Data Gathering

The lane battle in Top was one between two fellow intellectuals.

['Tis a clash of information!] Vincent hyped up the match in his head. [On the right side, we have none other than moi, InformationBlackhole, representing Stratus! And, on the left side, there's TheTheorist, playing for the Leopards!]

It was like a hype wrestling match! However, instead of using barbarian strength, both sides were about to attack each other with information.

[So, let us begin. We shall see which of us has the superior information network! He who controls the information controls the world!]

Judging by how Theorist played in the previous scrimmages, it was safe to say she was a devotee of the Information Cult, just like Vincent. Therefore, their battle was bound to take place in the Information Dimension.

[As such, I shall dub thee "The Information Theorist"! A worthy rival to moi, no doubt.]

Meanwhile, his opponent also recognized him as a player of a similar breed. However, there wasn't nearly as much hype present in her head.

[InformationBlackhole.] Sonya opened a drawer with that label in her head. She stored such data about all of today's opponents and she has gone over it countless times by now. But, it never hurt going over it one more time, just in case.

InformationBlackhole was a player with mediocre mechanical skill, but he made up for it via decent decision-making and game knowledge. In other words, he was a "theory player", just like Sonya.

His mechanical skill had a score of about 5/10 and his decision-making seemed to be around 8/10. Although, the decision-making department was much harder to judge accurately, given how Stratus had an excellent shot-caller. Chessmaster might've orchestrated many of Blackhole's better plays.

[As for his game knowledge score, I obviously can't judge that properly without more data.] Sonya lamented the fact. [I'll just have to act under the assumption that he's at least 8/10.]

In short, Blackhole was a 5/8/8 player. A decent score compared to the previous opponents the Leopards faced this year, but nothing special overall. Ultimately, Blackhole was just an average player who scraped by thanks to utilizing game theory to his advantage.

[Just like me, I suppose.] Sonya nodded to herself. [Except, I can confidently say my knowledge is at 10/10 and my decision-making is at least 9/10. Though, I will concede that my mechanical skill is probably around 7/10.]

To others, these might sound like completely random numbers that held no value. However, for Sonya, they were an objective representation of player skill.

[Alright, next section.] Sonya flipped a page inside her head and continued deconstructing Blackhole.

Reviewing all the data one last time before getting to lane was like a ritual of sorts. It helped Sonya calm down and concentrate on the match. It's something she needed in order to distract herself from the pressure of playing in front of an audience, something she wasn't too comfortable with.

[So, he's playing Spellblade this time.] Sonya thought. [This is new data. He hasn't used Spellblade in the previous scrimmage, so I can't say much about it.]

Most likely, Blackhole picked Spellblade as a magical supplement for Bomber, who was a physical Mid Laner. Unfortunately, this also happened to be the first time that Beat picked Bomber on the competitive stage, so there was no data whatsoever about this arrangement.

[Is this a lineup they practiced before? I'd assume it is, but there's no data.] Sonya sighed. [No matter how much time we spend analyzing our opponents, there's only so much we can tell from a single scrim. Sigh.]

It also didn't help that Stratus spent much of the previous scrimmage playing a completely different lineup, one where Blackhole and Beat were in Bot Lane. As a result, there was even less data than usual about their playstyles in Top and Mid.

[I can only deduce that they probably practice together quite often, seeing as they wanted to play Bot together. So, this arrangement of Spellblade and Bomber is probably something they practiced before.]

Other than that, was there anything else Sonya could deduce about this pick?

[Hmm. His build will probably lean on the aggressive side.] She thought. [The Druid is their only other source of magical damage, but he's not going to build power. So, it's up to the Spellblade to cover the team's magical DPS.]

Similar to Sonya, InformationBlackhole seemed like an all-rounder. Therefore, he was likely the type to go for a balanced build overall, but one that might lean toward offense or defense depending on the matchup. And, in this particular case, building power seemed like the right choice for him.

[Then again, his past records suggest he's a rather passive player, just like me. Even when he picked Viking, he didn't actually aggress that much on his opponent. In fact, maybe he only picked the class for its escape tools, not for its strong offense.]

Different theories clashed in Sonya's head, so the truth remained veiled in mystery. There wasn't enough data yet to accurately deduce how Blackhole was planning to play this round.

[And, unfortunately, my time is up.] She finally reached the lane, which meant it was time to put the reviewing process to rest and focus on the data in front of her.

Especially, with her playing a Monk and going up against a Spellblade, she needed to fully concentrate on the lane situation. It was a somewhat disadvantageous matchup, so Sonya had to be careful to not lose too much lane advantage.

[I suppose I have no choice but to wait and see how he plays.] Sonya concluded. [For now, I'll just keep the possibility of aggression in mind and make sure to not give him any good opportunities to attack, that's the most I can do. Besides, I'll have to stick to defense either way.]

For the first few waves, a Spellblade was bound to blow a Monk out of the water, unless the Spellblade player was unbelievably incompetent. But surely, that wouldn't be the case with Blackhole, right?

[Yes, I already see he knows what he's doing. Starting from the Spell stance is the right play here.] Sonya nodded in approval. [Hmm. I wonder, is there any more data I can get out of him right now?]

InformationBlackhole was dressed in edgy black from top to bottom, looking like an avid follower of the Grim Reaper himself. However, to contrast the blackness, he covered his face with a white mask, making him look rather ominous.

[Is this supposed to be a psychological attack of some sort?] Sonya wondered that, but she doubted this line of thought. [Well, there are theories out there that suggest colors, and visuals in general, play an unexpectedly big role in psychological warfare. But, is this one of these cases?]

Clearly, a lot of thought and effort was put into this getup. It proved that Blackhole cared dearly about the Spellblade class... or, did it?

[Hmm. Now that I think about it, all the classes I've seen him play were highly customized. Pretty much nothing from the default look ever remains.]

So, maybe Blackhole just enjoyed heavily customizing the looks of his classes?

[I suppose there are players like that at all levels of play, huh.] Sonya thought. [They must be thinking Classmancers is a dress-up game.]

Unlike the extensively customized Spellblade, Sonya's Monk was wearing the default costume. She did pick her favorite recolor of the skin at least, but that's as far as she was willing to go.

[A customized skin doesn't offer any real advantages, so there's no point in wasting any time or effort on it.] Sonya was confident about that, but... [Or, maybe I'm the weird one out for thinking like this?]

Unpleasant interactions flashed through her mind. ["My, you're a girl but you don't customize your classes at all? That's unexpected."]

[Shut up.] Sonya silenced the imaginary Cato in her head. [Where is it written that I have to care about customization just because I'm a girl? The nerve of some of these people, I swear.]

Sonya found herself grumping. That hyper-customized Spellblade was ticking her off for no good reason.

[Ironic, isn't it?] Sonya realized. [His customization probably isn't meant to serve any competitive purpose at all, but it manages to tick me off. Not good, not good at all.]

She shook her head to dismiss all these unnecessary idle thoughts. The more data she tried to absorb all at once, the more distracted she became from the lane situation. That won't do.

What mattered a lot more regarding the Spellblade's appearance wasn't his extensive customization, but rather the fact he arrived on the lane in his Spell stance. It implied he had the basics down, at least.

[Let's wait and see how he plays.] Sonya stayed back and watched how Blackhole was planning to engage the minions. This passive approach will cost her some exp and lane advantage, but it was a worthwhile investment. [Data is everything. The faster I get my hands on it, the earlier I can start coming up with a counter plan.]

And so, Sonya stayed at the backline and waited for Blackhole's first move. She was like a scientist monitoring a lab rat.

WHISH! WHISH! WHISH! Blackhole unleashed three wind blasts in a row via Aero Barrage.

The gusts of wind knocked back the swordsmen with each strike, bringing them closer and closer to the bowmen. Then, once all of Sonya's minions were packed in one area, Blackhole switched into Sword stance and activated Aero Slice.

SLASH! WHISH! He sliced through the entire minion pack with his blade, infused with wind magic. He struck the minions with the cold metal and also produced a wind shockwave that traveled through the minions and even threatened to reach Sonya.

[All within expectations.] Sonya watched the gust of wind approaching her at full speed, but then it vanish into thin air before reaching her. Her spacing was on point against this predictable development.

[So, he knows the meta farming routine.] Sonya nodded in satisfaction.

The setup Blackhole used was the 101 of playing Spellblade in Top. Without this basic knowledge, almost anybody would be able to defeat a Spellblade in the lane.

[Both of his wind skills are on cooldown now.] Sonya thought. [So, I suppose it's safe enough for me to advance.]

She reached the frontline of her territory. Blackhole was also there, swinging his blade at Sonya's minions.

Theoretically, Blackhole could activate his Pyro Blade right now in order to make quick work of the minions and push lane advantage. However, the guy opted to rely on nothing but his basic attacks to finish the job.

[As I thought, he doesn't come across as particularly aggressive.] Sonya thought. [So far, this is in line with the profile I've built of him.]

Indeed, very much like Sonya, Blackhole was an all-rounder who exerted caution at every step. Even though he had some innate advantage in this matchup, he preferred to proceed with caution.

[So, he won't attack me even if I go after his minions.] Convinced of that, Sonya ran past her opponent and approached the enemy frontline.

Of course, the enemy wasn't entirely oblivious to her movements. But, he didn't use this opportunity to strike her. On the contrary, he created more distance between them.

[So, he's cautious about me launching a surprise attack. Alright.] Sonya added this new data to her archive and pressed onward.

Slowly but surely, she'll gather enough data to fully deconstruct her opponent. Then, she'll discover Blackhole's Achilles' heel and will use that data to strike him down! Hopefully.