Chapter 217. Roaming (2)
"We should pay attention to the Aqua pick."
The analyst tried to be serious, but OrangeKing changed the topic in a mocking tone.
"Ah. Sorry. Even if you didn't say that, everyone was already paying attention! How can you take your eyes off from that!?"
— For real, LOL
— You're not human if you can take your eyes off.
— I'm a girl, and even I can't.
— Even Almond, famous for looking away from girls, couldn't help but turn his head.
The crowd was filled with laughter.
"Ahem..."
The analyst fixed his red glasses and glared. He wanted to talk about the game because Tako's Aqua pick held a deeper meaning behind it.
"I admit Miho looks stunning as well, but what I really wanted to say was that she didn't simply pick Aqua for the pool party skin."
"Huh? Is there another strategic reason for choosing Aqua?"
"That's right. There were plenty of other champions if she wanted to play using the pool party skin... OrangeKing?"
OrangeKing was still fixated on Miho. He stopped fooling around after the analyst glared at him again.
"Haha! I'm sorry! That's right! The Aqua pick is important!"
The caster responded with surprise, "Is that so?! OrangeKing?"
"Yes. ForeverAlone is still a Challenger after all. Do you think he'd lose to some random champion in a bikini!?"
"Won’t he...?"
The audience and chat laughed as the caster predicted ForeverAlone's loss.
— LOL
— The caster is serious!
— Playing Solia a lot can be dangerous for everyone...
— He might actually lose...
— 10 minutes later… what we predicted actually happened~!
OrangeKing shook his head, "The Aqua pick definitely has a deliberate strategy behind it. It's closely tied to the Frost Archer and Fisherman."
"Huh?! The bottom lane?"
"Exactly. Choosing Aqua was a strategic move directed at the bottom lane. They're aiming to capitalize on Almond's potential to the fullest!"
The caster turned around to the analyst for confirmation.
The analyst raised his red glasses and nodded, "The synergy between the Frost Archer and Aqua is notable. Those in the know understand that it's one of the rare champion combinations in LIL that truly synergize."
"Ah, indeed. The enemy will freeze quicker if they get hit by Aqua’s water, right?"
"Exactly. In the game's lore, Aqua and Frost Archer Leon are actually in a relationship."
"Ahhh! Almond, I'm so jealous!" OrangeKing butted in, and the crowd laughed again.
"Your wife is probably watching."
"Urk!"
OrangeKing finally shut up after the analyst brought up his wife. As a result, the analyst could talk freely.
"The Frost Archer is an ADC who roams around. He doesn’t deal significant damage, but his focus lies in supporting the team by moving around. As I mentioned earlier, he exhibits remarkable synergy with Aqua in the mid-lane."
"Ah~!" the caster clapped as if he finally understood.
"Almond and Tako are planning to roam around the mid-lane, correct!?"
"That's right."
Roaming referred to when a player left their lane to another part of the map.
"Ah~ If it's the Frost Archer, then roaming is no problem!"
Not all champions were suited for roaming. Just as mage champions didn’t excel at assassinating, there were certain champions specifically designed for roaming. The Frost Archer happened to be one of them.
"That's right. The Frost Archer has a skill called Ice Board. This skill gives him a movement boost on frozen ground."
"I see. There's a river that flows between the middle and bottom lanes, right? They're planning to use that to go to mid!"
"That's correct."
Movement speed was crucial to roam efficiently. It wasn't solely about obtaining an immediate speed boost, but sustained movement speed was equally vital.
However, a laner's priority was to defend their turret. They needed to roam quickly to avoid leaving their lane empty for too long.
“I heard Almond has never even used the Ice Board skill when he played as the Frost Archer in the practice games.”
"... That's right, but he's going to have to use it today."
Almond barely used the Ice Board skill when he previously played the Frost Archer. However, he had to use the skill this time. Almond’s mission wasn’t to crush the bottom lane, but to eliminate ForeverAlone.
"If they can't beat ForeverAlone, they can't beat Solo Is Back. Tako took this into account and formed a crush-mid strategy."
"Wow... is that so?!"
"To sum it up, yes!" OrangeKing finally butted in after some silence due to the comment about his wife watching.
"Balloon Stars is determined to focus on ForeverAlone and beat him! That's the only thing they were thinking about all this time!"
"Ah~ To crush mid! ForeverAlone must be shaking right now!?"
"Yes! Right now, Almond is aggressively pushing the bottom lane. The enemy is having a hard time killing minions as well! This means he's preparing to roam!"
[Almond]
[Minions Eliminated: 37]
[Maekju]
[Minions Eliminated: 21]
The enemy ADC and Almond's minion count grew further apart.
"Ah! What does this have to do with roaming?"
"He needs to push into the lane toward the enemy, so he has time to go to the mid lane and come back!"
"I see! So... is that why he's pushing so aggressively? You'd think he's out to kill him!"
Despite the Frost Archer's limited damage output, he managed to force the enemy to retreat. Whenever the opponent made a slight move to secure a minion kill, a swift arrow promptly shot in their direction.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
The enemy couldn’t approach due to the swarm of arrows.
"Ah! Maekju has no wiggle room!"
"Almond seems to have improved from the previous game!?"
"He must be really riled up after losing the first game!"
As the casters said, Almond seemed different from when he was playing Ran. He was putting much more pressure on the opponent.
"Ran is weak early on, whereas the Frost Archer is quite strong. Above all... I've been watching Almond..." the analyst hesitated. He wasn't sure if he was allowed to talk about it. "... He's been making plays where he doesn’t have to use his right arm, especially when he played Ran."
"Ah, is it like his secret weapon or something?"
"Hmm... I hope it's something like that. I hope it's not an injury."
"Ah! An injury! It could be that. Ah... I hope it's not that."
"Anyway, right now, he's using both hands to play as the Frost Archer. His performance is probably different because of that. He must be familiar with a bow.”
“Ahem,” the analyst changed topics. "If they continue to get pushed back, it'll be difficult for ForeverAlone."
"If this continues, they'll lose!"
The caster asked the analyst, "Then... how should Solo Is Back respond?"
"Their jungler probably has to come help."
"Ah, just as you said, they're coming!"
"As expected, they're not an easy team!"
***
Solo Is Back's jungler was Pollock playing as the Spider Queen - Arachne. He quickly headed for the bottom lane.
“Hey, hey! We're suffocating over here!”
“Ah, fuck! Don't give Almond a bow champion. Ran was way better!”
The SoMaek duo continued to complain in the voice chat as if they were the only ones on the call.
“Ah!! I'm coming! I'm coming!”
Pollock had to take a detour from his jungle path to reach the bottom lane faster. He felt annoyed but had no choice.
'That's probably the best they can do.'
Pollock knew how hard Solo Is Back trained for this tournament. He even suffered a nosebleed while training.
'This is when it all pays off.'
He readied his sticky cobweb and concentrated on how the enemy would flee.
'Tako will probably use his net to pull Almond away.'
Pollock didn't have time to hide in the bush. He rushed out immediately without reading the situation.
"Oh!"
"They came for a gank!"
As expected, the enemy reacted right away.
Swiff!
Pollock swung his cobweb.
"Ah! Pollock! If he throws it right now, Tako will just pull Almond back!"
"Yes. Fisherman can pull away allies using the net quite quickly!"
[Net Release]
Chak!
The net Tako threw wrapped around Almond and pulled him back.
Giiiik!
Almond successfully retreated. This was one of the benefits of picking the Fisherman. With the Fisherman in the rear, the ADC had a chance of survival even if they were positioned aggressively.
“Ah, what the! It missed?!”
“You should've thrown it slower!”
Arachne smiled and lifted his pile of cobwebs.
“It was a feint.”
The throwing motion he made earlier was a feint.
Almond's eyes widened.
'He's surprised.'
Pollock thought he fooled him for sure. He threw his cobwebs toward Almond being dragged away. The path was fixed when the opponent was moving back, so it was easy to aim the shot.
However, Almond continued pulling on his bowstring while being pulled away.
Thwack, thwack!
Two shots perfectly landed. As a result, the cobwebs froze in mid-air.
'What... what the...'
ADCs with good aim always had an advantage. They could easily cancel out projectiles in the air.
'But who would've thought he'd shoot while he was being dragged away?!'
He was surprised that Almond actually pulled off the maneuver.
“Wooooah!”
The crowd went wild because Pollock and Almond both displayed impressive gameplay. Pollock wanted to do more before retreating. Was there really no way?
“Hey, just run!”
“There's nothing else to do!”
The SoMaek duo cried for him to retreat.
“Let's try one more time! Last try! Last try!”
“L-Last try?”
‘Let's try one more time.’
The most dangerous thought filled Pollock's head.
“The enemy jungler... do you even know where he is?!”
He forgot one thing because he was so preoccupied. When he played the Madman - Lecurd, his specialty was counter-ganking.
Pung!
Amid the white smoke, a ridiculous smiling mask appeared.
"Surp-rise!"
It was StrawberryShooter.
"Hey, oppa!?"
Seeing the smiling mask on StrawberryShooter's beefy body sent shivers down his spine. Pollock couldn't help but swear, "Urgh. Fuck!"
He took a breath and changed directions.
Thwack!
A large blade stabbed into Arachne's fleeing back.
[Backstab!]
The Madman's passive backstab activated as Pollock lost a huge chunk of HP. Arachne turned around and tried to fight back, but Almond's arrow suddenly pierced his waist. Two shots struck him back to back.
[Freeze]
His waist froze and he couldn’t turn around anymore.
"H-He's this quick?!"
He couldn't understand how the Frost Archer shot two arrows at once.
Shiik—
It didn't stop with just one arrow.
Thwack! Thwack!
Two more arrows pierced his head.
[Freeze]
Two shots to the head caused the target to slightly faint. The Frost Archer dealt very low damage, but the Madman gained the chance to attack.
"Oppa, is today's workout your back?"
The Madman repeatedly stabbed Arachne's back. Arachne was on the brink of death. Finally, another arrow from Almond pierced through his head as if waiting for that moment.
Thwack!
Pollock's vision faded into black and white.
[First Blood!]
[Lazy Soldier -> Pollock]
The final hit and kill went to the ADC.
***
"Ahhh! What is this!"
"StrawberryShooter is so scary! Oppa?! Pollock never had a little sister that was so jacked!'
"I hear sometimes he plays that character! I'm terrified as well!"
"But, Solo Is Back?! This is a big problem for them, right?"
"That's right. Just like I said earlier, Balloon Stars is a team comp designed to destroy the mid-lane. The crucial players for that are Almond and Tako... but Almond got the kill!"
"Then is Solo Is Back screwed?"
"Unless ForeverAlone gets a solo kill and does well, they're screwed."
"Ah, but strangely, we haven’t heard any news from him."
The casters were so focused on the bottom lane that they didn't have a chance to observe the middle lane. The battle between a Challenger and a Platinum player was too quiet.
"There haven’t been any kills yet. Is there at least a minion difference?"
"Probably a minion difference.
[Miho]
[Minions Eliminated: 81]
[ForeverAlone]
[Minions Eliminated: 85]
Miho and ForeverAlone were going toe to toe in their lane.
"It's almost the same?!"
"What's going on?! Is this really because of the pool party skin!!"
— ForeverAlone, this guy... are you really going to lose!?
— Wow, who knew a swimming suit was all you needed to counter a challenger?
— Goddamit.
— Is this really going to work???
— How can you win when Miho is before you like that?
"If this continues, how will Solo Is Back win?! ForeverAlone is their only hope!"
"Ah...! As soon as you said that, Almond and Tako aren't going to the bottom lane from the fountain anymore! Instead, they're headed for mid!"
Almond and Tako, with their newly bought items from their kills, headed for the middle lane.
"This is trouble for Solo Is Back!"
"They're getting ready to crush ForeverAlone! Don't worry, everyone. He won't be so lonely anymore!"
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