『The team selected Pyromancer.』
Time ran out, so the system locked in on the last selected class. There was no going back now.
It is what it is. Yuel shrugged with a sigh. Now that this is outside my control, it's time to address the other elephant in the room... He switched over to his favorite topic: picking a "good meme" class for Luke, if such a term was even legal.
Fortunately, the game went into the second banning phase, so there was plenty of time to mull over this topic.
Picking a Setup Jungler might not be so terrible here, provided Kai doesn't suffer too much from the Softhearted sickness. Yuel reasoned. If they can team up to gank the Dark Knight, that'll be game over for the Tycoons. But...
With his meme picks, Luke's setup potential always left much to be desired. And, it was also unclear how assertive Kai would be in the lane. With these two big question marks looming over his head, it was difficult for Yuel to commit to anything.
Ideally, I'd like Luke to have the flexibility to both set up ganks and play aggressively, depending on how things play out. There are plenty of Jungler classes that satisfy this criterion… if only Luke bothered to play any of them. Sigh.
Unfortunately, the only options in Luke's arsenal were either picking a dedicated Setup Jungler… or picking Orc. There was no in-between.
Technically, Orc can both attack and set up. But first of all, it's a Jungler Orc, which is already very questionable. And secondly, Luke only started practicing it recently, so he's not that great with it.
There were so many reasons for concern that Yuel could build an entire mansion from all his doubts. To say this was a difficult pick would be an understatement.
"My guy, why are you treating this like it's a matter of life and death?" Luke asked. "You know it hafta be Orc, right? That's the next coolest pick I have after DK!"
"Your Orc is half-baked at best," Yuel retorted. "It's clear you haven't put as much time into it. And, I haven't spent enough time thinking up team strategies for it."
"Wait, you haven't? Are you telling me you didn't consider it competitive?" Luke's jaw dropped. "That's rude for my buddy Orc, you know? Like, you came up with all these snazzy plans for DK without me even asking, but you've got nothing for Orc? Really? Discrimination much?"
"As I said, your Orc didn't feel as ready as your DK," Yuel explained. "Besides, I have many other important things to work on these days."
"Meh, that ain't like you, man." Luke shook his head. "Aren't you always supposed to be super prepared for everything and stuff?"
"I try to be, but I was extremely busy the past few weeks…" Yuel sighed as he recalled all the babysitting he had to do with Nia. There were simply too many issues to resolve with that problem child.
At least it paid off. Yuel tried to encourage himself. She performed well during all four games. Though that only makes this substitution that much iffier.
Replacing Nia with Luke always felt bad, no matter the situation. However, it felt tenfold worse to do it after Nia performed so strongly for so many games in a row. Now, Yuel had to deal with all sorts of annoying dilemmas related to memes. Pain.
And, it doesn't help that I also have to worry about Kai's performance against Maverick and that unexpected DK. Yuel frowned for the millionth time since this drafting began. But, anyway, what are even my options here?
There weren't really any "good" picks on Luke's remaining list of memes. So, perhaps thinking too deeply about it was just an exercise in futility.
"Okay, fine," Yuel conceded. "You can have your Orc."
"Aww yeaaaah!" Luke pumped a fist. "I'm gonna run all over them with this spicy new meme!"
"I sure hope so…" Yuel sighed in defeat as he allowed this absolute nonsense to unfold.
In the end, the drafting phase looked like this:
=== Stratus ===
Chessmaster: Cryomancer
Gunz: Elf
EnduringPhoenix: Vanguard
Beat: Pyromancer
LegendaryMemer: Orc
=== Tycoons ===
MathProfessor: Lionfolk
Maverick: Dark Knight
CalculusCaesar: Pirate
RelativityPro: Viking
BinaryBoss: Paladin