Yuel's first exchange with the enemy Orc was far from pleasant. He fell to 60% HP, which he restored to 70% after Meditation, and his Turret was at 75% HP. All of that from just one push.
At this rate, he'll lose the lane in a couple of waves. And, just like with Dark Knight, Orc was a class that was absolutely not allowed to gain the upper hand during the early-game for it’ll easily snowball from there. Yuel had to shut him down now.
The best way to handle this predicament was with a gank from the Jungler. Orc was susceptible to ganks due to his lack of mobility so he’ll be a sitting duck if he keeps pushing as aggressively as last time. Nia should have no problem taking him out.
However, a Ninja needed its Izuna Drop ult to deliver a proper burst-damage gank. That wasn’t an option yet.
"Nia, can you gank my lane once you hit Lv.5?" Yuel asked.
"Um, I can try," Nia replied in a weak tone.
"It's very important. If we can't shut down the Orc, he'll snowball and win the entire game on his own."
"Scary," Nia nodded. She took out her phone and started typing something with one hand.
Texting isn’t something you do during matches. Yuel frowned. Is she even taking this seriously?
It seemed that Nia set herself an automated route toward her destination so she didn’t actually have to press any buttons until she gets there. Still, messing with a phone was surely going to distract her. What if the enemy jumps her all of a sudden along the way? There was no way she’ll be able to react in a timely fashion.
But, Yuel had more pressing issues to deal with on lane so he let that slide for now. Before anything, he had to properly stall the Orc to actually survive long enough for Nia’s eventual gank. Losing 25% Turret HP after every push was out of the question. At this rate, he’d lose the lane before Nia even gets there.
So, this time, Yuel focused entirely on the enemy minions. He didn’t give the Orc the time of day and only attacked minions. Thanks to that, he thinned the enemies faster and forced the to Orc retreat earlier than last time.
The Turret still lost nearly 15% HP from this push but it was an improvement. In addition, with each level, Yuel should be able to get a slightly better result because Monk gained one extra Chakra to spare with each level.
Okay, I can hold for a while like this. Yuel nodded to himself. With that obstacle out of the way, the rest depended on Nia’s gank.
While Yuel was busy holding the fort, Nia...
Tipmancer, reveal your secrets. Nia inputted the details of the upcoming operation at lightning speed.
Ganker: Ninja
Target: Orc
Location: Top Lane
There were additional fields she could fill to provide a more detailed description of the situation but there was no time for that. She needed answers ASAP so she hit “Advise” after filling only the minimal information.
In just two seconds, Tipmancer revealed everything there was to know about this gank. It was truly amazing. While people have been making all sorts of tier lists for the game, the real S tier class of the game was undoubtedly Tipmancer. This broken app knew how to win any matchup. Totally broken, pls nerf.
This doesn't look so good. Nia gulped as she skimmed through tips regarding handling the Orc. She stopped for a moment to farm the hyenas and set an automated path to the next camp, then returned to reading Tipmancer’s advice.
There was a big warning regarding ganking Orc during the early game: Don't get hit! The fight will be over in a couple of hits if the Orc gets close and hits you, especially if you're a squishy assassin.
Therefore, the best approach was to deliver a sneak attack and kill him in one shot. But, he was a bruiser so he was tanky enough to survive bursts. There was even a table that showed the estimated damage Izuna Drop dealt to Orc throughout the early, mid, and late game.
I don't like these numbers. According to this table, at no point in the game will Izuna Drop be a lethal threat to Orc. It’d take about 30% of his HP at most. And, after the Izuna Drop animation ends, the Ninja will land right beside the Orc, so that bully will be in a great position to smack Nia hard. She won't have a chance to win in that fight.
An alternative approach Tipmancer suggested was to do a hit-and-run. Nia could go for Izuna Drop and then get the heck outta there with Shuriken Flip. But, that'll be such a waste of time. She won't even get a kill from it so it won't help anybody. It was better to spend that time farming or ganking somebody else.
"Are you planning to gank anytime in this decade?" Yuel asked.
"Eh? Ah, um..." Nia pursed her lips and curled into a ball. She done goofed. While she was busy thinking about Tipmancer’s advice, she already hit Lv.5 and unlocked Izuna Drop. However, she was nowhere near Top so she wasn’t in a position to deliver a gank even if she wanted to. Oops.
She could start heading there now but the Orc has already wiped out the entire minion wave there. Didn’t the minions arrive on lanes just a few seconds ago? Just how strong was that monster? Scary.
With how the situation developed, Yuel had no choice but to retreat to his Turret and let the Orc push to his heart's content. The Orc didn’t think twice about it and invaded into the Turret area.
I could try ganking now, but... Nia twisted her lips. It looked like a good opportunity to gank but it really wasn't.
Even though the Orc was overextending, he had a brigade of loyal minions who were ready to protect him with their lives. On top of that, Nia's Izuna Drop was incapable of critically injuring the Orc according to Tipmancer. She'll only put herself in danger by jumping into the fray. Gulp.
"I'm still waiting," Yuel said.
"Gufu," Nia shuddered. What was he expecting from her? Was Yuel asking her to get a kill in this situation somehow? No way. Impossible. Even Tipmancer said so.
Maybe he's trying to get me killed? Nia eyed the guy in suspicion. This could be a ploy to get Nia killed and so she fails the exam.
Yuel claimed he wasn't intentionally bullying her but there was no telling for sure. Maybe he was just a silver-tongued mastermind and toyed with her. He even had a nickname like Chessmaster. Suspect. Very suspect.
Maybe he'll just forget about it if I say nothing. This secret tech actually worked on many people. As long as Nia stayed quiet and erased her presence, they eventually forgot all about her. It was like a real-life stealth effect.
"Where are you going?" Yuel asked.
"Ah! Um, eh..." Crap! Exposed! Nothing got past the Chessmaster. This guy had clairvoyance confirmed.
"I want to go back to farming," Nia's tone dropped to the level of mumbling. Uh-oh. This wasn't going to end well, was it?
"Why didn’t you gank?" Yuel demanded. "Your Shadow Clone was out of cooldown so you could sneak up to him and go for Izuna."
"But, that wouldn't kill...”
"So? I didn't ask you to get a kill. I only asked you to gank. We must show the Orc that it's dangerous to overextend like this every time."
"But, he might counter-attack and kill me."
"Just get out with Shuriken Flip afterward. Remember, Orc doesn't have any mobility options for chasing.”
“I guess...”
“With that said, it'll be ideal if you stay on the lane for a while to keep intimidating him. Then, I could advance to attack him and he'll have a very bad time."
"He'll just kill us both."
"It'll fine," Yuel claimed. "Orc is crazy in the early-game but not that crazy. He can't 1v2 us like it's nothing. We can take him down."
"But, he got all these minions too."
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"They're a problem for sure. Optimally, you should gank before he clears the wave. But, even if he does get the minion advantage, you'll just have to quickly create some distance after the Izuna."
"And then I'll die."
"You won't," Yuel sighed. It felt like they were stuck on the same point for an hour now. This girl was cautious to unreasonable levels. This is like Julia all over again.
With that said, a lot of beginners seemed to suffer from a similar issue. It was common for new players to overextend and get severely punished for it, then overcompensate for that by playing ultra-cautious. It was their way of learning a lesson from their mistake.
It didn't help that get killed during a match often made teammates flame and insults the newbie’s performance. This created an environment in which some players adopted an overly safe playstyle that minimized the chances of being called out by their teammates. This stagnated the newbies’ growth because playing overlay safe will never teach them how to correctly commit to attacks. So, ultimately, playing safe like this only made their performance suffer.
All of that, for what? Just for the sake of avoiding any flaming from teammates. Caring about these trolls was a weak attitude but, admittedly, Yuel was guilty of it as well at one point. It took him a while to overcome that barrier and start taking more calculated risks.
So, how am I supposed to convince Nia to go through with this gank? Yuel frowned. That was a next-level challenge.
When it came to Julia, Yuel has known for a long time that she could play aggressively and has been trying to encourage her to unleash it. Alas, she never did. It was a miracle Julia pulled it out during the selection match and almost won them the game. Until the very end, Yuel couldn't convince the girl to play more proactively.
So, what chance he had of convincing Nia to go on the offensive? Especially, when the risk she was worried about was quite real. There was truly a chance the Orc will focus Nia after she Izunas him. If this early-game monster catches up to her and delivers a few hits - Nia will be gone.
However, that shouldn't happen as long as Nia handles the situation appropriately. Judging by her performance in the duels with Vincent and Lars, Nia should be competent enough to pull this off. Besides, even if she fails, that'll just let her know what she had to work on and will help the club estimate her skill. After all, this was an exam meant for gauging Nia's skill.
Right, we're supposed to be testing her. Winning is secondary. Yuel had to remind himself. For a moment there, he got carried away and prioritized winning above everything. It must have been because this Orc counter-pick ruffled his feathers. He was completely outplayed in the drafting phase by being baited into counter-picking Viking. That was embarrassing. He had to turn things around somehow to make up for that mess-up.
After all, exam or not, this was supposed to be a simulation of a real serious match. Winning was the ultimate goal and everything else revolved around it. In many ways, Nia was going to be judged by how much she contributed toward the team's victory. Or, by how much of the team’s defeat was caused by her misplays.
So far, it wasn’t looking good for her. It was mandatory to gank the Orc as often as possible to keep that early-game bully at bay but Nia refused to do so. That's one strike. Also, she refused to listen to Yuel's advice. That's another strike. One more and she’ll be in the red.
As I feared, her experience from Duel doesn’t translate well to this mode. Yuel shook his head. What was he supposed to do here as an examiner? Should he keep pushing Nia to execute the gank she was so scared of? Or, should he just let her do her thing and see where that goes?
Somebody, please. Convince her to do the damn gank. Yuel sighed. It was his problem so he had to deal with it somehow. He might be able to turn the tables on the Orc by himself with Asura Strike, his ult, so maybe he'll be able to spare Nia the trouble of ganking. Maybe.
Instead of ganking Top, Nia just focused on farming. And farming. And, then some more farming. She didn't gank any of the lanes. It's like she was a farming bot and nothing more. Was that her idea of playing Jungler? If so, it was really sad. She should've at least picked a bruiser instead of an assassin then. At least, a well-fed bruiser will be useful in team fights during the mid-game.
This routine has gone on for a while. Despite Yuel’s best efforts to stall, the Orc’s oppression continued. Every new minion wave was an uphill battle. The Turret already fell down to 25% HP.
Meanwhile, Nia hasn't ganked even once. Not just Top Lane, but not any other lane as well. There were no ganks whatsoever from her.
Though, at least she was well-fed. Her farming followed a very scripted but effective flowchart. It's like she memorized the jungle farming meta and repeated it over and over.
If Yuel were her opponent, he could have easily taken advantage of this predictability. However, it was hard to notice and punish something like that during the early-game so it was fine. Predictability aside, efficient farming was always a delight to behold.
Still, what about the ganks? They were the main reason to pick an assassin in the first place. Yet, Nia hasn't shown herself to the enemy in a long time. At this point, they might even think she's AFK.
They should've forgotten about me by now. Nia nodded to herself. People always forgot about her after enough time has passed; that was the best time for a surprise attack!
Let’s see. Who looks like a good target. Nia examined the states of the lanes. Top Lane was definitely out of question. The Orc over there was completely dominating the lane.
On the other hand, the Aeromancer in Mid was feeling himself a little too much. He was down to 60% HP but didn't show any signs of retreating. It felt like he wasn't considering the possibility of a gank in the slightest. What a great target.
Is she going to gank Mid? Yuel wondered as he saw Nia rotating. From what he could tell, there weren’t any great gank opportunities in that area. The Aeromancer wasn't overextending and he hasn't shown any signs of being careless against ganks, at least not from what Yuel could tell. Did Nia figure something that Yuel missed?
I don’t see it. No matter how Yuel examined the mini-map, he couldn't find anything that could convince Nia to go for a gank. Was it the Arromancer's 60% HP? Maybe she just wanted to shoot for it and see if it works? After all, ganks didn’t need to have a 100% success rate to be attempted, that’s exactly the point Yuel was trying to get across to Nia.
I really want to ask her about this decision but it might distract her. He knew first-hand how irking it was to be questioned about every little thing during an exam. Aron bombarded him to death with questions during the StormBlitz exam. Ugh.
Let's just see how it goes and ask questions later. Yuel concluded.
Ok, I got in. Nia created a clone and sent it off into the jungle; she didn't need the help of her trusty sister right now. All she needed from Shadow Clone was the stealth effect.
She carefully snuck up behind the Aeromancer. As expected, the guy didn't show any signs of thinking about retreating. He was totally oblivious to the fact Nia was standing right behind him. She was like a ninja. Nin nin.
Now, I go for a strike and then Izuna... Ah, but the Izuna follow-up isn’t guaranteed. Nia shuddered as she thought back on her duel with Lars. For the first time in her life, an unsuspecting prey dodged the second part of her sneaky setup. The transition from a basic attack into Izuna Drop should've been unreactable for human beings but Lars somehow dodged it anyway. What a monster. Scary.
Guess I'll have to play it safe from now on. Nia went for Izuna Drop right from stealth. The Ninja hugged the Aeromancer tight and launched high into the air like a missile, all the while spinning like a fidget spinner.
After reaching max height, the Ninja and Aeromancer began dropping. Right before hitting the ground, the Ninja jumped away and let the Aeromancer crash into the ground head-first. The guy's neck must have cracked. That was a severe injury that’d send the guy straight to the hospital. It was such a satisfying high-damage ult to pull off.
But, it wasn't over yet. The Izuna Drop only erased 35% HP. The guy still had another 25% to spare. So stubborn.
Take that. Nia slashed the staggering Aeromancer. It took his animation longer to recover from the devastating crash so Nia got to sneak in a free guaranteed jab. This one was a scientifically guaranteed follow-up, even the frame data backed it up.
After finally getting on his feet, Aeromancer started running right away. He activated that speed buff ability he got and dashed for his life. But, he won’t get away. Nia gonna get this kill here!
I gotta kill as much as I can to me pass this exam. Nia was very much aware that she wasn’t amazing when it came to most things in the MOBA mode. However, sneaking up to unsuspecting targets and finishing them off was definitely one specialty she had.
Therefore, if she gets a bunch of kills with this method, it’ll make everybody think she was some amazing Grandmaster-level player. A masterful plan, no doubt.
So, for the sake of her plan, she couldn't possibly let the Aeromancer get away. As the Aeromancer ran by her, she slashed his shoulder. Then, she gave chase and slashed his back. That’s already down to 6% HP.
Normally, at this point, the guy would be already dead. However, since Nia skipped the opening attack before going for Izuna Drop, she was missing one more hit for sealing the deal. And, the Aeromancer already started gaining lead thanks to his speed buff. What a troublesome prey.
But, that's where the Ninja's last ability came into play! Nia activated Shuriken Flip. The Ninja threw a shuriken at the Aeromancer's back and the blade got stuck in there. That should do it.
Except, it wasn't enough. The shuriken was always slightly weaker than normal attacks so the Aeromancer survived the hit with like 1% HP. He literally had a few pixels of HP left.
Looks like I’m going all the way. Nia activated Substitution Jutsu, which was available only while a shuriken was stuck in an enemy. She blinked right behind the Aeromancer by switching places with the shuriken! Then, she delivered the final blow to the guy's back.
『You have killed an enemy!』
Yes! I did it! Nia pumped a little fist but made sure to hide it. Ok, this is a good start. She definitely made a good first impression on the examiners, right? Right?
"Great job," Kai was the first to shower with praise. She even smiled a little.
"Ya rocked that dude, yo!" Lars exclaimed.
"The Vanishing Phantom strikes again!" Vincent made noise. "The enemy didn't even realize what struck him!"
They all actually saw my kill and praise me for it. Nia clenched her controller. Her palms trembled a little and there seemed to be something in her eye.
Whenever it was Nia's turn to show off what she could do, everybody always forgot about her and skipped her turn. Say, there was that one time they painted stuff in grade school and had to present their work in front of the class. Nia put lots of effort into that piece of art and thought it turned out great. But, the teacher skipped her turn for no reason.
Well, maybe she was partly to blame on that one because she was hiding under a table at the time. After all, presenting her hard work in front of others was scary.
Still, it was the same story with everything she ever did. Nia never got to impress anybody and nobody paid attention to her. It was such a conspiracy. Everybody clearly did everything in their power to rob Nia of her glory.
But, this time was different. She scored a kill and everybody clearly saw it. And, unlike real people, the game system wasn't a bully so it didn't discriminate against her. The system voice announced loud and clear how Nia got that kill and everybody heard it. This was great! Finally, she got to be in the spotlight if only for a moment! Joining this club was the best decision she has ever made in her life!