Shackles of the Larger Picture

The fourth match between StormBlitz and the Leopards began. Yuel and Lars played in Bot as Paladin and Trickshooter, facing off ComboBreaker's Pyromancer and SkyNight's Lumimancer. More than anybody else, their performance in lane will have a huge impact on the rest of the game. No matter what, Yuel had to ensure they were going to dominate Bot.

[Since they reverted to their original positions, I should rearrange my data.] In the previous match, Yuel collected all sorts of data about the enemy's mixup formation. However, most of it was gathered in a haste and without enough validation, that's how desperate he was to find something to latch onto in that dreadful match.

It's best to discard this information and recall everything he collected on the enemy from the first two matches. The one element which stayed exactly the same in these two matches was Breaker playing Combo Pyromancer. Just like in his data, she played the early game safely but effectively. She remained out of Lars's range without being pushed back.

"Geh, she's such a pain." Lars ranted as Breaker slipped outside the range of his Trickshot again. "What is this? I remember her being more explosive and stuff."

"You could learn a lot from her," Yuel said. "Her playstyle turns aggressive once she gets her combo pieces, but until then she plays good defense, unlike a certain somebody who only knows how to rely on aggression and mechanical skill."

"Yeah, yeah, that's me. The one and only." Lars made a face. How many times did he listen to Yuel criticizing his defense? There's probably not enough numbers in the entire world to represent that amount. It was like a bazillion billion million times, at least. "Welp, no matter how good she can defend, it's no use if I beat her anyway!"

"It'll be harder than you think," Yuel said. It's already the third time he faced Breaker's early game in Bot, yet even he struggled to find something to exploit. Same as her combos, her defense was practically perfect. In fact, her defense felt like a natural extension of the combo playstyle she mastered. It wasn't just about playing strong defense in the early game, it felt her she was stating: "That's how I play combo in the early game."

Was it really impossible to break through her? As a Trickshooter, Lars had the clear speed advantage over Breaker in the early game, thanks to Trickshot's high base damage. However, the enemy balanced it out with Lumimancer's ranged basic attacks, taking advantage of the fact Yuel's Paladin was melee. As a result, Lars mostly contested the wave clearing in 1v2 and Yuel barely had any safe chances to get close to the minions.

Or rather, he [could] do so if he really wanted, but that involved huge risks. Breaker and Night weren't the types to let that slide, they'd wipe him out in an instant. Conceding first blood for no reason was the last thing the team needed right now. Therefore, Yuel played it safe.

"Dude, why don'tcha body-block their shots s little more?" Lars asked. "I can't push them back like this."

"This isn't ranked," Yuel retorted. "They know how to deal with a frontliner in the early game, so they'll eat me alive."

"No spine!"

"Whatever you say, I'm not taking the risk." Yuel shook his head. It's better to be safe than sorry. Bot was a very important lane this match because of Lars's inclusion, so Yuel couldn't possibly risk committing a mistake which could cost the lane.

And so, the early game remained at standstill. Lars pouted, and of course, Yuel wasn't satisfied with the situation either. If possible, he wanted Lars to score at least one kill on Breaker before mid game, since Trickshooter had the power advantage over Pyromancer right now.

But, how were they going to achieve that? They both thirsted for Breaker's blood, but no plan of attack came to mind- wha!?

"Here I go, yo!" Lars slid forward, right toward Breaker and Night! That reckless goof...!

"Wait! Turn back!" Yuel gave chase, but for some reason, he was too far away. When did Lars get all the way out there? They were normally much better synchronized than this, how did that happen!?

At first glance, Lars's idea of closing the distance with a Trickslide didn't seem that terrible. Breaker was at 30% HP and got outcleared, so she was in the middle of retreating. Chasing her and firing from behind could lead to a kill, but that's only against inexperienced and uncoordinated foes. Breaker and Night were neither. They were going to turn the tables on Lars!

Ugh! How did it come to this!? That goof was way too excited about his debut and got carried away! Didn't he understand his importance of this match? He was supposed to be the momentum generator for the team! If he were to concede first blood here, things would only go downhill from there. Morale would be hit across all lanes and the team would fall apart.

[Wait, what am I thinking?] Yuel stopped himself. None of these things mattered right now. Before anything else, he had to concentrate on the situation at hand. Right now, at this very moment, Lars put himself in a bad spot. It already happened, there's no changing that. As Lars's partner, Yuel had to pour everything into rescuing him from this predicament.

"Retreat!" Yuel repeated while dashing to the scene. If Night was going for a blind, and Breaker was going to chase, and Lars fled, and then, and afterward and and and. A storm of thoughts and predictions whirled inside Yuel's mind. The situation was dire, but it wasn't unrecoverable.

Unfortunately, he didn't have the luxury to calmly analyze all the best plays. As he predicted, Night made the first move. While Lars's attention was locked on the fleeing Breaker, Night turned around and teleported in front of Lars in a flash.

"Crap!" Lars started turning his Trickshooter away, but it's too late. The Lumimancer released a burst of blinding light, painting Lars's screen in pure white.

"Their Pyro is coming back for you!" Yuel informed. From this distance, providing info was all he could do to help. While Lars was blinded, Yuel was his "eyes". "She's coming from your right, probably going for a Flame Wave. Actually, just check my screen!"

"Oh! Sick idea!" Lars leaned toward Yuel to check out the Paladin's point of view. Yuel maintained a full view of the unfolding situation, so Lars could see everything clearly, even though he was supposed to be blinded. It felt a bit like cheating, but there was no rule against it and they had to avoid Lars's death by any means.

"I can sure see 'em." Lars nodded. Actually, maybe he could even fight back like this! There was a difference in distances to account for between Yuel's view and Lars's actual position, but if he could figure it-

"Don't even think about fighting back." Yuel killed that thought before it was born.

"Geh, okay. I'm out then! Cover me, dude!" Lars turned around and ran away... slowly, because Lumimancer's Blinding Light also slowed its victims. Thanks to that, Night scored a couple of easy hits on the slooooowly fleeing target. Lars did his best to throw the enemy off by suddenly changing directions, but it wasn't very effective with reduced movement speed.

As a result, Lars dropped all the way to 40% HP. A single charged Flame Wave was going to finish him off and it's coming soon, as Breaker was about to catch up to him. He was saving his roll to dodge that decisive strike.

But, Breaker knew that. Therefore, once Lars was within range, she just barraged him with basics attacks. No need to use her trump card yet.

"Geh, why won't she use it already!?" Lars grimaced. It's brutal. He couldn't dodge roll her basic attacks, because after he rolls - she'll unleash Flame Wave on him during roll recovery. His hands were tied. He had to keep saving the roll for her Flame Wave, which refused to come.

[Crap, I'm screwed!] Lars understood there's no way out. There's no escape from this situation. The enemy completely turned the tables on him with that Blinding Light. If he didn't roll now, he'd be dead to basic attacks. If he did roll, he's dead to Flame Wave. Then, how the heck was he supposed to get out!?

There's only one way. Even though Yuel said not to fight, that's the only way! "Sorry dude, but-"

"Don't even think about it," Yuel ordered while running toward Lars.

"But-"

"Keep running. You got this."

"Geh! Okay!" Lars complied. Even though every cell in his body screamed to turn back and fight, he instinctively followed Yuel's orders. After playing together so much, he was certain: if Yuel saw an out from this desperate situation, then there gotta be one, yo!

With that said, being barraged by two sources of basic attacks seriously hurt. His HP plummeted at an insane rate. 35%. 28%. 21%. 18%. 15%. 12%. Wait, was it just him or did the damage slow down at the end there? He didn't figure it from the displayed percentages though, because the heck was a number even. He just got a rough feeling, based on how much was erased from his HP bar.

That's when he noticed a violet aura stretching on the ground beneath him, a magical defense aura if he ever saw one. Was that Yuel's doing? Actually, he mentioned something or another about building an item with a magical defense aura to counter the enemy composition. Dude was legit genius, yo!

With Yuel finally getting close to Lars, Breaker was now put on the spot. With Lars's buffed magical defense, she and Night couldn't finish him off in time with just magical basic attacks. So, she had to fire her Flame Wave before Lars got away.

And, she also had to do so before getting in the range Yuel's Justice Strike. In other words, she had to fire it [right now]. So, she did.

"No chance, yo!" Lars reacted instantly. Even amidst this chaotic situation, he neatly roll dodged the Flame Wave. That's it! He finally got out! His blindness and slowdown were about to expire too. "Yeah! I'm finally... out?" Even though Lars and Yuel finally met on lane, Yuel didn't stop running toward the enemy.

"Now! Shoot her!" Yuel summoned a holy blade above Breaker's head, which came down crashing right on her. She was silenced and slowed, becoming the prey! The tables were turned!

"What!? Now?!" Lars exclaimed. "You crazy bastard! Haha!" He sharply turned around and took aim. His HP was at 8%. He'd die from just a couple of hits. Yet, in this super mega tight situation, Yuel put him on the offense! Dude was nuts, haha!

With Yuel guarding the front, Lars didn't have to worry about anything. He darted forward to get the slowed down Breaker back within firing range. To finish this with a kill, he had to fire a super accurate Trickshot with at least one bounce. And, he had to do it as quickly as possible. Meaning, right after his blindness lifts up.

On top of that, considering the sudden shift from defense to offense, he didn't have much time to take aim. Normally, it'd absurd to expect anybody to land a bouncing shot under these circumstances. But, it's Lars. He should be able to pull it off.

As soon as the whiteness started fading from his screen, Lars's aim was already locked on. He fired with speed and accuracy that'd put even an aimbot to shame.

It was an amazing development. When Lars charged in alone, Yuel was sure everything was doomed. However, thanks to their persistence under these harsh circumstances, something unbelievable happened: they created an impossibly rare chance to score a kill on Breaker! During the early game! With this pinpoint Trickshot, Lars was going to-

"Whaaaaaa?! You kidding me?!" Lars exclaimed. His shot was fast and accurate enough, no complaints there. It was going to perfectly land on Breaker... but she rolled. As if driven by instinct, she rolled forward right as the Trickshot was fired. As a result, even though Lars's bullet reached her location with pitch-perfect timing, the shot was a bit too high. She dodged Lars's finishing blow by a hair's breadth!

"This girl is crazy, yo!" Lars's grin was colored by a mixture of awe and disbelief. She's even crazier than what he saw on screen from the audience! This was sick!

[Good response there. Well played.] Yuel sighed. With that dodge, Breaker forced this 2v2 into a draw. With the looming danger of a gank, Lars couldn't pursue the enemy any further with just 8% HP. They tried pressuring Night instead, but he elegantly disengaged as well. It's a draw, plain and simple.

"Phew!" Jennifer exhaled all the air from her lungs. "Man, that shit was intense! Did you see what just happened? What's with that Trickshooter!?"

"Yes, I saw," Albert nodded. "That was a pretty hard shot to land."

"'Hard'? More like 'impossible'! And I barely dodged that shit!" Jennifer dropped back on her chair. This last exchanged spent all the brain power she had in stock. She could really use a breather.

Seriously, what's the deal with that Trickshooter? She thought he was some nobody StormBlitz subbed in after their captain ragequit or something. And at first, it really looked that way.

Like, that scrub charged in solo a few moments ago. He should have totally been dead meat, but he somehow wiggled his way out. And, then he almost turned the tables around with a crazy pro tier Trickshot.

So, was he a scrub or s decent player? Which was it!?

As she thought back on her Trickshot dodge, her hands trembled. It was one hella clutch dodge, but it was a successful dodge nonetheless. As soon as she heard the Trickshot's sound effect, her fingers reacted on their own. Rolling against a Trickshot was one of the many lessons she beat into herself via endless practice.

["Trickshot will sometimes come at you as the finisher."] One of Coach's lectures. ["Always remember: Trickshot can't bounce downwards. So, if you roll at the right time, the bullet can't hit you."]

After hearing that advice, Jennifer added it to her "Stuff I Gotta Ace" list. She dragged Albert into practice mode and made him fire countless Trickshots at her. She rolled and rolled and rolled and rolled until the experience was beaten into her.

[Low HP? Trickshot coming at ya? Roll like your life depends on it!] After practicing it for hours and revising it every week, like with everything else on the "Stuff I Gotta Ace" list, her body reacted to this scenario by instinct.

Against that Trickshooter's lightning speed snipe, even a split of a fraction of a millisecond was fatal. If she were just a tiny bit slower - she'd be dead right now. Her methodical training exhibited great results!

"Still can't believe she dodged that," Lars scratched his head. "I don't get it. Was my shot too slow? Was my aim off?"

"I don't think it was either," Yuel said. He was closely watching Breaker and Night's movements the whole time, so he saw how everything went down. As soon as Lars fired the Trickshot - Breaker rolled. She didn't turn back to check whether the shot was coming at her and she didn't try guessing the trajectory. She just rolled, as if that's an instinct she was born with.

"I have a feeling she practiced this sort of scenario," Yuel said. "Expect her to regularly roll against your Trickshot. Especially, any Trickshot you're using as a finisher."

"Roger." Lars smiled mischievously. "So? How did you like my aggressive play?"

"You mean, the play in which you charged in solo like a suicidal terrorist?"

"C'mon, dude! We almost got them!" Lars pouted. "Besides, where were you at anyway? I've been advancing at them for a while now, but you stayed behind."

"Well, I was... thinking about things, I guess." Yuel averted his eyes. The blame was rightfully placed. Out of all people in the entire world, he should have been the best at following up on Lars's plays. They achieved an almost "telepathic" level of teamwork, the kind you'd only see at pro levels.

Yet, Yuel failed to follow Lars's play this time. Why? He knew the answer. His mind was clouded by thoughts about the team's morale, about his responsibilities as the new captain and so on and so forth. All these thoughts about the larger picture shackled him, preventing him from performing his best during the small situations that occurred on lane. If he paid more attention to every little detail in the lane, they might have scored a kill in the latest play. Ugh.

Lars had it good, he was so carefree about everything. That goof couldn't for the life of him think about anything other than the fight in front of him. That's how he could play so aggressively in this situation. On the other hand, Yuel was nervous and tried to avoid risks because it was an important match. If only he could also temporarily shut down his overheating brain...

Between maintaining global map awareness, collecting as much data as possible on all enemies, wrestling with the pressure of being a captain and crafting strategies for the future - his brain couldn't keep up. He wasn't some quantum computer, he couldn't handle countless parallel tasks.

Through experience, he grew used to analyzing many different subjects at once, but he still had a limit. And, he just crossed it. The only solution was to narrow down his focus and concentrate only on the truly important subjects.

[Easier said than done.] He never dealt with this sort of problem. The first thing he definitely wanted to get rid off was the pressure on his shoulders, coming from his responsibility as the captain. But, how exactly could he erase something vague like pressure? If it were that easy, nobody would ever struggle with pressure in the first place.

The same applied to filtering out the endless stream of thoughts about the team's morale and momentum. Even though his reason understood there's no use thinking too hard about these things, the thoughts kept haunting him. When something positive happened, his brain went "Yes! We may be able to gain momentum and raise team morale!". When something bad happened, his brain went "No! The team may fall apart because of this!". Such extreme overreactions were unlike him. The previous match must have shaken him really hard.

No matter how much he wanted, he couldn't turn his brain numb to these thoughts. He had to cut something else from his overflowing mind. The only options left were... reducing map awareness and enemy analysis, perhaps? What if he completely ignored the upper half of the map for now and concentrated only on Bot and Bot Jungle? It's still early into the game, so full map awareness wasn't that crucial yet. Still, giving up such an important tactical tool wasn't pretty, but Yuel had to do it. He had to lessen the burden on his brain at any cost.

Therefore, he filtered out the upper half of the map, both from his sight and from his mind. He dedicated his everything to supporting Lars in Bot and finding a way to gain the upper hand in the lane.

Despite his criticism of Lars's reckless play, it's the first time today Breaker was about to be killed during the early game. The situation was one huge uncoordinated mess, but it's the first time he saw Breaker tripping during the early game like that. In previous games, he poked and baited her in various ways, but she didn't budge. That's why he concluded nothing could be done about her solid early game defense.

But, Lars proved him wrong. By making a hyper-aggressive and super risky play, Lars revealed cracks in Breaker's defense. She clearly practiced a vast variety of standard 2v2 scenarios, so it's hard to fool her with standard baits and pressure tactics. But, what about an absurd scenario that transcended common sense? Like, Lars's suicidal slide straight into the lion's maw. A crazy play nobody would attempt on purpose, but it almost worked.

Back when Yuel was paired with Trever, they didn't have any opportunities to try that. Trever was an aggressive player, but he was more well-rounded than Lars and his fighting tactics were mostly orthodox meta plays. Compared to that, Lars was like a glass cannon. His defense was barely better than that of a Bronze player, but his offense was Master tier. He was a beast who operated outside the boundaries of common sense, the perfect counter for Breaker's orthodox defense.

Fortunately, the enemy didn't have a chance to realize that yet. All they saw, was Lars making a fool out of himself by charging in alone like a reckless noob. They might be a bit wary of his accurate Trickshot, which nearly killed Breaker, but she dodged it in the end. So, her impression from that exchange was probably along the lines of "No problem, I can deal with this rookie Trickshooter."

This was a chance. If they could recreate the circumstances from that risky play and this time coordinate their actions - they were going to score a kill, maybe two. Breaker was the last enemy he wanted to take risks against since feeding her would spell disaster for the whole team. Nevertheless, it's against risky plays that she had the highest chance of stumbling. Therefore, paradoxically, unconventional high-risk aggression might actually be safer against her than orthodox aggressive tactics.

"Let's give it another shot," Yuel said.

"Hm?" Lars cocked his head.

"You want to go aggressive on them, right?" Yuel smirked. "Then, let's do it. I'll return to base to make some preparations. You stay on the lane to farm."

"Really? We gonna attack!?" Lars's eyes lit up. "I'm running low, though, Sure I shouldn't back?"

"No need. Just make sure you don't overextend and keep your eyes peeled for ganks. Also, stay a little back while you farm. No matter how they bait you, don't go on the offensive until I return."

"Yeah, I know not to take candy from strangers, mom. Haha."

"Heh." Yuel sighed with a smile. No matter what that goof said, there's never telling what he'd pull. Leaving him alone on the lane with such low HP was risky, but for Yuel's plan to work - Lars had to reach Lv.5 as soon as possible. While Breaker was busy traveling all the way from base to lane, Lars was going to farm some extra exp and get ahead.

As Yuel began recalling back to base, his plan was set in motion. Through the cracks he discovered in Breaker's defense - he and Lars were going to strike her down!