Fame 2, Jin picked Viking. It was a great css for initiating and ganking, which will help him ahe team’s offense.

  In respoo this obvious iion of pying aggressively, Ignis dialed up the aggression by pig Orc.

  She's making a statement. Jin was vinced. Basically, she’s saying she easily win the early-game against me.

  Perhaps it was an attempt to taunt Jin before the game, but more likely, Ignis genuinely believed she'll get away with this extreme pick. It seemed there was no limit to how much that woman could uimate her oppos. Oh well.

  If she wants to dig her own grave, so be it. Jin thought. This is great for me. If I just ter her during the early-game, then winning the entire game would be that much easier.

  Simir to Dark Knight, Orc was also an exceptionally strong css during the early-game, but it fell off hard afterward. So, Ignis would have to establish an impressive advantage against Jin in order to have a ce.

  Admittedly, Orc’s power curve was far more stable than Dark Knight’s, but it was still aremely risky pick at high levels. So, pro pyers only ever picked it when they believed their ne oppos were substantially inferior. And, that’s probably what Ignis was implying about Jin as well.

  Should I just focus only on defending? It was ironic. Jin was the one whht up the whole idea of expanding the team’s offense for this game, yet now, he found himself w whether he should focus exclusively on defe least for the early-game.

  As long as I don't let her gain early momentum, then it'll be my win. But, I'm not sure how impressive that’ll look from the side.

  He g the Sweepers' coach, atg the match like a hawk. Judging by the man's ever serious expression, he was a tough er to satisfy.

  So, even if Jin mao defeat Ignis via turtling, it probably won't do much for his reputation. In order to leave a positive sting impression, he'd have to challenge Beat head-on and overpower her.

  With that said, I'll end up looking even worse if I challenge her and then lose. It'll peg me as a reckless pyer with bad deaking.

  Jin ressed between a rod a hard pce. It was unclear whether Ignis pced him in this dilemma iionally, but her decision to pick Orc definitely made things awkward.

  "I'd stick to defense if I were you," Howard interjected, as if he read Jin's thoughts. "I bet you’re thinking about showing off by fighting Ignis, right? Don’t do it. You'll run your entire reputation into the ground."

  “Run into the ground...?”

  “It means you’ll ruin it, your entire reputation.”

  "Oh, yes, I'm aware of that," Jin said. Such timely advice, almost suspiciously so.

  It was good advice, very mu lih the mentality of a defensive pyer. If Howard were in Jin's shht now, he'd definitely deflect Ignis's Orc by pying defensively.

  His advice is on point every now and then. Jin could recall multiple instances in which Howard's shot-calls were exceptionally on-point

  As much as I’d like to rely on my own judgment, there is some merit to sidering his advice. Jin admitted. He is Ignis's brother, so I assume he knows how he pys better than anybody. So, unless he has an ulterior motive, he must be warning me because he knows how well his sister pys Orc.

  Jin could more-or-less imagi as well. He researched and experienced Ignis's pystyle enough to uand how much she favored an aggressive pystyle. She was the stark opposite of her younger brother in that sense.

  Orc wasn't one of her most on picks, but she went for it a couple of times in official matches. It was mostly against oppos who didn't strike Jin as particurly skilled.

  What were the results of these matches, again? Jin racked his brain to remember. I believe she came on top in most of them, but I didn’t spend too much time analyzing these matches. But, I definitely remember o which Ignis fell behind because her oppo pyed defensively.

  In short, it was difficult to estimate how Jin will fare against Ignis's Orc. Aggressing on her was a gamble without a clear ce of success.

  I think the captain is right on this one. Jin cluded. I already uimated Ignis ond that e dearly. I 't let that happen again. This sed game is an opportunity for me to make up for my previous mistakes, not to make new ones.

  And so, Jin decided on pying defensively against Ignis's Orc, at least during the early-game. Was it the correct decision? It was hard to tell for sure at the time.

  As the game started off, Ignis immediately went on the offense.

  “You think challenge me in aggression, kid Think again!” Ignis swung her sledgehammer, bsting the enemy frontlihat single skill hit erased 40% of their HP in one fell swoop. With the Orc’s early-game power - she was unstoppable!

  And, that was still the tame side of the Orc’s damage. Its true damage y in its basic attacks, which Ignis po unleash .

  If you think you test this, then I wanna see you try! Ignis grinned. e, let’s see what you do with that Viking!

  As, her oppo decided to py it safe. He had the balls to pi aggressive css like Viking, yet he didn’t have what it took to pick a fight with Ignis.

  Hmph. B. Ignis shrugged as she swung her sledgehammer time and again, demolishing the enemy army.

  Meanwhile, her oppo, the supposed general of the enemy army, was pletely helpless against this relentless assault.

  She keeps pushing me back. Jin frowned.

  It was already the third minion wave. He was forced to retreat to his tower once again, for the third time this game. His Viking simply couldn’t test the Orc’s overwhelming clearing speed, especially not wheacks were unleashed by Ignis, an expert on aggression.

  Every time a new minion wave arrived, Ignis immediately unleashed the Sledgehammer skill at the swordsmeing 40% HP. After that, she swung her sledgehammer once again, this time as a basic attack. That hit deleted the remaining 60%, eliminating the entire frontline.

  All that remained were Jin's bowmen, who didn't couldn't possibly test the enemy's entire army. And, every wave started from a vastly disadvantageous position like this.

  On his end, Jin did everything he could to speed up his own farming. He grabbed an enemy swordsman with Takedown and hurled the guy at the enemy's bae, damaging all the bowmen in the process. Theended into eerritory and swung his axe at the bowmen.

  It proach that involved some overextension, but there was no other choice. Viking wasn't the best when it came t aire minion wave because he relied on basic attacks. As such, Jin had to approach the bowmen and directly strike them.

  Naturally, extending this deep into eerritory involved tremendous risk, but not so much for Viking. Jin could always blink out of the se with Axe Blitz, so he was retively safe as long as he kept that escape tool at hand.

  That’s probably why she doesn't bother to attack me. Jin reasoned as he closely watched Ignis's movements.

  After clearing the frontline, Ignsi alroceeded to wipe out Jin’s bae. She never paid much heed to his btant overextension.

  That gave Jin the freedom to strike down Ignis's bowmen one by one. However, even with this freedom, he couldn’t possibly test Orc’s swift farming speed.

  By the time Jin killed 2 bowmen, Ignis has already eliminated his entire bae. And so, it always became a 1v5 situation. Jin alone vs. Ignis, her bowman, and her 3 swordsmen. It was a losing position no matter how one looked at it

  And so, every time, Jin had to immediately retreat. He hurled his axe deep into his side of the hen blio it and ran back to his tower.

  From that position, all he could do was to clear the minions ohey ihe tower area. That resulted in a substantial farm loss, but at least he ralized the situation with minimal risk.

  And so, this one-sided routied itself three times already.

  Even if I wao aggress on her, it'd be difficult to find an opportunity to do so. Jin reasoned. Of course, I have some ideas about how to initiate against her. But, there are many risks involved. I have to wait for my ult, at the very least.

  And so, Jin was stu the defensive, showing the audience a far-than-staller performance. From watg these forced exges, nobody would ever regard Jin as a high-level pyer. Therefore, he absolutely had to defuse this pro-level Orc.

  Level Up!

  After bearing through this routine for long enough, Jiually hit Lv.5. That was the point in the game at which Viking turned into a serious threat. His ult was something even Ignis had to respect.

  Except, she totally didn't...

  Heh. Ignis grinned as she smashed the swordsmen's faces with her sledgehammer. This kid probably thinks he's a big shot because he got his ult. Well, guess what? I don't give a fuck.

  Ignis tinued her aggressive farming routihout paying ao Apprentece’s movements. Even though the Viking could easily unleash Unstoppable Raid on her and force Ignis into a difficult fight, she simply didn't care.

  I bet he doesn't have the balls to go for it anyway. Ignis smiled fidently. I roughed him up well st game. He’s probably quaking in his boots whenever he thinks of attag, haha.

  But, little did she know that her oppo was thinking the exact opposite.

  She is being cocky. Jin cluded. It's like she's thinking she easily ter my ult even as she overextends. Or, maybe she thinks I’m too scared to go for it?

  Admittedly, it was often a waste to go for Unstoppable Raid unless it guaranteed a kill. It was a high-cost skill with a long cooldown, so it shouldn't be used carelessly.

  But, I'll have to dition her sooner or ter. If I do nothing, she'll keep outfarming me and pushio the tower.

  To make a cocky aggressor stop their aggression, it was necessary to give them a ving reason to stop. And, nothing worked quite as well as brute force. If Jin successfully intimidates Ignis with his ult even once, she'll have to think twice about aggressiime.

  "I wouldn't reend aggressing on her with your ult, if that's what you were thinking of." Howard delivered the advice out of the blue as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

  "Why not?"

  "I know how sis pys," Howard expined. "When she's being bold like that, it usually means she knows what she's doing. Believe it or not, she bees a lot more cautious when she's unsure about her ces of winning. So, when she pys this boldly, you know she got it all figured out."

  Should he really be tellihis about his sister? Jin wondered. I even trust this intel?

  "Oh, and don't worry," Howard added. "I'm n to pull y or anything. We're all on the same team here, and as you said, we should aim to actually win every on a while. With someone like you handling the offense, we might have a real shot at winning, so it'd be a shame if something happens to you this early."

  His argument makes sense, but he's always a smooth talker. Jin wasn't sure what he should believe in. As far as he was ed, Ignis was uimating him, just as she did st game.

  With that said, there were also times when Jin thought he was being uimated, only to discover that Ignis actually had a trick up her sleeve. She seemed like a straightforward hothead pyer, but she was surprisingly difficult to read at times. The liween her arrogand craftiness aper-thin.

  "Alright, then what you suggest?" Jin asked. "Things 't keep going like this, I’m sure you uand."

  "In your pce, I’d cooperate with Dan. He could rotate over there once you're ready to un attack."

  Dan who? Jin knotted his brows.

  “I mean the Jungler,” Howard added.

  “Ah yes, I khat,” Jin lied. "A reasonable suggestion, but..."

  That won't do. Average has already proven he was mediocre at best when it came to ganks. Perhaps his level table for the middle school se here, but it definitely won’t cut it against pros.

  But, I ’t keep mulling over this forever. The longer I take to decide, the worse my position will be. Ji as if a rope was tightening around his neck. If he allows this uation to go on for too long, then Ignis will suffocate him to death.

  I don’t think I should rely on the Jungler here. Asking him to gank opens up too many ter possibilities for the enemy. For o might give Igra time to retreat. The pros must have thhly warded the jungle, so they’ll see Average ing ahead of time.

  Even worse, the enemy may decide to ter-gank Average, which they already did before in the previous game. That'll probably be the worst-case sario, as Hawk's gank will be ten times more dangerous than Average's.

  In the worst-case sario, the enemy would kill both Average and Jin. It’ll be a blunder from which Jin will not be able to recover. It’ll stain his reputation in unwashable bck.

  I 't entrust my life to a pyer of this caliber. At least, not when it es to offense. Jin cluded. Average did an alright job resg me i game, but that was a defensive py; that’s the team's strong point. That’s the only type of situation in which I’d sider borrowing his strength, but even then, I rather avoid relying on him too much.

  "Setting everything up with the Juakes too long," Jin summarized. "I have to stop Ignis's momentum quick, so I open an attack with the wave."

  "Alright, you do you." Howard shrugged. "Just remember that I warned you."

  "Noted." Jin he st time he said such words, I really found myself in a difficult situatiht after. But, that robably just a lucky guess.

  Howard was a worrywart who often avoided risks, simir to Cato. So, as long as he warned his teammates about every potential danger, he was bound to get it right every now and then. But, that didn't mean all of his warnings were legit.

  I'll turables on her with my ult. Jin was fident, both his skill and in the overwhelming strength of Unstoppable Raid. Even against Orc's devastating attacks, Jin should be able to get a lot of work done.

  And so, the wave arrived. It was time.

  DarkestCymore