[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return – Chapter 291

The SS Class’s faction is Blue.

Our allies’ faction was Red.

[Graves]

The first ban from SS Class was Graves.

A pick usable in both Top and Jungle, but lately, its primary use has leaned more towards Top than Jungle.

In other words, it was a ban against Honor.

But there was no need to worry.

Good bans are often predictable too.

This was already one of the patterns we had anticipated.

“Let’s just do what we usually do.”

[“Okay. Ban Kuroki.”]

[“Yes.”]

[Kuroki]

Our first ban was naturally set as Kuroki.

It was a ban that showed up almost consistently in our team’s recent drafts.

There were many reasons for this, but based on previous scrims and tournament experiences, it wasn’t easy to keep Kuroki from scaling when he appeared in the opponent’s mid.

And the destructive power of a smoothly scaling Kuroki had been proven in several matches.

[Tryndamere]

The bans proceeded quickly.

The opponent’s second ban was Tryndamere.

[“Okay. Viktor.”]

[“Yes.”]

[Viktor]

2 out of 2 bans.

Both Top and Mid bans had come forward.

As a result, picks like Karuma, Caitlyn, and Aphelios were now available.

The choice was now in SS Class’s hands.

What would they ban and what would they take?

Or would they skip everything and ban something else instead?

[Karuma]

SS Class’s choice was the ban on Karuma.

Now we also had options to select from.

Among the remaining picks, we had to decide which picks to give the opponent and which not to.

[LeBlanc]

Thus, the first bans from both teams were complete.

With a decent number of picks available, the opponent had to ponder what to take as their first pick.

[Caitlyn]

The opponent’s first pick was Caitlyn.

A standard choice.

This meant that we also had to choose one of the two available picks to avoid being bullied in the laning phase.

Jinx, or Jhin.

[“We need to grab an ADC. What does Jaem-min want to do? We can just take Jinx or Jhin.”]

[“Vayne?”]

[“Nope, pick Jhin.”]

[“Alright.”]

[“Aw, why not! Vayne’s pretty good against Caitlyn. Didn’t you see the stats?”]

Surprisingly enough, that was true.

Contrary to common sense, statistical data from solo queue showed that Vayne had a huge advantage against Caitlyn.

But that was only solo queue data after all.

If Vayne was really that good against Caitlyn, that common sense wouldn’t be so firmly established in the first place.

The range difference between the two champions was a whopping 100.

For seasoned players, regardless of Vayne’s flashy moves, the absolute distance meant they could never reach Caitlyn in the laning phase.

[“Nope, not happening.”]

With Baek Seong-an’s firm words, the pick was ultimately forced.

[Jhin]

“I think bringing Yuumi is not a bad idea.”

[“Let’s do that.”]

[Yuumi]

[“…Aw, getting forced into a pick. Just don’t say anything if I mess up.”]

[“You’ll do fine anyway. Carry us, Jaem-min.”]

[“Sigh… Should I really step up?”]

With each passing moment, Baek Seong-an felt he was becoming more and more like Kim Jae-min.

They both seemed oddly compatible, even if it felt like they shouldn’t be.

It was the opponent’s turn for their 2nd and 3rd picks.

[Akali]

[Lux]

[“So they’re picking Akali too.”]

“Then let’s grab Renekton right away.”

[“Okay.”]

Renekton was a decent pick against Akali and could swap between Top and Mid.

Considering our team’s situation, there was no reason to refuse.

[Renekton]

And…

Finally, the ban/pick phase was complete.

+

[SS Class / OLZ]

Top: Jason / Gwen

Jungle: Jarvan III / Lee Sin

Mid: Akali / Renekton

ADC: Caitlyn / Jhin

Support: Lux / Yuumi

+

The overall ban/pick phase had a solid structure.

However, the opponent’s composition was more comfortable in a standoff than ours.

As time went on, our team’s situation would become increasingly unfavorable.

Therefore, we needed to keep the game tight right from the early laning phase.

-Welcome to Summoner’s Rift!

The game officially began.

[⬇] [⬇]

[OLZ Outlaw (Lee Sin) is on the way.]

[OLZ Outlaw (Lee Sin) is on the way.]

Ping was going off like crazy.

If someone had to pinpoint the game’s essence, there would be no hesitation in saying it was the bot lane matchup.

Actually, there was nothing challenging about answering this question.

In today’s meta, the bot lane matchup had simply become the most crucial factor.

“Do you know where to go?”

[“Let’s go.”]

We headed towards the bot lane.

To be specific, we went to the bot bush.

[“The opponent could come here too.”]

[“Confirmed.”]

[“Yes.”]

It was nothing complicated.

Given the current composition, the bot lane’s importance was something the opponent knew all too well.

Especially since SS Class had a decent mid and ADC.

If we only consider LCKR, they could be seen as mid-tier.

It wouldn’t be unusual for the opponent’s team to invest in an early invade towards bot lane.

‘Of course, the reason their team ended up at the bottom was due to the large holes in other lanes.’

Especially considering that the support for SS Class was performing horribly right now, rendering the phrase “bot lane as a unit” utterly meaningless.

One could even say they were the key contributors to SS Class heading to relegations.

‘That’s why we’re here for the bot lane.’

After passing the first bush, we entered the middle bush.

[“Starting with Yuumi.”]

As Yuumi’s Q headed towards the third bush, the moment arrived.

[“There’s someone.”]

Almost simultaneously, our champions and those from SS Class encountered each other.

At that moment, Lux’s Q flew towards us like a greeting.

Dodging in such a narrow bush wasn’t easy, but the four managed to barely escape Lux’s bind with quick reflexes.

But not everyone was so lucky.

The relatively larger hitbox champion, Renekton, got caught.

That marked the beginning of the team fight.

“They’re coming in.”

In the early invades, it was common to either take crowd control skills or survival skills for CC coordination when facing the enemy.

However, when five champions from both teams cluster like this, things are different.

Their AoE skills exchanged back and forth.

What strategy or tactics could possibly matter here?

It became a pure battle of focus and mechanics.

The first to fall was none other than Renekton, who didn’t hold back in the lead.

-First Blood!

-Our ally has fallen!

But in order to finish off Renekton, did the opponents’ calls get tangled? Two of their champions had to burn their flashes to chase.

And we didn’t let that opportunity slip by.

-We have slain an enemy!

-We have slain an enemy!

The enemy’s Lux and Jarvan fell.

And soon, one of ours did too.

-Our ally has fallen!

It was Gwen.

A 2:2 exchange situation.

But since we were the ones who gave up the first blood, if we just let each other go, it would be a losing situation for us.

As we both tried to back off from this somewhat unfortunate situation, Jaem-min’s Jhin threw out his Q, which bounced between the enemy champions.

Jhin’s Q hits a total of 4 enemies and the damage increases with each bounce.

The third target hit by the bouncing Q was Akali, who was already low on health.

-We have slain an enemy!

[“Oh, what’s happening?”]

[“Nice!”]

The early bot bush invade ended with a slight advantage for us.

The invade score was 2:3.

The champions who secured kills were SS Class’ Lux, who got the first blood, and just one kill for Akali.


For us, Jhin got 2 kills, and Yuumi got 1 kill.

So, starting from the get-go, our bot lane got a solid 3-kill gold boost.

[“Jaem-min is rich now.”]

[“For real.”]

[“You’ll carry, right?”]

[“Oh, for sure. Just wait and see. I’ll carry hard.”]

After that, we finished our recalls and headed towards the Red.

Since the invade consumed a fair bit of time, a leash wouldn’t even be considered a luxury.

I wasn’t even planning on taking one.

My level 1 skill was E.

It was a Red start.

When Lee Sin does a Red start, the reason for taking E at level 1 instead of W is simple.

There’s no need to manage health from level 1; after taking Red, if you take W at level 2 and path towards the Krugs, health management can be handled just fine.

In other words, this route allows for a much quicker jungle clear than the classic W start that’s been seen so far.

‘Well, to be precise, me taking E was mainly due to the early invade, but…’

No matter what, adjusting the route according to the skill I took was another form of skill.

My path was Red → Krugs → Wolves → Blue → Gromp → Scuttle Crab.

A classic 5-camp Scuttle route.

And the routes to optimize this path from Red can roughly be categorized into two options.

One that focuses on mid or bot.

[“Akali used W.”]

And players with champions like Akali who have survival skills usually leave a bit of leeway.

To bait the enemy jungle’s turn.

And I always welcome such challenges.

“I’ll be right there.”