138 Problem Kids (1/2)
The club activity went on. Ben continued playing Top for three more games so that gave Yuel more insight. It didn't change the fact Yuel will have to go over replays as well. But, at least, playing alongside Ben gave him a rough idea of Ben's level.
As Vincent implied, Ben was very good at freezing lanes. In every match, Top lane was locked in a status quo during the early-game. Sometimes, even during the mid-game.
Even ganks didn't take place in Top because the situation was never inviting. Junglers from both sides occasionally tried to set something but that rarely went anywhere. Truly, Ben had the Eternal Peacemaker ability!
[Ugh, I feel like I'm losing brain cells from thinking in these terms.] Yuel shuddered. Why did Vincent's analysis always have to be so accurate and yet so dumb at the same time? Sigh.
Of course, it wasn't like Ben had any superpowers the way the clown suggested. From what Yuel could tell, Ben just played carefully and peacefully, so it established a comfortable status quo in the lane. Neither side wanted to commit to any risky plays so they maintained the stalemate. As a result, the lane remained frozen.
As expected, this playstyle didn't work against every type of opponent. During the third match, Ben faced an extremely aggressive lane opponent. It was clear the guy was out for blood because he picked Dark Knight. There was no chance a Dark Knight player would ever agree to a truce on the lane during the early-game because that'd be equivalent to losing.
Therefore, the Dark Knight didn't play nice. He aggressed on Ben at every opportunity and fished for a kill.
”Ah, oh!” Ben flinched as the Dark Knight pushed him back to the Turret. It took Ben a while to react to the Dark Knight's sudden aggression, so he lost a lot of HP before getting away. It seemed like the thought of fighting back didn't even cross Ben's mind, which made sense in a Vanguard vs. Dark Knight matchup. So, Ben did well to retreat.
Unfortunately, his retreat was too slow and he lost unnecessary HP in the process. On top of that, he was forced into defending under his Turret and the enemy was about to invade it.
Ben had to make a difficult decision: should he stay to defend the lane with just 30% HP and risk getting killed? Or, should he recall to base and let the Dark Knight push the Turret for free?
”Um, I,” Ben mumbled something but Yuel couldn't make it from across the room. They weren't playing with headphones like in a tournament, so Yuel couldn't pick up that low voice.
”I see, I see,” Vincent nodded repeatedly as he approached Ben's seat. ”You need some help over here, right?”
”Um, yes,” Ben nodded. ”A gank could help. Or, maybe someone could defend the lane while I recall. Oh, but only if you're free, of course. Don't want to bother you...” His voice went from quiet to complete silence. However, Vincent was going to make up for it with his loudness.
”Everybody, you heard the man!” Vincent's voice boomed. ”Ben's Eternal Peacemaker was shattered! The opponent is wielding the Dark Anti-Peace Sword of Doom! He's going ham on the lane and plans to pressure Ben into submission! So, what will Chessmaster's call be!?” He stretched a hand toward Yuel as if shoving a microphone in Yuel's face..
”A gank won't work here,” Yuel said. Since Luke was sticking to his Druid Jungler meme, he was still a ”set-up” type of Jungler who could only set up a kill for the laner. So, Luke didn't have the strength to scare away the Dark Knight. On top of that, Ben played a defensive class, so he won't get a kill even with Luke's setup.
”Luke, can you defend Top for a bit?” Yuel asked.
”No problemo,” Luke gave a thumbs up. ”On it, pal.”
”Then, I...?” Ben asked sheepishly with a glance. He probably had the right idea in mind but didn't voice it for some reason.
”You should recall to base,” Yuel said clearly to avoid any random misunderstandings.
”Alright, will do,” Ben began recalling as soon as Luke approached the lane.
[Do I really have to say every little thing out loud?] Yuel wondered.
Ben didn't come across like a dumb player so he must have understood what Yuel had in mind when asking Luke to defend Top. Nevertheless, Ben waited for extra confirmation. Why?
Frankly, this indecisiveness was a tad annoying. Ben couldn't even properly ask for help when the enemy overwhelmed him in the lane. Instead, Vincent ended up doing all the communication work for Ben.
It felt like Ben became a high-maintenance player once the enemy interrupted his ”peaceful” game plan. In other words, he felt at home while the lane was frozen and played well in this climate. However, once aggression came from the enemy side, Ben started losing himself. He'll definitely have to work on this if he wants to become a competitive player.
For now, Yuel had to think of Ben as a timid player who didn't always speak his mind even when the situation was rough. Yuel played with some kids like that back in grade school, so he had some experience dealing with that. He simply had to pay extra attention to Ben and make the right calls in Ben's stead as needed. Not exactly fun but it was what it was.
”Ben, you're been pressured again,” Yuel pointed out. The Dark Knight aggressed again and pushed Ben back to the tower.
”Um, sorry,” Ben shrank.
”You need help, right?” Yuel asked.
”It'd be great, but it's my fault it came to this, so...”
”That's irrelevant,” Yuel stated. ”You should request help when you need help.”
”But, I don't want to bother you with my problem...”
”Let us decide for ourselves whether it's a bother or not. Somebody may be available to help you out. If not, they'll just decline the request. But, if you never inform us you need help, we'll definitely not be able to help on time.”
”You're right...” Ben nodded but then fell silent like a statue. He still wasn't going to call for help? Sigh.
”Luke,” Yuel called out. ”Can you defend Top again?”
”On it, chief,” Luke rotated to Top and defended it in Ben's stead again.
”Thank you very much,” Ben threw a glance at Yuel and then averted his eyes again.
”Rather than thanking me,” Yuel said. ”It'd be great if you start calling for help yourself.”
”You're right. I...” Ben paused and his voice became quiet like a mumble. ”I'll try my best.”
”Please do.” There was no way Yuel would be able to pay attention to the Top Laner the whole time during the early-game. It'd be like remote babysitting.
No, that won't work. Ben had to step up his game and start asking for help of his own accord. The guy was blaming himself too much for everything as if he was carrying the entire world on his shoulders. This had to stop.
Yuel also had confidence issues at times regarding his plays but he felt like the most confident person in the world compared to Ben. It was unfortunate because Ben gave the impression of a promising player aside from that
Though, at the same time, Ben's IGN sounded uncharacteristically bold: Fatty. There was a good chance some kids made fun of him for being obese, yet the guy went ahead and plugged that into his IGN. What an absolute mad lad. It was so odd.
Either way, Ben was quite the handful as a teammate at the moment. He had the right mindset of putting himself on the line as a tank and his playstyle of freezing lanes was quite impressive, but the rest of his game plan felt average at best and unpolished at worst. So, overall, he was alright but not amazing. There were still many areas Ben had to polish before he'd be ready to be a competitive player.
Hopefully, Vincent was better prepared as Top for the competitive scene. He switched places with Ben after three matches so it was time to see him in action. Will this loud clown do a better job? He was dumb but also surprisingly sharp. It was hard to tell what to expect from him.
”Hey, Chessmaster,” Vincent called out during the drafting phase.
”I've been meaning to ask, why are you always using nicknames?” Yuel raised an eyebrow.
”Because it's cooler!” Vincent pumped a fist. ”When we enter a serious match, we transcend our outer selves and become one with our virtual selves!”
”Oooooooh!” Lars exclaimed. ”Yeah, I'm feelin' it! When I play, I become one with my guns!”
”Yeah,” Luke nodded. ”And I become one with my memes! We transcend humanity itself!”
”You got it, dude! Evolution, yo!”
”Science, bruh!”
[Is it too late to transfer schools again?] Yuel felt like facepalming into a wall.