[TS] The Return of The Gamer - Chapter 77
GatekeeperCurrent tier is Diamond 3.
Remaining time is about 3 days.
The journey towards Master has officially begun.
[Game Found!]
[Accept / Decline]
Acceptance was without question.
───────────────
qAttackeAttackOurHouse13Pyeong has joined the lobby.
DiamondOrDie has joined the lobby.
Outlaw has joined the lobby.
TriangleMidlaner has joined the lobby.
IIIIlIllIIIlI has joined the lobby.
───────────────
The average tier of our team, including myself, is about Diamond 1.
It would probably be correct to see this as a high Diamond to low Master queue when combining the opponent team's tier.
'What should I do?'
It was when I was contemplating for a moment.
[DiamondOrDie: 3rd pick]
[DiamondOrDie: By any chance, can I go jungle?]
Hmm, well.
Raising my tier is a bit urgent, but this way will probably be more efficient.
I play well no matter where I go.
[Outlaw: Go ahead]
[DiamondOrDie: tyty]
Unexpectedly, I became a support, which wasn't in the cards for me, but personally, I didn't particularly dislike the support role.
Firstly, the support position itself has aspects that are quite similar to the jungle in terms of role.
Of course, this is only when I can pick the champion I want.
'Speaking of which, these IDs look like I've seen them somewhere...'
Sometimes when playing games, I encounter such IDs.
When you feel like you've definitely met them before, but you have no idea where.
For me, this game could be seen as one of those games.
Somehow, all of my allies' nicknames seem familiar.
'Did I meet them in a normal game?'
Just in case, I searched for DiamondOrDie's ID to find Outlaw, but there was no record of meeting me.
The same went for the other IDs.
'Is it just a feeling?'
Well, it's not important.
+
[Ban List]
Baego / Ezreal
⛝ / Karthus
Shaco / ⛝
⛝ / ⛝
Ezreal / Leesin
+
Before long, the bans were completed.
Seeing that there are an unusual number of unbanned champions, I realize anew that I have arrived in the hellish division.
'First pick is ours.'
Our team's faction is the blue team.
In other words, the bottom faction.
[qAttackeAttackOurHouse13Pyeong: Anyone able to first pick?]
[qAttackeAttackOurHouse13Pyeong: Top first pick is a bit;;]
As is typical for Blue Team 1st pick top laners, qAttackeAttackOurHouse13Pyeong chose the latter between a safe first pick and swapping.
However, unfortunately, none of his allies listened to the top laner's earnest words.
[Outlaw: Give me Camille]
Camille support is a support I play occasionally when I get the support role, and personally, I think it's quite a viable pick, excluding a few counter picks.
Well... strictly in terms of fun.
[qAttackeAttackOurHouse13Pyeong: ?]
[qAttackeAttackOurHouse13Pyeong: Are you serious?]
[Outlaw: Yes]
[qAttackeAttackOurHouse13Pyeong: ok;;]
-Camille.
[IIIIlIllIIIlI: Ah]
As soon as the 1st pick put up the portrait of Support Camille, the allied ADC burst out with negative initiations.
[IIIIlIllIIIlI: Support Camille?]
[IIIIlIllIIIlI: Can't you play a different support?]
The moment I was about to say something.
[TriangleMidlaner: Searched and looks like 3rd pick is a smurf, win rate is 100%]
[IIIIlIllIIIlI: ?]
[IIIIlIllIIIlI: It's true]
[IIIIlIllIIIlI: What's the rating?]
Thanks to the unexpected defense from the 4th pick, the ADC's anger seemed to have subsided a bit.
[qAttackeAttackOurHouse13Pyeong: ?]
[qAttackeAttackOurHouse13Pyeong: Are you picking it? Or not?]
[Outlaw: Pick it]
Afterwards, champions were selected one by one, and the ban/pick phase was completed.
[Ally / Enemy]
Top: Jason / Sett
Jungle: Xin Zhao / Nidalee
Mid: Sylas / Renekton
ADC: Varus / Aphelios
Support: Camille / Nautilus
+
'Hmm.'
Even though I first-picked Support Camille, our ADC picked Varus, which isn't particularly good in terms of composition.
It seemed like a strong determination to manage the lane phase alone, which would be weakened by Support Camille.
'This isn't bad either.'
There are two ways to operate Camille support, which is close to a troll pick, relatively smoothly.
Either pick it with a champion specialized in fighting like Lucian to gain advantages through constant engagement initiation,
Or pair it with champions like Varus or Jhin, who have strong lane phases even when used alone, to impact other lanes.
Other than that... well, it's half a troll pick, so it's true that it can't be seen as very good.
'Hmm.'
Firstly, our team composition could be seen as a typical poke composition.
With Jason and Varus shooting from the back, Xin Zhao, Sylas, and Camille would be in front deterring the enemy frontline.
Of course, that doesn't mean the enemy is completely weak in a standoff situation.
This is because they have Nidalee, who has strengths in poking and sustain during standoffs.
'And most importantly, their initiation is quite strong.'
Sett, Renekton, Nautilus.
Even if we disregard Renekton for a moment, Sett and Nautilus are champions with very strong initiation.
'Adding to that, Aphelios' conditional initiation.'
Given that it's composed of such champions, if we only look at the concept of the composition, it could be seen that we were countered.
However,
'The biggest variables in team fights would be Xin Zhao and Sylas' ultimate abilities.'
Xin Zhao's ultimate is very useful for pushing back incoming enemies, and Sylas' ultimate also has a lot of potential for use, looking at the current enemy ultimate situation.
This means that even though the outwardly apparent composition itself could be seen as countered, our frontline allies can create entirely different situations depending on how they play.
'Camille... Hmm, let's just try it.'
It might sound a bit funny coming from someone who picked it, but Support Camille was a champion with weaknesses as distinct as her strengths.
But the important thing is to show the meaning of the pick, isn't it?
[Please select a champion!]
[Please select a skin!]
Amidst various thoughts, the game began.
+
───────────────
Junglerlerlerler - Sett
MeatSoySauceMarinatedCrab - Nidalee
MIDIA - Renekton
Emperorphelios - Aphelios
NyamiJustEnough - Nautilus
───────────────
+
At first glance, it's a loading screen with nothing particularly special.
However, upon seeing the enemy jungler's nickname, I couldn't help but freeze for a moment.
[MeatSoySauceMarinatedCrab - Nidalee]
I knew that nickname.
"...That guy is still here."
Gatekeepers.
There are beings who are called that.
These generally refer to those who reside in the Platinum 1 - Diamond 4 and Diamond 2 - Master divisions, but if you just say 'Gatekeeper' without qualifiers like 'Diamond' or 'Master' in front, the latter tends to have a slightly stronger connotation than the former.
Usually, Diamond Gatekeepers also had a great alternative term, Yeti.
Anyway... this is a story from a long time ago, back when I hadn't been playing Legend of League for long.
It was Season 2.
When I was just raising my tier as Prisoner, MeatSoySauceMarinatedCrab and I first met in the roughly 2000 rating range, which was the Platinum division at the time.
At that time, my rating was 2010, and MeatSoySauceMarinatedCrab's current rating was lower than mine, but his top rating was higher than mine back then.
-[All][MeatSoySauceMarinatedCrab(Master Yi) : Ah seriously the enemy jungler is trash]
-[All][MeatSoySauceMarinatedCrab(Master Yi) : Does it feel good to win because of team diff?]
Considering the prevailing atmosphere at the time where people usually referred to their top rating when talking about their score, it's understandable that MeatSoySauceMarinatedCrab couldn't admit losing to me.
Well, back then, I was in the process of actively raising my score, so it was only natural that my score was always my top rating.
-[All][Prisoner(Skarner) : It's jungle diff though]
-[All][MeatSoySauceMarinatedCrab(Master Yi) : lol **** Queue up immediately I'll thrash you]
Perhaps because I was young back then, I responded quite easily to the opponent's provocation.
-[All][Prisoner(Skarner) : Try it ㅋ]
That was the beginning of a bad relationship.
I still remember.
That day was a weekday dawn.
-[All][MeatSoySauceMarinatedCrab(Master Yi) : ㅋㅋ Met again I'll completely thrash you this game]
-[All][Prisoner(Roturn) : Try it ㅋ]
Whether due to the unique circumstances of a weekday dawn, or because we were both queuing up continuously with a hostile spirit, MeatSoySauceMarinatedCrab and I met consecutively for a surprising 8 games.
Even though there was no position selection back then, remarkably, we were matched as enemies in 7 of those games, and in the 1 game we were on the same team, the dodge happened immediately after seeing us fighting from the pick screen.
The result was 4 wins and 3 losses.
-[Prisoner: 1st pick, enemy jungler is a Master Yi one-trick, ban go go]
Although I ultimately won, it was also partly because from the 4th game onwards, I specifically banned the pick of MeatSoySauceMarinatedCrab, who was a Master Yi one-trick at the time.
-[All][MeatSoySauceMarinatedCrab(Roturn) : Ah ** filthy *** You're doing targeted bans]
-[All][MeatSoySauceMarinatedCrab(Roturn) : Scared?]
Although we haven't met since then, MeatSoySauceMarinatedCrab was in a way my first rival.
'Did I pass out for about three days after playing 7 consecutive games back then? It was something you shouldn't do.'
It could be said that I started strictly controlling the number of games I played per day after that as well.
How bitterly my mother cried... I remember her crying voice lingering in my ears even though I was mentally hazy.
'But... that guy is still here.'
It's not that I don't understand.
There's a commonality seen among users called 'Gatekeepers': based on their maximum potential, they generally possess a higher skill level than their current 'tier', yet they remain in that tier.
If you ask why, there are various reasons, but generally the biggest reason is that they have significant flaws in their mental aspect.
-You don't deserve to win.
One of the endings that those who fall into the poison of game quantity, as I mentioned before, face is becoming such Gatekeepers.
Because they have played too many games in similar divisions and in similar ways, they know better than anyone else how even a slight early-game disadvantage can snowball.
So they give up easily.
-Not playing peace out
The problem is that their throwing like this forces them to lose games that they could have won.
Due to Legend of League's operational policy being quite lenient towards trolling, they always return even after being sanctioned a few times.
-Ah, met that bastard again
-? Annoyed? Not playing peace out
And then they repeat it again.
Whether it's trolling or leaving the game.
The infamy gained this way soon solidifies them as 'Gatekeepers', and along with the lowered morale of teammates who see the Gatekeeper, the win rate drops even further.
Naturally, they become trapped there.
And they also begin to drag others down to trap them where they are.
Whether they are allies or enemies.
They become Gatekeepers (守門將) who guard the gate (門) so that no one can pass through.
'Shall I fix that attitude after a long time?'
-Welcome to Summoner's Rift!
The game has started.