Thanks to the enemy's billion-IQ master plan, Marim ended up dying. But it was fine. Her biggest competitor on the enemy team also died once, so they were about even right now.
In other words, Marim still had time to pull ahead! She just had to score some kills.
Easier said than done, though... Marim grimaced. Beat is a tough nut to crack, Gunz is outta my league, and Phoenix is uber defensive. As for Chessmaster... Well, he doesn't seem that strong in a fight, but I don't think I'd ever catch him slipping. He's way too smart for that.
The only semi-reasonable target was Memer, but that was dangerous in its own right. Sure, Marim killed the guy once, but that's only because she had the surprise element on her side. It won't be easy to catch the guy slipping again.
In short, it looked like GG. No matter from which angle she analyzed Stratus, these guys were as tough as nails!
So, the next logical idea is to cook something up with my teammates, but.. Marim looked at these nerdy blokes one by one. The only semi-reliable team member was Nahum; everybody else was dog water.
And Nahum wasn't exactly easy to deal with, either. Dude had some skill, but it was mentally draining to convince him to cooperate on anything.
I do have some leverage here, though. Marim thought. My previous team-up plan worked well when we killed Memer, so this should increase my credibility going forward. I just have to make sure I actually cook up something good again.
And so, even though Marim was dead, she was racking her brain to the limits. Surely, within the boundless space of possibility, there existed a creative solution for this seemingly hopeless matchup.
Scoring kills is good, but I think I'm getting a little tunnel-visioned here. Maybe we could try something else, like stealing the Dragon or something.
Though, Dragon is mostly gold. That's not enough. I need exp too, so I've gotta get those kills. But who can we even kill?
The more she thought about it, the more impossible it all sounded. Honestly, it even started feeling a little depressing.
Meh. Feels like it's not even worth thinking so hard about it. Marim sighed. It's one of those times when overthinking just makes things complicated. Let's just keep it simple, then.
All the available targets were hard to kill, so Marim had to settle on the one that was easiest to attack. Namely, Beat.
I need to pull some tricks to even get close enough to the other targets, but Beat is stuck on the lane with me. Also, she dialed up her aggression last time, so maybe she'll finally show some opening.
With all of that in mind, Marim set out to murder the heck outta Beat and reclaim early-game momentum! But...
Huh? Wait, she isn't pushing at all this time! Marim groaned. Where did all her gusto go!? She was acting all high and mighty just the previous wave!
Alas, Beat was back to her passive shenanigans. She waited for Marim to clear the minions first without taking any risks. After that, Beat safely disposed of the minions as they came toward her. There was neither a good opportunity to attack nor to push.
So, what gives? Did she switch gears because she figured I might target her? Can it be that they saw through me before I've even done anything!?
With a mastermind like Chessmaster in the game, anything was possible. That guy was crazy.
Well, if that's how you're gonna play, then I'll just come at you myself! In the next wave, Marim rolled forward right after unleashing Dark Blast. She was gonna clear the lane AND attack at the same time!
"Let's go!" Marim booted Nightmare and dashed straight at the enemy! Beat surely won't see this coming!
"Huh." That was the extent of Kai's reaction to the enemy's sudden approach. "Looks like she's trying to attack me...?" She delivered this vague intel to the team.
There was at least one good reason to question the intent behind this obvious attack. Namely, the fact that such an obvious frontal assault would never work against Kai in a million years. So, surely, her opponent had something greater in mind, right? Otherwise, this would be quite the insult.
Anyway, Kai rolled away in response to the enemy's advance. With Dark Blast on cooldown, there was literally nothing a DK could do at this distance to continue the offense.
"Oh, crap…" Marim realized only now that she had rushed in without thinking things through. She cancelled the Nightmare mode to not bleed HP, then took a moment to reevaluate the situation.
Okay, so I scared her away. That's something, I guess. Marim thought. This should make the push a little smoother, but it doesn't get me any closer to scoring a kill.
Marim had to be more creative here. Simple spooks like these didn't work against competitive players. They responded instantly and efficiently.
Actually, maybe instead of obsessing over kills, I should just go for a tower dive? Marim knotted her brows. That sounds risky as hell, but I might have no choice. No pain, no gain.
There probably weren't any safe solutions here for the Tycoons. They were severely underpowered compared to the competition, so the only way to win was by doing something crazy and unexpected. At least, that's what Marim believed.
I mean, Memer proved that the surprise element works even against Leo. So, as long as I play my cards right, I'll be able to catch Stratus off guard! Somehow! Surely!
Unfortunately, Marim didn't prepare any special strategy for today. After all, she didn't expect to actually be on the stage here today. So, from the moment she subbed in, the best she could do was to improvise.
Fortunately, she was relatively familiar with Stratus' players out of sheer curiosity. However, before this game, she never thought too deeply about how she'd go about defeating them.
This DK gig I came up with is cute, but I'm not even an expert on it or anything. Marim thought. I've dabbled with it in Ranked and all, but I doubt it's the best solution I would've come up with if I had more time to brainstorm.
On paper, Dark Knight had all the right ingredients for making this a success. However, the class had to be piloted with top efficiency to fully capitalize on its unique strengths.
And, I'm not doing a great job at this right now. Marim made a face as she watched her lane opponent casually retreat to the tower. Her lousy attempt at aggression fell through before it even started.
Well, in a way, there was a grain of success there. Marim desperately tried to look at the glass half-full. I can easily push all the way to the tower like this, even dive in a little. It's not much, but it's honest work.
However, this wasn't something Marim should be satisfied with, not as a DK. She needed more advantage, more momentum, and more farm.
Unfortunately, her time was running out. She had to come up with something and do it fast!
Maybe I should go all in on the tower? Marim entertained the thought for a second, but that's where it ended. Nah, it's way too risky, and I doubt it's even going to make much of a difference. I mean, even in the best-case scenario, it's not like I'm gonna deal that much damage to the tower. I'm not Orc, so my basics aren't all that.
Too bad the tower couldn't be hit by skills; that would've been a huge game changer for Dark Knight. The class would've shot up to S+ rank in a meta like that.
Well, maybe in another timeline. As it stood right now, Marim had no way to rapidly deplete the tower's HP. Basically, she had to rely on her minions for that.
This sounded alright on paper, considering Marim could easily secure the lead in every wave. However…
WHOOSH! Flames engulfed Marim's minions, leaving only ashes behind. Beat dispatched the entire army in one fell swoop after she charged up her Heat.
To their defense, the minions did get some damage on the tower before they perished, but it wasn't much. Marim needed a lot more than that.
But, as passive as she might seem, Beat wouldn't let me get more progress than this. I have to figure something out if I want change. Hmm. Hmmmmm. HMMMMMMMMMM.
As she kept racking her brain, Marim was slowly but surely starting to understand why Mid DK wasn't a popular pick in the competitive scene these days...