Undergoing an intense training session, the players of Squid Academy are all hard at work performing drills and routines in preparation of the eventful battle tomorrow. With their match scheduled for noon at Mugil Arena on the first of the two days, they were taking extra steps to prepare for handling all the noise that will be in their ears. Thanks to the committee releasing the official schedule and details around midnight this morning and in turn giving teams only a day to make crucial preparations, it seemed as though some scheduling revisions were made before release based on reports by a few notable journalists who claimed to have good leads and sources; this meant that even after the early luncheon changes were still made despite coming to some sort of general consensus. Regarding the first day of matches, a pair of games were scheduled for a 7 am start time at Shamsa stadium and Pelagi Dome, and following that pair were four matches at 10 am with the venues being Shamsa and Pelagi once more with the addition of Alqamar stadium and Hulabo Dome. Afterwards there would be four noon games followed by a couple afternoon, evening, and night games each; the second day would follow the same schedule as the first with the other sixteen teams playing. Having the team perform a variety of mental based exercises in addition to their usual regimen, Fuchsia's philosophy for this match was self growth and mental toughness in the belief that they needed to be disciplined ahead of time if they were going to stand a chance against the tremendously balanced Vulerby. The team menus split into different phases, the first phase was done by weapon classes followed by the second phase doing a routine by roles and the third phase serving as free time. Dividing everyone by their roles and weapon choices, they all practiced simulation and scenarios with assistance from other team staff and then did specific drills with the weapons while getting coached about what to do in situations. Once completed, the substitutes shifted to assisting the starters on their specific drills and then returned to their own routines afterwards, and finally to close out the training session they did free practice.
Azule spent his time with Cobalt and Aaron doubling down on his mental fortitude, refusing to give in no matter how hot his body burned from the intensity of the workouts, striving to control his mind and body manually. Plenty of questions surrounded what he had in his bag of tricks for the next match and whether he had some sort of breakthrough regarding his play style and with Midnight, but he wasn't the only one in deep thought about what to expect in the next round. For Sky, she too was thinking extensively about the inner workings that led to their victory and what would and wouldn't work moving forward. As the pivotal difference maker who took the team on her back and led them here, she knew she needed to continue eclipsing her play in each match if the team was going to stand a chance moving forward, but the problem is that she is mentally exhausted from the consistent strain of battle and the mountainous stress that took the heaviest of tolls on her. Having to tell herself to contribute even more than what she was already doing was asking for nearly the impossible, but she knew from the start that this is what came with the territory from the decision she made. There would be days like this where her body felt heavy and her mind hazy but that regardless of how dull her senses, she must trudge forward. Her struggles to maintain energy in practice led to an overproduction in the rest of the team-all of them inspired by observing her refusal to quit and not wanting to let her down by any means. Also making a notable appearance during practice doing a few more workouts than usual was Sally, who wasn't performing rehab exercises anymore and easing into the full fledged workouts with the team. A few whispers were floating around between the players about the potential return of Sally based on her increased workouts with everyone getting their hopes up a bit at the idea of Sally taking the stage after being sidelined for a number of months. Unfortunately, Sally shot down the speculation as quickly as it arose, making it clear that Fuchsia specifically had no intention of playing her and that her workouts were for what will happen beyond the summer. The reason for the recent static between them stemmed from Fuchsia's refusal to rush Sally's recovery, turning her down consistently despite her improvements healthwise with the latest example being when Squid Academy were in their winless crisis staring down elimination in the face and even then Fuchsia still kept her off the team sheet. Now, with the team already looking on the rise, Fuchsia wanted to look ahead for the late summer and next semesters.
Once team practice finished, the players were summoned back to the conference room for a team briefing on their upcoming opponents. With everyone freshened up and relaxed, Fuchsia and the others used the opportunity to grab their focus and give a scope of what they will be going up against come tomorrow at noon. A hostile environment awaiting them, it was imperative they knew the key to their victory would lay in their mental state of mind rather than relying on any specific tactics to be the difference maker; Vulerby weren't going to be a lenient team like the Bluerings and would likely have plenty of countermeasures set up after doing their homework on Squid Academy for the last few days, so the signature rally rotation and element of surprise would be null and void in effectiveness for this match.
"I want to stress that you all can't lose your composure in this match and what I mean by that is to avoid unnecessary action, don't overextend or play excessively, and always support one another! Never isolate oneself unless you're sure you can close the deal." Fuchsia claps her hands actively keeping their focus with the way she projects her voice, sounding more and more like a coach with each match she oversaw.
Azule wears a serious expression with his arms crossed listening to her warn the team about the obvious bait and traps their opponents would place, "If we isolate Romaine and force his team to step up in his absence, there is likelihood they will step up to the challenge based on their track record. In other games where teams tried to target Romaine and restrain him from making an impact, his teammates stepped up without so much as a hiccup. And if we leave him be and try to take down his teammates instead, that can also backfire since he'll surely find a way to get them involved or overpower us. Either way, we have to compromise. We can't pour all our effort into both while still trying to play near perfect and stay mentally strong-it'll wear us thin like used thread!" he voiced loud and clear, letting everyone hear his emotion. As the captain of the team, all the pressure was on his shoulders to step up after being gone for a couple matches.
"That is precisely why our efforts will be spent on maximizing our efficiency rather than targeting our opponents." Fuchsia nods in agreement; everyone looked at her with bewilderment.
"Huh?" Reice's face wrinkled; "What do you mean?"
"You got cotton in your ears? We're gonna focus on playing our best performance rather than tailor a strategy to throwing them off their game!" Fuchsia said in a matter of factly tone, unaware of how crazy her idea sounded.
Reice suppresses his laughter with a snicker covering his face and shaking his head, "She's serious! She's being serious!"
"But, shouldn't we spend some focus on them? It seems like a terrible error on our part if we don't pour our focus into how to tackle them?"
Fuchsia shakes her head, "Aside from remembering the film we went over and identifying their tendencies, I don't want you all expending any energy trying to force them off their game. We're going to do it naturally."
"Naturally…?" Jory scoffed.
"How do you expect us to play against one of the best teams in the tournament without any countermeasures? What happens if we get suffocated by them and put in a corner?" Todd voices his concern.
"I'm not saying we should let them do as they please, but Vulerby is a team where the only way to truly beat them is to disrupt their balance and chemistry. The usual way to accomplish this would be by directly targeting that flaw and using it to our advantage. Problem is, Vulerby already knows how to handle such precise attacks."
A lightbulb goes off for Kosami, "Ah I get it, so rather than we make the same error as other teams we just outplay them."
"Yeah, if we outperform them we can indirectly throw them off their game. Always keep the score close no matter how far ahead they get, never give them any breathing room, rush them at times and other times just drop back and cover the turf instead. Have them thinking several different routes at once and leave them confused with your play, but it'll only be effective if we outplay them."
"Basically, just go out there and win." Cobalt smiled.
"Sorry if this sounds bare, but I couldn't think of any complex strategies to face against them. I hate to say it, but we've already used up many of our best schemes just to get this far. From here on out, it'll have to be our willpower that carries us far. Our opponents will know how we operate by now."
Sally shakes her head, "I agree that we need our willpower but you're wrong about it being the one thing that'll carry us."
"And what might that be."
"We've got a loaded roster. Fancy tricks were just a bonus for us. This team was built on having a strong core. We've got Squidcom. We've got Kidvel. We've got the Elites. We've got loads of talent from Todd and Zaneki to Mason and Evelyn, and we also have a great staff helping us behind the scenes. We got this far already, so why not go for broke?"
"Besides, all isn't lost. We might not be able replicate what made things work last time out nor do we have a general approach to directly targeting Vulerby but we do have the help of knowing our schedule and can plan accordingly."
"Based on what we saw on the film and how they match up with us, we still have a fighting chance and it's thanks to the rotation for the rounds." Apollo stepped in and brought up the schedule on the projector for everyone to see. The first round will be Tower Control, followed by Rainmaker, then Hide Ink Seek and Clam Blitz as the third and fourth rounds with Booyah Ball, Splat Zones, and Turf War as the rest of the rounds if necessary. Based on the first four rounds, it wasn't far-fetched to believe they could realistically split the match or even steal a round to take a 3-1 lead, especially with rainmaker and hide ink seek in the mix. Unfortunately it all came down to too many factors and the flow of the match in real time as well as how everyone looked on gameday, but it wasn't impossible once the team remained flexible rather than rigid.
"Just gear up for the first round, alright? I suspect they will look to put us away early. As long as we aren't fazed and we show them that we aren't going away, we'll have them."
"So that's why you want us focusing on ourselves. If we got too distracted by trying to stop them rather than put our attention to pulling our weight they would burn us badly early on. They're expecting us to make that error." Reice concluded.
"Can you blame them? We've had a miraculous run with no prior experience in this tournament, barely surviving the wrath of the opponents we've encountered. They might be thinking that we're starry eyed and satisfied with just being here-to some degree, they're right. Since everyone must be tired, I'll be going over the starting squad and we'll be on our way. For tomorrow, we'll be going with Azule, Pastelle, Violet, Reice, Todd, and Parker as our starting squad. Sky, Aaron, and Jory, expect to make an early appearance somewhere in the second and third rounds and for everyone else, we'll make necessary substitutions based on the flow of things but I apologize in advance if not everyone gets a chance to play from here on out. I want to prioritize winning above all else and I hope you can share that sentiment with me."
After the meeting concluded everyone headed to their rooms immediately to get as early of a rest as possible, but it was clear that nobody could fall asleep knowing what awaited them the following day. An unforgettable run that had been a blast so far, none of them could avoid the obvious reflection of their journey to the knockout stage. From their three game losing streak and all the questions surrounding the legitimacy of their appearance in the tournament to four consecutive victories upsetting some of the best teams in the tournament, all the players wondered what the day after tomorrow's match would be like. Would they be sleeping soundly knowing they'll be in the next round? Or will it be a bittersweet defeat forcing them to be thankful they made it that far? With the hours ticking until dawn, the players of Squid Academy cherish what rest they can get. Tomorrow will be a day of war where they enter uncharted territory.
