LPL History

Chapter 332 Blade's Will Skillfully Delays the Enemy, Miscalculation in the Jungle Leads to a Treasure Hunt
Miller's commentary initially left everyone somewhat skeptical, but as the director shifted the focus to the jungle and revealed that one of the smaller Golems was indeed missing, viewers couldn't hold back their excitement.

[I'm so touched, it was actually Kakao who helped Zhou clear the jungle.]

Is Zhou Chu really that influential on IG?

[Case solved! This guy went to IG to bully Kakao and Rookie.]

[My heart goes out to Acorn for a second.]

[This Gnar-2 steal was amazing! His level is so low, you can't even stand a whiff of experience.]

The LGD players' bench at this moment.

Taobao Quan, who was still eating for four seconds, keenly noticed the anomaly on the minimap.

He moved to the upper road and took a look—

Good grief, the game has only just begun, and Acorn has already been forced to AFK under the tower again.

"No way, bro, how am I supposed to help you catch anything if you keep playing like this?"

Taobaoquan is truly speechless. He hasn't even cleared two sets of jungle camps yet, and this Korean guy explodes at level one every game. How is he supposed to play like this?
Acorn's tone wasn't very friendly when he heard Taobao's words.

"He suddenly got to 2, what can I do?"

In Acorn's opinion, this was not his problem at all. Although he still couldn't figure out why the opponent was able to reach level 2 in one wave of minions, he was sure it was some kind of strategy.

How to guard against these tricks?
But to Taobao's ears, this was just an excuse.

He didn't know the specifics of the top lane situation, but in Taobaoquan's opinion, if you can't even calculate experience when playing top lane, what kind of top lane are you playing?
In fact, although no one ever talks about the hardships LGD has been going through lately, everyone knows what they've been suffering.

After Zhou Li was relegated to the bench and Acorn returned to the starting lineup in the second half of the Spring Split, LGD lost the fierce momentum they had at the beginning of the season.

Although they still maintain a top-tier level in the LPL, the pressure when facing strong teams and the number of times they occasionally slip up have obviously increased.

Everyone here is a top professional player. How could they not know who plays well and who doesn't?
People outside say that Acorn is not as good as Zhou Li, but that's just a joke. However, in the hearts of these LGD members, Acorn really is not as good as Zhou Li.

However, when Zhou Li was with LGD, apart from imp, everyone else had some issues with him.

So even though the grades have slipped a bit, it's still tolerable.

After all, both Taobao Quan and Wei Shen are people who value themselves more; having fun is the most important thing.

They never imagined that they would face being purged.

Even at this point, neither Taobao Quan nor Wei Shen were thinking about whether they had mistreated Zhou Li or whether they should have let Zhou Li start again.

Instead, they felt the club was too stupid. People like Zhou Li should have been kept out and banned indefinitely. Why did they sell him to IG?

How much can it sell for?

For such a small gain, LGD has made such a mess of things. The club is incredibly stupid!

Acorn stood under the tower, hesitated for a moment, thought about it, and then chose to recall and then teleport back to the lane.

Otherwise, if the lane is blocked by Irelia, there's a risk of being overtaken if you push the minion wave into the tower at level three.

From the commentary booth, seeing Nar return to base, Miller said:

"IG's jungler's gank on top laner Malphite was incredibly clever! Normally, Irelia would be pressured in the early game against Gnar, but Acorn's Teleport was forced out at level one!"

The doll looked at the mini-map and analyzed:
"But we see that Taobaoquan has made a change! It seems he's not planning to take the blue buff, and is going straight to the top lane to find Irelia! Zhou Li hasn't set up vision yet!"

Taobaoquan's goal is clear: he must help the top lane regain some advantage, or at least maintain a balance in the top lane.

It's not that I necessarily want to help Acorn, but given how badly Acorn is performing in the top lane, it's predictable that, with Kakao's personality on the other side, his own jungle won't be peaceful either.

"Taobaoquan's change of tactics was quite unexpected! Zhou Li obviously didn't realize that Rek'Sai was already flanking him, and Gnar, who has returned to the lane, has already reached level two. This is a dangerous situation!"

Zhou Li was indeed somewhat surprised when he saw Rex appear from behind.

He hadn't expected that after the lower half of Taobao's rights were opened, there would be two levels of enforcement.

This decision can be described as taking a huge risk; if it goes wrong, his jungling rhythm will collapse completely.

However, with the minion wave pushing forward, it's indeed a very easy position to gank.

However, Zhou Li was not particularly flustered.

"One against two, the advantage is mine!"

His eyes were fixed on the screen, and his mind immediately began to analyze the current situation.

Zhou Li is certain that Acorn has definitely learned the E skill at level two, and can only learn the E skill.

Only by learning E can you ensure that while pursuing an enemy, you won't be easily counter-killed.

Otherwise, Gnar, who lacks mobility, is very fragile and might not be able to withstand Irelia's attacks.

At this point, Rek'Sai had not yet been reworked.

This version of Rek'Sai is actually very strong, as her ultimate ability allows her to burrow underground across the entire map.

Since Rek'Sai's ultimate ability doesn't deal damage, the designers gave her basic abilities extremely high damage.

Once this hero reaches the mid-game, all he needs is a Black Cleaver and a Titanic Hydra to instantly kill a squishy champion.

If this wave of Rek'Sai is level three, then Zhou Li can only avoid its sharp edge.

But right now, Rex is only at level two.

Zhou Li also saw that Rek'Sai emerged from the hole in the back wall, which meant that Taobao Quan had learned the E skill.

If Taobao's approach is based on the "W" principle, then this situation will be quite difficult to handle.

Because Rek'Sai's Flash is unavoidable unless you predict it with Flash.

Even if Rek'Sai anticipates and uses Flash to dodge Rek'Sai's knock-up, Rek'Sai can still catch up and knock him up in this close-quarters combat.

Once you get controlled, it's easy to get pulled into the opponent's rhythm and eventually be dragged down to your death.

It's obvious that Taobaoquan's gank was a spur-of-the-moment decision made after he crushed Acorn at level one. Otherwise, if Taobaoquan had intended to gank at level two from the start, he would definitely have used W.

With this in mind, Zhou Li became even less flustered.

Because situations where the jungler is forced to gank by the laner can be incredibly frustrating if something goes wrong.

Moreover, Taobao Quan must also know that if he tries to pick a baby's first birthday gift without learning from W, he won't be able to kill the baby.

The main purpose of this gank was to disrupt Zhou Li's state and annoy him, while also relieving some pressure on the top lane so that Gnar could regain lane control. In this way, it was equivalent to indirectly protecting their own jungle.

After all, their mid laner doesn't have lane priority, and if even the top laner doesn't have lane priority, then their jungler really can't play.

From the commentary booth, looking at Rek'Sai's position, Miller began:

"Taobaoquan, this time he chose to gank top with two levels! But he didn't learn W! In this situation, it's unlikely that he can catch Irelia! But Irelia is probably going to get a lot of damage this time."

The doll nodded and analyzed:
"Taobaoquan's purpose in this move was probably to help Gnar improve Irelia's condition, otherwise Acorn's laning phase would be very uncomfortable." In the live stream, Irelia was being pulled towards the bush.

Meanwhile, Rek'Sai and Gnar rapidly approached Irelia.

Miller watched the Irelia's movements and asked suspiciously:

"I feel like Irelia not only doesn't want to leave, but she seems to be planning a counter-attack from this position!"

When Miller uttered the last two words, his voice rose an octave almost instantly!

Because at this moment, the Irelia had already used Blade Strike, and rushed out like an arrow released from a bow!
However, Irelia didn't just want to use the low-health minions to create distance. After killing the first low-health melee minion with her Q, Irelia drew a beautiful arc in the air and headed straight for the low-health ranged minion in the back row!
At the same moment, Irelia reached level three!

Meanwhile, Gnar, who had been pressing forward, was now directly confronted by Irelia!

Seeing Irelia teleport in front of him, Acorn finally calmed down this time and didn't instinctively use his E skill to create distance.

Zhou Li clearly didn't intend to use his E skill directly. He just chased after Gnar and auto-attacked him twice before retreating using the minion wave again!

Taobao Quan saw that Irelia was right in front of him. He pressed his Q skill to make a move, but he only managed to hit Irelia once before she used the minion wave to pull away again!

"Wow! Zhou Li seems a bit hesitant facing Taobao Quan's gank, he's not afraid at all! Indeed, LGD's top and jungle are only level two, they can't pose much of a threat to him!"

Seeing how smoothly the Irelia could escape, Taobao Quan cursed under his breath and started trying to help Gnar push the lane.

He absolutely had to help Gnar push this wave of minions, otherwise if he showed up in the top lane and still didn't have lane control, his jungle would definitely fall apart.

But just as the two were about to change their minds and push the lane, the Irelia, who had already created some distance, turned back after seeing the low-health minions and directly Q'd the Rek'Sai in the face!

"Hey! Zhou Li! What are you doing?! You're being a bit too arrogant! Rek'Sai has a red buff!"

Seeing that the Irelia dared to return to his face, Taobao Quan was furious and immediately activated his E skill to chase and bite the Irelia.

As for Irelia, it was as if she had just accidentally pressed Q out of curiosity, and she turned and ran away.

With the red buff in hand and Gnar's Q skill, Rex has nowhere to run.
"No way! Zhou Li overdid it this time, it feels like he's just throwing himself into the fire! He's going to get flashed away! Otherwise he won't be able to escape—he's charged back!"

Zhou Li looked at his health bar, showing no sign of panic.

Rek'Sai's Q ability only lasts for 2.5 seconds, or three basic attacks.

It has now been added to the CD.

Rek'Sai's burst damage also relies on those three basic attacks while her Q skill is active.

Without Q, the damage from both of them doesn't seem to hurt Irelia as much.

Zhou Li countered with another Q on the low-health minion, rushed in front of Gnar, and simultaneously used Balanced Attack to lock Gnar in place. He then activated his flying stance and unleashed a barrage of attacks on Gnar!
Rek'Sai had no choice but to turn around and chase. Acorn couldn't take the hits from Irelia anymore, so he had no choice but to use his E skill to jump away.

This time, Irelia didn't relentlessly pursue Rek'Sai. When Rek'Sai got close, she once again used her Q skill to retreat.

"Oh!!"

A gasp of surprise erupted from the crowd!

Miller's expression was strange as he watched the scene unfold on the road.

"To be honest, Zhou Li's game was a bit too over-the-top! Even though it was 1v2, it felt like he didn't take Taobao Quan and Acorn seriously at all!"

The doll began to analyze:

"But it feels like you're not gaining anything by playing like this. Irelia's health was relatively healthy to begin with, but now it's less than half. It's completely unnecessary. If LGD wants to push the lane, they could just retreat to the tower to farm. This is a high-risk, zero-reward move!"

Miller shook his head upon hearing the doll's words.

"I think it's still profitable. Look at Lee Sin's current position."

After Miller reminded him, Wawa realized that Kakao had already entered LGD's jungle and started attacking Taobaoquan's blue buff.

"Kakao...did he just go and invade the enemy jungle?! Yeah, Taobaoquan wasted too much time in the top lane this time! But I feel that since the top lane was already in such a state, wouldn't it have been better for Kakao to just come and gank the top lane?"

Miller thought for a moment and said, "I feel like IG deliberately designed this play. Kakao could have ganked top, but Rek'Sai and Gnar both have Flash, and Irelia isn't in great shape, so she's not easy to gank. But Kakao's decision to invade the enemy jungle is a pure gain!"

The doll has a strange expression:
"You mean Zhou Li deliberately stalled for time in the top lane so that Kakao could enter the enemy jungle?"

"I think so. It's a case of giving a peach in return for a plum. You, Kakao, help me start with the Krugs, and I'll hold off two enemy players so you can invade my jungle. It makes perfect sense!"

Miller's tone was half-joking, but he was actually right.

However, Zhou Li's idea was not to repay kindness with kindness.

He simply wanted to annoy Taobao's rights.

Taobao knew it couldn't completely destroy him, yet it still launched a two-level crackdown. Why?
He didn't believe that Taobao could be so kind as to immediately come to help after seeing the top laner get hit by a teleport.

Zhou Li, who used to play jungle, knows that when all three lanes lack lane priority, what junglers fear most is being invaded by the enemy jungler, especially when the enemy jungler is extremely aggressive.

In this situation, the best way to break the deadlock is to first help one lane gank to open up the game, allowing the laner who is about to farm the half of the jungle to gain lane control, so that they can then help protect their own jungle.

Therefore, Taobaoquan's purpose in coming up here is only one thing: to improve his own condition and at the same time forcefully push the minion wave out for Gnar.

As for Zhou Li, the more you want to do something, the less he wants you to do it.

You want to push the lane to protect your own jungle, right?

I'm not going to push it for you.

They even repeatedly create opportunities for Taobao to seemingly uncover something.

The goal is to cripple Taobao's control during its operation.

Meanwhile, Taobao Quan, watching Dao Mei's frequent taunts, finally belatedly realized something.

He quickly pointed to his jungle area and asked Wei Shen for help:
"GodWei, check the jungle for me, the Lee Sin is probably in my jungle!"

Meanwhile, the Irelia stood online and started dancing in an extremely arrogant manner.

In fact, Zhou Li also had some troubles.

Irelia is too passive as a champion.

Without equipment in the early game, damage and chasing ability are insufficient.

If it were a more aggressive hero, he would have killed both of these useless guys long ago.

Fortunately, he has the ability to be a mercenary, which can be used to unlock the hero pool as a substitute.

After this match, he decided to play it safe and wait for the right moment to make a big splash.

What Zhou Li didn't know was that he, who was once dubbed the "worst Korean player" and the "most irresponsible Korean player," had now been given a new nickname by netizens due to his sudden change in style and these risky moves.

"The most flamboyant Korean player."

(End of this chapter)