Classmancers - A MOBA Esport Story - Part 3

Vol.17 Ch.2: Muddled Priorities

Based on Vincent's analysis, Kai wasn't very likely to play aggressively in Mid so long as her opponent was a fellow female player. That was unfortunate, but it still wasn't nearly as troublesome as the situation in Top.

In fact, Top was the very lane through which the enemy paved their path to victory. Challenger dominated the lane with his skillful aggression, and together with Winner they completely ripped the lane apart.

Therefore, if nothing changes in Top for the next game, then the same scenario will repeat itself again.

As for why things turned out that way... Yuel frowned. This isn't going to be a pleasant topic to discuss.

Of course, a big part of the blame lay with Luke and with his inability to properly gank the lane. But, the very fact the lane needed so much help was already a problem in its own right.

I think Vincent can't handle Challenger, not when the guy is playing so aggressively.

Vincent was a versatile player who could play offense, defense, and anything in-between. He always adjusted his approach based on the opponent and on Yuel's instructions. In that sense, he was a very dynamic soldier with a vast array of uses, but that versatility came with a cost.

To put it simply, Vincent was a jack of all trades but a master of none. His offense wasn't strong enough to bust through Theorist's defense, and his defense wasn't bulletproof enough to deflect Challenger's offense. In other words, Vincent's performance suffered greatly against extremists who were fully dedicated to either offense or defense.

So, it might be a good idea to switch him with Ben. Yuel pondered. Ben is too defensive for his own good, but that's exactly what we need right now against Challenger.

Stratus didn't have the option of fighting fire with fire in Top, so their next best option was to extinguish Challenger's flame with a strong defense. To that end, there was nobody better for the job than Ben, but...

That'll be his debut game. Yuel thought. Not to mention, we're losing right now, so he'll probably feel extra pressure to help the team win. Will he be able to handle that?

Ben was already lacking in the self-confidence department in general, so throwing him into this difficult situation sounded like a recipe for disaster. There was a very high chance he'll perform poorly, which will miss the whole point of subbing him in.

On paper, this is an adequate answer to Challenger's offense, but I don't know if we should take a risk like that here. Yuel frowned. We have to win the next game, no matter what. This is our last chance to force the Korean player on the stage.

If the Leopards win the next game, then they'll be at 3-1. At that point, they'll secure overall victory, so there won't be any need to sub in the Korean player. That's a scenario Yuel had to prevent, no matter what.

I don't want to wait until the regionals to face that guy. Yuel thought. We have to see what he's made so we can start collecting data on him as soon as possible.

"Dude, everything okay?" Lars asked. "You keep making this scary face as if the fate of the world is at stake or something."

"Everything is... not okay, honestly."

"Haha. Yep, we're in a tough spot, aren't we?" Lars nodded. "But, it gonna be okay! We just gotta win the next game and even out the score! Easiest thing ever, believe it!"

"Yeah, 'easy', right..." Yuel smiled wryly.

"Welp, I dunno what kinda complicated stuff you be thinking about. It gotta be some rocket science that I'll never understand. But, there's one thing even I know: you totally look on edge today."