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

They must’ve been waiting for DragonMaster and StormMonster to respawn before conducting any big attacks. That actually played in Stratus’s favor, since it gave Vincent 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 available, it didn’t mean they’ll spread across the lanes like in the early-game.

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

Any form of solo conduct 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 playing field was mostly even. Taurus held an advantage in Top in terms of tower damage, but Stratus held a similar advantage in Bot. It was still anybody’s game at this point, but the opening in Mid was like a gaping hole in the team’s defenses.

I’d like to launch 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 enemy the first turn.

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

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

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

“Yes, I said we need to get more aggressive, but we can’t overdo it. No matter how you look at it, launching a preemptive attack from a 4v5 position is risky.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s fair.”

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

There was no choice but to wait for the enemy to 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 deflect anything that comes.

As expected, the enemy concentrated their main forces on Mid Lane. The infamous triangle of Renegade, StormMonster, and Laplace opened an aggressive push.

“Here they come!” Vincent made noise. “The Bermuda Triangle of Certain Doom! Can we withstand its unstoppable force!?”

“Calm down, man.” Luke cracked a nervous laugh. “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,” Vincent agreed. “With the Golden Duo on our side, there is no telling what fate awaits us all. We might even trample over the unbeatable 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 injected everybody with a much-needed dose of fighting spirit. Yuel usually disliked it when these goofs banded together 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 contribute in the best way he knew.

We know where their triangle is going to push, but where are the other two? Yuel carefully examined the 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 lanes.

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

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

It’s okay, focus on Mid, by all means. This time, I’m ready for you. Yuel has already come up with multiple counter ideas against a five-man push on Mid. Stratus will no longer sit under tower and stall 24/7. This time, if Taurus attempts a five-man push on Mid, Stratus will launch a counter-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 understand 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 last two games. It’s the perfect chance to crush ‘em and end this shit.”

“We don’t have as much advantage as we had in those games,” Raymond explained. “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 focusing all our forces on one lane 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 defenses there. We might even take Top without any resistance. Easiest shit ever.”

“Perhaps.” I wouldn’t count on it, personally. Raymond thought. It was more than likely the enemy will dispatch somebody to defend Top. Therefore, Raymond and Zeph had to launch 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. Since this was the mid-game, it was unlikely the captain would travel alone, so DragonMaster was surely right behind him.

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

During the short downtime, before the enemy’s push on Mid began, Yuel traveled all over the map and placed as many Sentry Wards as humanly possible. It cost him a pretty penny and delayed his build, but it was an extremely important investment.

With Kai and Luke both lagging 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 investment. 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 pondered. The enemy was coming after Top Turret with two attackers, Berserker and Aeroamcner. Was it possible to deflect both attackers with a single defender?

Unfortunately, it wasn’t doable. Stratus didn’t have a class 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.

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

Oftentimes, the 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 countering Berserk, the team had access to only one ult terrifying enough to scare away a Berserker. It was the Viking’s Unstoppable Raid.

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

“I’m on the case, sir!” Vincent saluted.

“Sure,” Kai replied indifferently.

Kai still looks down. Yuel thought.

Ever since the previous game, Kai hasn’t been her usual self. She hasn’t been emitting her usual fighting spirit, not even one bit. For a player who often got drunk on aggression, this felt extremely unnatural. It was no surprise her performance felt so lackluster this game.

Lars, Vincent, and even Luke all tried to cheer her up every now and then, to no avail. It’s as if Kai was drowning inside the mud and nobody could pull her out. And, naturally, if the others couldn’t accomplish it, then Yuel had no chance 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 class that could contest a mid-game Aeromancer. There were no viable alternative solutions here.

I’ll just have to trust Kai on this one. Yuel concluded. It’s not like she’s playing 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 contributed 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 Laplace. They were decent players separately, but together they turned into an unstoppable force. Yuel, Lars, and Luke will have to do their best to stop this force in 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 chin. “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 can’t deal with all of us at once.”

“But, he might pick one of us off if we overextend,” Rio argued.

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

“Counting 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 triangle that 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 integrated more defense into it, turning it into a balanced build. This was an intentional 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 back in 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 uncertainty 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 concerned, the enemy had all the right tools for contesting 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 consider fighting outside the Golem’s range? Simple, because they didn’t want to lose on any farm.

Sitting under the 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 combined salary to be cut down any further.

As such, optimally, the enemy would like to contest the minion wave outside the Golem area. And, to achieve that, they’d have to initiate a team fight against the Invincible Triangle outside 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 wrecking Gunz. C’mon, don’t wuss on us, bro. Come fight us fair and square! We gonna whoop ya!

But, the enemy strategist had his own plans.

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

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

“Is it because of that Bermuda Triangle thingy?” 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 Vincent’s lingo to get the point across to those two. For some ungodly reason, Vincent’s bombastic naming 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’ players, so we can contest them. But, together, they’re dangerous. They must have a lot of experience playing together.”

“Okay, sure, I get that,” Lars said. “But, then what’s the big plan? Don’t tell me we gonna sit under Golem like turtles. I thought you agreed we gotta start attacking? 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. You’re going to attack their Bot Turret.”

“You want me to split-push?”

“Yes, that’s the best answer to this situation,” Yuel explained his reasoning.

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

It was truly a beautifully calculated triangle formation. It was neatly organized, 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 change its approach. Instead of confronting the triangle head-on, it was best to play 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 can’t be beaten when they’re together?”

“Yes, unfortunately,” Yuel said. “I know this doesn’t inspire much confidence, 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 lame.” 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 plan,” Yuel confirmed.

If there was one thing about the “Bermuda Triangle” that resembled a weakness, it’d be the fact it required three specific players to gather in one place. That enforced a big restriction on how wide the enemy could spread their forces.

Under normal circumstances, the 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 player out of Mid, the “Bermuda Triangle” will cease to exist. The remaining pushers will become “normal players” 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 enemy to make a difficult decision. Should they break off the triangle to defend Bot? Or, should they rotate the entire triangle to Bot? Or, should they ignore the split-push and keep pushing Mid?

The last option was what made this plan risky. Sending Lars to Bot meant leaving Yuel and Luke alone to defend against the triangle. That might give the enemy the opening they needed for breaking through Mid and taking the game.

But, Yuel had faith in their ability to stall the triangle this 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 becoming less of a threat during mid-game, Golems were still a big deal. So, as long as Yuel and Luke sit under their Golem and borrow its aid, they should be able to keep the pushers at bay.

“One thing, 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 even get started on their tower. How is that gonna work?”

“I’m glad you noticed.” Yuel nodded. “You’re right, the distance is a problem. That’s why I arranged Checkpoint Wards for you.” He pinged at the Checkpoint Wards he placed near Top and Bot.

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

“For your split-push, obviously,” Yuel said. “After you farm the upcoming 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 Bot right away! I see whatcha did there. Real smooth.”

“I’m glad 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 playing 6D chess over here.”

“I was just covering 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 laughed.

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

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

“Gotcha!”

And so, the plan was set in motion.