Classmancers - A MOBA Esport Story

Vol.3 Ch.19: The Gap Between Practice and Experience

『You have been killed!』

Jennifer stared at her screen, twisting her lips. She done goofed. She done goofed HARD. Even though she's the one who started the attack on Gunz, she's also the one who wound up dead. And she would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for that meddling Chronomancer. Dang it.

Still, even without the Chronomancer's unexpected gank, she knew the truth: she played like trash in that 1v1. Gunz almost destroyed her. The most she managed was to barely slip away alive.

Why? How? Jennifer thought she was piloting Pirate decently back there. She started off with Kraken to bait out Elven Leap. When that didn't work, she instantly closed the distance with Backfire Cannon + Blink and planned to wreck Gunz from close range.

There shouldn't have been any issues with these plays and she pulled them off pretty smoothly, if she can say so herself. Yet, none of them worked!

The Kraken bait didn't work and her saber slash missed. Both times, Gunz pulled off crazy clutch dodges, but somehow his plays brimmed with confidence. They... They weren't flukes. Jennifer understood that now.

Gunz wasn't even fazed by the fact he dodged these attack by a hair's breadth. He immediately connected one play into another without delay. He leaped over the Kraken, dodged Jennifer's slash and immediately shot her.

The only one fazed by this absurd development was Jennifer. After being thwarted twice in a row, she was put in a difficult spot. She had to decide whether to keep pushing this clunky attack or to call it a day and retreat.

While Jennifer was mulling over her options, Gunz went on the offensive without a second thought. From start to end, all his plays were so damn fast, so natural. It's like he had experienced this exact scenario a thousand times already. He knew all the best moves, like some freaking time traveler from the future.

Well, jokes aside, the guy must have practiced Elf to death to play so naturally. But then, what about Jennifer? She also practiced Pirate a lot because Coach insisted. That's how she knew to farm effectively early on, to open a fight with a Kraken bait and to corner the enemy Carry into melee combat. These were strong meta plays she learned and practiced to perfection.

Then why? What was the problem? Didn't she learn and practice how to play Pirate? What was the difference between her and Gunz? It felt like she was missing something. There was something Gunz possessed that she didn't, and that's why she got her ass whooped. It kinda sounded like an excuse, but it really felt that way.

"What a headache." Jennifer sighed.

"I think you should've pressured him more during the early game," Albert said.

"Hm? You talking about Gunz?"

"Yeah." Albert nodded.

"Hmm, but isn't that kinda bad? I mean, Pirate is kinda trash during the early game, so I gotta play defense and farm hard."

"True, Pirate is a bit weak, but the same goes for Elf. Even though Elf has great range, it's a mid-tier class because it doesn't have many tools for fights and its stats aren't that high. So, Pirate can pressure Elf during the early game."

"Hoh." Jennifer nodded.

"You didn't know that?" Albert raised an eyebrow.

"A-Aahaha, of course I did!" Jennifer forced a huge smile. "I'm just impressed how much you know about these classes! I mean, Carry is your secondary and all, but you sure know your stuff!"

"I see." Albert nodded.

Phew! Dodged that bullet. Jennifer secretly sighed in relief. Seemed like Albert was convinced-