[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return – Chapter 268

BLH and BGG’s ban/pick are as follows.

[BLH / BGG]

Top: Gwen / Gragas

Jungle: Lee Sin / Xin Zhao

Mid: LeBlanc / Kuroki

Bot Lane: Ezreal / Caitlyn

Support: Yuumi / Lux

As if to prove that the patch version has changed, the ban/pick from the first set in the second round was anything but ordinary.

“How long has it been since Kuroki made an appearance in the league?”


“I can’t really remember, but still, he’s become a hot pick among various teams lately.”


“That’s right. Just like Viktor mentioned earlier, there are many new picks this time around. Caitlyn and Lux in the bot lane are also noteworthy.”


“The bot lane ban/pick must be influenced by the recent teleport patch, right?”


“Absolutely.”

While the commentators continued explaining, I asked Baek Seong-an,


“Who do you think will win?”


“Well… if BLH doesn’t get off to a good start, BGG might have the upper hand.”


“That makes sense. Still, being BLH, they should be able to manage it somehow…”


“We’ll have to see.”

In the end, it was an obvious conclusion.

“Alright then… let the match begin!”

With the caster’s shout, the game officially started.

Ping was as loud as ever.

With no time to catch recent matches, it had been a while since I had the chance to watch both teams’ pings.

“They’re both heading towards red.”


“True.”

As they said, both teams’ champions invaded each other’s red side, placed wards, and returned home. It seemed the timing for the invade was a bit early, so they decided it was awkward to change their sides.

“For now, both teams know each other’s jungle positions.”

Lee Sin was revealed by both teams’ wards, while Xin Zhao remained hidden. This meant they both started with their red buffs.

“Oh, BGG’s bot duo is coming out strong from the start. Caitlyn and Lux is a combo that can really push hard right from the laning phase.”


“That’s right. The Ezreal and Yuumi combo isn’t bad, but given the opponents, it feels a bit helpless.”


“Exactly! No matter how strong your combo is, it’s useless if the opponent is stronger!”

The early game vibe was exactly as the ban/pick suggested. Both junglers were farming while looking for opportunities, with BGG taking a slight edge in the bot lane.

“How’s it looking in the jungle?”


“Meh… it’s pretty standard. We should keep a close eye on mid.”


“Really?”

Even though the meta felt like a bottom-carry one, that didn’t mean mid wasn’t important. Especially in a game where Kuroki has a champion with growth potential beyond that of a standard ADC.

“Lately, Kuroki’s damage has been insane. One poke hit, and half health is gone.”


“…He’s still in practice.”


“Oh, I didn’t mean it like that.”

It seemed Baek Seong-an was struggling a bit with his Kuroki skills. Strictly speaking, Kuroki was an old champion, so being an old gamer, there was no reason Baek Seong-an couldn’t handle it, but even so, he was having a tough time since it had been so long since he picked it up.

“Or maybe he’s just getting old.”

I kept that thought to myself. In many ways, bringing this up would lead to nothing good.

Baek Seong-an said,


“Can I turn on the chat? I turned it off just in case it would bother anyone, but I find it more enjoyable with the chat on.”


“Sure, do what you like.”

Honestly, I was starting to get a bit bored just watching.

– LOL, BLH is getting wrecked.


– Why would you let Caitlyn and Lux through?


– Fr, though.


– The support difference is glaring, haha.


– Yuumi’s all over the place.

The chat was consistently lively. Of course, I was somewhat interested in that sort of thing.

The observer panned the lanes for a moment.

A minor trade occurred in the top lane, but it didn’t lead to any solid results, and they ended up going evenly.


From Gwen’s perspective, breaking through the resilient Gragas was not an easy task.

Mid also saw LeBlanc, accompanied by Lee Sin, try to set up a play, but thanks to Kuroki saving his W, nothing major happened. No matter how strong LeBlanc and Lee Sin were, if Kuroki decided to play safe, it was hard to catch him.

Meanwhile, the bot lane was definitely in BGG’s favor.


No matter how good the Ezreal and Yuumi combo was, they couldn’t gain an advantage against the newly risen power duo of Caitlyn and Lux from the recent patch.

Because of this, the game started to drift slightly in BGG’s favor.

“Should we call it as expected? The teleport patch changed the bot lane dynamics significantly. From Ezreal and Yuumi’s standpoint, simply surviving is all they can do now… They’ll have to rely on Yuumi’s LeBlanc, or Yuumi’s Gwen later on.”


“Yes. Right now, what BLH can do is create a play in mid or, based on their control, apply pressure back in bot. But Kuroki is holding up better than expected.”


“Correct. And Gwen isn’t an easy pick to break through Gragas in top either.”


“That said, if things continue smoothly, BGG won’t mind at all. They’ve got Caitlyn, and most importantly, Kuroki.”

– This is boring.


– They’re just playing lane.


– Fr.


– What are they doing?

“I think this needs to happen in mid-jungle. Otherwise, BGG is gonna get way too advantageous.”


“Right. It feels like LeBlanc is stuck a bit.”

With the situation being as it was, the first dragon naturally went to BGG, who held the bot lane control.

– The red team has slain the Infernal Dragon!

A somewhat dull stalemate continued, and the game’s speed started to pick up at the 8-minute mark.

It was the timing when the first Rift Herald appeared. Ironically, at this timing, having control of the bot lane often becomes crucial.


Once you have control of the bot lane, it allows you to outnumber your opponents.

“This bot duo from BGG is both running towards the Herald. Shouldn’t BLH respond to this? It’s not like they can just push the bot lane in right now to harvest turret shields.”


As the commentator said, BLH’s bot lane was quite pushed, so trying to push it back now would only barely remove a turret shield at best.

However, if they let BGG take the Herald, it would give BGG control of the game, so BLH had no choice but to respond.

“Looks like they’re trying to.”


“Indeed.”

BLH’s bot duo hurriedly headed toward the Herald after returning to base. But, BGG was already on it.

– The red team has slain the Rift Herald!

“Well, they’ve successfully taken the Herald. Now we need to see what happens next… Is BLH thinking of starting a fight? It would be such a waste to let it go like this!”


“That’s right! The bot duo isn’t absent, they’re already here, so if they let the opponent go, that would be such a waste!”


“Indeed! They don’t want to let them go!”

Tensions were high.


The one initiating was Lee Sin.

“Watch out for Lee Sin!”

It’s often said that Lee Sin is like the textbook jungler. Literally, he can carry, support, or make plays, he’s a jack-of-all-trades.

Right now, Lee Sin’s role was playmaking.


Since BLH’s composition had fewer initiators, Lee Sin had to step in.

Lee Sin aimed his kick toward Lux. But Lux’s quick flash reaction saw Lee Sin’s kick sending her aside, and the response was Lux’s binding.

– First Blood!


– A teammate has fallen!

Bind, trap.


With a swift combo of CC, Lee Sin’s head literally exploded.

“Oh, that was a disaster!”


“I get that you shouldn’t let the opponent escape, but was it right to target a Lux who already had flash?”

“Honestly, Lee Sin didn’t have many choices to target. Caitlyn and Kuroki are champions with strong survival skills, so aiming for the weaker Lux was his best bet… but he was punished beautifully.”

– GG


– Flash reaction was good.


– Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!

“Um, looks like BGG won?”


“Yeah.”

I said, and Baek Seong-an agreed.

So far, aside from our team in Challengers Korea, BGG has been maintaining a strong win rate. BLH was looking quite bleak.


In other words, no matter how strong a team you are, if you can’t adapt to the changing meta, you’ll end up drinking from the cup of defeat.

“We can’t afford to be complacent either.”


“True.”

Our eyes were glued to the monitor. Even without speaking, I’m sure Baek Seong-an felt it too.


From now on, quite a lot might change.