Everybody from Yuel’s team returned to the computer room. It was time for the final game of the day.

Everybody took a long break, so they should’ve returned refreshed... or so Yuel hoped. Instead, everybody looked even worse than before.

Roi wore a stern expression and avoided eye contact. Dan was deep in thought about something. And Julia? Oh boy, she pierced Yuel with one of the fiercest glares ever. It’s like she wanted to stab him to death about a million times, burn his body and flush the remains down the toilet. Gulp.

Did she figure it out? That was the most likely explanation. Julia must have realized she was used as bait in that last team fight and now she was mad. Like, really, really, REALLY mad.

To be fair, that sacrifice stunt by Yuel wasn’t exactly pretty, especially since he kept it under wraps. However, he couldn’t come up with any better play at the time and Julia was definitely going to argue against it. There was no time to argue about that play, so Yuel pushed it through no matter what it took.

Julia was a decent player, but she underperformed in that game. Therefore, using her a bait was more valuable in that situation than keeping her alive for the team fight. That's all there was to it, but good luck explaining that to Julia...

Should I say something? No, I’m not even sure that's what she's mad about. After all, she's always mad for whatever reason. Yuel decided to keep quiet. There was no telling whether Julia really figured this out or there was some other random reason for her intense hatred. It always felt like it's Julia's purpose in life was to search for reasons to hate on Yuel, so...

I’ll just pretend I didn't see anything. Yuel shook his head, took a deep breath and spoke to everybody. “I've been going over our options for the next game. It doesn’t seem like our early game offense will work anymore, so I suggest we extend our power curve to not lose by default when we lose the early game.”

“That's how it should've been from the start,” Roi said. “Betting everything on the early game is way too risky. It's like putting all your eggs in one basket, man.”

“Yes,” Yuel admitted. “As it stands, we can’t pull off this approach against Howard’s defense.”

As frustrating as it was to accept, this team simply didn’t have enough time to practice. Howard has been using his defensive playstyle with the other members all the time, whereas Yuel’s hyper-aggressive early-game composition was a new approach he came up with for this specific match. If they had a couple of months to prepare for this match, things would have been totally different.

Unfortunately, the situation was what it was. A single week of training wasn’t enough for the team to master this playstyle.

“So,” Roi started. “I can pick Knight or whatever this game, right? You promised you'll let me pick whatever I want if your idea doesn't work.”

“Sure, as long as it's not an early-game class.” Yuel wasn’t sure how he felt about that remark, though. During the week, Roi said something along the lines of “Let me pick what I want if your Dark Knight plan doesn’t work out.” Yuel thought it was a joke, but apparently not. Seems like he really hated the Dark Knight idea that much, huh.

But alright, fine. Dark Knight and the whole early hyper-aggression was an idea Yuel insisted on and it failed, so he had to give it up and to cooperate with the team to come up with a new game plan. Roi wouldn't pick anything dumb, so this should be fine. In the worst case, Yuel would have to raise an objection. As it stood, Knight was a great pick and they should be able to get it for sure.

“Instead of concentrating on attacking,” Yuel explained. “We'll play the early game more defensively.”

“Wha-!?” Julia exclaimed.

“Something wrong?”

“No, it's just...” Julia shifted her eyes away. “Nevermind. Just thought it's weird.”

“This approach should actually play to your strengths better,” Yuel explained. “You can stick defense the whole game and it'll be fine.”

“Sure,” Julia rolled her eyes. “Because being a defensive player is all I'm good at, right? Other than that, I'm only good for... Tch, nevermind.”

Somebody is sure in a bad mood, but I don’t have the time or skill to appease her. Sigh. Yuel shook his head and went on with his explanation. As long as Julia doesn't perform poorly, it'll be good enough. Lars, Dan, and Roi should have more enough strength to carry this team. Yuel just had to lead them effectively.

“Lars will be the pillar of our offense,” Yuel continued. “The idea is to have him pick Seraph.”

“Whew, daring,” Dan whistled. “Going all in, huh.”

“Of course,” Yuel nodded. “We have to win this game, no matter what.”

“No matter what, huh.” Dan smiled wryly. It was hard to tell what was on his mind, so Yuel didn't linger on it.

“The main priority is to not fall behind in the early game. After that, we’ll start gaining control during the mid/late game.”

“So, a standard defense plan, right?” Roi confirmed.

“Yes, essentially.” Yuel nodded. For Roi and Dan, this must have been the arrangement they were most used to play with. After all, they were members on Howard’s first string, so their experience with defensive game plans will play a big role this game. In fact, without that factor, Yuel wouldn’t have had any hopes for this plan in the first place. The fate of the game was quite literally riding on Roi and Dan's experience.

At around the same time, the other team was wrapping up its preparations as well.

“We stick to the same game plan,” Howard explained. “Greg, keep stalling Roi. Tai, cooperate with Ellen to score kills on Lars and keep ganking. As for Gil,” Howard locked his eyes with Gilbert's for a moment, then continued. “Keep controlling Mid. You've been doing a great job against Julia so far.”

“Sure...” Gilbert responded half-heartedly, in an almost questioning tone. Is that all he got to say?

“There's no need to say anything else, right?” Howard responded to Gilbert's questioning eyes. “You know where you messed up and why you did. I trust you're smart enough to work this out yourself.”

“Got it,” Gilbert nodded. His uncertain expression was painted with determination again. Good, that's how it gotta be.

Maybe I pressured him too hard before the match. Howard pondered. That one rush move Gilbert did during the last team fight was a result of desperately wanting to score a kill on Julia. Why? Probably because Howard said that Gilbert’s starter position was on the line this match.

Howard’s statement must have pressured the Gilbert into trying his best to overwhelm Julia and prove he was the superior Mid Laner beyond a shadow of a doubt. That led to some riskier plays than usual.

Throughout most of the match, Gilbert played more aggressively than usual, but he has been doing a solid job of pushing Mid without outright overextending. However, eventually, this bloodthirsty mentality got the best of him and he fell for Yuel's bait during the last team fight. That one mistake almost cost them the game.

Howard could still stop this charade and tell Gilbert there was no need to worry about the first string. Based on Julia's performance today, she wasn’t ready for the first string in any shape or form. Her defense was airtight but it came at the expense of spending too much gold and she focused on too hard, to the point she always failed to seize the initiative. Ellen insisted that this wasn't Julia's “full strength”, but so far it was hard to believe that Julia was capable of anything mind-blowing that'd make up for her current shabby performance.

Thus, Julia had no chance of getting into the first string at the moment. Howard could simply announce that and relieve some of Gilbert’s stress, but he didn't do it. A little bit of pressure was healthy and it served as good simulation for the tournament play. As a first-string player, Gilbert will be put through many matches at the regionals which will be way more stressful than this. So, this was a good opportunity to make him get used to playing under pressure. Also, it was a good way for Howard to gauge how well Gilbert performed under pressure.

I don’t wanna believe Gil got any problems with pressure, but... Howard had to examine this carefully after Gilbert’s big misplay in the previous game. If Gilbert had some mental weakness like that, Howard will have to work on it during the upcoming year.

After Howard finished going over the game plan, the players assumed their positions in front of the computers. In just a minute, the third and last game of the day will begin. It will decide who’ll reach the top and who’ll rot in the second string.

“I ran into Roi and Dan,” Howard whispered to Ellen. “They looked conflicted, just like I thought. They probably won't perform well in this match either... hey, you listening?”

“Huh? Oh,” Ellen shook her head as if she just woke up. “Ah, yeah. That's great.”

“Something wrong?”

“No, I just...” Ellen averted her eyes.

“What is it? Tell me.”

“You really wanna know? My, Wardy you care so much about me~”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“I just wanna make sure you won't drag us down in the next game.”

“Boo, meanie,” Ellen pouted. “Well, the thing is, I ran into July and... said something I probably shouldn't have.”

“Which is?”

“I mentioned how she did a great job when she played the bait in the last team fight. I really meant it as a compliment, but I think she didn't even realize she was used as bait...”

“You think Yuel pulled a fast one on her? Wouldn't be surprised, considering how rocky their relationship seems to be. I'm not sure what I would have done in his shoes, to be honest.”

“July looked shocked when she learned she was a bait,” Ellen twisted her lips. “I wonder if she's still hung up on it. Maybe I should go apologize-”

“You sit down,” Howard pulled Ellen back to the chair. “We got an important match to win here.”

“Yeah, but I feel like I've done something terrible.”

“Just accept that you're a natural-born terrible person.”

“Hmph, what's that supposed to mean?” Ellen scowled.

“Jokes aside, what's done is done. Besides, this match is like an exam. If that much is enough to throw Julia off her game, then she doesn’t have the mental fortitude to be a competitive player yet, simple as that. Psychological attacks are part of the game, you should know that better than anybody. Since when you have a problem using them?”

“If it was about any other opponent, I'd say anything to crush their spirits and ruin their lives,” Ellen said something pretty messed up with a smile on her face. “But, enemies or not, I didn't want to bully July like that.”

“It'll be alright,” Howard said. “It's not like testing Julia is an important part of this match anyway. She'll get her chances in the future, maybe even during this year. Right now, the goal is to beat Yuel and Lars so we can destroy their chances of getting into the first string this year.”

“Oh, right,” Ellen nodded. “July may still make it even if she doesn’t do well today. Alrighty, let's get this game started then~!”

“That's the spirit,” Howard nodded.

This was it, the final game. How will Yuel come at them? What did that chess boy come up with for the last round?

Hopefully, Yuel has spent all his aces by now. He pulled the early-game Dark Knight aggression, the unpredictable Alchemist and the overpowered Gunslinger. There couldn’t be more tricks, right? Howard should’ve countered everything by now.

Unfortunately, there's never knowing for sure with Yuel. That guy could produce insane ideas out of thin air on the spot. Howard always had to stay one step ahead and lead the team around Yuel’s traps. Honestly, it was quite exhausting.

How will Yuel attack next? Howard couldn’t possibly tell. Unlike some people believed, he wasn't gifted with clairvoyance. Therefore, he had to reverse-engineer any potential ideas Yuel could come up by examining his own team.

How was the team’s formation? What weak spots it had? These questions were undoubtedly somewhere at the core of Yuel's reasoning when he was crafting his offense. And, similar questions were on Howard’s mind when he was fortifying the team’s defense.

The game plan of the team was straightforward: a slow and steady defensive formation which aimed to win during the late-game. There were two major weaknesses in this game plan: a weak early-game and a slow game closure. Yuel will surely try to strike one of these, no question about it.

In fact, Yuel has already been striking Howard’s weak early-game with the Dark Knight pick. Gregory's turtling successfully stopped this attack during the second game, but it's not like the approach wasn't effective. If Roi and Dan were in top shape, they might have carried that game to victory.

Nevertheless, the end result must have looked devastating to Yuel. After Howard shut down the early game aggression, his team practically steamrolled during mid-game. Therefore, there was a good chance Yuel will switch up his strategy for the upcoming game in some way.

If Yuel wants to keep pushing for an early-game advantage, he'll probably resort to even more aggressive team composition. That'd be extremely risky, but it sounded like a very Yuel-like idea. Under normal circumstances, that chess boy would shoot for something like that without thinking twice, but will he dare to do that during such an important match? Even Yuel will be wary of going hyper offense like that. Probably.

Instead, it was more likely Yuel will slow down the pace because the early-game aggression fell through. That'd be both a blessing and a curse. It'll remove the need to consistently counter Yuel's attacks every five seconds during the early game, but it'll also mean Howard's team will lose its decisive power advantage during the later parts of the game. Everything will boil down to which side plays the endgame better.

But, if it comes to that, Howard’s team will win. While Yuel was the maestro of offense, Howard was the maestro of defense. Howard’s team had more than enough defense training to beat a makeshift defensive team. In fact, this would actually be the optimal scenario as far as Howard was concerned. It’ll be a surefire victory.

But, for now, Howard could only speculate. First, there was the banning phase which didn't give him much information. His three bans have been already predetermined for him: Shadow Walker, Trickshooter and Gunslinger.

Gotta admit, Howard frowned. Yuel arranged this banning lockdown really well. It's like I don’t even get a real banning phase.

Howard hoped to learn something from Yuel's bans, but they were standard jabs aimed to seal Howard's options: Cleric, Paladin, and Druid. So far, nothing special. The Druid ban must have doubled as a way to stop the turtling strategy in Top Lane.

『The enemy team selected Knight』

So, he's slowing his game plan. Howard nodded to himself. This was bound to happen. Even an absolute mad lad like Yuel wouldn't gamble this entire match on a hyper-aggressive plan which can be shut down entirely during the early-game.

The good news: Yuel’s team will surely be much weaker without its aggression. The bad news: Roi was a much strong Knight than he was Dark Knight. This matchup might be rough for Gregory. Howard had to pick some solid defensive class for Top.

“Greg,” Howard started. “Knight is Roi's strongest class, so don't let your guard down just because it's not DK. Since Druid is banned, I consider picking Vanguard. Is that alright with you?”

“Geh, Vanguard?” Gregory made a face. “Well, whatever you think is good, I guess.”

Not exactly the highest motivation, but at least it wasn’t a flat out rejection. Some didn’t like playing Vanguard due to its masochistic game plan that revolved around receiving hits for others, but it was a solid class for surviving 1v1s. Gregory should be able to squeeze his way out of many tight situations on the lane.

As for the second pick, Howard went with Cryomancer before it was taken. Yuel would most likely be willing to pay real money for an option to ban a 4th time just to get rid Cryomancer now, but too bad.

Yuel’s next two picks were still in line with the theory that he was going for the mid/late game this time around, he picked Aeromancer and Aquamancer. These two were picked last game too despite being defensive classes which did better during the late game. Aeromancer was picked last time because Julia has been playing defense from the get-go, whereas Aquamancer was picked for was the ability to destroy enemy protections.

And, yet again in this game, Aquamancer was a great pick against the ults of Cryomancer and Vanguard. This niche class was becoming a pain in the butt today. But, it wasn’t all bad.

By all means, keep going with defense. Howard smiled. In a battle of defense, Yuel had no advantage whatsoever. Even if Yuel planned this strategy ahead of time and trained with the team to play better defense, a single week won't be enough to compare with Howard's years of experience. Even pros from the Sweepers said Howard’s defensive game plan was impressive, to the point it managed to stop some of their offense. Howard won't be beaten in his own playfield.

Unfortunately, that’s when something unexpected happened: Yuel picked Seraph, a Hyper Carry. It was a late-game monster who reaped the enemy apart if the game was dragged to that point. Yuel wasn’t just clamming up by going on the defensive, he planned to wait for the late-game in order to mount a fierce counterattack!

This could be bad. Really bad. Seraph was like a countdown timer for defensive teams. It was no longer possible to take things slowly because Seraph will dominate the late-game. Somewhere between mid-game and late-game, Howard’s team will have to wrap things up or else they’ll be decimated.

Damn, why didn’t I think to ban it!? Howard gritted his teeth. This had to be some bad joke. After all, it was Lars who’ll be playing Seraph. That guy couldn’t defend for shit, so how was he going to survive through Seraph’s weak early-game and mediocre mid-game? It’s unrealistic!

And yet, Yuel approved of this absurd pick for such an important match. So, he believed there was a chance this will work. Was Seraph another class Lars secretly trained this week? If his mastery of Seraph was anywhere close to his skill with Gunslinger, this was going to be terrible. A full-blown disaster.

Okay, calm down. What can I do against this? Howard took a deep breath.

In the end, Seraph was just one class. A single class couldn’t determine the outcome of the entire game unless it was something broken like Shadow Walker. Then again, until two years ago, Seraph was actually also an S tier class. It took a while until they reworked its ult and dropped the class down to A tier... Wait, that doesn’t matter right now. I have to deal with present-day Seraph, not what it was before. What can I do against Seraph?

Unfortunately, the drafting phase has already approached its end and only Gilbert’s class remained. Ellen has already taken Ranger earlier, so it was impossible to counter Seraph in Bot. Yuel obviously waited until the very last moment to deliver this surprise pick. Dammit!

Was there any Mid Lane class which could contribute to countering Seraph? No, at least not directly. The best thing a Mid Laner could do to hamper Seraph was to push Mid hard and finish the game before Seraph reaches its full strength. Either that or help killing the Seraph throughout the game via ganks.

But, what’s a good pick for any of these purposes? Howard couldn’t figure this out on his own, so there was no reason to keep bashing his head against a wall.

“Gil,” Howard said. “Got any idea what you could pick to mess with their Seraph plan? Either a fast pusher you’re confident in, or a class that can rotate quickly to gank Bot.”

“I got one, but you not gonna like it.”

“Try me.”

“Pyromancer.”

“That’s a bold one...” Howard paused. Well, he asked for a name and he got a name. Pyromancer satisfied both conditions, it was a hundred mark answer. Pyromancer was a semi-Carry class with great push potential and it had a movement speed buff via Burning Spirit which allowed for faster rotations. It really satisfied everything Howard asked for.

Alas, Pyromancer was a very aggressive and risky pick. It better-suited offensive players with mechanical skill and, unfortunately, Gilbert didn’t belong to either of these categories. Not to mention, Pyromancer had a relatively short attack range and that made it susceptible to ganks.

Were there any safer options along the same line of thinking? For example, an offensive Mid like Electromancer was a much safer choice because it had a blink in its kit. The enemy Jungler was Lionfolk yet again, so having the ability to get out of the cage of lions without buying Blink was highly valuable.

But, Yuel banned Electromancer earlier. That chess boy must have read that Electromancer will become an appealing pick against Seraph and Lionfolk. What a cunning little...

There were probably other classes besides Pyromancer which could do the job, but Gilbert specifically brought up Pyromancer. So, he must have wanted to play this aggressive class. That wasn't like him. Gilbert usually went for balanced classes with a combination of damage, utility and escape tools. Yet, that same Gilbert was now suggesting Pyromancer.

You wanna take Julia down so badly? Howard knotted his brows. Gilbert's obsession with proving his superiority over Julia was messing up his playstyle. If he keeps focusing so much on Julia, he won't notice what's in front of him and might stumble at some point. This reeked of bad news.

『15 seconds』

There was no time to think about that. Howard had to make a decision right here and now.

It was impossible to properly discuss this topic in just a couple of seconds. Besides, talking too much about it might do more harm than good because it'll come off as a sign of mistrust in Gilbert's decision-making skills. That may push the guy even harder to prove his mettle and might result in even more misplays. So, warning about misplays might lead to more misplays. What a silly catch-22.

“Alright,” Howard said. “Let's go with Pyromancer. Just don't forget to be careful. We're playing against Yuel, so he'll gladly exploit everything he can about Pyromancer.”

“Got it.”

With this, the drafting phase came to an end. The final decisive game was upon them.

Team compositions:

Yuel: Aquamancer

Lars: Seraph

Julia: Aeromancer

Roi: Knight

Dan: Lionfolk

Howard: Cryomancer

Ellen: Ranger

Gilbert: Pyromancer

Taison: Vampire

Gregory: Vanguard