After Taurus destroyed the Mid Turret, they retreated and haven’t made any big moves for a while.

  They must’ve been waiting fonMaster and StormMoo respawn before dug any big attacks. That actually pyed in Stratus’s favor, si gave Vi and Kai time to respawn as well.

  Before long, the board state will return to its natural state of a 5v5. But, just because each side will all five soldiers avaible, it didn’t mean they’ll spread across the nes like in the early-game.

  This was mid-game, the phase of team fights. Instead of maintaining a meta formation across nes, pyers stuck together to fight as a team.

  Any form of solo duct became much rarer and was usually frowned upon. Teammates prioritized traveling together in duos and trios, and sometimes they even all gathered in one area.

  That’s the kind of chaotic game board I’m dealing with. Yuel thought. Regardless, I have to find a winning strategy on it.

  Stratus was at a grim disadvantage in Mid, but the rest of the pying field was mostly even. Taurus held an advantage in Top in terms of tower damage, but Stratus held a simir advantage in Bot. It was still anybody’s game at this point, but the opening in Mid was like a gaping hole ieam’s defenses.

  I’d like to unch a preemptive attack to deflect attention from Mid, but... Yuel knotted his brows. It’s no good. We’re in no position to strike first. I’ll probably have to give the ehe first turn.

  “What’s up?” Lars asked. “We ain’t attag?”

  “Let’s wait and see what they do first,” Yuel said.

  “Wait, didn’t ya just say we o attack more? We should go all in, like BOOM and BAM and smack these dudes!”

  “Yes, I said we o get mgressive, but we ’t overdo it. No matter how you look at it, ung a preemptive attack from a 4v5 position is risky.”

  “Yeah, I guess that’s fair.”

  Kai was the st pyer to die, so she was the st oo revive as well. As a result, the enemy finished assembling their team first. It was a 4v5 situation, so ung an attack here would be beyond reckless.

  There was no choice but to wait for the eo make the first move. No matter what the enemy attempts, Kai will be up and running by the time their attack reaches Stratus’s territory. Stratus should be able to defleything that es.

  As expected, the enemy trated their main forid Lahe infamous triangle ade, StormMonster, and Lapce opened an aggressive push.

  “Here they e!” Vi made he Bermuda Triangle of Certain Doom! we withstand its unstoppable force!?”

  “Calm down, man.” Luke cracked a nervous ugh. “Don’t say ominous stuff like ‘Certain Doom’. Ya gonna jinx us all. These guys are ez. We got this!”

  “Yeah, no problem,” Lars tuned in.

  “Indeed,” Vi agreed. “With the Golden Duo on our side, there is no telling what fate awaits us all. We might even trample over the uable triangle of misfortune!”

  “Yeah, now you’re talking!” Luke pumped a fist. “Let’s wreck them scrubs!”

  “Let’s go, yoooo!” Lars also pumped a fist.

  The three goofs made a lot of noise, but it was reassuring somehow. It ied everybody with a mueeded dose of fighting spirit. Yuel usually disliked it when these goofs baogether to make noise, but right now he was thankful for their loud positivity.

  During difficult times, maintaining high morale was of utmost importance. Yuel wasn’t very good at motivating his teammates, so it was great he had three loud goofs to cover up for him.

  While the trio was getting everybody pumped up for battle, Yuel also had to tribute in the best way he knew.

  We know where their triangle is going to push, but where are the other two? Yuel carefully examihe mini-map.

  So far, there were no signs of Nirvana and DragonMaster. Perhaps they were farming one of the jungle camps before heading to any of the nes.

  Are they pnning to attack Bot or Top? Yuel couldn’t tell. They might even join the offense in Mid for all we know.

  In fact, a trated five-man push on Mid seemed extremely likely, given how things turned out i two games. A fierce push on Mid led to Stratus’s defeat twi a row, but not this game.

  It’s okay, foid, by all means. This time, I’m ready for you. Yuel has already e up with multiple ter ideas against a five-man push on Mid. Stratus will no longer sit uower and stall 24/7. This time, if Taurus attempts a five-man push on Mid, Stratus will unch a ter-attack!

  Taurus hasn’t gained nearly as much early-game advantage as in previous games, so Stratus had every reason to strike back against a risky push. But, unfortunately, the enemy seemed to uand the risks as well.

  “Zeph, let’s push Top,” Raymond ordered after they finished clearing the Wraith Camp.

  “Wait, we’re not joining the juniors in Mid?” Zeph cocked his head.

  “No, we don’t.”

  “Why not? We got things rolling in Mid. These scrubs now gonna stand there and defend all day long, just like the st two games. It’s the perfect ce to crush ‘em ahis shit.”

  “We don’t have as much advantage as we had in those games,” Raymond expined. “We took their Mid Turret, but that’s about it. In terms of kills, we’re currently even at 2:2. We also don’t have an advantage in terms of numbers right now, so fog all our forces on one ne will do us little good.”

  “Yeah, makes sense.” Zeph nodded. “Alrighty, then Top it is. I’ve already wrecked that tower pretty bad, so it gonna be ez to take it down. Also, I bet these scrubs gonna be scared shitless by that push in Mid, so they gonna focus all their defehere. We might even take Top without aance. Easiest shit ever.”

  “Perhaps.” I wouldn’t t on it, personally. Raymond thought. It was more than likely the enemy will dispatebody to defend Top. Therefore, Raymond and Zeph had to unch their attack swiftly and give their enemies no time to react.

  So, they’re going for Top. Yuel deduced. One of his wards spotted Nirvana traversing through Top Jungle. Sihis was the mid-game, it was uhe captain would travel alone, sonMaster was surely right behind him.

  These wards are already putting in work. That’s good. Yuel nodded in satisfa at a job well done.

  During the short downtime, before the enemy’s push on Mid began, Yuel traveled all over the map and pced as mary Wards as humanly possible. It cost him a pretty penny and deyed his build, but it was aremely important iment.

  With Kai and Luke both gging behind on gold, the team was missing wards in many spots. Having blind spots was fatal during the more critical moments of the match, so Yuel had to cover up for it all by himself.

  All in all, it was a good iment. Yuel thought. Thanks to his extra effort, the team spotted the enemy’s rotation as soon as it started. That gave Stratus more than enough time to respond.

  Who should I dispatch to defend? Yuel pohe enemy was ing after Top Turret with two attackers, Berserker and Aeroamer. Was it possible to deflect both attackers with a single defender?

  Unfortunately, it wasn’t doable. Stratus didn’t have a css that could single-handedly defend against this mixed aggression.

  Berserker had an oppressive offense, especially when he booted Berserk mode. And, Aeromancer had good tools for supplementing that overwhelming offense, especially with fast wave-clearing and CC.

  One defender won’t cut it against this duo. Yuel had to dispatch at least two people to Top.

  Who should I pick? Yuel knotted his brows. They have to be able to test Nirvana’s clearing speed, as well as survive DragonMaster’s offense.

  Oftehe only one who could challenge a mage’s clearing speed during the mid-game was a fellow mage. This game was no exception, so Kai will have to head to Top.

  As for tering Berserk, the team had access to only o terrifying enough to scare away a Berserker. It was the Viking’s Unstoppable Raid.

  “Vi, Kai,” Yuel decided. “ you please defend Top? You’re the best match against these attackers.”

  “I’m on the case, sir!” Vi saluted.

  “Sure,” Kai replied indifferently.

  Kai still looks down. Yuel thought.

  Ever sihe previous game, Kai hasn’t been her usual self. She hasn’t beeing her usual fighting spirit, not eve. For a pyer who often got drunk on aggression, this felt extremely unnatural. It was no surprise her performance felt so ckluster this game.

  Lars, Vi, and even Luke all tried to cheer her up every now and then, to no avail. It’s as if Kai was drowning ihe mud and nobody could pull her out. And, naturally, if the others couldn’t aplish it, then Yuel had no ce either.

  Will they be alright in Top? Yuel gulped. Maybe entrusting Kai with this important task was a bad idea.

  But, what other choice was there? Sorcerer was their only css that could test a mid-game Aeromahere were no viable alternative solutions here.

  I’ll just have to trust Kai on this one. Yuel cluded. It’s not like she’s pying THAT bad.

  Even with her spirits dampened, Kai was still trying her best. She underperformed for sure, but she wasn’t throwing the game by any means.

  Her responses were slower than usual and she was overly passive, but otherwise, she still tributed as much as she could. So, at least on defense, she should be able to get the job done. Hopefully.

  Unfortunately, I don’t have the spare time to worry about this. Yuel thought. The enemy’s infamous triangle has already arrived in Mid.

  Renegade, StormMonster, and Lapce. They were det pyers separately, but together they turned into an unstoppable force. Yuel, Lars, and Luke will have to do their best to stop this for its tracks. It won’t be easy.

  “Alrighty!” Nash grinned as he charged in. “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s gooooooooo!”

  “Right behind you.” Jaiden followed up.

  “Don’t do anything reckless,” Rio warned as he ran by Jaiden’s side. “Remember, Gunz is here.”

  “Heh.” Nash lifted his . “I eat scrubs like him for breakfast!”

  “Sounds like your breakfasts are very tough,” Rio said.

  “Nah, they go down real easy! Haha.”

  “It’s okay, Rio,” Jaiden reassured. “It’s true that Gunz is dangerous, but he’s just one guy. He ’t deal with all of us at once.”

  “But, he might pie of us off if we overextend,” Riued.

  “Yeah, that’s true. But, no problem. I’ll be keeping tabs on him, so you go wild, Nash. If Gus close, I’ll help you out.”

  “ting on ya, fam.”

  And so, their triangle formation for pushing was set. Nash was on the front, with Jaiden and Rio following him from the sides. It was a triahat looked like the tip of an arrow, pointing straight at their destination - the Mid Golem.

  Nash’s build prioritized power during the early-game, but he gradually ied more defeo it, turning it into a banced build. This was an iional curve that allowed him to go wild during the early-game and also serve as the Triangle’s frontline during the mid-game.

  Unfortunately, Nash’s tankiness wasn’t quite ready yet. His death earlier held him ba terms of gold, so he didn’t finish building all the items he wanted in time.

  But, we gotta strike while the iron is hot! Nash believed. I’mma be the frontline, even if it means these dudes might focus me. Jai and Rio will cover for me if that happens, so no worries there.

  With that said, there was a lot of uainty regarding how the enemy will deal with this situation. They had three defenders: Knight, Gunslinger, and Aqumancer. In other words, a bruiser, a marksman, and a support mage.

  These were the same exact roles the Triangle had. In other words, as far as lineups were ed, the enemy had all the right tools for testing the Triangle, even outside the Golem’s area. But, will they, though?

  “Say, Rio,” Jaiden started. “Do you think they’ll fight us outside the Golem area?”

  “Hard to say. It depends on how much they value their farm.”

  As the defenders, why would the enemy ever sider fighting outside the Golem’s range? Simple, because they didn’t want to lose on any farm.

  Sitting uhe Golem meant allowing minions to invade, which will result in a reduced gold gain. The defenders were already put in a position in which they’ll have to split the earnings of a single wave among three people, so they wouldn’t want that bined sary to be cut down any further.

  As sually, the enemy would like to test the minion wave outside the Golem area. And, to achieve that, they’d have to initiate a team fight against the Invincible Triaside the Golem’s range.

  “If they fight us outside, let’s focus Gunz,” Jaiden suggested. “If we take him down, it’ll be smooth sailing from there.”

  “My body is ready.” Nash grinned. He already imagined himself jumping into the fray and wreg Gunz. , don’t wuss on us, bro. e fight us fair and square! We gonna whoop ya!

  But, the enemy strategist had his own pns.

  “Let’s stay at the Golem,” Yuel suggested.

  “Wait, what? Why?” Lars pined. “They got three dudes a three dudes. Let’s rock ‘em!”

  “Is it because of that Bermuda Triahingy?” Luke asked.

  “Yes, basically.” Yuel felt a lump in his throat as he agreed with that accursed terminology, but it was easier to speak in Vi’s lingo to get the point across to those two. For some ungodly reason, Vi’s bombastiaming sense was effective at swaying Lars and Luke, so Yuel used it to his advantage.

  “This Triangle is very strong,” Yuel said. “It’s one of these cases when the sum is bigger than its parts. Individually, those three are just ‘alright’ pyers, so we test them. But, together, they’re dangerous. They must have a lot of experience pying together.”

  “Okay, sure, I get that,” Lars said. “But, then what’s the big pn? Don’t tell me we gonna sit under Golem like turtles. I thought you agreed we gotta start attag? We ain’t gonna win by sitting here doing nothing.”

  “Don’t worry, we’ll attack,” Yuel reassured. “But, we won’t attack the Triangle.”

  “Say what? Then, who we gonna attack?”

  “Not ‘we’. You will. Yoing to attack their Bot Turret.”

  “You wao split-push?”

  “Yes, that’s the best ao this situation,” Yuel expined his reasoning.

  The erio, the so-called “Bermuda Triangle of Certain Doom”, was a force to be reed with. Stratus lost the st two games trying to stop this trio’s overwhelming rampaging to no avail.

  It was truly a beautifully calcuted triangle formation. It was ly anized, yet also flexible at the same time. It probably had some tiny holes to exploit, but Yuel still hasn’t found a single one. No matter how much he analyzed it, the triangle seemed airtight.

  Therefore, Stratus had to ge its approach. Instead of fronting the triangle head-on, it was best to py around it. When there wasn’t a surefire method to win a fight, it was better to avoid it altogether.

  “So,” Luke started. “We’re basically assuming these guys ’t be beatehey’re together?”

  “Yes, unfortunately,” Yuel said. “I know this doesn’t inspire much fidence, but we don’t have enough time to search for a way to beat them. So, instead of fighting them blindly, I rather avoid fighting them at all.”

  “Makes sense.” Luke nodded.

  “Geh, that’s me.” Lars pouted. “But okay, let’s roll with that. We gotta do what we gotta do. So, you two are staying to defend and I split-push?”

  “Yes, that’s my pn,” Yuel firmed.

  If there was ohing about the “Bermuda Triahat resembled a weakness, it’d be the fact it required three specific pyers to gather in one pce. That enforced a big restri on how wide the enemy could spread their forces.

  Under normal circumstahe moment the enemy realizes that Lars went to split-push Bot, they’d want to rotate somebody from Mid in order defend. However, the “Bermuda Triangle” made that impossible.

  The moment they rotate a single pyer out of Mid, the “Bermuda Triangle” will cease to exist. The remaining pushers will bee “normal pyers” that Yuel and Luke will be able to fend off.

  That’s why a sudden split-push on Bot will put the enemy on the spot. It’ll force the eo make a difficult decision. Should they break off the triao defend Bot? Or, should they rotate the eriao Bot? Or, should they ighe split-push and keep pushing Mid?

  The st option was what made this pn risky. Sending Lars to Bot meant leaving Yuel and Luke aloo defend against the triahat might give the ehe opening they needed for breaking through Mid and taking the game.

  But, Yuel had faith in their ability to stall the triahis once. And, his estimation wasn’t based on some vague faith in his or Luke’s defensive capabilities. They’ll have an objective advantage on their side when defending, that of a full health Golem.

  While Turrets started being less of a threat during mid-game, Golems were still a big deal. So, as long as Yuel and Luke sit uheir Golem and borrow its aid, they should be able to keep the pushers at bay.

  “Ohing, tho,” Lars said. “Won’t it take me way too long to reach Bot? It sounds like you dudes will be alone here for a long time before I evearted oower. How is that gonna work?”

  “I’m gd you noticed.” Yuel nodded. “You’re right, the distance is a problem. That’s why I arranged Checkpoint Wards for you.” He pi the Checkpoint Wards he pear Top and Bot.

  “Oh! I was actually w about those,” Lars said. “What are they for?”

  “For your split-push, obviously,” Yuel said. “After you farm the uping wave, you should have enough gold to buy Teleport.”

  “Oh, I get it! So, like, I gonna run back to base real quick to buy Teleport, then I’mma get to Bht away! I see whatcha did there. Real smooth.”

  “I’m gd you like it.”

  “But...” Luke cocked his head. “Why did you checkpoint both Top and Bot?”

  “Because I didn’t know how they’ll choose to push,” Yuel said. “I had to cover both options.”

  “Wow, smart.” Luke nodded in amazement. “This bruh be pying 6D chess over here.”

  “I was just c all bases,” Yuel said. “It’s nothing that impressive. If anything, the unused Checkpoint Ward is essentially a money sink.”

  “Haha, isn’t this guy just the spitting image of positive thinking?” Luke ughed.

  “Okay, this pn sounds dope!” Lars nodded. “So, first I farm a little, then I retreat ahead of yht?”

  “Yes,” Yuel answered. “Let’s do this carefully. Don’t let them get the jump on you.”

  “Gotcha!”

  And so, the pn was set in motion.

  DarkestCymore