[TS] The Return of The Gamer - Chapter 23

Nickname: SY YunGi.

Real name: Park Yun-gi.

It's not unusual for a pro gamer to use a nickname derived from their own name.

SY YunGi, player Park Yun-gi, was also one of those cases.

While the loading screen spun, I fiddled with the keyboard and mouse, switching them back to the ones I used yesterday.

It was because I couldn't afford to be half-hearted when facing YunGi, unlike with others.

‘Early invades and team fights are especially crucial in this matchup. I need to focus.’

Statistically, the matchup between Elise and K'Sante favors Elise.

Moreover, if there's a champion like Renekton on our side, who can provide strong gank support and dives, that win rate increases even further.

Regardless of whether it's a time-attack composition or a fireball composition, the fact is that our team's ban-pick is slightly more advantageous from a general perspective.

But...

‘It's YunGi. I can't let my guard down.’

Strictly speaking, my head-to-head record against YunGi is 6 to 4, or rather 5.5 to 4.5, giving me a slight edge.

As a result, when YunGi showed poor performance in a tournament, there were often cases where some communities would bring me up and criticize YunGi, but this was just an example used for attacks.

No one seriously rated Prisoner higher than YunGi, and I didn't either.

From the start, for a professional, solo rank was mostly done as a way to unwind after all the schedules like tournaments or scrims were over, so I couldn't possibly be in the same condition as me, a long-time solo rank player.

The best jungler in the world.

That title wasn't just won by playing a simple game.

Even if my head-to-head record in solo rank was better, I had never once thought that he was below me.

That's because YunGi had something that I didn't have before.

‘I was really jealous.’

To put it in a nutshell, the player YunGi is quite straightforward.

A wild horse unleashed.

The aggressiveness YunGi showed and the overwhelming teamfight skills supporting it exceeded the usual level, and this was YunGi's greatest weapon.

A player who teeters precariously between a super play and throwing.

Of course, as light casts a shadow, excessive aggressiveness led to a significant weakness in solo rank.

In fact, that was mostly the reason why I could get ahead in the head-to-head record against YunGi.

But,

That was only a story for solo rank, and it was a completely different story in tournaments.

If there's a wild horse unleashed, all you need is a capable jockey to hold the reins.

Above all, SY had as many as two capable jockeys.

[SY Rainbow]

[SY GuineaPig]

SY's mid and support.

They were very capable jockeys who could sufficiently control YunGi's aggressiveness.

Especially, in the case of Rainbow, the mid-jungler relationship was very close due to the position, and Rainbow himself completely controlled YunGi thanks to his world-class skills and reputation.

The reason I'm bringing this up right now is because, as luck would have it, one of the SY's mid and support players is on the opposing team.

-SY GuineaPig – Rulo.

‘A duo?’

This was an important matter.

If they had planned to duo from the start, they would have been using voice chat, and if that were the case, YunGi's only weakness would have virtually disappeared.

‘...No.’

I shook my head.

I realized how meaningless the thought I had a moment ago was.

‘Even if it was a coincidence, if they're playing in the same dorm, the presence or absence of voice chat is practically meaningless.’

In other words, from now on, I would be facing not solo rank warrior YunGi, but SY's YunGi.

‘It's a relief that it's GuineaPig and not Rainbow.’

Of course, this is only relatively a relief; even if Rainbow wasn't there, the SY jungle-support duo was a disaster in itself.

And if Rainbow was added... the result had already been proven on the validated stage of the Red Cup.

[100%]

Lost in thought, the loading finished, and the game officially began.

-Welcome to the Summoner's Rift.

The time minions first spawn: 1 minute and 5 seconds.

The time the first spawned minions arrive in the mid lane: 1 minute and 28 seconds.

The time the first jungle monster appears: 1 minute and 30 seconds.

Many people know one of those times as the start time of a League of Legends game.

But that's not it.

The real game starts the moment you step out of the fountain.

[↓] [↓] [↓]

As always, the pings are chaotic.

Our team's side is the top side.

We are the red team.

I assessed the invade matchup.

[Ally / Enemy]

Top: Renekton / Sion

Jungle: Elise / K'Sante

Mid: Galio / Akali

ADC: Ezreal / Jinx

Support: Maokai / Rulo

‘Hmm, slightly unfavorable?’

Even though our team composition is good for early fights, that's only when we are doing river fights and such after level 3.

Rather, the level 1 team fight is similar to the late-game team fight, and it was right to consider it slightly separate from the commonly known early-fight ability.

‘At level 1, K'Sante is almost a god. It’s best to avoid fighting if possible.’

K'Sante's main skill, Q skill, has a cooldown of only 1 second at level 1.

In other words, a level 1 K'Sante shows a god-like presence in an early fight.

So, where will the opponent who is sure of victory through an invade invade from?

In fact, the answer to this was quite easy.

K'Sante, who can't really jungle early without the blue buff, has two possible starting jungles.

Ally blue, or enemy blue.

There was no need to think about which choice YunGi, who loves early fights, would make.

‘They'll aim for our blue.’

I didn't really intend to stop them.

Our team's CC combo is quite strong, but the problem was that if we did that, there was a possibility that our laners would ruin their lane.

Renekton can take W at level 1 since the opponent is Sion, but if Galio or Maokai took W at level 1 and didn't get a big advantage during the invade, there was a high chance they would be fatally wounded in lane.

Akali, who is often classified as a late-game scaling champion, is smoothly handling the laning without much early pressure?

I didn't even want to imagine it.

In other words, considering all these situations, it was best to avoid a level 1 fight if possible.

‘Above all, if K'Sante or Akali get a kill during the invade, the game's over.’

Both champions have unparalleled snowballing abilities when they get kills.

For the same reason as before, there was no need to create unnecessary variables.

Wiiiiing-

My teammates seemed to have the same thought, as Maokai's saplings were planted in the ally blue buff bush.

They were thinking of putting E skills in advance to light up the vision rather than waiting without taking any skills for an invade fight.

‘Good decision.’

The fact that more than two people made the same decision is good indirect proof that the decision I made a moment ago was right.

I immediately changed my route and went up towards the red side.

Since the opposing Sion would likely protect the blue side jungle in the early game if the situation was like this, I was going to start at the ally red.

‘We have to split it evenly.’

In general, K'Sante is one of the so-called full-camp junglers.

In other words, if the opponent starts at the ally blue, a split down the mid lane is the general approach.

[!] [!] [!]

Sure enough, the opposing K'Sante and the bot duo came to our ally blue side as soon as it was 1 minute and 30 seconds.

Of course, our side had already completely pulled out, so there was no real damage.

So I took our red, and K'Sante took our blue.

Then something unexpected happened.

‘...Huh?’

K'Sante showed up in the mid lane not long after, as if he had come right after taking my blue.

[K'Sante – Level 2]

Perhaps because he was a champion, it wasn't a very sharp gank, even though it was at an unexpected timing.

No, it wasn't even a gank in the first place.

Koo-ung, Kung!

K'Sante's Q skill was cast a few times into the air, but Galio easily dodged them by moving.

However, since there was no cost, Galio was forced to quietly take the minions in the mid lane for a while.

‘Look at this.’

K'Sante's intention was clear.

He was blatantly crossing the mid lane, giving Akali the mid lane dominance, and at the same time, going to the top jungle and protecting his own jungle.

No, in other words, this is...

‘They want to fight.’

The best jungler in the world was blatantly provoking me.