Tipmancer is Law

『An ally has been killed!』

Vincent was the first to fall during the Orc rampage. He did his best to keep Kai alive and she indeed successfully escaped death. However, in the process, the Orc claimed Vincent's life and destroyed the Bot Turret. The team lost control over every lane. It was a disaster.

From this mess, the game immediately transitioned into the team-fighting phase. However, with no Turrets to fall back to, Yuel's team was forced to defend deep within their territory. Everybody fell back to the Golems and formed the last line of defense.

It was such a desperate situation even though it all started from something so small. Just because Nia refused to gank the Orc during the early-game, the guy was allowed to snowball this hard and demolish all three Turrets.

And, what was the culprit in question doing the entire time while the team was being pushed back? Nothing. Nia kept farming jungle camps as if the defense didn't require her help.

"Nia, the team is defending right now in case you haven't noticed," Yuel said.

"Mhm, I see," Nia nodded. "Good luck."

"When I say 'team', that includes you too."

"But, I can't defend."

"Come again?"

"Ninja can't defend much," Nia claimed. "I only got the clone to get in some damage but that's about it. It won't help much."

"Yes, you're right. Assassins are notoriously weak for those sorts of situations but your presence here will still have meaning. You'll help to clear minions faster and the enemy will have to be wary of potential burst damage if they get too close."

"I prefer to farm."

"I, too, prefer to do something other than sitting under Golem all day. But, we don't have that luxury right now. In the first place, whose fault do you think this situation is?"

"Hmm, I dunno," Nia shrugged.

"Really now," Yuel narrowed his eyes.

"Is your bickering going to help us win?" Kai asked in a cold tone.

"No, I suppose not," Yuel sighed and gave up the topic. He'll have plenty of time to blame Nia later. Right now, he had to find a way to turn this situation on its head. For that, they had to deflect the enemy's fierce push. Any extra pair of hands will make a big difference.

"Nia, we need you to come back to defend," Yuel said.

"But, it won't help much."

"It surely won't, not with that attitude," Yuel was [this] close to blurting some things but he took a deep breath to calm himself. "Since when you don't like defending? You played solid defense in 1v1."

"Duel is different. There, I can just wait and then go for the kill. But, that's not gonna happen when a group is pushing. Even Tipmancer recommends searching for ganks instead of helping defend."

"Tipmancer?" Yuel raised an eyebrow.

"Ah, um," Nia fell silent.

"What was that about Tipmancer?"

"Shoot..." Nia twisted her lips.

"I see now," Yuel nodded. Finally, a lot of things made sense all at once. "So, that's what you've been doing on your phone this whole time,"

"Are you a stalker?" Nia gave him a suspicious look.

"I just notice things. Listen, Tipmancer is a great tool for people who are starting out. There's a lot of wisdom stored in there but you have to be able to think for yourself as well. Don't take Tipmancer for a bible. It only gives general guidelines, nothing more."

"It's written by people who know better than me."

"Yes, most likely. But, said people aren't here right now. They don't know what's going on in this specific match so they can't adjust their advice accordingly. I assume it was Tipmancer that told you to be careful about ganking Orc?"

"Yeah."

"That's a great example of what I'm talking about. There's nothing wrong with warning players about the dangers ganking Orc. But, you have to think beyond that. Yes, it's dangerous but also necessary. Otherwise, things end up like this."

"I, I didn't..." Nia mumbled and curled into a ball. She hasn't played the MOBA mode much in the past year so she didn't know any of these things. Yuel was just bullying her. It wasn't her fault.

"It's fine that you didn't know the finer details. After all, you've been focusing on Duel. But, that's precisely why you should've listened to me and ganked Top."

"But, it was scary. Orc is dangerous."

"Even so, you had to take the risk. Or, you still think it was better to avoid confrontation? Look where it led us. We're in this tight spot because you refused to gank the Orc. This entire situation is pretty much your fault."

"My fault?" Nia's lips quivered. What was this? Why? She thought the people here were nice. Unlike the bullies online who blamed her for everything, the people of this club actually praised her for things. She thought they might even become friends.

But, yet again, everybody placed the blame on her. It wasn't her fault they all lost their lanes. It totally wasn't. She couldn't do the impossible and kill that Orc, she was no miracle maker. He was a scary dangerous guy. Nia couldn't get a kill on that bully.

『jungler uninstall game』

『jungler cyka feeder』

『report jungler』

The messages surfaced in her head again. These hateful messages were the reason she didn't like MOBA mode. In this mode, everybody blamed everybody. And, everybody blamed Nia. Everybody was a bully.

Even now, in real life, the same thing was happening.

"Zero ganks. GG. We lost because of the Jungler." That's how Yuel's criticism sounded. Somehow, all the fault laid with Nia even though that didn't make any sense.

Nia's KDA was 1/0/1 right now. She hasn't died even once and she technically scored two kills, even if one was stolen by Kai.

So, Nia was doing great! She wasn't feeding and she even got some kills! So, how could anybody possibly blame her for the team's situation? It didn't make any sense. As long as she was doing fine, none of the team's problems could possibly be her fault.

[He must be salty because he's doing bad. That's why he's taking it out on me.] Nia concluded.

"It [is] your fault," Yuel insisted. "You had the means to stop the Orc from snowballing to this point and I asked you to do so numerous times. But, you've been ignoring me."

"That's not..." Nia fell silent and continued farming jungle camps. That boy was just a bully. There was no need to negotiate with bullies. She'll simply press a real-life "mute button" on him.

[Maybe all of this is a mistake.] Nia thought. Maybe she shouldn't have applied to this club, after all. Everybody here pretended to be nice but they just bullied her. Sob.

"Hey, dude. Don't take it too hard," Lars smiled toward Nia. "Yuel always sounds harsh like that. He sometimes talks like you're the worst player in the world but he's saying all of that to help ya improve."

"Is that so," Nia wasn't convinced in the slightest. Yuel was a bully, no two ways about it.

But, maybe he wasn't an intentional bully. Maybe he wasn't saying all that stuff just to make Nia feel bad; he actually believed everything he was saying.

[Wait, isn't that worse?] Nia shuddered. It meant Yuel truly believed everything was Nia's fault. Even worse, Yuel kinda seemed like the type of guy who knew what he was talking about. So, maybe some of his criticism was actually valid. But, wait, in that case...

[Nonono.] Nia shook her head. That was impossible. Yuel was a bully. End of the story. Because, if not...

"Are you done complaining?" Kai asked Yuel. "Scolding her for early-game mistakes isn't going to help our situation. Do that after the game. It's just distracting."

"My bad," Yuel realized anger took control over his mouth at some point. There was nothing more infuriating than an uncooperative teammate.

Yes, Nia was lacking in knowledge regarding the MOBA mode and that was fine. However, the way she refused to listen to Yuel's advice just because of some half-truths written in Tipmancer was just grrrrrrrr!

[It's like she thinks my game knowledge is a joke compared to that app.] Yuel stomped. Yes, of course. Only Tipmancer knew exactly what Nia should be doing. Compared to that the boundless wisdom of that basic app, Yuel's advice was rubbish and should be ignored.

But, Kai was right. Getting mad about it didn't improve their situation in the slightest. What happened, happened. Yuel had to think of active solutions for the current stage of the game. This was an exam for learning more about Nia but it was also a serious match. They all wanted to win here.

The enemy formation had a couple of openings. By now, Yuel figured out many of the enemy's patterns. They've been constantly switching their pressure from one lane to another in order to make the defenders run all over the place like headless chickens. It was an effective tactic but it followed a rather obvious flowchart.

Unfortunately, there weren't any good opportunities to punish this predictable routine. Yuel could try sending Lars to a strategic location and let the beast wreak some havoc over there but it was risky. There was a chance the enemy will catch the goof with a pincer and then the game will be over for sure.

This team needed both Lars and Kai to be alive in order to deflect all the incoming pushes with their DPS. Without one of them, the enemy will easily penetrate the team's defenses by focusing on two lanes at the same time.

[Can Nia do something about this?] A part of him wanted to make Nia take responsibility for the mess she created. But, it wasn't just that.

As an assassin, Nia was the best candidate for delivering a surprise attack on the enemy and shift the tides of war. Also, she refused to defend so it'd be great if Yuel could find some actual use for her in this situation.

But, nothing came to mind. Or, rather, he had no idea how much he could trust Nia to pull off the various plays he had in mind. Their interactions were already rather charged, so the worst he could do right now was to send Nia to her death by giving her a mission that was beyond her skill level.

Nia already thought of him as a "bully", so he didn't want to make his reputation any worse. Besides, it was unlikely Nia had the necessary skill to turn this around anyway.

"Chessmaster, if I may," Vincent interrupted Yuel's thoughts. "I got the ultimate suggestion. It might help you open your eyes and reach out to the truth!"

"Oh really," Yuel rolled his eyes.

"You should make use of the Vanishing Phantom!"

"Bye."

"No, wait! I'm serious."

"I'm sure you are serious." [A serious clown.]

"You saw how BlackFlower's ganks went, right? Didn't you find them peculiar?"

"In a sense," Yuel refused to let himself get dragged into Vincent's nonsense. Nevertheless, he had to admit the clown had a point. The two ganks Nia delivered earlier were quite odd.

First, she caught the Aeromancer off-guard. It was as if the very idea of being ganked didn't even cross the guy's mind. On top of that, it was impressive how none of the enemy wards caught Nia's rotation toward Mid.

Similarly, the gank on Bot didn't make much sense either. The enemy Pirate was left in. 1v1 situation against Kai, yet he overextended without a care in the world. It was so uncharacteristic compared to the solid playstyle he has been exhibiting until that point. Yet again, it seemed as if the possibility of being ganked by Nia didn't even cross the guy's mind.

"Tell me honestly, could you make any of these gank calls?" Vincent asked. "Did you see an opportunity for a good gank in any of these situations?"

"Not quite," Yuel admitted. These two ganks were an enigma. The only way to explain them was that the enemy slipped hard on these two occasions. They didn't make any sense otherwise.

"These were no coincidences," Vincent proclaimed. "It was the Vanishing Phantom! The enemy forgot about Nia's existence and let her sneak up to them!"

"Perhaps." Naturally, Yuel didn't accept a silly explanation like "Vanishing Phantom". Nevertheless, the enemy definitely lowered their guard against Nia's ganks. Twice.

But, maybe it wasn't so surprising. After all, Nia has been lying low that entire game. For a long time, she only focused on clearing camps and didn't gank a single lane, despite Yuel's pleading. As a result, the enemy didn't see much of Nia's presence and might have assumed she wasn't the type to take the initiative.

But, then she suddenly appeared, as if out of the void, and scored a kill. And, then another kill. Honestly, it was impressive how she cut through the enemy's solid defense as if it was butter.

"So, you should make use of it!" Vincent insisted. "Make use of the Vanishing Phantom! The enemy must have completely forgotten about her existence by now. Am I not right, BlackFlower?"

"Eh? Ah," Nia was taken aback for a moment. Was it a custom here to call each other by in-game nicknames? It was kinda weird but also kinda cool. It's like they were a part of a secret organization.

"What say you, Black?" Vincent asked again. "You think the enemy forgot about you by now?"

"Um, maybe," Nia said. She wasn't a mind reader so she didn't know for sure whether the enemy team has completely forgotten about her. Still, judging by their movements and lack of aggression toward her, it was safe to say she wasn't high on their list of priorities.

"Alrighty, then let's change the question then: you think you can sneak up to any of them unnoticed?"

"Probably."

"There you have it," Vincent turned to Yuel. "The Vanishing Phantom is ready to be unleashed!"

[Yes, Nia's vague answers sure convinced me.] Yuel rolled his eyes. Nevertheless, at this point, anything was worth a try. There was little chance of coming back from this position anyway.

To mount a comeback, the team needed a big and unexpected game-changer. Besides, Nia was completely neglecting the defense so this was a good way to put her to some use.

"If you really think you can sneak on them," Yuel said. "Why you haven't done so yet?"

"It's scary," Nia pouted. "They always group up after moving. Zero openings. They're like trained agents."

"I see." That observation was spot-on. The enemy team didn't leave any noticeable holes in their defenses while pushing lanes. Whenever they shifted their focus from one lane to another, they always made sure nobody was left alone for too long. So, if Nia was waiting for an easy isolated target, that wasn't going to happen any time soon.

The only time to strike was during the rotation itself. While the enemy was traversing through the jungle alone, they were vulnerable to a gank. However, such moments were brief and it was necessary to predict the enemy's movements ahead of time to catch them.

Apparently, Nia lacked the ability to make such predictions at the moment. That was understandable since doing so required a fair amount of experience. In fact, from all the players in this club, most won't be able to make the right call at the right time.

However, Yuel could. He could tell the enemy's offense was strong but calculated, hence predictable. By now, he studied the entire flowchart of their movements.

Every time the enemy attackers had to face three defenders on a lane, they rotated somebody to another lane. That kept the defenders busy and slowly, but surely, cracked the defense down.

The enemy used two types of rotations. They either rotated one attacker to a lane that already had attackers it it, or they rotated two or more attackers to an empty lane. It seemed their golden rule was to always ensure there were at least two attackers on a lane. They never left a teammate behind to push a lane alone.

It was a rather timid style of offense for a team that picked a rushdown class like Orc. It didn't feel like they were rushing too hard to close the game early. They took their time to enjoy the advantage of the Orc's strength and used it to gradually crack down the defense of Yuel's team.

It was a smart way to utilize their high ground. They knew they didn't need to recklessly rush to victory. They just had to make sure the game won't reach late-game. These players were no amateurs, as proven by their golden names.

Nevertheless, not pushing for a quick win was a mistake in this situation. Without Nia to help with the defense efforts, this situation was as good as a 4v5 for Yuel's team. The enemy should've taken advantage of their numbers to break through.

[Maybe they haven't realized Nia isn't here to defend?] A funny thought crossed Yuel's mind. Normally, something like that was unthinkable. The enemy team has proven its competence so they couldn't possibly miss something so simple.

["Vanishing Phantom". Yeah, right.] Yuel cracked a dry laugh. Was he really going to accept that kind of nonsense?

As unscientific as it was, it was undeniable that Nia has successfully snuck up to many players today. She definitely had [something] going for her. Perhaps it was a skill Yuel couldn't quite comprehend because he didn't possess it himself, the same way others couldn't understand the way Yuel always spotted weaknesses right away.

[It's worth a shot.] Yuel concluded. If Nia was truly the "Vanishing Phantom", she should be able to pull off a gank on a stray target. If not, it'll simply prove she wasn't as amazing as Vincent claimed. It'll show that her "Vanishing Phantom" wasn't as effective against competent players with good map awareness.

Yuel just had to arrange the right scenario for testing it on and he already had an idea in mind. If it works, it might shift the entire momentum of this match.