Playing Ranked with Randoms

Nia's qualifier match began. It was her third qualifier in total and she has lost the previous matches. So, she better start winning if she doesn't want to get stuck in Bronze.

To help with that, Yuel watched over her match like a coach. While the match was loading, Nia glued herself to her phone.

"Tipmancer again?" Yuel asked.

"Mhm," Nia gave him a small nod but her eyes kept scanning the details in the app. It had some good news and some bad news.

The good news: Wizard had a favorable lane matchup against Pyromancer during the early-game. Wizard's passive, Wisdom, granted flat magic power and penetration right off the bat. That put Wizard slightly above the competition early on and her spells also had a better range than Pyromancer.

However, there were also huge bad news: the enemy Dark Knight in Top Lane! That thing was a monster. Even without Tipmancer, Nia had more than enough terrible experiences fighting that early-game bully. It was a super OP class. It was best to steer clear of it.

"What Tipmancer got to say about this lineup?" Yuel asked.

"Pyro ez. DK scary."

"Yeah, I had a feeling it'd be something along these lines. Wizard got a good matchup against Pyromancer and Dark Knight has a dangerous early-game, something like that?"

"Mhm."

"Well, that omits some crucial information."

"Such as?" Nia titled her head.

"For starters, Pyro will only be a favorable matchup for you in the first ten minutes or so. Before long, its burst damage will outdo the Wizard. So, if played smartly, a mid-game Pyro will have the upper hand against Wizard."

"That's terrible. Nobody told me about that," Nia pouted as she scrolled back and forth on her screen. There was no such advice in Tipmancer. Where did Yuel draw that info from? It gotta be some ancient alien wisdom, no doubt.

"Tipmancer can't teach you the entire game," Yuel said. "It's a nice app but, like any app, it has to be constantly maintained and updated. So, whoever fills it up with info can't cover too many specific interactions. They have to be as general as possible to make sure the info is correct and will remain correct in the upcoming patches. It's the same thing with the info you find on the wiki. It's either going to be very surface level or if it covers something specific, there's a chance it's outdated.

"Hmm," Nia twisted her lips. "So, I have to kill the Pyro a bunch of times until mid-game?"

"That's one way to overcome the problem. But, that's unrealistic in general."

"Why?" Nia tilted her head.

"You won't always fight players who are easy to get kills on."

"Hmm, how about this Pyro, then? Can I beat it?"

"How should I know? The match hasn't even started yet."

"I thought you knew everything."

"Pretty sure I've never claimed such a thing."

"Disappointing," Nia said. "Ok, I'll try to outlevel him early somehow."

"That's the idea," Yuel nodded. "The other thing Tipmancer probably doesn't mention, is that your team will have to pressure Top to prevent Dark Knight from snowballing. You have to prevent an unfortunate development like the one with the Orc during your entrance exam."

"But, it's dangerous to fight DK early."

"True, but somebody has to challenge it."

"Don't wanna." Nia puffed her cheeks.

"That's okay. This isn't supposed to be your responsibility anyway. The Jungler is supposed to handle that part. I was just giving an example for another important thing to keep in mind that Tipmancer won't teach you."

"Tipmancer is a sham," Nia put down her phone. "How do I install you on my phone instead?"

"Sorry, but your phone doesn't have enough memory to store all my game knowledge."

"Show-off," Nia gave him a look and returned to the game. The map loaded and she started off at the base. "Tipmancer recommends one Ward and one MP Potion to start off. Does it lie?"

"No, that's a good start," Yuel said. "Tipmancer can be trusted to give you decent openers, at least."

"It also says to start with Magi Boots."

"Not sure I agree with that one," Yuel crossed his arms. "It's the standard opening so you can't go wrong with it. In that sense, I get why it's recommended. But, when you fight a Pyromancer on lane and have to get ahead during the early-game, you need to be more aggressive."

"So, I buy Staff of Ages?"

"No, no, that's going too far. That's a super late-game power item. It scales your magic power by percentage so it's not that good early. Not to mention, it's expensive. Even at Lv.1, you can't afford the Ward and MP Potion along with it."

"True, true," Nia nodded. "So, what do I get?"

"I'd go with Necronomicon," Yuel said. "It got decent power and MP, so it should help you bully the Pyromancer."

"Bullying isn't nice."

"You have to do it, though. Otherwise, you won't win the lane."

"I didn't say I won't do it," Nia smirked. Her enemies will take any opportunity to bully her so she'd do the same to them. An eye for an eye.

"Good," Yuel nodded. "Just make sure to return to base as soon as you can upgrade Necronomicon to Lv.3. You have to start stacking as early as possible."

"Ok," Nia purchased Necronomicon and proceeded to buy a Ward and an MP Potion. But, there was a little problem. "I don't have enough. Can't buy."

"Oh, right. Necronomicon costs extra 50 gold now at Lv. 1. My bad."

"I thought you were the superior app," Nia gave him a disappointed look.

"I sincerely apologize for only being a human," Yuel smiled wryly. "It used to cost less until the balance changes last year. That's why Tipmancer rarely suggests any specific matchup builds. You never know when the build becomes irrelevant in future patches."

"So, do I buy it, or...?"

"Stick with Necronomicon. If memory serves, the cost increase was specifically to discourage players from buying it alongside an MP Potion. Necronomicon + MP Potion + Ward was a very common opener due to how much sustain it gave. But, Necronomicon alone should suffice. You can skip the MP Potion."

"Ok," Nia finished the purchase and joined the Carry and Support at the Ogre Camp. Or, at least, that was the plan...

"Eh?" Nia tilted her head. [Hello? Red buff? Anybody?]

The Elf and Paladin on her team passed by the Ogre Camp without stopping. They went on to Bot Lane.

"Um, aren't we supposed to take the red buff?" Nia asked. "Is Tipmancer lying to me again?"

"No, it's correct," Yuel said. "The meta is to begin at the red and blue camps."

"Ok," Nia went on and reached the Ogre Camp. But, she was alone there. Even though her allies could see her there on the mini-map, they didn't budge. Nobody came to help.

"This takes me back," Yuel smiled wryly. "Lv.50 players, qualified for Ranked and still don't know the meta opening. Brilliant."

"They need more Tipmancer in their life."

"Not even kidding," Yuel sighed deeply.

"I guess this isn't happening," Nia turned to leave the camp.

"Wait, there's still time," Yuel argued. "Try pinging the camp with a 'group-up'."

"Ok, um," Nia pressed a button. Then another button. Then a different one.

"You press right on the dpad to open the chat. That also lets you ping the map."

"I-I remember that." Nia pressed in a hurry.

[When was the last time this girl pinged anything?] Yuel made a face. Well, at least she managed to pick the correct ping on her own.

『Group Up!』An exclamation popped on the mini-map, accompanied by a voice line. However, the Bot duo didn't budge.

"Spam it a few times," Yuel advised.

"Ok," Nia repeated the ping multiple times in a row. By the fourth time, the Paladin turned around and began heading in the camp's direction. The Elf followed suit.

As a result of this delayed communication, they cleared the Ogre Camp a little late. But, they still had enough time to return to lanes before the minions clash. Nia just had to take the power buff and...

"Ah, mine..." Nia grumped. The Elf just went ahead and snatched her red buff! Robbery! Send halp!

"Yeah, this happens sometimes," Yuel sighed. Low-level Ranked was such a clown fiesta.

"These bullies...!" Nia mashed a macro.

『Thanks!』

『Thanks!』

『Thanks!』

『Thanks!』

『Thanks!』

"Enough already," Yuel said. "Head to your lane."

"I don't want to play with these people anymore," Nia pouted.

"I feel you but you can't throw away your Qualifier. You don't want to be stuck in Bronze, do you?"

"Gufu..." Nia sighed in defeat.

"It's okay. You're a Wizard, Nia. Even without the power buff, you'll outclear the Pyromancer early on."

"I guess," Nia dragged herself to lane. She felt so robbed here. Even though she was the one who brought these clueless scrubs to the Ogre Camp, they robbed her in broad daylight. Dang it!

This Qualifier was off to a great start...