Vincent’s first exchange with TheTheorist in the lane was very passive, but nonetheless unpleasant.

I feel like a lab rat. Vincent smiled wryly. The all-seeing Theorist is dissecting me at this very moment, I can feel it in my bones.

At first, Theorist stayed at the back and watched how Vincent will behave. Yes, she just stood there, menacingly.

Surely, her eyes recorded every twitch Vincent made, and she stored all that data on her mental hard drive.

She traded some precious lane advantage for the sake of gaining more information. Such dedication to the craft! Vincent nodded repeatedly.

As a fellow information enthusiast, he knew all about making sacrifices for the sake of understanding his foe better. In fact, Vincent would’ve gladly done the same under other circumstances.

However, right now, he was the one holding a slight advantage due to their class matchup. Therefore, Vincent was obligated to utilize this advantage, or else a certain Chessmaster will chew him out.

Besides, the records of Akasha claim that Theorist will fully respect this advantage. Vincent nodded. And indeed, thus far, she's exactly the kind of player I imagined her to be. And, naturally, I’m sure she profiled me down as well. I wonder, how predictable was in her eyes?

Today's battle in Top Lane will be decided via a clash of information. It was going to be very different from when he faced Taurus’ brutes.

Very well. Vincent nodded dramatically. Then, let us begin this intellectual battle! Whoever discovers the other's weakness first - shall reign supreme! 

But, that was easier said than done. They were both players with robust theoretical knowledge, so they knew how to minimize risks.

Theorist advanced toward Vincent's minion wave and unleashed palm strikes at his swordsmen, but she soon retreated back to her territory. Indeed, Theorist understood all too well that she was extending into enemy territory, and that it was mandatory for her to retreat ASAP.

It’s such a tragic tale! Vincent shook his head. My partner has just arrived and she already vanished, before I even had the chance to dance with her!

Despite how unrealistic it sounded, Vincent was hoping to quickly clear out the enemy minions and then strike Theorist at least once or twice. Alas, the woman escaped his jurisdiction.

Alright, this is enough for now. Sonya backpedaled after taking out one of the swordsmen. The rest can wait. It's more important to secure a safe position first.

And so, she left the danger zone in haste before Blackhole turned on her. As expected, the all-rounder didn't seize this brief opportunity to assault her, despite the fact he was holding the lane advantage at the moment.

Good. This makes things much easier for me. Sonya retreated to safety and activated Chakra Bullet, switching her basic attacks from melee to ranged. She only had seven shots of this handy tool before her chakra runs out, but she had to make do with that for now.

WHISH! WHISH! The Monk thrust her palm through empty air, generating a wind blast with each strike. The blasts rammed into the incoming swordsmen, dealing hefty damage.

Every shot of Chakra Bullet cost Sonya 1 Chakra, but in exchange, these shots were just as strong as her melee basic attacks. Thanks to that, she fell the injured swordsmen in but a couple of hits, and then she spent the rest of her Chakra on the bowmen.

Unfortunately, even with this handy tool, it was impossible to clear the entire enemy wave before they reached the tower area. Two bowmen invaded and started shooting Sonya's Turret.

Mhm. Sonya nodded. This is about how I expected this to go down. 

She struck the bowmen with melee attacks, driving her palms into their stomachs and chests. In a matter of seconds, she cleared out all the intruders, largely thanks to the support fire from her tower.

Unfortunately, Sonya gained less farm inside the tower area, but at least she secured both last-hits on the bowmen. Nonetheless, this outcome still put her a little behind her lane opponent in terms of farm, and this gap might grow even bigger in the upcoming waves.

With that, the first wave came to an end. Even though Blackhole's minions bravely invaded Sonya's area, their commander stayed far in the back and didn't press his advantage.

Reasonable decision. I’d do the same. Sonya nodded in approval as she activated Meditation near her tower. Her Monk sat down and began recovering Chakra.

The mediation also granted Sonya a slight HP5, even though it wasn't necessary for this particular situation. After all, she didn’t allow anybody to lay a single finger on her.

Alright, I'm ready. Her Chakra finished recharging right as the new wave arrived, so it was time to stand up.

So, given all the data I have thus far, what's the optimal approach against this particular opponent? Sonya pondered. I can simply maintain the current status quo and let him get away with a minimal lane advantage in every wave, that'll be the easiest way out.

With every level, Monk's maximum Chakra will increase, granting Sonya more ammunition of Chakra Bullets per wave. Therefore, even if she continues playing as passively as she did in the first wave, she’ll gradually shrink the advantage Blackhole gains per wave.

Eventually, she should reach equilibrium, at which point she’ll be able to compete with the Spellblade on even ground. And, she'll be able to achieve all that without exerting much effort or taking any risks. All she had to do was to repeat the same simple routine from the first wave.

If I reach that point without accident, then it'll count as my win. Sonya reasoned. Spellblade is also a late-game class, but nowhere near as hyper late-game as Monk.

Late-game Monk was one of the most dangerous classes in the game. In particular, when it was built purely for offense, then it could one-shot even late-game tanks with its ult.

But, I can’t build too much power, not with our current line-up. Their Support was a mage, and one who selfishly built power to boot. This meant only Sonya and Cato will have notable tankiness to them in the late-game.

Of course, as the Jungler, Cato couldn't build enough defense to serve as a frontliner in team fights. Therefore, that'll have to be Sonya's job.

Still, even Monk’s bruiser build scales very nicely in the late-game. Sonya thought. So, all I really need to achieve in this game is to reach the late-game safely.

For that win condition, it was more than enough to play passively against Blackhole. But, was that really the right thing to do? Shouldn't she try to contest her opponent a little more than that?

After all, it's not like I'm playing against StormBlitz’s Top Laner. Blackhole is just an average player from an average team.

Usually, Sonya wasn't too interested in contesting others via strength, very much unlike William and Ronald. Nonetheless, she still had her pride, both as a representative of the Leopards and as a player who worked hard in order to get into the first-string.

"You have to set an example for other teams." Coach hammered this line a lot. "High-level competition isn't just about winning. It’s also about achieving the result with dignity and confidence."

Alas, Sonya's current passive game plan idea was the exact opposite of that. She found the game plan attractive specifically because it avoided confronting Blackhole, which meant she’ll be able to minimize risks to zero. As such, there was no “dignity” or “confidence” anywhere to be found there.

"Keep doing what you're doing." Cato whispered into her ear through private communication, as if reading her mind.

"So, you’re saying I should keep trading farm every wave in exchange for minimizing risks?" 

"Yes, I say that's for the best. No need to take any risks if you can avoid them. Focus on the late-game. You’re a Monk, after all"

Cato's words echoed Sonya's own thoughts, which gave her a stronger footing. Whenever the two of them agreed on something like this, it was usually the right play.

"Alright, then that'll be my game plan for the foreseeable future. Just don't complain later about how I'm underleveled compared to their Spellblade." 

"Even underleveled, a Monk is still worth more than a Spellblade in the late-game."

"Fair enough."

That’s all Sonya needed to hear. The captain himself was asking her to play like this, so there was no reason to refuse.

In case Coach complains about my approach later, then I'll just tell him the captain approved it. Sonya smiled to herself. It's convenient to have somebody I can pass the blame on.

With the issue out of the way, Sonya proceeded to tackle the next minion wave in the same exact fashion as before. She briefly advanced to the frontline in order to strike the enemy swordsmen, and then she retreated while firing Chakra Bullets.

This time, only 1.5 bowmen made it into her tower area. There was one healthy bowman and one half-dead bowman. Therefore, 1.5 bowmen.

Thanks to the Turret’s giant bolts, it didn't take long to clear out the invaders and reset the lane situation. Then, it was time for Sonya to meditate again. Everything played out exactly like last time, all according to plan.

The first time, 2 healthy bowmen invaded her area, but this time only 1.5 bowmen did. And, once Sonya hits Lv. 4 and gains access to even more Chakra Bullets, then she’ll be able to reduce the invaders’ health even further. Therefore, eventually, this routine will allow her to play on even ground with the Spellblade.

With all that considered, it was definitely a viable strategy. But, was that really the right way to play this laning phase? Shouldn’t Sonya try to take a little more initiative as a player representing the Leopards?

Playing cautiously has always been Sonya's playstyle, but the current lane situation really took the cake, even for her. Even though she played defensively in the previous scrimmages, she was nowhere near as cautious against these opponents.

The threat level was very different. Sonya thought. Based on the data, Stratus have proven themselves to be a far more dangerous team, so I have to tread more carefully here. But, this just feels wrong, somehow.

What kind of impression did Sonya’s plays give to the audience? Most likely, she came across as a “weak player” who was getting pushed around by Blackhole.

Honestly, she didn’t particularly care about her own image in that regard. She wasn’t like Willaim or Ronald who cared so dearly about “looking good”. After all, achieving victory wasn’t always going to be a pretty process.

What actually troubled Sonya was the reputation her plays were giving to the Leopards as a team. Was her conduct worthy of the regional champions?

"Good job," Cato praised her out of the blue as if to counter her worries.

"Is that supposed to be sarcasm?" Sonya made a face. Her current game plan literally revolved around "doing nothing", so what exactly was praiseworthy about it? It was the easiest playstyle ever.

"You only think this is easy because you're good at it,” Cato said. “Imagine if I asked Ronald to play like this."

"He’d throw a tantrum, no doubt."

"Exactly. So, thank you for being such a good obedient soldier. You’re doing a great job serving your team~"

"Huh, sure." Sonya made a face. I can never tell where sincerity starts and ends with this guy.

But, despite how it sounded, Cato actually meant every word he said. 

Good, good. He nodded in satisfaction. She's on the right track.

As a chess piece on the board, Sonya was faithfully following Cato's script. It was always a pleasure to work with obedient pieces like that~

As usual, she needs just a little push and she’s good to go. Cato nodded. Seriously, such a worrywart~ I always tell her to be more confident about the way she plays, but my dear secretary has this bad habit of second-guessing herself as soon as the match starts. Sigh.

This wasn’t the first time this happened, and it surely won’t be the last. Sonya was a cute overthinker like that~

Whenever she starts frowning like that during the first wave, I can already tell something is wrong. Cato learned that through bitter experience.

Every once in a while, especially during important matches, Sonya's performance dropped significantly after the first wave. As uncharacteristic as it sounded, she suffered from a severe lapse of concentration during these games.

Apparently, her busy brain worked overtime during these games. She tried way too hard to analyze tons of data all at once, and she also found herself mulling over philosophical questions that were harder to answer than it was to find the meaning of life itself. Truly, such a disaster.

To prevent such issues from occurring ever again, Cato made sure to always closely watch Sonya's body language after the first wave. If she looked relaxed, then it was good. On the other hand, if she was tense and frowning, then Cato had to step in and say something.

Usually, a generic pep talk was more than enough to remedy the issue. Yes, it was that simple. With just a little injection to boost confidence, Sonya was back on track and performed like the reliable chess piece she always was.

I’m not sure what exactly my secretary was so worried about, but her game plan is golden. Cato thought. Sure, some may call it a lazy solution for this matchup, but I don’t. It's simple and efficient, as any good tactic should be.

Besides, this fell under the "easier said than done" category. Sonya would have no problem maintaining this routine against a bot, but human opponents had this one pesky little function called "adaptation".

I don't know if Blackhole is planning to do about this routine, but I'm sure Yuel won't take it lying down. He'll come up with something for sure, and it'll be up to me to thwart his plans.

And so, the simple routine continued for now. Sonya played it safe by advancing just a little, after which she immediately retreated back to her tower. Essentially, she was surrendering lane control in exchange for lane stability.

On his end, Blackhole didn’t seize any of these opportunities in order to push. He delivered his bowmen to the tower every time, but he didn’t dare to step in any further.

At a glance, it looked like a most generic back-and-forth between two fighters who didn't want to overcommit to anything. However, behind the scenes, the strategists of both sides were carefully watching every move the Top Laners made.

The first three clashes were just a prelude. The real fight was still ahead of them...