"Wow, they sure reacted fast," Marim commented on the way the enemy quickly switched targets from Top Griffins to Bot Griffins. She totally saw that adaptation happen on the fly. "So, that's how real competitive teams play, huh. Pretty cool."
It was a simple solution, but it was executed so quickly and smoothly that it almost looked genius. For somebody who mostly played Ranked, this sort of super-organized play looked incredibly rare.
Even when we do inter-club practice, things never feel this polished. Marim sighed as she silently criticized her own club. Seriously, why can't these nerds take the game a little more seriously? Not everything in life is about equations and grades.
But it was pointless to complain right now. Marim was already in the middle of a game, playing alongside this half-baked team. So, she had to achieve what she could with the hand she was dealt.
Dang it. The original plan was to take both Griffin camps, but that's a bust now. Marim pouted. She thought she was totally outsmarting the enemy by teaming up with Nahum, but the enemy wasn't fazed nearly enough.
Hmmmmm. Yeaaaaah, nothing else I can do. They totally evened out the odds here. In retrospect, maybe I should've pushed the lane, after all?
A Dark Knight who wasn't capitalizing on their early-game strength was just a phony. And, right now, Marim was looking like that kind of faker.
I'll go all in next wave. Marim decided. This is a do-or-die pick, so a little bit of risk isn't a big deal. She tried to convince herself, yet she found herself gulping as she envisioned the endings for the play she had in mind. Even for an unconventionalist like her, charging headfirst at one of Stratus' strongest fighters seemed like potential suicide.
I bet she's way stronger than me in a straightforward fight. Marim analyzed honestly. Unlike me, that girl is part of a real club that actually practices and stuff. Sigh.
Once again, Marim rued the day she applied to this "elite" school. Though, honestly, it wasn't even her fault. She did it only because her parents pestered her about it. They preached about how it'll "secure Marim's future" and yada yada yada. In truth, they probably just wanted to brag in front of others about "how smart" their daughter was for attending such an elite school.
Back then, Marim didn't have a strong interest in Classmancers. She only played it every now and then. So, the fact that Whale Coast Junior High had a weak club wasn't a concern for her. She didn't even know that back then, as she wasn't planning to join any club in particular.
However, the school forced everybody to pick at least one. This was where Classmancers came into the picture.
There were mostly scientific clubs to choose from, but joining any of them felt like taking supplementary classes. Not to mention, there wasn't any one topic that particularly interested her, at least not to the point of seeking extra studying. Only masochists would do that.
Besides, watching videos is way more efficient anyway. This has been Marim's mantra from a young age, taught to her by her parents. Rather than caring about what was taught at school, they always encouraged Marim to look things up on her own. That's how she learned interesting stuff about so many different topics.
Furthermore, her academic achievements testified to the efficiency of this mindset. She didn't take her school studies all that seriously, yet she still scored decently high. Truly, the power of the interwebs!
Because of this, Marim instinctively stayed away from anything that reeked of "poopy academic education". Most of these teachers weren't even there to teach; they just wanted to get their payment at the end of the month.
That's how the Classmancers club caught her attention. Unlike the other clubs, this one wasn't too supervised. It didn't have a dedicated coach, so the students there had the freedom to study and practice on their own terms. That was exactly up Marim's alley.
And of course, since she decided to join, she was also going to master the heck out of it! Competitiveness ran in her blood!
Unfortunately, instead of being a group of enthusiasts, the club turned out to be... a bunch of elitists who only saw the game as a distraction from their grade-obsessed lives. Big sad.
If they took the game at least half as seriously as their studies, the Tycoons could've been a top-tier team. Sigh.
Admittedly, these guys did have at least a few atoms of competitive spirit in them. When it came to studying game theory and the meta, they put in decent effort. On top of that, they thoroughly analyzed the game footage of rival teams and came up with strategies.
Truly, when it came to brain stuff, the Tycoons weren't half bad. They had the mental ability to play at a high level in terms of knowledge and decision-making.
But all of that was just theory talk at the end of the day. They needed solid fundamentals to execute their ideas at a high level, something they severely neglected.
Alas, none of them cared enough to polish their execution and decision-making skills. Instead, they focused on improving in aspects like drafting.
"As they say, coming on top in the drafting phase equals winning half of the battle!" This was the shared sentiment of most club members. It was as smart as it was foolish.
That statement did apply to the pro scene to a large extent. There, the drafting phase really had a huge impact. Even the smallest advantage could make all the difference between victory and defeat.
However, that was almost completely irrelevant to the middle school skill level. Especially, when there existed huge discrepancies in skill. Even a billion IQ drafting couldn't save a team whose players were 10 times weaker than the enemy roster.
This was such a basic thing, but apparently, Marim was the only member of the Tycoons who understood this simple concept. Or, at least, the only one who was willing to admit it upfront.
Surely, the other guys weren't so dumb that they didn't realize it at all. It was just an inconvenient truth for them. It meant they had to actually put in the time to practice their skills instead of relying on raw theory. It was hard for these nerds to accept that not all the problems in the world could be solved through brains alone. Some brawn was needed, too.
That's why, unlike these stubborn oafs, Marim made sure to practice extra at home. She wasn't gonna let anybody call her a skill issue player.
Actually, pretty sure I'm one of the strongest members in the club because of that, if not THE strongest. Marim reflected. So, I hafta be the one to carry this sorry ass team. I can't be caught making amateur mistakes here. Next wave, I'll be getting that sweet lane advantage for sure!
It was apparent that this battle would be way harder than the average Ranked game. But, no problem! Marim had already come up with a couple of schemes for the upcoming waves. She was gonna nail this for sure!