Shadow Clone

The match between Lars and Nia began. Nia picked Ninja for its OP stealth whereas Lars went for Pirate. Or, at least, it should've been a Pirate...

"Haha! What's with this dude?" Lars laughed at his own character. He was playing on Vincent's account so the Pirate had quite the... interesting design. "Pft, haha! This looks so weird!"

"That's the High Seas Commentator!" Vincent said. "He plunders all the hot moments of the match!"

"Sick, yo!" Lars gave a thumbs up.

The Pirate was wearing a slick suit, like those dudes delivering news on TV. He was holding a microphone instead of a pistol and when he fired basics, he talked into the mic to produce sound notes that flew forward.

When switching to the "cutlass", this newsman attached a stand to his mic and waved it around to attack. Stuff was hilarious. 10/10 skin.

After Lars finished messing around with this silly skin, he focused on the match at hand.

"Ninja, huh," Lars smiled mischievously. "This gonna be interesting. I'mma go invade her blue camp."

"Wait," Kai was quick to object, as always. "No need to be so aggressive. We're here to test her not to beat her up." 

"But, ya gotta invade in these situations," Lars said. "I got da range so I gotta use it against her."

"I agree that invading is a strong play here," Kai said. "But, if it works, it'll put her in a terrible position right from the start. Dying in the first minute of the match always feels like shit."

"Haha, true dat," Lars nodded. "Okay, I'mma give her a break and play nice. Don't expect mercy from me on lane, though. That dude can sure fight so I wanna go all out, yo!" 

"Just don't overdo it..." Kai's almost sounded pleading. She knew first hand how overwhelming Lars was as an opponent so she prayed this beast won't crush Nia to the point of no recovery.

While Lars was on his way to his Wraith Camp, Nia was also in the middle of making her first big move.

[Pirate. What a pain.] Nia twisted her lips. [Now, it's proven: they're bullying me.]

As an assassin, fighting a marksman was either the most fun thing ever or a total disaster. If Nia can get close enough to strike, she'll destroy that guy in a blink of an eye. However, when the marksman was the cautious type who knew how to properly position himself, he'd just stay away and space Nia out. There was very little an assassin could do against marksmen like that. [Ban marksmen from Duel pls, ktnx.]

[What do I build against Pirate?] Nia checked her surroundings. [Ok, clear.]

She stealthily took out her phone and inputted the Ninja vs. Pirate matchup in the Tipmancer app. It gave her a build recommendation and a few tips.

[Imperial Spear. I see, the classic.] Nia nodded. This was the standard Ninja opening so there was nothing special recommended against a Pirate opponent. That made some sense because Imperial Spear was such a great setup for Izuna Drop, Ninja's ultimate.

There was only one interesting note against marksmen in general. Tipmancer warned against early invasions. That made sense because marksmen had a huge advantage when ambushing assassins. They struck from afar so the assassin couldn't immediately retaliate.

[I bet this tip right here is why so many Platinum marksmen have been invading against me recently. They all must be using Tipmancer too. Cheaters.]

Interestingly, this tip worked both ways. Assasins also had a great benefit from invading marksmen as long as they could get close undetected. Not all assassins had the tools for it but any assassin with stealth could pull it off. And, Ninja was one such class.

[Should I try it? If I get an early kill, it'll make the game that much easier. But, what if he notices? I haven't erased my presence yet. The invade may fail and then I'll die instead. Too risky.]

Nia gave up on that idea and quietly headed toward her Wraith Camp. It was better to take this slow and safe like she has always done. Instead of going all-in with an invade, she should focus on playing around the enemy's potential invade instead.

[Let's see.] Nia hid behind a corner and spied on her Wraith Camp. There was nobody around but that didn't mean anything yet. Her opponent might be lurking nearby and waiting for her to step into the camp. She couldn't risk it.

The wraiths spawned in the camp at the same time minions spawned on the lane. So far, still no sight of the enemy Pirate. Was he there? Was he lurking around in the shadows and waiting for an opportunity to jump her!? It was too scary to test out.

Therefore, instead of approaching the camp by herself, Nia activated Shadow Clone. It summoned a copy of the Ninja and sent it running forward. Naturally, Nia directed the clone toward the Wraith Camp.

[This should bait him out if he's there.] Nia cautiously advanced toward the camp as well. She was stealthed while her clone was alive so there was no risk of the enemy spotting her right now. Instead, the enemy could see the clone and will hopefully focus on it.

But, nothing happened. The clone ran into the Wraith Camp and attacked the wraiths. There was no sign of the enemy Pirate in the area.

[He's not invading? Really? Ok then.] Nia looked around one more time and proceeded to clear the Wraith Camp together with her clone. The clone died pretty quickly but at least it tanked hits and dealt some damage to the wraiths. That helped Nia clear the camp a little faster. [Thank you, my twin. Your efforts will not be in vain.]

After getting the blue buff, Nia retreated deeper into her side of the map and circled around the walls to arrive on the lane from a safe position. It took longer this way but she didn't want to risk running into the Pirate in the middle of the jungle. This was an important exam and her opponent was a marksman so she had to tread carefully.

By the time she arrived at the lane, the Pirate was already there, waiting to bully her. She didn't dare to come any closer. It was scary.

Instead, she let her minions clash at the center of the map and watched the unfolding events from afar. The Pirate was helping his minions by covering fire but Nia just stood at a distance and did absolutely nothing for her allies. 

[What a funny skin.] Nia thought as she watched the Pirate do his thing. Instead of a gun, he was holding a microphone and firing heated up commentary at the minions.

"What a shot!" "Beautiful last-hit!" "Such a high-level!" Every other shot was accompanied by a one-liner like this. It was rather silly but funny to watch. It helped Nia pass the time as she waited for her Shadow Clone skill to come out of cooldown.

By the time Shadow Clone came online, Nia's entire minion wave was already gone. So, she just retreated to her Golem and waited for the incoming enemies. Once the enemies stepped into the Golem's area, Nia summoned her clone and assaulted the invaders together with her dear twin sister.

When Shadow Clone was used in broad daylight like this, the enemy obviously knew which Nia was real and which was a fake. So, even though the enemy couldn't shoot the real Nia because that'd aggro the Golem, the Pirate was free to attack Nia's sister without any risk because she was just a bot. 

At least, hopefully, that's what the enemy thought. In practice, the Golem treated Nia's clone the same as the real deal. So, no matter whether the Pirate shoots Nia or her dear sister, the Golem will make quick work of them!

Nia caught many amateurs off guard with this strat. She lured them into the Golem area and made the shoot the clone, which aggro'd the Golem on them and deleted at least half their HP. It was easy to go for an early kill from such a position.

Alas, this Pirate didn't commit such a mistake. He focused on shooting the Golem and let both Nias clear his minions. Tch, what a smart fellow.

"I'm glad you didn't fall for it," Yuel commented. "It'd be a very sad game if you attacked the clone."

"Hey, who did you think I am?" Lars grinned. "I ain't Challenger for show, ya know? I know some stuff too. Attacking the clone under tower is a newbie mistake. I've graduated from that ages ago, yo!"

[So, you actually fell for that before?] Yuel chuckled. With that said, it was hard to blame Lars for it because most people fell for that on their first time. Even Yuel got burned by that interaction once.

In his mind, the clone was a minion so it should've obeyed the rules of any normal minion. In other words, attacking the clone shouldn't have triggered enemy minions and towers. Therefore, with a high-damaging "mob" on the lane, it only made sense to focus on it first before pushing the tower.

That's why Yuel carelessly shot the first clone he ever encountered. Unfortunately, that triggered the entire enemy wave on him and he had to run for his life. It was one of these embarrassing mistakes that will stay on his mind for life. After living through this dangerous situation, there was no way he'd ever forget the game treated the clone as a real player for minion aggression purposes.

This special characteristic of Shadow Clone was the only way a Ninja could compete against a long-ranged opponent during the laning phase. During the next minion wave, Nia stayed in the back again but, this time, she sent her clone to the frontline to clear minions

Even though Ninja was a melee class, Shadow Clone allowed the class to do remote farming like this. The clone had much lower HP than Nia so it could easily die to minion fire. But, that wasn't an issue because the enemy minions saw the clone as a real player. That made them prioritize other minions first.

Thus, the clone stayed out of harm's way as it slashed away at the enemies. The clone's stats were just a percentage of the original's so it couldn't clear the wave as quickly as Nia could've had. Nevertheless, the power of Ninja's basics was rather high and Nia bought Imperial Spear for extra power so the clone cleared the minions fast enough. On top of that, all the farm the clone earned went directly to Nia.

[I wish there were more automated remote-controlled options like this in the game.] Yuel thought. Sending somebody else to do all the hard work for him was the best. A class like that would rely primarily on the player's ability to strategize and less on their mechanical skill. Yuel would have mained the heck out of such a class. Unfortunately, there was no such class for Support.

Nia's clone vanished after a while but it did its job. The enemy's entire frontline was gone and it became a battle between bowmen.

[Your efforts won't be in vain.] Nia silently thanked her departed twin sister. Even though Nia didn't participate in the farming at all, she earned solid exp and gold thanks to her sister's efforts. Nia still had to clear the rest of the enemy wave under tower and suffer a farming penalty for it, but it wasn't so bad.

And so, this routine repeated itself. During every minion wave, Nia sent her dear sister to wreak havoc on the frontline while Nia herself only cleared the remains afterward.

"You're not going to attack her?" Yuel asked.

"Hmm, I dunno," Lars tilted his head. "Like, I'm getting some damage on the Golem every time so it gonna die eventually. This ain't like the hax Golem of MOBA that heals itself all the time faster than Wolverine. This smaller Golem dude plays it fair. He knows to admit defeat like a real man."

"True, you'll eventually take the Golem down at this rate. But, you don't want to try scoring any kills on her? In all the times I've seen you play Duel, you've always tried to get in the enemy's face and kill them."

"Nah, why take the risk?" 

"Why indeed," Yuel frowned. He had nothing to retort with. There was really no reason for Lars to go out of his way and aggress on the enemy here. That's just put him in unnecessary danger.

So, Lars's laid-back attitude made perfect sense. But, that's exactly what was so scary about it. When did this goof learn to play patiently like this? It was still one thing when Yuel especially asked Lars to play patiently. But, for the hungry beast to be cautious like this of his own accord? Unfathomable.

[I feel like I've been thinking that a lot lately.] Yuel realized. Over the past two weeks, it felt as if Lars's hyper-aggressive approach to the game has been dying out. Instead of chasing every kill, Lars opted to keep himself alive even if it meant giving up on tempting opportunities.

[The selection match is probably still on his mind.] Yuel thought. He understood the feeling because it was the same for him. Even though this was just a test match for Nia, Yuel couldn't help but wonder whether Nia had some amazing defensive skills and was going mount a devastating counterattack the moment Lars aggresses. Even though a freshman shouldn't have any amazing skill like that, Yuel couldn't erase the possibility from his head no matter how hard he tried.

Lars was probably concerned by the same thing. That's why he chose the slow and careful approach. If he can win without taking any risks, he'll take that route.

And so, the same routine repeated without interruption. Both sides farmed slowly and cautiously. Each and every time, Lars won the exchange and landed a few shots on the Golem. It was a slow process but a safe and effective one. The Golem's HP has already dropped to 50%.

[If Nia plans to make a move, it should be sometime around now.] Yuel thought. There was no doubt that Nia will try something soon. She was the type to play defense for a long time and then suddenly to go on the offensive; that's how she caught Vincent off-guard last game. Will the same tactic work against Lars?

[Another wave, another slow burn.] Lars smiled wryly. Honestly, he was itching to jump in with his guns blazing. Or, with his mic blazing, in the cast of his High Seas Commentator skin. Gonna commentate the opposition to death, yo!

But, he didn't dare. There was no telling what sort of trap he might run into. It was unnecessarily risky. If things keep going like this, Lars will eventually win. So, it was better to take it easy and slowly poke the Golem to death.

[The usual plan. How surprising.] Lars yawned as he saw the Ninja clone dashing toward his minion wave. Yet again, this wave gonna play out exactly the same as before. There was nothing for him to do but shoot the minions and wait until they push all the way to the enemy Golem.

There won't be any action or any surprises here. It was the usual Ninja clone wave-clearing tech. Zzz. He could do this in his sleep.

Same as always, he just fired at the enemy minions from afar. He gonna wrap this up quickly and advance toward the- 

SLASH! 

"Wha!?" A blade cut across his back! From where!? How could there be somebody standing behind him!?

The Ninja clone was right over there, clearing minions. And, as always, the real Nia was... nowhere in sight, actually! She was right behind him and she was about to end his whole career!