Classmancers - A MOBA Esport Story

With Lars joining the offense in Mid, the Mid Turret fell apart within moments.     

And next, the group set their eyes on the Mid Golem, the Holy Grail. If they can demolish the Golem this early, then the game will be as good as theirs.     

"So, may I inquire about our master plan?" Vincent asked. "Are we going to push forth all the way to victory? Or, is this merely a diversion that'll force the enemy to concentrate on Mid while we attack other avenues?"     

"I've considered both options depending on how things play out," Yuel explained. "Even though we ran into a couple of obstacles, things turned out better than I expected overall. So, I believe it's optimal for us to continue pushing Mid right now. We can surely take down the Golem, at the very least."     

"In other words, a straightforward assault! I see, I see." Vincent nodded repeatedly. "It appears we're about to reproduce Taurus' secret art!"     

"Yes, I got this idea from that scrimmage," Yuel explained. "It worked out a little too well for them, making me wonder how efficient this strategy was in general. It wasn't easy to research and test it, but I believe I have sufficient understanding of when the tactic can work."     

It was a super-risky, hyper-aggressive, and all-in tactic that most people would not even consider seriously. Even Yuel, who favored offense so much, didn't think of this risky Mid rush as a particularly viable strategy, definitely not for the competitive scene.     

However, he changed his mind after he was hit hard by it during the Taurus scrimmage. As a fellow supporter of hyper-aggressive plays, the concept naturally intrigued him.     

On paper, the power level of Turrets was designed for the mid-game, and the power level of Golems was balanced around the late-game. As such, the two structures were "overpowered" during the early parts of the game and it was next to impossible to take them down.     

Nonetheless, players had the option to overwhelm these powerful structures via sheer numbers. When 3 or more players ganged up on a single objective, it was sometimes possible to even out the odds and match the tower's strength.     

But of course, things were never that simple in Classmancers. The idea was nice but the execution was difficult.     

It was impossible to simply gather the entire team in one spot on a whim, especially not during the early-game. The meta dictated that everybody should stick to their lanes during this part of the game, and straying from the meta was always something that should be done with great care.     

Not to mention, this tactic required far more than just gathering the team together. In fact, that was arguably the easiest part of the operation.     

Even if the whole team came together to push Mid, the push would easily be thwarted by just a handful of enemy defenders. After all, the Turret's power level was ahead of players' at this stage, so adding just a handful of defenders should suffice for deflecting the push.     

[The first big prerequisite for this tactic is momentum.] Yuel concluded from his research.     

He carefully examined all the circumstances that enabled Taurus to pull off such a risky play. On top of that, he found a handful of examples from the pro scene as well and researched those, too.     

Yes, there were, in fact, examples of games like that in the pro scene as well. They were far and few between, and practically nonexistent in A-League.     

Nonetheless, in C-League, there were a couple of aggressive teams that went for plays like this and succeeded. On the other hand, in B-League, this tactic was attempted a few times but it usually failed.     

Regardless, there was clearly some substance to this strategy, seeing as even pros employed it every once in a while. As such, Yuel felt obligated to study this line of play in depth and learn how to counter it, as well as how to utilize it if the appropriate opportunity ever presents itself.     

And, according to his research, the current situation met the conditions for invoking this risky tactic.     

So far, things have been going well. Stratus scored three kills in a row and toppled the Mid Turret very early. These were convincing signs that the team was ready to keep pushing through Mid, possibly all the way to victory.     

And, even if this push fails to lead to immediate victory or even somehow fails to destroy the Golem, there wasn't too much risk in giving it a go anyway. Stratus were so far ahead that they could take such a risk and still come on top even if things don't go their way.     

[In the worst-case scenario, we'll lose some of our momentum and the situation will be equalized. It'll be unfortunate if that happens, but it won't put as a disadvantage, at the very least.]     

After carefully going through all these considerations over and over, Yuel was convinced to attempt this risky Taurus strategy. After all, if Taurus could pull this off, then there was no reason why Stratus wouldn't be able to as well.     

But of course, it was impossible to pull off such extreme plays out of thin air without any prior practice.     

During the Taurus scrimmage, it was clear that the enemy's Triangle had robust experience with pulling off extreme plays like that during the early-game. Their impeccable teamwork allowed them to go for a risky play like this and make it work.     

But, did Stratus possess the necessary teamwork and experience for pulling off a success like that? Why yes, they had plenty of it. After all, their shot-caller was none other than Yuel, a shot-caller who loved weaving aggressive early-game plans that required very pinpoint cooperation.     

[Admittedly, we were a little lacking in that department during the previous scrimmage.]     

Yuel reflected back on how he used to shot-call during the Taurus scrimmage. At the time, he was overly cautious and forced himself to push away the aggressive ideas that so naturally came to him. The scars of losing to Howard were still fresh in his mind back then.     

However, after seeing Taurus's Triangle getting away with risky plays time and again, it was impossible to not wish to replicate some of these plays. That's what convinced Yuel to return to his roots and embrace his original favorite type of strategy: overwhelming early-game aggression that dictated the flow of the game.     

And so, ever since that scrimmage, Yuel had increased the usage of aggressive team comps and tactics during practice. And yes, some of these sessions involved variations of this very strategy, where the team groups up in Mid and tries to push for the win.     

That's why, even though his teammates were taken aback by the boldness for a moment, nobody actually objected to this tactic or voiced concern. Why? Because they had executed many similar plays over the past few weeks.     

Unlike in the last scrimmage, today's Stratus had the necessary experience for pulling off aggressive early-game plays. Therefore, even a hyper-risky plan that involved putting all eggs into one basket was par for the course at this point. They had both the necessary experience and skill, so they will make this extreme tactic work, no matter what.     

"Let's do this, yooo!" Lars rallied as the team advanced on the Mid Golem.     

Their steps were confident, with each player assuming a near-ideal position without Yuel uttering a single word. They all knew exactly what to do during situations like this.     

Despite being the most gung-ho of the gang, Lars stayed at the back of the pack, taking advantage of Elf's sniping abilities. He fully understood the dangers of this hyper-aggressive play and he knew that he'll be targeted first if he ever sets foot on the frontline.     

On the frontline, Luke and Vincent led the assault. Neither of them was built tanky enough to serve as a proper frontliner, but they were both bruisers who could share this burden. On top of that, Yuel followed right behind them, ready to aid with heals and CC at a moment's notice.     

Meanwhile, Kai was in the middle of the pack but a little farther to the outside. This was to ensure that the team wasn't fully packed in one area.     

In fact, everybody maintained a degree of distance from each other. After all, there was nothing more embarrassing than grouping up so confidently only to be shot down by an AoE nuke. So, they kept each other at arm's length without sticking too close to each other.     

With this organized formation, Stratus arrived at the Mid Golem.