A successful gank on Top Lahat’s the first thing that had to happen this game. Not only for boosting Nia’s morale, but for Yuel’s uation as well.

  The Dark Knight has warmed up by now. His Dark Bst struck true, annihiting Yuel's entire army in a si. The defense buff of Chivarly was no longer enough to keep anybody alive.

  Yuel had no way to bat a pressure of this magnitude. The only way to break out of this predit was with Nia’s help.

  However, Nia wasn't her usual self right now. The stage fright still haunted her. During the previous rotation, she chose the shortest route, which was uncharacteristic for a sneaky assassin like her. It’s as if the pressure was rushing her, demanding immediate results.

  Naturally, that didn’t work out for her. To perform well as an assassin, Nia had to be calm and posed. She had to carefully analyze her target's movements and decide when was the best time to strike. Normally, she rofit enough at that, but nht now.

  So, before Yuel could get anything going, he had to figure out how to make this girl calm down. In other words, he had to e up with some sort of pep talk.

  That’s SO not my strong suit. Yuel frowned. He knew how to effitly and his teammates' as, but not their hearts. That's probably why he was here, in Stratus, right now. Howard could do both, therefore he was StormBlitz’s captain.

  “You pyed like a group of cogs that didn't fit together.” Aron's words echoed in Yuel's head. Indeed, Yuel wasn't good at keeping his team unified and motivated. He had a bad habit of assuming that his teammates were as motivated and as determined as him. Therefore, it was enough to e up with good shot-calls for them, the rest will work out on its own.

  But, his teammates were her robots nor chess pieces. He couldn't just give an order and expect them to execute it fwlessly. There were many factors involved when trying to make a successful py. Yuel always assumed he was taking them all into at, but he really wasn't.

  There was much more out there. There were factors that went beyond skill, map state, build, level, match up, and all the other dry details. In particur, the one factor Yuel always ed was the personal issues of each pyer. Unfortunately, those issues sometimes overshadowed everything else about a py, single-handedly determining its success or failure.

  It was thanks to problems like these that Yuel failed to defeat Howard during the seleatch. And now, he was fag the same exact issue, this time with Nia. If she keeps pying sloppy like this, she'll eventually bring ruin oire team.

  So, this problem had to be addressed, no question about it. But, how? What should Yuel say to somebody who was nervous about their debut in the petitive stage? What could possibly reassure this girl?

  I believe there was some advice for situations like this. Yuel searched his memory. The answer might be hidden somewhere in there.

  After Aron pointed out Yuel’s biggest fw, there was no choice but to start digging. Yuel searched many videos and articles that covered the various aspects of teamwork and team morale.

  Unfortunately, a lot of the videos were surface-level. They filled up 10 minutes of tent with generalized advice, in order to squeeze in as many ads as possible. Still, it was better than nothing and Yuel tried to adopt some of those teiques.

  Unfortunately, he didn't get to practice them much. Pying Ranked wasn’t stressful enough for the people in the club, so barely any serious issues surfaced. As a result, Yuel rarely ever had the o fix anything.

  However, in this scrimmage, a major problem has already preseself. And now Yuel, with his ent experience, had to resolve it. What were the right words in this situation? What would make a nervous teammate calm down?

  No, that line of thinking is probably wrong. Yuel recalled one piece of advice that stood out. For best results, it was best to think on the personal level, to sider the person Yuel was trying to ence. Generie-liners of motivation would only go so far.

  So, what kind of person was Nia? What were the main things that uled her? What helped her calm down? By finding the ao these questions, Yuel could e up with something that worked best for Nia. It’s like finding the enemy’s elemental weakness and striking it.

  What makes her nervous? Yuel thought ba what kind of girl Nia was. They spent a couple of months together in the club and Yuel used much of that time on teag her game knowledge. So, he could cim with fidehat Nia was a tough er. It wasn’t hard to point out at least one problem she had, or evey of those.

  First of all, she didn't like being in the ter of attention. Or, even being seen by others for that matter. To this day, she maintaihe bad habit of vanishing within the clubroom by running away to some remote er. Yuel moved aside many boxes and tables to minimize the number of good hiding spots in the clubroom, but Nia was like a cat, she always found new openings to squeeze herself into. Sigh.

  For somebody like her, pying on a stage was naturally unfortable. The gallery for this scrimmage was rather small, but it was there, with its eyes focused oage. That mere fact put heavy pressure on Nia. Therefore, it would be great if she learns to ighe crowd and focus on doing her own thing.

  Another issue was Nia’s fidence. She had a natural aversion toys she wasn't 10000000% sure about. Every time Yuel suggested a py that didn't sound 100% fail-safe, Nia grumped in response and argued back. Retly, she was being more and more cooperative, but the core issue ruly disappeared.

  For example, it took lots and lots of training before Nia started feeling fortable with ganking Dark Knights during the early-game. Only after she accumuted enough positive experience from repeating such ganks, she grew aced to exeg them on-demand.

  heless, a part of her opped doubting. There were times wheried to gank a skilled Dark Knight and things went horribly wrong. After that, for the rest of that day, Nia would refuse to gank Dark Knights.

  Suegative experiences burhemselves into her mind. Whehere was the slightest hint that the enemy Dark Knight might a strong pyer, she became relut to execute a gank. It took a lot of requesting and pleading until she’d finally give in. Sometimes, even that didn’t help and she didn’t gank the Dark Knight the entire game...

  Maybe she’s thinking this Dark Knight is strong as well. Yuel sidered. After all, this is a petitive match. By default, it’s assumed that the enemy will be strong. Well, except for when people think about Stratus, I suppose.

  Nia wasn't the type to uimate her oppos, she only knew how to overestimate them. She rather be safe than sorry. So, she must have assumed that DragonMaster was a strong Dark Knight pyer.

  Is he, though? Yuel pondered.

  At the beginning of the match, DragonMaster put on a erformance. However, the guy has been steadily improving from there. By now, he pyed like a det Diamond rank oppo. He ly wiped out Yuel's minions and push hard alongside his minions. So, despite his slow start, DragonMaster was definitely a det pyer. He won't be an easy nut to crack.

  But, that’s not something I should tell Nia. Yuel smiled wryly.

  His past self would have holy id out all this information, to ensure his teammates had an accurate uanding of the situation. However, doing so will only have an opposite effe Nia right now. Most likely, she was already overestimating the guy in her head. If Yuel adds more oil to the fire, he won’t be getting any ganks from her for the rest of the day.

  So, do I tell her DragonMaster is weak? That'd be a lie. But, was it a bad lie? Was there any harm to it? Not in particur.

  Some psychological articles about motivation enced such tricks. They suggested that, sometimes, it was a good idea to paint a more positive picture by bending the truth a little. It’d keep people motivated without ht lying to them.

  Yuel was rather averse to such practices because he believed objective information had great value. However, there were times when sharing objective information caused more harm than good. This was one such sario. If he tells Nia that DragonMaster was at least a Diamond level pyer, she might wrongly assume that the guy was an ungankable monster.

  Oher hand, if he tells a little white lie and says that DragonMaster was a mediocre pyer, it'll fuel Nia with fidend help her calm down. It’ll probably boost the success ce of her gank as well, thus being a self-fulfilling prophecy. Yuel will cim that DragonMaster was weak, therefore the guy will end up looking weak.

  Besides, in the first pce, terms like "strong" and "weak" were subjective in many ways. DragonMaster was a det ner, but he didn't seem particurly skilled in bat. Even somebody like Yuel mao dance around some onMaster’s attacks. The guy ying it safe and pact, a mentality far removed from what the ideal Dark Knight should strive to be.

  As far as Nia was ed, a target was "strong" or "scary" when it could mount a ter-attack that might get her killed. However, DragonMaster didn't e across as a pyer who'd give Nia much trouble. In fact, there was a good ce he'll avoid bat altogether and choose to retreat if ganked, just like he did st time.

  So, in Nia’s terms, DragonMaster definitely wasn't a "strong" or “scary” pyer. So, it won't even be much of a lie to tell her that.

  Okay, let's give it a shot. Yuel took a deep breath. This sort of thing wasn't his forte, but he spent the st couple of mihinking about all these angles, so he felt fident about this idea.

  "Nia, listen," Yuel started. "I know you're still nervous, but-"

  "Am not."

  "Yes you are," Yuel gave her a look. "Anyway, listen. o be so tehis Dark Knight should be your favorite type of target. He's the type to retreat instead of fighting. So, even if you 't get a kill on him, he'll likely run away and you'll be fine."

  "A DK who pys it safe? Weird."

  "I agree, but that's how he pys. If you need proof, look no further than my tower HP. Look how healthy it is."

  "Ah, true," Nia cocked her head. Still at 85% HP? That's one heck of a healthy tainst a Dark Knight. Normally, when Nia hasn’t gaop until this point in the game, the Dark Knight would bring the tower to 50% HP, sometimes even lower.

  However, this Dark Knight only reached a measly 85%. Part of it was definitely because Knight was a det defensive pid Yuel khis matchup. But still, only 85%? That's weak.

  Yeah, I probably make quick work of this guy. Nia o herself. That DragonMaster guy was supposed to be a big deal since he got to represent Taurus, but maybe he wasn't all that. Besides, pyers who pyed defensively were the best. They usually let Nia get away scot-free even when she failed a gank.

  But, I still mess up. Nia gulped. There were tless eyes spearing her from the crowd, judging her every twitch. If she fails to deliver a good gank, everybody will ugh at her and call her a noob. 't let that happen. Absolutely 't.

  "Also, if you’re worried about messing up," Yuel tinued. "It's okay. Everybody messes up once or twice during their debut match. You're not the only one who is nervous. Even this Dark Knight seems on edge."

  "Eh? Really?"

  "Yeah, he seriously underperformed at the beginning of the game. I almost won the ne against him, you believe that?"

  "No way..." That DK sounds like a Bronze pyer.

  "So, it's fine,” Yuel said. “Most of the pyers on stage are nervous to one degree or another. Even if you mess up a couple of times, nobody will hold it against you."

  "Ok," Nia nodded. So, she just had to do it, right? She'll rotate to Top again and gank the heck outta that weakling Dark Knight. Maybe things won't go that smoothly, but it's okay. This was her first petitive match, so her teammates will uand. After all, they’re like... um, f-friends, I guess?

  "O-Oh!" A jolt coursed through Nia. That's right, she ying together with her friends right now. “Friends”, something she never really had before.

  Sure, she used to be on good terms with some cssmates, but she never hung out with any of them. However, the people in Stratus were different. She spent hours with them on a daily basis. Everybody here has already seen Nia fail tless times during club practice.

  Many failed gank attempts. Many poor decisions. They saw them all. Yet, they didn't kiia out for it. Sometimes they got a little mad and Yuel lectured her for hours, but they never gave up on her.

  So, even if she fails to execute a fwless gaoday, it'll be okay. It'll be disappointing for sure, but she could try again and again until she gets it right.

  The audience probably go me alive, but... Nia braced herself. It was okay. She'll be okay. This gank will definitely work...!

  DarkestCymore