[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return – Chapter 90

The ban/pick phase has been completed.

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[Allies / Enemies]

Top: Jason / Oren

Jungle: Elise / Nidalee

Mid: Renekton / Sett

Bot Lane: Ashe / Ezreal

Support: Braum / Morgana

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The enemy combination is a typical poking composition and an Ezreal solo-dive combo.

Given that SCV has the devastating bot duo of BlackDog and WhiteCat, this ban/pick is understandable.

‘Morgana is quite bothersome.’

The ally composition is a classic hard CC composition. It was straightforward countered by Morgana, so it would be a lie to say I felt comfortable.

‘Plus, she has a good matchup against Braum.’

Of course, Braum’s pick itself is solid.

Not only can he counter Oren’s ultimate, but he can also counter the enemy poking composition.

However, the enemy also responded by picking Morgana.

From this perspective, SCV led the ban/pick, while YSG followed one step behind.

‘But there are definitely favorable points.’

In particular, the synergy between Jason and Elise, and Elise and Renekton stood out.

What we need to save is this top lane matchup where the interactions will favor us.

‘If we lose the top lane… it will be a very tough game.’

[Please select your champion!]

[Please select your skin!]

Once the ban/pick was done, Coach Park Tae-Hyung quietly took off his headset and stepped back.

[“…Everyone, do your best.”]

Now that the game had officially begun, the coaching staff’s role was simply to trust the players and watch.

───────────────

SCV KING – Oren

SCV Vendetta – Nidalee

SCV AllDay – Sett

SCV BlackDog – Ezreal

SCV WhiteCat – Morgana

───────────────

As the loading screen appeared, seeing the full roster of SCV made my heart pound with excitement.

‘We’re really doing this.’

It wasn’t the first time I faced a pro team.

Previously, I had a victory against the full SY lineup in a normal game alongside Nightmare.

But that was only because SY didn’t have their main positions, and they ended up throwing the game for fun.

If I faced a serious full SY lineup again with these teammates? I’d lose a hundred times out of a hundred.

‘Things are different now.’

The opponent isn’t SY, and my teammates aren’t regular players, but active professional gamers.

The objective odds of winning are significantly higher than when I faced SY before.

‘I won then, and I’ll win now.’

With this small resolve, I focused on the game.

-Welcome to Summoner’s Rift.

The game had officially started.

[⨷] [⨷] [⨷]


[⚑] [⚑] [⚑]

As always, pings were being cast.

However, what was annoying was that the pings were a bit all over the place.

[⚑] [⚑] [⚑]


[⚑] [⚑] [⚑]

Amidst the chaotic pings, it didn’t take long for me to notice something strange.

‘Is this solo queue or scrims?’

I’m not the type to talk much during team games.

It’s not for any particular reason; it just feels a bit awkward to speak.

‘Strangely quiet.’

True to that, the YSG team members were so quiet that not a single call was being made.

It was a classic sign of a failing team.

‘…I knew the atmosphere was bad, but not this bad.’

It wasn’t that YSG consisted of particularly unsociable individuals.

It’s just a natural downturn that happens when a team goes on a losing streak.

No matter how positive a team may be, there’s no escaping that; it’s only natural given how poorly this team is performing.

‘But isn’t it usually the oldest member or coaching staff that helps lift the mood?’

I casually glanced left, but the expression of our captain and oldest member, Kim Man-ki, was stoic.

As if he couldn’t care less about the outcome of this game.

‘This isn’t good.’

Sadly, it was too late to treat the rotten parts currently festering in the team.

‘For now, let’s focus on this game.’

Fortunately, even if there weren’t any calls through voice chat, the pings weren’t being ignored in-game.

We gathered in the bush near the bot lane to prepare for an invade, led by Braum.

If a level 1 Alistar is a guardian angel, then a level 1 Braum is a god of destruction.

Given Braum’s strong presence in level 1 skirmishes, it was only natural for our team to attempt an invade.

[⨷] [⨷] [⨷]

Pings went out, and as we boldly entered the enemy’s blue area, Morgana’s Q ensnared Braum, who was leading the charge.

Then the enemy team smoothly disengaged.

If we managed to force Morgana to use her Q instead of her W, that was already a win in my book.

[❕] [❕] [❕]

After placing a ward in the enemy blue jungle, we retreated.

We’d gained at least some vision without overstretching ourselves; there wasn’t much point in pushing our luck any further.

[⨷] [⨷]

[YSG Outlaw (Elise): Can I get a leash?]

By now, I had blended into the silence, and instead of using my voice, I was moving my fingers.

The bot lane obediently leashed the red as expected.

There were roughly two meanings behind my request for a leash from the bot lane.

The first was to speed up my tempo,

And the second was because I anticipated that our bot lane would fall behind in the laning phase, so it was better to ask them outright for a leash.

If the lane is likely to lose, it’s better to do something than to do nothing.

‘Plus, Ashe is decent at wave clearing, so even if we lose lane control, they shouldn’t easily allow for a dive.’

In this game, our bot lane was primarily assigned the role of enduring.

From the moment I requested a leash from the bot, their role had already been set.

‘Let’s see…’

After finishing my red buff, I headed directly to our blue and checked the other lanes.

The first lane I checked was, of course, mid, the jungle’s eternal partner.

In the matchup of Renekton vs. Sett, Renekton is generally a bit favored.

However, that doesn’t mean Sett can’t hold his own in this matchup.

If Renekton makes even a slight mistake, he can easily give Sett a kill.

To put some numbers on it… it’s like saying Renekton is at 5.2 while Sett is at 4.8, just slightly in Renekton’s favor.

Indeed, there are many times in pro play where even though Renekton is picked against Sett as a counter, he fails to leverage the pick’s significance, so this matchup often comes down to who can out-skill whom.

‘He’s losing.’

Of course, it’s not that Renekton dominates the lane from the very start, but still, it seems that he has taken considerable damage in the trade.

‘Ganking is not an option.’

Renekton and Elise’s synergy is hindered by Renekton’s poor condition from the start.

If Nidalee takes the opportunity to counter-gank, it could turn the game around.

‘Let’s think.’

I know the opponents.

Though it’s my first time facing the full SCV lineup, I’ve met each of them countless times.

‘First, SCV’s jungler, Vendetta.’

What I know about Vendetta’s playstyle is as simple as it gets.

‘Revenge.’

Rumor has it that Vendetta got his name from his playstyle.

For example, if the enemy invades his jungle, Vendetta feels compelled to retaliate by invading theirs, no matter what.

If the enemy has the upper hand in levels, he focuses solely on leveling up, ignoring ganks and objectives.

It may seem like an obvious play, but this playstyle carries one critical flaw.

‘The jungler, who should be making proactive moves, becomes reactive instead.’

Revenge can only be executed if someone has first suffered losses.

In other words, Vendetta doesn’t act unless the enemy throws the first punch.

‘The problem is that flaw usually goes unnoticed.’

A passive jungler isn’t only a disadvantage;

Observing the enemy’s movements can lead to the best choice for the situation, albeit at a slower tempo.

SCV’s overwhelming power easily compensates for a reactive jungler’s shortcomings.

‘I must use that as an opportunity. I can definitely strike first.’

I finished my red, blue, and the last level 3 buff, the frog, while keeping a close watch on the health of my teammates on the mini-map.

‘A fight has broken out in the top lane.’

Glancing at the top lane, I saw that our Jason was taking hits from Oren.

Jason was losing trades against Oren even before hitting level 6.

‘This is…’

I rushed to the top lane.

Even though Jason was losing trades, I noticed one thing.

‘It’s clear. The enemy top is completely disregarding our top.’

There must be several reasons for that.

His dreadful solo queue score of Dia 1.

His inadequate mechanics to handle the tricky champion that is Jason.

And the actual pressure felt, which was not much at all during the laning phase.

All this evidence made Oren cross a certain ‘line’ he shouldn’t have.

Oren, who was being too lenient, was now becoming overly ambitious in a way he usually wouldn’t.

-Can I take that?

I could read his thoughts from the aggressive movements that had taken shape.

‘Come at me.’

If Oren had not pushed forward, I would have paid dearly for wasting time and ended up failing.

Oren was a champion with excellent survivability and was fairly tanky, apart from being a frontline.

It wouldn’t have been possible for a trading-losing Jason to set up a dive.

But Oren had crossed the line.

When the enemy jungler is Elise, that’s a line you should never cross.

[⨷]

[YSG Outlaw (Elise) has targeted SCV KING (Champion).]

Jason’s response was somewhat clumsy.

However, paradoxically, his clumsy response to the gank created another illusion in the mind of the enemy Oren.

-You have no jungler, right?

But Oren was mistaken.

Because right next to the battered Jason, I was there.

-First Blood!

The show of the lone spider was about to begin.