Classmancers - A MOBA Esport Story - Part 3

Vol.17 Ch.32: The Art of Counter-Jungling

"Nia, focus on counter-jungling for a while," Yuel said. "Their Jungler was in Top earlier, so some of the camps in Bot must've respawned by now."

"I'll check." Nia went along with the plan even though it felt like bullying. She had just killed Winner, and now she was going to steal his lunch money, too. She was one ruthless gal. Scary.

I guess I just check them in order? Nia went through the jungle camps in the same order she would've farmed them if they were on her side.

The jungle routes she normally used were endorsed by both Tipmancer and the alien robot, so there was a good chance Winner used similar routes. If so, his camps should respawn in a predictable order.

Admittedly, Nia didn't have much experience with counter-jungling. She usually preferred to lay low on her side of the jungle and wait for ganking opportunities, that was chill life.

But of course, Yuel called her out on this. That bully could never stop himself from exposing everybody's weaknesses, it was as necessary as breathing for that alien robot.

In fact, maybe people's weaknesses were like oxygen for this alien robot? Hmm. Some food for thought.

Anyway, as expected, Mr. Preacher lectured Nia on the topic of counter-jungling. He claimed that counter-jungling was an "art" in its own right, one that every high-level Jungler had to be familiar with.

In fact, some pro players out there even made a name for themselves thanks to their strong counter-jungling. These monsters could sweep through the entire enemy jungle within seconds when given the opportunity. Scary.

To drive the point home, Yuel showed Nia such examples from pro matches. It was pretty interesting.

It's nice to be able to do that. Nia thought as she watched the plays. They probably get tons of extra farm from this.

Indeed, such swift counter-jungling sometimes allowed the Jungler to get ahead of the rest in terms of farm. As a result, they gained earlier access to important items from their builds, enabling them to gank and counter-jungle more efficiently.

All these examples convinced Nia that counter-jungling was indeed an important skill to pick up. So yes, the alien robot preacher achieved his goal of converting Nia into the Counter Jungling Cult.

"Unfortunately, this is a big, complicated topic," Yuel explained. "Since we don't have much time to prepare for the next scrim, I'll give you the general pointers to help you get started."

The first thing Yuel taught her was very simple but very effective: "Start by imagining yourself in the shoes of the enemy Jungler". That's all. It sounded super simple, almost trivial. Nonetheless, Nia soon realized how effective that mindset was.

In any game, both Junglers were interested in minmaxing the farm on their side. Therefore, by pretending that the enemy jungle was actually Nia's, she was bound to farm it efficiently.

What's more, it was often the case that enemy camps respawned in familiar intervals that matched Nia's jungling rotations. That's because the enemy Jungler used these very same rotations to clear these camps in the past.

"This isn't going to be the optimal method for every situation," Yuel warned. "But, it should work well in scenarios where the enemy Jungler is dead."

Thanks to this one simple trick, Nia was able to blaze through Winner's camps in a familiar order. It was almost as if Winner prepared his camps specifically for Nia, what a nice guy.

First, the Hyena Camp near Mid. Then the Ogre Camp, which was fortunately present. It was always a questionable camp to counter-jungle due to its long respawn times, but Nia struck gold this time.

Mine! Nia snatched the red buff for herself, as there was no nearby ally to give it to. This was a big deal. The power buff will let her clear camps even faster for a while, which will put her even farther ahead of Winner! This was the true power of counter-jungling!

Could it be I'm pro level already!? Scary. Nia's amazing performance amazed even her. She couldn't believe she was stealing such an advantage here with her own hands, and against the Leopards no less!

Next, she rotated to the Wolf Camp near Bot. She made quick work of the entire camp, then went back toward Mid. There, she wiped out the Griffin Camp.

Just like that, Nia swept through the enemy Bot Jungle and even took the griffins without any competition. It was a bold play that would've been unthinkable for her about a month ago. But, now? She was like an expert at this stuff!

My learning speed is scary. She gave herself a pat on the shoulder as she returned to her usual farming routine.

Since Nia had already taken out the griffins, next she went straight to the bottom of the jungle and cleared the wolves. Then, she started rotating upwards while taking out every camp along the way.

The Ogre Camp on her side respawned as well, so Nia blazed right through it. However, this time, she left the power buff to Kai, who was currently on her way to the lane.

Next, Nia continued onward to the Hyena Camp on the bottom side of Mid. After that, she crossed the lane and entered Top Jungle, where she cleared yet another Hyena Camp.

This speed is scary. Nia thought. I'm blasting through all these camps way faster than usual. At this rate, I might even have time to counter-jungle Top! Or, not.

Based on the respawn countdowns, Winner had already respawned. So, it was dangerous to counter-jungle any further for now.

Oh well. Nia shrugged. I've got lots of goodies, so I'm satisfied.

That double kill in Mid led to so many benefits. Not only did Stratus destroy the Mid Turret, but Nia also got herself a bunch of extra farm from counter-jungling. In addition, she snatched herself a power buff, which allowed her to finish clearing Top Jungle way ahead of schedule. This gave her time to recall to base in order to gear up.

And, while she was getting all these benefits, what did Winner gain? A whole lot of nothing. The poor guy spent most of this time as a ghost.

When also factoring in the fact Nia scored two kills while Winner had none, it was clear she was far ahead of her opponent. Yes, she had a tremendous advantage against the one who was possibly the Leopards' strongest player.

Am I really that good!? I scare myself sometimes. Nia felt a smirk forming on her face. But, anybody would smile in a situation like this, right? She was currently at the very top of the regional competitive level!

If she continues playing like this, then maybe she'll even establish herself as one of the strongest players in the entire region!? Scary.

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