Tako knew there was a reason he visited them. SweetRadish suddenly came into their This World channel while playfully smiling.
'This was his intention.'
There was something SweetRadish specifically wanted.
"Hey, Balloon Stars. Your game ended too early, right? How about a practice match with us to make up for it?"
Tako thought for a moment, 'Maybe it's not too bad?'
There was no way they would be able to beat team High Protein.
'It might be a chance to fix Almond's hiccups...'
SweetRadish's proposal was sudden, but it was a great opportunity.
Tako turned around and asked Almond, "Sounds good. Let's do it."
After Tako accepted the offer, he whispered privately to Almond, "This game is purely for educational purposes. There's going to be a lot you'll be able to learn from, so don't focus on winning too much."
Both Tako and Almond knew that would be difficult. To not focus on winning? That was like telling a competitive player to die. They knew that, but Tako just wanted to reiterate it.
The sudden practice match was underway. The champion selection phase breezed by with no particular special bans or picks. If there was one noticeable thing, no bans were targeted at Almond.
— Are you going to play Raina this round!?
— They left Almond open again?
— They're taunting him! Punish them using Raina!
It seemed like the viewers wanted Raina, but Almond picked Ran.
[The Pure Sniper - Ran]
Ran was confused about why he was constantly being picked, but Almond didn't have much choice. The only ADC he could play using one hand was Ran. The poison rabbit was another option, but they banned it because of StrawberryShooter.
'They don't ban my champions, but they banned the others out.'
He felt slightly insulted. SweetRadish, a young man standing across from Almond, playfully smiled at him. Tako told Almond they were here to see how good they were, and it seemed like he was right.
'He's staring at me.'
SweetRadish continued to stare at him from earlier.
Almond had experienced this before when he was rising as the youngest athlete before he was injured. When he was on the archery team, he would often feel the gaze of other competitors. They would continue to stare at him or breathe like a slight breeze near him...
For archers, where focus was everything, the slightest things could bother them.
'What's the point...'
Almond was the youngest gold medal winner in the country. That meant the other team's gaze didn't bother him. Even if they did bother him, his results were still better than theirs.
[The game will start in 10 seconds.]
The game was about to begin.
Tako reiterated the plan for them, "The strategy is similar to earlier. Our champions are almost the same."
Miho's Solia, Bubblegum's Iron Ball, Strawberry's Biker Gang, and Almond's Ran. Other than Strawberry and Tako, everyone else was playing the same champions. The changed champions didn't affect the plan because the strategy was for the mid to carry.
"During the fights, we're going to move in accordance with Solia because we won't be able to hear each other during the fights."
[The game is about to start!]
After their environment turned white, the players were summoned to the battlefield. High Protein didn't have an extreme early game strategy like Green Tea Bagging. There were no invasions. The game started normally. Strawberry killed the first jungle monster without any problems while Almond and Tako successfully got to their lanes.
'Gunner and Hook of Light...'
Almond double-checked the enemy champions and embedded them into his head. The enemy support was playing as the Hook of Light - Leah. If Leah threw a hook and it landed, it slowed the target. If it hit twice, it stunned the target.
The sound of minions approaching could be heard. White energy gathered at the tip of Almond's left thumb. Because Ran depended heavily on reloading and discharging, it was difficult for him to last hit minions when a swarm approached. If he lost one, it would be a domino of losses.
A minion with low HP fell in front of Ran.
Thankfully, the start was good. He needed to keep this rhythm.
"The ADC's name is WhiteChicken. He was quite famous among amateur ADC players back in the days." Tako took this moment of peace to inform Almond, "He's in Platinum now because he took a long break. If he practiced, he could go back to Grandmaster anytime. You have to be careful of him."
First Master and now Grandmaster? Almond made a bittersweet smile.
"Is that even allowed for the tournament?"
"Of course, he's rested for three years. They only factor in the last year’s ranks."
While they were making small talk, the opponent approached closer toward them. It looked like they were getting ready to battle.
"I think they're trying to trade. What do you want to do?"
"Shouldn't we hold back for now? We're investing in the mid lane this game anyway," Almond responded after recalling what Tako taught him.
— Wow, Almond can think!
— Tako is in education mode!
— Almond in the past: just walk forward and dodge everything.
Tako nodded as if he was satisfied. Almond had been listening after all.
"That's right. We need to just slowly grow. There's no point for us to overextend. Unless there's something big that happens..."
Right before he could finish, he heard something terrifying.
[SweetRadish got First Blood!]
[SweetRadish -> Miho]
[SweetPotato -> Bubblegum]
Mid and top both died simultaneously.
— This is common in solo queue. Is there a problem?
— W-What the?! When did I log in to LIL? Why's my solo queue game...
— Bubblegum... don't die…
"This changes things."
Tako wasn't too surprised because he expected this from the skill gap.
"Now there is a lot for us to do. I don't think we can get away with just playing anymore."
"Do we have to kill them now?"
"Yeah, I think we need to gain some advantage here now." Tako lifted his trident and started muttering, "Ran's advantage is that his range and damage are strong, but the gunner can shoot much quicker. Except for when we're reloading, we can't fight straight-on. We need to poke and back out."
"Shoot from far and back off?"
"Yeah. The enemy support is an annoying one as well, so you have to keep your distance."
Even Almond knew he had to use his range advantage to hit the enemy. He also knew that was Ran's play style. That was how he beat GreenTea. No matter how well the enemy hid behind minions, he could hit their blind spots and kill them.
'I don't see an opening.'
WhiteChicken? This player was different from GreenTea. He had no awkward movements. When he moved behind the minion to hide, he hid perfectly without leaving a hitbox open for himself. There was no opening to shoot at. According to Tako, the enemy was around the Grandmaster tier. Was that why? In contrast to GreenTea from earlier, WhiteChicken had no openings.
The support beside him had also trained well because they were quite annoying despite their low rank. Almond could feel first-hand that it was different here.
"You don't see an opening, right?" Tako asked Almond as if he read his mind.
Almond replied while continuing to kill the minions, "Yes, it's different from earlier."
"Why do you think that is?"
Why can't he see an opening? The answer was obvious.
"Because he's better?"
"No, even the best pros have an opening. There's a different reason."
Was there a particular reason for this situation? Almond was confused and continued to observe him. He kept thinking while trying to aim for WhiteChicken. What was the difference between GreenTea and WhiteChicken?
Was it simply their skills?
No, that wasn't it. Tako kept telling him that wasn't the case. Almond glanced at the chat for a second.
— LOL, look at this guy, trying to find the answer from us.
— Fact: No one here knows.
He couldn't find the answer from the chat either. Almond looked ahead again. After he observed for a while, he found the difference between WhiteChicken and GreenTea. Whenever GreenTea ran away or hid, he had his bow aimed at Almond. However, WhiteChicken never aimed his gun at Almond.
"... Is he just playing defensively?"
WhiteChicken only played defensively.
— You tricked me! This isn't Almond! He's too smart!
— Almond! You were smart all along!
— He's learning! That's terrifying!
Almond got the answer correct and realized why there were no blind spots.
'So that's why there are no blind spots.'
Of course, there was a skill gap between a Master player and a Grandmaster player, but the result of someone intending to trade damage and playing defensively was evident. Since WhiteChicken solely focused on defending, it was inevitable he would have fewer openings than GreenTea. However, Tako's lesson wasn't over yet.
"Then the next question should be, why is he playing so defensively?"
"Why... is he playing defensively?"
"Yes, we need to know the reasoning behind it. Try to read the opponent by changing roles."
Almond glanced at the kill score. It was a pathetic scoreboard, but only from Almond's perspective. What about from WhiteChicken's perspective? They were at an advantage. They could do nothing and still win...
'Do nothing and win?'
If he put himself in their perspective, they had no reason to fight Almond. Their team was already winning. What was the point of overextending and fighting?
'I see. He's making the efficient play.'
Since Almond had a dynamic play style, he didn't stay still even if his team was winning. However, High Protein was a team that played strictly. They didn't overextend unless it was necessary.
"Because... they're winning...?!"
— This guy keeps answering with questions.
— Are you a kid? LOL.
He wasn't sure, but that was the answer.
"That's right. Then how are we going to answer back? The enemy is trying to gain the upper hand. It's easy if you know it."
Tako continued to challenge Almond. He couldn't be there every time to give a command. He needed to train Almond for these plays in the future, so he could face off against even a challenger tier ADC.
'How do I answer back?'
How could he bring out a player that's only trying to hide?
'He's trying to gain the upper hand...'
Even though he was hiding, he was trying to gain the upper hand. Almond further investigated the opponent. Now that he thought about it, there was a brief moment when he revealed himself. It was too quick for Ran to land a shot, but this was the only moment WhiteChicken revealed himself.
"I have to aim for when he tries to hit the minion."
They attacked low-health minions to gain gold and experience. Missing out on this opportunity would result in a loss because it meant sacrificing potential benefits. They aimed to minimize risks while maximizing gains. This was the fundamental strategy of playing against opponents. So when killing minions, enemies couldn't simply hide. The health bars of allied minions served as valuable information, indicating when enemies would reveal themselves.
Almond felt an epiphany.
"Then I need to aim for him when he goes for the minions."
"Alright. Normally, that's what we do. But as we said, the enemy is a very good player. He can kill minions without exposing himself."
That was correct as well. WhiteChicken revealed himself for only 0.1 seconds every time to kill a minion. Besides, Almond couldn't predict where he would appear. He had to fire his shots before WhiteChicken appeared, but he couldn't.
"Alright, then let's dive further in. We need a bigger bait for someone like him who is only going for minions. What should we do?"
A bigger bait? Almond started thinking again.
'A larger reward than a minion...'
Minions gave gold and EXP. The jungle monsters gave a specific buff. However, that was irrelevant for the bottom lane. The biggest bait here was...
The best bait was Almond himself. He was the big bait. The enemy wanted to avoid trouble, but gain the upper hand... He could picture what to do next.
"I see what I have to do."
Almond reaffirmed himself and stepped forward into enemy range.