“... you lost?” Yuel blinked.

“Yeah, kinda.” Howard averted his eyes and put on a dim smile.

“So, you’re at 0-2 now. That’d be a defeat in an official match.”

“Hey, we fought these guys for almost half an hour, it was real close. Gotta say, their coach is some nasty piece of work, even more than I expected.”

“He used that ‘mixup’ strategy?”

“Mhm, and it’s even worse than I imagined.” Howard said. “Their whole team changed. It’s like everything we adapted to in the first match was useless. Well, except for Fenrir. That guy played exactly the same, but we still couldn’t deal with him.”

“Fenrir, you mean their captain, right?”

“Yeah. That guy is really something, Aron couldn’t take him out even in late game. We already had our hands full dealing with him, but then there’s also the mixup on top of that. That Rodriguez sure created a nasty team.”

Fernando Rodriguez, the current coach of the Leopards. Classmancers coaches were extremely rare in junior high, so it gave the Leopards a huge advantage over other teams in the region. Howard did a lot of research about Rodriguez’s team, coaching and past records. Yuel memorized every bit of it.

Unfortunately, the Leopards’ first string consisted mostly of seniors every year. That seemed to be one of Rodriguez’s policies, so it’s unclear whether the seniors were really always the best players he had or he just trusted them more. Either way, because of that, it was nigh impossible to get data about the current players, as they had no competitive records from the previous years.

The only exception was Fenrir, who made his competitive debut last year as a junior despite Rodriguez’s policy. Though, apparently gathering information on him didn’t help the first string much, since he was a monster on another level. He was similar to Lars, an unstoppable storm nobody could hold down even though they knew it was coming. Even Ellen’s trickey failed against him. Just how good was he? Yuel wished to go against Fenrir at least once, but sadly it was impossible.

Since investigating players led to a dead end, Howard focused on researching Rodriguez’s coaching style. In that area, there was a lot more information available online. The Leopards reached the nationals multiple times in recent years, a success attributed to Rodriguez’s coaching. Naturally, reporters interviewed him on the matter and asked about his coaching. In a couple of articles, he briefly mentioned the “mixup strategy”.

Basically, he coached his players to excel in two different roles: a “main” role and “secondary” role. Thanks to that, the Leopards’ first string could always play two entirely different lineups. If a player used his “main” role for one lineup, then he used his “secondary” role for the other lineup and vice versa.

By dynamically switching their formation around, their enemies felt like they were facing an entirely different team each time. Thus, the Leopards always headed into the second match with a huge advantage. While they already studied their opponents during the first match, their opponents had to adapt to them anew during in the second game.

Often times, this trick was enough for the Leopards to get a quick 2-0 and win the match right there. And, even if they went 1-1, they still had an advantage going into the third game. Their opponents had to guess which of the two lineups, normal or mixup, the Leopards were going to pick for the third game. Yuel could only imagine how much pressure it put on the enemy during drafting.

Most official matches were in a “best of three” format, so this approach worked extremely well for stealing wins. It probably wasn’t going to work much in the pro scene, as pro players were expected to adapt quickly, but against middle schoolers it was super effective.

“You be careful too.” Howard said. “I saw Rodriguez talk with the second string. I’m sure he’s scumming something. Dunno if his second string can also mix up, but something gonna to be different next game.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Yuel nodded.

“Heh, no need to worry!” Lars invaded the conversation with his usual goofy grin and wrapped an arm around Yuel’s shoulder. “You should’ve seen Yuel in action there! That last match was sick, they totally owned these dudes! Ya better get on Yuel’s level or he gonna kick ya outta the first string!”

“Heh, you wish.” Howard sneered. “Now that their coach made a move, this is where the real test begins.”

“No problem! I’m 200% sure they gonna pull through!”

“I wouldn’t trust the opinion of somebody who always thinks he gonna win next time, even after being beaten twenty times in a row.”

“If you don’t believe you gonna win, you not gonna win, yo!”

“This guy is giving me a headache.” Howard sighed. “Anyway, I warned you. If you fuck this up, it’s on you.”

“Got it.” Yuel nodded. He had no idea what Rodriguez cooked for the second string, but the next match was going to be different from before. Chances are, Yuel will have to study the enemy team from scratch. Ugh, that sounded annoying.

“Meh, you’ll be fine.” Lars proclaimed with unfounded confidence. “I bet ya gonna beat the heck outta these dudes again, so I’mma go watch the first string this time.”

“Don’t.” Howard retorted. “Keep watching the second string’s games.”

“Huh? But why?” Lars pouted. “I wanna watch some exciting stuff, not one-sided slaughter.”

“Just be a good kid and do as I say.” Howard’s gaze turned sharp, piercing Lars to the very core. This wasn’t a request. It was an order.

“Okay, okay...” Lars waved his arms in defeat.

“Well then, good luck.” Howard turned around.

“You too.” Yuel said. “Sounds like you need it.”

“Nah, it should be fine. We already figured both their play styles, so now we can mount a counterattack.” Howard left these reassuring words behind, which didn’t convince Yuel in the slightest. After all, the first string was already at 0-2. No matter how confident Howard was, a 0-2 meant defeat in an official match. If this were the regionals, StormBlitz would be eliminated right here and now.

Anyway, Yuel was a mere second string player. There’s nothing he could do about any of that. He had his own troubles to worry about, namely: ComboBreaker, Freezer and whatever new strategy Rodriguez cooked up for the upcoming match.

Before heading into the next game, he warned the rest of the team about the possibility of a mixup. Afterwards, they all headed onto the stage together. The third round of the StormBlitz vs. Leopards scrimmage began.

The drafting phase started normally. The enemy picked Pyromancer and Warlock, must be for ComboBreaker and Freezer like before. Were they really going to stick to the same lineup? Then, what did Rodriguez tell them over the break?

“Doesn’t look like they’re doing anything so far.” Gilbert said. “Should we go with our usual picks as well?”

“We can do that.” Yuel said. “Worst case, we’ll fall into their trap and lose this game. But, at least we’ll learn their second lineup.”

They were already sitting on a 2-0 advantage and it didn’t matter whether they’ll end the day with 5-0 or 4–1. Giving up one game in exchange for information wasn’t a terrible trade in this scrimmage, at least not in Yuel’s mind. He kept that opinion to himself though, it’s unlikely others would think highly of it.

In the end, drafting proceeded pretty much like last time. Yuel went for Paladin and Trever for Ranger. Considering how many times Yuel shut Breaker down with Justice Strike, it’s amazing they didn’t ban Paladin. There’s definitely something afoot, Yuel could feel it.

Before long, the enemy’s last pick came around and still no surprises. If everything was really going to follow the same script, their last pick would be a Support, a role played by SkyNight the past two games. Despite not standing out as muchas Breaker and Freezer, his airtight supporting couldn’t be underestimated. Especially, his heavy pressure as a Cryomancer warranted a ban each game.

In preparation, Yuel and Gilbert banned various pesky Support classes during the second banning phase, so SkyNight didn’t have many great options left. Except, the enemy’s last pick turned out to be something else entirely. It was Elf. That’s not a Support.

“Wow, what the?” Trever exclaimed. “The heck are they doing? They already got a Carry.”

“No, this is...” Yuel frowned. “This was their ‘mixup’ all along.” He just realized they were played for fools. They assumed Breaker will play Carry Pyromancer and Freezer will be Mid Warlock, just like the previous games. However, both Pyromancer and Warlock were flex picks, they could be played in at least two different roles.

“Pyro is probably going Mid and the Warlock is either Support or Top, which opens up the Carry spot for the Elf.” Yuel explained.

“Huh,” Gilbert made a difficult expression “So, I’ll have to deal with these combo memes this time. Alright then.”

There was a good reason for concern. After all, he picked Electromancer like before, expecting to go up against Warlock, which was a fair matchup. However, Electromancer vs. Pyromancer was a different story altogether. Electromancer was a team fight oriented mage, so his laning phase was relatively weak. With no reliable zoning tools except for his ult, Gilbert will definitely have a rough time holding down a Pyromancer, especially one as dangerous as Breaker.

Elf was also a troublesome pick against Trever’s Ranger. It was an agile Carry, with the ability to get out of sticky situations and fire arrows across long distances. It was a natural counter to Ranger, whose game plan revolved around pinning the opponent down and finishing them off with “The Hunt is On”.

“Well shit, they got us good.” Trever crossed his arms. “But, we already beat these guys twice, so let’s do it again, yo!”

Is this guy secretly Lars in disguise? Yuel sighed with a soft smile. Having one such confident goof on the team wasn’t too bad, especially when it was a senior. That’s probably why Trever was assigned as the captain, despite having zero leading or strategizing abilities.

Ignoring the hiccup during drafting, the team headed into the third game with confidence thanks to Trever’s infectious high spirits. There’s nothing they could change at this point anyway, so they had to face the challenge head on. Gilbert will have to deal with a Combo Pyromancer on his lane, and Trever will have to find a way to score a kill on an Elf.

The match began and Trever already struggled against the Elf from early on. SkyNight previously displayed decent mechanical skill as a Cryomancer and he had about the same amount of skill as an Elf, despite now playing a completely different role. He wasn’t as strong as Trever, but the Elf’s advantage allowed him gain the upper hand.

“Damn! Get over here!” Trever darted toward the Elf, desperate to get at least some damage in. However, the Elf countered with Elven Leap, performing a high backflip.

“Wait, don’t shoot-“

“Agh, damn!” It was too late. Trever already fired two shots, believing he got the Elf. Not only did the shots completely miss the backflipping Elf, they also passed through the trail of wind left by the Elf’s leap. This was bad. Every enemy projectile that passed through the trail granted Elf attack speed and movement speed, as well as healed him. Trever was thoroughly countered!

As soon as Night landed, he activated Elven Sight to capitalize on that buff. The Elf took steady aim at Trever, gaining increased attack power and range. Night and Trever were too far apart to reach each other with basic attacks , but thanks to Eleven Sight - he had no trouble sniping Trever across this long distance. And, his snipes were going to be both fast and strong too, thanks to the speed buff from Eleven Leap and the power buff from Elven Sight.

“Shit!” Trever exclaimed. “Gotta get out- agh!? You serious!?” Just as he was about to retreat, Freezer hit him with Eldritch Blast. It was powered up by a Slowdown Invocation, as evident by Trever’s sluggish movements after the hit. He became a sitting duck for the Elf’s snipes!

This is bad! Can I make it!? Yuel dashed toward Trever, hoping to body block the Elf’s long ranged shots. But, he couldn’t make it. Trever started this whole attack without informing Yuel beforehand, so Yuel was too far away to provide support.

『An ally has been killed!』

“Shit! Damn it!” Trever slammed on the table and glared at Yuel. “Where were you, man!? You sleeping or something!?”

“No, I...” Yuel was dumbfound. How was any of that his fault? It’s Trever who charged in solo and got outplayed by Night and Freezer. None of that was Yuel’s fault, right? There’s nothing a Support could do when the Carry acted selfishly like that.

Oh, not good. I have to retreat. Yuel shook his head and turned around, heading toward his Turret. While he was lost in thought, he almost handed the enemy a second kill on a silver platter.

Wasn’t he already desensitized to being blamed for actions which weren’t his fault? He experienced this kind of toxicity countless times while playing online, especially before he started playing with Lars and Julia. Attacking the Support or Jungler was the first thing people did when they didn’t know who else to blame for their misplay. If it’s not their fault and there wasn’t anybody else to point at, clearly it had to be the Support or Jungler’s fault!

Yuel went through this nonsense a thousand times by now, so he became resilient. Or, so he thought. Receiving the same criticism face-to-face from a fellow teammate, from a senior, from the captain... That’s unpleasant. Very unpleasant.

Despite knowing it wasn’t his fault, a part of him couldn’t stop questioning. Maybe he should had stuck closer to Trever? That would had allowed him to get to the scene faster, no matter what unexpected play Trever did. Or, maybe Yuel’s lack of initiative was the problem in the first place? He hadn’t initiated any fights so far, because he was wary of the Elf’s range advantage. Maybe that made Trever desperate for some action, leading to that uncoordinated play.

“Shit,” Gilbert exclaimed. “Their Warlock is here! I don’t remember you called missing.”

“Oh, right...” Yuel blinked. At some point, Freezer rotated from Bot to Mid. Yuel should had called missing on him, but he didn’t. He was the only one left in Bot now, so it was his job to keep an eye on Night and Freezer. Seriously, the heck was he doing!?

“My bad, I...”

“Great,” Gilbert clicked his tongue. “I already got my hands full dealing with heir Pyro and now the Warlock waltzes in too. Just great.”

Freezer maneuvered around Gilbert’s wards on his way to Mid, so he popped “out of nowhere” for Gilbert, as nobody called missing on him ahead of time. Fortunately, Electromancer had Thunderclap for blinking away, so Gilbert was fine. He just had to-

“Great, he silenced me.” Gilbert sighed. Just as he was about to teleport away, Freezer hit him with an Eldritch Blast powered by a Muteness Invocation. All his skills were locked, including Thunderclap. He had no way out. He was screwed.

Breaker didn’t fail to take advantage of this situation. She unleashed her spells on Gilbert, converting Freezer’s rotation into a successful gank.

『An ally has been killed!』

“Well, that’s unfortunate.” Gilbert shook his head and stared at Yuel. “Seriously, how did you miss that? Rotating after a kill is basic.”

“I...” Yuel bit his lip. “I didn’t expect him to go for it just yet... Sorry.” There’s no excuse, he totally blew it. This death was 100% on him.

“Kid,” Trever said. “You’re sleeping, I’m tellin’ ya. Don’t relax just because we won last game. These guys still mean business, we gotta keep it together.”

“Yes... Of course.” Yuel answered. “Keep it together”? Mind reminding me who just charged solo against the Elf? And blamed it on me for no reason?

He burned with the urge to give Trever a piece of his mind, but restrained himself. Nothing good will come out quarreling, especially not in the middle of a match. In fact, just thinking about that incident invited trouble. It distracted him enough to miss Freezer’s predictable rotation, resulting in Gilbert’s death. If there’s one thing Trever was right about, it’s that Yuel had to pull himself together. ASAP.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the end of StormBlitz’s troubles. Trever started playing overly aggressive on lane, most likely trying to compensate for the kill he conceded earlier. Yuel advised playing defensively since they were behind, but Trever kept recklessly pushing, trying to get a revenge kill on Night. It’s like Trever was asking for something to go wrong.

But, Trever still viewed his previous death as Yuel’s fault, so arguing with him will only add more fuel to the fire. Instead, Yuel kept quiet and focused on supporting Trever’s reckless endeavours. The plan was simple: He’ll provide flawless support this time around and will regain Trever’s trust, then Trever should be more willing to listen.

Trever’s repeated aggression managed to wear Night out. Despite the Elf’s advantages, Trever’s superior strength as an aggressor pulled through, bringing Night down to 2-% HP. Freezer wasn’t on lane at the moment, so it looked like a good chance to go for a kill on Night. Still, Trever was only at 40% HP himself, so it was best to proceed carefully-

“Think you can run away? No dice!” Trever grinned and mounted his wolf, fully intent on chasing Night down.

“Wait, don’t overextend.” Yuel said. “We lost the ward near the jungle entrance on their side, so the Warlock could appear any-“

“Shut up and watch, kid. I’mma kill that loser real quick!” Trever kept pursuing Night, dismissing Yuel’s warning. With no mobility skills at his disposal, Yuel had no way to keep up with Trever’s wolf. Yet again, Trever was heading into a dangerous situation all by himself. This looked bad. BAD! Yuel’s instincts screamed at him.

Tch, that blockhead. Yuel bit his lip. Trever was a veteran, he usually made good decisions. What was wrong? Why did he play so recklessly? Was it because of the first death he conceded? It was just one early death, it tilted him way too much..

Anyway, I should try blocking the jungle entrance. That’s the most I can do. Instead of chasing Trever, Yuel headed toward the jungle entrance. If a gank were to come, it’d be through there for sure. It was far, but the closer he could get - the better chance he had to thwart a potential gank.

Honestly, this was far from an optimal play. In fact, it was rubbish. A terrible misplay. Going out of his way to reach that jungle entrance was an overextension in its own right, hardly any better than what Trever was doing.

Nevertheless, Yuel had to go through with it. He started this game on the wrong foot with Trever, so he didn’t want to be “responsible” for another death here. Every cell in his body warned that this was a horrible idea, that this won’t end well. Nonetheless, he forced his Paladin to run toward the jungle entrance.

As he predicted, Freezer appeared from the unwarded jungle entrance. This ward was methodically removed by Freezer a while ago, so Freezer knew he had the element of surprise on his side. There’s a chance this whole situation was a bait from the get-go...!

Despite getting as close as humanly possible to that jungle entrance, Yuel still couldn’t reach Freezer with Justice Strike. It was bad. BAD!

“Warlock is ganking!” Yuel cried out. “Retreat!”

“Oh, shit!” Trever exclaimed, but didn’t turn around. “And I’m so close too! Deal with him for a sec while I finish the Elf!”

“Wha-!? I can’t, he’s too far!”

“Figure something out, kid. Stop being useless and do something for a change.”

“Wha...” Yuel couldn't believe his ears. “Stop being useless”? “Do something for a change”? The hell is he smoking!?

Dammit, Yuel just had to do it, right!? He’ll stop Freezer’s gank, right here and now. That’ll shut Trever up for good! Screw that this was a terrible play, caution could be damned. Yuel was going to do it!

He didn’t want to spend Blink for such a bad play, but that’s the only option if he wanted to get in Freezer’s way. By blinking forward, the tip of his Justice Strike should just barely reach Freezer. Landing a silencing strike will delay Freezer’s CC, giving Trever enough time to kill Night... probably. Hopefully.

At the back of his head, a voice never stopped droning. “This is a bad idea. You’re both going to die. You call yourself a Support?” High risk for low reward, he knew that. Even if his Blink play were to succeed, there’s no guarantee Trever will finish off Night in time. Too things could go wrong here.

Nevertheless, Yuel had to do it. This was his chance to pacify Trever and stop the enemy’s momentum. He indirectly fueled that momentum by forgetting to call missing on Freezer, which led to Gilbert’s death. Just like Trever, Yuel also desperately sought an opportunity to make up for his bad play and right now was his chance.

Despite harboring many doubts about this plan, he went all in! He blinked forward and cast Justice Strike. There’s no time to waste. He had cast it as soon as he finished teleporting, that’s the only way. He had to pray his mediocre accuracy was enough to pull this off...!

A white blade appeared high in the air, then came down crashing... into the ground. The combined distance of Blink + Justice Strike was just barely enough to reach Freezer, there was nothing wrong with Yuel’s calculation.

But, he missed. He messed up. His aim was a bit off. Amidst the haste, he failed to cast Justice Strike as ideally as he envisioned it in his head. This was bad. BAD!!!

Huh, I screwed up. He didn’t even have it in him to be mad. Seriously, what the heck was he thinking in the first place? Of course it was bound to fail. Since when he had the mechanical skill to blink forward and instantly land Justice Strike into a very specific microscopic area?

He practiced Blink + Justice Strike, it was a common Paladin play. However, there’s no way he could pull it off in such a haste, especially not when his target was barely in range. It was stupid, so stupid.

Without being slowed down in the slightest, Freezer continued the gank without paying any heed to Yuel’s movements. He hit Trever with an Eldritch Blast powered by Hex Invocation, lowering defense.

“Shit! You didn’t stop him!?” Trever cursed. Being hit by Eldritch Blast forced him off his mount. He found himself surrounded by two enemies, with merely 35% HP and with lowered defense.

Realizing the shift in tides, Night stopped running and turned around. He aimed his bow at Trever, fully intent on fighting. His Elven SIght was on cooldown, so he didn’t have range advantage over Trever. But, he could still dish out respectable damage with basic attacks, like any Carry.

“Oh, sure!” Trever ranted. “Now you wanna fight! You damn pussy!”

“Stop, you need to ret-“

“Okay! Come at me, man! I’mma kick yo ass!” Trever didn’t listen. He was down to 35% HP and had lowered defense, so just a couple of shots from Night and Freezer would suffice to kill. There’s no chance he’d kill Night before getting killed first! Yet, he dashed forward.

Ugh, that dolt! Yuel gritted his teeth. But, maybe I can still make it...!

Maybe, just maybe, it’s still possible to turn this terrible situation around. With his Aegis, he could keep Trever alive long enough to put on a fight. Night was at 20% HP, so two accurate hits from Trever sufficed to seal the deal. Trever just had to actually survive long enough to be able to make these two shots.

“Get closer to me!” Yuel shouted while running toward Trever. “I’ll Aegis!”

“Tch, guess there’s no choice.” Trever clicked his tongue. “If you just did your job and stopped their Warlock, I wouldn’t be in this mess.”

Or, maybe you wouldn’t be in this mess if didn’t chase in the first place! Ever thought of that, huh!? Yuel gritted his teeth. No good, he was dragged into the dark side again.

Stop. Calm down. He took a deep breath and concentrated on running to Trever’s side. Trever was already down to 10% HP, but he was very much alive. Yuel had a decent chance to reach him with Aegis before-

“Oh...” Reality hit Yuel like a truck. He got there, Trever was within the range of his Aegis. But, he couldn’t activate Aegis. Or any ability, for that matter.

Freezer hit him with Warlock’s second spell, Eldritch Field. It didn’t deal much damage because it was an AoE, but it was infused with Muteness Invocation. It silenced Yuel long enough to miss the right timing for Aegis. Yuel should had been aware of this possibility all along, and yet...

『An ally has been killed!』

“Fuck! Damn! Shit!” Trever cursed to no end, slamming fists on the table.

The rescue operation was a complete failure. Yuel failed to rescue Trever and needlessly overextended, handing the enemy another kill on a silver platter.

『You have been killed!』

“Man, MAN!” Trever shouted. “What are you doing!? You didn’t help me for shit and now you die too! What the fuck, yo?”

“Sorry for trying, I’ll leave you to die next time.” Yuel retorted. “You’re right, I played poorly. I shouldn’t have tried to prevent an obvious suicide.”

“What suicide? I almost had the guy!”

“Whatever.” Yuel shook his head, Trever was too titled to be reasoned with, there’s no point discussing this now. Seriously, what was wrong with him this game? He made one poor play after another and became increasingly toxic. Did his bad habit kick in?

Yuel didn’t know the specifics, but he saw this pattern before. From time to time, during practice matches, Trever would suddenly become uncooperative for no reason. He either ranted to no end or expressed zero motivation. This always led to sequence of terrible plays which resulted in his death. And, the further the game progressed, the worse this phenomena became.

Why now? Whenever this bad habit surfaced, it was often after Trever conceded a kill. But, he was already killed earlier today. Multiple times, in fact. On top of that, he was the first StormBlitz player to die today, right in the early game of their first match. That death was more shocking than anything that happened during this game so far, at least in Yuel’s eyes.

So, what triggered Trever’s sudden deterioration? It’s pointless, Yuel never quite grasped the logic behind this. He only knew one thing: this was bad.

Trever was losing it more and more with every passing second. This negatively affected those around him, especially Yuel. He thought he developed resistance to flaming, but he felt he was dragged to that level right now, just by sitting beside Trever.

The rest of the team wasn’t nearly as lively as before either. It’s clear that Trever’s negativity slowly spread throughout the team, putting a damper on everybody’s mood.

“I’d really appreciate some ganks on my lane.” Gilbert said

“Gotta agree. Dan, shouldn’t you gank other lanes a little more?” Roi added

“Well, excuse me for not wanting to gank lanes with fed enemies” Dan sneered.

Negativity begat negativity. Yuel experienced this vicious cycle countless times when playing online. Once flaming started, it spread across the whole team and burned everything down. Little by little, everybody added fuel to it, until it blew up in their faces.

The team’s situation looked different from the typical online flaming at first glance, because the screen wasn’t drowning in text walls filled with insults and curses. But, it was exactly the same. Everybody just acted more cultured about it, except for Trever.

In fact, this situation was even worse. Everybody sat next to each other, so it was easier to pick up how others felt. Words weren’t even as necessary. A tongue click after a failed gank, a head shake whenever somebody died and a sigh whenever somebody fell short of somebody’s expectations. The longer this went on, the more wrapped everybody became.

Yuel felt he was the only one still resisting his inner demons. But, he was clearly affected as well. The last couple terrible plays were undeniable proof of that. In fact, perhaps thinking he was better than the rest already proved he fell into the same trap. Those who acted toxic always thought they were the only sane people around.

Anyway, something had to be done. And fast. How could Yuel overturn this grim situation? At his rate, the team was heading toward certain doom...