Decrypting the Madman's Ploy

The situation in Mid wasn't looking good for the Leopards. Even though William came close to drawing First Blood, the Warlock's ult robbed him of that opportunity. Or at least, it put the kill on an indefinite hiatus.

"I can still get the kill," William stated before anybody could tell him to retreat.

"My, so stubborn," Cato said. "Well, I suppose given your HP advantage, you can still shoot for it."

"I sure can, and I will," William asserted.

"Keep in mind that you're dangerously close to a 1v2 situation there."

"It'll be a temporary 1v2 at best. Sonya is here too."

"True, true." Cato could only nod in response.

At first glance, it might have seemed as if the two enemies were about to gang up on poor William in the darkness and draw blood. But in practice, his situation wasn't that bad.

For one, The King's Dominion served as a barricade for keeping Chessmaster out. Its primary function was to stop prey from escaping outside, but right now, it served as a wall that denied entry to outsiders.

As such, it'll take Chessmaster a while to break into the prison. And, by the time he does, his HP will be just as low as his companion's.

Therefore, there was still a decent chance that William will be able to turn the tables on the enemy here, especially with Sonya's help. In fact, if the enemy continues pressing this offense, then they might be setting themselves up for a Double Kill.

[My, Yuel sure crafted one heck of a convoluted script.] Cato thought. [To think that he'd dare to rotate to Mid without any MP, and then pay so much HP just to cast his ult. Truly, only a madman like him would come up with a ploy like this~]

It was bordering on absurdity. This plan could backfire in so many different ways and there was no guarantee that anything good would come out of it. And yet, Yuel went for this risky play regardless.

[Good, good.] Cato found himself grinning. After all, how could he not? It felt like he finally got the opportunity to play an intellectual game against the "real Yuel", not the half-assed faker who faced him back during their chess match.

[Yes, yes! This is more like it! Kekeke!] Cato couldn't stop himself from cackling like a gremlin. [Yes, use more of these weird, unorthodox tactics. Take all these nonsensical risks and try to make them pay off. This is how you always play when you're serious, right? This is how you beat Fiona, after all.]

The sheer amount of madness behind Yuel's current script was proof of how seriously he was taking this match. This was very different from Yuel's attitude during the chess match with Cato two years ago.

[You didn't even try back then.] Cato criticized. [You weren't serious, I could tell. So, even though I beat you, it didn't feel as satisfying as it should have been. On that day, I didn't REALLY get to crush the same guy who beat Fiona.]

Back then, destroying Yuel in chess was supposed to be equivalent to defeating Fiona herself. The guy stole the regional champion title from the Landberht Princess, so defeating him was supposed to be a big deal.

And yet, after Cato's euphoria of victory subsided, he felt empty. It wasn't right. He didn't feel like he truly defeated the same man who triumphed over Fiona.

[I remember I was thrilled about the fact I crushed Yuel... for about an hour or so.] Cato recalled. [Then, I got to play Fiona in the finals. Brrr.]

The mere recollection of that match was enough to give him the shivers. It was a pure slaughter. It's like Fiona was trying to make it perfectly clear, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Cato stood absolutely no chance against her, not even close.

[Brrr. Let's not think about it right now.] Cato shook his head. [I need to focus on the situation.]

Things were moving forward while Cato was reminiscing about all these irrelevant things. The situation in Mid turned into a delicate board position, one that Yuel must've meticulously prepared. It was like a check against Cato, so he had to respond accordingly.

[So, was my previous conclusion wrong about them wanting to gank Matt?] Cato wondered. [Did Beat overextend in order to lure Will? Or, was Yuel planning to gank the lane anyway and things just turned out well for him? It could be that this counter-gank against Will wasn't even part of his original plan.]

It was impossible to tell anything for sure yet, but it felt like the answers to these questions would shed a lot of light on whether Yuel had anything more planned for this situation. Because, if this was the full extent of his plan, then it wasn't a very impressive one.

Sure, this counter-gank came as a surprise but it wasn't a decisive counter at all one. The Warlock's ult was stopping William in his tracks for now, but it didn't change the fact that William had a large HP lead over his opponent.

[Perhaps his entire plan was hanging on the triple resonance?][That would've turned the situation around for sure.]

Willaim would have lost about 90% of his HP from a triple resonance attack, but instead, he got away with losing only 40%. Needless to say, there was a huge difference between continuing this fight with 10% HP or with 60% HP.

[Either way, it's a super unreliable plan if getting the triple resonance was a must.] Cato criticized. [But, I wouldn't put it past Yuel to push for a high-risk high-reward play like this, that's more or less how he took out Fiona, after all.]

Cato had to read even deeper into Yuel's intents to understand what that guy was really scheming. Was this really the full extent of the plan? Or, was there yet another surprise that Yuel was going to pull out of his magician hat?

[I already drew the wrong conclusion the first time I analyzed Beat's overextension, so I rather not make any hasty conclusions.] Cato thought. [With that said, I suspect that figuring out what's on this lunatic's mind is beyond me.]

After all, Cato and Yuel were as incompatible as they could get. Their minds were wired in opposite ways when it came to playstyle and strategy.

[I'll just have to take the situation at face value.] Cato had no choice. [So, let's see. Will is at 60% HP, locked inside the darkness, and he has no Stealth Wards because he's a rascal who doesn't listen to advice.]

Though Lionfolk was immune to all forms of CC while inside his dominion, he still couldn't see his enemies inside the darkness of Eldritch Nightmare. That's because the darkness didn't try to blind William directly but instead granted pseudo-stealth to the enemies.

This made anti-stealth tools the best for countering Eldritch Nightmare. And, Stealth Wards were available to everybody from the shop.

[But, Will didn't buy any.] Cato sighed. [I even advised everybody to do it, too. But, of course, he refused. But, it's understandable.]

Though Stealth Wards were an effective counter, they were also a costly investment. Not to mention, William thought of himself as "lagging behind" due to his lack of kills, so he didn't want to compromise his build any further. He even started buying less regular wards, that rascal.

[But, good thing that Sonya is such an obedient soldier~] Cato smiled in delight. "Sonya, do you mind granting some vision to our rebel friend?"

"Yeah, on it." Sonya was already halfway to the scene. She had been cautiously approaching it the entire time, careful to not overextend in case the enemy was planning to hit her from behind. Indeed, she was as cautious as ever even though there was probably no need to be on guard in a favorable situation like this.

[Or, is there?] Cato stopped to think. [Why do I feel like I'm forgetting something? Something that has to do with how my previous conclusion about Yuel's plans was wrong...]

It's like the answer was at the tip of his tongue but he couldn't draw it out. There were just so many things to think about right now that he couldn't keep track of everything.

Anyway, the solution to the current predicament was rather simple. Sonya merely had to get close to the scene and place a Stealth Ward. That'll grant William vision once more, which will allow him to finish off Beat, and maybe even kill Chess as a bonus.

[I can't see Yuel's current HP in that darkness but I bet he's below 50% by now.] Cato speculated. [That ult is quite draining when you don't have MP.]

Though Warlock's passive allowed him to spend his HP as a replacement for MP when casting skills, the HP-to-MP conversion rate was rather brutal. In theory, Life Tap was an interesting utility that opened doors to some unusual plays like this, but in practice, it was almost impossible to put it to good use due to how self-destructive it was.

[So, in the end, instead of killing Will here, Yuel might give us a double kill. My, what a nice fellow~]

With that said, without realizing it at the time, there was definitely one thing Cato missed about this board position. It was the very thing that nagged him earlier, the reason he drew the wrong conclusion regarding Yuel's plans in the first place.

His original theory was that Beat overextended in Mid in order to draw the Leopards' attention away from Vanishing. And, according to what the ward revealed, the sneaky phantom was on her way to gank Bot.

But, after considering the recent turn of events, was there still any truth to that conclusion at all? Was ganking Bot really in the plans here? And, if not, what was Vanishing up to at this moment...?