Gambling

The game was a complete stomp. For Godmode. The laning phase was pretty even, but Miranda started to get worried when she was unable to sneak camps from the enemy jungle. Every time she tried to do so she would be forced back by an enemy laner. They always rotated to stop her and then returned to lane without missing much. She couldn't even sneak a Chimera and was almost killed when she got collapsed upon by the enemy mid and bot lane.

Her worries came to fruition during the mid game. Godmode started catching them out. Sometimes they would bring five members to a lane and dive the Pillar. Other times they would sneak into the jungle and ambush people backing or just returning to lane. It was a complete nightmare that Miranda could do little about. If she was in position she could try to help, but mostly it was just her cutting losses. Every time their jungler appeared she would take the opportunity to steal away a few of the enemy's camps if there were any up on the opposite side of the map.

Finally Godmode nailed the coffin shut. After handily winning a teamfight they took down the Divine Guardian. With their superior power and the backup of Resurrection, they mowed into Nobody Cares's base and demolished the Core.

At that moment it became clear to everyone on Nobody Cares just what their skill level was. All the teams that they had played before were like the teams they practiced against in matched queues. Most of the teams that they played against had some sort of weakness to be exploited. There were mechanically inept players who could be preyed upon and shut out of the game, players who didn't have enough experience and would be focusing on the wrong things like trying to poke down the enemy when they should be focusing on last hitting minions, or Miranda being able to sneak into their jungle and plunder the opponent's resources.

Godmode was not like those teams. Each of their players had Rina's level of mechanical skill, or even better. They had game knowledge and collaborated well. Nobody Cares could beat the mainstream at checkers. Godmode was playing 4d chess. Compared to them, Nobody Cares was a floundering mess. This was made even more clear after the second game which was a clean shutout by Godmode. Nobody Cares couldn't even get a Pillar.

"Can we just surrender?" Jacob moaned. "This is just stupid."

After the first game, Jacob had given up. Kelly and Rina were gungho about making a comeback. Archie was cautiously optimistic. Miranda knew they were worse, but did what she could to encourage the others. After the second game, nobody refuted Jacob's statement. They all saw the writing on the wall.

"Well we should at least play it out," replied Archie.

"Let me play mid," said Miranda suddenly.

"What, you have a plan?" asked Kelly.

"No, I just want to have some more fun before it's over."

"Okay, sure fine. Archie will go jungle. I'll be support." Kelly tossed her hair back before leaning forwards again and refocusing. "I'll pick Elementalist."

"Elementalist support?"

"It's just for fun anyways. Let's go out with a bang."

Godmode was really confused by Nobody Cares's draft. Before Nobody Cares had followed pretty standard meta, a couple carries, at least one support, and at least one tank.

"What do you guys think they'll last pick?" Derek, the captain of team Godmode and the carry player in the bot lane, led his team's draft. To his left sat his support, Kyle, and to his right sat their mid laner, Justin. After Justin came their jungler Francisco and their top laner Zhang. Everyone on the team was Platinum ranked.

"They have four carries. They'll probably pick a tank for support like Paladin, Golem, maybe General?"

"I think so too."

"Yup definitely. Their team comp is too imbalanced, they need a tank support."

Everyone on the team was in agreement, their opponents would pick a tank support to fill out their team composition. Which was why no one was surprised at their opponents' last pick.

"Wait, wtf? Why did they pick Gambler?" asked Justin.

"Do you know how to play the class?" inquired Derek.

"Nope, not a clue," admitted Justin.

"I tried it before, it's a complete mess."

"Same."

Kyle and Zhang reassured their teammates that the Gambler was nothing to worry about.

"It's just a troll pick. They've probably given up on trying to win."

"Why not surrender?"

"They probably don't realize they don't have to play the game."

"Don't get too cocky." Derek frowned at his teammates' lax attitude. "They could have some powerful strategy. A trump card they haven't played yet. Don't forget the plan."

"Ward to see where they are. Collapse to defend against invades. Peel for you in teamfights. Yeah, we get it." Zhang rolled his eyes. "Lighten up dude."

"I'm being serious!"

"They know man." Kyle punched Derek lightly in the shoulder. "Relax, they'll play their best."

"Okay, okay, okay. Get ready guys. It's time to focus."

"Let's do this."

The crowd cheered as the avatars loaded into the map. Miranda zoomed in her camera briefly on her avatar. A low rez model in her likeness dressed in a luxurious embroidered long coat and brightly feathered hat idled playing around with a deck of cards. Light particles in the form of little numbers and symbols floated in the air each time she drew a new hand, regarding it for a moment before shuffling it back into the deck.

A smile crossed her face as she zoomed out again and bought her items. It was finally time to return to her favorite class. It was finally time to gamble for real.