[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return – Chapter 253

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OLZ Honor has joined the lobby.

페레로로쉐쉐 has joined the lobby.

pogTTdo has joined the lobby.

OLZ Outlaw has joined the lobby.

BrownBrown has joined the lobby.

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When playing solo queue, sometimes it feels like you keep running into the same people.

Honestly, this was quite common for me.

I hate to say it, but I had been hanging around the top ranks of solo queue for a few years now.

Naturally, if there are other players hanging around the top ranks, we’d probably run into each other once or twice.

So maybe that’s why, when I find myself in a solo queue without knowing anyone, it feels kind of weird.

And that’s exactly how it felt now.

For some reason, probably because someone took a spot due to duoing, the nicknames of the people I encountered were all too unfamiliar.

“All nicknames I’ve never seen before.”

[“Really?”]

“Yup. What about you?”

[“Same here.”]

It wasn’t anything special, yet the chat went wild.

– Huh…

– Why are you two so awkward? LOL

– OMG

– Sis, give it to me!!!

– But really, Honor’s voice is… Ahem…

– Bro… I feel weird…

– But why’s it so awkward? LOL

– Damn LOL

– So cute, the both of them LOL

『‘악성우결충’ has gifted 10 balloons.』

『“You two are super awkward LOL”』

– True

– Uh, awkward

– I guess I’m not the only one feeling this, LOL

It seemed like I was just talking normally, but for some reason, the viewers felt differently.

“Eh. We’re not awkward. Right?”

[“Nope. Not at all.”]

This felt like an ordinary conversation as well.

Yet, their reactions told a different story.

– Even this feels awkward, LOL

– How much have you tortured her? OMG

– Torture? OMG…

– Get rid of that guy

– Crossing the line

– Totally

What’s up with that?

Do I really look that awkward?

[“Sis, ban! Ban!”]

“Oh, right!”

I hurriedly banned a random champion.

Of course, it was a bit late.

[⛝]

‘Oh dear.’

The ban was completed.

But not for me.

+

[Ban list]

⛝ / Master Yi

Jax / Beck

Lee Sin / Xin Zhao

Shaco / LeBlanc

Graves / Lee Sin

+

What’s with this ‘main ban’?

Is that a good thing?

‘That’s not the important part…’

The important part is that the ban/pick phase has started.

My team is in the Blue side.

Which means, we get the first pick.

Our first pick is Seo Yeon-woo.

“If it’s a bad spot for first pick, you can grab a jungler first.”

First pick top.

Every top laner’s nightmare spot.

Seo Yeon-woo had always shown what a top laner is whenever first picking top, but since joining our team, it had calmed down a bit.

But now it’s solo queue.

No need to sacrifice for the team.

[“Nah, I’ll just pick right away.”]

“Oh really? Uh, Viktor is still available.”

[“Looks like it.”]

It’s the first day after the PBE patch.

Most users prefer to jump into solo queue first rather than check the patch notes meticulously.

Even if there are rumors suggesting Viktor is strong, that information is just from a handful of users who tested it on the PBE.

To evidence that, the praises for Viktor in the chat were minuscule compared to the overall chat.

– But is Viktor really that good?

– For real, is he? I don’t think he’s very good, is our team’s Viktor a bug?

– Yup, the new item and the Electrocute rune go really well together.

– The Scuttle Crab’s influence seems to matter too.

Since it’s too early to categorize champion tiers, it seemed Viktor hadn’t been banned yet either.

[Viktor]

Seo Yeon-woo picked Viktor just as foretold.

– Oh

– Good

– OMG

– They didn’t ban Viktor???

Although grabbing Viktor was relatively easy on the first day of the patch, it would surely not be the same next time.

If he’s that notorious on the PBE, he’d likely be top of the must-ban list once he starts rampaging on the live servers.

‘Unless Viktor gets nerfed.’

In big patches like this, the ones who can scoop up the juicy info always eat first.

And then…

The ban/pick phase continued one by one.

+

[Our team / Enemy team]

1st pick: Viktor / Nidalee

2nd pick: Twisted Fate / Akali

3rd pick: Leona / Jax

4th pick: [Select] / Caitlyn

5th pick: [Select] / [Next]

+

Finally, it was my pick.

Removing Viktor aside, the ban/pick phase wasn’t that different from the previous meta.

‘Well, it makes sense.’

It’s still early for people to adapt and change, so the new meta would eventually settle in as time goes on.

‘Let’s see…’

It was still hard to gauge which champions were rising or falling in the jungle.

After all, with the Scuttle Crab patch and rune changes being the biggest shifts in the jungle, it wasn’t easy to tell which champions were getting favorable treatment.

The patch should’ve been a bit more complicated.

“What should I do?”

[“Whatever you want, sis.”]

– Uh, awkward

– LOL

– Sis, do whatever you feel like~~

– Honestly, it’s so awkward LOL

“No, it’s not that awkward, why do you keep saying that?”

I mean, how can you change who we are?

– Totally, totally

– Sis is right

– Gotcha

– LOL

Gah…

‘Fine, let’s go with this.’

I didn’t dwell on my decision for long.

[KSante]

There were basically two main reasons.

The rumors that the transformation time got faster thanks to Electrocute and the value drop of the Scuttle Crab.

The timing of transformations and the news that the Scuttle Crab’s value dropped was fantastic for KSante, who struggled in scuttle fights.

‘Guess I’ll figure it out when I try.’

And finally, the ban/pick was completed.

+

[Our team / Enemy team]

Top: Viktor / Jax

Jungle: KSante / Nidalee

Mid: Twisted Fate / Akali

Bot: Ezreal / Caitlyn

Support: Leona / Ruler

+

Overall, the ban/pick featured several familiar champions.

Of course, some of those champions had been missing for a long time, which is what makes this patch noteworthy.

Viktor and Caitlyn.

Especially, while Viktor had made a brief appearance, Caitlyn felt like she only emerged thanks to this patch.

‘Definitely thanks to Electrocute.’

Since Caitlyn had a long base range anyway, the synergy with Electrocute was perfect.

‘That said, I could say the same for attack speed builds… but Caitlyn was never really a champion you’d build attack speed on.’

To be precise, the previous attack speed build required nimble feet, making it a bit tough to think of her as a champion that matched well with the previous build.

Truly synergistic champions didn’t bother adjusting their runes based on the situation.

“What’s the deal with KSante against Nidalee? Should I play safe early top, is that fine?”

[“Yeah, that works.”]

– ?

– Huh?

– Is this… top?

– Fake top

– No way, you were the 3 Min Top School Honorary Member! Why all of a sudden you’re a little sister?

– For real LOL

『‘진정한남자의라인’ has gifted 10 balloons.』

『“Don’t worry, the 3 Min Top School Honorary Member will do his usual stuff and smash it right away.”』

– Smash it?

– What?

– No way, LOL

– You guys, get rid of those idiots.

In the chaotic chat, the loading finally began.

+

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Outlaw Fan – Nidalee

MAX HwaLang – Akali

BAN EZ – Jason

SY Longbow – Caitlyn

SY GuineaPig – Ruler

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+

Hmm.

Where did all the familiar faces go? Seems they went over to the enemy side.

No, more importantly…

[“Hey sis, check out the enemy jungler’s nickname.”]

“…I see it.”

Of course, during games, there were tons of fan nicknames for pros, but seeing my fan nickname directly like this was a first.

The viewers’ reactions were pretty mixed.

Some were conscious of the pro players in the enemy team, while others focused on the Outlaw Fan.

– Wow

– OMG

– First game, big match, OMG

– Is this the Red Cup finals?

– What the heck

– Look at the enemy jungler’s nickname LOL

– LOL, how did we end up here?

– What? Who is it?

– Oh, it’s a streamer, yeah, they’re broadcasting on Blue TV right now.

– Kim Chun-sik!

– Info) Name: Kim Chun-sik. Tier: Challenger. Streaming platform: Blue TV. Recently risen to fame as a challenger jungler after the fall of Jjuhsim.

– Info-dropping, LOL

– What’s this, is this a snipe?

– Nah, looking at the records, seems it’s not a snipe, he was on a 5-game winning streak with EZ.

– LOL Running into the host, huh?

– Oh, looks like he’s close with EZ.

– Top/jungle duo battle, OMG

The first solo queue after the patch.

It started off with some entertaining opponents.