It was time for the third game of the scrimmage. The score was 1-1 right now, so the upcoming game will serve as a tiebreaker.

But, it was more than just that. In a real tournament match, two wins would have been enough to win the entire thing. So, if this were the regionals right now, then everything would have been riding on this game!

Then again, this is not representative of a real match for our side. Yuel though. Nia was half asleep in the first game and now she's completely out of the picture, so we’re forced to rely on memes. This is turning out to be a “worst-case” simulation of the regionals. It’s a little disappointing.

The whole point of scrimmages was to give both teams a taste of what to expect at the regionals. But, this scrimmage? So far, it was nothing but a pure mess for Stratus.

I suppose that's a lesson in itself. Yuel frowned. It shows us how unreliable our Junglers are and how much we’re dependent on them.

A Jungler was similar to a midfielder in soccer. Normally, they weren’t the player who scored the most goals or blocked the most attacks. Nonetheless, the midfielder was an important playmaker that linked the team's offense and defense. A successful defense could only transition into a strong attack via the mid-fielder.

The Jungler role in Classmancers was very much like that. The Jungler didn’t lane but he covered up for laners whenever they had to evacuate to the base. And, the Jungler didn’t score that many kills by himself but he participated in the majority of ganks.

In summary, Jungler was a crucial role that linked many of the team's plays together. It was the piece on the board that had the freedom to move from one end to another on demand.

But, Luke makes it difficult to utilize this piece properly. Yuel sighed deeply as he took his seat in front of the table. Instead of being a flexible piece, this guy comes with so many restrictions that I’m forced to plan the entire team comp around him. Normally, it's supposed to be the other way around...

The Jungler was supposed to be the flexible role that adjusts itself to the team and the situation. Yet, Luke's Dark Knight meme enforced the exact opposite.

Now, because of this, Yuel had to form another highly aggressive team comp once again.

And, Cato is going to expect that so I can't be too obvious about it. Yuel reasoned. I’m sure Cato is on guard against another Dark Knight lineup, so I have to find a smart way to throw them with the early picks.

This drafting phase was going to decide a lot about the outcome of the upcoming game. If the enemy catches wind of this Dark Knight plan and counters it preemptively, then they’ll turn Stratus’s life into hell.

For starters, there’s no choice but to pick Dark Knight toward the end. Yuel concluded. Until then, I'll stick to ambiguous picks.

The drafting phase opened with the banning phase. Yuel's bans were no-brainers: Aeromancer, Warlock, and Shadow Walker. On the other hand, the enemy banned Trickshooter, Gunslinger, and Pirate. Both strategists targeted players with obvious favorite picks.

"Heh, they aren’t gonna ban DK?" Luke cracked a laugh. "It looks like they're not scared enough yet. I say let’s pick DK right at the start to give them some Vietnam flashbacks!"

"Definitely not." Yuel shot it down. "As I explained earlier, this time, the plan is to keep the Dark Knight under wrappers. Last time, I used the Dark Knight pick to confuse them, but this time they'll know exactly what's coming once they see the Dark Knight."

"Oh, so therefore!" Vincent exclaimed. "You are planning to do the exact opposite of the last game, are you not? You will hide the mighty Dark Knight until the very end, fooling the enemy into thinking it won't be making an appearance this time!"

“Yes, that’s the plan. I’ve already explained it a few minutes ago.”

"Oh right, you did say something along these lines." Luke rested his hands behind his head and kicked back. "Welp, I'mma leave this one to you. I trust your pro-level drafting skills."

"Why thank you." A reminder that I only have to work this hard on the picks because a certain somebody is making my life very difficult right now...

But, regardless of Yuel's inventions, the enemy had the first turn in this drafting phase. So, how were the Leopards going to build their lineup this time?

After the events of the previous game, the most natural response would be to reinforce their defense to the max, but...

"Gimme Berserker," Ronald requested.

"That again?" Cato made a face. "I told you we have to start this one slow and steady."

"Bleh, weak.” Ronald made a face. “So what, you gonna make me pick Knight or some lame stuff like that?"

"Yes, that's the plan." Cato selected Knight on the menu but hasn't locked it in yet.

"I mean, Knight is fine and all, but don't you think it’s a little weak of a pick here?” Ronald asked. “We gotta show them that we're hella confident about winning this one!”

"This isn't a competition in who can stroke their ego harder" Sonya pointed out. "We won't gain any substantial advantage here by picking Berserker."

"Hard disagree,” Ronald insisted. “If we show them something like Berserker right at the start, then we'll be sending them a message, saying we aren't afraid of their DK. That gotta shake them up at least a little.”

"It sounds like wishful thinking."

”Well, they probably think we’re mopping about our defeat or whatever, so we gotta show them that we don’t care about any of that shit. We’re ready to wage war!”

"You’re basing your entire argument on some emotions that the enemy may or may not have. I don’t understand the logic behind any of it at all."

"Heh, ‘Sonya the Android’ strikes again!"

"Say what you will, but the bottom line is - you don't have any hard data to prove any of your theories."

"Meh, not everything can be proven with data. Sometimes, you just gotta FEEL it!"

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"You either have data or you have nothing."

"Dang, what a tough customer, haha."

In the end, Ronald failed to deliver any convincing arguments, so each side stuck to their religion.

"Sonya and I have already discussed the lineup options during the break," Cato said. "There wasn't enough time to explain everything to everybody, but the gist is that we want to start slow and steady in this drafting phase. First, we’ll see what the enemy is up to based on their picks, and then we’ll adjust accordingly."

"That's the safest approach," Sonya explained. "Last game, we were sure we had the enemy figured out, so we rushed to fire some counter picks early on. But as you know, that backfired very hard and we lost the game because of it."

"Heh, some drafter you are, man." Ronald threw shade at the captain.

"My, what an unlikable brat." Cato put on a fake smile. "Yes, that was my blunder, I already admitted as much. I jumped the gun during the drafting phase and that led me straight into the enemy's trap. It won't happen again."

"Are you sure about that?" Ronald asked. "At this rate, it sounds like we’ll end up with another overly defensive lineup at this rate."

"Knight is a versatile class last time I checked."

"Yeah, it's top tier for a reason,” Ronald agreed. “But, it lacks a little OOMPH to it, you know? Berserker is a way more assertive pick. It clearly screams 'we gonna wreck you!’, which is the kind of stuff we should be picking right now."

"I agree for a change," William said.

"Brooooo! I knew you'll understand!"

"Well, honestly, I know you're just coming up with excuses so you can use an aggressive class and vent your frustrations."

"Vent? What's that? Never heard of it." Ronald rolled his eyes. "I just wanna show them that we're not bothered by the nonsense they pulled last game."

"What a contradiction." Matthew sighed. "The fact you're so desperate to ‘prove’ anything just shows that you are, in fact, hella concerned. Well, that’s just my two cents."

"Well, that's... Eh..." Ronald struggled to string any words into a coherent response.

"My, my, my." Cato smiled impishly. "Somebody just got burned reaaaally hard~ Nice going, Matt."

“Whatever.” Ronald shrugged. “I mean, how can I even get ‘burned’ when I’m such a COOL guy, you know? Haha!”

“...............”

“Ahem. Never mind.” Ronald coughed it off. “Okay, I admit I’m a little salty about how the last game went down. And, I’mma be real: I made a clown outta myself a few times that game.”

“My, I’m glad you’ve finally matured enough to accept that.”

“Yeah, yeah. Anyway, that’s why I wanna make up for all that trouble by going hard in this game. So, lemme take an aggressive class and clap these scrubs!”

“This sounds like a death flag,” Matthew said.

“Yes, these are famous last words,” Cato agreed.

“Hey, what do you mean ‘last words’?” Ronald objects. “Don’t you kill me off just yet, bruh!”

“I agree with them,” Sonya said. “What you’ve just said sounds like a setup for defeat. You’ll be trying too hard to ‘make up’ for the previous game, which will likely make you screw up even more. I’ve seen plenty of examples like that in the club. Nothing good ever happens when emotions take control over you.”

“Y’all have zero trust in me, huh.”

“Yes,” Cato said without any hesitation. “A round, flat zero.”

“Ya dang bullies, all of you!” Ronald waved an angry fist. “But anyway, gimme Berserker.”

“.......................................................”

The others stared in disbelief at the clown. It was as if his brain rebooted and the entire conversation was conveniently deleted from his hard drive.

None of the arguments any of them made could sway Ronald in the slightest. This was either a showcase of an iron will or of pure foolishness.

“Hey, why are you giving me these looks?” Ronald asked. “I know you’ve said a bunch of stuff against my idea and all that, but none of it matters. Why? Because my bro approves of this pick!”

“I never said I specifically approve of Berserker,” William corrected. “But, I do think that forcing Ron to pick a ‘safe class’ is a waste here.”

“How so?” Sonya asked.

“In the reviews, we agreed that Blackhole looks like a mediocre player, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“So, I remembered the conclusion that, in this formation, we should take advantage of Ron’s strong offense and have him dominate Top against Blackhole. Whatever happened to that?”

“That’s… true,” Sonya conceded. “We did say it seemed like a good plan to overwhelm Blackhole in order to take control over Top.”

“Right? Right?” Ronald nodded repeatedly. “I’m telling you guys, bro is secretly the best strategist on the team! You should have him decide everything, then you won't be forgetting basic stuff like that."

"I admit that this detail partially slipped my mind because there were many other things to consider," Sonya said. “Just a moment. I’ll reevaluate the situation.” She pushed up her glasses and closed her eyes, computing the optimized course of action.

The possibility of overwhelming InformationBlackhole in Top was one of the more important observations she made when preparing for today's match. But, the many unexpected developments today took priority in her mind, so she pushed all the other data to the back of her head.

To be honest, for someone who prided herself in analysis and strategy, this was a rather embarrassing mistake.

"No need to feel so bad about it," Cato said. "That was an observation we made a long time ago. Many things have changed in our understanding of Stratus since then. What used to sound like a good idea before may no longer apply."

"How so?" Ronald demanded. "Even bro advocates this! That means it's totally the best move!"

"Who died and made William god?” Cato asked. “Anyway, I suppose I should remind you that, originally, we thought that today's scrimmage will be easy. Sure, we expected some resistance, but that's about it. We definitely didn't see ourselves dropping any games, did we?"

"Yes, that wasn't part of the plan," Sonya agreed.

"In light of that, our way of thinking changed,” Cato explained. “We have no choice but to adjust ourselves to the reality at hand. The recent developments invalidated many of our previous assumptions, including that playing aggressively in Top was optimal for this matchup.”

"Wait," Ronald interrupted. "So, you remembered that bit and you didn't even say anything? Talk about playing it dirty, man."

"I don't remember ever signing a contract that states I must share my entire thought process with you at all times. That'd an invasion of privacy, you know."

"My guy, you were literally keeping super important details from us!"

"That outdated idea is just noise at this point. Even now, we're wasting precious time talking about it."

"Nuuuuu, but my opportunity to go ham in Top...!"

"Put a sock in it."

“Hmph!” Ronald crossed his arms and puffed his cheeks in protest. It was the response of a typical five-year-old.

"Well," William started. "I know we don't have much time left to discuss this, but may I know why exactly you consider this idea 'outdated' now? I don't think anything has changed about our analysis of Blackhole."

"True, he's about as mediocre as our analysis implied,” Cato agreed. “As I said, it's our impression of their team as a whole that changed. We assumed they'll be easy prey and that we’ll have the freedom to push offense in Top without worrying too much about defense there, but the previous game proved us wrong. We must keep our defense top-notch across the board."

"I see," William said. "So, you want Ronald to be able to play defensively on demand."

"Yes, that's the gist of it. As always, you're fast on the uptake, unlike your younger kin~"

"Hmph!" Ronald's arms remained crossed. "Like, sure, I understand where you're coming from. But, turtling isn’t gonna solve our problems, you know?”

“I agree,” William said. “Sometimes, it’s a good idea to try to cut off the enemy's initiative early by striking first.”

"Yeah, exactly!" Ronald made noise. "Fight fire with fire! Bro is a genius, I'm telling you!"

"That’s a classic recipe for defeat if you ask me," Cato said. "I see where you're coming from but personally, I think that turtling against Stratus is the right move here."

"And, will you be satisfied with that kind of win?" William asked. "It'll make the audience think we're scared of Stratus."

"Let them think what they want."

"Do I need to remind you that we're supposed to be regional champions? Even if you don't care about public opinion, the coach sure does."

"My, what a pain…" Cato sulked.

William actually made a strong case here, one that Cato will have to consider very carefully as the captain...