For the third scrim, Stratus was facing the Tycoons. But, despite the big-sounding name, that team wasn't anything to write home about.
The club hailed from Whale Coast Junior High, a luxurious private school running on a high budget. It was geared toward higher education and hi-tech, so the school had cutting-edge technology, at least by middle school standards.
This extended to their Classmancers club as well. They had a big club room with more than a dozen gaming PCs, gaming chairs, and so on.
Considering all that, perhaps it was fitting for them to pick a pompous team name like Tycoons. Nonetheless, despite all these advantages, in practice…
"Heh, we're mopping these lameos!" Luke pumped a fist to celebrate the team's third victory in a row. "Tycoons? More like Noobs!"
"Indeed, it appears we have this match in the bag." Vincent nodded. "Though the Tycoons hail from a blessed environment, they don't seem to take advantage of the blessings they've been given."
Kai agreed. "Yeah, they're just a bunch of rich boys with zero skill. They've got nothing."
"Heck yeah, we're on a roll!" Lars pumped a first. "Let's get that 5-0, my dudes!"
"Yes, that's the plan," Yuel said. "We must be able to get a perfect win against a team of this level. And, I'm expecting you to keep playing until the end of the scrim, Nia."
"Ok, I'll try." Nia nodded. "So far I'm fine, I think."
Truth be told, the games so far tired her out simply for the fact that they were held on a grand stage in front of an audience. But, otherwise, Nia was doing fine. Yes, she was totally fine. Hopefully.
I'm glad to see the training was effective. Yuel nodded. I hope she can keep this up until the very end.
"Man, it ain't' cool," Luke complained. "Lemme play too! I wanna dunk on these noobs with my DK!"
"You'll get more opportunities to play once you start using real classes," Yuel said. "Until then, so long as Nia can keep playing, she'll be on the stage. Right, Kai?"
"Yep." Kai nodded. "I mean, there's no point shooting ourselves in the foot by having a memer in the lineup, right?"
"Tch, you lameos." Luke shook his head. "Just you watch! The next time you let me on stage, I'll destroy the enemy so hard you'll be BEGGING to add me to every game!"
"Sure, sure." Yuel rolled his eyes. "Though I do think there's one substitution we should do. For the last two games, I'd like Ben to play. He needs to build up experience."
"Understandable." Vincent nodded. "Very well. Go forth, Eternal Peacekeeper! Endure the enemy's shallow elitism and exhaust their resources until they accept defeat!"
"Y-Yes, sir!" Ben saluted for some reason.
With that, the lineup for the next two games was set. The team headed into the fourth game with high morale, ready to destroy the Tycoons once again.
Surprisingly, despite the decisive 3-0 result, the enemy's morale was rather high as well.
"So, we have lost three games thus far," Nahum summarized. "However! The next game will be ours for sure! My calculations say so!"
"Indeed. My calculations align with that as well."
"Yes, I also figured out the winning formula."
The members of the Tycoons were confident in their advanced math. All of them were already studying high school-level subjects in cram school, far above the level of public middle schoolers. With that said…
"We need to ward more."
"No, according to my calculations, we have to gank Mid more!"
"I think you meant to say we need to gank Bot more; that's where their real power players are."
Despite their advanced math skills, each of them calculated a completely different solution to the challenge at hand. However, there was one man who stood above the rest: the captain.
"Shallow!" Nahum cried out. "Too shallow, you guys. In your tunnel vision, you fail to see the bigger picture!"
"Which is?"
"Let me explain." Nahum pushed up his glasses. "Warding? Ganking Mid or Bot? The real solution is obvious: ALL OF THEM! We must do them all more, no question about it!"
"Oh, of course!"
"As expected of the captain! You always find the sharpest solutions!"
"Heh, this is why I'm a fan of integrals." Nahum smiled smugly. "Sometimes, you just have to sum everything up. It's that simple and elegant."
The team had to ward a lot in order to deal with Vanishing's stealth, and they had to interrupt the enemy's aggression more often in Mid and Bot. By doing all of that, victory shall be theirs! It was supported by pure math!
Alas, in practice...
『An ally has been killed!』
"Gah! Where did she come from!?" Jake fell victim to the enemy's elusive assassin, the one who struck from the shadows without warning.
『An allied Turret has been destroyed!』
"H-How do you even hold down this duo!?" Anton ranted as his Bot Turret collapsed in front of his eyes. He and his lane partner were helpless against the duo of Gunz and Chessmaster.
The only lane where the situation improved compared to previous games was Mid. Nahum ganked the lane frequently to keep Beat in check. But there was a cost to this strategy.
Hrm. It appears I've missed one simple variable in the equation. Nahum shook his head. If I take it upon myself to gank Mid all the time... it leaves no one to gank Bot! This is one equation with two variables, unsolvable!
And so, for the fourth time in a row, the Tycoons received a beating from the dark horse of the region. It was an insult!
It's acceptable to lose against the powerhouses of the region. Nahum thought. But, historically, the Tycoons have always triumphed over Stratus!
And yet, look at this result: an imminent 0-4. And, given the current momentum, it wouldn't be strange for the day to end on a 0-5. After that, Tycoons would look like the punchbag of the region!
Though the Apples still exist, and they should be weaker than us, so that's something. Nahum comforted himself. We will only face them at the regionals if at all, but historically, the statistics are in our favor. So, we are not the worst team in the region. Surely not...
『An ally has been killed!』
『An allied Golem has been destroyed!』
No matter how much Nahum wanted to deny reality, this scrim was incredibly one-sided. The Stratus of this year was much stronger than in the past. In fact, based on the data so far, they could easily qualify to be in the Top 3 of the region.
They beat Taurus and had a close run against the Leopards. Nahum thought. Of course, we analyzed all that precious data from top to bottom. Yet, somehow, we are still losing so terribly…
Where did the Tycoons go wrong? All five of them were big-brain mathematicians. They were supposed to be smart enough to solve a trivial problem like this.
They studied which classes to ban against Stratus, mainly the ones played by Gunz. Also, they analyzed Vanishing's jungling tendencies in order to counter this shadowy assassin. In addition, they also took note of Stratus' aggressive shot-calling tactics. And so forth. They covered everything they could possibly think of.
And yet, for some reason, they were completely helpless against Stratus today. This is outrageous! Nahum asserted. We even allocate so much of our precious time to practice this game! How could this possibly be the result!?
On top of attending cram school and striving for excellence in academics, the Tycoons also took the club activity seriously. Truly, they were honor students from start to end.
So, they never skipped practice, except for when big exams were around the corner. The team gathered in the club twice a week and practiced for two hours each time. Frankly, this was already above and beyond what a middle schooler should allocate to a competitive sport without a profitable future.
Hrm. Could it be Stratus trains a lot more than that? Nahum wondered. If so, I'm afraid their future perspectives aren't looking so good.
Stratus might end up winning today's scrim with a clean 5-0 score. However, it's the players from the Tycoons who will have the last laugh in a few years. After all, their resumes will be far more robust and impressive. They'll have far more to write there besides the fact that they dabbled in esports.
So, Stratus might win this battle, but the Tycoons will win the war called "Finding Success in Life"! … at least, that's the mental image Nahum had to maintain in order to not be devastated by his team's swift downfall.
『DEFEAT』
"Hmph. So be it." Nahum shook his head. "But, no need to worry. We lost this game, and we might lose the next one as well. However, ten years from now, we'll be the real winners in life!"
The rest of the team nodded in agreement. "Yeah, totally agree. These guys must be wasting way too much time on video games."
"True. I bet they aren't thinking about the future at all. Amateurs."
With that, the Tycoons accepted their fourth defeat in a row. There was simply nothing that could be done against opponents who grinded the game 24/7. No amount of genius was going to make up for that gap in experience.
At least, the Tycoons knew they'll be the real winners here! In ten years or so...