The Leopards’ Mistakes

Rodrigeuz suggested there was a culprit among them. Somebody who committed a grave mistake that played a big role in the team's defeat.

Yet, the criminal chose to keep their silence for now.

[My, don't tell me you want us to spill it for you?] Cato motioned his head, urging the culprit to speak up. [C'mon, admit it and let's move on.]

[I know, but…] Sonya chewed her lips.

There was no escape, she knew that much. If she doesn't speak up, then somebody else will. Or, if nobody does, then the entire team will be criticized. There was no clean way out of this predicament.

Nonetheless, admitting that she committed that unintelligent mistake was just too painful. She was not supposed to be the kind of player who was swayed by a sense of pride, yet the mistake she committed was indirectly a result of it.

Data was supposed to be everything. Data and data alone revealed all the objective facts about everything. It's what allowed Sonya to make the most reliable and optimal analysis.

All of Sonya's decisions had to be backed up by hard, cold data. There was no place for her to insert her emotions or opinions into the matter. At least, there shouldn't have been...

[I knew that Stratus is strong, the data said as much. But even so, in this game, I...]

She underestimated Stratus, no two ways about it. Despite having all the data at hand and analyzing it countless times, Sonya nonetheless went ahead and underestimated these competent players. She allowed her emotions to triumph over her reason.

[Because seriously, these memes are just...] Sonya grimaced. She had trouble admitting her mistake even now because of how dumb the whole ordeal was.

No matter how much the data suggested that Stratus could play well with unconventional tactics, Sonya could not bring herself to believe that these deplorable "memes" could do any real harm to the Leopards.

Of course, it's not like she willingly chose to lower her guard against these memes. Sonya had no intention of going easy on her foes no matter how much she pitied their terrible picks.

But, this was the competitive scene. Even the tiniest sign of mental weakness could lead to a disaster, and that's exactly what happened to Sonya.

[I don't think I was condescending, at least not on purpose. I just...]

She just... what, exactly? Why didn't she play safer back then? Especially, after Cato had already warned everybody that a gank was coming.

Sonya had all the data in hand, yet she deemed it alright to remain in the middle of the lane back then. It's as if she couldn't even fathom the idea of any serious harm coming her way.

But, why? Why did she assume such a nonsensical thing? Did she have any data to support a terrible hypothesis like that? No, she definitely didn't.

Back then, same as Cato, Sonya had no idea which lane the enemy will target with their gank. There were some good arguments against Stratus targeting Top, but those were just that - arguments. They couldn't be used for formal proof. Sonya couldn't write "QED" at the end there.

And yet, in the heat of the moment, she found herself trusting that baseless proof. In the back of her head, she allowed herself to underestimate her foes. ["They probably won't target Top. And even if they do, they won't accomplish much. Their lineup is a joke."]

That small lapse in logic led Sonya to her death and subsequently resulted in the downfall of the entire team. Her death granted Stratus unstoppable momentum which they rode all the way to victory.

[Yes, I've already figured all that out by myself...] Sonya had more than enough time to regret her mistakes while she waited for her revival. The situation forced her to sit there and watch her small mistake snowball into swallowing the entire game.

So, she was definitely aware of the crimes she committed, but…

[Do I have to say it out loud? Right now?] Sonya clenched her fists. [Coach is being as merciless as always...]

She really wanted to postpone this discussion for another day but Rodriguez had no intention of allowing that. So, Sonya couldn't run away from facing her embarrassing mistake even though she had already learned her lesson.

"It was my mistake..." Sonya finally spoke up. "You must be referring to the time when the enemy ganked Top and killed me, right? I wasn't careful enough back there."

"Correct." Rodriguez nodded in satisfaction. "Judging by your face, I can tell you've already analyzed that blunder and reached some conclusions."

"Yes, sir."

"Very well, then we'll leave it at that." Rodriguez let her off the hook this time. But, it's not because he was trying to be "nice" or "forgiving".

[She's a smart girl with her own sense of pride.] Rodriguez thought. [I'm sure she's already beating herself up over this mistake, so no need to criticize her any further for now. We'll address this properly during the match review, anyway.]

The goal of this lecture wasn't to bash the players. There was no point beating them down after they have already suffered a crushing defeat. Pressing them any further might make them lose their fighting spirits.

They still had 3 more games to play, so they had to stay strong. There'll be more than enough time to tear them apart during the official match review.

[For now,] Rodriguez thought. [All I want to see is that they realize their mistakes, can admit them, and understand how to move forward from here.]

"There were a few more plays that weren't up to your usual standard," Rodriguez said. "For example, the way Matt focused the Berserker in Mid instead of targeting higher priority targets."

"That's..." Matthew shifted his eyes away. "It was a hectic situation and the Berserker was close by, so I just attacked the first target within arm's reach."

"Is that really so?" Rodriguez asked. "That doesn't sound like you. One of your strongest points is how you stay calm no matter what happens around you."

"Eh, I'm only human, right? I also panic sometimes."

"Is that so." Rodriguez didn't seem convinced but he didn't have a good line of questioning to pursue here. After all, that assault on Mid was indeed a play that came out of the blue and shocked everybody, especially the players in Mid.

"Regardless," Rodriguez continued. "The fact you panicked shows that you weren't your usual self back there."

"Well, it was one hell of a surprise attack…"

"True, but still," Rodriguez insisted. "Normally, you wouldn't be bothered by something like that. This means you weren't expecting much from your opponents, were you? That's why the attack surprised you so much."

"I guess so," Matthew answered ambiguously. [That's not really it, but whatever. It's easier to just roll with this explanation.]

Then again, what did Matthew actually try to accomplish back there when he attacked Vincent? Honestly, he couldn't even answer that for sure.

[I guess was trying to assess my feelings toward him? Yeah, that makes no sense] Matthew shrugged. [I wouldn't know how to explain any of this shit even if I wanted to.]

Somebody in the team sensed Matthew's inner turmoil and decided to step in.

"To be fair," Cato said. "It was hard to think straight in that situation for me as well. I don't know about Matt, but when the Aqua showed up out of nowhere - my brain just short-circuited for a moment there. I had no idea what's the right thing to do."

"Same." Matthew successfully caught the bone Cato threw his way. "I was also at a loss for a moment there because of how absurd the whole thing was. You really can't compare it to a regular scenario."

"Hmm. Is that so." Rodriguez crossed his arms and eyed the two suspects. "Alright, let's leave it at that for now. We'll analyze this play in more depth during the match review."

[Phew, safe.] Cato breathed in relief. [Sorry Coach, but this seems personal for Matt. So, it's best to not pressure him on this topic for now, especially not after we've lost a game.]

Perhaps Rodriguez picked up on some of that during the interrogation and that's why he didn't press any further. Or, maybe he really fell for Cato's excuse. Either way, the coach left the topic alone and moved on.

Up until now, they've only discussed the past. They touched upon the various mistakes they made during the game and that's it.

Next, it was time to discuss the future. How the Leopards should mentally prepare themselves for the next game…?