The next minion wave arrived.
With mid-game right around the corner, it was only natural for Maverick to get angsty. So, Yuel arranged a gank to take advantage of this. It was high time to shut down Maverick once and for all.
However, while this plan was hatching, the enemy did their own share of thinking and plotting…
This is bad. Marim began her brainstorming on this positive note. I need to get Nahum involved, or else I'm not getting any kills here.
Beat was too good at deflecting. She wasn't attacking much, but what she lacked in offense she made up for with efficient defense. It was hella impossible to get anything started against that girl!
And baiting her doesn't seem to work either. She just straight up isn't interested in fighting. Marim grumped. So, I have to somehow arrange a gank. Yeah, somehow. Super easy, barely an inconvenience...
This was easier said than done. Any half-baked plan was bound to fail against opponents of Stratus' caliber.
Judging by all the elements in play, a simple, dumb frontal assault seemed like Marim's best option. She had to knock on the opponent's door and hope that they'd open the door.
Beat is probably gonna shut that door straight in my face, though. Marim sighed as her simulation led to another dead end. Not to mention, I wasn't a very good poker player last round. I pretty much showed my hand, so I bet they've already figured that I'm gunning for a kill here. Actually, wait a minute...
Chessmaster seemed like the type who exploited every juicy opportunity he noticed, and he surely realized Marim's intentions. So, did that mean he had already hatched a plan to exploit Marim's aggressiveness!?
If true, then Marim was in deep shit here. No matter what play she makes next, the opponent might've already predicted it! She was screwed!
That is, unless I predict his prediction and turn the tables around! Marim smirked giddily. This now felt like a chess game between true intellectuals!
Anyway, that's enough messing around. Real talk now, what do I do? Marim scratched her head. If they're expecting me to be aggressive, does that mean they're setting up a gank? That sounds reasonable.
The fate of any aggressive laner was to get ganked hard; that was a statistical fact.
And I was just about to contribute to this statistic myself. Fortunately, Marim was smarter than that. By thinking just a little outside the box, she was able to prevent a disaster! Or, at least, hopefully she will. Figuring out the enemy's intention was only half the battle.
It's good to know what they're plotting, but that doesn't tell me how to turn the tables on them. So, what's the actual play here…?
Of course, the trivial answer was to drop her aggression and play it safe. However, that solution was for weakos.
I need them kills. If I give up and play nice, that's the same as losing. There was no other path for Marim but forward. She HAD to be aggressive; she HAD to attack. That was the only way for her, and for the Tycoons as a whole, to make a comeback.
So, how do I get this kill while dodging their gank? Hmmmm. Marim racked her brain real hard. This required some serious thinking. So much so that she skipped being aggressive in the next minion wave to give herself more time to think.
So, if they're gonna gank me, it means Memer will participate, right? Hmmmm. Interesting. Maybe I can try to aim for a rerun?
Last time, Marim and Nahum turned the tables on Memer right when he launched a gank. So, what if they just do this again?
Of course, the situation isn't exactly the same. Marim reasoned. Last time, they were the ones who actively went after me from the get-go. This time, they're responding to the fact I'm trying to get a kill, so it's more like I'm the one inviting them to gank.
Most likely, Memer won't launch an attack until he sees Marim overextend in action. So, Marim would have to actually attack Beat first to get things started.
And that's the tricky part. Marim thought. If I have to commit to attacking Beat first, then it'll be hard to switch gears mid-fight. Not impossible, though.
With good enough acting, Marim could probably fool the enemy into thinking she was committed to the attack, only to pull a switcheroo on them. It should be doable in theory.
"Hey, Nahum, I've got a brilliant idea!" Marim laid out all the details about her amazing strategy. The levels of genius were going to knock Nahum's socks off! Or, so Marim thought.
"I'll be honest, I hate everything about this plan," Nahum said matter-of-factly. "There is too much conjecture here for a plan that harbors such high risks."
"Say whaaaaaat? C'mon now." Marim pouted. "What didn't you like about it? It's awesome! We're totally gonna turn the tables on them!"
"Or, we might waste a lot of precious time waiting for an imaginary gank that's not even coming," Nahum retorted. "You have practically no evidence that they're planning anything for the near future."
"But it's so obvious!"
"Obvious to whom, exactly?" Nahum pushed his glasses. "I agree it sounds like a play that Chessmaster would go for. However, there are also countless other plays he could choose to go for right now. Therefore, your prediction is based on conjecture."
"Oh c'mon, why do you always have to be so difficult?" Marim made a face. "You've gotta make educated guesses sometimes. You can't always wait to have complete information before you take action. Classmancers isn't that easy of a game."
"Hrm. I suppose that's also true…" Nahum had no idea how to argue back on this one. He wanted to reject this notion and claim that every move had to be supported by solid math and logic. Alas, it was difficult to make such a claim in light of Marim's achievements in this game.
I can deny it all I want, but the kill she arranged on Memer last time was a greater achievement than anything we've accomplished in the last four games. And that plan was far from perfectly proven…
Nahum couldn't help but grump at this. He felt his mathematical model of the game was cracking a little.
With that said, it's not like every idea she comes up with is a winner. Nahum argued. For example, in her arrogance, she went after the enemy's hyenas and got killed. Though she did almost slip away scot-free…
If not for Stratus' amazing team play and execution, Marim would've gotten away almost unscathed. Clearly, the enemy put a lot of thought and effort into countering that specific play. Therefore, it was hard to fault Marim for this when her opponents were just that good.
So, from a certain point of view, it could be argued that both of her bold ideas were successful. Of course, this is a very small sample size, but…
It was undeniable that Marim's wild ideas worked. Instead of going for surefire, fully mathematically proven tactics, she was willing to take a risk and explore more creative avenues. These weren't guaranteed to work every time, but the payoff was huge when they did.
"I'll be blunt, I don't agree with your methodology," Nahum said, "but it's undeniable that your ideas are creative and show some statistical promise. So, I'll bite. Let's see if you can make something big happen again."
"Hell yeah!" Marim exclaimed. "Finally, you're seeing the vision!"
"More like, I don't believe we have a high chance of winning this game without some creative stunts like these. So, I'm willing to deviate from the norm to test out your hypothesis."
And so, the plan was set in motion. On the next wave, Marim aggressively attacked the enemy minions and wiped them from the face of the earth. Meanwhile, Nahum got into position to counter-gank. The preparations were set.
Whenever you're ready, Memer! Marim grinned. Come here and give me that kill I need!
And indeed, Marim's deductions were right on the money. While she was overextending into enemy territory, Memer was preparing to gank the lane.
However, this was very similar to the previous trap Stratus walked into. So, will they commit the same mistake twice in a row so easily...?