[TS] The Return of The Gamer - Chapter 246

We won the first game quite easily.

To be honest, the match against FFF was a game I was a little worried about, but when I actually played it, the first set ended much more easily than expected.

‘Of course, there’s no room for complacency.’

A lion does its best when hunting a rabbit.

Of course, we aren't lions, and FFF isn't rabbits either.

"OLZ, please get ready for the next game!"

With the staff's words, the team members got up from their seats one by one.

Since the first game was a game where there wasn't much to give feedback on, we were in a relaxed state because we had a conversation focused on the ban-pick for the next game rather than feedback.

So I got up from my seat, but since Baek Seong-an was still there, I asked.

"What's wrong? Aren't you going?"

"...Huh? No. Nothing. Let's go."

Baek Seong-an's expression bothered me, but I thought it was probably just because of the tension for the next game.

-Waaaaah!!!

-OLZ! OLZ! OLZ!

As we finally entered the arena again after passing through the hallway, a roar of cheers greeted us.

That resonating cheer... I just can't get used to it.

‘Still, I don’t hate it.’

No matter what anyone says, that cheer is a cheer for our team. How could I dislike it?

"Hoo..."

Even though I put on noise-canceling headphones inside the booth, the cheers of the fans were transmitted as vibrations inside the booth.

Such cheers even though the game hasn't started yet...

‘That’s amazing.’

I've always seen the popularity in numbers, such as the number of viewers, and other numbers, but to face it like this directly, it was something else.

Of course, it wasn't the first time I've played an offline game, but should I say it's new every time?

Anyway, that was the case.

"Everyone, fighting in this game too."

"Fighting!"

"Go Go!"

Instead of microphones, words of encouragement were exchanged with our voices, and the ban-pick began in earnest.

Our team's side was red.

It was the upper side, and we had the second pick.

[Jackson]

The opponent's first ban was Jackson.

I thought they seemed to have been frustrated because Jackson's ability to avoid ganks in the previous game was so good.

‘Well, it's not a wrong judgment either.’

But would they ban Jackson to such an extent? Of course, there would be a question mark on that.

[“What do you want to ban? They used it in the top lane, so you can use one in the top lane.”]

[“I'm fine.”]

Seo Yeon-woo was quite passive about the ban request, as always.

Perhaps it was confidence. The mind of beating anyone who comes. Something like that.

[“Then I'll use one in the mid lane. It's a little difficult to deal with things like Yone. Both of their top and mid laners use it too. Anything else you want to use?”]

"Yes. Nothing."

[“Nothing in the bottom lane either.”]

[“We'll ban Yuumi anyway in the bottom lane.”]

[“Too bad.”]

[“Okay, let's cut Yone.”]

So, our first ban naturally became Yone.

[Yone]

Was this a response?

[Galio]

The opponent banned Galio.

[“...Are they kidding right now?”]

"Hey, no way."

No matter how you look at it, there aren't any crazy guys who joke around after losing, at least not among the pros.

[“Don't be swayed and go by the book. Cut Yuumi.”]

So, our second ban became Yuumi, one of the red side's ban cards.

It was a very standard ban.

[Yuumi]

According to the standard, now the remaining choices are to choose which pick to give to the opponent between Lissandra and Graves...

The problem is that the opponent has done a ban-pick that is quite far from the standard, so we also had to make a different choice.

[Twisted Fate]

The opponent's third ban ended.

As expected, the opponent chose to release both Graves and Lissandra.

As if to say, give us one of the two.

The choices we can make in this situation are roughly divided into three.

Ban Graves and give Lissandra,

or, conversely, ban Lissandra and give Graves,

or, leave both open and share.

‘If not that, there's also the option of releasing all of them and not taking them at all…’

Well, no matter what, both teams wouldn’t be so clueless with their ban-picks as to leave a perfectly good OP champion and do a pointless pick.

[“What ban should we do?”]

"I don't care about anything."

[“Me neither.”]

Baek Seong-an hesitated for a moment and then said.

[“Um… Then let's cut Graves.”]

[“Yes.”]

"Let's do that."

If you just look at the champion tier, when both Graves and Lissandra are released, Graves has a higher chance of being taken by the opponent.

Moreover, since Jackson, one of Graves' counter picks, is banned in the current situation, there's no reason for the opponent not to take it.

‘Plus, the opponent's jungler doesn't use Lissandra as often as expected.’

Lissandra, a champion that is like the textbook of jungle, but surprisingly, many pro junglers don't prefer Lissandra.

This was the case for Illusia of FFF, who is currently the opponent.

Our third ban was chosen among various reasonable grounds.

[Graves]

The ban was completed.

[Lissandra]

Contrary to what I expected, the opponent seemed to hesitate a little, then took Lissandra.

I didn't know if they were prepared or if they were just trying not to let me get Lissandra, but it didn't matter much.

Now it was our team's 1st and 2nd pick.

[“What should we bring?”]

"Since the opponent's jungler has already come out, you can bring a jungler. But since it's Lissandra, you could also go to the line."

Even though the pick rate of line Lissandra has decreased due to the patch, it wasn't at a level to be completely excluded yet.

[“Then let's take the mid lane first. It's better for the second pick to go down to the top lane.”]

[“What are we going to pick?”]

[“Um, give me Orianna.”]

[Orianna]

The 2nd pick came.

"I'll just take the jungle."

[“Okay.”]

Let's see... Assuming the opponent's jungler is Lissandra, and our mid is Orianna...

[Bbippo]

I also chose to lie down together.

Wouldn't mid and jungle be one body?

The opponent's 2nd and 3rd picks came.

[Yasuo]

[Gragas]

The opponent locked in without any hesitation.

Whether you'd call it confidence... or if they had prepared beforehand, it was amazing.

[“They're doing this.”]

[“Wow.”]

[“They are men.”]

In the circumstances, it seemed reasonable to assume it was top Gragas and mid Yasuo.

Of course, Lissandra could go to the top lane and Gragas to the jungle, but there was no need to do that in the current meta.

Our team's 3rd pick came.

[“What are we going to bring? Since it's better for the top lane to go down, we should probably pick an AD Carry or Support.”]

Then, Kim Jae-min said.

[“I think I'll do really well in this game, so want to trust me once?”]

"What do you want to do?"

[“Jinx.”]

Umm...

I almost blurted out the words to shut up for a moment, but instinctively remembered that this was a real game, not a scrim, and covered my mouth.

It was a truly precarious moment.

[“You sure you can do it?”]

Then, Baek Seong-an asked.

He would never have let him do it under normal circumstances, but surprisingly, Baek Seong-an was asking Kim Jae-min's intentions quite seriously.

[“Yep!”]

[“…Then, try it once.”]

Did he think it wouldn't be good for the morale of the team members if he didn't let him do it since he was shouting so passionately that he wanted to do it?

Baek Seong-an seemed to have decided to grant Kim Jae-min's request.

‘Still, it's a bit unexpected.’

It's not a scrim, but a real game.

It's not like he often makes picks like Jinx in scrims, so I couldn't help but feel confused.

‘Well, he must have a plan.’

Or, perhaps he intends to tighten the reins on Kim Jae-min with this as an opportunity.

Whatever it was, since I also trust Kim Jae-min to some extent, I didn't particularly object to the pick.

[Jinx]

It was the ban turn again.

[“What do we ban?”]

[“I think it's right to cut the AD Carry side… Are there any champions that the kid finds uncomfortable?”]

[“I'll sweep them all.”]

[“Okay, cut Jisu first.”]

Kim Jae-min's confidence was replaced with a ban on Jisu without mercy.

It seemed to be because Jisu has a significantly advantageous matchup statistically in the Jinx vs Jisu setup.

‘Anyway, he's a statistics believer.’

Baek Seong-an also tends to be like that in general.

Well, it wasn't bad.

[Thresh]

The opponent banned Thresh.

It seemed to be because Kim Ji-hoon's Thresh had quite a fierce side and was also one of the champions with good synergy with Jinx.

Our ban again.

[“Anything you want to ban, kid?”]

[“…You won’t listen to me anyway.”]

[“You're right. Let's ban Veigar.”]

[Veigar]

Thus, the 4th and 5th bans for our team were all decided to be AD Carry bans.

And the opponent's final ban followed.

[Lulu]

It was a direct hit at Kim Ji-hoon.

It seemed like they were trying to cut the support as much as possible to protect Jinx.

And…

The ban-pick was finally completed.

+

[FFF / OLZ]

Top: Gragas / Artraex

Jungle: Lissandra / Bbippo

Mid: Yasuo / Orianna

AD Carry: Ezreal / Jinx

Support: Pyke / Leona

+

If there is anything noticeable, it is that the opponent's support picked Pyke again.

It seemed as if he wanted to vent his anger because he couldn't properly use his ultimate skill once in the previous game.

But,

‘It won't be easy this time either.’

The game began in earnest.