The competitive stage. The place where each player puts their everything on the line for the sake of victory. An arena where gladiators fight relentlessly through blood and sweat, displaying their strengths and conquering their weaknesses.
In today’s scrimmage, Yuel got a taste of this glamorous stage. It was a ruthless war zone, but a glimmering one. Today’s battle just ended, yet he already dreamed of playing here again.
“Hey dude,” Lars called out. “Match is over. How long ya gonna stand there?”
“Oh, right.” Yuel returned down to earth. What did just happen, again? Right, they had a handshaking ceremony and the Leopards left. Everything was a blur. He vaguely recalled Breaker talking about something with Lars and Roi, but he completely out of it at the time.
“You okay? You look like a zombie, haha.”
“Just tired.” Yuel slowly turned toward the exit. Ugh, his legs felt like lead. Each step felt like pushing a car that ran out of gas.
“Dude, you look pooped.” Lars walked up to him and offered a shoulder. “C’mon.”
“I’m not that tired- wah!” Yuel stumbled, almost diving into the floor. So much for acting tough. Ugh. He felt his cheeks heating up. “... guess I’ll take you on that offer.” He wrapped his arm around Lars’s shoulder. “This is embarrassing..”
“Totally.” Lars nodded. “You gotta exercise more. You’ve been slacking lately, right?”
“I still jog, at least once a week.”
“Laaaame. You gotta jog every day, yo.”
“Pretty sure that’ll break my legs.”
“Nah, it’ll be fine! Trust me, you’ll have more MP than ever! Can cast yo Tactics Shmactics spell all day.”
“Heh, I’ll think about it.” Yuel smiled wryly. Body fitness directly contributed to mental fitness, so it’s not like Lars was wrong. However, Yuel’s fatigued stemmed primarily from the abnormal circumstances of today’s match,
First, he inherited the shot-caller role amidst a helpless situation in the first game. He had to squeeze every last bit of brain power to overcome that ordeal. And since then, he had been the shot-caller every game. That’s extremely taxing when combined with playing Support, a role which required sharp-decision making.
However, all of that was still up his alley. Things started getting out of hand once the issue with Trever hit the fan. Yuel was stressed out by the team falling apart and he desperately tried to find a solution, which led to confronting Trever face to face and asking the team captain to step down. An absurd situation. Yuel never dealt with that kind of drama before.
And if all that wasn’t exhausting enough, he also became the captain. That loaded further pressure on him, since he had to act like a role model for everybody and hold the team together. Yuel never trained to bear such heavy responsibility during a match. It was nerve-racking.
So all in all, there were too many unforeseeable circumstances and too many roles forced on him. No wonder he was exhausted. No amount of daily exercise could have prepared him for something like this. Even running twenty marathons every day wouldn’t build the necessary mental fortitude to deal with that sort of rollercoaster ride.
The only relief he had today was when Lars joining the team. Lars was a high maintenance player, so Yuel had to babysit him a little. But in exchange, Lars steered the momentum in StormBlitz’s favor, making it that much easier to win the two games.
“You played well today,” Yuel said.
“Whoa,” Lars jumped. “You really praising me? That’s rare! You sure you okay? Don’t die on me, dude!”
“I can give credit where it’s due. With that said, we still need to review some of the terrible plays you made, like that one time you died diving under tower.”
“Bah, ruthless.” Lars made a face. “But we really did it, huh.” His eyes went over the grand stage. “We finally became pros!”
“Again with that...” Yuel sighed and smiled wryly. “This is just junior high. And, we only played as a second string.”
“But duuude, wasn’t it sick!? We finally got to play on a real stage! There was even an audience and everything! “
I bet they were mostly spies from other schools, though. Yuel kept that observation to himself to not ruin the moment. Circumstances aside, today was really a huge step forward.
Just a year ago, the two of them were just newbies who grinded in Ranked during lunch breaks and after school. They had come a long way, getting to play on a real stage where pro matches were held. But, that’s just the beginning.
“We really made it far, but we still got a long way to go.”
“True dat. Next time, we gonna come here as the first string!”
“Yes.” Yuel nodded. Though, that’ll have to wait until at least next week. Sadly, it’s unlikely any changes will be made to the first string so late into the year. The regionals were just a couple of months away and Yuel still hadn’t surpassed Howard. But, next year for sure...!
“Sure took you a while.” Gilbert greeted them as they returned to the waiting room. “You alive?” he asked while throwing a glance at the shoulder supporting Yuel.
“Kinda.” Yuel quickly removed himself from Lars, before anybody else sees this embarrassing scene. Gilbert was fine, but others would make fun of him to no end. And, Julia would definitely tear him apart for this.
Yuel dropped on one of the sofas and exhaled. Thinking of it, he didn’t get much sleep tonight. The nap he took before the scrimmage relieved some of that fatigue, but it was creeping back. He was so tired. If not for his teammates being as reliable as they were during the matches, he would have collapsed a long time ago.
“By the way,” Yue; addressed Gilbert. “Thanks for backing up my shot-calling, especially in the last game. I could barely put two and two together at that point.”
“Well,” Gilbert shrugged. “I was kinda supposed to be the team’s shot-caller in the fist place, so...”
Thanks for willing to surrender the role to me. Yuel kept that one inside to not rub any salt.
Gilbert clearly came here today fully intent on being the shot-caller throughout the whole scrimmage. After all, that's the role entrusted to him by Howard. Just how hard was it for him to surrender the role to somebody else? And to a freshman, to boot.
“Really, thank you so much.”
“C’mon, you making me blush.” Gilbert chuckled. “It’s no big deal. That's what teammates do: we support each other. Just because you play Support, doesn’t mean you can't rely on others. That's a problem I noticed, you know? You like shouldering everything yourself. It's a team sport. You don’t have to do everything yourself.”
“Right.” Yuel had mixed feelings about this critique, but it probably had some truth in it. He really did accumulate a bunch of different roles and overclocked his brain to find solutions for all the problems the team faced. But, it's not like he didn’t rely on his teammates at all. For example, he did borrow Lars’s help to reclaim the team’s momentum, didn’t he?
“Well,” Gilbert looked aside. “To be fair, you were probably meant to be tested as the shot-caller in the first place.”
“Hm?”
“Nothing,” Gilbert shrugged. “Anyway, I’m off to watch the first string’s game. Seems like they’re still at it.”
“Oh! “ Lars exclaimed. ”I wanna watch too!” He turned to Yuel. “Wanna go?“
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“Nah,” Yuel shook his head, sinking deeper into the comfy sofa. “I want to rest a bit.”
“Okay, seeya after the match.” Everybody left. Yuel also wanted to join them, but his body lost all its strength once it dropped on the sofa. So tired. He merely played five games, but it felt like he returned from war. A little nap was in order. His eyes grew heavier and heavier until he succumbed to darkness.
Sometime later, Lars woke him up. The first string match was over, along with today’s scrimmage. It's time to head home.
“Who won?” Yuel asked Howard.
“We, of course,” Howard answered matter-of-factly. So, in the end, the first string went 3-2, which made the second string’s 4-1 unnecessary. Yuel stressed so much over getting that 4-1, but it didn’t even matter in the end. He felt cheated.
“Gotta admit though,” Howard said. “It was close. Good thing you got that 4-1 as a backup.”
“Yes, after somebody pressured me about it to death.”
“Haha, did I press too hard? My bad.” Howard said that, but there was as nothing apologetic about his smirk. “Well, rejoice. You passed the test with flying colors.”
“What test?” Thinking of it, when they talking about subbing Lars in, Howard said: “Consider this a test your future depends on.” And, Gilbert also mumbled something along these lines. “You never told me what this ‘test’ is about.”
“You’ll find out.”
“When, exactly?” Yuel frowned.
“After we win the championship.” Howard grinned.
“That’s some confidence. How are our chances?”
“We’re in a pretty good spot for the regionals, at least,” Howard said. “I mean, we just beat the team that’s favored to represent the region. That’s not too shabby, right? Haha.”
“You lost 0-2 to them at first, though.”
“You’re a real party popper, anybody ever told you that?” Howard shook his head. “But, you’re right. We only ended up winning because it was a best of five. It’s tough to beat them 2-1, but if it’s 3-2 we got a decent chance. Gotta pray we’ll only meet them at the finals.”
“So it seems.” Yuel nodded. In the regionals, all matches were best-of-three, except for the finals which were best-of-five. They’re bound to run into Leopards as long as they keep winning, so it’s best if that happens in the finals.
That’s where the seeding system came into play. If StormBlitz and Leopards get first and second seeds, they’re bound to meet only at the finals.
Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. StormBlitz managed to secure first seed, but for some reason, the Leopards only secured fourth seed. After the scrimmage against StormBlitz, the Leopards lost most of their subsequent scrimmages.
Was it on purpose? Did their coach order them to lose so they avoid meeting StormBlitz at the finals? It sounded like a stretch, but it’s hard to put anything past Fernando Rodriguez. After all, he’s the man who came up with an unconventional strategy like the mixup to increase the chances of winning best-of-three games.
Aron and Howard spied on one of the scrimmages and Yuel tagged along. The lineups the Leopards used there were quite different from the ones Howard played against. There was also an abnormal amount of subs during that scrimmage. The only consistent element was Fenrir, the team captain. He was the one player who had never been subbed out.
Were they experimenting with new formations for the tournament? Perhaps their coach was preparing a special strategy to deal with StormBlitz.
The most surprising part of the scrimmage was when ComboBreaker and Freezer were subbed in. Could it be this scrimmage was used to test them? After all, they were capable players. Being stuck in the second string definitely didn’t suit somebody of Breaker’s caliber.
Are they being given a chance to become starters? Yuel clasped his hands. He played against these two. His team even won 4-1. And yet, Breaker and Freezer were apparently given a chance to prove they were fit for the first string, whereas Yuel was stuck in the second string. As a mere rookie, there was no hope for him this year.
No, that’s not important right now. Yuel shook his head. He came here to observe the scrimmage, not to lament his situation. Besides, it’s possible the coach just used this scrimmage to give Breaker and Freezer some practical experience, a thing both of them seemed to previously lack.
Either, the two of them put on a solid performance. Breaker played Pirate, but she was an entirely different beast compared to when she faced Lars. Her movements were as refined as ever, but now she also knew how to adapt to unforeseeable situations on the fly.
“RELEASE THE-!” The Pirate began yelling, then stopped. There’s no telling whether the enemy Elf intended to dodge the Kraken in the last second, but Breaker didn’t care to check. All she wanted was to startle the enemy with the threat of an incoming Kraken.
While her opponent was momentarily fazed by this development, Breaker closed the distance with Backfire Cannon. One slash. Two slashes. The Elf took two hits before finally escaping with Elven Leap.
However, what awaited the Elf at his landing spot was a vicious Kraken. Breaker forced this sequence of plays to completely trap the Elf. The Kraken smacked the enemy into the ground and Breaker finished him off.
Breaker’s plays were already polished before, but now they were also swift and brimmed with confidence. She must have gained a tremendous amount of practical experience over the last month. She was no longer a one-trick pony whose only dangerous weapon was combo. Right now, Breaker was an all-around powerhouse.
Similarly, Freezer also put on a surprisingly solid performance as Electromancer. All he did were mostly basic plays, but at least they no longer had any glaring flaws in them. He patiently applied Electric Charges via basic attacks, followed up with Chain Lightning for maximum hits and wrapped it up with Electrical Explosion. The minion wave was blown to pieces.
On top of that, Freezer also utilized Thunderstorm in the nastiest way possible. He always placed the storm in the center of the enemy’s formation during team fights, forcing the enemies to scatter and break formation. This usually led to an easy team fight win.
Compared to how poorly Freezer played Electromancer last time, he truly improved a lot. Or rather, it’s more like he was rusty before and now got back in shape. Combined with his sharp decision-making and his deadly ability to punish overextension, he was shaping into a tough opponent.
The Leopards ultimately lost 2-3. However, the two only games they won were the ones where Breaker and Freezer played.
So, did it mean these two really had a chance to be promoted to the first string? They definitely improved a lot since the last time Yuel played them. They were moving forward, chasing the competitive stage. Yet here Yuel was, still stuck in the second string like before. Ugh.
Months passed by in a blink of an eye. Before long, the regionals came around.
StormBlitz dominated the competition and pushed all the way to the semifinals, where they ran into the Leopards. Whether this was a calculated arrangement or purely bad luck, this best-of-three match was an unwelcome matchup for StormBlitz.
Neither Breaker nor Freezer participated in the tournament until that point, so it was safe to assume they didn’t make it into the first-string.
That’s a relief. Yuel felt a little bad for thinking this way, but he couldn’t deny he was glad these two didn’t make it into the first string. Because otherwise, he’d feel terrible for still being stuck in the second string-
“ComboBreaker!” The announcer shouted as he read the roster. “A face we haven’t seen this tournament yet! And a girl, no less! Is she Rodriguez’s secret weapon!? Or, perhaps a special tech against StormBlitz!? After all, the Leopards lost to StormBlitz in a scrimmage earlier this year. Oh? I also hear she used to be the captain of the second string? That sounds promising!”
So, ComboBreaker made it. Yuel frowned. Freezer wasn’t in the roster, but Breaker made it. In just a span of a few months, she ascended into the first-string. Even though she didn't get to play in every match, she still achieved way more than Yuel did, which was zilch. Nada.
And, Breaker didn’t come on stage just to shock Yuel. She actually put on a lot of work during the StormBlitz vs. Leopards match, displaying her hyper-aggressive combo style in all its beauty. It proved quite effective against Howard’s defensive composition. Defending was that much harder against an enemy who could blast you apart in an instant.
“Amazing!” The commentator shouted. “From hundred to zero in an instant! To all you folks out there who call combo a ‘meme’, watch and learn!”
So much praise. So much attention. Even though Breaker wasn’t necessarily the most amazing player in the match, the caster hyped her enough to make her look like a star. Her competitive debut was nothing short of dazzling.
Meanwhile, Yuel was downstairs in the audience. He was sitting in the shadows of the glimmering lights, unnoticed. The stage was right there in front of him, yet it felt like it’s on the other side of the world.
This year, Yuel didn’t make it there. It was Howard and Ellen fighting on that grand stage instead of him and Lars. They were appointed as substitutes, but that’s only in case something were to happen to Howard or Ellen. In practice, they weren’t considered part of the first string in any shape or form.
Worse of all, Howard and Ellen were juniors. They’ll be around for another year and will keep overshadowing Yuel and Lars, stealing their spotlight on the competitive stage.
No. Next year will be different. Yuel swore to himself. For now, he had no choice but to admit defeat against Howard. However, next year he’ll seize the Support role for sure! He’ll no longer stay in the shadows.
Even at his current level, Yuel led a team to score 4-1 against a team led by Breaker. And, Breaker proved herself a strong player who had what it takes to reach the first string. So, Yuel definitely had what it takes to compete on that dazzling stage too. And the same went for Lars, who defeated Breaker multiple times.
They’ll get there. Next year, they’ll play on this same stage and face strong teams. Next time, Yuel will lead a team to beat the Leopard’s first string.
The StormBlitz vs. Leopards match concluded in three rounds. StormBlitz lost 1-2. As Howard predicted, beating the Leopards in a best-of-three was unlikely. It’s impressive enough they won one game, largely thanks to Aron’s strong late game.
Nevertheless, a loss was a loss. The regionals had a single-elimination format, so StormBlitz was out of the tournament. Despite Howard talking big about winning the championship, they didn’t even reach the nationals this year.
In the end, the Leopards won the regionals. However, even they didn’t get all the way to the championship. They reached the semifinals of the nationals and were stopped there.
In other words, there were even stronger teams out there, waiting for Yuel on the national stage. He had to get there, no matter what. Next year, for sure! It’ll be a long road, but the first step was clear: surpassing Howard as a Support.