Concerns About the “Softhearted” Kai

[They picked Pirate and not Seraph?] Yuel frowned. [Hmm. Could that imply Winner is the Carry? Or, maybe Cato realized that banking only on the endgame isn't a good idea against us, so they're going for a more well-rounded lineup.]

There was no telling for sure what any of this implied. Cato always made his picks difficult to outguess.

[Normally, it's best to pick the Top Laner before the second banning phase.] Yuel thought. [But, if I do that, I'll give Cato a free chance to ban any Mid Laner he wants. That won't bone well for us.]

The enemy's Aeromancer pick was a tad tricky, especially considering it was going to be in the hands of either Theorist or Merlin. They were both defensive players who could utilize the Aeromancer's remote farming to stall the game.

To properly challenge an Aeromancer in the lane, it was best to pick a mage with a long reach. There were multiple good candidates on that front, but if Yuel doesn't pick one of them now, then they will all be banned for sure; Cato will definitely pull a nasty move like that.

"Sorry, Ben," Yuel said. "I'd like to pick Mid first if you don't mind."

"No problem at all," Ben reassured. "You know best what to pick." 

This wasn't just Ben being his usual submissive self. He really had no reason to worry about the order of picks here.

[He can play many defensive classes on roughly the same level.] Yuel thought. [So, no matter how hard Cato tries to ban Ben's best options, there will always be something left.]

Thanks to Ben's background as a former Support player, he knew how to drive many different bruisers and tanks, so he had a big array of options to choose from. As such, it was impossible to seal his defensive options within a single banning phase.

"So, Kai, you're up next," Yuel said. "I was thinking of Sorcerer."

"Same as last time, huh." Kai made a small sigh that was difficult to interpret.

"Do you want a different class?"

"Nah, Sorcerer is fine."

"Then, why the sigh?"

"Nothing, really." Kai rolled her eyes. "It's just that thinking about bashing my head against Theorist's defense again is a little depressing. I almost want to pick a hyper-aggressive mage and go ham on her."

"Would you really 'go ham' on her even if you pick a class like that?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I?"

"Well…" [I still remember the title Vincent gave her, the Softhearted Amazon. It sounds silly at best, but I suspect it's actually on point, like most of Vincent's wild titles.]

As a class, Sorcerer was definitely more on the defensive side. As such, perhaps it felt more natural for Kai to play the class passively against Theorist.

But, down to it, Kai was more of an aggressive player. She had a solid defense, but her game plan usually involved a mixture of attacks and sidesteps. She carefully dodged incoming attacks while launching counterstrikes of her own.

And yet, none of that came into play when Kai faced Theorist. It felt like Kai never wanted to go on the offensive there, no matter the situation.

She did force herself to attack a couple of times, possibly because she realized her own passiveness. But, in the end, Kai never quite committed to her offense. She only launched a few attacks until Theorist reinforced her defenses, and then Kai gave up.

[That's really not like her.] Yuel thought. [She's supposed to be more competitive than that. If somebody blocks her out like this, she's supposed to get salty about it and search for ways to turn the tables on them.]

And yet, against Theorist, Kai chose to play nice for some reason. She wasn't like that against Merlin.

[And, it's not like she's feeling nervous about playing the Leopards or anything.] Yuel thought. [I've seen her deliver great plays when the fight didn't concern Theorist.]

For example, when Winner was baited into ganking Mid last game, Kai's performance shot up all of a sudden. She confronted Winner with everything she had, building up the most ultimate counter. It was one of the riskiest forms of offense and she executed it almost flawlessly.

[Now THAT play was in line with how Kai usually plays.] Yuel thought. [The fact she can pull off a play like this under an extremely stressful situation proves that everything is fine with her today. It's only this matchup against Theorist that's throwing her off.]

Hence, Yuel couldn't stop thinking about that "Softhearted Amazon" title. Though it seemed like an unfounded theory, it was an undeniably convincing explanation for Kai's lukewarm performance in Mid.

But, Yuel didn't pursue this conversation any further because the topic obviously irritated Kai. The girl was hellbent on denying everything related to this, so there was no need to trigger her needlessly, especially not before such a critical game.

After the Sorcerer pick, the drafting phase entered the second banning phase. Stratus had a slightly unpleasant position there, which the enemy didn't fail to exploit.

[My how splendid~] Cato smiled impishly. [You left your Top wide open for bans. How nice of you.]

For now, it was difficult to determine whether Yuel made the right call, but then again, what choice did he even have? The poor lad was stuck between a rock and a hard place, so he had to give up on something. Basically, everything was proceeding just as Cato orchestrated it~

[So, you value the Mid pick more than Top.] Cato thought. [That's curious. Does that mean Phoenix can play many different classes? Then again, you probably have no idea what's waiting for you in Top, do you? My, how electrifying it is to be the only one in the know~]

Poor Yuel had no idea that Jin was going to steamroll that lane. Phoenix absolutely needed the most defensive class he could get in order to not be instantly trashed by the Emperor.

"In the end, it looks like I'll be banning a bunch of Top classes anyway," Cato informed.

"Sure." Jin only said that. He didn't care either way, for he was confident in his ability to trample over Phoenix. Truly, it was an attitude befitting the Emperor.

Following up on his plans, Cato banned Vanguard, Terramancer, and Paladin. The enemy hadn't picked their Support either, so a Paladin ban targeted two lanes in one shot.

Unlike Cato's great position in this banning phase, Yuel had to make some shots in the darkness. He couldn't know for sure whether the Leopards' Viking pick was for Top or Jungler, therefore his only 100% reliable course of action was to target Support classes.

In particular, a Cryomancer ban was a big deal. This class caused Lars' Elf lots of trouble by obstructing his field of view.

"Aww, yeah!" Lars pumped a fist. "For real, this ice dude be annoying."

Next, Yuel banned Lumimancer. Though it hasn't been picked today yet, this anti-stealth class will obviously cause problems for a certain hide-and-seek pro.

"Yes!" Nia pumped a little fist under the table in response to this ban. Good Lumimancer players were like the bane of her existence. This hax class could expose Nia anywhere and at any time. Scary.

For the last ban, Yuel banned Bishop, which was another rather problematic class for Nia. It had the ability to cleanse allies of negative status effects regardless of distance, which was something that Nia's Drow wouldn't exactly apprentice. 

On that note, the second banning phase came to an end. Next, the drafting continued on Stratus' side.

"Is Druid fine with you?" Yuel asked.

"Yes," Ben answered. "It's actually the class I was going to suggest. Are you a mind reader?" 

"Yeah, he is." Nia declared confidently. "He's a robotic, telepathic, mutant alien. Scary."

"I feel like I'm becoming a more and more bizarre creature by the day." Yuel made a face. "At this point, I can't even tell what sort of thing you're claiming I am. How can one be an alien, a robot, and a mutant all at once? These three things fundamentally contradict each other."

"It just works."

"Sure..." Yuel sighed. "As for your question, Ben. No, I'm not a mind reader. I just know that you like Druid and that you performed decently with it during club practice, so that makes it a good pick."

"Oh, I see!" Ben nodded. "You really know everything about what others play. It's amazing."

"It's my job to know these things," Yuel said matter-of-factly. "I'm in charge of the drafting, so that's the bare minimum I have to be aware of." 

"It's still amazing." 

"If you say so."

Next, it was the enemy's turn to pick their last two classes...