The Diversion in Mid

[So, I'm really doing this, huh.] Kai stepped way lot deeper than a Sorcerer should. From this position, she could shoot a Magia Orb all the way to the enemy tower.

[I still dunno how to feel about this idea, honestly.] There was a swirl of emotions inside her. She was annoyed by the fact she was reduced to mere bait, but also excited to finally get an opportunity to properly fight in this passive game. On top of that, there was also the anxiety of whether she'd actually be able to win her duel.

[Yuel always comes up with pretty messed up stuff, but this one takes the cake.] Kai smiled wryly. [Who in their right mind asks a Sorcerer to overextend in order to bait a Lion? That's like the last thing any sane Sorcerer would want to do.]

The whole premise of the class was that it could stay far away from its opponents thanks to its amazing reach. Kai only had to advance to the middle of the lane in order to be able to reach the enemy tower area with Repelling Force. That's how absurd of a powerhouse Sorcerer was when it came to long-range combat.

So, for a class that specialized in super long-range combat and didn't have any escape tools, trying to bait a dangerous Jungler like Lionfolk was unthinkable. This was a recipe for disaster, no two ways about it.

[But, because it's so out there, there's a good chance even the Leopards won't see it coming.] Kai thought. [I feel like most of Yuel's tactics rely on these types of mind games. And, even though I know that it's still kinda of unsettling.]

No matter how much time passed, it was never easy to follow such orders due to how absurd they sounded. To make things worse, Yuel's attempts to explain his plans were usually lackluster at best. No matter what plan he tried to explain, it always felt like he made a logical leap or twenty in order to arrive at the conclusion.

And yet, it was undeniable that Yuel's schemes were almost always on point. His plans weren't perfect by any means, but they worked most of the time.

[I feel like, before the Taurus scrim, Yuel held back with these crazy ideas, but not anymore.] Kai thought. [He seemed to appreciate safety a lot more back then, but now half of his ideas throw caution to the wind. That's a 180 if I ever saw one.]

The Taurus scrimmage proved that taking risks was necessary every now and then. It was impossible to win every game by playing safe.

That realization must've flipped a switch of some sort in Yuel's head. Ever since then, he had been incorporating more and more "bizarre" shot-calls into their training sessions. It's like he was trying to make the team get used to executing absurd plays on demand.

[It's actually kind of crazy how I just agreed to this play without even arguing much.] Kai realized. [I mean, baiting Lion with Sorcerer? Pft, the easiest thing ever! It's not even the most absurd plan we've pulled this month.]

And so, despite having some mixed feelings about the contents of the plan and their implications, Kai found herself somewhat nonchalant about the absurdity of the plan itself.

[Besides, being this bold feels good for a change.] Kai confidently strode across the lane. [Theorist is such a defense fanatic that she immediately retreated to the tower, so it's almost like I kicked her out of the lane. So, get rekt scrub, this lane is mine now!]

After the long and boring stalemate, it now felt like Kai had finally seized some real lane control. It felt refreshing.

But, there was no time to celebrate this rare occasion. The enemy was surely already preparing a response to Kai's bold overextension. It was just a matter of time before the Lionfolk showed up.

"Their Mid is overextending," Sonya informed.

"Yes, so it seems," William said. "Any idea why?"

"I couldn't say," Sonya admitted. "Maybe it's because the Warlock is really rotating over here? But, even then, this still seems too careless to me."

"It's either bait," Cato said. "Or, a very risky attempt to seize lane control by force. My, my, how interesting~"

"I'm glad you're enjoying the suspense from the backseat, but I need to decide how I deal with this," Sonya said. "My tower will lose a lot of HP if I hug the tower here."

"Yes, that would be quite the problem, wouldn't it?"

Out of all Mid classes, Aeromancer was one of the worst when it came to hugging the tower due to its lack of burst damage. Its main farming tool, Whirlwind, was great for clearing stationary minions in the center of the lane, but the spell was terrible against moving targets.

As such, if Sonya chooses to play it safe and hug the tower from the get-go against the enemy's bold advance, she'll first have to wait for the enemy minions to walk all the way to her tower. Only then the minions will come to a standstill and become good targets for Whirlwind.

However, that was still bad. It'll take Whirlwind multiple ticks to eliminate all the threats, and in the meantime, the enemies will mercilessly assault Sonay's tower. It was a terrible trade even for somebody who was used to accepting suboptimal trades.

[My, what a delightfully simple yet tricky puzzle~] Cato smiled but also frowned at the same time. [So, you're challenging me to solve this, aren't you, Yuel? Hmm. Tricky, tricky indeed.]

There were a few ways to solve this puzzle but which was the correct one? That strongly depended on what the enemy was trying to achieve here in the first place.

"It looks like a free gank opportunity to me," William said.

"Yes, it is," Cato agreed. "But, that in itself might be the bait."

"Even if it somehow is, what can they actually accomplish?"

"A counter-gank, perhaps? Speaking of which, where is Vanishing at the moment?"

"Aren't you supposed to know that?" Sonya asked. "You're the one who insisted to help keep track of her, remember?"

"I do, I do," Cato said. "But, I'm like a greenhorn here, you know? I wasn't paying as much attention to her until now, so it'll take me some time to get used to dividing my attention between her and other topics."

"I have no idea what's so difficult about it," Sonya said. "Anyway, I've last seen her in Top Jungle, but it was a while ago. I was just about to report that she might have rotated to Bot Jungle by now."

"I have to say, all these unknowns are bad for my heart. We don't know if Chess is rotating to Mid and we don't know where Vanishing is. How am I supposed to establish good defense like this?" Cato shook his head. "I wish we at least had a hint or something."

Just then, as if answering his prayers, a hint presented itself. For the first time in a while, a ward revealed Vanishing's position.

It was a brief glimpse that only caught the Ninja's leg on camera, but that much was enough to figure out her intentions.

"My, my, my, so that's how it is." Cato smiled impishly. "Matt, Vanishing is deep in Bot Jungle and she seems to be heading in your direction. You know what to do, right?"

"Yeah, retreating." Matthew backed away immediately.

"I think I'm starting to see the bigger picture now," Cato said. "They're trying to distract us in Mid with that blatant overextension, but they're actually planning to sneakily gank Bot."

[Is that why Yuel worked so hard to boot me out of the lane?] Cato wondered. [Has he been planning this all along?]

"If it's just a diversion, then it's a very risky one," Sonya commented.

"Yes, it sure is," Cato agreed. "But, I wouldn't put it past Yuel- I mean, past their shot-caller. He likes bold strategies that boggle the mind, so this is just one example of such."

"Hmm." Sonya pushed her glasses. "It's a little odd, though,"

"What is?"

"The ward that spotted her has been around for a while now," Sonya explained. "I'm not 100% sure about it, but I think it even spotted her once before."

"Hmm, I do vaguely remember seeing her in Bot Jungle a couple of minutes ago, so it might've been this ward," Cato said. "But, what's wrong with that? It just means the ward is doing its job."

"Yes, I suppose that's all it means," Sonya agreed. [I'm probably overthinking it.]

Vanishing had been doing a decent job studying the Leopards' warding positions and slipping past them, but nobody was perfect. So, even though she might've been aware of the general area of this particular ward, she couldn't tell with 100% certainty where [exactly] the ward was located.

As such, it wasn't too odd that the ward managed to catch a glimpse of her leg. In fact, it was rather impressive that Vanishing almost slipped past the ward and just barely got caught. Sonya had to give credit where it was due.

"So, in conclusion," Cato summarized. "The overextension in Mid is just a bold play to draw our attention away from what's happening in Bot. We can choose to ignore it, or we can try to capitalize on it."

"Obviously, we'll capitalize on it, right?" William asked the question in a tone that made it clear he wouldn't take "no" for an answer. "I'm almost there already, so I'll be ready to gank Beat in a few seconds."

"My, you're fast to act as always." Cato smiled wryly. [I see he already decided to rotate over there before we even finished discussing the situation. As always, when he's allowed to act independently, his responses are fast. ]

Other team members would've waisted until Cato and Sonya finished their analysis, but not William. For better and for worse, this guy always did what [he] believed was best. Though he generally listened to Cato's inputs, he didn't feel obligated to act according to them.

[Sometimes it's a real pain.] Cato admitted. [But, in situations like this, the lone wolf attitude comes in handy. We might've missed this nice gank opportunity if Will didn't act as soon as he did.]

This ability to act upon his own ideas while disregarding everything else was one of William's biggest strengths. He formed his conclusions quickly and efficiently, then he went straight for the action.

What's most impressive was how rarely William committed errors while playing in such a self-centered manner. His decision-making was definitely top-notch when it concerned himself.

[That's why I trust his judgment.] Cato thought. [The only times I've seen his independent action backfire in a big way was against pros who specifically baited him. But, our opponents aren't pros, so there's no reason to worry.]

However, the fact Cato was thinking so much about the topic showed that he WAS a bit concerned. After all, William was like a hungry beast right now.

[The poor lion is starving~] Cato thought. [He hasn't gotten any kills the entire game, so of course he'd jump at the first opportunity that presents itself. I just hope we're not missing anything here and this is really the right play...]

Was Beat's bold overextension in Mid really nothing more than a simple diversion? Making a Sorcerer advance so far along the lane was a surefire recipe for disaster.

Because of that, this play definitely reeked of something Yuel would come up with. However, no matter how absurd some of his decisions were, he surely was no stranger to the concept of risk vs. reward.

No matter how much he liked going for risky plays, he still had to consider how the reward measured up to the risk. And, in this particular play, the risk felt much bigger than the potential reward.

[Sure, it'll be huge for them if they can kill Matt.] Cato agreed with that much. [But, Yuel could've picked so many easier ways to divert our attention from that scheme. Is a dangerous overextension in Mid really required? Am I really not missing something here?]

If this were a chess match, then Cato could've taken his time to mull over this odd position. Alas, this was a real-time game, so the pieces on the board continued moving while Cato was still in the process of analyzing the situation.

Unfortunately, before he was done double-checking himself, William had already reached Mid. Now, a single wall separated the hungry lion from his delicious meal. At long last, William was going to score the kill he needed to satiate his hunger!