A new minion wave was incoming, led by the enemy’s triangle of Renegade, StormMonster, and Laplace. Yuel, Lars, and Luke advanced to the frontline to counter the offense, but they refused to step too far out of the Golem’s area.

They had to stop as many minions as possible from reaching the Golem area, but they had no intention of starting a full-blown fight. They couldn’t allow themselves to overextend, not against the “Bermuda Triangle”.

“Welp, they kinda came to fight us, but they kinda didn’t.” Nash made a face. The enemy did come out of the Golem’s range to contest the lane, but they did it ever so slightly. “Do I jump them, or...?”

“Nah, I wouldn’t risk it,” Jaiden dismissed the idea.

The enemy took the middle ground between contesting the lane and playing it safe. They didn’t fully stay in the Golem’s area, but neither did they extend far enough to get easily wrecked. What a smartass approach.

“I say we focus the minions and push them back,” Jaiden suggested. “What do you think, Rio?”

“Sounds good,” Rio agreed.

“Okay, let’s do that then.” Jaiden nodded.

Nash, the frontliner, swept his lance across the enemy swordsmen. Meanwhile, Jaiden and Rio provided support fire from afar.

The enemy’s frontline collapsed in no time. Next, the attack moved on to target the backline, the bowmen.

At the same time, the enemy cleared only two swordsmen out of three. LegendaryMemer didn’t charge in to attack, probably in fear of overextending. Therefore, only Gunz and Chessmaster actively contributed to the farming. The Knight served merely as a bodyguard. He was there to discourage Jaiden’s group from recklessly charging in, but nothing more than that.

Little did he know that, under this seemingly normal defense operation, was hatching a much larger ploy.

“Okay, I got enough cash,” Lars announced. “I’mma go now.”

“Okay, we’re falling back,” Yuel announced.

“Roger.” Luke backpedaled away from the enemy, with his sights still locked on them just in case. This was the slower way to retreat but it was more intimidating. We ain’t running away. We’re just tactically retreating. I still got my eyes on ya all. Fear me, yo!

After retreating far enough, Lars turned around and dashed full speed ahead. He returned to base, purchased Teleport, and warped to the Checkpoint Ward in Bot.

Meanwhile, Yuel and Luke barricaded themselves at the Golem and continued farming the minions with the help of the Golem’s AoE attacks.

“Damn, it ain’t easy to push a Golem during mid-game, huh,” Nash ranted.

The Golem’s AoE attacks were devastating. That big boi tossed huge boulders like they were pebbles. Their AoE wasn’t that big, but they still hit at least two minions at once, sometimes even three. Shit was cheap as heck.

Before long, the invading squad vanished without a trace. It was time to retreat.

“Let’s fall back before Gunz returns,” Jaiden said.

“Gotcha.” Nash backpedaled from the danger zone.

They’ve only reduced the Golem’s HP by 10% thanks to Jaiden concentrating his fire on it. They still had a long way to go before they conquer Mid.

Fortunately, the next minion wave was already underway. With the enemy’s Mid Turret destroyed, the minions marched across the lane without slowing down or receiving any damage, all the way to the Golem. Such was the tremendous benefit of taking down Turrets. It allowed the Invincible Triangle to oppress their opponents nonstop on lane.

Before long, Jaiden and Co. will be able to renew their offense in full throttle. Slowly but surely, they’ll pressure Stratus into submission. After all, they were the Invincible Triangle! None could put a stop to their progress, not even Gunz!

“Gotta say, Gunz is sure taking his sweet time to return,” Jaiden pointed out. “You think there’s a chance he rotated somewhere?”

“Ah, look at Bot!” Rio exclaimed. “He’s split-pushing.”

“Whoa!?” Nash exclaimed. “When did he get all the way over there!?”

“That was fast.” Jaiden frowned. “Like, way too fast. He couldn’t have traveled there.”

“Teleport,” Rio said after checking Gunz’s items.

“Dang, when did they even have a chance to place a Checkpoint Ward!?” Jaiden felt sweat forming on his forehead. This wasn’t how he expected things to go!

The trio was supposed to keep pressuring Stratus in Mid until the defense cracks and the Golem falls. It should’ve gone exactly like in the last two games, but Stratus adapted.

Heh, that’s good. It won’t be any fun if it’s too easy. Jaiden smiled dangerously. Okay, so how do we answer here? Mid-game Gunslinger can split-push hard. Gunz gonna take Bot if we don’t do anything about it.

“Who cares?” Nash shrugged. “A new wave is here, so let’s push! They have less defenders now, so let’s push the heck outta them!”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” Jaiden reluctantly agreed.

Until now, Gunz was the most dangerous defender from the enemy side. Not because his defense was godlike or anything, but because his offense was so swift and overwhelming. This guy could turn the tables on the attacker in a blink of an eye and get a kill. His mere presence on the defense put tremendous pressure on the attackers.

But, this dangerous fellow wasn’t here anymore. It’ll be that much easier to push the Golem now.

“Ignore the split-push for now,” Raymond said the final word. “Keep pushing Mid and take the Golem.”

“Really!? Let’s go then!” Jaiden roared. I didn’t expect Ray, of all people, to agree to this. It’s like he’s a totally different person all of a sudden. Sick!

And so, the Invincible Triangle pushed forth! It was a 3v2 assault on the Golem. They were going to bust through!

Not so fast. Yuel unleashed Tsunami, pushing back the entire enemy army, minions, and players alike. It dealt sizable damage to minions and delayed the incoming attack.

“Shit!” Nash cursed. “They’re trying to stall us! I ain’t gonna let ‘em!” He was about to jump in and mess up these bastards.

“Wait, calm down,” Jaiden said. “We can’t break formation like that. I know how yo feel, I also wanna push as fast as possible. But, we can’t lose our cool here. Even without Gunz, one wrong move can cost us the game.”

“Yeah, ya right.” Nash took a deep breath. This was no time to be a hothead. He was in charge of the vanguard, so he couldn’t be too reckless. If the enemy eliminates him, Jaiden and Rio won’t have anybody on the frontline. Basically, that’ll stop the entire offense in its tracks.

They had to do things methodically if they wanted to win. This wasn’t some Ranked match in which dropping a game only meant losing points. If they lose this one, they’ll lose the entire scrimmage!

“Let’s do this fast but carefully,” Jaiden said. They had the advantage in terms of numbers, so they’ll destroy the Golem and drive the game to victory, long before Gunz makes any substantial progress in Bot.

I see they’re not rushing it. Yuel nodded to himself. He was hoping that the pressure of the split-push would make the Triangle lose their cool and charge in, but they were better than that.

I thought StormMonster was a hot-blooded player. Yuel frowned. I expected him to charge in and overextend, especially after I stalled them with that tsunami.

The enemy was racing against the clock, contesting with Lars’s pushing speed. As such, being washed away by a tsunami should’ve triggered them enough to force a reaction. Yuel even calculated multiple moves ahead for how to severely punish StormMonster for an overextension. Alas, none of that came into play.

They probably have a voice of reason in that group. Yuel concluded.

Individually, StormMonster seemed like a rather rash player. As such, there was probably somebody in the Triangle who stopped StormMonster from overextending.

That’s what made that Triangle so dreadful. Each of the three players was lacking in some areas, but they covered each other’s weaknesses when fighting as a triangle.

That’s why Yuel could never tear that trio apart. It’s almost as if the three of them had no weaknesses when banded together. Instead of being three individual pieces on the board, they fused into one powerful Queen piece that had no weaknesses.

No, everybody has a weakness. Yuel corrected himself.

Everybody had a weakness. This was one of the basic principles his dad taught him about chess, and it applied to any game at large. Nobody was truly invincible and every formation could be crushed. At least, in theory.

If I could play five more games against them, I’d probably find something. Yuel reasoned. But, we don’t have time for that. We have to win this game.

In theory, the Triangle definitely had some weaknesses. However, in practice, it’d take too long to discover and exploit them. Not to mention, even after these weaknesses finally reveal themselves, it wasn’t guaranteed that Stratus will have the necessary tools for striking them.

Therefore, within the scope of this one game, it was best to create an unwritten game rule. This Triangle is unbeatable. Such was the artificial truth Stratus had to deal with.

Since it was impossible to directly defeat the Triangle, all Yuel could do was play around it. He had to craft a strategy that’ll win the game without ever confronting the Triangle. As far as he was concerned, the Triangle was like an invincible chess piece that couldn’t be captured.

That’s why we have to focus on other parts of the board. Yuel concluded. That’s the line of thinking that gave birth to the split-pushing in Bot.

The Triangle was just one piece on the board, so it couldn't be in two places at the same time. Renegade and his brigade had to choose between rotating to Bot and pushing Mid, and they chose the latter. Now, it was up to Yuel and Luke to stall that push for as long as possible.

“Make sure you maintain distance from me,” Yuel reminded.

“Heh, I’m already four parallel universes ahead of ya!” Luke was on the opposite side of the Golem's area, as far as humanly possible from Yuel while still within the safe zone and close enough to the frontline to be a menace.

“Good.” Yuel nodded.

To make the enemy’s life as difficult as possible, it was best for Yuel and Luke to position themselves far away from each other. This way, Renegade’s Kraken couldn’t hit both of them at the same time, and it was impossible to focus on both of them at once in general.

Memer or not, Luke definitely knows how to handle these situations. Yuel admitted. And, as unconventional as it is, there are some occasional benefits to his odd picks.

Knight was a poor choice as a Jungler pick and it caused Luke to lag behind by two levels. However, in this specific situation, having a Knight on the defense was actually great.

Knight was tanky enough to soak damage and the existence of his taunt skill constantly put pressure on the attackers. The moment somebody gets too close, Luke would aggro them and draw them into the Golem area against their will. As such, the enemy had to proceed with extreme caution.

What’s more, Luke has been handling himself surprisingly well on the defense. From watching him play, one would think he was a Support main. In Yuel’s experience, Jungler mains usually didn’t exhibit such finesse on the defense, for it wasn’t a responsibility they were expected to handle too often.

Ellen was about the only exception I knew, but she’s an exception in about anything she does. On the other hand, Dan was more about offense and ganks. He did have a solid defense because anybody who wants to play on Howard’s team must have a solid defense. But, aside from that requirement, Dan definitely enjoyed offense and ganks a lot more, like any ordinary Jungler.

But, Luke was no ordinary Jungler. He was a memer, and the classes he picked often had an unorthodox game plan. So much, that they strayed from the meta definition of what the Jungler role should be about.

That usually made them inefficient as Junglers, but sometimes it also made them strong in areas that Junglers weren’t expected to excel at, such as defending. And, as someone who always played the unconventional picks, Luke had plenty of experience with situations that were alien to the average Jungler.

That’s why I’m sure we can stall the Triangle together. Yuel reasoned. It’d be hard to achieve that alongside a regular Jungler like Nia, but with Luke, we can defend just fine.

And indeed, the enemy Triangle failed to deliver much damage on the Golem this round as well. They shaved off another 10%, so the Golem now stood at 80%. It was still plenty healthy, it’ll withstand many more rounds with ease. If the enemy chooses to continue pursuing this offense, this will turn into a drawn-out war.

Meanwhile, in Bot...

『An enemy Turret has been destroyed!』

“Woohoo! Let’s go!” Lars pumped a fist. “I gonna keep pushing, right?”

“Yes, go for their Golem,” Yuel said. “Even if they make a move now, you’ll have more than enough time to react.”

“Okey-dokey!” Lars grinned. “Let’s turn this game on its head!”

And so, Lars pressed onward with his offense.

“Man, that guy is still pushing!?” Nash exclaimed. “Cocky son of a gun.”

“He took out that Turret in no time,” Jaiden said. “Meanwhile, we haven’t made much progress over here.”

They barely shaved off 10% from the Golem, while the enemy took the entire Bot Turret at the same amount of time. This definitely wasn’t a favorable trade for them.

“Maybe we should go Bot?” Rio suggested.

“Yeah, I was thinking that too, but...” Jaiden knotted his brows. This was a difficult call.

They couldn’t allow the enemy to take Bot Golem. However, rotating the entire Invincible Triangle over there felt like a waste. Especially, with the Mid Golem right in front of their eyes.

They were right there, right about to take the Golem that would pretty much win them the game. Alas, two tough gatekeepers stood in their paths.

Chessmaster and LegendaryMemer boasted an airtight defense. They constantly threatened the trio with their dangerous CC, making it difficult to find safe angles to approach from.

Especially, Chessmaster’s Tsunami was devastating. In the last attack, it reduced the entire wave’s HP before the push even started. As a result, there was no hope of getting much damage on the Golem from the get-go.

Well, at least the next wave will be better in that regard. Jaiden reasoning. Chessmaster won’t have Overflow for a while now.

But, even without the tsunami, it was hard enough to crack this duo’s defense. How much longer will it take the Invincible Triangle to fell the Golem? Was it justified to leave Bot Golem undefended for that long?

Dang it, comparing all these odds is SO not my strong point. Jaiden sighed. “Rio, do you think we should rotate to Bot?”

“Hard to say. All I know for sure is that somebody will have to defend Bot soon.”

“True that.” Jaiden nodded. “If nobody goes to defend now, I already see us losing the Golem.”

With that said, what was the best way to go about this? Rotate the entire triangle? Or, break up the triangle and send only one of them to handle Gunz? Could a single defender even stop Gunz?

“Jaiden,” Raymond called out. “Do you think you can destroy their Mid Golem in the next two waves?”

“Of course we can!” Nash declared without hesitation. Where was he even drawing that baseless confidence from?

“Jaiden?” Raymond repeated, ignoring the fool.

“Not sure,” Jaiden admitted. “Their defense is tight. It might take us three or even four waves.”

“I see. Then, we’ll have to postpone the push on Mid. Let’s start defending Bot soon”

“Makes sense.” Jaiden nodded. They didn’t have the luxury to continue pushing while a dangerous split-pusher was partying on an undefended lane. But, if they give up Mid for now, what should be their next move?

There were two reasonable options. Either rotate the entire Invincible Triangle to Bot, or break it up and split its members between Top and Bot. But, which one was the right call!?

I don’t think that a single little split-push has ever given me this much headache before. Jaiden made a face.

It felt like Chessmaster wrapped them all around his finger, making them wrack their brains to resolves a difficult dilemma he set in front of them. Will their next move also be within that mastermind’s expectations? Did that guy already prepare an appropriate counter to whatever they’ll do next?

There was no end to the question swirling in Jaiden’s head as he found himself stuck in analysis paralysis...