What Happens When You Get Close

Yuel applied remote intimidation on Freezer and successfully made the guy retreat, denying the most efficient Sorcerer farming method. However, that's all this play accomplished. Freezer simply resorted to a backup farming method and didn't lose much.

[So, he can farm well even from that position.] Yuel frowned. This was the second time Freezer made Yuel's calculations go awry. First, the guy didn't pick Warlock. And now, Freezer was playing a solid Sorcerer.

[I have to reevaluate him from scratch.] Yuel concluded. Freezer was undeniably playing a strong Sorcerer and that's something the team will have to deal with going forward.

Now, back to the gank at hand. Should Yuel go through with it? Freezer hasn't retreated all the way to the Turret, so there was still an opportunity to strike.

[No, there's no point.] Yuel judged. Freezer didn't flee all the way, but he was close enough to his Turret. From this position, he was ready to retreat all the way if another ward spots Yuel approaching.

On top of that, Freezer bought Blink at the beginning of the game to compensate for the lack of escape tools in Sorcerer's kit. He was prepared to bail out of there at a moment's notice. So, this gank wasn't meant to be.

[Still, let's keep him on his feet.] Yuel turned around and threw his axe across the open space in the center of the jungle. The flying axe didn't trigger a sound alert for the enemy even if a ward spotted it, so this was a great trick for slipping out of the area without informing the enemy.

Yuel activated Axe Blitz and blinked to the axe. That's it, easy as that. In a blink of an eye, he was out of enemy territory.

However, the enemy still thought he was hanging around there and waited for his next move. They saw Yuel going deep into their territory, but where did he go next? Hopefully, that mystery will distract them a little.

"Heh, the kid is sure playing the patience game." Trever chuckled. "How long you think he gonna wait for his gank over there?"

"Don't be stupid," Aron retorted. "He must've already left."

"Yeah." Alex nodded.

"Huh? When? How?" Trever asked. "We got that whole area warded."

"Ever heard of blinking?" Alex rolled his eyes. "He's playing Viking, remember?"

"Oh! I see what's up. Yeah, he can blink outta there. But, you sure he actually did it? I didn't see anything."

"Pretty sure I saw his axe passing through. It was hard to tell, though. I would appreciate a validation."

"On it," Aron passed near the suspicious area on his way from Bot to Top. "He's not here."

"So, what's the deal?" Trever raised an eyebrow. "Was it all empty threats? Lame."

"It was a win-win for him," Alex explained. "Either I retreat and lose lane advantage, or I stay and run the risk of getting my arse ganked. He forced me into a worse position without lifting a finger. A nasty play."

"Yeah, kid be a genius like that," Trever nodded like a proud dad for some reason. "He always comes up with 'em crazy plays."

"It's not that special, he was merely applying pressure with his presence," Aron argued. "It's a standard thing high-level Jungler do. Though, he did take good advantage of our wards' vision, I'll give him that."

"Oh c'mon." Trever made a face. "Will it kill you to praise the kid for once?"

"He's just good at using the situation to his advantage, as always. It's at least nice to see he hasn't dulled much after transferring to this team. But, I'm yet to see anything new from him."

"Man, you and your insane standards. I bet if I asked what you think of Maker, you'd also say he's nothing special."

"Actually, I do think he's overrated," Aron said. "His mechanical skill stands out and he's solid across the board, but 'best player in the world'? Not sure about that one. He usually comes on top through sheer execution. That's amazing in its own right on such a high level of play, but it's not what I'd qualify for the 'best in the world'."

"Gotta disagree with you on that one," Alex said. "Maker is a machine. Almost every move he makes is flawless. Sure, you notice that the most when his execution gets a chance to shine. But, if you pay attention to the smaller details, you'll see the true genius behind every little move he makes."

"Totally!" Trever exclaimed. "Bro is an insane beast!"

"Sounds like blind worshipping to me," Aron shrugged. "We need to sit down and analyze a match together so you can show me exactly what you mean."

"That's a date," Alex nodded.

"Eh, count me outta that one," Trever waved his hand.

"Alright, enough chatter," Aron said. "Let's focus. We can't give them any openings. Yuel will strike at the smallest hint of distraction."

The game went on. Since Yuel's intimidation tactic forced Alex into subpar farming, Kai won the lane exchange this time and pushed forward with two surviving archers. But, it was a short-lived advantage.

On the next wave, Freezer regained lane control with ease. Kai's small push amounted to nothing. On the other hand, Freezer always brought a bunch of minions to her Turret with every push. This matchup sucked.

"So," Kai addressed Yuel. "When you gonna deliver a real gank? These empty threats only go so far. I'm still losing the lane. Hard."

"Yes, I'm aware," Yuel said. "Unfortunately, he's not showing any good openings. His defense is tight."

"That's a nice excuse but it doesn't help my situation. You told me to pick Lumi, so now come up with a solution for this bullshit. I can't play like that."

"I don't have any at the moment. You have to bear with it for a while longer until something changes."

"And, how long that gonna take? Five years?" Kai clicked her tongue. This was so dumb. She was the captain, the representative of the club, yet the enemy was clobbering her like nothing. This was the worst first impression ever against these senior players.

Worst of all, none of this shit was even Kai's fault. It was all Yuel and his stupid idea to pick Lumimancer. There was a good reason this was a niche, borderline meme, Mid pick. It had way too many terrible matchups.

"I shouldn't have agreed with this terrible pick," Kai shook her head. "Dunno what I was thinking back then. Your advice sucks."

"If I recall," Yuel said. "You considered picking Pyromancer. Please enlighten me about the amazing matchup it got against Sorcerer."

"That's..." Kai grumped. True, Pyromancer also sucked in this matchup.

Unlike the Lumimancer, Pyromancer had a fast clearing speed. However, its range was awful, so picking it against a good Sorcerer was practically like asking to be bullied.

"Still," Kai had to have the last word. "At least, with Pyro I could dare and try some things. With Lumi, I'm stuck doing nothing."

"Well, you can dare with Blinding Light from close range."

"As if that gonna do me any good. It doesn't have nearly the same damage as anything from Pyro's kit"

"If you want to increase your clearing speed, Blinding Light is your ticket."

"Fine, alright. Let's try that shit." On the next wave, Kai advanced to the frontline along with her minions.

She didn't bother placing her Ray of Light anymore because the Sorcerer was going to move her minions away anyway, so it'd be a waste of MP. Instead, she advanced toward the enemy frontline and booted Blinding Light. Her Lumimancer glowed as it charged solar energy.

[Daring, aren't we?] Alex cracked his neck. [You're either underestimating me or you're running out of ideas. Well, either way, let's see. I place one there and one near the minions, then blow them all up. Not enough to kill, but that's a nice setup right there.]

Alex didn't go for the usual Dimensional Collapse. Instead, he waited a moment for Magia Orb to come out of cooldown and placed a second orb a short distance away from the first.

[He's not doing the pull?] Kai heard the distinctive sound of a new orb popping up. So, before activating the first orb, the enemy added another one.

[Is he going to ult?] A shiver ran through Kai's arms. This wasn't good. The enemy allowed her to advance to the frontline, but he planted her escape route with bombs. One bomb was no big deal, but two was a whole different story. Their explosions will resonate, making each deliver double damage. In other words, it'll be quadruple explosion damage!

[I'll be toast if I let that thing hit me. How do I play around this?] There weren't many places for her to escape to. She could either head deeper into enemy territory or enter the jungle.

[Oh, the jungle is blocked. Damn.] Kai stared at a tall wall and the wall stared back her. In this mode, Top Lane had the same kind of barricade as MOBA's Mid Lane. The jungle was only accessible from her side of the lane but not from the center.

[Oh, but I got a blink! Right.] Kai nodded. [Alright, that's the plan.]

Kai finished unleashing Blinding Light on the enemy frontline, then headed toward the side of the lane. She approached the jungle wall and blinked through it! Or, at least she tried.

"Huh?" She tried to place the marker beyond the wall but it kept giving her the red color. [What gives? How thick is this damn wall?]

It was no use. She couldn't place her blink destination beyond this stupid wall. This sucked.

[Guess I'll just wait it out. These orbs aren't going to hang out there forever.]

"RAAAAWR!" A wild lion leaped on her from beyond the wall!

"Oh, shit!" Kai rolled aside right away. Thankfully, she dodged the Lionfolk's crash. Phew, that was a close call.

[How the hell did this guy even make it past this stupidly thick wall?] Kai cursed internally. That leap sure had some range to it.

But, it was alright. She cleanly dodged that thing by rolling. Yes, by rolling... back to her own side of the lane!

"OH FUUU-" BAM! Two explosions boomed simultaneously. Kai got caught up in the very center of this mess! The explosions resonated in the area they overlapped and torn space itself asunder.

Over 80% of Kai's HP vanished. It's like she never even had any. All her efforts to keep herself healthy went down the toilet.

At least, the horizon was clear now so she could retreat. The Lionfolk was right behind her, so she didn't risk it. She activated Flash and blinked the heck outta there. She should be safe now- WHAM! A loud impact resounded behind her!

[I heard this before today.] Kai recognized the sound of the Sorcerer unleashing a magical gust to fire one of his orbs. That guy was trying to snipe her from across the lane! There was a good chance it'll be fatal!

[He gotta be thinking I'll run toward the Turret, right? Then...!] Instead of running toward the bottom side of the lane where her Turret was, Kai turned toward the top half of the lane.

A moment later, the orb arrived. However, it missed. Phew! That was a close call. That thing almost did her in.

"Well, that was an attempt," Alex shrugged.

"Too bad," Aron said. "You would have gotten her if you didn't lose that 50-50 gamble at the end."

"You think it was a 50-50?"

"It wasn't? Hrm, I suppose you could choose between shooting left, right or at the center, so that brings it down to around 30%."

"Not my point. Pretty sure my prediction was on point. But, this girl dodged on reaction."

"She couldn't see your shot, though."

"Maybe she heard it? This thing makes noise."

"Possible," Aron said. "Thinking of it, she rolled out of my leap too. I doubt she saw it coming. So, it appears she really has a good reaction, possibly to sound. Noted."

"She's not one of your juniors, right?" Alex asked.

"No, she seems to be a part of this club."

"Not too shabby for the infamous Stratus."

"I suppose," Aron pursed his lips. Maybe Yuel's overconfident talk about the team's chances wasn't just empty words. Judging by how this girl carried herself, she was on a decently high level, definitely higher than what Aron expected to see from this bottom tier team.

Nevertheless, as a whole, the trio's performance has been on the weaker side so far. Starting from Yuel's overly cautious draft and down to their passive game plan, they hadn't impressed much so far.

[Hrm. Maybe I'm being overly harsh.] Aron thought. [After all, they got a mid-game comp so they have an excuse for taking the early-game slow. They'll have to start showing their true worth in the next couple of minutes. So far, things don't look good for them.]

Even mid-game won't change the fact the Lumimancer had a terrible matchup against the Sorcerer. So, that girl will most likely keep struggling for the rest of the game. On the other hand, Lars had a chance to shine. He has been playing surprisingly defensive thus far, as a proper Elf should. Was he going to pull something soon?

[If they're planning to start something soon, it'll come from Bot.] Aron concluded. [I'll have to eye it carefully.]

In this position, the enemy's best shot at victory was for Lars to defeat Trever in Bot and start a strong push. However, Aron won't let that happen. He'll shut down any silly idea these kids had. They won't get to mount any attacks.

Before mid-game even hits, Aron will make sure to throw them into a hopeless situation. They won't get any chances. They'll lose, brutally and thoroughly. Hopefully, that'll wake up Yuel and Lars from their daydreaming.