King Joker
After Erha recalled to heal up and returned to lane, Weibo Gaming's bot lane duo did manage to stabilize a little.
After all, there wasn't that much difference between the two sides' bot lane picks in the laning phase. The level-one mistake had already put Yunara behind in CS.
If they didn't stabilize and went on the offensive instead, they could very well lose the lane outright.
With Yunara and Nautilus playing safe and refusing to engage, Invictus Gaming's bot lane duo didn't have much opportunity to make plays either.
Shaco was a champion well suited to counterengaging with his W, Jack in the Box, but not so well suited to initiating.
But that only applied in lane.
As a support champion with respectable early damage, he could comfortably invade and steal a few jungle camps alongside Jarvan IV.
Boxes placed in advance could make the other side wary, allowing them to be taken advantage of without being able to retaliate.
But Weibo Gaming clearly didn't want to lose 2–0 in their first match with the new lineup, so they chose to play it safe.
Weibo Gaming's bot lane didn't have lane priority, so they gave the first dragon to Invictus Gaming.
As a result, the game the viewers had expected to be fairly exciting went eleven minutes without a single kill.
"It looks like Weibo Gaming wants to stall until Shaco stops being useful. After making a play at level one, Shaco did help Wei take some of JieJie's jungle camps, but if that's all you can do with this Shaco pick, I don't think he can compare to Nautilus at all in the mid game."
At the commentary desk, Guan Zeyuan gave his opinion, and 957 agreed.
Before the second dragon spawned, Weibo Gaming's composition was starting to enter its power spike, and they wanted to try making a play.
Nautilus and Xin Zhao entered the area around the dragon pit early to secure vision in the brush, helped by Xiaohu's solid performance on Bunny in mid lane this game.
In the early and mid game, Bunny was stronger than Orianna in lane as long as she landed her abilities reasonably well.
The dragon spawned, and Bunny finished pushing her wave and entered the river a little earlier than Orianna. The bot lane duo also came to the dragon pit after clearing their wave.
After this teamfight, the AD carries would basically be moving mid. Once Miss Fortune switched to mid lane, Bloodthirster would let her control mid-lane priority more safely and consistently.
When that happened, Weibo Gaming would have a harder time contesting resources.
"I can TP if you fight. TheShy just used his TP to get back to lane, so we'll have the numbers advantage if a fight breaks out." Zika quickly used his health to push the wave in front of him, then hurriedly began channeling recall under his tower.
JieJie woke the dragon, while Jarvan IV and Orianna began pushing in for vision from the upper side of the blue-side river.
At the commentary desk.
"Weibo Gaming has plenty of fighting power here. Yunara and Bunny are both carries who can fight before three items, but Orianna's fighting power at this point is actually pretty average, unless she lands a really good ultimate.
"On top of that, Renekton is already channeling recall in top lane. If a fight breaks out, he can get there first. Yone has cleared the last wave and is actively moving down now, but it'll take him quite a while to walk there. Really, if Invictus Gaming stays calm here, they don't have to take this fight. One dragon apiece, and their late-game capabilities aren't all that different."
"But it looks like Invictus Gaming doesn't want to hand this dragon over to Weibo Gaming so easily. Jarvan IV and Orianna are already pushing in...
"The dragon's going down pretty fast. Isn't it a little too risky for Shaco and Miss Fortune to come around from bot lane now? But I feel like Weibo Gaming wants to fight here. They could very well engage right away."
"Huh? Does Joker have a trick up his sleeve?"
Guan Zeyuan sounded a little surprised after seeing Lin Heng's play on the screen.
On Weibo Gaming's voice comms, Elk saw Miss Fortune finish pushing a wave before taking her time coming to the river with Shaco from bot lane. He immediately grew anxious, because that meant that if a teamfight didn't break out here, he would lose a wave of minions for nothing.
"The bot wave's about to reach the tower. We have to engage here."
"Yeah, look for a chance to engage. We're really strong here," Xiaohu agreed.
"I can TP to the bot tower and come straight around behind their bot duo," Zika reminded them.
The dragon's health was dropping rapidly, but Lin Heng moved Shaco forward to apply pressure.
"Is that the real one or the clone?" JieJie asked.
"If he's playing like that, it's probably the clone. If the real one played like that and got engaged on, wouldn't he just be giving himself away?" Elk replied immediately.
"Hold on. He's played two scrims against us, and he likes using reverse psychology. We really can't be sure with this one. Stay focused and try to engage on someone else," Xiaohu warned.
As the dragon's health neared the execution threshold, Renekton had finished his TP and was circling around from behind. Xiaohu was also ready to use his R. Bunny's ultimate had a wide range, so one R would catch Miss Fortune and Shaco together, whether he was real or a clone. With the big Renekton coming around behind them, even the AD carry's Flash would be useless.
"Watch the AD, watch the AD, watch the AD."
Xiaohu called for Nautilus to follow up. As long as they caught and instantly killed the AD carry, they would win the fight no matter how it played out.
But just as JieJie secured the dragon with W and Smite—
Four people were suddenly pulled together by Orianna's ultimate, Command: Shockwave.
"?"
The four of them felt as if their minds went blank for half a second. They hadn't seen Orianna send her ball over.
Jarvan IV didn't hesitate for a moment, following up with EQR the instant Shockwave hit, while Miss Fortune, who was already positioned aggressively, immediately used her ultimate.
Only then did Shaco finally reveal himself. Amid the four of them, he precisely cast Ignite on the airborne Yunara, then struck her three times with basic attacks.
Those three hits carried Bloodsong and Hail of Blades, dealing tremendous damage.
Yunara did nothing. After using Cleanse in midair, she was instantly melted.
At the commentary desk, Guan Zeyuan, who had witnessed it all, raised his voice.
"He really did have a trick up his sleeve, Joker!
"He kept controlling his clone to harass Weibo Gaming while they were taking the dragon. Although Weibo Gaming knew it was the clone, they didn't seem to give much thought to where the real one was.
"After all, Uzi was pushing his luck right on the edge of danger all by himself. They must have thought the real Shaco was in the brush behind Uzi, placing boxes to protect him.
"But unexpectedly, Shaco had already snuck up above the dragon pit to pick up the ball from Orianna, who was standing against the wall. Then he used Q to turn invisible, crossed the dragon pit, and got right in their faces.
"I've used this combo with a friend in ranked!
"Orianna puts her ball on Shaco, and the other side can't see it when he goes in invisible. Shaco walked right into the middle of all four of them, letting Orianna land a perfect Shockwave. Jarvan IV followed up with EQR and Miss Fortune with her ultimate, and they pulled off a perfect teamfight!!!
"Wow!! Lin Heng! King Joker!! What a trick!!
"But the teamfight isn't over yet. Yunara was killed instantly, but once the crowd control ended, Nautilus and Bunny both used Flash to escape Miss Fortune's Bullet Time, while Xin Zhao used his ultimate to avoid the damage.
"Here comes the big Renekton!"