Imagine a shonen sports story. But, it’s not about baseball or soccer. No, this one is about playing a MOBA video game!
And no, it’s neither League of Legends nor DotA. A BRAND NEW ORIGINAL MOBA, the one MOBA to rule them all - Classmancers!
The game has become so big, that even schools recognize it as a sport. They even allow students to participate in Classmancers clubs and compete against other schools! Who will be the one going to nationals!?
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For Yuel, a team sport is like a chessboard that comes to life. There’s no greater fun than deconstructing every opponent and predicting twenty of their moves in advance.
And, Classmancers is the ideal stage for such psychological warfare, for it’s a sport in which game theory reigns supreme. At least, usually, it does.
There are also goofs like Lars, who got -200 IQ, yet boast godlike mechanical skill that triumphs against all odds. He’s like your typical OPMC which a cheat, except the cheat does nothing for his intellect.
Yuel and Lars are like water and fire. In other words, 100% compatible! That’s why they form an unlikely duo and set out to dominate Classmancers’ competitive scene!
However, to challenge their OPness, the two will run into rivals who are just as OP! Some of them will turn their teammates immune to Yuel’s psychological attacks, while others will redirect Lars’s almighty strength against himself.
In this harsh environment, the two will keep struggling, struggling, and struggling some more, following their promise to reach the pro scene.
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The game's wiki: https://classmancers.wikia.com/wiki/Classmancers_Wiki
Discord: https://discord.gg/QCKYeBj
Homepage: https://darkclaymore.wordpress.com/classmancers/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/darkclaymore
Alright, lets see now.... I'll start with the score.
Story: 4.5* Mainly due to how it's unique (not many stories about E-sports)
Characters: 3* Giving it an average score, because I'm bad at characterization, so it's understandable why they are what they are / it appears this way.
Grammar: 4* Mentioned below; probably should be lower, with how the latest chapter confuses some words.
Writing: 2* Again, probably should be lower, but I'm giving the author the benefit of doubt, and say it's just their style of writing. But personally, some of it just seems like padding.
Overall: 3.375* rounded down to 3*
Now onto the details: [WARNING: may contain spoilers]
Mentioned already: The story is unique, in that it's about some kids working to become pro E-sports player.
Speaking of kids; the characters are... In line? Not sure the right word, but they have their flaws and strong suit. Though, personally, they could use some work, especially the female cast. Like, they all seem unhinged in ways, while the males are more 'down-to-earth'-ish, but their flaws are more.... artificial? Like it's added on to make them more believable/relatable/less OP/whatever.
The grammar is alright, with some mistakes here and there; sometimes it's noticeable (like in Vol.10 Ch.2), but oft it's barely there.
Now, the main flaw, the writing. The story has no breaks, especially when perspective is shifted and it tends to shift a lot, due to another flaw: redundant/repetitive analog [Not sure the right word, but, basically, it's just repeating the same things, but from another perspective.]
To make a point, the latest chapter, Vol. 10 Ch2: The Gangs in Taurus, is all about explaining one point, as the chapter's title states, the gangs in Taurus. Yup, the author wrote one whole chapter about this one thing, explaining how it came about, why it's there, it's flaws, and such. And this isn't even part of the main cast, but more a rival.
Another example is in Vol.9 Ch.27 -- Where the author shifts between the two casts duking it out, repeating thoughts and actions. Another, but less, example would be Vol.10 Ch.1; it's basically a repeat of the later chapters in Vol.9. Though, this is understandable, due to numbering -- It's the start of a new volume/book.
Overall, the story is alright, but could use some work.
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Classmancers is a pretty good story, combining Esports with the Shounen genre. The creator clearly knows quite a bit about high-level Esports and and succeeds in making the novel and characters interesting.
However, like others have mentioned, the creator does have a bit of a tendency to get sidetracked, though this is normally manageable. However, Volume 13 focused entirely on building up two characters in which we had never seen before. This was rather jarring and left me feeling a little whiplashed. Though I have rated three stars, I may potentially raise the rating seeing how the novel devlops.
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Pretty good overall, an important characteristic of this story is the realistic way the characters deal with their problems, and by that I mean their problems and weaknesses keep haunting them for a long time, it can get pretty annoying at times, but it's not like people can just get stronger/surpass traumas/correct personality flaws on the fly, it also makes it easier to sympathize with the characters.
Edit: I forgot to say this: this novel is obviously based on sport anime, so I recommend you visualize the scenes as if it was an anime.
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This story is so great! As I am a MOBA player myself this story really brings me shivers everytime with it's action filled chapters! A great sport story, it manages to tell the epic moments in the game and also epic plays from the character! The game itself is interesting too, I find it unique enough that I would really love too see it's own game. Though the chapters can be quite the word walls, it really packs the amazing actions it tells so it would be worth the read!
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Originally was sorta enjoying this, but with vol 6. And the conflict that happened in the beginning made me lose all respect for the characters.
But before the spoiler notes, overall (as of vol6.) the story has a good understanding of esports and how strats may work in mobas. While it isn't completely true to life, it is believable enough to sustain a suspension of disbelief.
But the characters are boring. The main characters is depicted as 2 geniuses in their respective field, which isn't a problem on its own. But the extent where their geniuses extend breaks the believability of the characters.
Yuel is depicted as some analytical monster who is somehow capable of juggling finding holes in an enemies defense, summ spell timers, ult timers, his teammates individual abilities to the point that any loss he goes through seem fake and forced. Not even faker, considered one of the best players in the world, was able to do this in his teens.
Lars is seen as a mechanical monster who is somehow able to hit even the craziest of shots through intuition alone. That in of itself isn't a problem. The problem starts when you consider that he is under 10 when he first exhibits such prowess. This kind of intuition isn't something you can get just from having good motor skills, these take practice and actual training. Faker at his peak when he was known to be able to do similar things as described here, was 18-21. Lars should be to underdeveloped to be able to exhibit such abilities.
In fact, it's just kinda bs imo that these kids that are junior high age - reminder that's 12 to 15 year olds - are able to compete at beyond a (using league of legends ranking system) diamond level. Arguably, even a Plat level is a stretch.
Also, all of the characters are quite one dimensional and as said by another reviewer, the characters often feel quite artificial. Like they're puppets instead of actual humans.
Spoilers ahead for why I dropped after vol 6. Proceed at own risk.
the 2 characters straight up abandon their team because they didnt get what they wanted. There is no arguing otherwise it is straight up what they did. As much as you can say that it happens all the time with actual pro teams (for example rekkles and team fnatic) this situation is different simply for the fact that they didn't leave because they didn't agree with how the team was run but because they didn't get to get on the starter team in their junior year in junior high. Thus they decide to just jump ship and look for another team. It's not as if they weren't even being considered good enough, in fact yuel was basically guaranteed the captain spot in his senior year. But they decided that getting recognition was important in Middle school. Yuel abandons his responsibilities as vicecaptain just so he has a chance at getting his name out there via the school tournament.
Overall I think the story would've made more sense if it started I. Highschool instead of middle school.
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Ohohoho!~ And here I thinking about a novel that depicts a group doing Esports, might edit my review later, but the premise and the synopsis compelled me to start it!
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