The mid-game was about to hit. There was no official in-game announcement for it, but both teams knew the time had almost come.

The exact timing of “mid-game” varied from match to match depending on various factors, the most noticeable of which was the progress of the players’ builds. Once most players have finished building their core items - it was time for action! At least, usually, it was.

However, in this case, the Leopards preferred to postpone the mid-game for as long as possible, therefore they didn’t make a move. As such, the ball was in Stratus’ court. It was up to Yuel to declare when the mid-game will begin.

Nia finished building Imperial Spear, so it’s time. He made the decision based on this one particular key item. It was a strong item for Ninja that turned Izuna Drop into a deadlier weapon than it already was.

As such, this was a good time to begin the mid-game. This phase was a double-edged sword for Junglers, but a very necessary one in this case.

Since players usually stuck together during the mid-game, it was that much harder to pick somebody off the way Nia liked. However, on the flip side, the mid-game was much more hectic and dynamic, making it harder for the enemy to defend optimally.

The Leopards sure know how to defend themselves from all sides when things are calm. Yuel thought. This is pretty much like Cato’s pawn defense in chess.

Judging by their chess game, Cato had this very peculiar approach to strategy. Though the majority of his moves ultimately followed chess theory, for some reason, the guy was obsessed with erecting a wall of defense made of pawns. He even sacrificed some of his early development to that end.

Though this approach went against many chess teachings, it was admittedly effective at frustrating the enemy and making them struggle to find any good options. Yuel fell into that hellhole during their match and found himself suffocated, unable to make a single good move.

Instead of searching for ways to attack, I should’ve disrupted the pace of the game first. Yuel thought. If I just dragged him out of his defensive shell first, then an opening would’ve presented itself eventually.

Alas, Yuel wasn’t at the top of his game back then, so he got caught up in the spider’s web. He believed he was in full control of the board due to his superior piece development, so he tried to utilize that advantage to mount a strong, decisive attack. And, that tunnel vision became his undoing.

It’s actually similar to what happened to Nia in Top. Yuel thought. She could only think about attacking since she found a rare opportunity, so she rushed in. Fortunately, there weren’t any counterattacks in this case, but these sorts of mistakes are what Cato usually feeds on.

The guy’s obnoxious wall of defense just naturally triggers his opponents, making them desperately search for some kind of opportunity to attack. But, at best, the attacks fail, and at worst, they lead to getting countered.

We just have to accept the fact that the Leopards’ defense is at its highest during the early-game. Yuel thought. As long as they can safely turtle in their lanes, it’s almost impossible to get any kills on them.

As such, it was best to start dragging them out of their comfort zone as soon as possible. Once they’re forced to move around the map and respond to unfolding situations on the fly -that’s where Nia might get her next chance to strike.

The next time she gets an opportunity, we really need her to score a kill. Yuel thought. And, it looks like I have to arrange such an opportunity for her.

Waiting for Nia to discover such an opportunity by herself was out of the question. The Leopards will most certainly reinforce their defenses further after Nia's attempt at Challenger's life. As such, it will take Nia a long time to find another opening like that, if she ever finds one.

Therefore, instead of waiting for an opportunity to present itself, Yuel had to actively create one. And, he already had a couple of ideas on that matter. As usual, the plan revolved around exploiting the enemy’s most glaring weaknesses.

Challenger is their most vulnerable link. He's mechanically strong and can be overwhelming on the offense, but his defense seems lacking compared to the rest of their team.

As such, out of the Leopards' roster, Challenger was the most attractive target. In fact, Nia even almost scored a kill on him already. The gank in Top could have easily converted into a kill if Ben was close enough to aid her.

Unfortunately, that was the first and only opportunity Nia has gotten so far. Ever since, Challenger has been playing more carefully. He retreated more frequently than before, making it impossible to catch him off-guard.

It feels like their entire team plays that way in this game. Yuel analyzed. This must be an organized defense plan against Nia. I'm surprised they realized the threat she poses so quickly. They didn’t seem to pay nearly as much attention to her in the first game.

Perhaps, back then, Nia did a poor job avoiding enemy wards. That made it clear to the Leopards when it was truly necessary to retreat.

Not to mention, in that game, the Leopards held the upper hand the entire time. So, they had no reason to be concerned about some stumbling Jungler.

But, things have changed since then. Stratus managed to score a win against the champions, and Nia must’ve been doing a great job playing around enemy wards this time around. Combined, these two factors kept the Leopards on their toes.

As usual, Cato didn't cut any corners with his defense. If he spotted even the smallest hint of a potential threat, he reinforced his defenses in advance to make sure this threat won’t get any opportunities to work with.

This was a different approach from Howard's defense, which dynamically adjusted to the threat depending on the situation. Instead of putting the entire team on the defensive for the whole game, Howard handled the threats as they came.

This approach made it that much harder to tell which threats Howard was actually aware of, so there was always a sense of paranoia in the air. And, whenever Yuel made the wrong guess - he walked right into a counter.

In that sense, fighting Cato’s defense is more straightforward. Yule thought. He's very upfront about his hyper-defensive playstyle, to a fault. Though, that also makes it far more annoying to actually deal with...

The Leopards' defense was uptight at all times, that's why even Challenger was a hard target to gank. He had all the makings of an excellent target for Nia, but Cato must’ve been enforcing his defensive methodology on the poor guy.

Honestly, that obnoxious defense almost equalizes all the potential targets. Yuel summarized. It barely matters which target is "easier" to gank when the entire team is being so defensive across the board. Essentially, all of them are difficult to gank without a proper plan. So, perhaps focusing on Challenger is narrow-minded.

Overall, delivering a gank on Challenger still had the highest chance of success. However, it seemed like a small chance increase compared to ganking anybody else, so it probably wasn't worth getting fixated on.

Besides, Challenger is on the other side of the map, so I can't reach him that easily. Yuel reasoned. On the other hand, I can rotate to Mid, so maybe I can make something happen over there.

Time was of the essence. Yuel wanted to execute a strong, decisive play as soon as mid-game strikes. It was absolutely necessary for Stratus to establish early momentum in order to drive this game to victory.

That's why, despite being busy with the complex laning competition against two powerhouse opponents, Yuel continued thinking about the future during any spare moment he got. So, even though he was adequately competing with his opponents in the lane, his eyes were set on the mid-game and on Mid Lane.

In fact, landing all those “inefficient” shots on Rook was, in fact, preparation for the mid-game. These plays were very wasteful in terms of MP, but Yuel was looking at the bigger picture here.

He should be recalling after this wave. Yuel thought. That'll be my cue. As shaky as it is, I do have something that resembles a plan, so I might as well give it a shot.

After extensively analyzing each and every opponent, Yuel ultimately determined the next best target for Stratus to gun for. The conclusion he reached was a tad surprising even for him, but it was supported by facts and logic.

I think we should go after Winner. That's the conclusion Yuel reached.

Yes, AbsoluteWinner, the player who was extremely accomplished in both mechanical skill and tactics. He was arguably the most skilled player in the Leopards, definitely a far cry from what one would call the "weakest link" of the team.

Then, why target Winner? Because the guy did possess one particular weakness, or so Yuel believed. Essentially, he hungered for kills.

This was evident from the footage of the Leopards' previous scrims, where Winner and Challenger went on a killing spree across the entire map. It almost felt like the two of them competed for who could score the most kills.

During this so-called “competition”, it felt as if Winner and Challenger were pushing each other to play more and more aggressively. Essentially, they were trying to get kills faster than each other by dialing up their aggression up to eleven.

That kind of wild, arguably childish, attitude certainly suited Challenger. There was no doubt in Yuel’s mind that Challenger was a brat in real life.

On the other hand, that mischievous attitude was a little odd for Winner. The guy usually carried himself in a calm and composed manner, only going for efficient and calculated plays. Therefore, it was odd to see a player like him participate in something like a killing race, a competition in which both players discarded proper tactics in favor of speed.

That is unless he's extremely competitive to a fault. Yuel deduced. I suspect he considers killing to be the best way to "prove himself”. That's why he went for that early invade in the previous game.

Logically, going for an early invasion against a team with a Dark Knight was suicidal. Surely, Cato vehemently objected to the idea. There was simply no way that the fanatic worshipper of defense would agree to such a dangerous move.

Likewise, Winner didn't seem like the type who’d normally take such a huge risk, either. Perhaps the entire operation wasn't even his idea per se but he nonetheless cooperated, that was the key part. That play reaffirmed Yuel's suspicion.

I think Winner just really, REALLY hates losing. Yuel reasoned. He’s the type who always needs to prove he's at the top of the competition, that's probably why he challenged Lars so many times throughout the day. It's like he was trying to say "I'm stronger.”

Assuming that all of this analysis was on point, or at least close enough to the truth, then what did it mean for this game? For one, Winner was probably uncomfortable with the way the game had been developing thus far.

He hasn't scored any kills yet. Yuel thought. In fact, most of his gank attempts didn’t achieve much of anything because our defense has been solid across the board. To make it worse, it’s probably unexpected for a team like ours to be able to play good defense, so Winner must be twice as salty about this.

Stratus was slowly establishing itself as a potential powerhouse, but so far, it was only known for its offense. Their defense lacked in comparison, so Winner should’ve had an easy time getting a few successful ganks against them. Yet, he didn’t get a single one. If that didn't hurt his pride, then nothing would.

I'm sure he's hungry. He’s desperately searching for at least one kill. Yule thought. So, what will happen if we throw him a bone?

That's the hidden avenue of attack Yuel discovered after deconstructing every single member of the Leopards. Out of all of them, despite being arguably the most competent, Winner seemed like the most vulnerable target at the moment. So, that's where Stratus should strike!

But, that's easier said than done. Yule thought. He's the Jungler, so it's no small feat to lure him into a death trap. At least, not without some extensive planning.

So, that's exactly what Yuel has been doing: working on a plan to entrap Winner. It was a difficult puzzle that Yuel barely had any spare time for, but eventually, he found a solution. Or, at least, it was something that resembled a solution.

"Kai, Nia, I have a plan I'd like to share," Yuel said.

"Oh no." Nia gave him a look. "I bet it's some crazy talk again."

"Right?" Kai chuckled. "When he starts his sentence like that, you just know it gonna be something else. Well, I'm listening."

Despite their initial reactions, the girls lent their ears to Yuel. This showed that, despite Yuel’s questionable communication skills and his subpar ability to fully convey all the aspects of his reasoning, his teammates were still willing to go along with his plans, no matter how bizarre they might have sounded to them.

"So, the plan goes like this..." Yuel laid out the details to the best of his ability, explaining how he planned to take advantage of Winner's hunger.

As usual, his teammates found his reasoning a bit lacking. Kai and Nia both said that Yuel’s conclusions regarding Winner felt like they were based too much on circumstantial evidence, and that was true to an extent.

In order to quickly discover enemy weaknesses, it was often necessary to rely on some degree of circumstantial evidence. There wasn’t enough time to gather a whole lot of solid evidence in the heat of battle, so some circumstantial evidence had to suffice.

In the end, despite the girls’ doubts, they agreed to go along with Yuel's plan. They didn't look entirely convinced, but they trusted Yuel's judgment enough to ignore some of his leaps of logic.

"So, I'm bait again, huh." Kai sighed. "I feel like I've been turning into bait way too much recently. You hate me or something?"

"Nothing personal," Yuel reassured. "It's just that your status as the Mid Laner makes you an attractive bait. Good teams are always on the lookout for an opportunity to gain an advantage in Mid."

"Yeah, I know that,” Kai said. “But, it still feels lame. I want to be the aggressor for once."

"Honestly, I think plays like this suit you best," Yuel said. "Your offense and defense are very balanced and you're good at switching between them on the fly. It makes you very good at countering."

"So, you're saying I'd mainly be using cross-counters if this was boxing?"

"Yes, something like that.” Yuel nodded. “You’re the type who can maintain solid defense for prolonged amounts of time and then launch a counter as soon as you see an opening. I’ve seen you do this many times."

"Huh. I can't say that's a playstyle I'm particularly into, but I can play like that sometimes, sure."

Kai couldn't tell whether she should treat this as a compliment. Yuel definitely wasn't trying to butter her up considering how bad he was with these things, so he really meant everything he said.

But, if this is the playstyle he thinks I’m best at, then that means... Kai frowned. Yeah, I'm really not sure I like the implications of this. But, whatever. I can think about it after we’re done mopping these bastards.

If possible, Kai would have preferred to directly confront her targets. Alas, the game didn't revolve around her personal whims. Stratus was trying to win as a team so Kai had to pull her weight accordingly, even if she didn't agree with every single play she had to do in the process.

"Okay, let's do it," Kai said. "One cross-counter, coming right up."

"Good." Yuel nodded. "Nia, are you fine with this plan, too?"

"It sounds okay," Nia said. "Not sure I can sneak up to Mid, though. They got their eyes on me 24/7. Scary."

"Yes, it's clear they're on guard against you, even more so after you tried to gank Top,” Yule said. “But, there's a good chance this plan will distract them enough to give you an opening."

"I hope so."

Nia excelled at telling when the enemy team was paying attention to her and when they weren’t. It was almost like a sixth sense.

But, that's also one of her weaknesses. Yuel thought. She's very good at it, so she relies on it a bit too much.

It’s true that it’s optimal to strike the enemy when they least expect it, but Nia couldn’t just sit there and do nothing until an opportunity magically presents itself. It was necessary for her to be more proactive about this and search for ways to manually create such opportunities.

But, that's one thing she hasn't learned how to do yet. Yuel thought. So, it's up to me to set up the stage for her.

And so, the plan was set in motion. Despite the mild reluctance, Kai and Nia both agreed to follow Yuel's plan.

It was time to kick off this scheme, right at the start of the mid-game!