[TS] The Return of The Gamer - Chapter 89

I immediately launched the dedicated client for the tournament server in order to prepare for the scrim.

Although I hadn't had a real chance to use it yet, and dust had been piling up, there were no difficulties since I had already received a dedicated account while taking the entrance test.

-Welcome!

And then I immediately launched practice mode and checked various settings.

‘Hmm.’

Smooth and sleek.

It's not difficult to fully demonstrate my skills here.

As expected, the computers and equipment in the first-team practice room were not even comparable to those in the second-team practice room.

The monitor's refresh rate seemed to be at least 240Hz, and the computer's specifications were also at a level that could run full options without any problems.

Even if League of Legends is a well-optimized game, at this level, it could be considered pretty decent equipment from an objective point of view.

‘Well, it's the first-team practice room of the first league, after all.’

I already knew this through rumors and experience, but YSG has a very large disparity between the first team, the second team, and trainees.

Not only the game environment, but the first-team members use individual rooms and there are differences in snacks, etc.

Of course, due to the limited budget, that couldn't be helped, but it's a disparity that's a little too much, or rather, discrimination, so there were many different things being said among the trainees.

‘…Well, what's important right now isn't that.’

SCV.

From now on, I, or rather, the enemy team we have to face.

There was no time to be distracted with such an opponent.

[YSG Outlaw]

My nickname was visible.

It was the nickname I had changed a little while ago.

‘Ugh….’

To be honest, the reason I accepted YSG's offer to join was not only because I wanted to debut as a pro, but also because I wanted to confirm the questions I had.

A choice that can be canceled at any time.

Due to the various appearances of YSG I've seen so far, I didn't have much attachment to YSG, and if the questions I had turned into certainty, I was going to leave YSG without any regrets.

But why?

Looking at the ID with an affiliation that I hadn't had until now, something felt… strange.

“Um… they invited me.”

The one who spoke to me awkwardly was Kim Man-gi, YSG's top laner and captain, who was sitting to my right.

The seating arrangement in the practice room was usually in the order of support - ADC - mid - jungle - top, so it seemed like Kim Man-gi, who was close by, had spoken.

“Oh, yes.”

While I was momentarily frozen, the game invitation came, as all the preparations were done.

[“…….”]

[“…….”]

Even though the scrim with SCV was imminent, an awkward atmosphere was openly flowing in the practice room.

Not just because of me, but it was a stark silence as if that was the atmosphere from the beginning.

“Come on, everyone knows who our opponent is today, right? This is an important scrim, so everyone focus.”

At that moment, I involuntarily flinched at the voice of Coach Park Tae-hyeong coming from behind.

‘Come to think of it… from now on, the coaches will also participate in the ban-pick.’

When scrimming internally with the second team and trainees, the coach did not participate in the ban-pick.

But now that it's a scrim situation with other teams, Coach Park Tae-hyeong is starting to participate in the ban-pick in earnest.

‘By the way, isn’t there another coach? What was his name….’

To be honest, he wasn't a coach who stood out much, so I still hadn't even memorized his name.

‘It seems like Coach Park Tae-hyeong is almost doing all the work if you look at it briefly.’

Of course, I'm sure that Director Choi Tae-dal or the other coaches are also busy working in places I don't know, but that's what it seems like from my point of view.

It was amazing that the team called YSG had been running smoothly until now.

“The team is Blue side, and we'll do a total of four games, alternating. Everyone, line up.”

As Coach Park Tae-hyeong said, as they lined up one by one, the nicknames of the YSG and SCV players gathered in one place.

[Blue Team]──────────

(Diamond 1) YSG ManGi

(Grandmaster) YSG Outlaw

(Challenger) YSG GoGoSing

(Challenger) YSG JuWon

(Grandmaster) YSG YYYSSS

───────────────

[Red Team]──────────

(Challenger) SCV KING

(Challenger) SCV Vendetta

(Challenger) SCV AllDay

(Challenger) SCV BlackDog

(Challenger) SCV WhiteCat

───────────────

I felt my heart pounding at the sight of SCV's complete form that was soon revealed.

All Challenger.

On the other hand, the allied Challenger team was only the mid and ADC at best.

‘Well, I'm only Grandmaster in tier right now, but….’

Of course, solo rank scores don't completely represent a pro gamer's skills, but there is a certain force that the scores that appear on the surface possess.

For a pro gamer, solo rank can be a place to practice, to learn new metas and broaden the champion pool, which is done after completing all team schedules, or it can just be a place to relieve the stress accumulated during the day.

What's important is that for pro gamers, solo rank always has to be pushed to the back, and even so, the fact that they have achieved high scores with a reduced concentration means that their original skills are outstanding.

In that sense, the force that SCV was emitting had something that made the viewer sick of it.

‘YSG is not good at teamwork, but their individual skills are not bad… it's definitely a comparison.’

Top-tier team and a bottom-tier team.

There was an insurmountable gap between the two teams, beyond the difference in rankings that was apparent.

The ban-pick began.

The allied team is the Blue team.

It's the bottom side and is first pick.

[“Um, since it’s the first game, I want to let the ADC side go, but are the bottom side okay?”]

Since SCV's bottom lane firepower and champion pool were at a level where bans were almost meaningless, it was a matter of trying it out in advance.

[“Yes.”]

[“Okay, then should we ban Rell first? Outlaw, what about you?”]

“I'm fine too.”

[“Okay. Let's ban Rell first.”]

+

[Ban List]

Rell / Raze

Viego / Lucian

Xin Zhao / Diana

+

Coach Park Tae-hyeong said.

[“Um, Jason survived. Are you going to take it?”]

Currently, Jason is a champion boasting a very high tier at the top in the tournament.

It's pretty straightforward as a first pick card due to the strong laning, and it's a versatile champion that can do almost anything, from laning to poking.

Of course, it's not a pick that has no flaws, but at least in the current meta, the strengths were at a level that could cover the weaknesses, so it boasted a very high ban-pick rate.

[“Man-gi, can you do it?”]

However, apart from the champion's inherent performance, Jason had one more fatal flaw.

[“…….”]

It was the champion's difficulty.

Jason is a champion who is said to be skillful.

Of course, it's not as extreme as other champions, who are so skilled that they have a MMR coefficient, because the basic skill set itself is very good, but it was definitely a difficult champion to handle.

In fact, even among pro gamers, the assessment of Jason was always divided, even more so.

[“Man-gi?”]

[“……I'll take it for now.”]

The answer came quite late.

Just from hearing that, it could be known that Kim Man-gi's confidence was quite low at the moment.

‘Actually, his tier was Diamond too.’

I remember that he was Master just a few days ago… It seems that his tier has dropped even more in the past few days.

‘But the fact that Coach Park Tae-hyeong is insisting on Jason means a lot of things.’

Perhaps the biggest reason would be to confirm whether Kim Man-gi can use Jason right now.

Does Kim Man-gi's Jason work?

If it doesn't work, what should be done? Should we use a ban card altogether? Or should we prepare a counter-pick?

‘That's the domain of the coaching staff….’

It would be a lie if I didn't feel worried.

There are broadly two ways to deal with a first pick Jason.

The first is to choose a tank champion and endure it, and

The second is to choose a sword champion like Irelian and go head-to-head.

The former is a stable choice, and the second is risky but has a big return.

While I was lost in thought like that, the opponent picked.

[Ezreal]

[Nidalee]

Even though the allied top picked first, the fact that they didn't pick top seemed to mean that they were taking Ezreal and Nidalee.

Coach Park Tae-hyeong also agreed, saying.

[“It seems like they were guarding against us picking a poke composition, and in that case, they’ll probably try to take Renekton, so we have to take it. How about it?”]

[“I'll do that.”]

[“Okay. Let's pick Renekton.”]

Renekton was picked.

[“Next is, um… shall we pick a jungle? It’s okay to go down.”]

“I'll go down.”

[“...Really?”]

Coach Park Tae-hyeong's voice was tinged with reluctance, as if he hadn't expected me to say I'd go down.

But there was a reason for me to do so.

The moment I saw the general ban-pick structure, I had a feeling.

I have to lead this game.

[“Then let's pick ADC. Ashe or Aphelios seems okay, what about it?”]

[“I think Ashe is better.”]

[“Okay, let's do that.”]

Soon, the 3 picks between the two teams were over.

+

[Allied / Enemy]

Jason / Ezreal

Renekton / Nidalee

Ashe / Ornn

+

Unlike solo rank, in tournaments, each team adds 2 bans after the 3 picks.

‘Hmm.’

The allied top and mid picks were Jason and Renekton, and I naturally had to pick an AP champion.

However, Diana and Nidalee, who can be said to be the highest tier in the current meta, were both banned or picked.

Naturally, the champions I could play were extremely limited.

‘AP junglers that can be used in the current meta are roughly… Gragas, and Elise, who can synergize with Renekton, Kassadin, and in addition, Lillia or Taliyah?’

None of those picks are easy to pick.

Furthermore, considering that the role I'm taking is 1AP, that is, hard carry, it seemed like a hard AP like Gragas or Kassadin would be better.

At that moment.

[Gragas]

[Kassadin]

Gragas and Kassadin were banned.

The already narrow options became even narrower.

‘…No, it’s better this way.’

If there were options, I would have hesitated, but if the options are narrowed down this much, there is no need to worry in the first place.

[“Now we have to pick a jungle, what are you going to do? You know you have to do AP, right?”]

“Elise, please.”

[“…Are you sure?”]

“Yes.”

Elise has two faces in the current meta.

While she firmly holds her place as a 1st tier in solo rank, unfortunately, she's not well-received in tournaments.

This was due to the fundamental limitations of Elise, the champion, who could only lose power as time goes on.

Then how can you win the game with Elise?

The answer was more than clear.

‘Let’s do it.’

The solo rank warrior style of game-breaking.