Classmancers - A MOBA Esport Story - Part 2

Vol.13 Ch.35: Confident Ignis

For Game 2, Jin picked Viking. It was a great class for initiating and ganking, which will help him organize the team's offense.

In response to this obvious intention of playing aggressively, Ignis dialed up the aggression by picking Orc.

She's making a statement. Jin was convinced. Basically, she's saying she can easily win the early-game against me.

Perhaps it was an attempt to taunt Jin before the game, but more likely, Ignis genuinely believed she'll get away with this extreme pick. It seemed there was no limit to how much that woman could underestimate her opponents. Oh well.

If she wants to dig her own grave, so be it. Jin thought. This is great for me. If I can just counter her during the early-game, then winning the entire game would be that much easier.

Similar to Dark Knight, Orc was also an exceptionally strong class during the early-game, but it fell off hard afterward. So, Ignis would have to establish an impressive advantage against Jin in order to have a chance.

Admittedly, Orc's power curve was far more stable than Dark Knight's, but it was still an extremely risky pick at high levels. So, pro players only ever picked it when they believed their lane opponents were substantially inferior. And, that's probably what Ignis was implying about Jin as well.

Should I just focus only on defending? It was ironic. Jin was the one who brought up the whole idea of expanding the team's offense for this game, yet now, he found himself wondering whether he should focus exclusively on defense, at least for the early-game.

As long as I don't let her gain early momentum, then it'll be my win. But, I'm not sure how impressive that'll look from the side.

He glanced at the Sweepers' coach, who was watching the match like a hawk. Judging by the man's ever serious expression, he was a tough customer to satisfy.

So, even if Jin manages to defeat Ignis via turtling, it probably won't do much for his reputation. In order to leave a positive lasting impression, he'd have to challenge Beat head-on and overpower her.

With that said, I'll end up looking even worse if I challenge her and then lose. It'll peg me as a reckless player with bad decision-making.

Jin was pressed between a rock and a hard place. It was unclear whether Ignis placed him in this dilemma intentionally, but her decision to pick Orc definitely made things awkward.

"I'd stick to defense if I were you," Howard interjected, as if he read Jin's thoughts. "I bet you're thinking about showing off by fighting Ignis, right? Don't do it. You'll run your entire reputation into the ground."

"Run into the ground...?"

"It means you'll ruin it, your entire reputation."

"Oh, yes, I'm aware of that," Jin said. Such timely advice, almost suspiciously so.

It was good advice, very much in line with the mentality of a defensive player. If Howard were in Jin's shoes right now, he'd definitely deflect Ignis's Orc by playing defensively.

His advice is on point every now and then. Jin could recall multiple instances in which Howard's shot-calls were exceptionally on-point

As much as I'd like to rely on my own judgment, there is some merit to considering his advice. Jin admitted. He is Ignis's brother, so I assume he knows how he plays better than anybody. So, unless he has an ulterior motive, he must be warning me because he knows how well his sister plays Orc.

Jin could more-or-less imagine it as well. He researched and experienced Ignis's playstyle enough to understand how much she favored an aggressive playstyle. She was the stark opposite of her younger brother in that sense.