[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return – Chapter 337

Korea’s SY and China’s ESD.

Since it was a matchup between the first and second seeds, most domestic fans expected SY to win, but considering the mixed cheering messages, it wouldn’t have been strange for either team to come out on top.

Moreover, just because one was the second seed didn’t mean they were inferior to the first seed.

‘Especially considering that the Chinese team won the last MSL… it’s definitely not gonna be easy.’

Kim Jae-min casually sat down next to me.

“Is it starting soon?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh wow.”

“What about the others?”

“I think Seong-an will be here soon, and Ji-hoon said he was watching from the gym. And Yeon-woo…”

As Jae-min subtly turned his gaze back, Seo Yeon-woo, who had been standing there awkwardly, flinched.

“…I-I’ll watch separately later!”

Yeon-woo, her face flushed, dashed off to her room.

Considering the suicide situation from earlier, I wondered if I should just leave her alone, but thinking about why she did that made me want to jump off myself.

“Hah…”

No, how could anyone think that after seeing that…?

‘…Wait, was that its original use?’

Thinking about this made me feel like I was being invaded early because of my team’s dive, so I stopped my thoughts.

The more I thought, the more I felt like I was the one losing out.

“Ugh, sniff…”

“…What are you doing?”

While I was deep in thought, Jae-min was trying hard to suppress laughter.

“Oh, nothing… cough.”

“Just die already, seriously.”

“I didn’t laugh. Really.”

Anyone could see that he looked like he was dying of laughter, but I kept my mouth shut because I didn’t want to embarrass myself any further.

However, I had no intention of forgetting this grudge.

Just postponing it.

‘You’re dead meat.’

While I was in this vengeful mindset, the ads finally ended, and the match between SY and ESD officially began.

“Here it is, the moment we’ve been waiting for. SY vs ESD, ESD vs SY. Who will take the top spot in Group Stage B?”

“I think a lot of people will be cheering for SY, but honestly, ESD is definitely not a weak team! SY can’t afford to relax today.”

“That’s right! Even though many experts are predicting SY’s advantage, what about ESD? They may have regrettably missed the finals in the last MSL, but their momentum in this Red Cup is incredible.”

As the commentators said, predicting who would win in the SY vs ESD battle was a tough call.

Both teams were strong contenders for the championship in this Red Cup.

– SY! SY! SY! SY! SY! SY! SY! SY! SY! SY! SY! SY! SY! SY! SY! SY! SY! SY! SY! SY! SY! SY! SY! SY! SY! SY! SY! SY!

– Rainbow carry, let’s go!

– This is gonna be super fun.

– But I think ESD will win.

– Nope, we gotta win!

– Looks like it’s a clear ESD advantage, lol.

– A legendary match of SY vs ESD, frightening!

The chatroom was buzzing, but I could understand it since the Korea-China matchups were always like this.

And,

The ban/pick phase began.

SY was on the blue side.

ESD was on the red side.

That meant SY got the first pick.

[BAN: Gangplank]

SY’s first ban was Gangplank. Given how high his tier is currently in the top lane, it was a natural choice.

Soon after, ESD also made their ban.

[BAN: Arin]

This ban targeted Rainbow, the most impactful player on SY. Considering Rainbow’s previous performances, it was a very logical ban.

Following that, SY had another ban.

[BAN: Lucian]

Lucian was a pick typically used more often as a laner, but he had secured his place as a bot lane pick after the patch changes. Especially the Lucian Nami combo used to be quite popular, so it remained a solid pick.

And then…

The bans were finally completed.

[BAN LIST]


Gangplank / Arin

Lucian / LeBlanc

Kalista / Bexu

SY seemed to prioritize banning picks that could impact the bot lane, while ESD was clearly focused on countering Rainbow.

“Now, let’s see what SY’s first pick will be…”

“Since Wukong is still available, I think they might go for him.”

[Wukong]

“Yeah, there’s no reason not to pick him.”

“Exactly. Wukong is in good shape right now, plus he allows for aggressive initiations.”

“So how will ESD respond to that pick…?”

[Twisted Fate]


[Ezreal]

“Oh, they’re going this route.”

“Ezreal has a very high tier right now, and Twisted Fate is also a great pick for game control.”

“Then we should pay attention to SY’s next picks, too!”

“Right! The first names that come to mind are Sylas or something, but… I can’t wait to see what Rainbow and SY will pick.”

With the commentators’ anticipation, SY’s 2nd and 3rd picks rolled in.

[Sylas]


[Samira]

I spoke up.

“How’s the synergy between Ezreal and Samira?”

“Bot lane relies on support.”

“…So if the supports are similar, who has the advantage?”

“I think they’ll both struggle a bit? But if Ezreal makes a mistake, it’ll be curtains. If that’s the case, Samira might actually have a slight edge.”

“Really?”

I thought maybe what I knew was different, but it wasn’t really.

The mid and ADC picks were set.

Now the crucial part was the support pick that significantly influenced the bot lane…

[Graves]

It seemed like ESD was going for a pick that was not purely support-oriented.

Graves was a flexible pick that could work in either top or jungle for ESD, so he was a solid choice both in terms of performance and strategic options.

Then the bans continued and were completed.

[BAN LIST]


Gangplank / Arin

Lucian / LeBlanc

Kalista / Bexu

Karuma / Renata Glasc

Leona / Nautilus

What can I say…

The positions of the picks were overlapping, resulting in bans that felt more crowded than usual.

Especially since support champions that matched well against enemy ADCs were banned, it opened up some more options for top lane.

“If it keeps going like this, the top lane’s completely opening up… I guess since SY grabbed Graves first, ESD is likely to take a top pick for their last choice?”

“Yeah. That’s definitely the advantage of being last pick on red side.”

Next, ESD’s 4th pick was coming up.

[Ruler]

“Oh, they’re going this route.”

“This looks good with Ezreal, and overall, Ruler is also a solid pick against Samira.”

“That’s right. Now we have to watch SY’s choice too!”

Immediately after, it was SY’s turn for their 4th and 5th picks.

[Jason]

SY’s 4th pick was Jason.

A very safe choice.

“Oh, they went for that.”

“It’s a pretty safe pick.”

“Now the question is what they’ll pick for support…”

[Tahm Kench]

“This is a good pick.”

“Yes.”

It felt like they went for a solid and safe pick, so the commentators didn’t cheer too much.

In that situation, it was finally ESD’s turn for the last pick.

[Arelia]

“Arelia! Arelia has been picked!”

“While a strong pick against Jason, I didn’t expect them to go for it so decisively!”

“Right! Personally, I thought they might want something like Malphite to fill the awkward initiation gap, but we saw Arelia instead!”

All the bans and picks were completed.

[SY / ESD]


Top: Jason / Arelia

Jungle: Wukong / Graves

Mid: Sylas / Twisted Fate

ADC: Samira / Ezreal

Support: Tahm Kench / Ruler

“The noteworthy part is the top lane, right?”

“Yes. Arelia is a counter pick to Jason, but to be honest, there have been many players who couldn’t showcase their strengths against TheOne in the LCKR and Red Cup.”

“And Rainbow’s Sylas is in. I’m curious to see if he can keep up with the tempo against Twisted Fate.”

“What do you think about the bot lane?”

“The one with the better support is likely to win.”

“…Which side has the better support?”

“I want to say GuineaPig… but honestly, I think the Chinese support is probably better.”

“Is it really that much?”

“Didn’t you know? He was causing a stir in the Korean support scene.”

Jae-min added.

“And in terms of matchup, Ruler has a slight advantage too.”

“Hmmm…”

Was it Jae-min’s words that made me feel uneasy?

Of course, even if they lose this match, it wouldn’t be the end of the world as they’d just pass through the group stage in second place, but if that happened, there could be an internal conflict in the quarterfinals.

Things could get pretty sticky.

And then,

“Welcome to Summoner’s Rift!”

The game officially started.