"So, in short," Jaiden summarized the lore for Luke. "We hooked up with Lars and Yuel after the scrim. But, at that point, we haven't played together much. Yuel wasn't a big fan of the idea."
"And rightfully so," Rio commented. "We're enemies. We can't just go and expose all our secrets to each other."
Nash rolled his eyes. "Aaaand the party-pooper strikes again."
"Anyway," Jaiden continued. "We've only started practicing together for real after your Leo scrim. It was one hell of an epic match, by the way."
"Word!" Nash hyperventilated. "You actually cornered these mothafokin' regional champs! It was a 2-2! They had to sub in some sus Chinese dude to clean up their mess."
"Actually, he's Korean," Lars corrected, with a proud know-it-all smug on his face.
"Yeah, anyway," Nash continued. "Bro was insane! Where the heck did he even come from!? As if the Leopards weren't already strong enough. Hax."
"Word. Total hax," Luke agreed. "It's unreal that they had another trump card after all the trouble they already gave us before that."
"By the way, just to make sure I'm not confusing people," Nash said. "You're Memer, right?"
"The one and only!"
"Damn, that DK was sick! How did you even come up with that hilarious shit!? I've gotta learn it, too!"
"Please don't," Rio shot down the idea before anybody had the chance to respond.
I see they've got their own version of Yuel over there. Luke chuckled. "Well, I'm always supportive when people wanna try out some wild memes. But, lemme warn you. Jungler DK is a whole world of pain."
"Yeah, not even doubting that." Nash nodded. "But, you made it look real clean in Game 2."
"Welp, I'm the LegendaryMemer, after all!"
"Too bad they dunked hard on you in Game 3."
"Geh…!" Luke received critical damage! The horrors of that game were coming back to haunt him!
"But hey, that's DK for ya," Nash said plainly. "It's always a coin flip class, even in Top. You either go hard or you go home, haha."
"Yeah, haha…" Luke smiled wryly. He makes it sound so simple like it's the most obvious thing in the world. And, he's pretty much right.
Dark Knight was always gambling galore, no matter the role. Even in the distant past, when it was semi-meta in Mid, it was still considered a hit-or-miss class. Everybody knew how fragile Dark Knight was. Of course, Luke knew it too, but it seemed he forgot this obvious fact at some point.
This small reminder evaporated what little doubt Luke had left regarding life choices. I've just gotta keep on memeing!No matter how many times I get dunked on, I just gotta keep spicing up my memes more and more until they can't stop me!
"Hey, since we're already all here," Jaiden said. "How about a 3v3?"
"Hell yeah! Let's go!" Nash exclaimed. "I really wanna play that DK! Let's see how strong that monster really is!"
"Oh, are you challenging me!?" Luke flexed his muscles.
"Yo, let's do dis!" Lars pumped a fist.
"This is a very attractive offer indeed," Vincent said. "However, need I remind you that the Bermuda Triangle of Certain Doom is possibly the strongest force in the region? I suspect we cannot take on it without Chessmaster's strategic input."
"Nah, it's fine, dude," Lars argued. "The three of us can totally do dis, yo! Sure, they've got a nice triangle over there, but we can make our own triangle and beat them!"
"You say that as if it's the easiest thing in the world..." Vincent smiled wryly.
The impeccable teamplay of the Bermuda Triangle of Certain Doom was a combo that the trio worked on for years. It wasn't something a random group of friends could easily mimic on the spot.
"Actually, I don't think the odds are that bad for you," Jaiden said. "You guys main Top, Jungler, and Carry, which are pretty much the main roles you need for a good 3v3. Meanwhile, me and Rio main Bot, so we'll be a bit outside our element here."
"Hmm." Vincent squinted his eyes. "You make it sound convincing, but I saw you three play other roles just as well. I'm not falling for that propaganda."
"Haha, fair enough." Jaiden nodded. "But hey, there are also other things that make it difficult for us, you know? For example, fully grouping up is actually a big commitment in 3v3."
"That is true."
In 3v3, for three players to group up in one place meant putting all your eggs in one basket. It was something the team had to execute very delicately to not get countered.
Furthermore, the 3v3 format actually split up the Triangle more than 5v5 did. Jaiden and Rio had to play on separate lanes, which meant Nash couldn't easily construct the Triangle during his rotations.
It was easy to be blinded by the overwhelming power of the Triangle and hail them as the "strongest force in the region". However, the Triangle needed three players in one place in order to function. Separately, each of them was still a decent player, but nothing Stratus couldn't handle.
"Also," Jaiden continued. "How about we let Lars go wild and pick whatever class he wants? That'll be fun."
"Oh?" Vincent blinked. "Are you really going to willingly unleash that beast?"
"Why not? It sounds like a fun challenge. Right, guys?"
"Hell yeah!" "Not at all." The reception was mixed, but it was two versus one, so it stood.
"Yo, you dudes be wildin'!" Lars grinned. "Ya really think you can take on my Shooter and Slinger!?"
"Yeah, no sweat," Jaiden proclaimed boldly.
"Yep, ez game!" Nash grinned.
"You guys are in for a world of pain…" Rio, as always, remained skeptical. But, he was in the minority, so he had no choice but to go with the flow.
As the hype built up, Vincent became convinced. With the Meme Jedi and the Insane Beast of the Apocalypse on our side, we stand a real chance here!
"Very well," he said. "I'm on board. Let us have this battle!"
And so, it was decided. The 3v3 of the century was about to kick off!