Chapter 29: Sneaking into the Quarry! The Great Loess Hand! [5K Two-in-One]

The match begins.

Both sides adopt standard positioning for the opening, perhaps because LNG is on high alert after being heavily punished in the previous game. The casters turn their attention to the rune panels lit up by the observers.

"YE is running 'Unsealed Spellbook' on Taliyah; it seems he has his own strategy," Jiejie notes, pointing out the keystone. "Just a reminder to our viewers, Taliyah received a mid-scope update in patch 12.9 this year, with subtle changes to all her abilities. Most crucially, her E, 'Unraveled Earth,' now stuns enemies and can interrupt dashes!"

Before this year, Taliyah had been absent from the mid lane for nearly three years. It was only the rework on the eve of the Summer Split that made her return possible. However, her viability isn't actually due to the E-ability changes the casters mentioned; it is primarily thanks to the rework of her Q, "Threaded Volley." Simply put, the old Taliyah left a restrictive "Worked Ground" zone that limited her movement and pushed-lane efficiency. That was the main reason she vanished from mid and fled to the vastness of the jungle.

After this rework, the Worked Ground mechanism remains, but it is no longer a restriction—it has become a tool for burst damage. The current version splits the Q's damage between a standard volley and a single-rock shot from Worked Ground, with the latter dealing double damage. If executed perfectly, the damage is even higher than before, and her wave-clearing speed is faster than ever. This solves a major pain point for mid-lane Taliyah, making her a formidable pick in the current meta.

Of course, Doinb is also a master of Taliyah and is full of confidence. He believes no one understands the champion better than he does.

"Watch the positioning! Be careful this game, don't give them the same opportunities as last time. They won't dare to enter our jungle this game..."

"? Taliyah is here!"

Ahri, who had just walked into the upper river brush, runs head-on into Taliyah, who is gliding by on her "skateboard." Taliyah is running the "Celerity" rune, giving her a base movement speed of 333. When moving along walls to trigger her passive, "Rock Surfing," her speed spikes to 369. One shouldn't underestimate this number! Ahri's level-one movement speed is only 330; this is a massive 39-point advantage. Considering a pair of 300-gold boots only provides 25 movement speed, it’s as if Taliyah started with Tier 2 boots. This allows her to outpace Ahri and reach the enemy's upper river entrance first.

The observer switches the camera immediately.

"Whoa? Taliyah charges into the enemy jungle, running straight into Ahri!"

"Teammates from both sides are converging. Are they going to fight this intensely already?"

Both mid and top laners gather, but EDG clearly had better communication and arrives faster. Ale’s Gnar emerges from the Blue Buff entrance, tosses a boomerang to slow the duo, and shouts, "What’s the call? Do we fight?"

"No, no! Just push them out!" Doinb is calm, knowing a full fight wouldn't yield a result.

The EDG duo seems to have no intention of fighting either. Taliyah, under the cover of Gragas, retreats toward their own upper jungle, looking as if they accomplished nothing. LNG doesn't notice anything amiss.

However, from the god’s-eye view, it’s a different story.

"Oh, look at this ward placement from Taliyah..." Jiejie whispers, sounding like a thief.

"She wasn't spotted at all! Taliyah used the high movement speed from her runes and passive to reach the wall early, then waited for the gap in vision when Gnar emerged to place a 'wall-blind' ward!" Miller exclaims, recounting the act. "YE really has one creative idea after another!"

Indeed, just above LNG’s Blue Buff area, a ward is placed through the wall, providing clear vision of the Blue Buff pit. Taliyah had intentionally hugged the wall while "fleeing" to pretend she was just keeping her passive up. In reality, she was waiting for Gnar to leave, and when the enemy lost rear vision, she silently dropped the ward.

The outside world knows too little about Ye Bo; his time in the LDL was defined by raw force, revealing few distinct traits. In truth, to the members of EDG, Ye Bo is labeled not just as a "mechanical player," but as someone who constantly comes up with "little tricks."

Ye Bo has clearly studied Tarzan deeply. He knows that the best way to minimize Tarzan's threat is to track his jungle pathing. Information about the jungle guarantees his safety for at least the first four minutes. Ye Bo conceived this plan during the loading screen and communicated it to his team. By using his champion's mobility to bait a fight, he successfully created a distraction to drop a ward and monitor the enemy jungler’s movements.

He succeeded. Almost immediately, Tarzan, seeing the enemy's intent to invade, secretly shifts his jungle pathing. Vi appears in the Blue Buff pit.

With this information, another idea pops into Ye Bo’s head!

"Jiejie, do you want to go for him at level two? I can have lane priority; Ahri’s ward is in the entrance brush."

"Let's do it!" Jiejie’s response is concise.

Although Taliyah clears waves quickly, that only happens once she has levels. As a Tier 1 champion, Ahri is no slouch at wave clearing, especially in the early game. But Ye Bo has a way.

At 1:05, Taliyah approaches the mid lane river and fires a Q into the air. Once the 7-second cooldown resets, she does the same on the other side of the river.

"What is Taliyah doing? Those two empty Qs just burned nearly a quarter of her mana!" Miller, whose game knowledge is slightly lacking, asks in confusion.

He gets his answer soon enough.

At 1:30, the minions arrive. Taliyah walks onto the "Worked Ground" she created with the first Q, picks up a crit-stone from under her feet, and hurls it at the clumped wave! Then, she moves to the other side and repeats the process with the second single-rock Q! Furthermore, for both Qs, Taliyah carefully stands in the "watery terrain" to benefit from the "Waterwalking" rune's AP bonus.

With two crit-AOE stones, the first wave of minions is left nearly dead! Worked Ground lasts for 30 seconds. The single-rock Q from Worked Ground not only deals double damage but also has a halved cooldown and costs only 20 mana. Although the two "air Qs" cost Taliyah 130 mana, she regenerates 85 mana during the 30-second wait through her base regen and Doran’s Ring. All of this is done for the cost of a single normal ability.

Doinb, just starting to push the wave, looks at the minions already being shoved into his tower and falls into deep thought. *Wait, this looks like a simple technique... why didn't I think of that?*

Doinb quickly consoles himself, believing these "little tricks" can't be effective every time.

"Taliyah missing, level one. Probably went to ward."

Usually, the first wave of mid-lane minions dies at the same speed as the jungler finishes their first camp. But this Taliyah, using the "pre-emptive Worked Ground" trick, arrived at the lane a full few seconds faster than usual! Luckily, the opponent is only level one after the push. Doinb thinks to himself that they won't try the same trick twice—it's too stupid, and it risks exposing his own jungler's pathing.

However, a shocked cry erupts from the caster desk.

"My god, they're doing it again! The brilliant synergy between EDG's mid and jungle!"

"Poppy started at F6 and intentionally left one low-health mini-bird for Taliyah to pick up, allowing her to hit level two with the experience of a single wave! The two are hugging the wall, bypassing the vision in the entrance brush, heading straight for the enemy Gromp!"

"Tarzan is in trouble!!!"

The innocent Tarzan is still oblivious, focusing on his Vi, punching away at the Gromp.

Ye Bo has a reason for this thought process. He has played a few games of Vi; while he doesn't know the hero's mechanics deeply, he knows that a solo-starting Vi wouldn't take the 12-second Q ability at level one—that is basic common knowledge. Vi's jungling strategy relies on her passive shield. Level one W, level two E—unless she plans a level-two gank, this is almost immutable. This means a level-two Vi has absolutely no dash or escape ability.

"They're here... they're here..."

"Look at the health on that Gromp! If Tarzan doesn't handle this well, he's going to lose so much!"

Poppy started F6, and her Q's AOE allows for faster clearing, meaning she is naturally faster than a Vi starting Blue, and the path is shorter. At this moment, the second wave of mid minions arrives. Doinb finally senses something is wrong.

"No, no, no! This is wrong!"

"Where did he go? A level-one Taliyah, where could he go? Who can he catch at level one!"

"Everyone, be careful!"

At these words, both the top and bottom lanes of LNG tense up. After all, Yone gave them a rough time in the previous game. Although they don't understand why, the top laner Ale obediently retreats to ward, and the bot lane duo also backs off to secure vision.

But Tarzan, still brawling with the Gromp, feels a sudden chill. Looking at his own health, he realizes that he might be the one in the most danger.

Doinb's warning was timely, and Tarzan, possessing a strong survival instinct, takes a step back, intending to place a ward in the brush over the wall. But the next moment, Poppy emerges from behind the wall on the right, and the ward he places reveals Taliyah, who seems to be trying to "take the long way around."

"Aishhh!" Tarzan exclaims in his native tongue, his survival instinct kicking in. A solo-starting Vi would usually recover to at least 80% HP after killing the Gromp, but the problem is he hasn't killed it yet! He has less than 60% HP!

Tarzan knows he cannot give Poppy a chance to E him into the wall, or he might be stunned to death without even getting a spell off. Poppy's E has a 450-unit dash range. At this corner, they are already within reach.

Tarzan is incredibly decisive, burning his Flash—not hugging a wall—to jump over the cliff. To anyone watching, forcing a Flash is already a huge win; he could even steal the Gromp, making it a massive gain. But Ye Bo thinks it's not enough.

"Jiejie, we can kill him!" Ye Bo shouts, his fingers moving rapidly.

He pre-selects the direction in the air outside the range with his mouse, and Taliyah flashes almost immediately after, casting W the moment she lands.

"Pre-commanded over-the-wall W-Flash!"

Tarzan, who thought he had escaped, suddenly sees a yellowish circle appear under his feet. Taliyah shifts the earth, and a jagged pillar of rock erupts like a pair of earthen hands, forcefully "flipping" him back over the wall!

Vi is back in the pit!

"Holy...!" Jiejie exclaims, "How did he flip him back in!!!"

"Poppy follows up with the wall-slam! Taliyah fires off the full volley!"

"Vi is doomed! How did that even work!?"

After burning Flash, only to be flipped back over the wall, it's clear he might as well take his hands off the keyboard.

"Ye Bo, you take it!"

With no chance of escape, Vi is devoured by the two. Ye Bo doesn't refuse Jiejie's kindness; after all, he burned his Flash and needs the kill gold. Taliyah lightly raises her sleeve, and a rock flies from her palm, cracking Vi's skull!

[First Blood!]

[EDG YE has slain LNG Tarzan!]

"Nice, A-Bo!"

"Nice, A-Jie!"

The mid-jungle duo high-fives verbally.

"Zhao Lijie, I feel like you're being assimilated by Ye Bo," Meiko, laning in the bot, teases them after hearing their demonic interaction.

But Jiejie’s face shows an excitement and joy he can hardly hide. To be precise, he is having a blast. As a jungler, having a mid-laner who can lead him to go crazy... and actually succeed... every jungler knows how great that feels. It is an experience Jiejie never felt with Scout.

"What kind of reaction was that? That over-the-wall flip must be incredibly difficult. YE is truly a mechanical monster!" Jiejie continues to praise him.

"Mostly, he’s just so daring. He did that with no vision!" Miller agrees.

But to be fair, although Vi's Flash direction was predictable, the synchronization was impressive. Still, the courage to make that play is what LPL audiences value most.

The chat is filled with cheers.

[Handsome!]

[YE: "Get! Your! Ass! Back! Here!"]

[This trick of taking the chicken to hit level two is brilliant. I have a feeling this will become a staple in ranked games; every mid-laner will be telling their jungler to give them the F6!]

[Two games and a new trend? EDG really found a treasure!]

[I want to know who called the shot. If it was the mid-laner, then this guy is really strong—both mechanical and brainy!]

[Tarzan, oh Tarzan, why didn't you punch the mid-laner? How could you not even report the Miss?]

In truth, this really wasn't Doinb's fault. He reported the Miss, and quite timely at that; two seconds later, Taliyah wouldn't even have needed to Flash. The main issue was Taliyah's "shameless" three-Q push, which was so fast that it didn't give Doinb time to warn his team before he realized it himself.

And what could a level-one Ahri do anyway?

However, the camera shows Doinb’s face is already flushed. It’s as if the enemy didn't just kill his jungler, but slapped him in the face—the contrast is just too sharp.

"Tarzan, wait for me to go on him!"

"He has no Flash... this game, we go on him!"

Tarzan grinds his teeth: "Damn it, let's go!!!"