The Trickshooter itted a terrible mistake. He ehe Turret’s range while chasing Jennifer down. From this position, Jennifer mounted a ter attack!

  You have killed an enemy!

  Things came down to the wire there, but she destroyed that scrub-

  You have been killed!

  “Excuse what the?” Jennifer watched how her Pyromancer colpsed. A gust of wind struck her from behind outta nowhere. “The heck? Where did that Aero scum e from?”

  “He rotated from Top,” Albert expined. “He was actually spotted by one of the Wards...”

  “Huh, is that so.” Jennifer shrugged and leaned ba her chair with a deep sigh.

  “Your map awareness is shit like always.” Alex jabbed.

  “Shut up, bitch.” Jennifer made a face. “I was busy fighting, okay? Didn’t have time to check the map.”

  “A real pro see the map even while fighting.”

  “Also, a real pro also wouldn’t fet he got a freaking blink ability in his kit and he definitely wouldn’t miscli crucial moments.”

  “Kh.” Alex grimaced and turned away.

  Whatever. Jeretched her arms. I’m not a multitasking alien like these guys, so that’s the best I could do there... or was it?

  She reflected ba how her fnking attack pyed out. In the beginning, she had all the advantage: more HP, all spells ready and a Turret nearby. Yet, she fucked up big time.

  What mistakes did she make? What could she improve for the fight? These questions were never fun to face, but she got used to them by now. Tag such armor-pierg questions after every defeat was what allowed her to better herself after every failure.

  Though, in the case of this fnking attack, it’s difficult to identify the main mistake she made. Depending on her decisions, many things could have turned out pletely different. Maybe she shouldn’t have f all? Or, maybe she shouldn't have rushed Spellbook of Doom? Or, maybe she shouldn't have thirsted so much for a kill areated as soon as her bo fell through?

  Well, without her ganking Mid, the Trickshooter would have easily destroyed Mid Turret, which was a big no-no. Even though she died, Je least stalled the Trickshooter enough to save the Turret. Alex now returo ne, so the Turret was going to live for a while loherefore, rotating to Mid in itself wasn’t a mistake.

  Then, what about rushing Spellbook of Doom? A difficult one. She started gging behind on gold and exp after her first death, so it was going to take too long before she became a threat again if she followed her standard bo build.

  Rushing an Lv.3 Spellbook spiked her damage burst, at the cost of not getting other important stats and utility. It was a greedy approach, which demanded her to justify this rush with at least kill. But, as long as she wao keep pying bo Pyromahis match, that was her best bet. That’s what she cluded, as somebody who dedicated over three years of her life to the bo pystyle.

  In that case, her biggest mistake must have been the greedy attempt to finish off the Trickshht then and there. She rushed Spellbook of Doom, so she felt pressured to justify that by sg a kill as soon as possible. There was a good opportunity to wreck that Trickshooter there, so she just went for it, disregarding that guy's hax meical skill and batshit crazy aggressiveness.

  With all said and done, she had to hand it to that guy. He was a scrub, but not a weak scrub. He came close to almost possibly maybe posing her a little challenge. Hmph.

  No way that guy is a freshman, right? He must be at least junior. Shudder. If that guy was a freshman and still had two years ahead of him... Nah, no way.

  Anyway, that settled it. Her target was too tough of a cookie to pursue as greedily as she did. Instead of betting everything on one bo, Jennifer should have stayed uower and stalled him until Alex returo ne.

  But, there was a catch. Since she rushed Spellbook of Doom, she didn’t have much cooldowion or raw power. She had to entirely rely on her bo if she wao dish out serious damage. Therefore, if she were to py defensively uower, she’d be a very iive defender.

  Sure, she might have stalled the Trickshooter like this, but she wouldn’t have been able to pletely draw him away. That annoying Aeromancer was already in the middle of rotating to Mid at the time, so eventually, Jennifer would have found herself in a 1v2 situation. She’d be forced to retreat, leaving the Turret undefended against two foes, one of which was a Carry who could destroy it in seds.

  So, even though defending Mid Turret sounded like the py she should have gone for, it still would have ended up as a y. At least, as long as she insisted to rush Spellbook of Doom.

  If she opted for better early game items, she’d have had a greater impa ne. She’d be able to scare away, or maybe even kill, the Trickshooter via repeated spell attacks. But, that’s where a huge flict occurred. Because, as a bo pyer, she already decided rushing Spellbook was the right move, way before this whole situation happened.

  Back when she purchased Spellbook of Doom, she couldn’t have possibly predicted that over half of her team would be wiped out in under a mi the time, rushing Spellbook wasn’t a wrong move for her as a bo pyer... or was it?

  Geh, her brain hurt. Rushing Spellbook was a good move for her as a bo pyer, yet it also sounded like a mistake due to how her fight with the Trickshooter turned out. If she wahe ability to defend Mid Turret, or even just py safely in her own ne, she should have opted for something more stable than an early Spellbook of Doom. But, she still rushed Spellbook, because she wao py bo.

  Then, what? This almost sounded as if the root of her mistake was that she... insisted to py bo. Agh, what a headache. Coach’s words fshed through her mind.

  “You’re a talented girl.” He always told her that, right before dropping some bomb. “But, fog on bo is going to restrict you. In a vacuum, you got more than enough skill to be on the first string. But, in real petitions, as long as you stibo... It’s unfortunate, but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to make you a starter”

  “Just you watch! I’mma bee the first bo pyer you ever put on the first string!” She always answered naughtily like that, They went through many variations of this versation before, but she always answered the same: “I y bo!”.

  She was an exempry pupil, following Coach’s instrus and training regimes to a T. No matter how b or repetitive they felt at times, she sucked it up. But, despite all that, her bo pystyle was the ohing she refused to pensate on. For her, pying Cssmancers was about pying bo.

  When she first heard of Cssmancers years ago, she wasn’t ied. At the time, she enjoyed pying a games with fast kills, like shooter battle royales. Fights were all about split-sed outpys. The first pyer to screw up was gonyled on. She’d rush her enemy and go for that sweet insta-kill shotgun headshot. You either go hard or you go home! That’s how real fights gotta be.

  pared to that, Cssmancers looked like a slow and b game. Sure, it was kinda a-y and with its third-person perspective and all, but it suffered from the same illness like any other RTS MOBA. Namely, it was about pyers repeatedly bashing each other until somebody colpsed. Of course, some characters could destroy HP faster than others, but the fight just felt long and tedious overall.

  One day, boys in css were raving about a hype clip from Cssmancers. It was shamepy footage from a ret pro tour, showg a fight between Maker and DimensionShift. Acc to the excited boys, Maker was universally accepted as the best Cssmancers pyer in the world. He started off at 80% HP. a pretty safe position.

  Oher hand, his oppo, DimensionShift, had merely 10% HP and was in the middle of retreating. “Shift is desperately trying to get away!” The entator hyped up the situation. “We all know he’s good at wiggling his way out of tight spots, but will that wainst Maker!? The world champion is ruthless when it es to chasing his prey, he won’t let anybody get away- Oh! What’s this!? Shift turned around!? Is he pnning to fight back!?”

  Just as Shift was about to be caught, he suddenly turned around and blinked behind Maker! From this cle, he unleashed a lighting speed barrage of fire spells. Before Maker could react - he was reduced to dust!

  “Unbelievable! Did you just see what happened here!?” The enter shouted into the mic. “What an upset! The audience is going wild over here! Shift proves once agaihe untested god of bos! It doesn’t even matter who’s his oppo! Maker? Who was that scrub, right? Shift does what Shift does best - burst his oppo from full HP to nothing before you even blink!”

  “ you py that one more time?” Jennifer asked the boy who was showing the clip to his friends. She shortly received a link to the clip, with the tile “You won’t believe this greatest upset in Cssmancers history!”. It sounded like a clickbait title, but Jennifer couldn’t help but agree with every word. What she just witnessed was truly unbelievable.

  She pyed that se over and over, trying to her head around Shift’s mind-blowing py. His oppo was sidered the world champion and was almost at full HP. Yet, Shift fearlessly blioward his oppo and wrecked the guy in an instant. What was that stuff??? It’s not like Shift was fed or anything. Jennifer khis game had burst abilities but was there really something as powerful as that? It almost put shotgun headshots to shame!

  That’s when she learned about Cssmancers’ bo pystyle, a niche build that worked on some burst mages. It was like burst damage, except it was a huimes cooler! It dished out a shit ton of damage via a rapid and accurate sequence of inputs, kinda like bos in fighting games. A gimmicky and meically taxing pystyle, but it showed great results every on a while in the pro se.

  I wonder if I do that too. Jennifer’s obsession with Cssmancers was born that day. There were a bunch of boys in css pying the game, so she joihem. She was the ughing stock for a while since she had no idea how to py these weird strategy games. heless, she kept , to see if she could someday recreate that amazing py DimensionShift made.

  Turned out bo was an insanely difficult pystyle to make practical and it was treated as a meme by most. But, she refused to give up. For her, pying Cssmancers was about pying bo.

  When middle school started, she applied for the Cssmancers club. Most boys her age who joihe club had a huge head start on her and she pyed the meme bo style on top of that. Obviously, nobody took her seriously even though she passed the entrance exam. Many joked how Jennifer only passed the exam because Coach pyed favorites firl.

  She wao bust these idiots’ skulls, but she didn’t have the fideue back. After all, she was really weaker than these guys; she was just a “er”. The club became a toxic hell for her, even worse than the pyers she met online. She even sidered dropping bo, or even quitting the club altogether. The training was dull and basiyways, it didn’t help her improve as a bo pyer at all.

  “Give her a break, you meta sves.” One boy stood up to Jennifer among the freshmen. “If she pyed by the meta like you, she’d kick your asses to the moon.” It was Alex.

  Back then, Alex was reized as the most talented rookie. In term of skill, he was the goal Jennifer was striving toward and the pyer she wao surpass more than anybody else in the club. So, of course, the words of her “rival” had a huge impa her. It wasn’t a stretch to say she remained in the club only thanks to Alex’s words from that day.

  “bo is a straining off-meta style,” Coach also gave it straight to her. “But, if that’s what you want to py, I won’t stop you. The most important thing to uand is that you have to polish the basics before you even sider being a good bo pyer. You may be idolizing Shift for that one bo py he made, but you must uand that one bo py was built upon a solid foundation, which you currently don’t have.”

  “Am I really gonna improve my bo pys with all this b irrelevant training?” Jennifer made a face.

  “There’s no such thing as ‘irrelevant training’ in MOBA.” Coach procimed. “Just try taking the training more seriously for a month and you’ll see the results for yourself.”

  With some lingering doubt, Jennifer plied with the request. Coach didn’t quite approve of the bo pystyle, but at least he didn’t bash her for it. That alone made him a good guy in her book. Thus, she started taking the dull training seriously for a ge and even stayed extra hours in the clubroom.

  By the end of that month, she shot up from the bottom into being one of the top 3 rookies. That’s how effective Coach’s’ training was. Sihen, she got hooked on it and practiced harder than anybody, polishing her skills in every aspect of the game to ultimately strengthen her bo style.

  She sure got far, no denying that. She became the captain of the sed string, and right now she was leading the team in an official match. Well, okay, it’s just a scrimmage. But still! It’s huge progress pared to being ro in her first year.

  As, after ing this far, for the first time she started feeling the hard limit of her bo style.

  “bo is a straining off-meta style.” Coach’s words, which she ig first, came back to bite her this match. Fighting against that aggressive Trickshooter was the first time she felt like stig to bo was a mistake. The only reason she beat him in the end was that he made a stupid mistake and because she only he basics to punish that overextension. bo didn’t deserve any credit there.

  She could have taken that scrub on any time if she pyed something more meta. But, she insisted to py bo and that led to her sed death. Not cool.

  I ge this build? Jennifer wondered as she examined her rushed bo build. It was only the beginning of the mid-game, so she still had time to make adjustments. Maybe she could sell Spellbook of Doom to buy a more reliable item. The game sense she developed throughout the years advised it was the best move.

  No, that’s dumb. I’m a bo pyer. She ched her mouse. For her, pying Cssmancers was about pying bo. No matter the odds, she was gonna make it work! This match was still far from over! She could still turn things around, with this bo pystyle that captivated her heart!

  As, despite her determination, she never quite recovered from her two early deaths. The Trickshooter kept rampaging and she didn’t have the means to stop him. Landing a perfebo on him was hel hard and trying to do so only left her cwless, turning her into a sitting duck.

  And, this problem extended beyond 1v1 situations. Even in team fights, the Trickshooter freely rampaged like a beast while Trickshow was active. He darted from side to side, dodging shots while dishing out insane damage. Whether he fired straight Trickshots or made them bounce first, it didn’t matter. The shots always found their target.

  He was so free, he could py however he wanted. He could choose when to go aggressive all the way, when to prioritize dodging and when he needed a bance of both. Nothiricted him. He could do whatever the heck he wanted and adapt on the fly.

  pared to him, Jennifer was shackled by a pystyle with very specific requirements. She had no freedom to py around with, Her game pn was always about setting up the perfect ditions for bo-ing her oppoo death.. But, when it’s an oppo who repeatedly escaped her bos alive...

  An ally has been killed!

  ENEMY DOUBLE KILL

  ENEMY KILLING SPREE

  The deaths didn’t stop. The killing didn't stop. The rampage didn’t stop. That damn Trickshooter started snowballing hard and nobody could put a stop to his bullshit.

  It was... impossible. Her bos weren’t good enough. No matter how hard she tried to shut down that Trickshooter, it never worked out. Stig to her bo pystyle against su oppo... it was a mistake. A huge o was stupid.

  But, too te to switch builds now. She had no choice but to keep pying with her limbs shackled, until the end of this frustrating round.

  On the bright side, stopping the Trickshooter wasn’t only her responsibility. They were a team, everybody wao put ao the beast’s killing spree. In fact, they even had a certain pyer who excelled at punishing overly aggressive foes. But...

  He turned again?! Alex was taken aback by the Trickshooter’s sudden slide to the right. Knowing that cocky Trickshooter, Alex anticipated an aggressive py even in this 4v3 situation. Just as he expected, the Trickshooter charged forth against these odds. Alex was already in position to ter, but as he was about to act - the Trickshooter made an ued turn and messed everything!

  I just o move my target a little to the right... Damn. Alex cursed as his Thuorm, his calcuted trap, failed to nd where he wanted. All he had to do was move the target location for Thuorm little to the right, so it’d catch up with the Trickshooter’s new location. But, he actally cast the spell after being startled by the sudden development of this fight. What a stupid misclick.

  “Great aim there!” Jennifer sneered. “10/10! Would t on you again!”

  “Oh, shut up. Shit happens.”

  “Lemme guess, gonna bme it on misclig again?”

  “I just released the button a bit too early, calm your tits.”

  “You better ge your niame to Misclicker. Fits you perfectly right now.”

  Their bad forth was interrupted by “It’s time for a trick show!” Everybody knew what followed after this sound cue. They were in for a treat.

  “R-Ret...” Jennifer mumbled and grit her teeth, then opened her mouth again. “R-Retreat! Get the hell away from that Shooter!”

  “Wha?”

  “Huh?”

  “Really...?”

  Her teammates looked at her like she was some alien. Their proud and fident captain who saw victory in every situation, no matter how dire. That same captain just issued a retreat, even though they were in a favorable 4v3 situation.

  “You sure?” Albert asked. “This may be a ce to shut down their Shooter.”

  “Not happening,” Jennifer shook her head. “That ce died when this idiot here messed up his ult.” She shot a gre at Alex.

  “You don’t see us winning this fight?” Albert asked.

  “.........” Jennifer just hung her head, uo give a proper reply. Truth to be told, she couldn't form a winnial image for a while now. Ever sihe Trickshooter killed her for the sed time, her image of victory had been blurry, shroud in uainty. And, it only became hazier with every passing moment.

  “Seems like we really better retreat,” Albert cluded.

  “Yeah, let’s scram, guys.”

  “What a waste. Whatever.” Alex shrugged but hurried to retreat like everybody else. They were like ants, scattering after their queen had been taken out. Everybody uood: when the ever-fident Jennifer couldn’t draw a mental image of victory for the team, they were doomed for sure.

  Thus, even though it was a favorable 4v3 situation, the Leopards avoided battle areated. Thanks to that, casualties were avoided and the Trickshooter wasn’t fed any further. But, at the same time, they threw away a rare opportunity tain momentum. That only gave StormBlitz more fideo push forward.

  Things ’t go on like this. Jennifer bit her lip. Avoiding casualties was good and all, but that’s not how games are won. Turtling will hold up only for so long. At some point, they’d have to turables around and go on the offensive.

  It’s just that right now wasn’t the time for offense. But, when WILL it be the right time? When will she recover her mental image of victory? Was that even going to happen anytime during this match?

  An enemy defeated the Overlord!

  “Fuck.” Jennifer smmed the table. In the end, the Leopards never got to take the initiative.

  “Well, it’s GG.” Alex started a surrender vote and everybody threw their two ts on that.

  “Again with this? Well...”

  “To be ho, I kinda...”

  They turo Jennifer. Regardless of how they felt about surrendering, she had the final say as the captain. Last time Alex suggested a surrender, Jennifer barked at him and shot it down on the spot. Surrendering was frowned upon, especially in petitive matches.

  However, this time, Jennifer didn’t utter a word. She bnkly stared at the surrender s, as if it was some peculiar creature she was seeing for the first time.

  “What we gonna do, cap?” Albert asked.

  “Just... do whatever you want.” Jennifer hung her head. “If you think we should surrehen just vote.”

  “Really?”

  “Huh...”

  This was unheard of for Jennifer. Nobody had any idea how to digest her words. She was the type who refused to surrender under any circumstances, no matter how dire things got. Yet, this very same proud captain had just givehe green light to throw the match.

  “So,” Alex said. “What are you waiting for? The captain gave permission. Admit it, the game is over.”

  “Well, yeah...”

  “I guess...”

  Heavy atmosphere weighted on their shoulders. It’s clear they all wao vote ahis frustrating match over with, but that was just...

  YES: 3 NO: 0

  “What about you?” Alex asked Albert. “Need a special invitation?”

  “Who died and made you leader?” Albert made a face, then threw a g Jennifer. Was this really fih her? Voting for a surrender felt like betraying her.

  “Do it. For her.” Alex whispered to Albert.

  “Huh? How exactly is that for her?”

  “Don’t you see her face?” Alex poi Jennifer’s exhausted expression. “She also wants out of this match. She’s just too stubborn to admit it because she’s the captain. Put her to rest already.”

  “Huh, didn’t expect you to care about her, of all people,” Albert said.

  “Hmph.” Alex shrugged and turned away. “Who knows? Maybe I’m just talking out of my ass to make you surrender.”

  “Nah, I know. I spent enough time with you in the club.”

  “Really? Even though I barely even visit anymore?”

  “You spent more time in the club than anybody else on your first year.” Albert smiled and threw a g Jennifer. “Except maybe for her.”

  “Yeah, chick is a workaholic alright.” Alex smiled wryly. His first year, huh. Those were really some times. Back thehought he could make it into the first string as a freshman. He worked harder than anybody to secure that spot.

  But, the e was disappoi. This defeated expression Jennifer was wearing right noay too familiar to Alex. That feeling when your whole world es down crashing on you, yet you try to deny it with everything you’ve got. Alex went through such a period at oime, fighting with the coach about getting into the first string. The more he did, the more stupid everythi. In the end, he just quit everything.

  When he was still a freshman, there was one girl who worked just as hard as him. She pyed the obscure bo style, which Coach said had no ce of ever getting into the first string. heless, she stuck to the style she loved. And, to this day, she’s pushing forward and shining brilliantly.

  Holy, a part of Alex derived satisfa from Jennifer’s defeated expression. It served that cocky bitch just right. Yet, at the same time, he couldn’t stand watg it. She shouldn’t bee like him.

  Out of the two of them, she was the only living proof that hard-work paid off. Even after quitting everything, deep dowill wao believe his efforts during the first year weren’t in vain.

  Perhaps Jennifer didn’t quite make it into the first string, but that’s only because of her restrictive bo pystyle. Through hard work, she undeniably became one of the stro pyers in the club. So, if Alex tio work hard too, he’d be a key pyer on the first string by now, just like Jennifer could had been without her bos.

  That was a nice mental image to carry around and he didn’t want to see it tarherefore, he wished to liberate Jennifer from this suffog match as soon as possible.

  YES: 4 NO: 0

  Everybody voted in favor of surrendering, save for Jennifer.

  The team agreed to surrender.

  DEFEAT

  The match was over.

  So, it’s done. Jennifer sighed and dropped ba her chair. The message she saw on s wasn’t DEFEAT, it wasGOT STYLED ON BY SCRUBS. That’s how this whole match felt like. From start to end, she achieved very little. After dying twi the early game, she barely had any presehroughout the rest of the game. She did score some kills, but she never mao stop the real threat, the Trickshooter.

  On this discing he 4th battle of the scrimmage came to an end. StormBlitz somehow prevailed once again, bringing the score to 1-3 in their favor.

  The scrimmage roag its finale, yet Jennifer carried more doubts and ahan whearted. How were they going to turn things around in the match? How will she lead the team to victory in the game? She had no idea anymore.

  Oher team, the atmosphere was pletely different.

  “Yeah! We did it, yo!” Lars jumped into the air like a missile. “Good game, my dudes!”

  “Good game.”

  “We rekt these nubs, lol.”

  “They never really figured how to deal with my Beastmaster. That was fun.”

  This merry atmosphere made the tension from the beginning of the game feel like a lie. Thanks teing an early momentum for the team, they now pletely recovered from the ivity that hauhem si game. By pushing Lars in the right dire, Yuel successfully recovered the team’s morale.

  This was huge. It was Yuel’s debut as a team captain, with all the responsibility and expectations pced on this huge role. Yet, he prevailed! The team was nursed and they were now only one win away from sg 4-1!

  “Good job, everybody. Um...” Yuel tensed up a little. What was he supposed to say? He was the captain, so he had to say something, right? Ugh, why did he even open his mouth? Now everybody’s eyes were on him!

  Thinking ba it, did Trever use to say anything special after a game was over? Probably not. He just loudly celebrated the way Lars did.

  Maybe this was one of these cases when as spoke louder than words. He had no idea what to say, so he decided to mimic Trever’s gung-ho approach. Here went nothing!

  “W-We did it, guys! Just one mame a 4 wins!” Yuel pumped a fist. A shaky fist, just like his voice. Ugh, what was he doing!? This was embarrassing as heck!

  “Lol, who is this gung-ho goof?” Roi chuckled and the rest followed suit. Uuuuugh!

  “We don’t expect you to be some charismatic leader,” Gilbert smiled and patted Yuel’s shoulder. “Just keep doing what you’ve been doing. That’s more thay.”

  “Yeah,” Dan tuned in. “Just tone down the number of kamikaze missions you give me.”

  “I believe I only gave you about three so far,” Yuel remarked.

  “So, you’re saying that’s too little for the ‘Great Kamikaze Master’, heh.” Dan smiled wryly.

  “Too bad that’s not your actual IGN,” Yuel said. “You’re really good at this. What a wasted opportunity for the perfeiame.”

  “Oh shut up.”

  Everybody ughed. Dan wasn’t the only one who had to make some questionable and irregur pys throughout the day, all due to Yuel’s instrus. But, all these particur pys somehow verted into a victory in the end, so that’s all that mattered.

  Suig on purpose against Breaker felt like crap no matter how many times Dan did it, but at least it’s pretty fun to watch how the sequences of this weird py rippled throughout the rest of the match. Only Yuel, the Chessmaster, could see that far ahead when he was issuing his unventional orders.

  “They’re right, dude.” Lars ed his arm around Yuel’s shoulder. “Just keep doing yo usual stuff. Ya know, being a bossy ander, haha.”

  “Sure,” Yuel rolled his eyes. “You also keep being yourself. You know, a goof who iowers without thinking and fets to retreat on time.”

  “‘Retreat’? What’s that? A new word?” Lars grinned. “Okay, one mame! We do this together!”

  “Definitely.” Yuel smiled. By properly leading this high maintenance goof, the team could overe any obstacle. With Yuel’s tactid Lars’s overwhelming strength, they were going to get that sweet 4-1!