Those Who Contribute From Outside the Stage

"So, Pip. Anything else that caught your attention?"

"Yes, of course, sir!" Pip nodded repeatedly. "I've written many, many, MANY more notes!"

"Yeah, I'm sure you did," Howard said. "The question is whether any of it is useful for the short term and can be discussed briefly."

"I'll check, sir!" Pip flipped through a few more pages. "Hmm. Honestly speaking, sir, most of the notes are about Rosemary."

"Yeah, you already said that." Howard wanted to skip the topic at first, but then he realized it might be a mistake. Pip had something useful to say about Bot, so maybe he'll enlighten us about Rosemary too.

"Well then, is there anything insightful you can tell about Rosemary's performance other than the fact she dominated the game?"

"Hmm." Pip flipped back and forth through the hundreds of notes he wrote. "One thing I'd like to mention is that I tried to evaluate Rosemary's skill with Werewolf as opposed to Lionfolk, since Lionfolk was previously established as her main class."

"That's a good line of thinking."

Based on the Leopards vs. Valkyries scrim, it was evident Rosemary's favorite class was Lionfolk, as she picked the class in four games out of five. That's why Howard immediately banned the class during the banning phase.

"So, what was your impression of her Werewolf?"

"I dare say it measured up to her skill with Lion, sir," Pip said. "In fact, her Wolf might even be stronger than her Lion!" 

"Are you sure it's not because she got an early lead and dominated in this particular game?"

"I tried to take that into consideration and stay as impartial as possible, sir," Pip said. "Honestly, I can't say for sure that my conclusion wasn't affected by the way she snowballed, sir. Nonetheless, the plays I've seen her perform with Wolf convinced me she possesses great class mastery!"

"I second that, actually," Dan added. "Girl sure knows how to use that dang Wolf to the fullest. I mean, some of the plays she pulled were real impressive, like how she blinked in and ult'd me in the middle of creating a portal. Shit was clean as hell!"

"Well, of course you'd praise her," Howard said. "She killed you so many times that there's no way you wouldn't be impressed by her performance."

Being awed by Rosemary's execution was like a defense mechanism in this case. Dan died so many times that his brain had to justify all of it. So, the easiest excuse was to say "The enemy is too strong!". 

"As another bystander here," Gilbert said. "I agree with Pip on this one. That Werewolf was really impressive, both tactically and mechanically. Sure, you can attribute most of her success to snowballing, but her execution was nearly flawless in the plays I've seen."

"Hmm. I see." Howard nodded. "In that case, we better ban both Lion and Wolf."

Unlike the previous inputs, this one was far more credible in Howard's book. Gilbert wasn't part of that game, so his opinion wasn't swayed by Rosemary's dominance. In addition, he was a veteran player with far more experience than Pip, and he also wasn't the type to overhype things.

If even Gilbert says so, then it's got to be true. Howard concluded. I was on the fence about this until now, but they convinced me.

Small but important observations like this were the whole reason to ask for bystanders' opinions. Their inputs were expected to be less biased because they saw the entire picture during the game, and they also weren't as personally invested because they weren't the ones playing on the stage.

In particular, Pip was very good at deconstructing matches in real-time, albeit his analysis was a tad excessive and overhyped at times. Still, having another thought-out neutral opinion was very valuable for the team.

Last year, we had Yuel run these errands for us. Heh. Howard thought back on the days when the previous first-string roped Yuel into working full-time for them. They sent the freshman to scout enemy teams, compile notes, and sometimes even present them during the first-string's official meetings.

Of course, Aron being Aron, the guy demanded full control over the procedure. He always carefully reviewed Yuel's notes before any official meeting.

But, over time, even Aron had to accept that Yuel was gifted at this job. And so, the first-string dumped more and more responsibilities on the freshman while they themselves focused on practicing.

I was looking forward to continuing this tradition this year as well… until Yuel pulled a fast one on me. Howard sighed. After him, the only one left in the club who could fulfill a similar role was Greg, but…

That guy was a handful, to put it lightly. Somewhere deep down he was the studious type, so he could definitely research enemy teams and present the information in meetings. That is, if he felt like doing it…

Nah, he only cares about himself. Howard shook his head. He'd only go to great lengths to research stuff that helps HIM specifically. He couldn't care less about the first-string so long as he isn't a part of it. What a useless brat.

Because of this, for a while, Yuel's leave was a huge blow to StormBlitz. Howard effectively had to split his focus between managing the first-string, information gathering, and meetings. It was rather tiresome.

Fortunately, a short time later, Pip showed up. He passed the second part of the entrance exam with flying colors, and unlike Greogry, he was motivated enough to contribute to the first-string without being a selfish brat.

He already considers himself a part of the team even though he doesn't play on the stage. Howard nodded. That's a great mindset to have.

There were only five players on the stage at any given time, but that didn't mean they were the "entire team". The rest of the club supported the five representatives in many ways outside the games themselves.

Everybody practiced in the same club, exchanged ideas, studied the enemy together, and so forth. So, even though the supporters weren't the main fighting force on the stage, their contribution to the victory could sometimes be just as valuable.

Yuel and Pip both understood that, unlike Gregory. And to think that the guy was supposed to be the vice-captain…

Instead of being useful, he and Taison are more busy with trying to get into the first-string. Well, good luck with that.

After exhausting Pip's main intel, Howard gave the team a short break before the next game. However, he himself continued discussing the topic with Pip and Gilbert to make sure he didn't miss anything else.

Losing another game is not an option. Howard asserted. We WILL win, and we will do it as cleanly as possible to make everybody forget the previous game.

With that determination, StormBlitz headed into the second game of the day…