Shutting Down All Options

[I see Aron is heading to Bot as well.] Yuel frowned. One of his wards revealed Aron in Bot. The lion was most certainly heading to gank Bot and he was much closer to the lane than Yuel. This was bad. Lars had to retreat right away! ... or, maybe it wasn't necessary?

[Wait, he's not going in?] Yuel wondered. Instead of continuing toward Bot, Aron stopped in place and moved around in small circles. It's as if he was waiting. But, for whom? Obviously, for none other than Yuel.

[He saw through me.] Yuel deduced. [So, he rather stall me and let Trever handle the fight? That's quite the faith he's showing in Trever all of a sudden. Still, if that's Aron's verdict about this situation, then it's probably correct.]

As much as Yuel wanted to claim that Lars was unbeatable in duels, he knew it wasn't that simple. Trever held the higher win-ratio whenever these two fought 1v1, except for when Lars used Trickshooter. So, even though Lars's Elf improved a lot over the past few weeks, the odds probably still favored Trever.

[Do I cancel the entire thing and tell Lars to retreat?] Yuel bit his lip. [I came so close, but...] He stopped around the corner. Once he passes through, he'll have no choice but to run into Aron. A fight will break out immediately.

Will Yuel be able to handle Aron by himself? Hard to say. Without his ult, Viking didn't have any particular advantages over a Lionfolk in a 1v1. In fact, Lionfolk was better suited for 1v1s due to the strong debuffs of Mighty Roar. If Aron lands Mighty Roar, even without the Superiority bonus. Yuel most likely won't be able to win from that position. It'll effectively be a checkmate.

With all of that considered, charging through the front was extremely risky. At the same time, he didn't have time to go around and reach Bot through another entrance. It was a "go hard or go home" situation.

So, what was the right line of play? Should he try to break through? Or, should he cancel this entire operation? Darn, such a difficult dilemma had to strike him during such a critical time...!

[He's late.] Aron thought. [Did he choose to go through the lane, after all? No, that shouldn't be possible, there's not enough time for that. He has to come through here. Then, where is he?]

Aron carefully examined the mini-map. There was no sign of Yuel whatsoever. Aron sufficiently warded his side of the jungle, so there was no chance of Yuel circling around to gank from there either. Besides, that'd take way too much time and it was even riskier than approaching through the lane.

[Wards, huh.] Aron looked around him. On his side of the map, he warded the area that was mirroring his current location. So, most likely, Yuel did the same here. Perhaps he was taking his time because he knew Aron was lying in wait here. If so, this was a misplay from Aron's side.

[I should've taken wards in into account when deciding on a position.] Aron made a mental note. [Better review that after the match.]

Either way, if Yuel really wasn't approaching Bot due to Aron's presence, then it counted as a success in its own right. After all, Aron only came here to stall Yuel. He had no interest in turning this into a big fight.

[He might even be right around this corner.] Aron entertained the idea. He had the urge to verify this theory, but he didn't against it. There was no need to trigger a fight of his own accord. Better let Yuel rack his brains over this difficult situation.

[You sure you got enough time to think about it?] Aron smiled dangerously. [If you don't start running soon, Trever will make quick work of Lars.]

Indeed, the battle between Trever and Lars was advancing at high speed. Lars already fell all the way to 35% HP. Meanwhile, Trever stayed true to his declaration and didn't get hit even once ever since this close-quarters duel started. He was still hanging around 70% HP.

"Dang it!" Lars exclaimed. "What did this dude eat for breakfast today!? He's mopping the floor with me! I ain't hitting nothing!"

Lars fired again. His aim was spot-on. Well, of course it was. After all, that's 200% accuracy for you. Lars's shots never miss!

But, sometimes they got dodged. Trever moved aside just in time to evade the laser beam. Then, he dished out a counter right away!

[Crap, so fast! But, I can handle it!] Lars just barely sidestepped the incoming counter shot. This thing caught him off guard twice already, but the third time's a charm. He finally adjusted to Tever's lightning speed counters, so now he gonna dodge them and strike back!

"Wow!" Trever exclaimed as a laser beam almost grazed him. He sidestepped it by a hair's breadth. [Dangerous stuff, kid. Can't believe you can really dodged that counter. But, that doesn't matter. if you can dodge my counter, then I can dodge your counter-counter. How's that? Pretty rad, right? Hahaha! Damn, this is fun!]

[Yo, this dude is wilding!] Lars couldn't believe his eyes. He finally countered the counter, but Trever dodged it! No, wait. Trever didn't [just] dodge it. He fired back as well! It was a counter to the counter-counter! Fuuuuuuuuuu!

Lars saw it as it was happening, but he couldn't react in time. Bam! A clean hit on his torso. That's another chunk of HP gone. Dang it, Lars was too damn slow! He might even die with the next hit! He was cutting it way too close.

"Dude, where are ya at?" Lars called out "I'm not doing so hot over here."

"Ah, I..." Yuel bit his lip. There wasn't enough time for him to estimate the risk-reward factors of this play. All he knew was that, if Lars dies here, the game will be over right there. Was that a risk he could afford to take?

No, definitely not. Risks like these were the whole reason Yuel and Lars lost the selection match in the first place. They had to play safer, they had to become smarter. Otherwise, they'll be forever chasing Howard and Ellen's shadows.

"Pull out," Yuel said. "Aron is blocking my route so I can't gank. Sorry."

"Well damn," Lars forced smile but it twitched nervously. If Yuel ain't coming, it meant Lars was legit stuck here in this losing 1v1 situation all by himself. [Alrighty, then. I just gotta get out. Ez.]

Lars has been saving his ult for a chance to pin Trever down and finish the dude off, but it couldn't be helped. It had to be used right here and now.

Lars activated Nature's Embrace. Normally, it summoned branches at the target location to root the target. However, since Lars had this sick sci-fi skin, the branches were replaced by robotic arms. The robot apocalypse was coming, yo!

"No way!" Trever exclaimed. Metallic arms erupted from the ground and held him in place. "Gag! Screw this stupid unreactable bullshit...!"

Nature's Embrace had a rather lackluster effect of merely rooting the target. However, its selling point was its disgustingly short casting duration. This stupid shit was unreactable even for Trever. Goddammit, Elf was such an infuriating class! Trever finally had his groove going, but the Elf said NOPE. Damn it!

"He ult'd?" Aron asked.

"He sure did! And, he's running for his life like a little bitch. Come back and fight, dammit!"

"So, they canceled their plans," Aron concluded.

"Plans? What plans? Just gimme the kill, dammit! Don't make me angry, boy. Just be a good kid and die like you should!"

Alas, Lars quickly got out of Trever's firing range and it was impossible to chase due to that stupid rooting effect. Just awesome. Fun and interactive.

[I'mma Kraken yo ass, boy!] This was Trever's last resort. His basic attacks could no longer reach, but his Kraken had the neccessary range. [C'mon, big squidy! Get this shit done!]

"RELEASE THE-"

"Oh! It's coming!" Lars exclaimed. The Big Squid Dude was about to pop outta the ground and smack Lars down! Or, was it? There was no telling, because Trever could simply cancel the ult in the last moment like last time. So, Lars had to guess where it was a feint or not...!

Lars turned around while he was running, to be ready to boot Elven Leap at any moment. If this Kraken was going to be the real deal, Lars would have to jump right away! Now, everything was down whether Trever will cancel or not.

[Oh, actually...] Lars realized there was a huge distance between him and Trever. From this range, even the Big Squid Dude would just barely reach. So, if Lars leaps away now, Trever won't be able to reach him with the Kraken anymore, even if he cancels this one and casts it again.

[Yeah, no need to play the guessing game on this one.] Lars went for Elven Leap right away.

Most of the time, he could react to Kraken and dodge with Elven Leap in the last moment. However, this entire situation made him a little agitated, especially the way he kept losing to Trever left and right. Not to mention, he was in the middle of fleeing for his life, which made timely dodges even harder. His usual sharpness definitely has been dulled, so it was safer to jam that Elven Leap right here and now.

[Already leaping?] Trever raised an eyebrow. That was fast. The kid didn't even wait to see whether the Kraken was actually coming.

Due to how telegraphed that dodge was, Trever had enough time to cancel the Kraken on reaction. And now, he'll unleash the Kraken at Lars's landing spot and wreck that brat!

... or not. Lars was way outta range. Even Kraken couldn't reach him anymore. And, Trever couldn't chase because the stupid robotic arms were holding pinning in place.

"God freakin'....!" Trever cursed. "He fuckin' jumped outta here!"

"Of course he did," Aron has already foreseen this development. The moment Lars used his ult to root Trever, it became clear Yuel gave the green light to exhaust every tool in his kit in order to guarantee a safe escape.

Believing that Trever was the only immediate threat, Lars didn't hesitate to burn his last escape tool. Unfortunately for the guy, Aron was already in position. Before Lars even landed, Aron already leaped toward his landing spot!

"RAWWWWR!" A lion roar thundered.

"Crap! No way!" Lars exclaimed. A big lion dude was flying towards him! And, there was no way to dodge! Fuuuuuuuuu!

[Aron went to the lane!?] Yuel gasped. Since he and Lars agreed to cancel the operation, Yuel was already rotating towards Top to salvage what little remained from the tower. So, he was no longer keeping watch on Aron. What a mistake!

[He tricked me well.] Yuel bit his lip. There was a reason he let down his guard about Aron. Before leaving Bot Jungle, he saw Aron leaving the area as well. It seemed like Aron gave up on the idea of ganking the lane, he even made sure to retreat toward his side of the jungle.

But, turned Aron didn't give up at all. On the contrary, Yuel's retreated gave Aron the green light to go ahead and gank hard!

[I messed up.] Yuel facepalmed. He underestimated Aron. That killing machine will never let its prey escape so easily. Aron will always find a way to track down his prey and strike them down.

[Dang it, yo! I gotta roll as soon as I land!] That was Lars's only hope. He had to Dodge Roll as soon as he lands.

But, it was futile. Aron's leap was flawlessly timed and positioned, as if calculated by a supercomputer. Lars wasn't given even a nanosecond to attempt a Dodge Roll. The lion crashed on him like a meteor.

『You have been killed!』

"Damn, no way!" Lars smacked his forehead. "I was just about to get away, too."

"Sorry, my bad," Yuel apologized. "I should've kept tabs on Aron."

"Nah, I blew it harder to be honest," Lars shook his head. "How the heck did I let Trever mop the floor with me like that? Shame! Shame, I'm tellin' ya! It ain't supposed to be like that."

"You should know better than anybody that your win rate against him isn't exactly stellar."

"Yeah, guess he kinda win more often. Still, it ain't supposed to be one-sided like that. He royally kicked mah butt there. He must've entered the zone or some shit. Daaaamn...."

"I see," Yuel didn't catch the finer details of the fight, so he had to take Lars's word on this one. This fight taught Yuel one thing: Lars was a far cry from his maximum strength when using an Elf for 1v1. The same probably applied to any other class that wasn't Trickshooter or Gunslinger.

In Ranked, this wasn't a visible issue because there weren't many who could stand up to Lars in a fight, even in Challenger rank. However, against a competitive duelist, this level of fighting wasn't always going to cut it. So, Lars will have to polish his dueling skills with all the Carry classes he played frequently.

[Better add that to the training menu.] Yuel made a mental note. In an ideal world, Lars would play Trickshooter or Gunslinger in every match at the regionals. However, for the better or the worse, the banning phase existed.

It was a strong weapon in Yuel's hands, but it was also an Achilles heel for Lars. It stopped the beast from using the classes he performed the best with. As a result, it was necessary for Lars to level up his skill with as many Carry classes as possible until the tournament.

Of course, asking Lars to reach the same godlike level he had with Trickshooter and Gunslinger would be too much But, even 70% of that skill would be huge. Yuel had to make sure he integrates this into their training menu in the upcoming weeks.

[Also, I'll have to reflect on many of my decisions in this match.] Yuel made another mental note. Frankly, his shot calls were a disaster in this game. On paper, his judgments seemed solid and he mostly went for safe and effective plays, just like he wanted. Yet, nothing clicked for some reason. It was one bad move after another.

『An allied Turret has been destroyed!』

The Top Turret crumbled. Then, Bot Turret followed shortly. The game was a wrap.

The team defended until the bitter end, but it was hopeless. Even though they should have had an advantage in team fights, it didn't mean much while they were stuck on the defensive. Between Sorcerer's Resonance Ignition and Pirate's Kraken, the enemy was overloaded with ways to turn the defenders' lives into hell.

『DEFEAT』