[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return – Chapter 297

The arrival of Sion heightened the commentators’ voices.

Originally, Sion was one of the champions that appeared fairly often even by LCKR standards, but due to recent metas not favoring tanks, he hadn’t shone for quite some time.

“Wait, is this actually happening?!”

“Mid Sion! Some might call it a hot pick in solo queue these days, but whether it will work in professional play is another question entirely!”

“Exactly!”

– Sion hahahaha

– This is it

– Getback, the bus master, made this choice ㄷㄷ

– Ah, if you’re getting on the bus, make sure to do it right lol

– This is right

– Feeling secure right from the pick window

Is it because of the symbolism that the pick Sion represents?

Up until now, the fans’ reactions, which had been starkly cold, were relatively warm.

Thus, the ban/pick phase was completed.

+


[GBP / OLZ]

Top: Irelia / Yune

Jungle: Diana / Lee Sin

Mid: Jui / Sion

ADC: Caitlyn / Ezreal

Support: Lux / Karuma

+


At a glance, OLZ’s composition looked like 4AD, but with Karuma around and Yune and Ezreal capable of filling some AP roles, it didn’t matter much.

Above all, even if it were 5AD, GBP’s composition had no tank, making it somewhat irrelevant.

– One, two, three! OLZ fighting!

– GBP fighting!

The cheers from the fans erupted, and the game officially began.

– Welcome to Summoner’s Rift!

“Alright, the match has started!”

“First off, the most notable pick is undoubtedly the Sion from red team’s fifth pick, right?”

“That’s right. Of course, Sion isn’t a bad champion, but recently the meta has favored damage items over tank items, causing his pick rate to drop.”

“But having Sion in this situation means there’s a chance he can be utilized in a way different from the typical tank, right?”

“Yes! One of Sion’s advantages is that even without building tank items, his passive guarantees at least some tankiness. Because of that, an aggressive build has been trending lately, right?”

“To elaborate on that, there’s a so-called ‘suicide Sion’ build that’s become popular in solo queue recently, which is closely related to the recent bounty patch.”

“Yes, that’s correct. Thanks to the recent bounty patch, now objects also have bounties, right? This led to a few unconventional strategies in solo queue, one of which is the so-called ‘suicide Sion’ build.”

“How should I put it… Despite being on a disadvantaged team, one champion kill with a bounty, plus an object, means you can catch up in gold, right? That’s basically the meta now.”

“Yes. Of course, that’s not inherently bad or anything.”

“Anyway, the reason I’m bringing this up is because we are curious about how the Sion in OLZ’s mid will play, right?”

“Of course, given that it’s a pro match, Sion won’t just throw himself away… But we’ll need to keep an eye on him.”

– Getback’s optimized build lol

– Ah haha, he can die for it

– But no way he’ll actually int, right?

– There are plenty of noobs who think that just because it’s called suicide Sion he can die recklessly ㅇㅇ

– The upper comment is right; you need to differentiate when it’s okay to die. If you don’t, you’re just trolling.

Amidst the fans’ concerns, the game began.

*

“Everyone, fighting!”

“Fighting!”

“Let’s do our best, everyone.”

The early invade setup looked like both sides were taking defensive positions.

Since a lot was riding on this match, GBP seemed to be cautious for their first game.

– Minions have spawned!

Thus, a smooth 1 minute and 30 seconds passed, and the lanes had formed.

I chose the route to the blue buff.

However, I didn’t receive a leash.

I knew the importance of the bottom lane matchup in this game.

‘Forget mid, the key is the knife fight in top lane.’

Irelia vs. Yune.

Statistically, this matchup favored Irelia against Yune.

Irelia was picked to counter Yune, so it only made sense.

‘In a knife fight in top lane, the jungler who arrives first always wins.’

So, I intended to do minimal jungling and head to top naturally.

Blue-Wolf-Red.

A classic level 3 gank route.

“I’m going to gank top.”

“Okay.”

Standard play is predictable.

But sometimes, that predictability can surprisingly mislead the opponent.

For example… “Outlaw would never pull off a play like that.”

Especially at a moment like this, when allies are executing an almost perfect bait at the top.

While Aoner’s Yune aggressively pushed, normally it would have been Irelia leading the lane, but she hesitated.

And that meant the situation, which would typically have led to a dive, was being abandoned by the opponent.

“Now.”

“Yeah.”

Just as Irelia could no longer hold her ground and went for the last hit on a low-health minion using Q, I revealed myself from behind.

The opposing Irelia, feeling flustered, surprisingly approached me directly.

I knew that scheme.

She planned to use Q on me and then flash to escape to the turret.

Knowing this, right before she used her Q, I positioned myself close to her with my safeguard.

As expected, after using Q, Irelia flashed, but since I was so close with the shield, the distance she traveled was minimal.

Despite Irelia using flash to escape, neither Aoner’s Yune nor my Lee Sin’s persistence wavered.

“I can’t catch her.”

“She headed home, so it’s alright.”

Ultimately, the almost-dead Irelia had no choice but to return by teleporting after backing.

She couldn’t afford to walk back with the lane situation not being favorable.

Just as I was about to check the top crab after I left, Diana popped up from the river.

[Diana – Level 4]

Though Diana’s health management wasn’t perfect, her level surpassed mine.

If we fought now, I had a high chance of losing.

Time flowed slowly.

Diana’s Q skill comes in a crescent shape.

Meaning, if you know the direction the skill is coming from, dodging is not too difficult.

‘I see it.’

I boldly flashed to narrowly escape Diana’s Q, then directly engaged with her.

Diana at the early stage with her Q missing is practically the weakest in the jungle ecosystem.

As I used my flash, Diana, caught off-guard by losing her skill, tried to escape with her own flash, but there was no escaping from Lee Sin.

– First Blood!

– Enemy has been slain!

A jungler kill.

Something that can only happen with a significant difference between two junglers occurred in this game.

“Nice!”

“That was good.”

“Good good.”

“This is me.”

My first jungle circle ended in a KO victory.

Now, after returning, it was time for the second round.

The route itself didn’t differ much from the first round.

After all, I still needed to farm the respawning jungle camps like wolves and raptors.

That way, I finally achieved results at top in the second round.

– Enemy has been slain!

The timing when Irelia made a risky move was when Aoner’s Yune was pulling the strings, and she died without realizing it.

Victories continuously rang out from the top, and while the bottom was somewhat even, an unfortunate event occurred in mid.

“She’s dead, this one.”

With Baek Seong-an’s low voice, Sion fell.

Though his passive zombie was diligently clearing the wave, the fact he got solo killed couldn’t be erased.

Still, I remained calm.

It wasn’t that I expected Sion to get solo killed, but rather that it wasn’t a crippling blow.

“It’s alright.”

In reality, the suicide Sion strategy is quite a valid one, but it’s not effective just because you do it randomly.

If deaths increase, the opposing champions grow stronger, and you lag behind in leveling.

What’s important here is perspective.

It’s not about being a champion that has to die, but rather, it’s about being a champion that isn’t at a disadvantage even if they do die.

So, to put it somewhat dramatically, a Sion standing in mid can afford to die a few times.

The more the mid falters.

The more the mid dies.

Ironically, it sets the stage for allied junglers and ADCs to grow.

Just like right now.

“Jui, I’m coming.”

“Oh, copy that.”

Before long, a bounty appeared above Jui’s head.

[Jui – 150 Gold]

That bounty naturally formed from the kill and CS difference after taking down Sion.

‘Should I go collect it?’

That piggy bank filled with Sion’s blood and tears.