After the 10 minutes break, both teams returo their seats. The drafting phase for the sed game began.

  Since Howard’s team lost, he could choose whether to go first or sed. There was no clusive research about whether going first gave an edge in Cssmancers, but most of the most statistics Howard came across suggested it’s slightly more advantageous. It also felt good banning three csses instead of just two since whoever went sed was obligated to waste a ban on Shadow Walker.

  Therefore, Howard chose to go first. But still, even with three bans at his disposal, he was in quite the predit. Yuel pretty much dictated Howard’s bans for him.

  In the previous game, the pymakers were Roi and Lars. Lars rampaged thanks to his superhuman Trickshooter skills while Roi dominated with Dark Knight. Allowing these two py the same csses for a sed time would demoralize Howard’s team.

  So, Howard would like to ban them. But, if he bans Dark Knight due to its early game strength, then he also has to ban Orc for the same reason because these two were known as the most notorious early game bullies. If Dark Knight is banned, Yuel will surely make Roi py Orext. Gregory said he was less familiar with Orc because it was a rather rare pick, so it may pose him even more trouble than Dark Knight despite not being as overwhelming during the early game.

  So, there were three csses to ban: Trickshooter, Dark Knight and Orc. That filled up Howard’s entire banning phase. There was no doubt Yuel phis advance. Rather than keeping Dark Knight as a surprise for a more decisive game, Yuel exhibited its strength on the very first match to seed ay.

  He really got some nasty ideas. Howard smiled wryly. This was an annoying lockdown but Howard didn’t see much choice other than pying along with it.

  Therefore, the first ban: Trickshooter. Yuel answered by banning Padin, this time he had no iioing Hrab Padin. A shame.

  Though, it’s a little odd. Whoes sed would normally start off by banning Shadow Walker to get the “mandatory ban” out of the way. It was banned in almost every match, so banning it gave the least amount of information to the enemy. Yet, Yuel started with Padin instead. Huh.

  I hope he’s not pnning to pull what I think... Howard frowned and proceeded with the banning order he discussed with the team. Sed ban: Orc.

  Yuel responded with a Cleri. Another uandable jab at Howard which limited the pool of strong defensive picks. Cleric’s revival ability was the bane of existence for early game teams which sought to gain an early momentum via kills.

  But, Cleric was no Shadow Walker. That was already the sed ban. Why?

  He ’t be serious. Hoaused. How naive of him. He thought Yuel’s “banning lockdown” was the whole extent of the trap, but he was wrong - it went even further.

  This third ban was Howard’s st opportunity to ban Shadow Walker before they move on to the css sele phase. Normally, this wouldn’t even be worth sidering. After all, it’s the other team’s “responsibility” to ban Shadow Walker. Howard’s team will be pig a css first, so if Yuel doesn’t ban Shadow Walker - Howard could grab Shadow Walker for his team.

  Except, Howard couldn’t really do it in this particur case because one of Taison’s whims was that how he only pyed bruisers as Jungler. Unfortunately, Shadow Walker was as assassin-y as assassins could possibly get. It was infamous for its insane burst damage and chase potential, especially when the pyer folloecific famous build ied by one Korean pro. Said build spread around after overperf in a world championship, which is how Shadow Walker shot up to S tier.

  Howard tried teag Taison how to py assassin Junglers over the week, but he soon gave up and tried teag the brat how to at least pilot Shadow Walker. As, that was a disaster too. A single week simply wasn’t enough. Taison was too much of a rascal, always eager to exge blows with his oppos in 1v1. An assassin wasn’t desigo st long in a fight so, naturally, Taison performed terribly with that mentality. S tier meant nothing when the pyer couldn’t pilot the css correctly.

  So, in the end, Taison remained a bruiser-only Jungler. But, this was something only Howard and the team should have known for sure. Yuel definitely kaison favored bruisers, as already proven by his Venomancer pick st game, but he had no way to know for sure that Taison couldn’t go for Shadow Walker.

  Would he gamble on something like that? Hoondered. If it’s Yuel, it’s possible. He must’ve figured Taison ’t learn to py even a single assassin css in just a week. And, even if Taison DID learn to py Shadow Walker, he’d likely perform worse than with a bruiser anyway. Sigh.

  “My,” Ellen poked Howard’s forehead. “You’ll get wrinkles if you frown so hard~ What’s wrong?”

  “Say,” Howard lowered his arms and leaned back. “You think Yuel will take a gamble here by not banning Walker? He knorefers bruisers, so he may be thinking Tai won’t be able to pick Walker even it’s avaible.”

  “Hmm, I see that. I mean, they got a one-win advantage, right? Yuyu got some leeway, so he go crazy.”

  “Right.” Hot all the firmation he needed. All of this may just be a part of Yuel’s mind games, but Howard didn’t want to take the risk. He already took a huge risk with the previous game, so no further risks were allowed. Even if it meant leaving Dark Knight open for a sed time, Howard to prevent another disastrous game at any cost.

  “Greg,” Howard called out. “You said you’re alright with pying heavy defense against Dark Knight, right? Even if it means ht turtling and ne freezing.”

  “Well, I don’t have much choice, do I? I’m ly into suicide, kek.”

  “Alright.” Howard nodded. It was settled then. Third ban: Shadow Walker.

  “Wow,” Dan excimed. “They banned Walker?”

  “As I thought,” Yuel nodded. “Taison ’t py assassins.”

  “Heh, you were really gon on it and not ban Walker?”

  “Maybe.” Holy, Yuel wasn't sure what he would have done if Howard hadn’t banned Shadow Walker. It most likely would have e down to analyzing Howard’s behavior. If Howard were to immediately ban something other than Shadow Walker, it’d suggest he was fident about Taison’s skill as Shadow Walker. Oher hand, if Howard were to take his time before banning something other than Shadow Walker, it’d suggest he wasn’t fident and robably just trying to py around Yue’s bluff. In that case, Yuel would have gambled by not banning Shadow Walker.

  In some ways, the drafting phase was simir to poker. When both teams knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses, it became a game of bluffing and reading the oppo’s iions. In this case, Yuel’s bluff wohe right to pick Dark Knight again.

  The enemy locked their first pick: Druid. A very defensive css, as expected from a team led by Howard.

  “Yo,” Lars excimed. “Look at ‘em pilling on the defense from the beginning, they’re shook. Gonna be a pain to py against that wood dude ohough.”

  “Assuming that’s their Support pick,” Yuel pointed out. Druid was a good Support, but it was also a well-known ne freezer for Top La’s quite likely this was a ter-strategy to Dark Knight.

  On paper, this was a disadvantageous matchup for Dark Knight. If Druid freezes the ne for long enough, Dark Knight won’t be able to get the advantage he needs for mid-game. But, it should be fine sidering Roi’s skill.

  “I’m pig Dark Knight again,” Yuel announced.

  “Again?” Roi made a face. “You really think it gonna work twi a row? If that Druid is for Top Lane, I don’t think I wanna bump into that thing with a DK, lol.”

  “I’m aware it’s not the most favorable matchup,” Yuel nodded. “But, Gregory isn’t that amazing of a defender. With your skill, you should be able to pressure him into submission. He will cede either kills or ne trol.”

  “That’s some big expectations ya got for me. No pressure at all, lol. But okay, if that’s what you want. It worked st time, so maybe it’ll wain.”

  “Okay then,” Yuel locked in Dark Knight. , he picked Gunslinger for Lars.

  “Oh!” Lars grinned. “We’re going with that bad boy? Noice.”

  “Let’s show them the training you’ve dohis week.”

  “You got it! Gonna knock their socks off!”

  Gunslinger was the pick Yuel inally po start with today because he was uhe assumption Trickshooter was a guaranteed ban. Hopefully, the eeam will uimate this Gunslinger pick because it's not the famous “Lars with Trickshooter”, which was a beast from airely different dimension and transded any on sense.

  “Gunslinger, huh.” Howard narrowed his eyes. Simirly to Trickshooter, it's aricky css which required high mastery and meical skill to be truly effective. While with Trickshooter it was about nding boung Trickshots, with Gunsli was all about nding headshots fuaranteed crits. “Say, Tai. How strong is Lars’s Gunslinger?”

  “He sucks ass, khaha.”

  “Funny, but serious now: How good is he at sg headshots and using Gunslinger's kit in general?

  “He's alright, I guess,” Taison shrugged. “'t say it’s anything special. It sucks balls just like anything else he pys. Except for Shooter, I guess.”

  “So, you wouldn't call Gunslinger his ‘best sed’ or anything like that?”

  “Nah, not really. I know he really likes that cowboy boi, but that's about it. By the way, in case you're w, I think that css is trash, yo.”

  Nobody asked. Howard locked his palms. So, Gunslinger was just one of the csses Lars pyed well and really liked? Was that really all? sidering how early it icked, it felt like there was some sort of strong vi behind it. It's better to stay on guard. “How do you usually bat his Gunslinger?”

  “Oh, that's easy peasy. Here's my protip: just don't get headshot! Khaha.”

  “And how exactly you do that?”

  “Umm, ya just don’t get too close to him, I guess. It's hel easy to headshot ya when yo head is right in front of the gun. It’s like head-shotting a watermelon, khaha.”

  “So, maintaining distance is key. Alright.” Howard has already passed the one minute mark, so he had only one more mio decide on the wo picks.

  In order to maintain distance against Lars, Taison would need a ranged Juhe first idea that came to mind was Ranger, but unfortunately, that's an assassin. Taison would most likely drag it into drawn-out bat and will get obliterated.

  Were there any ged bruisers? Howard felt like the answer was at the tip of his tongue, but he was drawing a bnk. Well, o mull over this on his own.

  “Tai,” Howard said. “Got any ideas for a Jungler you’d pick against Gunslinger?”

  “Hmm, gimme Vampire. This gon be gud.”

  “Alright.” Howard nodded. Vampire was a det choiot only it was a ranged bruiser but it also had Coffin Slumber, a skill which turned him invincible for a short period of time. It'd be extremely effit against Gunslinger's barrages.

  As for the sed pick, Howard went with ancer. A melee tank didn’t sound like a good idea because it'd require getting close to Lars, so ancer was the best thing against Gunslinger.

  A very tight defense. Yuel frowned as the turn passed ba. The ancer pick pretty much firmed that the Druid pick was meant for Top instead of Bot. Running a Dark Knight into Druid was far from optimal, but Roi should manage.

  More importantly, Vampire had Coffin Slumber and ancer had Cryo-Freeze, both were abilities which graemporary invincibility. This must have been Howard's idea of tering Gunslinger's barrage during Fan the Hammer. Druid's shield from Gaia’s Prote was also a det ter because it could soak a couple of shots.

  It was a nasty defensive lineup for sure, but not an imperable one. Coffin Slumber, Cryo-Freeze and Gaia's Prote all had one element in on: they were treated as protective special effects. There was actually one css which specialized at nullifying those: Aquamancer.

  He got me. Howard smacked his forehead. He didn’t realize he ag so many defensive effects into his lineup. Of course Yuel would notice that and strike with an Aquamancer pick. It was a mid-tier css under normal circumstances, but it was a hard ter when the enemy p had many prote effects. Kudos for finding that right away.

  After that third pick, the drafting phase transitioned into the sed banning phase. Yuel started off by banning Elf for a very obvious reason.

  Oh, I missed that ooo. Howard made a face. It was another potential mistake on his end. sidering how maintaining distance was a huge factainst Gunslinger, pig Elf for Ellen should have been a high priority. As, Howard reoccupied with Taison's pick at the time and didn't want to pick a Carry so early into the drafting. That came back to bite him.

  I wonder how much of this drafting phase Yuel has already predicted days in advahat damn Yuel must have pyed out this drafting routi least a huimes in his head in preparation for today. His picks and bans were quick but they struck hard. Especially, that Aquamancer was good. That wasn’t a css somebody would pistantly without p first, it was clearly a result of preparation. In that area, Yuel seemed to be a step ahead of Howard. Not fun.

  But, that didn't mean the game was lost, far from it. It’s true that winning the drafting phase was like winning half the game. At pro levels, some even cimed that the drafting phase pretty much decided the entire game before it yed.

  However, at this club’s level, the execution part was even more important. Therefore, even though Howard's team suffered from a disadvantage during drafting, they'll just make up for it during the game itself.

  Ohe sed banning phase ended, it was Yuel's turn to pick again. He wao keep the Jungler pick to st due to Dan's flexibility, so the pick will be Mid Laner.

  “So,” Yuel turo Julia. “A defensive css like we discussed right?”

  “Sure,” Julia chewed her lip for a moment but didn't antagonize him. “What you got?”

  “Aeromancer is looking good. It's a good ter to both Coffin Slumber and Cryo-Freeze because you -”

  “Set up Whirlwind or charge Hurrie while they're not moving,” Julia filled in the bnks with frightening accuracy. She literally took the words from Yuel's mouth, word for word. “Did I pass the exam, teach?”

  “Full marks.” Yuel nodded. Did he teach Julia this specific tidbit before? Probably among the many other siderations he covered with her about pig a Mid css. She was a surprisingly good student, unlike a certain goof...

  “Aero sounds fine,” Julia said. “It sucks to not know their Mid pick, though.”

  “Aero it is then.” Yuel locked Aeromancer and the turn passed to Howard.

  “A defensive pick?” Howard couldn't help but blurt his thoughts. Aeromancer didn't quite mesh with an aggressive early game position. What was the catch?

  “I told you,” Ellen smiled like a know-it-all. “July 't py aggressively when Larsy is there. She probably came to terms with it after the first game.”

  “Alright, makes sense.” Howard nodded. Julia indeed put on a shabby performa game when it came to grabbing kill opportunities. Her defense was rock solid and she set up some good opportunities for others, but her offense had effectively zero impa the game. Her final score of 0/0/4 only further proved that.

  “ I take Electro?” Gilbert asked.

  “Hm?” Howard blinked. “That's a rather aggressive pick. Reason?”

  “I didn't get to do it st time,” Gilbert's eyes glinted. “But, this game, I want to make it clear who is the best Mid Laner.”

  Seems like my little motivator worked wonders. Howard smiled to himself. The mere possibility of losing the starter spot would drive anybody to perform their best, even a stoic guy like Gilbert. “Sure, let's go with Electro. It's a good ter for Aero in team fights.”

  After Eleahe final pick irate for Ellen. It wasn’t much of a ter funslinger, but it had the option to quickly create distah Backfire on and to knock down Gunslinger with Kraken to stop his barrage. That should be more than enough for Ellen.

  After that, the turn passed back to Yuel. It was the final pick of the drafting phase: the Jungler pick for Dan. The possibilities were infinite and Yuel had to figure the best ter to the enemy's p.

  “Got anything in mind?” Yuel asked.

  “Beastmaster,” Dan answered without thinking twice, with a mischievous smile spread across his face.

  “Really.” Yuel narrowed his eyes. This was clearly just Dan asking to meme.

  “Hey, Beastmaster is actually not that bad here,” Dan cimed. “Vampire has slow clear aro 't farm both ne and ju once, so Beastmaster thrive.”

  “You'll make any css you like to sound good.”

  “Heh, maybe.”

  Admittedly, Yuel didn't have a good retort there. Dan's argument was very ving and made Beastmaster sound like a good pick. However, Dan's smile betrayed him. It’s clear Dan was just pulling Yuel's leg to py a css he liked.

  “So, any real picks?”

  “Heh, I'm telling you Beast is legit good. But sure, tiers and all that. Hmm, I guess Lion then? None of them got a good way to escape the ult except for Electro's blink.”

  “Vampire's ult also passes through, but you're right. That'll pretty much force all of them to buy Blink. Good catch.”

  “Beast would be totally better, though.”

  “Right.” Yuel shook his head and locked Lionfolk. This wasn't the time nor pess around. They'll win the sed game and the whole match.

  With that, the drafting phase was over. The sed game will now begin!

  Lineups:

  Yuel: Aquamancer

  Lars: Gunslinger

  Julia: Aeromancer

  Roi: Dark Knight

  Dan: Lionfolk

  Howard: ancer

  Ellen: Pirate

  Gilbert: Eleancer

  Taison: Vampire

  Gregory: Druid