The drafting phase began.

  To simute a high-level match as realistically as possible, StormBlitz didn't cut any ers during this practice. Howard drafted csses methodically as if the team’s fate was at stake.

  Oher hand, the pros...

  "Just let them pick whatever they want." Ignis shrugged. "No matter what he es at me with, I'mma kick this brat’s ass. I’ll show everybody he’s in no way better than Wardy."

  "My, you have such a brother-plex~" Esmeralda giggled.

  "I mean, it's Wardy we're talking about." Ignis smiled proudly. "There's no way he gonna lose to anybody his age. We raised that boy."

  "Yes, he's like our child~"

  "Err, I wouldn't go that far."

  "No no, he's definitely a bor of our passionate love~"

  "Okay, now you're just spouting nonsense."

  "Teehee~"

  The middle school team made their first ban, so it was the pros' turn.

  "So," IronWall addressed everybody. "Any bans you'd like?"

  "'t we just skip our banning phase?" Ignis asked. "Let's let them py whatever they think is best. I mean, we gonhem anyway."

  "No, we'll ban properly," IronWall insisted with the usual heavy tohis is supposed to be a serious match, so we have to take the drafting phase seriously as well."

  "As uptight as ever." Ignis shrugged. "Well, I don't need any bans for Top. I don't wanna hear excuses ter like 'you banned my best css'. I say, let the ese boy py whatever he wants."

  "He's Korean," IronWall corrected.

  "Meh, same thing. They're all over there together, oher side of the globe. Anyoint is, I don't wanna ban anything for Top."

  "Fine." IronWall clearly had a thing or two to say, but he merely sighed and gave up. "What about the rest of you?"

  In the end, without Ignis requesting anything, the team defaulted to banning the usual suspects. By now, they already knew which csses StormBlitz favored, so it was easy enough tet those. Among them were Padin and Ranger, much to Howard and Ellen's dismay.

  While Ignis was indifferent toward the banning phase, the phase itself seemed to care a lot about her. The enemy bahe following csses: Viking, Berserker, and Fighter. All of them were Top Laners.

  This guy did his homework. Howard thought as he satisfied Jin's selfish request.

  Normally, it was unthinkable to spend the entire banning phase on banning a single role. But, these weren't just any random Top Lane csses. They were the csses his sister pyed the most.

  Did he know that? Howard wondered. Who am I kidding, of course he did. There’s no way he shot in the dark and hit these three specific csses. This kid might be more dangerous than I expected.

  When Howard heard about a "Korean genius", the first thing that came to mind was superb meical skill. He expected Jin to be a wild beast with superhumaion speed, simir to Lars.

  Beasts like that usually didn't pay as much heed to tactid didn’t bother studying their oppos. Instead, they relied on their raw strength to bust through any obstacle.

  However, Jin roving to be a different kind of pyer. He definitely studied Ignis, no two ways about it.

  I guess that's expected from somebody who was trained in a professional enviro. Howard thought. I wonder, will he admit to this if asked?

  "Impressive." Howard broke the ice. "Looks like you researched your ne oppo quite well."

  "Yes," Jin answered pinly. "Studying your oppo is the first step to victory."

  "I agree." Howard nodded. So, he doesn’t think it’s underhao gain an information advantage like that. If anything, he treats it as an aplishment. It’s unfortunate. I'm sure we would've bee good friends if we met under different circumstances.

  "I’m surprised," Jin said. "I didn't think you agree to all these bans, not this easily."

  "You're right. Normally, I wouldn't let that stand."

  "Then, why?"

  "It's a special occasion, so I have to be more flexible," Howard expined. "It's like an exam for you, so I don't want to be bmed for being the one who made you fail."

  "I see."

  "Besides, I'm sure you would've argued with me to death if I disagreed, right?"

  "Maybe." Jin gave a vague answer but the predi was on point. He did his homework on the Sweepers’ favorite csses and he had every iion to make use of that information advaherefore, he wasn’t going to accept “no” for an answer here.

  “So really," Howard tinued. "I just prefer to avoid drama when possible. After all, we don't even know each other yet, right? Heated arguments between strangers are the worst, haha."

  "Is that so." Jin stared at Howard for a long moment. This captain is adequate, it seems.

  Instead of causing needless fri, the captain chose the most peaceful way to resolve this situatioook the road that undermined his authority a little, but in exge, he improved the team's ces of winning as a whole.

  It was a smooth way to hahis particur situation in whie of the team members was a strahis “VIP treatment" made Jin feel wele here, which raised his appreciation toward the captain and the team at rge.

  Was that also part of his pn? Jin wondered. If so, he might be somebody worth sidering a "dangerous oppo" for the future. But, it's too early to tell.

  StormBlitz fiheir banning phase, with all three bans aimed directly at Ignis. , it was the Sweepers' turn to deliver the final ban of this phase.

  "Heh, look at this brat going." Ignis grinned dangerously. "Are you seeing what I'm seeing? Like, I'm not imagining it, right? These bans are all aimed at me."

  "They sure are." Esmeralda smiled. "This is so cute. Reminds me of how boys harass the girls they like for attention~"

  "Yeah, totally. Like, totally NOT. What the heck are you even on about? That brat is just a kid."

  "Perhaps he was mesmerized by your voluptuous form?"

  "The kid is like 12. What the heck?"

  "My, you got zero imagination, Igny." Esmeralda pouted. "Forbidden love like that is everywhere~"

  "Yeah, everywhere in your head."

  "But, he's a cute serious boy, don't you think?"

  "Are y to make me call the poli you?"

  "So mean~ Sob. Sob."

  "Yeah, yeah." Ignis shrugged. "Anyway, let's get the show rolling."

  "Alright," IronWall agreed. "Now that you've finished your questionable versatio's address the st ban. I'm sure it's clear to everybody that the enemy's bans are aimed at Ignis."

  "Yep, they sure are." Ignis nodded. "That’s not so weird, though. The Storm kids know what I py, especially Wardy and Elly. Though, I didn't expect them to betray me like this and give the ese boy all this advantage..."

  "Either way" IronWall tinued. "My guess is that the Korean boy himself will piight, the one important css he left alone."

  "Yeah, sounds feasible."

  "And, that's all you have to say?" IronWall raised an eyebrow.

  "What else do I o say?"

  "Hmm, I really don't know. Something like 'ban Knight', maybe?"

  "Nah, let him pick whatever he wants." Ignis waved her hand. "The more freedom we give him, the stronger he should be, right? I wanna smash that kid at his stro!"

  "My, how kinky~" Esmeralda ented.

  "Huh? Oh, shit!" Ignis shuddered the moment she realized what she has just uttered. "Eh, I mean, ya know... I ank that kid real good!"

  "My, so that's the kind of fetish you're into~?”

  "Oh, shush already."

  As the silly banter died down, IronWall wheeled the versation ba topic.

  "So, we're not banning Knight?"

  "Nope."

  "Alright then."

  Until the very end, Ignis ighe banning phase and allowed her ne oppoo do whatever he wanted.

  And so, the Sweepers pced their final ban on Shadow Walker. The css has fallen out of S tier acc to most people, but it was still a pain to deal with. Not to mention, StormBlitz's Jungler pyed this css quite adequately.

  With the drafting phase out of the way, it was StormBlitz's turn to pick the first css. Acc to the meta, the Top Laner was often the first to pick.

  "Knight." Jin pced his order.

  "Very well." Howard locked the css in. An obvious pick. So obvious that I’m surprised sis didn't ban it. I really hope she's taking this seriously...

  With the first pick decided, it was the Sweepers' turn.

  "Knight, huh." Ignis shook her head. "Textbook first pick."

  "Like I told you." IronWall sighed. "You should've ba."

  "Nah, no problem. If anything, it's great he picked Knight. It means he won't have any excuses after I kick his ass."

  "So," IronWall tinued. "What's your pick?"

  "Heh, wouldn't it be hirious if I pick DK here?"

  "Please don't."

  ", that's the best way to put that kid in his pce, don't you think?" Ignis snickered.

  With Dark Knight, she could easily crush the brat during the early-game and not give him any opportuo shihat way, she'll shoot down all his aking a positive impression on Ro!

  "My, Igny is such a bully~" Esmeralda giggled.

  "Hey, that's not bullying. Let’s just call it ‘strict education’. We're the adults here, so we gotta teach brats to not bite more than they chew."

  "Actually, I'm not so worried about the boy here," IronWall said. "I'm more ed with the possibility he'll stall your DK to oblivion."

  "Whoa there!" Ignis excimed. "So, you don't wao pick DK because you think I might lose? Seriously? Sounds like somebody got ied with the owner's overhyping disease."

  "I'm not hyping anything up," IronWall said. "tering DK is one of the most basic things any petitive pyer should know. So, there's a good ce he's better at tering DK than any other css."

  "Sounds great, actually." Ignis nodded. "It means he’ll be at his stro. That's exactly what I wanna crush!"

  "It might backfire," IronWall said. "To win with DK, you o py much better than your oppo."

  "And? You're saying I 't py better than some middle schooler?"

  "That's the problem, I don't know. It's the first time Fernando is reending one of his students to the pro se, He had plenty of talented kids over the years but he never suggested anything absurd like this. So clearly, this kid is special somehow."

  "Are you gonna trust a guy who quit the pro se more than you trust your teammate? Jeez, thanks for the faith, cap."

  "Me and Fernando pyed in the ers together before so he's also like a teammate to me, just a former one."

  "Wait, you pyed in the pro se together? First time I hear it."

  "It's been many years sihen. But, ohing I still remember is that Fernando always had an eye fnizing talent. He was usually our main guy for analyzing oppos and scouting new pyers. So, if Fernando says this boy’s skill is exceptional, I believe it."

  "Hmm." Ignis crossed her arms. "Wait a minute. You both pyed on the ers, right?"

  "Yeah."

  "And, it was C-League back then tht?"

  "Right. We didn't have a B-League team back then."

  "Aha!" Ignis pumped a fist. "It means he never got into B-League! I surpassed that guy! Get dunked, scrub!"

  "Anyway..." IronWall ighat noise and picked ancer for himself. "I don't approve of you pig DK. It’s not like I’m trying to belittle you or anything. We just don't know how good that boy is. So, as long as there's a ce he stall your DK then we 't pick it, not with the boss watg."

  "My, are you afraid of dear Ronny?" Esmeralda titled her head.

  "You know how that guy is," IronWall whispered. "He's all smiles but he'll chew us out if we do poorly against kids. He doesn't really like these arras in the first pce."

  "My, he doesn't?" Esmeralda blinked in surprise. "I thought he was into promoting youalent."

  "That's just what he says," IronWall expined. "Maybe, at first, he was genuinely hyped about letting kids practice against us. But, over time, he must've realized it doesn't bring any direct be for the team. We don't gain any money, fame, or skill from it. So, why support it?"

  "Man, what an ass." Ignis grumped. "Now I get why it's beeing harder and harder te these practice matches. He probably asks the coach to overpack our schedule on purpose, doesn't he?"

  "I'm sure that's the case." IronWall nodded.

  "Damn. I 't believe I never noticed."

  “You’re just a dumdum like that~” Esmeralda giggled.

  “He did what he to make it less obvious,” IronWall expined. “But, he was very dire the topic with me the other day.”

  "My," Esmeralda ented. "Our poor captain sure has it hard."

  "I really do, so please don't make it harder for me." IronWall sighed. "He'll give me an earful if we show him a shabby performance against kids. That's why I ’t allow DK."

  "Alright, alright, I get it," Ignis said. "My bad, I had no idea he was giving you so much shit for it. I'll piething else then."

  "Thank you."

  "Hmm. I'll go with Warrior then." Ignis grinned. "This gonna be fun!"

  "Are you sure?" IronWall firmed. "It might be better to pick a higher tier css."

  "Nah, it's perfect here. You know my Warrior is solid, right? And, it also got a good matchup against Knight."

  "A tentatively good matchup," IronWall corrected. "But alright, it's a passable pick. At least, I don't think I o worry about you messing up with Warrior."

  "You didn't o worry about my DK either, you know."

  "You're probably right, but better safe than sorry."

  IronWall locked-in Warrior fnis. It ick that a certain somebody was very muticipating.

  She really went for it. Jin had mixed feelings about this development. On one hand, his research proved accurate enough to predict this oute. Oher hand, it meant Ignis robably looking down on him a little.

  Warrior wasly a "weak" css but it was sidered low-tier due to the existence of Knight. For most is and purposes, Knight was straight up a "better" Warrior. It almost felt like power creep.

  Acc to CssSoft, Knight was inteo feel like a “css upgrade” for new pyers. It was a on cept in MMs.

  All pyers had access to Warrior as soon as they started the game. Later on, they unlocked Knight for free oheir at hit Lv.30.

  In short, CssSoft openly admitted that Knight was desigo be an upgrade for Warrior, thus dooming Warrior to be forever low tier. Though admittedly, there were a couple of cases in which Warrior was slightly better than Knight. However, those were few and far between.

  In other words, for almost all situations, Knight was the superior css. Everybody khat, so Ignis surely khat as well.

  A, she picked Warriainst Jin’s Knight. Not only that, but she failed to ban Knight before Jin stole the css. It further proved how much that cocky woman was uimating him.

  About the only advantage Warrior has for this matchup is the AA range. But, it's not a big enough differeo justify the pick. How disappointing.

  The rest of the drafting phase proceeded without any iing developments. Jin dropped a few bits of advice here and there as he saw fit. Some of them went through, others were rejected. He didn't feel toly about it either way.

  And so, the final lineup came down to...

  === StormBlitz ====

  Aegis (Support) - Druid

  Athena (Carry) - Elf

  Adapting (Mid) - Aeromancer

  Average (Jungler) - Lancer

  Appreop) - Knight

  === Sweepers ===

  IronWall (Support) - ancer

  Argus (Carry) - Gunslinger

  Esmeralda (Mid) - Warlock

  MegaHawk (Jungler) - Vampire

  Ignis (Top) - Warrior

  DarkestCymore