Aiming for both Griffins was too greedy. Marim reflected. It's something that might fly in Ranked but not against a real team. So, I hafta prioritize the most surefire plays, even if the reward might be smaller.
And so, in the next wave, Marim concentrated all her attention on the lane in front of her. First, she unleashed Dark Blast to clear the entire enemy wave. This gained her immense tempo, and this time, she was going to capitalize on it.
Onward! Marim charged along the lane along with her army. Heh, let's see how she's gonna deal with this. Is she gonna let me waltz into her tower area with all the minions? Or, is she gonna stand her ground and fight? Lemme observe how a serious player handles problems like these.
While marching onward, Marim checked and double-checked that the enemy Jungler wasn't anywhere in the vicinity. So far, it was looking good. There shouldn't be any chance of her being ganked. It was just her and Beat, a 1v1 showdown!
But contrary to Marim's gung-ho attitude, her opponent was far less thrilled about throwing hands. "The DK is pushing the lane this time, so I'm retreating." Kai's tone was indifferent. She didn't even entertain the idea of confronting that DK.
That passive attitude again... Yuel sighed. I'm sure she would've thought twice about this if she were facing a male DK. At the bare minimum, she would've tried to shoot the guy while backpedalling. Yet, here she is just running away like a scaredy-cat.
The Softhearted Amazon syndrome struck again! Though it was a bit more justified than usual when dealing with a DK. In a sense, the fact that Kai was so readily avoiding a fight was almost a net positive.
I suppose that mellow attitude can be a good thing every now and then. Yuel admitted. That's probably why "Softhearted Amazon" is on Vincent's list of nonsensical nicknames. It sounds like a weakness, but it has merits sometimes.
By "cowardly" retreating against Maverick, Kai dodged many risks. Some defense fanatics, like Cato, would surely claim that was the best play in this situation. However, Yuel disagreed.
She should've challenged the DK to get information. Yuel asserted. We don't know Maverick's skill level, but it can't be too high considering the rest of her team. So, we should've put her to the test.
Alas, Kai did nothing. She let Maverick parade over Mid without any competition.
"Heh, easy!" Marim snarked as she invaded the enemy's tower area. Her battalion was raring to demolish the turret!
"Aren't you overextending there?" Nahum criticized. "Their Jungler could show up at any moment."
"Yeaaah, I guess he could be heading over here," Marim agreed. "But, I should be able to get away no problem. At least, that's what my calculations say." She matched her language to nerds' taste to make the argument sound "mathematically sound".
"Hrm." Nahum gave it long thought. "I suppose I'm inclined to agree. Given Memer's most recent positions, he is unlikely to reach Mid anytime soon."
"Right?" Marim nodded. "At best, he's gonna get here when I'm already on my way out. So, it won't be a big deal no matter what I do."
And so, Marim ventured all the way to the enemy tower and smacked the tall structure with her dark blade. Needless to say, her opponent didn't take to it nicely.
"Take a load of this bitch," Kai ranted. "She's really feeling herself there, huh."
Yuel agreed with the sentiment. "I'm sure her skill level doesn't hold a candle to Apprentece's, but her cockiness is definitely on the same tier."
"Totally. This is actually kinda triggering, not gonna lie." She had the itch to start shooting basics at Maverick, but she knew that wasn't going to achieve much.
Before anything else, Kai had to get rid of the minions. And, to execute that efficiently, she needed Heat.
So, she started firing fireballs at each swordsman in order. The tower was also bombarding the greedy invaders, so Kai had to be careful with her execution. Last-hits mattered, even inside the tower area.
Alright, I'm ready now. Kai's Heat Gauge was 80% filled. This was enough to unleash a devastating Flame Wave that'll delete the bowmen from existence.
However, Kai wasn't satisfied with just that. The naughty invader had to be punished for her transgression. So, Kai circled around the bowmen to aim her Flame Wave in a way that would hit everybody at once: the bowmen, the one remaining swordsman, and Maverick. However, just then, Maverick turned around!
Oh, crap! Marim exclaimed. She's totally gunning for me!
That was one heck of a smartass play! Beat wasn't just going to eliminate the bowmen; she was also going to smack Marim pretty dang hard!
Sheesh, good thing I noticed it in time. Marim sighed in relief. Now that I see it coming, it's easy enough to dodge.
Beat didn't catch any of this time, so she carried on with her plan as usual.
Eat shit! Kai unleashed the devastating flames, torching everything in front of her! The flame attack successfully consumed the bowmen and scored a last hit on the swordsman. However, it failed to hit Maverick.
"Tch. She saw it, huh." Kai grumped out loud. Nice damn roll.
Maverick just barely rolled outside Flame Wave's hit zone. Not only did she dodge the spell, but she also slipped out of the tower area right before the turret started shooting her.
Oh well. Kai shrugged. Well played. She wanted to punish that overextender harder, but it was too risky to go up against a DK, especially when Dark Blast was most likely online by now.
Not to mention, it felt like Maverick was gauging Kai's reaction, as if waiting for a response.
Not coming after me? Marim tilted her head. Hmm. Weird. Aggressive pushes like these usually trigger people into making mistakes. I guess this really isn't the same as Ranked, huh.
Of course, even from the replays, Marim understood there were notable differences between Ranked and Competitive in terms of how opponents carried themselves. However, only now was it sinking in for real, once she experienced firsthand how a competitive player was outplaying her tactics.
Also, honestly, I was kinda expecting these meta slaves to be clueless against Mid DK. Marim thought. I mean, this isn't your everyday pick. Most people underestimate it when they see it, but Beat is keeping up her guard.
It felt like Stratus knew how to play around Mid DK on all fronts. They responded quickly to Marim's "Steal All the Griffins!" operation, and they weren't letting her get a leg up in Mid.
I mean, I managed to delete more than 5% of the tower's HP, but that's all I've achieved here. Marim frowned. It's definitely not going to be easy to snowball here. But hey, that's how the most fun games go! It's all about solving difficult problems.
This was a new type of challenge, a new problem for Marim to solve. And, she was going to ace this exam!
Looks like I'd better dial up the aggression for the next wave. Marim reasoned. Okay, let's do this! I'll clear this challenge for sure!
With that determination, she was planning to unleash her might on the third minion wave…