The Support's Role in Bottom Lane

Despite Yuel and Kai's clunky cooperation during their first offense, they successfully took out the enemy Pirate. That was a huge early achievement and a First Blood to boot. It created a solid momentum for the team.

With the Pirate out of the picture, they shifted their focus toward the remaining enemy on the lane: the Lumimancer. It was a 2v1 situation, so Yuel and Kai could go for another aggressive play here. Unfortunately, the Lumimancer blinked away with Flash before Yuel could initiate anything. What a shame.

[This guy seems very cautious. Perhaps overly cautious.] Yuel took a mental note. Back when Kai attacked the Pirate, the Lumimancer didn't even try stepping in to rescue his partner. And now, with his partner dead, the Lumimcancer immediately retreated all the way back to his Turret. There was no doubt he was the defensive type.

Not getting involved against Kai's assault might have been a smart choice because Lumimancer didn't have any good tools from rescuing the Pirate from the situation. However, if he truly valued his Carry, he should've at least interfered with Blinding Light or Ray of Light before blinking away.

Judging by Kai's skill, such interference most likely wouldn't have fazed her. However, the Lumimancer couldn't have possibly known that. He should have at least tried.

Therefore, this Luminancer was either a scaredy-cat or not so experienced. He'll probably be one of the weak spots of the enemy team. To test his theory further, Yuel wanted to push hard.

During the next minion wave, Yuel's side held an overwhelming advantage thanks to Kai's clearing speed. The Lumimancer couldn't contest her on his own, especially not with a defensive Support build. So, Kai won the lane with ease.

"Let's push the Turret," Yuel suggested.

"Huh?" Kai gave him a look. "It's dangerous."

"A little, but probably not too much."

"The Lumi is still there, though."

"Yeah, but think about it: what kind of scary thing a Lumimancer can really pull?"

"Um, well," Kai cocked her head. "There's not much, huh."

"Exactly. Also, I got a feeling he'll not dare to fight us."

"A feeling?" Kai raised an eyebrow. "Are you a mind reader?"

"It's just a theory based on circumstantial evidence. Looking at how he's been playing so far, he seems to have a very defensive playstyle."

"How do you figure?"

[Here we go again with questioning.] Yuel sighed. Every single time he played with somebody new, he had to justify himself. He has already convinced Luke and Vincent to trust his observations but Kai was a new challenge. [Well, I didn't many opportunities to convince her before so I better start doing that now.]

"Remember how that Lumiancer didn't help out the Pirate?" Yuel asked.

"Yesh, I guess he didn't do much back then," Kai sounded indifferent. They clearly weren't on the same page regarding what that piece of evidence implied.

"It was more than just 'not doing much'. He maintained distance the whole time and retreated as soon as we took out the Pirate."

"You mean, as soon as [I] took down the Pirate."

"Sure. Anyway, it implies that Lumimancer doesn't like stepping to the frontline unless he's forced to."

"Sounds like jumping to conclusions to me," Kai shrugged. "You've seen him play like that just once and you're already talking like you've known him for years."

[This will never get easy, will it?] Yuel sighed. As always, making somebody trust his analysis was difficult. It always felt like he was a shady salesman who came to sell something wonky and had to prove his credibility.

As far as others were concerned, Yuel was simply making a wild guess. It made sense for them to think that way but knowing that didn't help him find a solution to the problem. He had confidence in his analysis but, in the end, most of them were just theories. There was always a chance he was wrong so he couldn't go ahead and proclaim "I'm 100% sure I'm correct! Follow my plan!"

[In times like these, vocal supporters like Vincent are really helpful.] Yuel's eyes naturally laid on the loud clown, who was busy hyping up the match right now.

Back when Yuel had to pitch his sale to Luke, it was Vincent who ultimately convinced Luke to cooperate with Yuel's shot-call. What argument did Vincent use back then? It was something very convincing, which went something like...

"I got the Mystic Eyes of Weakness Perception!" Yuel declared... Yeah, right. As if he could spout such nonsense out loud. It was mind-boggling that something so asinine managed to convince Luke.

[Would Vincent be able to convince Kai as well?] Yuel wondered. [No, I shouldn't rely on others to do my work for me. I have to resolve this myself. Somehow.]

Thinking back on it, this was one of the first challenges Aron posed on Yuel during StormBlitz's entrance exam. Already back then, Aron noticed this communication issue and pushed Yuel to work on it. However, after Yuel proved his worth in front of the entire club, this problem died out and he never had a chance to work on it. Or, rather, he didn't want to work on it. He hoped to keep playing with the same people for a long time and to never again be forced to convince anybody of anything.

But, now the problem returned to bite him in the butt and he wasn't ready. So, Yuel had to figure a way to solve it himself. He won't always have other people nearby who can do the marketing for him. He had to learn how to sell people on his skill.

So, how should he sell his current idea to Kai? How could he convince her to push against the Lumimancer without any further evidence regarding his defensive playstyle?

[Wait, didn't Vincent say something else to Luke as well?] Yuel searched his memory. Indeed, there was something else Vincent said besides the whole nonsense of the Mystic Eyes. Vincent also told Luke to "give it a shot".

In other words, Vincent didn't fully sell Luke on the idea right away. Instead, he just asked Luke to play along and see what happens.

"You're right," Yuel finally spoke up. "I've only seen that one play, so my impression of this Lumimancer might be wrong. But, that's why we should push him now and see what happens. If I'm right, he'll back off and we'll get to push for free. If not, we won't lose anything."

"Hm, I suppose," Kai took a moment to think it over. "Okay, I'm game. Let's poke him and see how things go."

[Yes!!!] Yuel pumped a fist. He did it! He convinced somebody to follow his plan! All by himself! No cheats or audience help! Yuel really did it on his own! [Did you see that, Aron? I can do it!]

It was a small thing but for Yuel it was huge. Finally, he overcame one of the most annoying hurdles ever. He probably won't run into this problem again for a while but it still felt satisfying to beat it. Now, he'll know how to deal with this issue in the future.

[I just need to ask them to give it a shot.] Yuel nodded to himself. It was such a basic thing but it didn't occur to him until now. In his mind, his reads of the enemy's behavior were akin to educated guesses and he wanted to test them. However, he failed to convey that sentiment to others, so he was always met with resistance. He'll definitely have to avoid problems like that in the future if he wants to become a shot-caller on the same level as Howard.

Following Yuel's idea, he and Kai invaded the enemy's Turret area. As Yuel suspected, the Lumimancer didn't get in their way. The guy maintained his distance and only fired at minions from afar. He'd have to commit and advance to the frontline if he wanted to hit Kai or Yuel and he clearly had no intention of doing so.

"No balls, huh," Kai shook her head.

Thanks to this push, they shaved off 20% from the Turret's HP. Hopefully, all these plays will convince Kai to trust him a little more as her Support. Yuel made it clear he'll properly ward the area, he helped her secure a kill on the Pirate and now he also came up with this great push opportunity.

So, it was about time this lone wolf started trusting him, right? Unfortunately, things weren't so easy.

Shortly after they finished pushing the Turret and retreated, the enemy Pirate returned to lane. The tug of war on the lane began once more but this time Kai had a clear advantage. She out-leveled the Pirate by one level so her attacks were stronger.

On top of that, Pirate was a class that relied on getting ahead through extra gold. So, without that advantage, it was a rather subpar class. That one early kill Kai scored on the Pirate set the guy back in a big way.

Kai was leading in the wave clearing by a mile. But, right before she finished the entire wave, she advanced toward the frontline for no apparent reason. She summoned an iron maiden behind the Pirate and fired Impale at him.

Yes, just like that. Out of the blue, she opened an attack without planning ahead or even warning Yuel. This was even worse than last time.

"Wha..." Yuel was taken aback. Didn't they just talk about this a few minutes ago? [Damn, I'm too far away to extend the stun with Ice Coffin. The Pirate will get away.]

Yuel scanned the mini-map. Fortunately, Luke wasn't too far away.

"Luke," Yuel called out and drew a path on the mini-map. "Can you come here to gank along this path? The Pirate will probably retreat soon."

"Alright, gotcha," Luke replied. "You gotta have to help me if he got HP, though. I can't burst for shit."

"Right." With any normal Jungler, a simple gank should be able to finish off an injured opponent. However, Druid was a "setup" type of ganker. He could stop an enemy in their tracks but he needed somebody else to help with the damage. So, it was up to Yuel to arrange the follow-up.

Kai drilled the stunned enemy with flying spears and then went for her ult: A Thousand Impales. Countless spears penetrated through the ground below the Pirate. They cut through the Pirate and knocked him into the air. The damage was high because the Pirate was hit while stunned and, on top of that, he was air-bound now.

So, this gave Kai another opportunity to fire at the helpless Pirate. But, the Pirate performed a Dodge Roll in mid-air and dodged her next spear.

Nevertheless, the knock-up effect was strong enough and slowed down the Pirate's escape. This gave Yuel more than enough time to catch up and secure the kill. However, unlike him, Kai didn't seem too interested in chasing.

"Kai," Yuel called out. "Let's chase the Pirate. We can get a kill."

"Can we?" Kai tilted her head. "I think he gonna get away. See? He used Backfire to get out."

"I asked Luke to gank. We can catch up."

"You're so sure about it," Kai was as uncooperative as ever. This was the time for Yuel to pull his new trick.

"Let's just give it a shot. The Lumimancer is also retreating and the enemy Jungler is on the other side of the lane, so we won't be in any danger if we chase. We either get the kill or we don't. We won't lose anything."

"Huh, I guess t," Kai nodded and joined the chase, albeit with a slight delay.

[Okay, now everything is riding on Luke's setup ability.] Yuel nodded to himself. It was difficult to consistently land Nature's Grasp due to its thin width, so it'll be interesting to see how Luke fares. If he was truly the almighty memer he claimed to be, he better nail this play.

Fortunately, Luke got to the scene on time. He cut off the Pirate and fired Nature's Grasp right before the Pirate reached his Turret. It was a hit! The branches grabbed the Pirate and dragged him back toward the Druid. Checkmate. The Pirate was captured.

Yuel erected an ice wall right in front of the Pirate to stall him even further. Unfortunately that alone wasn't enough. Kai had to be the one to deal the finishing blow but she was too far away because she started late. From this position, the Pirate might still get away if nothing was done.

But, Yuel already determined this was a checkmate. The final move to guarantee the kill was to apply extra CC on the Pirate. While the Pirate was maneuvering around the ice wall, Yuel caught up and unleashed Ice Coffin.

That's it. The Pirate was down for. Kai arrived at the scene and delivered two heavy blows.

『An enemy has been killed!』

"Good job, guys!" Luke saluted to Yuel and Kai.

"Thanks," Kai said.

"It was a solid gank," Yuel nodded in approval. "Have to say, you know your Jungler Druid."

"C'mon, man," Luke laughed. "You make me blush."

"Ya better tape that, dude," Lars chuckled. "Dude never praises anybody. If ya got his seal of approval, it means ya pro level material, yo."

[I'm not THAT bad, am I?] Yuel made a face. It's true he tended to criticize players a lot but he'd drop a nice word every now and then when somebody did well. Especially, when somebody pulled off a difficult skill-shot like Nature's Grasp. Yuel had to practice for a long time before he started landing that thing on enemies.

In the end, this uncoordinated play miraculously converted into a kill. However, that didn't mean Kai's solo attack was good. Far from it. That play was irresponsible and wasteful in every way. There were other, much more efficient, ways to secure a kill there. But, instead, Kai went In alone and wasted a lot of resources for no good reason. Kai even wasted her ult on this. It was so unnecessary.

"What was that play?" Yuel asked. "You should've told me you're going to aggress."

"Ah, right," Kai agreed but there was no hint of remorse in her tone. "I saw the Pirate had bad positioning so I went for it without thinking much. I didn't want to let that opportunity slide. You're right, I forgot to inform you."

"It would be great if you refrain from that kind of solo activity. We're supposed to work as a pair. As I said, you should use my resources when you can. You even wasted your ult there."

"Yesh, I thought I'll get him after the ult but he reacted well."

"If you just told me you were planning to attack, I could've arranged the same setup as last time. We would've secured the kill without wasting your ult that way."

"I don't see the amazing line of play you had in mind," Kai admitted. "But, you're the Challenger here so I guess you know what you're talking about."

"I'd like to believe so. Anyway, please, don't go for solo plays like that while I'm here. Let me initiate the fight and set up the kill for you."

"You're really bossy for a Support," Kai gave him a look.

"I'm pretty sure that's how the optimal dynamic between the Support and Carry should be. What do [you] think the Support is?"

"The guy who got stuck in Bot with the Carry because there aren't enough lanes for five players."

"Sounds like a very sad story."

"I know, right?" Kai chuckled. "What I really think about the Support? Well, not much, really. They're here to help me out from time to time, that's about it."

"That's all?" Yuel blinked. That was a disgustingly low evaluation of the Support's importance. Worst of all, it didn't even sound like Kai was trying to make fun of the role or anything. She just genuinely didn't find much value in the Support's presence. [Wow, this is... I have no words.]

"So," Yuel started. "You don't trust your Support to help you out and create opportunities for you?"

"Sometimes. But, I rather not rely on that," Kai shrugged. "I can win fights and get kills on my own. I don't need somebody to 'babysit' me."

"Babysitting is just a snazzy term. It's not that anybody is underestimating the Carry. It's just that the Carry is the pivot of the team and usually vulnerable during the early game. So, the Carry is very important but also very fragile by design."

"I'm not fragile."

"I'm talking about the classes, not the players," Yuel shook his head. "Marksmen are designed to have the highest DPS but, in exchange, they're some of the easiest classes to kill. A Carry who lags behind is going to drag the entire team down, so it's crucial to prevent that from happening. That's where the Support comes into the picture and takes the job of guarding the Carry."

"You're lecturing me like I don't know all that stuff," Kai rolled her eyes. "Looks you take your 'babysitting' quite literally, huh."

"Well," Yuel smiled wryly. "Let's just say that some of the Carries I played with are... a little special."

"Like Lars?"

"Like Lars," Yuel chuckled. In the case of that goof, being a Support was truly "babysitting" in every sense of the word. When they just started playing together, Lars's decision-making was godawful and Yuel had to lead the guy 24/7. Fortunately, the goof was steadily learning and, right now, he was even playing independently in Mid without getting any advice from Yuel.

『An enemy has been killed!』

Lars scored a kill in Mid. Yuel didn't catch all the details but he knew Lars has been pressuring the enemy hard for a while now. At some point, the enemy Sorcerer must have become fed up with the situation and attempted to assault Lars. However, Lars struck back and crushed the Sorcerer.

Yuel wasn't involved in this process at all. Lars handled everything himself from start to end. Truly, the goof has been growing into a fine player. It was a little emotional, like watching your baby grow up.

"You know," Yuel smiled. "When Lars started out, he was terrible. A literal baby who couldn't tell left from right. So yeah, in his case, I'd say I had to 'babysit' him in the truest sense of the word."

"You have my condolences," Kai said.

"But, he has improved a lot since then and I only give him advice every now and then. So, at this point, he's good enough to just go out there and get kills by himself as you do. In fact, no offense, but he'd likely do a much better job than you at securing kills on his own."

"You sure like singing praises to that guy. How about you just marry him?"

"It's just a fact," Yuel said. "Fight him 1v1 and you'll understand how easily he can overwhelm most opponents. And yet, when he plays Carry, he still relies on me, his Support. He knows that, no matter what amazing plays he can pull off on his own, he'll be able to do even more if he cooperates with the Support."

"Is that so," Kai shrugged. "In the end, it's the Carry who gets the job done. The Support is just there to provide some help."

"Even though the role is called 'Support', the Support and the Carry are partners. They're supposed to consult each other and decide on a game plan together. It shouldn't be the Carry's one-man show while Support is just kinda there to help sometimes maybe. No, the Support and Carry are supposed to work together."

"Did you flip some sort of 'lecturer switch'?" Kai made a face. "Alright, I get it already. I'll make sure to tell you the next time I attack."

"I'm trying to say that's not good enough," Yuel insisted. "You shouldn't only focus on [your] plays and inform me about them as if I'm an afterthought. It's fine if you want to be the one to call the shots and decide when we go on the offensive but make sure you make that judgment with both of us in mind."

"Not gonna lie, you're such a bossy Support," Kai sighed. "I dunno. What you're saying sounds too idealistic to me. I've played more than enough matches where I got bitten in the ass for trusting the Support to do stuff."

"Is Vincent a bad Support?"

"Nah, that idiot is fine," Kai said. "Like, he's not amazing and I can already see why he's praising you as the superior Support. But, he gets the job done. He usually follows up on my plays in time and helps me out. That's all I need."

"But, he doesn't call you out for making selfish plays, does he? I see."

"To be honest," Kai said. "You're the first Support I met who cares about that stuff so much. Ben played Support for me before and he didn't say anything either. He just did his job and helped me out as a proper Support should."

"So, you're saying I'm the odd one out?" Yuel smiled wryly. From what he could tell, Vincent and Ben preferred playing Top so Support wasn't their main role. And, even it were, Yuel most likely had a deeper understanding of the role than them. So, it made sense he came across as a very different type of Support.

"I understand," Yuel said. "You're not used to playing with a Support who dictates you how to move."

"Oh, so you actually understand how bossy you are."

"But, how about you give it a try this game?" Yuel asked. "Tell me ahead of time when you want to go on the offensive and let me initiate. Then, judge for yourself how effective that approach is."

"Sounds like a pain," Kai rolled her eyes. "But, alright. You've been making some good calls so far. I can play along with that."

"Thank you," Yuel meant that sincerely but it felt rather sarcastic. Why did he even have to work so hard to convince his lane partner to cooperate? It should have been common sense for the Support and Carry to work together on everything.

[Has Vincent never brought that up before when playing with Kai?] Yuel wondered.

Vincent wasn't a bad Support. During the past week, the Bot duo of Kai and Vincent has been doing perfectly fine. However, it seemed like Vincent allowed Kai to get away with her selfishness and did his best to followed up on her plays.

That was admirable in its own way because Yuel couldn't stand playing like that. He believed the Support and Carry were equals on the lane and had to cooperate on everything to draw out their maximum potential. It wasn't the Carry's one-man show.

[At least, Kai is listening.] Yuel only had that to console him.

Despite Kai's self-centered way of thinking while making her plays, she lent an ear to Yuel and even agreed to try doing things his way. Truly, the phrase "give it a try" became Yuel's trump card today. He should use it every time he tries to convince somebody to make a play.

Now, with Kai convinced, the responsibility fell on Yuel's shoulder. His supporting this game was going to either make or break it. If he puts on a strong show, Kai will be more willing to cooperate from now on. On the other hand, if he messes up, it'll be tough to make her trust her Support ever again. The next play will critical.