Philip's Intel

"Um, alright!" Pip apparently reached some kind of epiphany after flipping through hundreds of pages. "I don't know if this is the most important intel for the moment, sir, but the majority of my notes cover Rosemary and her masterful rotations!" 

"That makes sense." Howard nodded. "She almost single-handedly dominated the game, so I think we all know what she's capable of by now. I'm actually more interested in the other members of the Valkyries. I feel like I didn't pay enough attention to them in this game, so I hope you did."

"Oh, so you want intel about their privates and corporals, not their officer. Understood, sir!" Pip flipped through more pages in his notebook.

Just how many pages did he write? Howard wondered. It was just one game, and most of it was pretty one-sided…

"Alright, here's my report, sir!" Pip saluted for some reason before actually getting to it. "In Top, Lady showed signs of struggling against Roi's offense. She couldn't quite match his skill in fights, and she even overextended against him once and paid the piper. So, it's rather clear the situation in Top is overall in our favor, despite how the rest of the game went."

"Awww yeah!" Roi pumped a fist. "I totally OWNED in Top, right? That's the kinda game analysis I like hearing! Good report, private! Lol."

"Thank you kindly, sir!"

"So," Howard interrupted the military roleplay. "That part went pretty much as expected based on the data. Good."

Truth be told, Howard didn't have enough free time to properly pay attention to Top throughout the game. He had the impression that everything was fine there, but it was reassuring to hear a bystander agree with this analysis.

"Dan, it sounds like Top will be the easiest lane to farm in terms of kills," Howard explained. "So, make sure to arrange good ganks there and help Roi build momentum."

"Yeah, I actually wanted to do that last game too," Dan admitted. "But, I lagged behind so hard I couldn't do squat."

"Well, you better not repeat that mistake again." Howard speared the troublemaker with a sharp gaze.

"G-Got it!" Dan gulped. Bruh gonna kick my butt for real if I mess up again.

"So," Howard continued. "Anything interesting to report about the other lanes?"

"Hmm." Pip knotted his brows. "I'm not sure what to say about Mid, sir. The game started off with a few intense clashes between Julia and Charming, but afterward, it went quiet."

"Well, whatever happened in Mid doesn't matter much for this game since we're switching players," Howard said. "Any thoughts about Bot?"

It was the lane where Howard played, so naturally he should know everything about it. Nonetheless, he wanted to hear an outsider's view to make sure his own impressions of the lane matched Pip's.

"You and Ellen did a very good job in Bot, sir," Pip reported.

"My, how sweet of you, Pipi~" Ellen giggled.

"Um, thanks…" Pip scratched his cheek. With all due respect to the officer, that nickname was so awkward!

"Oh, but," Pip continued. "I might be wrong about this, but it felt like you two didn't try to push the lane at any point in the game, sir. Was it because of Rosemary's ever-looming presence?"

"Hmm. Now that you mention it, that's an interesting point." Howard didn't give this much thought during the game but it was indeed a little odd. After all, Howard and Ellen were the strongest Bot duo in the region, yet for some reason, they failed to establish a proper lane advantage against Lavender and Nike. Why was that?

"My, he's totally right, isn't he, Wardy?" Ellen commented. "We did play more cautiously because of Rosey's ongoing snowballing, didn't we? The girl sure knows how to apply pressure with her rotations."

"Right," Howard agreed. "If I think back on it, whenever it felt like we had an opportunity to push, we gave up because we suspected Rosemary was nearby."

"True, true." Ellen nodded.

"So, Pip," Howard said. "Since you saw where Rosemary was throughout the game, how often was it justified for us to give up on offense?"

"Um, let's see..." Pip flipped through a few more pages. "Here it is. I recorded four scenarios in which you skipped a push opportunity." 

"And, in how many of them was Rosemary nearby?"

"Um, if I recorded this correctly, then three out of four times Rosemary wasn't anywhere near the scene, sir."

"So, we made the wrong call three times out of four…" Howard frowned. "That could've been a huge difference."

If he and Ellen were to push during each such opportunity, then Bot would've been under StormBlitz's control from early on. From that position, it might've been possible to come back in the mid-game.

It just goes to show that Ellen and I adopted a fully defensive mindset at some point. Howard shook his head. We didn't properly look for opportunities and instead assumed the worst every time.

The whole point of playing defense was to set up an eventual counterattack. Alas, Howard and Ellen were so worried about Rosemary the entire time that they found themselves playing defense all day long.

"We need to keep that in mind for the next game," Howard said. "If there's an opportunity, we should be more willing to take it."

"My," Ellen tilted her head. "Even if there's risk involved?"

"No, if there's notable risk then it's not worth it," Howard said. "But, we should stop always assuming the worst, for starters."

"But Wardy, you're such a worrywart that I'm sure you'll always keep thinking it's too risky anyway~"

"That might be true…" Howard didn't have a snarky counterargument to this one. By default, he always leaned toward defense over offense when there were signs of risks. Often such careful decisions paid off, but sometimes they made him miss great opportunities.

I can't be like Yuel and jump head-first at every semi-good opportunity that presents itself. Howard shook his head. I'm a firm believer that good defense is the most consistent way to win games, but…

Strong defense was supposed to eventually lead to a strong counterattack. At some point, the defender had to take the initiative and strike back when the right opportunity presented itself.

Alas, as Ellen said, Howard's cautious nature often prevented him from capitalizing on such opportunities. Even against inferior lane opponents, he was very careful about not committing any mistakes. Unfortunately, that led to him missing some golden opportunities.

Lavender was an aggressive Carry and she was more skilled than most of the Valkyries, so it was very important to not miss any opportunities to punish her. If left to their own devices, she and Nike had the necessary skills to gain the upper hand in the lane with strong early-game classes.

Properly punishing that girl just once should suffice to shut down her aggression. Once she learns her lesson, Howard and Ellen's lives will be a lot easier.

This was an important realization that Howard missed in the heat of the battle. Even when he thought he knew everything about a topic from the game, Philip's deep analysis still proved insightful.

And so, in this methodical fashion, Pip continued delivering his (arguably excessive) intel...