Classmancers - A MOBA Esport Story

Vol.6 Ch.12: Lane Pressure Sparks Offense

The laning phase began. Yuel and Lars fired at the minions from afar with their long-ranged classes. Yuel positioned himself a bit ahead of Lars to intercept any attempts at aggression, but overall they both maintained a safe distance from the minions.

On the other hand, the enemy duo didn't have the same luxury. Kai's Pyromancer had to advance toward the frontline from time to time to unleash Flame Wave. And, Vincent's Viking was an entirely melee class save for his Throw Axe, so he had to be on the frontline if he wanted to deal any damage. Naturally, Yuel took full advantage of these facts.

Every time Vincent advanced to help with the farming effort, Yuel and Lars advanced to get Vincent within their firing range. They poked Vincent until he had no choice but retreat to the rear.

Figured. They won't let me play. Vincent smiled wryly. In a 2v2 situation where one of the enemies was melee, zoning him out was a basic tactic. So, Vincent couldn't get to the frontline to help with the farming. not unless he wanted to commit suicide.

Once in a while, Vincent tossed his axe at minions from afar to get some damage in. But, overall, his contribution to the farming efforts was negligible.

"Sorry," Vincent apologized. "Seems like the farming is up to you."

"I noticed," Kai shrugged.

Not fazed at all, huh. Vincent was impressed by the girl's confidence. Or rather, her overconfidence. She was probably still under the impression she could seriously take on the Golden Duo.

Still, even though their farming was effectively 1v2, Kai held her ground. The strong AoE burst of Flame Wave was effective at clearing minions and compensated for the fact she was farming alone. Neither Cryomancer nor Gunslinger had any particularly impressive lane clearing tools, so a Pyromancer alone could roughly rival them as long as the Gunslinger wasn't landing quick headshots on minions all the time.

However, the bad news was that Kai had to get close to the minions to unleash Flame Wave effectively. This medium reach was one of the greatest weaknesses of Pyromancer. The burst of Flame Wave was powerful, but it forced Kai to put herself in danger every time.

"Just a friendly advice," Vincent said. "Don't try too hard to match their clearing speed."

"You're asking me to surrender lane control?"

"You put yourself in danger every time you advance to the frontline. If you keep this up, the Golden Duo shall smite you down."

"Aren't you here to prevent things like that?" Kai asked. "If they get close, just boot your ult."

"So, you're using me like a scarecrow here?" Vincent chuckled.

Kai had the right idea here. Viking was scary at close range due to his ult, so even the Golden Duo will think twice before approaching him. So, even though Vincent couldn't help much with the farming, his mere presence on the lane kept Kai safe.

"Yo," Lars exclaimed. "When we gonna go all out?"

"Not any time soon," Yuel answered. "We can't go in while the Viking is here."

"Why not? Let's do it!"

"You want to face an army of pirates? Yeah, didn't think so. Just wait until we wear out the Viking with pokes. He doesn't have any regen, so he'll have to retreat once he runs out of potions."

"Geh, so boring," Lars twisted his lips but kept following the game plan. He stayed far in the back and only advanced to pressure the enemy at Yuel's command. There was still a feeling of unruliness coming from him but, for now, he was cooperating with Yuel's tactics.