The Long Waiting Game

"I intend to push this time!" Cornelia declared loudly. "This peasant has been trying my noble patience long enough! It's time to show him his place!"

"Fine, you may push a little," Fiona said. "But, do NOT under ANY circumstances approach the tower area. Retreat as soon as your soldiers make it into the zone."

"Nonsense. I shall push in full throttle this time!" Cornelia insisted. "This commoner shall know my wrath!"

"Cornelia von Galen. Please." It was not a request. It was an order.

"B-But why!?" Cornelia demanded. "Every single time there is a great opportunity to teach this peasant a lesson, you tell me to retreat! I demand to know why!"

"Because it is extremely dangerous," Fiona said matter-of-factly. "You are planning to venture into the territory of a skilled competitive player, who is no doubt prepared for the situation. Not to mention, StormBlitz's players seem to be trained at luring enemies to turn the tables on them." 

"So, this means what?" Cornelia asked. "Are we never going to attack them unless they come at us first? Excuse me, but that is absolute lunacy!"

"I did not say we have to be that cautious," Fiona explained. "All I am saying is that we need better opportunities to initiate proper attacks. Optimally, it is better for two players to push a tower together. As it stands, it is too dangerous for you to venture that far alone."

"Then, how about you join me on this noble endeavor? With our joint noble powers, we can destroy the enemy tower in one fell swoop!"

"Thank you for the offer, but now is not a good time for this." Fiona was already on her way to Bot Jungle, so it was too late for that invitation.

"You keep saying it's not a 'good time'," Cornelia ranted. "So, just when WILL it be a 'good time'? Is that something that's going to occur in our lifetime?"

"I assure you it will, eventually," Fiona promised. "We just have to wait patiently for it."

"Is it really something that's going to happen if we just 'wait' for it?" Cornelia doubted. "I say we must take the initiative to make it happen!"

"That is correct, we will do it eventually," Fiona promised. "However, we need a better opportunity than this."

"Is such an opportunity really going to ever present itself? We're almost in the mid-game already!"

"True, it is sure taking a while..." Fiona did not have a good counterargument here. She had yet to find any good opportunities to strike in the ten minutes that had already passed.

I failed to gain an early lead this time around, so it's been very difficult to get anything going. We do not have a proper queen piece to dominate the board.

Having just one player with a lead could make all the difference. It allowed them to compensate for any lack of skill or experience they had compared to their opponents. That was how Fiona was able to overcome StormBlitz in the previous game despite her humble playtime, relatively speaking.

In this game as well, there were many situations where Fiona could have gone for a better play if only she had more strength. Alas, she had to let these opportunities slide. As a result, the team was unable to get anything going.

The longer this game drags out, the better the enemy's position becomes. Fiona frowned. Once we reach the endgame, their Seraph will most definitely dominate the game. It will be checkmate.

For StormBlitz, reaching the late-game was effectively their win condition. They took a risk by picking a Hyper Carry, but so far, it had been paying off.

This is a difficult puzzle. Fiona frowned. I do not believe I have learned any strategies that can overturn a situation like this. It appears more studying is required.

Surely, there had to be some established tactics to employ in situations like these. Alas, Fiona was not familiar with any that would be practical enough right here and now.

With that said, one unconventional idea sprang to mind. There was one player in this competitive scene who often had to deal with similar situations: Yuel Fermond.

Just as in chess, his "solutions" tend to be rough and inelegant. Fiona criticized. Nonetheless, he often delivers surprising results.

The chess games in which Yuel Fermond defeated Fiona were good examples of instances where the man's questionable tactics worked out for him. The irregular moves he made contradicted standard chess theory, yet they were effective at throwing Fiona off her game.

And, it appears he brought over a similar line of thinking to Classmancers as well. Truly, such an irksome man.

At times, Yuel Fermond looked like a genius. Other times, he came across as a fool chasing the impossible. Thus, it was difficult to use his tactics as examples of practical problem-solving. After all, utilizing peculiar plays required a peculiar mind.

At the very least, I cannot bring myself to stray as far as he does from optimal game theory. It is simply unreasonable.

For the most part, Yuel Fermond seemed to share the same sentiment. With all said and done, the vast majority of his plays followed game theory to a T. If he did not need any fancy tricks to beat his opponents, then he generally obeyed the meta.

However, against truly strong opponents, Yuel Fermond sometimes deviated from the formula. He did that against Fiona in chess, and he did the same thing against the Leopards just recently. That was his "solution" for how to get wins when the odds were against him.

Generally speaking, Fiona did not like abandoning the meta to resort to shaky experimental ideas. Nonetheless, given how victory was drifting farther and farther away with every passing moment, she could not help but ask herself: "What would have Yuel Fermond done in Fiona's shoes?"

Alas, she did not possess the same deviant mind that Yuel Fermond did. Thus, no brilliant idea struck her.

Is this as far as we can go at our current level...? Fiona wondered. Frankly, that would not surprise me considering the individual skill level of each member. But, giving up without a fight is not in my nature.

Besides, this was a practice match. The main goal of today was to throw everything the Valkyries had at the enemy in order to learn what worked and what needed polish. As such, giving up the fight just because it seemed "hopeless" was a terrible idea.

"For now, let us continue at the same pace," Fiona told everybody. "As long as we do not fall behind, the enemy will have to show us an opening at some point."

"Um, sis," Karen started. "I gotta say, they're sure taking their sweet time with that whole 'showing an opening' thing, haha...."

"Indeed, I agree with the peasant for once," Cornelia said. "We've been playing it safe for far too long! When will we finally strike!?"

"In due time, I assure you," Fiona repeated. "Even if you look at professional teams, there is none that can play a truly flawless game. As such, there will surely be openings, no matter how 'perfect' the enemy's defense looks right now."

"I just hope it's not gonna be too late, sis," Karen said. "I mean, they have Seraph and stuff. That's like a ticking bomb for us, you know?" 

"Yes, I am aware," Fiona responded. "Ideally, we need to strike down the Seraph at least once before the late-game to stall her progression."

"Heh, alrighty!" Karen grinned. "So, you're saying I should start attacking the Seraph right away, right? Right?"

"I said nothing of the sort." Fiona shot down the suggestion on the spot. "With that said, I have been looking hard for gank opportunities in your area, but..."

It was like a cruel irony. Seraph was the highest priority target and it was supposed to be more vulnerable than others in the earlier parts of the game, yet it was played by the most notoriously defensive player of StormBlitz.

Not only is her defense airtight, but her baits are top-tier as well. Fiona thought. I cannot confidently go for every little opportunity that looks attractive. There is always the possibility it is bait.

Even in the previous game, Athena was the one and only opponent Fiona failed to kill. Even Aegis fail at her hand once, but not Athena, not even once.

To make things worse, there was just one time when Fiona came very close to scoring a kill... only for it to be revealed as bait. That one mistake almost led to Fiona's death. It left a bitter taste in her mouth.

Even I nearly committed such a grave mistake against her, so I dread to think what would happen if I ever let Karen or Cornelia fight Athena alone. Truly, she is such an irksome opponent now that I got to fight her in person.

In the replays, Athena did not come across as a particularly impressive player. Her achievements generally did not stand out much when analyzing her matches.

However, after Fiona fought the woman face-to-face, she realized just how tricky of a fox Athena was. Everything about her playstyle was designed to frustrate her opponents while fooling them into a false sense of security.

Athena underplayed on purpose to make her opponents feel like they were much stronger than her. And, at the same time, she also played very defensively to prevent her foe from actually winning the fight. Together, these two factors built up a lot of frustration that ultimately baited the enemy into overextending.

Frankly, even I started feeling agitated. Fiona admitted. I felt so sure I would get that kill, so it irked me to no end that the woman kept stalling me. That almost lured me into committing a grave overextension.

Fortunately, right before that happened, Fiona came back to her senses. She reevaluated the board situation to check whether any shot-calls had to be made, and that was when she noticed odd positions of other enemies around the map. Or rather, the lack of visibility regarding their positions.

Instead of defending lanes as they should have been doing, many opponents abandoned their posts and went elsewhere. But, where could they possibly have gone? Surely not to kill the Dragon or Overlord, that would be lunacy when they were so much behind.

That was when Fiona realized that the enemy's target was likely none other than Fiona herself. This allowed her to see through Athena's bait at the very last moment and dodge the enemy's gank.

If her trickery worked so well against me, it would certainly be effective against Karen and Cornelia, too. Fiona thought. I cannot let them fight that trickster alone.

"I will repeat this again," Fiona said. "Do not engage the Seraph by yourself, Karen. Athena is well aware she is an attractive target and she uses that fact to her advantage." 

"But sis, we gotta kill her eventually, right? So, when is it gonna happen?"

"I will arrange a gank eventually, do not worry about it." That empty promise was the best Fiona could give her sister right now.

When will the gank happen? How will Fiona prepare it? These questions were left up in the air. There was only uncertainty.

The only thing I know is that it must eventually happen. The Seraph must be killed at least once. Fiona asserted. Besides, their Jungler is very cautious this time around, and their new Mid has a solid defense. So, we do not have any good alternatives to pursue.

StormBlitz successfully enforced a status quo on the board state, one that was more beneficial for them. Could Fiona break through this stalemate in any way...?