Placement Matches.
When you start ranked games for the first time or a new season begins, you’re required to play five games to determine your tier.
In my case, since my account had no record from last season—it was a new, untouched account—it followed the MMR from the normal games I played while leveling up to 30.
Knowing this beforehand, I played the normal games almost like a god, securing MVP in almost every match.
Because of this, I expected to at least start in Gold or Platinum.
[Placement Complete: Bronze 3 – 78 LP]
What in the world does this ridiculous tier mean?
It’s a tier I’ve never seen since I first started playing LoL in my previous life.
After realizing something was off, I searched online and found out the reason.
“What? They blocked new accounts?”
It was true that there had been an issue with skilled players abusing the new account system to reach tiers not appropriate for their skill level. In my previous life, I hadn’t been aware of this problem since I only used the one account I first created and the super-accounts granted to professional players. It seems the game company has decided to block the new account system, and now everyone starts equally at Bronze.
Thankfully, it appears the MMR system remains; I was gaining a minimum of 40 points for each win, and when I advanced tiers, it was usually with a double promotion.
‘Still…’
Playing in the so-called “Bronze-Silver-Gold” tier range, after such a long time, felt strange. The variety of bizarre sights was endless.
[IrelAri: Going mid]
Look at this.
The player on the AD Carry line didn’t ask me to concede mid but simply declared they would go mid.
‘Is it because there are so many people?’
In the upper-tier sections of the game, where I played in my previous life, I mostly met the same kind of players, so it was extremely difficult to find troll users. However, in the Bronze-Silver-Gold range, people seemed to forget they’d ever meet again, and swearing or trolling was rampant.
But what to do?
Although usually, you wouldn’t negotiate with a terroristic troll, I wanted to escape this tier quickly.
[Para: Then I’ll go AD Carry]
[IrelAri: Agreed]
TOP: Behin
JG: Lisim
MID: Akali
AD: Kai’Sa
SUP: Blitz
VS
TOP: Karren
JG: Gragrayze
MID: Yasuo
AD: Izreal
SUP: Zerason
Sure enough, picks typical of the Bronze-Silver-Gold tier emerged.
At top, the enemy team chose Karren, the symbol of durability, and Behin was chosen without hesitation.
Junglers selected respectively the meat-eating champions Lisim and Gragrayze, both of whom guarantee excitement.
In mid, we had Akali and Yasuo, symbols of overconfidence.
The support champs Blitz and Zerason were both completely unfamiliar with their roles, as evidenced by their line control.
[GangAnOpen(Blitz): You’ll get no assist if it’s late]
As soon as the game started, Blitz began heading toward the enemy jungle, pinging furiously as they went.
The rest of the team followed suit without hesitation.
Involvement at Level 1 is usually a strategy reserved for champions with strong Level 1 powers or hard CC abilities. However, in Bronze-Silver-Gold sections, this often happens regardless of the champion chosen.
‘At least we’ve got Blitz.’
Looking at the overall champion composition, a 4v4 team fight at the bottom would have benefited the enemy more. But as these thoughts crossed my mind…
[First Blood!]
The enemy Gragrayze had seemingly been lurking in the bush in front of the Jungle, possibly checking out a YouTube video.
Even though he took everything I threw at him and used his Flash, he still died to my swiftly cast W skill.
The Bronze-Silver-Gold section truly felt more astonishing the more I played. Before the game started, I’d checked the match history of the opposing team and seen that Gragrayze had played over a thousand games in the past year—clearly someone dedicated to the game. Comparing this to professional broadcasters who, on average, play 1500-2000 games per year, it was clear how committed he was. Despite that, why would he hide in the bush from the start? I might never understand.
‘If it’s Izreal and Zerason… this lane battle is going to be tough.’
Our bottom-lane composition is Kai’Sa and Blitz, while the enemy team has Izreal and Zerason.
Our Blitz could gain an advantage if they land a pull, but until then, we’ll have to fend off the continuous pressure from the enemy. Also, the E skill, Vision Shift, of enemy Izreal is an absurdly powerful skill that can counter Blitz’s grab.
‘Even though they got first blood…’
Thanks to a powerful jungler gank, I wasn’t given the chance to return to base and buy items. To make matters worse, my Level 1 skill is W, which has a 22-second cooldown, so there was no way to push the lane quickly.
A tough lane battle seemed inevitable, but that thought didn’t last long.
[Enemy Eliminated]
To briefly explain the situation: At Level 3, with Flash and E skill both up, Izreal got pulled by Blitz.
How did an Izreal with Flash and E skill get pulled?
‘That’s Bronze-Silver-Gold.’
Throughout the game, all sorts of bizarre plays kept causing me pain. Like the top player who, despite choosing Behin, got solo-killed by the enemy Karren. Or Akali, who, even though retreat would’ve saved her, kept charging forward out of pride and died. Or the opposing team’s Izreal who, after dying three times in a row, sold all their items and began rushing mid.
Indeed, this was a place where humans shouldn’t exist.
[Promoted to Diamond 1 Rank]
When there were about two weeks left of the school break, my current tier was Diamond 1.
I easily maintained an 80% win rate, so it was predicted I’d soon reach the Master tier.
The only problem was…
“…It’s boring.”
There’s no excitement.
Certainly, the Diamond to Master tier is known to contain players who are in the top 1%, based on statistics. But that’s judged based on regular players. To me, someone who once competed with monstrous pros in the professional league, those statistics seemed meaningless. Occasionally, it crossed my mind that whether it’s Bronze-Silver-Gold or Diamond-Master, it seemed like people were just lucky to ascend.
“Still, I have to do what needs to be done…”
Since League of Legends isn’t a game where you can pay to climb tiers, the only option is to keep playing the game. Naturally, I queued up, accepted the match, and started playing.
‘Hanbyeori?’
On the enemy team’s mid lane, I spotted a familiar username. That username with the champion Jhin…
Curious, I visited an internet broadcasting platform to confirm.
‘Hit.’
The mid lane player was Hanbyeori, a popular female streamer who managed to maintain a high position in Diamond, despite being a woman.
‘Talon picked, but playing Jhin?’
Jhin is inherently strong in lane battles, but Talon isn’t a champion known for lane dominance. In fact, Talon is infamous as part of the “Three Great Solo Laners,” where lane control is not a concern.
Lane battle?
It’s not something Talon is going to deal with.
[Kill worth 5000 won per game]
“Wow, 5000 won for each kill? Mission accepted.”
Streamers like Hanbyeori felt extremely fortunate today for some reason. Her usual 1500 viewers had swelled to over 3000 today.
‘Surely, living kindly pays off.’
In addition to the endless stream of donations, the latest one of 5000 won per kill was an amazing challenge.
Jhin, her champion of choice, is known for its powerful lane dominance and ability to snowball after securing kills.
‘At least three kills easy.’
Assuming the game lasts 30 minutes, the probability of exceeding the minimum wage through this challenge alone was high.
Just as I thought that…
[Teammate is suffering]
[Teammate is suffering]
[Teammate is suffering]
The opposing Talon showed no interest in lane battling, instead casually casting W on minions and roaming to other lanes. The timing was perfectly calculated so that the allies kept suffering unnecessarily. As the item gap widened due to this, the mid lane battle started getting pushed.
[MenheraKailim(Kayle): What’s with Jhin being stuck in mid while her CS is dropping?]
[qwer5353(Renekton): Why is mid getting so far behind in levels? hahah]
“Of course, that’s because you keep giving kills away!”
As she started losing her temper, chat messages were flying furiously.
[QueenBae is cute when angry]
[Adorable Adorable Agree Agree]
[Still, Talon guys are amazing at sensing kills]
At that moment, a well-timed donation arrived.
{A generous person donated 10,000 won}
Is the opposing Talon a new player with 80% win rate?
“Wait…80% win rate?”
Because the enemy Talon was downed by a first combo and died, she checked the opponent’s match history.
“Are you serious… You’re just a solo-ranked bomber?”
On the match history site, victories are denoted by blue and defeats by red. From the last ten games of her opponent, para, she saw that he only lost once, and even in the losses, he was awarded MVP.
With the game already hopeless, she quickly initiated the surrender and her first action was…
[NoMatch ㅋㅋㅋ NoMatch ㅋㅋㅋ]
[Let’s add as friend~ Let’s add as friend~]
[Is Hanbyeori’s new big brother here?]
To instantly send a friend request to para.
