Classmancers - A MOBA Esport Story - Part 3

Vol.16 Ch.15: How Safe Should We Play It?

It was time for the third game of the scrimmage. The score was 1-1 right now, so the upcoming game will serve as a tiebreaker.

But, it was more than just that. In a real tournament match, two wins would have been enough to win the entire thing. So, if this were the regionals right now, then everything would have been riding on this game!

Then again, this is not representative of a real match for our side. Yuel though. Nia was half asleep in the first game and now she's completely out of the picture, so we're forced to rely on memes. This is turning out to be a "worst-case" simulation of the regionals. It's a little disappointing.

The whole point of scrimmages was to give both teams a taste of what to expect at the regionals. But, this scrimmage? So far, it was nothing but a pure mess for Stratus.

I suppose that's a lesson in itself. Yuel frowned. It shows us how unreliable our Junglers are and how much we're dependent on them.

A Jungler was similar to a midfielder in soccer. Normally, they weren't the player who scored the most goals or blocked the most attacks. Nonetheless, the midfielder was an important playmaker that linked the team's offense and defense. A successful defense could only transition into a strong attack via the mid-fielder.

The Jungler role in Classmancers was very much like that. The Jungler didn't lane but he covered up for laners whenever they had to evacuate to the base. And, the Jungler didn't score that many kills but himself but he participated in the majority of ganks.

In summary, Jungler was a crucial role that linked many of the team's plays together. It was the piece on the board that had the freedom to move from one end to another on demand.

But, Luke makes it difficult to utilize this piece properly. Yuel sighed deeply as he took his seat in front of the table. Instead of being a flexible piece, this guy comes with so many restrictions that I'm forced to plan the entire team comp around him. Normally, it's supposed to be the other way around...

The Jungler was supposed to be the flexible role that adjusts itself to the team and the situation. Yet, Luke's Dark Knight meme enforced the exact opposite.

Now, because of this, Yuel had to form another highly aggressive team comp once again.

And, Cato is going to expect that so I can't be too obvious about it. Yuel reasoned. I'm sure Cato is on guard against another Dark Knight lineup, so I have to find a smart way to throw them with the early picks.

This drafting phase was going to decide a lot about the outcome of the upcoming game. If the enemy catches wind of this Dark Knight plan and counters it preemptively, then they'll turn Stratus's life into hell.

For starters, there's no choice but to pick Dark Knight toward the end. Yuel concluded. Until then, I'll stick to ambiguous picks.

The drafting phase opened with the banning phase. Yuel's bans were no-brainers: Aeromancer, Warlock, and Shadow Walker. On the other hand, the enemy banned Trickshooter, Gunslinger, and Pirate. Both strategists targeted players with obvious favorite picks.

"Heh, they aren't gonna ban DK?" Luke cracked a laugh. "It looks like they're not scared enough yet. I say let's pick DK right at the start to give them some Vietnam flashbacks!"

"Definitely not." Yuel shot it down. "As I explained earlier, this time, the plan is to keep the Dark Knight under wrappers. Last time, I used the Dark Knight pick to confuse them, but this time they'll know exactly what's coming once they see the Dark Knight."

"Oh, so therefore!" Vincent exclaimed. "You are planning to do the exact opposite of the last game, are you not? You will hide the mighty Dark Knight until the very end, fooling the enemy into thinking it won't be making an appearance this time!"