The More, the Merrier

The first game between the Valkyries and StormBlitz began. Based on the teams' lineups, it was clear the game was going to be a race against the clock for both sides.

"Late game is our deadline," Fiona said. "We have to end the game before that. Or, in the worst-case scenario, we must establish enough map control by the time late-game hits."

Fiona's team had classes that favored the early-game and mid-game, therefore they had to win fast. Going into the late game was inherently disadvantageous and there was no tactic Fiona could use to change that.

An aggressive early-game team was practically doomed the moment it fell behind. The last resort it had was to transition from an aggressive build to a defensive one and hope for the opponent to blunder. However, it was usually too late at that point.

All of this made the drafting phase an extremely important phase of the game. It was not an exaggeration to say that 30% of the outcome was decided all the way back there. It was like a chess game that took place right before the main event.

As the team's tactician, Fiona took it upon herself to study all aspects of the drafting phase. Surely, Yuel Fermond handled the drafting for his team as well, as did Cato for the Leopards. Mind games such as these felt natural for chess players.

Although, Cato said he also had a "trusty secretary" to help him out in that department, probably Theorist. Two heads were often better than one, so it must have been helpful to have a trustworthy partner with whom Cato could brainstorm ideas.

On the other hand, in the Valkyries, Fiona was all alone on that front. As it stood, the other members did not have sufficient understanding of game theory to provide fresh advice, and they did not seem interested in the topic either. They only cared about their own classes without considering the bigger picture much.

I would like to fix that, but this team has more important issues to fix first. Fiona sighed. It is better for them to focus on themselves while I handle the strategic front on my own.

Besides, truth be told, Fiona was more comfortable working like that. Just as in chess, she wanted to be in full control of the game plan and the pieces. As far as she was concerned, having one main strategist at the helm was most efficient.

Of course, it also meant Fiona had heavy responsibility on her shoulders. The team's win condition was to gain early momentum and push to victory as quickly as possible, but they could not act carelessly, especially not against a tricky team like StormBlitz.

It is time to see how well I managed to study their play style. Fiona thought. I have gone over all their game footage countless times, but the real experience might still be different.

According to the extensive analysis, StormBlitz was a defensive team that efficiently covered all its weak spots. As such, even when something looked like an opening, there was a good chance StormBlitz already covered it. Trying to strike that imaginary opening would only lead to a devastating counterattack.

With that in mind, it was dangerous to immediately jump on any attractive opportunity that presented itself. Especially, against Athena who often created such fake openings to bait out her opponents.

In her head, Fiona understood all that. Hopefully, all her teammates were on the same page by now after weeks of studying the enemy.

But, all of this was easier said than done. In the end, the game would not move forward unless Fiona launches some attacks on the enemy. Not to mention, as the early-game-focused team, the Valkyries had to be the ones to take initiative. 

Sitting idly and waiting for opportunities is a fool's errand. Fiona thought. I have no choice but to bring the fight to them.

The earliest opportunity to deliver an attack was at the very opening of the game. It was a brief phase during which both sides were busy warding the jungle as they waited for jungle camps to spawn.

The term "early invade" existed to describe an attack that was launched right as the enemy was farming the very first camp that spawned. However, it was also possible to strike the enemy even before that point. Not a popular move, but one that definitely had some viability to it.

While preoccupied with warding different parts of the jungle, the enemies were briefly scattered around. High-level players knew the importance of staying within reach of each other just in case, but they couldn't stick close the entire time, that was simply too inefficient.

As such, even though it was a bit dangerous for them to spread out, everybody was willing to take that small risk. It was as if an unwritten rule existed that said ganks could not possibly occur during this brief part of the opening phase.

However, there is fundamentally nothing in the game that guarantees that kind of protection. Fiona thought. It is perfectly viable to launch an attack here as it is during the "early invade" itself.

Perhaps the biggest difference was the fog of war. During an early invade, it was known for certain that the enemies gathered at the jungle camps. Furthermore, it was easy to tell which players would be present in each camp.

On the other hand, attacking during the very opening was a dicier endeavor. There were many unknowns in the equation as enemy players were traveling around the map, placing wards.

Who will Fiona run into if she heads deeper into Top Jungle right now? Where will she meet them? And most importantly, how far away will their allies be? These were all critical questions. One wrong answer would single-handedly lead to failure.

This is already a game with incomplete information, and the opening is where the lack of information is at its peak. Fiona reasoned. But, there is one way to mitigate this issue.

The one who brought this solution to Fiona's attention was none other than Esmeralda, the Sweepers' Mid Laner. Despite being a professional, the woman had many unusual quirks in her playstyle, and she passed some of her untraditional wisdom to Fiona.

"If you reaa~aaally want to go for a super early attack, there is a way to improve your odds," Esmeralda said. "Basically, the more, the merrier~"

It was such a simple but insightful lesson. It instantly transformed the idea of an early attack from absurd to semi-realistic.

Indeed, there were many unknowns in this equation and there was nothing Fiona could do about that. However, there was one thing she knew for sure: the enemy forces were dispersed to some extent during this phase. In other words, they were largely isolated. That was the key that held the solution to the whole matter.

Even though it was unknown who, where, or when Fiona would run into an enemy, it was almost guaranteed that she would run into only one opponent. It would be difficult to predict the outcome of such a 1v1, but what if Fiona ensured it would be a 2v1? Or, even a 3v1? As Esmeralda said, "the more the merrier".

Basically, instead of invading by herself, Fiona could bring a couple of teammates to launch a coordinated attack. This would boost the success chance exponentially.

Of course, doing so would come at a cost. For one, the team would have to delay their plans of warding the jungle. In addition, depending on how long the battle lasts, the invaders might be forced to skip clearing the jungle camp and head to lanes directly afterward.

These were not small prices to pay by any stretch of the imagination. Nonetheless, for an aggressive team comp that wanted to gain momentum as soon as possible, the benefits of scoring an early kill could easily outweigh the negatives.

It was definitely not a tactic that should be used extensively as it was very easy to play around it and make the attacker waste their time. In fact, Cato's team was trained to stick together even during the very opening of the game, which made it impossible for Fiona to test out this tactic in a competitive environment until now.

Fortunately, judging by previous scrimmages, StormBlitz was not quite as defensive during the early parts of the game. Despite how well they tended to cover all their vulnerabilities, their backs were wide open during the opening. They prioritized efficiency over safety in this one seemingly unimportant instance.

Or, do they play uncharacteristically careless like that to bait out early invades? Fiona wondered. It is possible this convenient "opening" is something Aegis has already covered.

It was always difficult to tell for sure when it came to StormBlitz. In the replays, Fiona saw many examples of players trying to exploit openings that even she believed were good, yet StormBlitz almost always turned the tables around somehow.

But, I cannot let paranoia get the better of me. Fiona thought. There is no such thing as a team without any openings. Picking the nickname "Aegis" does not automatically grant you invincibility.

Aegis was the indestructible shield of the gods and it felt like StormBlitz's captain tried to live up to the name. But, in the end, it was just a fantasy. In real life, no team was fully invincible. There were always openings and weak spots.

And, striking at the very start of the game might just be one rare opening even Aegis missed. At the very least, it was worth exploring this avenue before shooting it down.

And so, Fiona formed a plan of attack. She got Cornelia and Andria involved in the operation, to guarantee maximum power output.

Two of them were already in Top Jungle because that was the game's meta for the opening, and Andria was the Mid Laner so she had the freedom to start either in Top Jungle or Bot Jungle.

On top of that, Sage was a mana-hungry class, so there was an argument for giving it the blue buff instead of the red buff. Not to mention, Berserker had a Rage meter instead of a traditional MP bar, therefore the important MP regeneration part of the mana buff was practically useless for Cornelia.

With all these considerations on the table, the trio gathered up in Top Jungle. From there, they were in a great position to invade the enemy territory as a group.

"I must say, this sounds incredibly risky to me," Andria commented. "Are you sure you don't want to reconsider, milady?"

"I do not blame you for harboring doubt about this idea," Fiona said. "This is not a standard meta play, that much is certain. However, after much research, I concluded this tactic can pay off greatly under certain conditions."

"And, this game meets these conditions?" 

"I believe it does," Fiona explained. "We are facing a very defensive team whose guard we are unlikely to crack using standard methods. As such, we have to think outside the box. We will be the aggressors in this game, so it falls on us to come up with creative plans of attack."

"Heh, I see. When phrased like that, it does sound convincing," Andria admitted. "But, it feels you're taking lightly the risks this plan poses."

"Oh, c'mon!" Karen interjected from the other side of the map. "Why do you have to make sis's life so difficult?"

"Pardon me, but I believe it's only natural to question the risks when I'm dragged into such an unusual play."

"Tch. I'd gladly switch places with you but I gotta be in Bot, so you gotta grow a pair, Andri!" Karen ranted. "You like roleplaying as a dude, right? So, be more manly!"

"There is a fine line between being 'manly' and 'reckless'," Andria argued. "But, you're right. As a gentleman escorting two ladies, I should be the one showing backbone. So, let us march forward!" 

"That's more like it." Cornelia nodded in satisfaction as the commoners resolved the issue among themselves. "Now, let us teach these plebians a lesson!"

And so, the thriller begins. Andria smiled wryly as she escorted the two confident ladies into the unknown.

And so, the trio ventured into enemy territory. There was an absolute fog of war around them, they knew nothing about the enemies' positions.

Who will they run into during this expedition? How many enemies will they be fighting at once? It was anybody's guess.

Nonetheless, they had to brave through this uncertainty and hope for the best-case scenario. Ideally, only one unfortunate soul would cross their path. In that scenario, the trio's victory would be all but assured.

Realistically, there were only two potential classes they could run into: Hitter's Viking or Average's Chronomancer. These were the two main scenarios Fiona analyzed.

Neither of them should have their escape tools ready at Lv. 1. She reasoned. It is simply not efficient from a meta perspective. As such, they should be reasonably straightforward targets.

Knowing that much was reassuring. But, of course, their attack would go that much smoother if they knew the exact locations of their foes.

As it happened, Werewolf had an ability that revealed all enemies in the surrounding area. However, Fiona prioritized Grievous Assault over Chilling Howl for Lv. 1. It was an attack skill with high base damage, a property that was very valuable for the upcoming operation.

And so, without Chilling Howl, the trio had no choice but to blindly search for their prey in this fog of war...