Both sides finished setting up their tables and began preparing for the match. For Stratus, the three representatives for the match were Yuel, Lars, and Kai.

"O brave warriors of Valhalla!" Vincent stretched his arms theatrically. "You have been chosen to fight for all of us! Godspeed in your battle! Break a leg!"

"Yeah, good luck," Luke gave a thumbs up. "Show 'em we're not the crappy team everybody always says we are."

"Good luck," Ben said timidly.

"Mhm," Nia followed up with a supportive nod.

"S-Sure," Kai said. "We'll show them. No problem."

"You okay, dude?" Lars asked. "Relax. It’s are just Aron and Trever. We got this!"

"R-Right."

"I wouldn't say they're 'just' Aron and Trever," Yuel said. "Aron was the leader of StormBlitz last year and Trever had the skill to be on the first-string. They're not 'just' anything. They're strong opponents who represent the pinnacle of our competitive scene."

"Y-Yeah," Kai stiffened. Damn, I wasn't prepared for this. Where the hell did this super high-level match drop on us from? Dammit. After everything Yuel said about the club, too...

Back then, Yuel went out of his way to stand up for the club in front of these skilled seniors. They claimed this team had no future in the upcoming regionals, but Yuel, as uncharacteristic as it was, boldly objected to those claims and insisted this club had a bright future ahead of it.

I should've been the one to say that. I'm the captain. Kai pouted. But, what's done was down. Yuel sent a declaration of war to the seniors. Now, this small team of representatives had to prove its mettle. As the captain, Kai absolutely had to make sure they'll come on top.

As Yuel said, their opponents were mighty. They were players from StormBlitz and Leopards, the two strongest teams in the region. So, it's like Kai and the rest were about to face grand-finals quality opponents right now! T-This will surely go well...

"C'mon dude," Lars complained to Yuel. "Ya just scaring her with yo big talk for no reason. So what if they're from Storm or Leo? They ain't nothing, yo! I can whoop Trever all by myself, believe it!"

"I'm not saying we're going to lose. I just..." Yuel noticed Kai's pale face. She was clutching the edge of her cap and her fingers trembled. Could it be? Was the captain having a nerve break? Well, players of this caliber might indeed sound intimidating until one gets to fight them.

Yuel and Lars were already used to that by practicing with StormBlitz every day. However, a small low-level team like Stratus probably didn't have many opportunities to produce players of that caliber. So, perhaps Kai has played on this level. Will she be alright?

"It gonna be fine, dude!" Lars smacked Kai on the back.

"Agh, gah!" Kai staggered forward from the impact and almost crashed into the ground.

Did this idiot just smack her for real!? Yuel facepalmed. She's still a girl, you know.

"Ahh," Kai rubbed her back. "The hell was that for!? It hurts!"

"Good, ya already look more alive," Lars grinned. "I tell ya, Trever's secret smack tech works like charm every time. C'mon, ya can give me one too me too if ya want." He turned his back to Kai.

"You want to be smacked?" Kai made a face. "You sure got funny hobbies."

"Smack me, mommy!"

"Heh, idiot," Kai slapped Lars's back.

"Yeah, that's the stuff!" Lars gave a thumbs up. "That's how ya send all your energy around! We gotta give some to Yuel too."

"I'll pass," Yuel was already ten meters away from the danger zone.

"No, no. We have to do it," Kai insisted. "We have to make sure we all got energized, right? Besides, double the smacks double the energy, right?"

"Um, guys?" Yuel gulped as he took another step backward. The two predators were about to jump him! GAH! DOUBLE SMACK! He felt the impact all the way in his soul!

That's what you get for stressing the shit outta me. Kai took a deep breather. Alright, I think I'm fine now.

All this smacking business was funky, but it somehow helped her relax. It didn't change the fact she was about to face legendary opponents, but at least she wasn't alone on this battlefield. She had two Challenger rank teammates who were just as strong, if not stronger, than their opponents.

And, Kai played with these boys on a daily basis and kept up with them. Therefore, she surely was on the same level as well. As such, there was nothing to be afraid of. She just had to play as usual and she'll deliver results, even against these strong opponents. Yeah, even against these grans-finals quality players from legendary teams-

Drop it already. Kai shook her head. It didn't matter who her opponents were. She just had to play her best, that's all there was to it. If they were really grand-finals quality, then it just meant Kai will also be at that level after she mops the floor with them!

I just need to get my mind off that shit. She plugged an earplug into one of her ears and booted heavy metal. Yeah, this was the stuff! Fuck these guys! She gonna destroy them like the nobodies they were!

"Okay," Yuel started. "We need to decide on the lineup now. Trever already tipped us that he's going to play Bot, so that's where Lars will play."

"Hell yeah!" Lars pumped a fist. "Lemme at that dude! He thinks he's some hot stuff now because he's at high-school, but I'mma show him!"

"Also," Yuel continued. "Bot will be the Carry lane. The meta is similar to MOBA here in that sense."

"Huh?" Kai turned down the metal. "Hold it right there. I'm the Carry."

"Ah," Yuel forgot. Right, Kai had that odd fixation on being the Carry. That completely escaped his mind when he was picking the third member for the team. If he remembered it back then, he might have opted for somebody else in order to sidestep this conflict.

"Hey, dude," Lars turned to Kai. "I'm the only one here who can handle Trever. I joke and all about him being a scrub, but dude is tough like a bull. Ya ain't taking him down easily."

"You're implying I'm not good enough?" Kai frowned.

"Weeeeelp, err..." Lars scratched the back of his head and glanced at Yuel. He knew all too well that giving it straight to Kai might lead to a fight.

Yeah, I better change the direction of this discussion. Yuel thought. How could he convince Kai without outright saying she wasn’t good enough yet?

"Lars fought Trever on a daily basis back in StormBlitz," Yuel explained. "So, he knows this matchup well. Trever is a momentum-heavy player so he's good at steamrolling you if you let him. It's better to let somebody with experience handle this one."

"Tch, fine," Kai clicked her tongue. "So, I'll take the other lane."

"Yes, that'll be best," Yuel nodded. "I'll be the Jungler. I assume Aron will be their Jungler, so you'll be up against the last guy. Alex, I believe."

"You know anything about him?" Kai asked.

"A little. We only played a couple of matches during a scrimmage. He came across as a decent player, especially in team fights. But, he only played Warlock and performed poorly after we banned it."

"So, a Warlock specialist? Talk about being cheap."

"I can't say for sure whether he only plays Warlock, but I'm pretty sure that's his favorite class. So, without bans, there's a good chance he'll go for Warlock. It also happens to be a strong pick in Clash. It’s much harder to deal with a Warlock as a small team."

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

"So, I'm most likely fighting a Warlock," Kai crossed her arms. "Kinda sucks. Are there even any hard counters to it? Can't think of one from the top of my head."

"Pyromancer can do a good job with its fast clear.”

“Oh, yeah. Pyro sounds dope.”

“But, I wouldn't go for it. There's a bigger threat we have to address first. Namely, Aron. With no bans, he's most likely going to pick his favorite as well: Lionfolk."

"Yikes, caging." Lars made a face. As somebody who mained Trickshooter and Gunslinger more than any other class, he didn't appreciate Lionfolk's ult in the slightest. That thing was hax. It didn’t leave these classes any way of escaping.

"If we add Lionfolk to the equation," Yuel said. "Pyromancer becomes a bad pick because it can't escape from the ult."

"Yeah, doesn't sound like a smart pick," Kai agreed. "What else we got?"

"This may sound a little weird, but how do you feel about Lumiamncer with a power build?"

"Like, Lumi Mid?"

"Yes, essentially. It's borderline low-tier territory but it's definitely not a meme build. It got its niche in the pro scene"

"Yeah, some people like this stuff," Kai nodded. "It's even kinda viable. I've picked Lumi before for Support but ended up building power because our Carry was wack. The damage scaling is a little sad for a mage but it can get things done."

"You think you can play it well?"

“Hmm, not sure about that,” Kai pondered. “To be honest, out of the two options, I rather pick Pyro. I got way more experience with it.”

“But, it loses hard to Lionfolk.”

“Yeah, it sure does,” Kai frowned. "Well, Lumi should be fine.”

"Okay, let's go with that then," Yuel turned to Lars next. "As for you..."

"I'mma go with Gunslinger, yo!" Lars gave a thumbs up. "They never gonna see it coming! They think I only got Trickshooter up my sleeve but I'mma blow their socks off!"

"Between Gunslinger and Trickshooter, I agree that Gunslinger is the better option."

"Yep, Trever never saw my sick Gunslinger skills!"

"Unfortunately, both classes are no good in this matchup."

"Huh?" Lars blinked. "Wut?"

"As I said, Aron will most likely pick Lionfolk. Does either Trickshooter or Gunslinger have any way of escaping the lion cage?"

"Ah, welp, not really..."

"Exactly. If you pick either of those, you'll be a sitting duck for Aron's ganks. You need something else."

"Wha!? No way! These are my best classes!" Lars made noise. "I mean, I know I'm good with other classes too but this is Trever we're talking about. I talk all sorts of shit but dude is legit hella strong. I ain't gonna take him down with some bootleg class. I need da best stuff, yo!"

"That’s a viable concern," Yuel nodded. "But, no matter how strong your class is going to be, it will come to nothing if you're too vulnerable to ganks. Suppose you gain the upper hand against Trever with Gunslinger, what will happen next? Aron will focus your lane and you’ll constantly be in danger of dying unless you play it safe. The map in Clash is small enough for a Jungler to constantly apply pressure on one lane."

"Geh, that really doesn't sound fun," Lars made a face. "You’re saying Boss Dude ain’t gonna let us fight? This sucks, yo. Can't ya help me out with that somehow? You gonna jungle, right? So, you should come and counter Aron's ganks and stuff."

"True, I could try scaring him away with counter jungling. But, there's a limit to how many times I'll be able to pull that off successfully. As the attacker, the initiative will always be on his side. Not to mention, it's not that easy to counter a Lionfolk's gank in the first place."

"Yo, that class is busted. Oh, wait! I know! I'mma just buy Blink! Gonna blink outta the cage every time! Ez."

"A valid idea," Yuel nodded. "We all should buy Blink just in case. The bad news is that Blink alone isn’t enough. You know how long Blink's cooldown is, especially if you don't level it."

"Yeaaaah, only takes it like a year or two to come online."

"Exactly. Aron's ult will come out of cooldown much faster, so you won't be able to compete against all his ganks with just Blink."

"Geh, that blows. Why neither of my classes can deal with Lion?"

"You tell me. You decided to main these two."

"Gah, you're right...." Lars hung his head. How could this be happening!? He finally got a chance to show off his mad Gunslinger skills to Trever, but now he couldn't pick the class!? Nuuuuuu!

"But," Yuel continued. "If you tell me there's no way you're going to win the lane against Trever with any other class, we might have to bite the bullet and go for Gunslinger anyway."

"Nah, no problem," Lars gave a thumbs up. "I can take on that dude with any class! I can even Archer him to death!"

"Jokes aside, what do you think your chances are?"

"Welp, ya know how me and that dude play. We always go head-to-head in some intense matches, so it’s anybody's guess who gonna come on top."

"So, it's about 50-50," Yuel crossed his arms. It has been a while since the last time Yuel checked these 1v1 statistics. At the time, Trever had a higher win ratio, standing at around 60%. The only class with which Lars had a positive win ratio was Trickshooter. With everything else, it seemed like Trever was slightly better.

But, that was over two months ago. Lars has trained a lot since then. In just the last couple of weeks, Lars grew up a lot. The defeat at the selection exam made him understand the importance of playing safer and improved his decision-making tenfold.

In the first place, Lars was the more mechanically skilled fighter out of the two. Trever only won these duels thanks to his robust experience and sharp decision-making. So, the way Lars was now, he had a very real chance of besting Trever.

"So," Yuel continued. "You're fine with something other than Trickshooter and Gunslinger?"

"What choice do I have?" Lars shrugged and shook his head. "If I constantly gotta think about Aron's Lion ganks then RIP. Ain’t gonna get anything done like that."

"Indeed," Yuel smiled meaningfully. Just a few weeks ago, it was unfathomable for Lars to agree to something like this. This goof surely would have insisted he could somehow deal with Aron's ganks despite not having the escape tools.

However, the Lars right here and now was astonishingly reasonable. He understood the problem at hand and was willing to make sacrifices in order to overcome it. The goof was growing up!

"So, which class you'd like?" Yuel asked. "You need something with a leap or a blink in its kit."

"Hrmmmmm. Oh, I know! I can try Seraph! Dude can literally fly out of the lockdown! I was actually thinking about making it my third main class. Last time, it worked like a charm."

"Oh, you've been practicing Seraph?"

"Ah, welp, not yet. But, but, but! I totally gonna! I'mma become the No.1 Seraph in world, believe it!"

"So, your Seraph is still at about the same level it was during the selection exam. In that case, I'd advise against it. Seraph has a rough early-game and you have to really know how to handle it."

"Yeah, I know, I know," Lars smiled wryly. "That's why I don't play it much. Dude feels hella weak early. But daim, once late-game hits, bruh becomes a beast! Everybody is free kills, yo!"

"Out of curiosity, how's your win rate with Seraph against Trever?"

"Geh..." Lars's head dropped.

"Figured," Yuel nodded. "In that case, you better pick something else. Aside from how you're likely to lose to Trever, picking Seraph also means we have to stake everything on the late-game. And, you remember who is very strong in the late-game?"

"Of course I do. How did Vince call it, again? Oh yeah, the Late-Game Destructor!"

"It was Late-Game Terminator," Vincent corrected. He and the rest of the club were gathered around the representing team to show their support.

"Putting aside the silly name," Yuel continued. "We both know how strong Aron gets in the late-game."

"Yeah, dude becomes a killing machine. He can even beat me 1v1 at that point, can ya believe that?"

"Of course I can. I've seen that happen."

"Boss Dude is wild, I'm tellin' ya."

"And, that's why we don't want to bet everything on the late-game."

"We sure don't, haha."

"So, any other class you feel confident in?"

"Hmm, lemme see," Lars crossed his arms and tilted his head. "Um, what other classes can escape the lion stuff, again?"

Of course he doesn't have that kind of information at the ready. Yuel thought. After all, I always handle these counter picks for him when we play. I really spoil him too much in that regard, huh. And, seems like I'll be doing it again. Oh well. In for a penny, in for a pound.

"Judging by your stats," Yuel scrolled on his tablet. "Your Elf performs pretty well."

"Welp, I'd be surprised if it didn't. After all, I'm a pro sniper, yo!"

"So, you like this pick?"

"Eh, 'like' is a strong word," Lars smiled wryly. "I mean, I really dig the first-person view and all but I don’t like the turtley playstyle, ya feel me? Always feels cheap as heck."

"But, you do perform nicely with it."

"Yeah, I guess," Lars shrugged. "It's just ez like that. And cheap. I rather run in with guns blazing than sit at my tower all day."

"Sometimes, you have to sacrifice a little bit of fun in order to increase your chances of winning."

"Yeah, I know. But, it's like geeeeh."

"How's your win rate against Trever with it?"

"It's okay, I guess. He sure knows this matchup tho, so he ain't gonna lemme do my thing in peace."

"That's to be expected,” Yuel nodded. “That’s a high-level player for you.”

“Nah, dude got nothing on me, yo.”

With that, it was decided that Lars will go with Elf instead of pulling one of his aces. It was a difficult decision and they’ll surely suffer the consequences if Lars's Elf can't win against Trever. Nonetheless, it was a much safer pick against Aron's Lionfolk so it had a much higher chance to get things going.

For the last pick, Yuel went for Viking. Any team composition needed at least one frontliner, even if it was a small team of three. In fact, this only further reinforced the idea that Aron will most likely pick Lionfolk, as it was a bruiser class that could serve both as a Jungler and a semi-tanky frontliner. Yuel picked Viking for the same reason.

In addition, Viking could escape the Lionfolk's cage of lions by tossing his axe outside and blinking to it. On top of that, Viking was dangerous at close-range due to his destructive ult, so that balanced out the defensive picks of the rest of his team. This should cover all bases.

With that, the team's lineup was decided.

Yuel (Chessmaster): Viking

Lars (Gunz): Elf

Kai (Beat): Lumimancer