[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return – Chapter 246

The first match was won quite easily.

To be honest, I was a bit worried about the match against FFF, but once we got into it, the first set ended up being much easier than I expected.

‘Of course, I can’t let my guard down.’

Even when a lion hunts a rabbit, it gives its all. Sure, we aren’t lions, and FFF isn’t just a bunch of rabbits either.

“OLZ members, please prepare for the next match!”

With the staff’s words, the team members began to rise one by one.

Since the first game didn’t have much to feedback on, we focused our conversation on the ban/pick for the next match, so we were in a pretty relaxed state.

As I stood up, I noticed Baek Seong-an was still seated, so I asked him.

“What’s wrong? Aren’t you coming?”

“…Oh? No, it’s nothing. Let’s go.”

His expression bothered me a bit, but I figured it was just nerves about the next match.

–Wowwww!!!

–OLZ! OLZ! OLZ!

As we passed through the hallway and re-entered the stadium, we were greeted by a thunderous cheer.

That booming cheer… I just can’t get used to it.

‘But I don’t dislike it.’

No matter what anyone says, that cheer is a cheer for our team. How could I not like it?

“Phew…”

Even with noise-canceling headsets on inside the booth, the fans’ cheers were vibrating through to us.

And the match hadn’t even started yet…

‘It’s impressive, though.’

Experiencing the popularity I usually just saw as numbers firsthand was something else.

Of course, it wasn’t my first offline match, but every time it feels new, I guess?

Anyway, that’s how it was.

“Everyone, let’s do our best this match.”

“Let’s go!”

“Go go!”

Cheers and encouragements were exchanged, and the ban/pick phase officially began.

Our side was red.

It was the upper lane, and we were the last pick.

[Jax]

The opponent’s first ban was Jax.

It seemed they thought Jax’s gank evasion in the last game was just too good.

‘Well, I guess it’s not a completely wrong judgment.’

But still, banning Jax like that? Definitely raises some eyebrows.

[“What should we ban? They used it in the top, so we could ban one for the top.”]

[“I’m fine with anything.”]

Seo Yeon-woo was typically quite passive about banning requests. Maybe it was confidence… the mindset of just winning against anyone. Something like that.

[“Then I’ll ban one for mid. Yu-ne is a bit hard to deal with, and both their top and mid play that pick. We don’t have anything else to ban, right?”]

“Yeah. Nothing else.”

[“No options for bot either.”]

[“We’re just gonna ban Yuumi anyway.”]

[“Bummer.”]

[“Okay, let’s ban Yu-ne.”]

So, our first ban was naturally Yu-ne.

[Yu-ne]

Was this a response, perhaps?

[Galion]

The opponent banned Galion.

[“…Are they joking around?”]

“Come on, no way.”

No way would any of those crazy pros joke around after already losing a match.

[“Let’s not mess around and just stick to the basics. Let’s cut Yuumi.”]

Thus, our second ban was Yuumi, a textbook ban.

[Yuumi]

By the rulebook, now we had to choose a pick to give to the opponent from Lee Sin and Graves…

The problem was that since the opponent had approached the ban/pick quite differently from the norm, we had to consider different choices as well.

[Twisted Fate]

The opponent’s third ban was complete.

As expected, they chose to leave both Graves and Lee Sin available for us.

It’s as if they were saying, ‘Take one of these!’

In this situation, our options roughly split into three.

We could ban Graves and give them Lee Sin, or vice versa, or we could leave both open and divide them.

‘Or we could choose to leave everything open and none of us takes them…’

But I doubt either team would be foolish enough to let strong op champions go that easily.

[“What are we gonna ban?”]

“I’m fine with anything.”

[“Me too.”]

Baek Seong-an pondered for a moment and then said,

[“Hmm… Let’s ban Graves.”]

[“Got it.”]

“Let’s do that.”

By the tier of champions alone, the opponent is likely to pick Graves over Lee Sin when both are available, especially with Jax, one of Graves’s counter picks, already banned, leaving no reason for them not to take it.

‘Plus, the opponent’s jungler doesn’t often favor Lee Sin.’

Though Lee Sin is a textbook choice for junglers, surprisingly, many pro junglers tend to avoid Lee Sin.

The opponent’s first jungler, Illyusia from FFF, was one such example.

Amid various rational reasons, our third ban was decided.

[Graves]

The ban was completed.

[Lee Sin]

Contrary to expectations, the opponent seemed to deliberate for a moment before picking Lee Sin.

I couldn’t tell if they were prepared already or just trying to deny me Lee Sin, but it didn’t really matter.

Now, it was our turn to pick 1 and 2.

[“What should we pick?”]

“Since the opponent’s jungler is already revealed, we can pick a jungler. But since it’s Lee Sin, it could also go to lanes.”

Even though Lee Sin’s pick rate for lane has decreased due to the patch, it’s not entirely excluded.

[“Then let’s grab mid first. It’d be better to let the top go down as last pick.”]

[“What should I grab?”]

“Hmm, give me Orianna.”

[Orianna]

It was time for the second pick.

“I’ll just take a jungler.”

[“Okay.”]

Let’s see… Assuming the opponent’s jungler is Lee Sin and our mid is Orianna…

[Beep beep]

I also went ahead and chose to lay down.

After all, the mid-jungle synergy is a package deal, isn’t it?

The opponent picked 2 and 3.

[Yasuon]

[Gragas]

Without any hesitation, they locked it in.

I don’t know if it’s supreme confidence or they were prepared, but either way, it was impressive.

[“Well, look at that.”]

“Wow.”

“That’s bold.”

In terms of situation, it seemed reasonable to expect Gragas in the top lane and Yasuon in the mid.

Sure, Lee Sin could end up top while Gragas goes jungle, but there’s no need for that in the current meta.

Now it was time for our 3rd pick.

[“What do we get? I think it’d be best to pick a top, so we should probably grab either bot or support.”]

Just then, Kim Jae-min spoke up.

“I feel like I can really shine this game, just trust me once!”

“What do you want?”

“Jinx!”

Hmmm…

For a moment, I almost said “Shut up,” but instinctively remembering this wasn’t a scrim, I clamped my mouth shut.

It was a close call.

“Are you really sure you can do it?”

Then, Baek Seong-an asked.

Normally, I would’ve shut it down immediately, but surprisingly, Baek Seong-an was rather serious about asking Kim Jae-min’s intentions.

“Yes!”

“…In that case, give it a go.”

Considering how passionately he was pushing for it, I thought not picking him might be bad for team morale.

It seemed Baek Seong-an had decided to support Kim Jae-min’s request.

‘Still a bit unexpected, though.’

This isn’t a scrim; it’s the actual match.

It’s not like we often allowed picks like Jinx in scrims either, so I couldn’t help but feel puzzled.

‘Well, I guess he must have a plan.’

Or maybe he just wants to tighten the reins on Kim Jae-min even more with this.

Whatever the case, I trust Kim Jae-min to some extent, so I didn’t strongly oppose the pick.

[Jinx]

It was time for the bans again.

[“What should we ban?”]

“I guess it makes sense to cut something from the bot… Jaem-min, are you uncomfortable with anything?”

“I’m fine with everything.”

“Okay, let’s ban Jiksoo.”

Kim Jae-min’s confidence was smoothly traded for a Jiksoo ban.

Since Jinx against Jiksoo statistically has Jiksoo at a considerable advantage, that seemed to be the reason.

‘Anyway, he’s a believer in statistics.’

Baek Seong-an usually tends to have that kind of tendency.

Well, I can’t say it’s a bad thing.

[Thresh]

The opponent banned Thresh.

It seems they were worried about Kim Ji-hoon’s Thresh, which has pretty solid synergy with Jinx.

Back to our bans.

[“Jaem-min, is there anything you’d like to ban?”]

[“…You’re not gonna listen anyway.”]

“True enough. Let’s ban Vayne.”

[Vayne]

With that, all of our 4th and 5th bans were decided as ADC bans.

Then came the opponent’s final ban.

[Ruler]

It was clearly a targeted ban at Kim Ji-hoon.

They seemed intent on cutting out any potential support that could protect Jinx.

And…

Finally, the ban/pick phase was completed.

+

[FFF / OLZ]

Top: Gragas / Aatrox

Jungle: Lee Sin / Beep Beep

Mid: Yasuon / Orianna

ADC: Ezreal / Jinx

Support: Pyke / Leona

+

One noticeable point is that the opponent’s support pulled out Pyke again.

It seems they were quite bothered by not being able to use their ultimate properly in the previous game.

But,

‘This won’t be easy either.’

The game is about to begin in earnest.