Classmancers - A MOBA Esport Story

Vol.8 Ch.11: Playing the Patience Game

The laning phase continued with a dark cloud of uncertainty hovering over Nia. Every time, she managed to sneak in one shot on the Dark Knight before he unleashed Dark Blast and wiped out her entire army. Then, she had no choice but to retreat and continue firing from under tower.

The Dark Knight fearlessly invaded with his minions and ravaged the Turret with his black blade. With every wave, Nia's Turret lost a bigger and bigger chunk of HP.

In most cases, these would be punishable overextensions. Yuel thought. If Nia were playing a class with heavier CC or more burst, she could've given that Dark Knight a hard time. Alas, Vampire didn't have such tools until Lv.5 so Nia had to play patiently.

Surprisingly, she didn't complain about this routine. In fact, it seemed she liked playing like this. Perhaps, turtling was her preferred playstyle, seeing as she also used it against Vincent and Lars back when she dueled them.

Eventually, Nia hit Lv.5. Alas, by now, the Dark Knight was already at Lv.6 and halfway to Lv.7. On top of that, Nia's Turret was down to 40%. This was a terrible position.

Still, as bad as it was, Nia successfully reached this position without any big losses. She was Lv.5 and had full HP. What little HP she lost to stray shots from minions was healed up via Bloodthirst, Vampire's passive life-stealing. So, she was perfectly healthy but the same couldn't be said for the Dark Knight.

With great power came a great price and the Dark Knight has been slowly but surely paying it. With each Dark Blast he fired, 5% of his HP was sacrificed. In due time, he'll wear himself out. He was already down to 70% at this point.

Fortunately, the guy didn't start off with a life steal item. His only ways to recovery were either killing Nia or using potions, which he didn't seem to have on him. So, as long as Nia stays safe in the back, the Dark Knight will exhaust himself in a couple of waves. That's when Nia will get her chance to strike him down.

Unfortunately, her Turret was in danger. If things keep going on like this, her Turret will crumble in a couple of waves. Not only she'll lose the lane, but it'll also rob her of any good opportunities to kill the Dark Knight before mid-game. Something had to be done before it comes to this.

"You have to spook him a little," Yuel said. "We can't let him keep pushing the Turret without worrying about anything. Next time he invades, Night Horde him."

"Hm, I don't wanna," Nia twisted her lips. "That'll remind him I'm here."

"Yes, that's the idea. We have to remind him that you're here to defend the lane or else he'll keep doing as he pleases."

"I'm ok with that. As long as he doesn't notice me, it's good. That'll let me surprise him real good." Nia snickered.

So, she's waiting for him to lower his guard completely and then strike. Yuel nodded to himself. That must have been the true nature of what Vincent referred to as "Vanishing Phantom". By playing passive like this for long enough, Nia made her lane opponent lower their guard and then delivered a fatal blow.

But, how trustworthy was this technique, really? If it was up to Yuel, he wouldn't bet the entire lane on something like that. Instead, he rather poke the Dark Knight out of the tower's area.

However, Nia was the one playing and she was the most familiar with her own playstyle, so it was her call. Besides, Yuel was curious to see whether it'll work this time as well. Still, there was one issue.

"It's good and all if you want to stay low," Yuel said. "But, if you keep letting him do as he pleases, he'll take the tower out. Waiting for the right moment to deliver your strike is pointless if you're going to lose the lane before that opportunity ever arrives.