The st game between Stratus and the Leopards was about to begin. The pyers from both sides ehe stage and took their seats.

  The roster oher side of the stage included many familiar faces: Rook, Theorist, Merlin, and Winner. However, there was also a new Asian pyer.

  So, he really exists. Yuel gulped. I remember seeing him earlier at the back of the stage. So, it was really him.

  Shortly, the referee came over to inform Stratus about the enemy's ret substitution. "Your oppos subbed out AbsoluteChallenger for Apprent... Eh, Appre's like Apprentice, just with 'e' instead of 'i' at the end."

  Everybody became a little tenser after learning that Apprentedeed existed. Everything Yuel told them about the guy must have e rushing back.

  I hope I didn't scare them too much. Yuel thought. A little bit of tension is healthy for their tration, but too much of it backfire.

  Especially, Nia was always the first oo lose heart when fag "scary" oppos. Thankfully, that hadn’t happened yet-

  "Scary."

  ... okay, now it did, Nia uttered her promised catchphrase. With just this one word, she amplified Yuel’s worries expoially!

  But, so far, she looks fine. Yuel thought. Maybe her success in the previous game filled her with fidence?

  Nia was on the high horse until a few minutes ago. Back then, if Yuel barged in and immediately hit her with the info about Appre would’ve brutally kicked her off the high horse. She might’ve been in shambles right now. Thankfully, Vi eased everybody into that serious talk, so the impact of the news was minimal.

  They don’t look flustered. That's good. Yuel nodded. Now, I just have to pray that Apprentece isn't the kind of monster who easily steamroll us.

  There wasn’t enough information to tell anything for certain. Apprentece might be as strong as an asded being from a higher pne of existence, or he might be a regur, strong middle-schooler.

  In case Appretnece really rival Western pros, Stratus might end up getting thhly annihited...

  No, I won't let that happen. Yuel asserted. Heh, it’s ironic. Here I am, w about everybody's morale, when it might actually be me who’s the most nervous about this.

  The team's ces of winning might be riding on Yuel's ability to discover an exploitable weakness of that new, pro-level pyer. No pressure.

  If I 't do this, then it’ll be a very uphill battle. But, right now, I simply don't have enough information to go by. Yuel frowned. Horobably feels the same way, that's why he wanted us t this mysterious pyer to the stage.

  Howard’s intel suggested that Apprentece was a very aggressive pyer, but that was circumstantial evidence. Apprentece ying that game in “examinee mode”, so he probably wao show off his skill to score points with the judges.

  I had to py under simir circumstances during StormBlitz’s entrance exam, so I know the kind of pressure it puts on you. Yuel thought. So, I ’t clude that he’ll also py this aggressively under more “normal” circumstances. But, I still feel at ease having Ben in Top, just in case Appreurns out to be hyper-aggressive.

  Then again, it wasn’t even guarahat Appretnece would even py Top. He might’ve picked Top during the pro scrim because it’s the most indepe role, so there was no telling whether it was actually his best role.

  Truly, there were too many unknowns around Apprehe more Yuel tried to deduce, the more questions popped up in his head. With enough reasoning, he could cast doubt on every piece of information he had.

  As such, the only way to "ter" Apprentece during the banning phase, if only a little, was to baypical meta Top Laners. The most obvious option for that was Knight, the ever-popur versatile pick.

  Sihe Leopards were going first in this game, Yuel started by banning Shadow Walker acc to protocol, and then he banned Knight.

  The enemy's first two baheir textbook choices: Trickshooter and Gunslihey always made sure to seal Lars's stroools, as any smart team should do.

  It's always those two, but not Elf. Yuel frowned. It really doesn't pack the same punch, does it?

  On one hand, it was a good thing that the enemy didn't ban Elf. Despite everything Yuel had said, Elf was still undoubtedly Lars's 3rd best css, so it was very kind of the eo leave the css open frabs.

  At the same time, the fact the ever-cautious Cato didn't register Elf as a threat spoke volumes of the skill gap that existed between Elf and Lars's best csses. It was his “3rd best css”, but its performance was inparable to that of Trickshooter and Gunslinger.

  Surely, in a few weeks, Lars's Elf will reach the necessary level to terrorize the petition. As, that day wasn't today.

  Hmm. They're sure taking their time with the third ban. Yuel thought. Are they scheming something?

  The enemy's first two bans were instantaneous, yet the third oook a while. The Leopards were probably buying time to discuss something, but what?

  Did my Knight ban stump them in some way? Yuel wondered. No, unlikely. Knight is a general-purpose css, so it couldn't be a key part of any big pn. Then, what's taking so long? Is Cato just dragging things out for fun? I see him do that.

  Dragging out the suspense was defihe kind of thing Cato would do just for the kicks. However, it turned out that wasn't the case this time...

  DarkestCymore