The Worry Before the Fifth Game

『DEFEAT』

This message concluded the fourth game of the scrimmage. Stratus lost again. Utterly crushed.

Once the enemy team seized momentum, they became unstoppable. And, the trigger for all of it was Kai's stubbornness. Surely, she understood it too.

"So," Yuel started. "Did this game convince you enough?"

"Yeah, sure..." Kai mumbled. Her head was hung. She didn't even raise it to look at Yuel. "Go ahead. Play Bot. I don't care."

What was the point of holding onto Bot if she couldn't win the lane? Why keep playing Carry if she couldn't carry the team to victory? There was no reason to continue with any of this. Kai only brought ruin on the team by insisting to play Bot.

[I'm not good enough. I'm just not...] Kai gritted her teeth. To the very end, she couldn't defeat Renegade. Not the first time, and not the second time.

To make things worse, both attempts ended in huge failures that gave the enemy tremendous momentum. It wasn't a stretch to claim that Kai was responsible for the team losing twice in a row.

[Heh.] Kai sneered at herself [Look at me, thinking I'm hot stuff just because my first opponent was weak.]

Kai trashed TheLegend pretty convincingly, so she thought she was at the top of the competition today. But then, Renegade swept in and kicked her off the high horse.

The guy was strong, there was no point denying it. Renegade was strong enough to duel Kai on equal ground and come on top.

Just as Yuel warned, challenging Renegade to a 1v1 was a folly. A dumb decision. A misplay. It completely backfired in Kai's face.

And, in addition to Renegade, then there was also the damn StormMonster nobody could escape from. He caused a lot of trouble as well.

[Seriously, aren't these new subs kinda OP?] Kai ranted internally. [They all should be nerfed in the next patch.]

Against such strong opponents, Yuel and Lars were the team's last hope. Kai would never admit it out loud, but she knew Lars was the stronger Carry. And, when teamed with Yuel, they turned into an unstoppable duo. Kai played enough games with them to understand that much.

[Looks like I'm just not good enough.] Kai hung her head. Against these competitive opponents, she couldn't bring results. But, why?

Even though she fought hard to get into the club, even though she trained so much, even though she became the captain... she wasn't good enough. Why? What was she lacking? What was she missing?

Perhaps she couldn't reach the same level as the boys because she was a girl? No, that's silly talk. Kai could give a hard fight to any of these guys.

Nevertheless, she was lacking something decisive. Mechanical skill? Experience? Matchup knowledge? It was most likely some combination of those three.

Whatever it might be, Kai was clearly not prepared enough. She believed she worked hard to get to this point, but she was naive. As it stood, she was trash. Taurus squashed her like a bug. Even in Mid, she'll probably fuck something up and lead the team to its doom.

"Hey, don't be like that, dude." Lars patted her shoulder. "Everybody messes up here and there. Look, even I got owned by those dudes. They're rea somethin'. This match became serious business for real after they joined."

"Yeah..." Kai answered absentmindedly. Lars's words barely registered in her brain. She wasn't a fan of being pitied, and she didn't want to listen to any fake encouragement. [I fucked up twice in a row. No need to sugarcoat it.]

"I hope she'll be okay," Vincent whispered to Yuel.

"Hmm." Yuel knotted his brows.

It was difficult to read Kai's state of mind. The girl often wore an even expression when she wasn't attacking anybody, so she was looking rather stoic right now. It was always hard to tell whats he was really thinking underneath that mask.

"Shouldn't you talk to her?" Yuel asked.

"Lil' ol' me?" Vincent pointed at himself.

"Yes, you. You're the closest to her in the club."

"'Closest', you say." Vincent scratched his head. For him, Kai was a close friend. But, did Kai ever see him in the same light? Usually, she treated Vincent as nothing more than an eyesore. "I do not believe my words will reach her."

"I see," Yuel said. "Then, let's leave this one to Lars. He can be surprisingly good with pep talks."

"I concur."

[I'm sure Kai will back on her feet by the next match.] Yuel convinced himself. [For now, we have to focus on the upcoming match.]

There was much to analyze and discuss regarding the previous game, but they didn't have much time at their disposal. Therefore, Yuel had to quickly sort out the data and bring up the most important topics.

The most immediate topic of discussion was undoubtedly the infamous "triangle", the trio of Renegade, StormMonster, and Laplace. The moment these guys subbed in, they leveled up Taurus as a team by at least ten levels. Their performance single-handedly decided the outcome of the last two games.

"Aside from Bot Lane," Yuel said. "Everybody else should pick classes with good escape tools. In case something goes wrong in Bot, the enemy will surely rotate to Mid or Top like before. You have to be able to get away if that happens."

"Escape tools, eh." Luke pointed at himself. "Does that include me?"

"Yes, you too." Yuel nodded. "Everybody who should have good escape tools if they can."

"Hmm. Good escape, ya say." Luke crossed his arms and fell deep in thought, as uncharacteristic as it was.

[Right.] Yuel understood the problem. It wasn't so easy to pick a Jungler meme that had good escapes.

When it came to regular Junglers, the possibilities were endless: Lionfolk, Lancer, Vampire, Ninja, Drow, and so forth. Almost all the meta classes had decent escape options.

However, this troublemaker won't pick any of these. No, he'll insist to play a meme, even during this clutch situation.

[I'd like to give him a piece of my mind, but...] Yuel clenched his fists, but he ultimately held back the urge to lash at Luke. There was the mental state of the team to consider.

Kai seemed to be in shambles, and the rest were dejected as well. The two devastating defeats took their toll on everybody's spirits. If Yuel starts arguing with somebody now, he'll only add more negativity to this already-heavy atmosphere.

If he were his old self, Yuel would definitely start lashing at Luke here and force the guy to pick a meta class. Logically, that was the "correct" course of action. Alas, theory and practice were two different things.

Some factors were more important than simply picking the right vehicle for the right job. Above all else, there was the human driver to consider. He'll be the one driving, so he'll determine how well the vehicle will perform in practice.

If the driver didn't like that vehicle, or he didn't possess the necessary skill to handle it, then everything was pointless. No matter how good the vehicle was, this driver will simply crash and burn. Therefore...

"How about Knight?" Yuel suggested something that'd definitely sound silly to any bystander, but not to the memer in front of him.

"Jungle Knight? Alright, I'm in!" Luke gave a thumbs up.

"As for Vincent," Yuel continued. "I suggest Viking."

"I was about to suggest that myself." Vincent nodded. "As expected from Chessmaster! It's the Mystic Eyes of Mind Reading!"

[Honestly, I wish their classes were reversed.] Yuel sighed. Viking was the class with a great ganking potential, whereas Knight was best suited for Top. But, precisely because of that, Luke agreed to pick Knight and would never agree to pick Viking. Sigh.

"As for Kai," Yuel turned to the zombie in the corner. "I suggest Electromancer. You okay with that?"

"Sure..." Kai answered weakly. Not exactly the most reassuring response, but she shouldn't have any problem playing Electromancer. Kai played the class rather skillfully when she trained with Yuel and Lars, so she definitely had the necessary experience to pilot it. In fact, she even seemed quite fond of the class. So, everything should be fine on that end.

At this point, the entire lineup was pretty much decided. Lars will be Trickshooter, no question about that.

As for Yuel, it was a little tricky. The best Support options he had in mind didn't excel at running away.

Paladin would be a great counter to Cleric, thanks to the silence effect of Justice Strike. However, it was a heavy class with no way to shake off pursuers. Besides, with Viking and Knight in the lineup, the team had more than enough tanks.

Therefore, Yuel settled on Aquamancer. It was another class without proper escape tools, but at least it had multiple ways to slow down pursuers. On top of that, Geyser Eruption was about as good as Justice Strike at countering Cleric's ult.

And so, the team was about to head into the next game with a firm grasp of their upcoming lineup: Trickshooter, Aquamancer, Electromancer, Knight, and Viking.

At least, that was the plan. Naturally, adaptation will be in order if the enemy bans or picks some of these classes first. Yuel had to brainstorm some replacements in case that happens.

However, just then, a knocking sound interrupted his thought process...