"First, InformationBlackhole," Sonya started.

“Alright.” Cato clicked once, advancing the presentation by one slide.

The summary of InformationBlackhole’s profile appeared on the projected screen. It listed the main roles he played and his stats.

『Roles: Top, Support』『Class Variety: High』

『Mechanical Skill: 5/10』『Decision-making: 8/10』『Game Knowledge: 8/10』

『Playstyle: Adapts to the opponent. Can play offense or defense on demand but doesn’t specialize in either.』

“All in all, he comes across as a rather standard theory player,” Sonya concluded. “His mechanical skill is average at best but his decision-making and game knowledge make up for it.”

“Man,” Ronald started. “I can’t for the life of me figure how you rate people’s ‘game knowledge’ without knowing them in person.” 

“It’s the least reliable stat, I concede that much. I mostly infer it from the player’s class variety and from their builds. If they know how to play many classes and they know how to build them in different ways to suit the situation, it implies they have extensive game knowledge.”

“Makes sense, I guess. Still sounds a little dodgy, though.”

“There are other indicators as well, such as taking advantage of certain niche interactions. If they do that often, it means they’re the type to research things, which naturally implies they have robust game knowledge.”

“Hmm. Makes sense, I guess.”

“If you’re questioning ‘game knowledge’,” Cato said. “Then you might as well question ‘decision-making’ too. After all, you can’t know for sure which decisions the player is responsible for. Maybe they’re actually dumb as a brick and the shot-caller is making all the calls for them.”

“Hmm. Yeah, that’s kinda sus too.” Ronald nodded.

“Are you two done throwing dirt at my analysis?” Sonya made a face.

“I’m not throwing dirt at anybody, just asking,” Ronald said. “I’m sure you did your research and all, you always do. I’m just trying to assess how seriously I should be taking these stats.”

“They’re just a rough summary of the player’s ability based on the game footage. You’re free to draw your own conclusion after we discuss his plays in more detail.”

“Gotcha. But really, I think we should remove these vague categories and stick with just mechanical skill. I mean, everybody knows what ‘mechanical skill’ stands for, right? Basically, how good you are at kicking ass. Straightforward and to the point.”

“I have the distinct feeling you’re trying to shoot up the rankings with this ploy.”

“Heh, maybe.” Ronald rolled his eyes. This wasn’t the first time he expressed protest toward the two “vague” stats. The reasons for it were pretty clear.

“Sorry, but the stats are saying,” Sonya stated. “If you’re unsatisfied with your scores, then you better spend your energy on improving them, not on bitching about them.”

“Dang, what a burn.” Ronald smiled wryly. The girl swatted yet another one of his attempts to climb up the ranks. Oh well. One day, he’ll overcome that hurdle for sure!

“Back on topic,” Sonya continued. “As I said, Blackhole is a player who relies mostly on game theory. His game plan seems to consist of adapting to whatever is thrown at him by his opponent. He balances offense and defense as needed, but neither side left a last impression.”

They went over compilation video the Filmmaking Club prepared at Sonya’s request. The video focused on the strong and weak sides of Blackhole’s plays.

Namely, his strong ability to switch gears and adapt to his opponent on demand. But, it also depicted his weak performance in fights against DragonMaster, a player who was just a little above average in terms of mechanical skill.

“Honestly,” William said. “He looks like a weak link in their team. Everybody else achieved at least a thing or two against Taurus, but this guy just ‘was there’. He didn’t do anything notable.”

“Yeah, he’s free as heck,” Ronald agreed. “I gonna kill him at least 10 times in Top.”

“You probably won’t,” Cato said matter-of-factly.

“Wut?” Ronald raised an eyebrow. “You think this dude can match me?”

“No, he can’t. You’ll probably overpower him easily, but I doubt you’ll actually get many kills on him, if at all.”

“Why’s that?”

“As Sonya explained, he’s an adaptive player. Once he recognizes the difference in power between you, I’m sure he’ll shift to defense. So, don’t expect to catch him overextending or anything easy like that.”

“So, he gonna turtle.” Ronald pouted. “Well, that’s no problem either. Bro gonna help me with some ganks if that happens, right?”

“Sure,” William said. “But, I’ll be taking the kill too.”

“Over my dead body! I gonna let you gank as much as you want, but you’re not taking these kills!”

“Oh, so you permit me to gank your lane under condition? How kind of you, your majesty.” William sneered. “I’ll be ganking your lane whenever I feel like it, and I’ll be taking all the kills.”

“Heh, it’s a race then!” Ronald grinned. “I’ll make sure to pick the best class for stealing kills.”

“Sure, go for it. Let’s see how well that works for you.”

A discussion about InformationBlackhole somehow turned into a talk about scoring kills. Leave it to the serial killers to make everything into a killing competition.

They didn’t even have Blackhole in their sights. They thought of him as nothing more than fodder for boosting their KDA. The question wasn’t “Can we defeat him?” but rather “How many times we gonna kill him?” The confidence was through the roof.

"Moving on," Sonya said. "Next is... this guy. LegendaryMemer."

『Roles: Jungler』『Class Variety: ???』

『Mechanical Skill: 8/10』『Decision-making: 8/10』『Game Knowledge: ???/10』

『Playstyle: Has decent skill but plays meme..』

Like before, a player profile appeared in front of them. Though, this one was missing a few of the details.

“What are these question marks I’m seeing?” Ronald asked.

“It’s hard for me to estimate his game knowledge and class variety with the information I have at hand. If it were up to me, I’d peg him as a 1/10 on game knowledge. But, I know that’d be a very biased score.”

“Dang, 1/10? What do you even have to do to fall so low?”

“To be a total idiot, basically. And, that’s exactly what Memer is. Maybe I should have written it down as Idiot/10. That summarizes his entire profile quite nicely.”

"My, such a harsh evaluation," Cato said. "I didn't think the guy was that bad. His stats actually look pretty decent too." 

"As an individual player existing in a vacuum, Memer really isn’t that bad. But, his class picks were atrocious."

"That's what’s so cool about it!" Ronald exclaimed. "My guy picked terrible classes for juggling but he still kinda made them work!”

“Emphasis on kinda.”

“Yeah yeah, he wasn’t perfect, nobody is. But, he still performed hella fine. Dude deserves a medal, for real."

"A gold medal for idiocy, yes.”

"Daaaamn, Sonya is burning people left and right today." Ronald laughed.

"I just hate things that are clearly stupid, that's all."

A fitting response for somebody who named herself TheTheorist. Cato thought to himself.

For somebody who valued game theory above all else, memers were the bane of Sonya’s existence. They were foolish creatures who had all the required information for picking the right classes, yet they chose the weak and unconventional, hampering their own performance in the process.

That's probably how Sonya sees it. Cato reasoned. I agree with her for the most part, but I wouldn't go so far as calling Memer an “idiot”. After all, if I start calling unconventional tactics "stupid", then I’ll end up pegging myself as one of the greatest fools around~

Unexpectedly, there was another member here who shared a similar sentiment. Cato and Ronald were usually at odds about every single topic in existence, but in this case, they saw eye to eye. At least, to some degree.

"I dunno," Ronald said. "I got nothing but mad respect for the guy. He picked these low tier classes but still performed pretty dang well."

"I'll concede on that point," Sonya said. "Despite picking terrible classes for jungling, Memer handled himself surprisingly well. He almost made the classes look viable against mediocre opponents."

"Bruh be trying to revolutionize the scene, I feel it."

"It could be a trap as well," Sonya pointed out. "Given that Memer is decently skilled in both mechanical skill and decision-making, it would make sense if they didn’t want to expose his full strength.”

"My, are you saying they pulled a fast one on us?" Cato asked. "That the memer only pretends to be a memer to conceal his real strength?" 

"It's a possibility, isn’t it?" Sonya said. "At the very least, I rather believe that than accept that somebody at his level would choose to play memes."

“The extra evidence from last year speaks against you, though.”

“That’s true, I suppose.” Sonya conceded on that point and showed the video in question. “We didn’t want to bore you with this sorry excuse of a match, so I didn’t ask you to watch this one as homework. But, Memer actually played in one scrimmage last year.”

“Whoa! The twists! ” Ronald exclaimed. “How did my guy do there?”

“Awful, as you’d expect from a memer.” Sonya briefly summarized that old game, though there wasn’t much to summarize in the first place. In a nutshell, it was a clown fiesta.

Stratus had a scrimmage against the Tycoons last year and LegendaryMemer subbed in for it. The reason was unknown, but it’s likely that the fifth member of the first-string was absent that day and Memer was the best sub they had.

“That’s sad if true,” Sonya commented. “To think that a memer was the only thing they could rely on in that situation. I would’ve probably quit in their stead.”

“My, so harsh.” Cato shook his head. “And, that’s despite the fact he was the best player on their team.”

“He was!?” Ronald jumped. “Show us already! I’m telling you, bruh is sick!”

“Being a little better than a bunch of incompetent fools hardly warrants any praise,” Sonya said. “Anyway, this match is a pitiful sight and there isn’t much to learn from it. But, as I always say, the more data, the better. I compiled a quick rundown of Memer’s most notable plays.”

And so, the clown fiesta began. Memer played a bunch of memes that year as well. He was in the Jungler role like this year, and he picked every class that was NOT meant to be a Jungler, not even close.

Knight, Cryomancer, and Pyromancer. Watching these picks had the power to make people lose brain cells, that’s how dumb it was.

However, to his defense, Memer also picked Rogue twice in that scrimmage. It was a meme-level class at the moment, but at least it was intentionally designed for jungling. Though, ultimately, it underperformed in that role.

“As sad as it is,” Sonya said. “Cato is right about one thing: Memer was pretty much the best player on that sorry excuse of a team. As I said, being a little better than absolute trash hardly deserves any compliments, but at least it points toward a certain conclusion. Anybody cares to guess what it is?”

“That this dude is the real thing!” Ronald yelled like a fanboy. “He got the balls to bring memes on stage and make them work! Mad respect.”

“... yes, you’re largely on point,” Sonya said through her teeth. “This match from last year further reinforces the notion that Memer is, as his name implies, really a memer.”

“Yep, he sure is! Dang, that’s so cool.”

“So,” Sonya continued. “Even though I rated his skill and decision-making as 8/10, in practice he turns both into 1/10 due to his terrible class picks. And, his game knowledge is somewhere around -1000 out of 10.”

“Such unwarranted harshness.” Cato shook his head. “I understand that you dislike the idea of memeing, but you should keep your personal feelings out of this analysis.”

“My feelings?” Sonya tilted her head. “I didn’t express any feelings on the matter. These were all straight facts, nothing more.”

“Sure, sure.” Cato smiled meaningfully. “In conclusion, Memer is a memer, and he actually performs quite adequately for one. It’s clear he put lots of time and effort into mastering his memes.”

“I can’t believe people waste their time on pointless stuff like that...”

“Says the one who worked overtime to supply Jenny with ideas for improving her Combo playstyle.”

“That’s... different.” Sonya chewed her lips. “I know that Combo is off-meta, but it’s definitely not a meme. There are pros who put it to great use, like DimensionShift.”

“Ah yes, the guy who only uses Combo in like 5% of his games, yet somehow became the face of the entire playstyle. Curious.”

“He uses it in the right place at the right time,” Sonya explained. “That’s how Combo should be used. It’s a niche playstyle that can bring amazing results in certain situations.”

“But,” Ronald started. “Didn’t Jenny use it, like, all the time?”

“... yes, she did.” Sonya sighed. “I’ve told her many times she should only use Combo in certain situations, but she insisted to make it an all-purpose playstyle. I tried to help her as much as possible with that experiment, but I definitely wasn’t a big fan of the idea.”

“Well, then let’s pretend Memer is like Jenny,” Cato suggested. “Except, instead of Combo, this guy is trying to make memes viable.”

“Absolutely disgusting.”

“Ahaha, there’s no changing this girl’s mind, is there?”

“Memes are the devil, plain and simple.”

“And that’s an objective take?”

“Yes, 100% facts.”

“Sure, sure.”

They moved on to analyze some of Memer’s plays from this year.

As previously established, the guy was a memer but one who performed quite adequately. A score of 8/10 for both mechanical skill and decision-making was nothing to sneeze at.

I wonder what kind of mental gymnastics Sonya had to do to convince herself to honestly rate the guy’s skill like that~ Cato smiled to himself.

No matter how much the girl loathed the idea of memeing on the competitive scene, she had no choice but to admit that the guy’s performance was solid against Taurus. His mechanical skill was rather high and his decisions as a Jungler were on point.

Though, I wonder how many of these decisions were actually his. Cato glanced at one of the players on the screen, the supposed shot-caller of the enemy team - Chessmaster. Many of Memer’s plays feel like something HE would go for. Interesting, interesting~

“Memer or not,” Cato said. “Make sure to exercise caution. He might be memeing right now, but nothing stops him from picking up meta classes later on. Jenny did exactly that after getting trash last year.”

“Nobody was trashed,” Sonya declared once more but it fell on deaf ears.

“Either way," William said. "I’m sure that playing against us will make Memer realize how dumb he’s being by sticking with memes. I don’t have anything against memeing, but there is a time and a place for experimental stuff, and the competitive scene isn’t it.”

"Haha, dang." Ronald chuckled. "Everybody be roasting my guy. He's actually my second favorite dude from that team, you know? Other than him and Gunz, the others are kinda whatever." 

After everybody dropped their two or three cents on the topic, they moved on to watch Memer’s ganking techniques.

"He seems to prefer playing as a Setup Jungler," Sonya explained. "He did play Pyromancer in the first game and he also played it last year, but even then he heavily relied on cooperation. It doesn’t seem like he’s keen on the idea of ganking lanes by himself.”

"He probably doesn't have much choice," Cato said. "If you’re memeing as a Jungler but you’re also seriously trying to win, then you’d most likely go for a Setup Jungler. The guy understands that much and I respect that."

“I can’t believe I just heard the word ‘meme’ in one sentence with ‘win’. These two don’t mesh together.”

“You’d think so, but Stratus just proved the opposite, didn’t they?”

“They didn’t win thanks to the meme picks, that’s for sure,” Sonya asserted. “If anything, it only made their performance look clunkier than it really was. I’m sure they would have won far more convincingly if Memer wasn’t an actual memer. It still puzzles me why they subbed him in over VanishingFlower.”

“Circumstances, probably.” Cato shrugged. “We can leave the guessing games for later. Right now, we’re still talking about Memer here.”

“Right.” Sonya nodded. “Reasons aside, he’s definitely leaning toward being a Setup Jungler. Memer or not, we need to be cautious when he teams up with others. On the other hand, if he’s coming toward you all by himself, then he’s usually not much of a threat. We might even be able to ignore solo ganks from him under certain circumstances.”

"Hmph. Weak." William scoffed. "If you're a Jungler, you have to be able to go for kills. Otherwise, you’re just a roaming Support."

"True," Cato agreed.

As a player whose two main roles were Jungler and Support, Cato completely agreed with that analogy. The way Memer played resembled the role of a mid-game Support, whose primary job was to travel all around the map and set up kills for his allies.

It was viable to play Jungler that way but it was suboptimal. A good Jungler should know how to set up kills AND how to score them by himself if needed. It was a dynamic role that demanded the player to constantly adapt to the situation at hand. That’s what made it so rewarding to play.

In conclusion, LegendaryMemer was a Setup Jungler who picked meme classes for personal fun. Not exactly the most impressive resume.

The guy was reasonably skilled so he'd definitely be a threat if he played any meta classes. But, as it stood, he was a secondary threat at best.

They watched a few more clips featuring LegendaryMemer, then moved on to the next subject. It was perhaps the weirdest and most mysterious player of them all - VanishingFlower.