Yuel and Lars finished talking to Julia and returned to the waiting room.

"You're one smooth criminal, Lars," Luke grinned and smacked Lars on the back. "You never told us you got such a cute girlfriend!"

"Haha, she ain't my girlfriend," Lars laughed. "She's a good friend and one heck of a player. She gonna be on StormBlitz's first-string this year."

"Whoa, for real!? Such a cutie!?” Luke’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets. “Man, and here I thought all the girls who play video games are-” He glanced around the room and noticed Kai and Nia were among the listeners. “Ahem. Anyway, cool stuff, bro.”

"So, she came to spy on us?" Kai asked.

"Yes, among things," Yuel said. "Don't worry, we haven't told her anything."

"I hope you didn’t," Kai gave them a look. For some reason, she seemed rather antagonistic about the whole affair.

"So, shall we resume our secret meeting?" Vincent cut in. "We were in the middle of discussing our opponents' strengths and weaknesses."

"I said pretty much everything I had to say," Yuel admitted.

Right before Julia arrived, Yuel shared intel about the various major flaws he discovered in their opponents. Most of Taurus' players didn't come across as high-level and their craft was unpolished in many ways.

There was only one opponent who stood out from the rest. The captain of their team, Nirvana. The guy played solid Mid, enough to give Lars trouble. Yuel couldn't find any glaring weaknesses in Nirvana’s playstyle.

"What about you?" Yuel asked Vincent. "Did they have any 'abilities' that stood out?" His skin crawled as he asked the question.

Did I seriously just ask that with a straight face? Yuel cracked a weird laugh. After months of interaction with Vincent, Yuel concluded this was the best method for inquiring about the clown’s findings. Vincent definitely had the knack for spotting others' strong points, but the way he laid out his findings always made Yuel lose brain cells.

"Very well, so my turn has finally come," Vincent brought up his tablet. As soon as the game was over, he wrote down all the data he absorbed with his Information Blackhole, to make sure none of it will escape the gravitational pull. "Now, let me share the mysteries of the world with you!"

"Didn't you say there was barely anything important?" Yuel asked.

"Well, yes. However...!" Vincent insisted with a dramatic tone, just to make a scene.

"Cut to the chase already," Kai ordered. "We don't have time for this."

"Yes, indeed, time is of an essence," Vincent nodded. "If I don't speak fast, the casualty of time and space will collapse and the world will implode into a black hole!"

"......................." Everybody gave him a cold, silent stare. The invisible pressure felt like a knife pressed against his throat.

"A-Alright, alright! I'll speak! Just don't torture moi!" Vincent waved his arms. "As I reported previously, I couldn't find much. It appears our current opponents don't have any specific talents."

"So, basically, they're scrubs?" Luke laughed.

"They totally are," Kai nodded.

"Nevertheless!" Vincent continued. "My Information Blackhole picked up a few things. Firstly, TheLegend, the enemy Carry. I’m convinced his Fury Inducer skill extends beyond real-life Even inside the game, he often pretends to be almighty and that invokes the urge to smite him down. Even I nearly aggressed on him a couple of times when his plays showed no respect for our strength."

"So, you’re saying he's good at being a scumbag" Kai summarized. "That's some ‘talent’ right there."

"Hmm," Yuel considered this seemingly useless information. "So, it's like a taunt ability?"

"Indeed!" Vincent nodded. "It alters causality to make his foes seek vengeance against him! Though, as far as causality-alteration skills are concerned, it's definitely on the weaker side."

"I see," Yuel nodded. In other words, TheLegend acted like a natural scumbag and that invited hatred from his foes. It wasn't exactly a talent to be proud of, but it was indeed a “skill”, in the sense that it could hinder the enemy’s performance.

It was like a taunt effect that clouded judgment. It might cause an enemy to jump the gun and recklessly aggress on TheLegend, digging their own grave in the process. Kai was especially susceptible to things like that.

"So, here’s what we should take from it," Yuel summarized. "Always think twice before you target TheLegend. Make sure you're not being reckless just because you want to see the guy dead." Everybody nodded in understanding.

"Next on the list," Vincent scrolled on his tablet. "Nirvana, the enemy Mid Laner. He has been lying low for the most part, but his performance was very strong."

"That's true," Yuel agreed. Most of the enemy team came across as half-baked, except for Nirvana. Stratus easily gained an advantage in Top and Bot, but not in Mid. It was a big part of why they couldn’t wrap up the game for a while.

"As for his talents," Vincent continued. "It has to be the Silent Backer!" He shouted in excitement, as if this random combination of words meant anything. Everybody hit him back with the Silent Treatment attack.

"Alright, I shall explain," Vincent cleared his throat. "Nirvana has been lying low during the first half of the game, despite being one of the more skilled players. Naturally, one reason for that was how Gunz gave Nirvana a hard time in lane."

"Yeah, I totally rekt that guy.” Lars gave a thumbs up. "Dude was strong, tho. He didn't attack much, but his defense was on point."

"Yes, he came across as a defensive player," Yuel agreed. Nirvana almost never actively initiated attacks, but he skillfully deflected incoming attacks.

"But, there was a shift in Nirvana's attitude during mid-game, was there not?" Vincent asked everybody.

"There was?" Yuel frowned. He didn't remember such a thing. Based on his analysis, Nirvana remained a defensive player from start to end. Even during the team-fighting phase, the guy didn't show much initiative. That was one of the reasons it was so difficult to uncover any weaknesses in his play. Nirvana's biggest "weakness" was his lack of initiative, that's all Yuel managed to gather.

"Nirvana continued playing defensively during the mid-game as well," Vincent continued. "However, there was something amazing about his performance. He was almost always at the right place, at the right time, ready to help his teammates in moments of peril. He backed up his allies from the shadows without expecting any gratitude. The lone ranger, Silent Backer!"

"Yeah, dude was pretty cool," Lars nodded with a grin. "I've been trying to get a kill on him for ages, so I was watching his every move. No matter where we attacked, that Nirvana dude was always there to defend."

"Yes, I suppose he was," Yuel thought back on all the major assaults they mounted on the enemy during mid-game. And truly, Nirvana was there to defend against many of them. It didn’t stand to Yuel at first, because he already branded Nirvana as a “defensive player” early on. However, it was indeed impressive.

Nirvana didn't just play defensively. He was often an active part of the defense force during critical moments. He often found his way to the scene of interest, as if predicting where Stratus will strike next.

He's like Howard. Yuel shuddered. Or rather, a mini-Howard.

It didn't seem like Nirvana was responsible for making defensive shot-calls the way Howard did. However, his ability to always reinforce the defense in the right place at the right time was very much like Howard's. This type of opponent was guaranteed to be a pain in the neck.

So, I should always consider the possibility of Nirvana being there to defend unless I distract him first. Yuel concluded.

"Anything else?" Yuel asked Vincent. Putting aside that clown's theatrics, his observations were proving to be valuable. They helped Yuel focus on pieces of information he didn't pay enough attention to, bringing new facts to light.

"Unfortunately, that's everything my Information Blackhole absorbed," Vincent said. "I tried, I really did. I dug into the deepest layers of their subconsciousness, trying to unravel something of great importance. Alas, I failed to find anything else." His shoulders slumped. He probably wanted to come up with more silly talent names.

"Don't worry, man," Luke encouraged. "If you couldn’t find much, it just means these guys are wack, haha."

"I agree with Luke's assessment," Yuel said. "Taurus doesn't seem to be a strong team this year."

"Or, maybe we're just too strong!" Lars flashed his teeth. "We trained a lot, so we're DA BEST, yo!"

"Heh, perhaps," Yuel chuckled. That's right, they trained plenty and improved tremendously over the past couple of months. They were no longer the infamous bottom tier team.

That's why Julia's criticism irked so much. She claimed Stratus won only thanks to Taurus being a weak team. And, supposedly, the victory wasn’t “decisive” enough. Seriously, what was she on about? Stratus utterly crushed Taurus.

Well, Yuel did, in fact, take his time carefully cornering Taurus into submission. Stratus had an overwhelming lead, so he didn't want to take any risks that might make them lose their winning position. Therefore, he focused on safe and steady shot-calls that didn't harbor any risks.

As a result, the game dragged on a little and they didn’t deliver the finishing blow until the very end. They won via sieging their enemies.

But, was there anything wrong with that approach? No, there wasn't. Siege was a famous military tactic for a reason. It was an effective method for conquering and it definitely worked in Classmancers.

“You got an early lead, but instead of attacking you just sat there doing nothing. That’s not like you.” That's what Julia said. According to her, playing siege in that situation was uncharacteristic for Yuel. And, she was right. Or rather, she would have been right if they held this conversation a few months ago.

Back during the selection match against Howard, Yuel was still stuck in the mentality of going for a quick kill after exploiting the enemy’s weaknesses. Striking fast and hard was his preferred way of competing. Not only in Classmancers, but in Chess as well. It was the playstyle he learned from his dad and the one that came most naturally to him.

However, this very playstyle betrayed him. It led Yuel to his doom during the selection match. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t crack Howard’s unbreakable defense.

Thus, the conclusion was obvious: this approach didn’t work on the highest level of play. Classmancers offered many ways to combat early-game aggression and Howard knew how to utilize them. That’s why, no matter how Yuel attacked, Howard always deflected the blows.

Therefore, something had to change. Yuel had no choice but to face his defeat and analyze it. From that, he concluded his aggressive strategies won’t cut it against the strongest opponents. It was impossible to penetrate through Aegis via brute strength.

On top of that, the current meta didn’t favor early offense either. According to statistics, most pro teams in A-League relied on defensive or balanced lineups. Few went with aggressive lineups.

Therefore, Yuel had to adapt. If he truly wanted to defeat Howard, he couldn’t keep relying on a suboptimal game plan. He had to reinvent himself and his strategies. That was the only way to advance.

Nevertheless, a part of him never stopped asking. “Was there a way to defeat Howard with a rushdown tactic? Maybe I just couldn’t find it?” Such pointless questions haunted him.

During matches, something in him often tempted him to ramp up the aggression. Even when he was playing with caution, he couldn’t stop himself simulating what would happen if he were to suddenly switch to offense. It’s as if his instincts were screaming at him, asking him to strike as hard as possible at the enemy’s weaknesses.

But, he had to keep such desires on a leash. It was tempting to strike every weakness in the enemy’s formation, but it often harbored risk. It was enough to fail once and the team will pay dearly. That was especially true against Howard, the captain who knew all about his teammates’ weaknesses. Anything Yuel tried to exploit backfired at him.

That’s why Yuel reduced the frequency of such plays. They were tempting, but he stayed his hand. The risk was too high.

But, Julia didn’t know about any of that. For her, Yuel remained a strategist who relied on aggressive tactics. He began straying from that path a little toward the end of the selection match, but it wasn’t enough.

At the very end of the match, Yuel was tempted to continue the offense Julia started. A fatal mistake. Instead of forcing Julia to retreat, Yuel was stuck mulling over the options. As a result, he didn’t order Julia to retreat in time, and then...

I can’t repeat that mistake. Yuel promised himself. I have to adjust my strategies so they don’t fall prey to temptations like these.

Nevertheless, Julia was expecting him to put on an aggressive show today. And, by extension, that’s what everybody in StormBlitz was expecting too. Even though gathering intel probably wasn’t Julia’s top priority today, she was still a spy from the enemy team. She came here to observe the way Stratus played and report back to Howard.

We could feed them with a little misinformation. Yuel smirked. If they shift to an aggressive playstyle and dominate the next game, it'll convince Julia that Stratus had every intention to play aggressively, the way Yuel always did. Naturally, this information will be relayed to Howard and he'll draw the same conclusion as well.

As a result, StormBlitz will conclude that Stratus was an aggressive team and that’s the kind of matchup StromBlitz will be preparing for. However, it’ll be a grave mistake on their part. It might allow Stratus to catch them off-guard during their first game.

It’s probably nothing more than wishful thinking. Yuel smiled wryly. Still, I’d take any leverage I can get, no matter how small.

It was settled. He’ll try rushing down Taurus in the next game. Worst case, they’ll lose one game and learn from their mistakes. They gained some leeway by winning the first game, so it was fine to experiment.

Of course, this wasn’t Yuel’s decision alone. He had to convince the entire team to follow this strategy. But, he had a strong feeling the captain will like this suggestion...