan was still right in front of his prey, so he darted toward Taison! This was a huge blunder on his side, so he couldn’t let it end like this. He’ll get closer and CC Taison with Mighty Roar instead. That should be good enough to get the kill- ah!?

  “No way, sucker!” Taison rolled aside right as the lion began r. Ha! Ez dodge!

  “Ah, damn...” Dan lowered his head. This was an oopsie, a big one.

  “You should’ve caged him with your ult first!” Yuel criticized. “His ult is still down, so he couldn’t have escaped the cage!” Seriously, it was one mistake after another with Dan’s pys today. At this point, Yuel couldn’t stay quiet anymore.

  “R-Right, I just thought it was overkill. Wao save my ult for ter and stuff...” Dan mumbled. Yeah, that was a derp, alright. Dan should’ve activated The King’s Dominion first to imprison Taison in a cage of lions, then Taison would have had zero ce of esg. Dan wao end this unpleasant job so much that he rushed things.

  “N-No problem!” Dan insisted. “I’ll just catch up to him and lock him.”

  “Yes, that’s the only thing you do now.” Yuel’s voice didn’t sound sympatheti the slightest, but it was hard to bme the guy. First, Dan missed the leap. Then, he wasted the roar. It was one mispy after another with him.

  Focus already! Dan shook his head. This performance was sloppy and ht embarrassing. This wasn’t the time to think about silly stuff like Howard’s future. Dan was cast as a pyer on Yuel’s team, so he had to do his job no matter what.

  Alright, he’s almost within range...! Dan was about ready to cast The King’s Dominion. Just a few more steps and- wham! A wild ice wall appeared!

  “No way...” Dan crashed into the ice wall face-first.

  In this narrow jungle passage, the ice wall was wide enough to block the eh. With Dan’s Majestic Leap on cooldown, he didn’t have any means to get across. So, it was over. He failed to score this kill.

  “Phew!” Taison exhaled. “Thanks, bro!”

  “Don’t mention it,” Howard smiled weakly. “Good job surviving to this point. Now, recall to base and heal up.”

  “On it.”

  A huge disaster was averted. In the end, Howard’s defense mao deflect Yuel’s attack. There was a of luvolved, but luck was also part of the game. Especially, the kind of “luck” where an enemy pyer messed up by rushing things. Howard didn’t have direct trol over Dan’s mispys, but there was no doubt he affected Dan’s performaherefore, this exge was Howard’s victory.

  This should’ve been a kill. Yuel frowhat atta erfect from start to end. Roi pursuing from one side and Dan cutting-off from the other, it incer which allowed no escape. There weren’t any miscalcutions in Yuel’s pn.

  Ahe phrough. Why? The only expnation was the performance of the pyers. Specifically, Dan’s performahe guy messed up three times in this one chase alone. First, he made a bad turn in the jungle and deyed his arrival, then he failed to leap on Taison and finally he failed to lock Taison ihe cage of lions. Three big mess-ups under less than a minute.

  On their own, none of these mispys was a big deal. Everybody made mistakes, so things like that were uandable. But, making so many mistakes oer another like that? Something was clearly wrong here.

  “That oor py,” Yuel criticized.

  “You don’t say,” Dan cracked a ugh. “Yeah, I rushed a little.”

  “We need every kill we get. We ’t miss ces like that.”

  “Yeah, my bad. I totally derped that opportunity,” Dan straightened himself. “Don’t worry, it won’t happen again.”

  Dan made that promise to vince Yuel, but in truth, he had to vince himself more than anybody else. Dan’s tration slipped during that chase. He had to make sure this doesn’t repeat itself ime.

  Dammit, that was su important kill. Yuel bit his lip. He has already pnned a few steps ahead after the kill on Taison, it was such a promising future. In a 4v2 situation, Yuel’s team would have had the leeway to simultaneously push Mid and Top without w about ganks. With only Howard and Ellen to defend, the enemy wouldn’t have been able to stop any offense.

  As, due to how things turned, Yuel had to take Taisoeo at again. Now, asking Roi to push Top was risky sidering his low HP. After Taison heals up at the base, he might be able to immediately travel back to Top via Teleport. That’ll lead to Roi’s death for sure.

  That kill could’ve decided the game...! Yuel gritted his teeth. He had such great pns in store, but everything came down crashing thanks to Dan. The team was supposed to domihe mid-game with this kill, but instead, both teams remained mostly on even ground.

  “So,” Roi started. “What’s ? Do I retreat, or...?”

  “Ah, right,” Yuel shook his head. There was no time to cry over spilled milk. This was a team game, not chess. Individual mistakes have always been a thing. As the captain and the shot-caller, it was Yuel’s job to figure out the course of a after one py ended in failure.

  We ’t attack as much as I hoped, but we still attack. Yuel o himself. The best-case sario he was hoping for didn’t happen, but he had to make the most out of the hand he was dealt.

  “Roi, recall. Dan, e help us push Mid. Lars, keep pushing Mid. I’ll join you two as well.”

  “Got it.”

  “Roger.”

  “Pushing full force?” Lars grinned. “That’s what I like to hear, yo!”

  Pushing Top was impossible right now, so they’ll push through Mid at full forstead. With Seraph's DPS, they might even take down the Golem after finishing the Turret.

  In addition, by gathering three pyers together on ohey protected themselves from any ganks. The eeam only had three members alive, so at worst, Yuel’s strike force will run into a 3v3 situation.

  Fortunately, Taison wasn’t much of a threat in team fights and Ellen’s pystyle wasn’t quite at its stro during team fights either. Therefore, this was a great opportunity to break through. They’ll take out the Mid Turret and maybe even the Mid Golem too!

  I knew you’d focus Mid. Howard arrived on the o stall the enemy’s progress.

  Fast defense, as always. Yuel smiled. It was amazing how quickly Howard switched gears auro Mid ne. Just a moment ago, Horotected Taison in the jungle and now he was already in Mid guarding the Turret.

  But, it was futile! With Lars’s DPS, they’ll break through the Mid Turret for sure! Howard will only dey the iable, nothing more. Things will start getting trickier only once Ellen and Taison join the defense effort.

  The turret is a goner. Howard khat from the beginning. However, by slowing the enemy down just a little bit here, he greatly lowered their ces of g the Mid Golem afterward.

  Yuel will keep pushing after taking the Turret. Howard was vinced beyond a shadow of a doubt. Yuel’s offense wouldn’t stop until things e down to the wire; the disrespect that brat showed was unbelievable.

  In fact, Howard expected Roi to stay and push Top despite his low HP. Unfortunately, Yuel’s offense was aggressive and disrespectful, but not dumb. Telling Roi to recall was the right decision because Taison’s Teleport was ready at a moment’s notid there was a ve Checkpoint Ward op Lane.

  The important question is: they finish the Golem too? Howard frowned. It was a difficult estimation. Could the enemy destroy the Mid Turret and right afterward destroy the Mid Golem? sidering Seraph’s absurd DPS, that kind of stunt might be possible even in mid-game.

  However, could that realistically happen in this very specific situation? Unlike Yuel, Howard wasn’t a genius who could umbers. The best he could do was to tap into his vast experiend make an educated guess. He has watched and analyzed many matches throughout the years, so he should be able to give a good estimation.

  “Ha...” Nothing came to mind.

  “You okay, Wardy?” Ellen asked. “You look a little pale.”

  “Haha, it’s nothing...” Howard blinked multiple times. His certation has been gradually slipping away throughout this match. This was just a set of three games, so why was he so exhausted?

  It was all Yuel’s fault. That guy kept attag and attag and attag, using any opportunity he had. Howard had to stay on his toes the eime and cover up every possible ot ieam’s formation. Yuel could exploit evei of openings and turn it into a snowball, so Howard couldn’t allow anything to pass through.

  Holy, Yuel was like the bane of Howard’s existe was a csh betweeimate offense and the ultimate defehis game only proved how deep was Yuel’s uanding of offense in this game. Even though Yuel went for a mid/te game position that had to py more defensively, he never missed any good opportuo attack. Thanks to that, Yuel created this current unfavorable situation for Howard’s team and it would’ve beeimes worse if Howard failed to rescue Taison back there.

  Because of stuff like that, Howard couldn’t rest for even a moment. Surrendering any initiative against Yuel and Lars was a surefire way to get stomped. Howard had to keep guarding and defending against everything. It was a huge pain, but he had no other choice.

  Only against Yuel, Howard had to trate on defensive shot-calling for pretty much the ech. A single misstep was going to be fatal. Frankly, it was exhausting.

  Heh, look at me g like a little bitch. Howard chuckled. This was unbeing of somebody who aimed to be a pro. At the nationals, he’ll surely run into oppos with a superior offense. If he ’t even deflect the offense in this match, how exactly will he wiionals? No matter how tiring it was, he couldn’t fall apart here!

  , focus. Howard inhaled and exhaled. Will Yuel’s attack vert into taking down the Mid Golem? Howard should be able to tell, he has watched and analyzed so many matches together with his sis.

  This sario wasn’t that rare. Seraph ushing a Turret and two allies supported him. It was a straightforward sario that always iing to analyze due to Seraph’s famous DPS. sidering the Turret’s current HP, sidering the DPS of the involved pyers and sidering...

  “Should I e back to defend?” Ellen asked.

  “... no,” Howard finally arrived at a clusion. He recalled a simir sario from a pro match his sister pyed. In that game, she defehe Golem against a Seraph and two enemies all by herself, while the rest of her team went ahead to push elsewhere. In the end, the Seraph got close but he couldn’t take the Golem, and that ro-level Seraph pyer, not some middle schooler.

  “Push Bot,” Howard ordered.

  “Hm?” Ellen tilted her head. “My, you wao push? In this situation?”

  “Yeah, that’s the best py right now,” Howard nodded. “They won’t be able to take the Golem anyway, so we may as well take one of their turrets while they push.”

  “You sure they won’t take the Golem too? I mean, they got Seraph.”

  “It’ll be fine.” Probably.

  “Alright, if you say so,” Ellen saluted. “I’m heading to Bot, then.”

  If my estimation is wrong, then we’re screwed. Howard braced himself for the worst and poured his everything into stalling the enemy’s advance, all on his own.

  Ellen isn’t defending? Yuel squinted his eyes. Why was Ellen pushing Bot? This had to be some sort of mistake...

  Did Howard clude we won’t be able to destroy the Golem? That’s the only expnation that made sense. If this push fails to take the Golem even without Ellen’s presehen it made seo make her push Bot; it was like trading the Mid Turret for Bot Turret. Golems gradually restored HP over time, so any failed attempt to destroy a Golem might end up the same as not getting to push the Golem at all.

  There’s a ce Ellen’s push is just a decoy to split our forces, but... Yuel frowhat didn’t sound like something Howard would pull.

  For the most part, Howard’s defensive shot-calls have been fairly straightforward. They simply covered up holes in the enemy’s defense. Usually, wheables have been turned on Yuel’s team, it was when somebody overitted to striking an opening that Howard covered up.

  Therefore, it wasn’t like Howard to go out of his repare a decoy that lures the enemy into an unfavorable position. Oher hand, that was definitely Ellen’s forte. In just today’s match alone, she has already pulled off that stunt tless times.

  Was this another instance of Ellen baiting them? Maybe. But, even if that’s the case, Ellen still had to get Howard’s approval for this py. Howard wasn’t the type to take a risk during such a critical situation, so he must have been fident that, even without Ellen being there to defend, Yuel’s team won’t be able to destroy the Golem.

  We really won’t make it? Yuel frowned. Acc to his calcutions, the oute was indeed down to the wire with just three of them pushing. However, Yuel po add Roi the offense as well. So, with four pushers, the enemy Golem should be done for.

  Unfortunately, this wasn’t pure math. In terms of raw damage output, four pushers will output more than enough damage to destroy the Golem. However, said damage won’t necessarily behave like in theory because due to the human factor. There was always the possibility that somebody will mess up things up and the pushers won’t get enough damage on the Golem.

  Roi and Dan are especially suspect. Yuel threw g the two troublemakers. These two have been pying alright for the most part, but the few slip0ups they had were awkward ao terrible sequences. If anything like that happens during this push...

  Is that what Howard is betting on? Or, is there something else he knows that I’m not taking into at?

  Aurret has beeroyed!

  There was no time left; Yuel had to make a decision. Should Roi join them in Mid? Or, should Roi go defend Bot against Ellen’s pushing?

  I don’t know what’s the correswer here. But, if Howard is so fident this push won’t get the Golem, I better py it safe.

  “Roi, go defend Bot,” Yuel ordered.

  “Oh? I thought you’d tell me to push Mid. Okay, I’m on it.”

  “Meanwhile,” Yuel addressed Lars and Dan. “We’ll keep pushing.”

  “Roger.”

  “Let’s push all the way to Colossus, yo!”

  That won’t happen, but we’ll get close. Yuel nodded

  Ohey pee Mid Lahe road to the final boss will be open. Their radiant futures in the petitive se were right within grasp! Just a little more and they’ll win!

  But, it was too early to celebrate. They had to push as hard as possible, but they couldn’t let their guards down until the very st moment. That’s why Yuel asked Roi to defend instead of joining the attack. Better safe than sorry.

  ht, there’s Roi too... Howard somehow found himself surprised by Roi’s existence.

  Back when Howard was weighing the odds that their Golem will survive, he pletely fot to take Roi into at. In a 4v2 situation, Yuel’s team would have certainly destroyed the Golem in one fell swoop. Telling Ellen to push Bot instead of defending almost became a fatal mispy.

  Phew, bullet dodged. Howard sighed.

  Still, this eculiar. Normally, Yuel would send everybody oack, especially when there was a great opportunity like this. So, why did Yuel choose to put Roi on the defense in this situation?

  Heh, maybe we intimidated him. Howard amused himself with that thought. From the very first game today, it was quite obvious Yuel was overly cautious about Howard. And, Howard made sure to do everything in his power to keep justifying such s with his airtight shot-calling. His judgment and shot-calls have thwarted Yuel’s pns tless times throughout the day, so Yuel had every reason to be cautious.

  As a result, maybe Yuel overestimated Howard’s judgment regarding the Golem’s defense. Howard messed up his estimation because he failed to factor Roi in, but Yuel couldn’t have possibly known that. So, maybe Yuel thought that Howard was 100% fident about proteg the Golem even in a 2v4 situation. If any of that was true, that’d be pretty hirious, right? Haha.

  In this decisive final game, at this te stage of the game, even the chesskid with a risk fetish was wary of defeat. Yuel got scared of Howard’s ability and bailed out just to be safe. If Yuel stuck to her inal pystyle a all-in with this push, the situation might have bee unrecoverable for Howard. But, thanks to Howard’s reputation preg him, a disaster was averted!

  But, I won’t be able to get away with it every time. I have t this game to an end. Howard successfully defehe Golem with Taison’s help. The enemy shaved off 60% of the Golem’s HP, but it was still very much alive.

  Meanwhile, Ellen demolished the Bot Turret because it was already at low HP. Roi only got there in time to prevent the possibility of their Bot Golem being taken, but Ellen didn’t have sutentions in the first pce. She departed into the jungle and got away scot-free.

  From this point onward, the match will transition into a phase that’ll revolve around team-fights and seg objectives. Who will be able to push faster? Which team will reign superior in team fights? The end game was nigh!

  The state of objectives on eae:

  Yuel's team's vs. Howard's team

  Top Laurret (80% HP) vs. Turret (90% HP)

  Mid Laurret (15% HP) vs. Golem (40% HP)

  Bot Lane: Golem (100% HP) vs. Turret (80% HP)