[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return – Chapter 124

“…Isn’t this the Master Yi rush combo?”

It certainly seemed so, and anyone could see it.

[“It looks like it.”]


[“Huh…”]

If the chat wasn’t frozen, things would’ve erupted by now.

It was that shocking of a ban/pick.

‘Guess they really don’t take us seriously.’

The Master Yi and Tirik combination was already outdated, let alone what this combo had just taken it to.

But to throw in a full Master Yi rush combo?

‘…No, it’s not decided yet.’

Jjuhsim surveyed the enemy’s lanes.


Yuumi was stuck in a support role and couldn’t go anywhere else, so that was fixed; we didn’t know Tirik and Master Yi’s lanes yet.

Both champions have original positions, but there’s no guarantee they’d play as such in this combination.

“Let’s check the bans first.”

It was now the enemy’s turn to ban.

[Fiddlesticks]

Once again, no hesitation in their ban.

[“What’s this Fiddlesticks ban?”]


[“This really does feel like a Master Yi rush combo, huh?”]


[“Huh.”]


[“What’s with the ban?”]


[“If it’s a Master Yi rush combo, shouldn’t they be cutting the support side? Like, Ruler or something.”]

[“So, shall we cut Ruler then?”]


[“What about Jjuhsim?”]


“…Huh? Ah. Yeah, let’s cut Ruler.”

Currently, Ruler was a top-tier pick in the support role and a solid champion who could go top or mid.


Given the enemy’s ban/pick situation, it felt prudent to make a ban.

[Ruler]

And so it was the enemy’s turn to ban again.

[Malzahar]

Malzahar was great for pushing lanes after a certain timing and, above all, had a powerful lockdown ult.


Thus, it was one of the few picks that matched well against Master Yi and Tirik, yet even with Riven out, they cut him right away.

They must have even considered the possibility of Riven going AD carry or support.

[“They’re cutting Malzahar too.”]


[“Whoa, they’re really pushing hard with the bans.”]


[“Is there anything else to see? I think we should cut support too.”]

Hmm…


In a ban/pick setup like this, it felt best to get rid of support-type champions who could go to lanes…

“Let’s ban Karma.”


[“Oh, that’s a good idea.”]


[“Ban Karma?”]


[“Ban ban.”]

[Karma]

And so, the bans were complete.


It was now the enemy’s pick again.

[Morgana]

Once again, the support champion made her appearance.


At this point, it was a given that the enemy was crafting a Master Yi rush combo.

[“Ah.”]


[“I forgot about that.”]


[“They’re really obvious with this rush.”]


[“I think we have to buckle down for laning.” “What should we do for the bot lane combo?”]

It was pretty painful to see a pick like Morgana when you know what the enemy’s plan is.


Morgana was strong enough to hold her lane regardless of which one she went to, minus top. Most importantly, her Black Shield was a killer skill for a Master Yi rush combo.

[“Hmm, I’ll go Vayne.”]


[“Okay.”]


[“So for support… how about Leona?”]


[“Not bad. Let’s go.”]

Vayne and Leona.


The bot lane combo was complete.

Of course, it was still too early to relax since the enemy’s last pick was left.

[Zyra]

What if the chat hadn’t been frozen right now?


No, what if there was another commentator?


Wouldn’t a huge cheer have erupted by now?

[“Crazy.”]


[“…I’m going to speak my mind. I think we’re going to lose this game.”]


[“Agreed.”]

Normally, I’d need to boost my team’s morale as the captain at this point, but Jjuhsim knew well.


He knew what Outlaw was capable of.

It wasn’t just Jjuhsim; the team members were all challengers and had experience facing Outlaw themselves in solo queue.


The overwhelming skill and intimidation Outlaw had shown.


Even though the team members were Diamond and Master, a combo like this wasn’t as small of a problem as it seemed.

Above all, in a game where the enemy’s prep shows so clearly in the bans and picks, it’s truthfully hard to win.

The enemy was prepared,


and we were not.

“…Alright, everyone, why are we like this before we even start? Of course, we should win.”


[“Agreed.”]


[“Fighting.”]

A half-hearted cheer rang out a few times, and the game finally began.

-Welcome to Summoner’s Rift.

Jjuhsim took a look at the enemy’s lanes.


Because the picks were so bizarre, they could only figure out the enemy lanes once the game commenced.

[Ally / Enemy]


Top: Mordekaiser / Zyra


Jungle: Lee Sin / Master Yi


Mid: Riven / Tirik


ADC: Vayne / Morgana


Support: Leona / Yuumi

I didn’t realize during the pick phase, but now that it was laid out like this, one crucial flaw in our team composition stood out to Jjuhsim.

‘We have no damage!’

When facing Master Yi, the most important things are CC and burst damage.


But the current team comp seemed to have CC but lacked burst damage significantly.


It became this way because they had crafted their composition in response to the enemy’s bans/picks.

‘…It can’t be helped.’

Jjuhsim looked over the enemy lanes.


Aside from mid, the enemy lanes all had picks that were good for surviving.

‘Master Yi and Tirik.’

The Master Yi and Tirik combo had currently gone out of style.


The biggest reason for that was simply the Monster Hunter system.


This system activates when a jungler equipped with jungle items kills line minions at a certain number, drastically reducing the gold acquired from them.

In other words, the old strategy of funnelling mid lanes to jungler Master Yi was now impossible.

[“What should we do about the invade?”]


“…Let’s just defend for now.”

Honestly, I didn’t want to get into a situation where we’d take it to the late game against that composition, but it couldn’t be helped.


From what Jjuhsim had gathered, the variables during an invade were one of Outlaw’s key weapons.

So, it was reasonable to assume that at least in the early game, the enemy’s movements were all in Outlaw’s control.


In such a situation, they couldn’t afford to be reckless.

-Minion spawning in 30 seconds!

The enemy seemed to want a dull start too, as both teams passed the early game just defending during the invade.

The early flow was uneventful.


Neither team took aggressive actions, just solid farming.


Certainly, our mid was pressuring their mid and completely dominating CS.

[“We have a 10 CS lead mid.”]


[“Oh. Nice.”]


[“That’s our router! Is this… challenger?”]

The Tirik in the mid was struggling to even breathe while just barely collecting XP.


It was a good situation as far as allies were concerned.

The first appearance of Master Yi came at the 3-level mark.


Master Yi crossed through mid, took down one minion and gained a bit of XP, then passed right by.


At first, Jjuhsim wondered why he was doing that, but as time flowed, he started to sense something was off.

[Master Yi – Level 5]


[Lee Sin – Level 4]

Neither side had done anything.


But the growth gap had gradually widened.

‘…He’s deliberately avoiding triggering Monster Hunter.’


He was teetering just on the edge.


Each jungle monster, each and every minion seemed to be calculated in Outlaw’s mind.

‘Is that even possible?’


If it were back in the day, perhaps not, but with the Master Yi and Tirik thing, Monster Hunter would trigger at even the slightest opportunity.

How much must they’ve ignored the old school combo for Lee Sin to only gain a tiny edge?


And,


That tiny growth advantage was enough for Outlaw to start a snowball.


Right now, the growth gap between Master Yi and Lee Sin was proof of that.

‘I need to do something.’

Feeling alarmed, Jjuhsim resolved to intervene in the lane somehow, but regrettably, the enemy didn’t let that happen.


They were plainly playing for a bus mode, merely clearing the lane without giving any openings.

Jjuhsim came to a conclusion.


“This Master Yi needs to be ganked and killed.”

Since the mid lane control was in favor of the allies, we had to follow Master Yi and take him down.

‘My judgments were too slow.’


He should have acted sooner, yet the fact that they were facing Outlaw and the unfamiliar enemy combo had made Jjuhsim hesitate.


The fear Jjuhsim instinctively carried of Outlaw had prevented him from making the necessary moves.

“I’ll check around the bot side. Let’s try to take something there and go for the dragon.”


[“Copy that.”]

Often, Master Yi is referred to as a late-game champion.


One trait of late-game champions is that they tend to be weak early on.


So many people believe Master Yi is weak at the start.


But that’s only true to a certain extent due to his basic kit as a non-mobile champion; Master Yi wasn’t weak in a face-off.

“Wait?”

Especially when he was hiding in a bush right now, he was far from weak.

-You were slain by the enemy!


-First Blood!

A brief moment of carelessness.


Up until now, Master Yi had been playing RBG, and he had an unwarranted belief that he’d continue to do so.


That belief led Jjuhsim straight to death.


And…


Lee Sin’s death was just the beginning.

Once Master Yi hit level six, he would fully abandon his silence and begin to strike.

-Our champion has been slain!


-Double Kill for the enemy!

Master Yi couldn’t be stopped.

-We can’t stop the enemy!

Feeling the crisis a bit too late, the allies rushed to join but were blocked by Tirik’s CC and Morgana’s Black Shield made sure any damage pouring in was stoppered up before Zyra appeared to revive them.

Above all, once Outlaw gripped onto Master Yi’s movement speed, all our non-target skills felt useless.

[“Are you for real? How did that Lee Sin W miss at close range? What even?”]


[“His movespeed is way too fast! I can’t land a skill.”]


[“Is he even human?”]

Leona’s ultimate and E skills.


Tirik’s Q, W, and E skills.


Mordekaiser’s Q and E skills.


Lee Sin’s Q and E skills.


Out of those, how many skills landed on Master Yi in this game?


Jjuhsim knew the answer. He didn’t remember any instances of Master Yi getting hit by a non-target skill.

“Ah.”

Jjuhsim felt like he was in a terrible nightmare.


Like when you try to punch someone in a dream but just keep flailing around without connection.


That’s how it felt right now.

And…


By the time he finally regained his wits, the ally Nexus was already exploding.

[Defeat]

It was an unbelievable phrase burnt clearly into his vision.


How long had he been mindlessly reflecting on the word “defeat”?

[“Jjuhsim, the viewers are asking you to unfreeze the chat.”]

Hearing a teammate’s voice finally snapped Jjuhsim back to reality.


“…Ah, okay.”

-[The chat has been unfrozen.]

And then, the viewers’ wrath poured in.

-Get rekt


-Na


-Get rekt


-A


-Rack


-Jungle gap


-Lol


-Na


-Rack


-Rot


-Jungle gap


-U


-Get rekt

『‘Pro from the Abyss’ sent 10 balloons.』


『“Jungle gap jungle gap let’s gooooo”』


『‘RiderDragon’ sent 10 balloons.』


『“Bro, you’re so bad. Just quit.”`


-Na


-A


-Rack


-Lol


-Na


-Rot


-Na


-U


-Na

『‘Jjuhsim)Jjuhrooo’ sent 10 balloons.』


『“I’m out.”`


『‘Jjuhsim’s slave’ sent 10 balloons.』


『“Honestly, watching that ban/pick, I knew we’d get rekt, but I didn’t think it’d be this bad. What do we do?”`


『‘Factfully powerful’ sent 10 balloons.』


『“Info) This guy targeted Outlaw as abusable. Shut the hell up.”`

-Agreed lol


-Na


-Rack


-A


-Lol


-Rot


-U


-Na


-Rack

『‘Jungle fairy’ sent 10 balloons.』


『“Seriously, is it possible to lose to a Tirik combo in this meta? Just die already, please.”`


-Agreed


-That’s ridiculous lol


-This is… Challenger?


-Considering he’s in Challenger, isn’t it you who should’ve been abusing?


-For real lol

This wouldn’t do.


They had to figure out the problem and fix it.

“…Alright, let’s go over what went wrong.”

Jjuhsim thought that and opened the replay.