"Hey, dude. Why you're still standing there?" Nash asked. Everybody was already seated, yet Jaiden remained rooted in pce like a tree.

  "Just cheg out our oppos," Jaiden said. It was true, but it was only one part of it.

  By standing like this while everybody else was seated, he drew attention to himself. This was his way of making a decration. "I'm here to hunt you down." He made sure to vey that message.

  That aside, he felt like he’d have trouble sitting still right now. This match was like a dream e true. Jaiden actually got to stand here, on the petitive stage, despite being a junior. On top of that, he had the honor to test his mettle against Gunz and Chessmaster. It was awesome!

  But, that wasn’t even the best part. Nash and Rio were right by his side on this important occasion. Together, they gonna unleash the Invincible Triangle and take this game by storm!

  "Don't fet to buy Teleport as soon as you ," Jaiden remihem of their secret pn. Though, the reminder was mainly aimed at Nash, the most likely suspect.

  "Yes, mom," Nash cracked a ugh. "I'mma buy the shit outta that Teleport!"

  "What is that even supposed to mean?" Rio titled his head.

  "Gonna buy that shit so hard, there won't be a for you guys!"

  "Haha, that'll be a problem," Jaiden ughed. "Zeph, make sure you get that Checkpoint Ward sometime early."

  "........" Zeph didn't reply. He was just sitting there, staring iy air. The harsh defeat he suffered in the previous game was still weighing on his mind.

  “Hey, earth to Zeph!” Nash called out. “Respond, respond!”

  “..............”

  “Yo, bruh! Are you alive over there? YOOOOOOOOO!”

  “Give him a rest,” Jaiden said. “He had a rough day.”

  “But, dude ain’t responding. We need him to do his part.”

  “Well, yelling isn’t going to help,” Jaiden reasoned. “Hey Zeph, you hear me? Look, I get it, the previous game was real rough. But, o feel bad about it. You were pying against a strong oppo and he happeo adapt faster than you.”

  “..........”

  “But, I don’t thihat much better than you. He just got into your head early on, that’s all. Now, that you kly what things Chessmaster ter, I’m sure you’ll do just fine. You just gotta respect his DK and py safer. He’s not like those scrubby DKs in Ranked. Chessmaster is the real deal.”

  “Hmm,” Zeph finally expressed something akin to a reaaybe Jaiden got a point. That DK was tering my ass every time, so I got heated up. I started thinking he’s some uable pro material. I gotta try another match against him. This time, I won’t fall for his bullshit...!

  “So, are ya done moping?” Nash grinned.

  “Oh yeah, I’m hel doh that,” Zeph straightened his back. He’d normally say something back to that disrespectful junior, but he agreed he was ag me until now. He gotta pull himself together. Zeph was a senior, so he had to serve as an example for the younger ones.

  “So, you’re on board with the pn, right?” Jaiden firmed.

  “Yeah, I’ll get the Checkpoint Ward for you,” Zeph nodded. “Until then, I’ll py it safe. Nash, make sure you gank my en. Gotta keep that DK off me.”

  “Aye aye, sir,” Nash saluted.

  “You sure got an ambitious pn on your hands,” Raymond frowned. “Are you sure you pull it off against oppos of this level?”

  “We always give up mid-way if things aren’t looking good,” Jaiden reassured. “It depends on how smooth the early-game goes.”

  “Alright,” Raymond nodded.

  Didn’t expect Cap to question it. Jaiden smiled meaningfully. Guess he’s starting to get more involved now. This should be fun. This team gonna go pces!

  The banning phase began.

  “Anything you’d like to ban?” Raymond asked.

  “ we maybe get rid of DK?” Zeph suggested. “I rather not deal with it again.”

  “ bro,” Nash objected. “Don’t run away from the challenge. Go in there and kick his ass!”

  “He’s right,” Jaiden nodded. “There’s o fear that DK. I’m sure your Dragonborn handle him now.”

  “Yeah, but...” Zeph pursed his lips. What if I mess up again? Feeding a DK is the worst thing ever. It might cost us the entire game all by itself.

  “Besides, DK is a great target for ame pn,” Jaiden smirked. “I say let them have DK if they want it. It’ll be their downfall!”

  “I see what you’re saying,” Zeph nodded. Dark Knight was a great prey for Jaiden’s ploy. “Alright, gotcha. Let them have DK.” I just gotta man up and tackle that bastard again. This time, I won’t lose to him so easily!

  “So, any other banning suggestions?” Raymond asked again.

  “Let’s get rid of the Impaler,” Jaiden suggested. “Their captaio fancy it, so let’s see what she do without it.”

  “Fair enough,” Raymond submitted the ban.

  “Oh?” Kai twitched slightly. So, you’re ing after me first. I’m honored. Yeah, very honored. So honored, I wanna crush your bones.

  “Haha...” Vi ughed nervously. A chill ran down his spine. He could sehe miasma of malice spreading from his ne parthis game was definitely going to be something else...

  It was Stratus’ turn to ban. Yuel and Kai pyed it safe and agreed on Shadow Walker, despite the ret nerfs that hit the css hard.

  Many cimed Shadow Walker wasn't broken anymore and that it fell from S tier to A tier, or maybe even B bier. But, Yuel hadn’t reached a solid clusion about the ges yet. There was no doubt that Shadow Walker was still a strong css, so it was better to keep it out of their enemies’ hands.

  The only dowo banning Shadow Walker was that it limited Nia’s options. But, it should be fine. So far, the enemy hasn’t expressed muterest in Nia despite her many great achievements. So, they probably weren’t sidering banning any of her csses.

  The ball was ba Taurus’ court. It was time for their sed ban.

  “Suggestions?” Raymond asked.

  “I’d ban Ninja,” Rio said quietly.

  “Oh, almost fot about that one,” Jaiden said. “Yeah, make Ninja go. She caused a lot of trouble st time. ’t believe I fot about it, haha.”

  “Now that you mentio,” Raymond frowned. “She did give us a lot of trouble, didn’t she? pletely slipped my mind”

  “Oh yeah, I remember too,” Zeph said. “She’s the one who ter-ganked me and Dyl and killed me, right? Yeah, I don’t like that Ninja in her hands.”

  “Alright, then Ninja it is,” Raymond submitted the first ban.

  "Bullies," Nia mumbled. There was no doubt this ban was aimed at her. Her oppos were pig up on her. Bullies.

  So, they’ve finally noticed. Yuel thought.

  Nia rarely participated in any of the big fights, but she often arrived at the st moment to drive the final nail into the enemy’s coffin. No matter how many times it happehe enemy seemed to remain indifferent. It’s as if they couldn't register the threat of her existeo their minds. Truly, a Vanishing Phantom.

  As, all good things had to e to an end. The enemy was exposed to Nia’s pys for too long. They finally set their eyes on her. She most likely won’t be able to abuse her stealth as much as before in the uping game.

  Maybe banning Shadow Walker was a mistake. Yuel frowned. He should’ve been more careful back there. Now, Nia’s options were reduced to but one.

  “So, Nia,” Yuel started. “Here’s a riddle. What should you pistead of Ninja?”

  .“Rogu-”

  “No.” Yuel shut down that idea before it even formed.

  “Gufu...” Nia twisted her lips. “Then, Drow.”

  “Good,” Yuel approved. It was unfortu, at the moment, Nia only pyed csses with stealth. Yuel tried to make her pick other assassins as well, but she always resisted. She was as obnoxious as Luke when it came to her favorite picks. Why did Junglers always have to be so difficult? Sigh.

  For now, Yuel had to let it slide. Nia still had many areas she had to improve in, so for now, it was fio focus only oealth csses. Namely, Ninja, Drow, and Shadow Walker. But, nue. Definitely not. That css won’t cut it against high-level oppos.

  The banning phase went on. Sihe enemy repced the majority of their pyers with unknowns, it was impossible tet most of them with specifis. Yuel could only specifically ter the two pyers that remained: DragonMaster and Nirvana.

  " we ban Aero and Sorcerer?" Lars requested. "That Nirvana dude has some nasty setups. Like, he shoots his stuff, thehe other stuff, and that stuff boosts the first stuff he shot! Dude be wilding. ’t deal with it."

  "Okay, granted," Yuel banned Aeromancer. Out of the two ehe team could target with specifically tailored bans, Nirvana was defihe greater threat.

  Nirvana has been giving Lars trouble for the past two games with his defensive pystyle. First, he did it with Aeromancer. , Yuel banned Aeromancer, but Nirva making trouble with Sorcerer. He was oough cookie. As far as pyer skill was ed, he definitely stood at the top of Taurus, he was most likely the captain. It made seo weaken him as much as possible.

  And so, after the Aeromancer ban, it was Taurus' turn again.

  "I'd get rid of the Druid if possible," Jaiden said. "I dunno if they're going for early-game aggression again. But, if they are, then we don’t wanhem have Druid and his OP ne pushing ult. It's just too good for early aggression strats."

  "I think so too," Rio nodded.

  "Alright," Raymond submitted the Druid ban. The details shortly reached Stratus.

  "Hoho," Vi smiled. "It appears our foes will not let us form the same lineup as st time. We will have to rei ressive opening!"

  "Seems like it," Yuel agreed. These bans are directly aimed at what we've shown st game. It looks like they want to ban our preferred options. This trated banning feels very different from what we’ve seen from Taurus until now. Iing.

  This wasn’t nearly enough proof but, heless, Yuel had a gut feeling. Their new oppos will be tougher, he was vinced of that. As he feared, going all-in with early-game aggression was risky.

  But, he has already signed up for it, so he was going to see it through. Their aggressive game pn will either work or it’ll backfire in their faces. Either way, they’ll obtain valuable information about their new oppos.

  For the third and final ban, Yuel went after Nirvana’s Sorcerer as Lars requested.

  He inally sidered banning Dragonborn too, as it was clear that DragonMaster was a very adept Dragonborn pyer. Even the guy’s niame implied as such.

  Last time, Yuel got the upper hand against DragonMaster by making many good reads in a row. But, DragonMaster won’t make things as easy the sed time around.

  As, the bans on Nirvana took priority and they sighe end of the first banning phase. , the sele phase began. The enemy immediately jumped on the opening Yuel left and grabbed Dragonborn.

  Looks like he recovered from the st game. Yuel cluded.

  The way Yuel outpyed DragonMaster time and again seemed to shake DragonMaster to the core. It felt like the guy lost all fiden himself and that dulled his pys for the rest of the game. He became like a lifeless bot. He tinued funing, but his performance ainfully far from its peak.

  Holy, it was a shame. DragonMaster was overall a solid Dragonborn pyer, he just wasn't prepared to take on a petitive-level Dark Knight. Yuel was familiar with most anti-Dark Knight strategies the Dragonborn could employ, so he saw everything ing.

  But, it wasn’t a pletely one-sided battle. Little by little, DragonMaster adapted to the situation. At one point, Yuel believed that DragonMaster might start outpying him. As, DragonMaster didn't live up to these expectations.

  I hope he'll do better this time. Yuel thought.

  Iingly, the enemy hasn't banned Dark Knight despite Yuel's strong dispy with it. So, the matchup in Top will most likely be a repeat of the previous game. It’d be iing to see whether DragonMaster figured something new over the break.

  Holy, a part of Yuel wao piething safer like Knight. But, the rest of the team was dead set on early aggression, so he had to py his part too. Dark Knight was the epitome of this strategy, so he naturally picked it before the sed banning phase.

  The drafting phase came to an end. The third game of the scrimmage was about to begin!

  Yuel (Chessmaster): Dark Knight

  Lars (Gunz): Eleancer

  Nia (VanishingFlower): Drow

  Kai (Beat): Pirate

  Vi (InformationBckhole): Padin

  Jaiden (Renegade): Gunslinger

  Rio (Lapce): ancer

  Nash (StormMonster): Viking

  Raymond (Nirvana): Warlock

  Zeph (DragonMaster): Dragonborn

  DarkestCymore