[TS] The Return of The Gamer - Chapter 211

“Everyone worked hard.”

[“Thank you for your hard work.”]

Like the first game, there was hardly anything to give feedback on in the second game.

“It was really fun.”

“I agree.”

Kim Jae-min said it, and Seo Yeon-woo agreed.

The game a while ago was so exciting that Seo Yeon-woo, who usually acted composed, openly showed his young age.

‘Come to think of it, those two get along surprisingly well.’

I don't know when they got so close, but I’ve seen them together a lot at the dorm lately.

‘Well, they're the same age.’

Unlike the other three who are in different age groups, Seo Yeon-woo and Kim Jae-min are both 20 years old.

After living in the dorm for this long, it would be stranger if they weren't close.

‘I'm a little envious, too.’

I don't have any friends who are the same age.

No, to be exact, it's correct to say that I don't have any friends at all.

Of course, even so, I could consider 3-Minute Top God, i.e., Seo Yeon-woo and the rest of Rainbow, as friends, but… we weren't the type to open up and talk to each other.

In that sense, those two had something that I didn't.

‘Well… that's that.’

The promotion/relegation match is almost over.

If we win one more game, we will finally step onto the professional stage that I've always dreamed of.

I can get caught up in emotions later.

There could be no complacency.

“OLZ players, please get ready for the third game!”

“Yes.”

With the staff's words, we headed back to the arena.

And…….

Soon the third game began.

+

[GKG / OLZ]

Top: Kled / Gravesen

Jungle: Elise / Talun

Mid: Renekton / Sylas

ADC: Draven / Jhin

Support: Nami / Thresh

+

Did they feel like it wouldn't work out like this?

As if they were burning their last flame, the opponent brought a somewhat extreme combination.

If the previous ban/pick had a balanced distribution of champions who could be active in the early laning phase as well as mid-to-late game, now they only considered the laning phase for their ban/pick.

[“Kled is coming out.”]

[“Are they sure?”]

[“Yes, well….”]

Kled shows a strong performance in the laning phase and is active until mid-game, but then his power rapidly declines.

Because of this, he is rarely used in the current meta where the 4-dragon timing is important, but GKG chose him as if he were a secret weapon.

‘That means they’re that desperate.’

It wasn't just Kled.

As I said before, a number of so-called solo queue picks, like Renekton in mid or Elise, which are not often used in team games, appeared.

‘And on top of that, Draven and Nami.’

All of them are picks where ambiguous compromises are impossible, and you must win the laning phase.

Is it their last resort?

Is it just stubbornness that won't work?

Now it's time to go and see for ourselves.

-Welcome to the Summoner's Rift!

The game officially began.

Earlier, I said that the opponent's combination was a time-limited combination, but in fact, our combination wasn't that good either, considering the growth potential, except for Gravesen and Sylas.

Holding out without a plan to stall is not the way to go.

‘The key is Gravesen.’

Since Jhin was chosen as our ADC, Gravesen has to take on the role of our core sustained damage dealer.

In other words, if Gravesen falls behind, this game is also highly likely to fall apart.

‘The opponent knows that too.’

That's why an extreme pick like Kled came out as a counter to Gravesen.

“In this game, the opponent will probably invest a lot in the top lane.”

[“Yes.”]

Seo Yeon-woo also seemed to have roughly anticipated it, answering calmly.

The early start was smooth.

No, that's what I thought.

[“This, top….”]

Seo Yeon-woo’s grim voice.

It was no different.

The opponent’s bottom duo, who had been hiding in the bush all along, showed up at the top.

It was a lane swap.

[“……What the hell?”]

Even Baek Seong-an, who had experienced the lane swap meta in the past, expressed his absurdity at the opponent's move.

[“Are they serious?”]

It was no surprise that Baek Seong-an reacted like this.

The lane swap meta, which once dominated the League of Legends, completely disappeared into the back alleys of history after a few patches.

This was because of the difference in defense between the bottom turret and the top turret that was added with a few patches.

In other words, if you do a lane swap in the current meta, the team doing the swap will always suffer a big loss.

‘I see.’

I think I know the opponent’s scheme.

I won’t care about minor losses.

Instead, I’ll take the game into a skirmish.

‘In this situation, even if we do a lane swap, we’ll just be following the opponent’s lead.’

Then what we had to do was simple.

Just follow the standard procedure and if the opponent willingly takes a loss, we can also take a free advantage.

Above all…….

[“Yeon-woo, just hold on a bit. Either way, we’re at an advantage if we do this.”]

We had Baek Seong-an, a veteran who had even experienced the lane swap meta.

There's no need to get caught up in the moment.

[“But if they're going to do this, did they really need to pick Kled?”]

Kim Jae-min said, looking puzzled.

“They probably didn't plan to do this from the beginning.”

Of course, it’s not completely difficult for Kled to hold on in a 2-on-1 situation, but if that was the intention from the start, there are many other better picks.

Even so, the fact that the opponent abandoned the role of counter to Gravesen and made this choice meant that the plan had changed during the ban/pick.

[“Hmm, is that so?”]

Of course, the answer will only be known after the game is over.

And so, the laning phase began.

The opponent’s top, that is, the bottom duo, relentlessly pressured Gravesen, and, conversely, our bottom lane pressured the opponent's Kled, who was alone in the bottom lane.

It was a typical exchange structure, but there was already a difference in the speed of scratching the turret barriers.

That was when Elise appeared at the top.

She followed the bur-doo-bur route, which can be seen as one of Elise’s standard routes.

[“I’ll just back off.”]

Seo Yeon-woo didn't try to be stubborn and just backed off, and thanks to that, the opponent only struck the useless turret barriers that wouldn't scratch.

Moreover, since I started with a red buff, Elise couldn't even counter-jungle.

It became a complete failed route.

After burning up a wave, Seo Yeon-woo went back to the top again.

It was because he thought Elise would have left the top since quite a lot of time had passed.

However, Elise appeared.

[“Ugh.”]

Elise was still at the top.

Having already suffered a loss, she was determined to get some results.

[“I’ll teleport.”]

The moment Baek Seong-an pressed the cover tele, the opponent's Renekton used his flash toward Sylas, who had fallen back, and cut off the teleport.

[“Oh, it’s cut off.”]

Of course, as a result, Renekton lost his flash, was hit by a turret, and was then even traded with Sylas.

He even gave up the early mid lane dominance that he had to take in the Renekton-Sylas matchup.

Thanks to enduring this loss,

-First Blood!

-Our ally has been killed!

Top Gravesen was dove.

[“…I’m sorry.”]

[“Don't worry about it. It was bound to happen.”]

Of course, even while that was happening, I didn't just stand still, I counter-jungled the opponent's Raptors and golems while also gauging the bottom dive.

Kled is one of the champions that's very difficult to dive due to his passive, but with a 3-on-1 situation, it was possible if we just played the aggro ping-pong well.

“This, Thresh first.”

Kim Ji-hoon’s death sentence hit Kled, and soon after, the e-combo cc went in.

Then Thresh tanked the turret and fell back, and I and Jhin beat Kled.

Kled also fought back with a certain amount of effort, seemingly about to fill his rage gauge, but he died narrowly.

-Enemy slain!

An exchange structure was made in the top and bottom lanes.

However, this was only an exchange on the surface, and in fact, a huge difference had already opened up in turret barriers and jungle growth.

And,

Our team wasn't a kind team that would easily narrow that gap.

The difference in growth between the junglers.

The difference in growth between the bottom lanes.

Renekton, who lost the laning phase.

In all those situations and conditions, the game eventually came to an end.

[Victory]

Game time: 17 minutes and 11 seconds.

Kill score: 13:2.

OLZ victory.

The overall game could be seen as having ended quite easily, but it was a game where the opponent's scheme was quite interesting.

‘Of course, it was closer to a reckless move than a scheme….’

Nevertheless, in the end, if we look at the result, GKG also gave the impression that they didn't give up and made an attempt until the very last moment before losing.

Considering that teams that put on a fun show for the fans, even if they don't have particularly good results, are popular, even though they fell in the promotion/relegation match this time, the future of GKG wasn't all that bad.

‘Maybe they were aiming for that.’

Since they had already sensed defeat, did they make the last choice they could make as a pro?

If you think positively, you could think that way.

‘Well, that doesn’t matter.’

What's important is that our team finally succeeded in the promotion to the second division league.

Finally, we’ve taken a step closer.

“Everyone worked hard.”

“You too, unnie!”

Baek Seong-an said in a voice full of emotion.

“Really… We’ve come this far.”

“Why are you suddenly like that? It’s a given.”

“Yeah, that’s right. We have to go up further. It’s only the beginning.”

“Right.”

As the team members were chatting with each other, the staff who had approached them said,

“Outlaw, please get ready for the interview.”