Classmancers - A MOBA Esport Story - Part 3

Vol.15 Ch.9: Building an Aggressive Lineup

"One minute left," Sonya reminded. "So, how are we going to respond to that DK?"

"I'm still thinking about it," Cato said. "Honestly, I'm not sure what to make of it."

Cato did his homework about Yuel's drafting tendencies and already simulated various lines of play against Yuel's most frequent picks. But, this Dark Knight was completely unexpected.

I mean, they did pick Dark Knight in the previous scrimmage too, but the situation there was totally different.

Yuel played Dark Knight twice in the previous scrimmage, so it might seem as if Dark Knight was a common pick for Stratus. But, that was clearly wrong.

He only picked Dark Knight because his lane opponent in Top was trash. Cato reasoned. It's clear that their strongest lineup is when Yuel plays Bot with Gunz, so I'm sure he wouldn't try something silly like playing Top against us, right? But if so, then who is even going to use DK? Blackhole? Really?

That didn't add up. InformationBlackhole hasn't exhibited any signs of being skilled at offense, so he didn't seem to qualify as a good Dark Knight.

Of course, maybe he totally is and Stratus has been keeping that under wrappers until now. But, I doubt it. I mean, I don't see the point, really.

If anything, it sounded far more likely that Yuel will swap positions with Blackhole this game. After all, Blackhole could play decent Support too, as proven by the previous scrim.

The more I think about it, the more likely this theory sounds. Cato nodded to himself. Of course, it's still a very shaky theory, considering that Yuel should want to play Bot, but...

It was a feasible solution, at the very least. Yuel established himself as a surprisingly competent 1v1 combatant, so maybe he decided to try stomping Sonya in Top.

Normally, there was no reason to worry about Sonya's defenses being penetrated. However, with Dark Knight, perhaps Yuel could make it happen.

It's soooo tempting to switch to formation A and let Yuel deal with Ronald in Top. I'm sure he'll enjoy that~

But, that wasn't going to happen. William was still adamant about playing Bot against Gunz, still preoccupied with proving himself as the "stronger player", as childish as it sounded.

As such, they had to stick with formation B for now. This meant Sonya will have to deal with that Dark Knight.

It won't be a big deal if Blackhole remains her opponent. But, what if Yuel actually goes Top this game? Would Sonya be able to handle it? Then again, would Stratus even do something like that in the first place? Hmmmmmmm...

"I hope you remember that we have to pick two classes," Sonya nagged again.

"Yes, yes, I'm quite aware, thank you very much." Cato smiled wryly. "Well, one of the picks is pretty much decided. I gotta snag Sorcerer for Matt before anybody can take it. That's alright with everybody, right?"

"No objections here," Sonya said.

"Sounds good." William nodded.

"Alrighty, then I'll select Sorcerer for now." Cato chose Sorcerer but he hadn't locked in the pick yet.

"What's with the hesitation?" Matthew asked.

"I'm just wondering if we should instead pick two classes that can counter DK. Say, both a Top Laner and a Jungler that can shut down DK easily."

"I don't think that's necessary," Sonya argued. "There's no reason for us to adjust our pace to theirs. Give me something like Dragonborn and I'll handle their DK just fine. Though, of course, you'll likely have to gank the lane regularly early on."