In team games like League of Champions, teamwork is naturally important.
This applies not just from a gameplay perspective, but mentally as well.
When you're ahead, you simply need to play to secure your advantage.
But even when losing, giving your all for victory is virtuous.
There's a reason they call it E-sports, after all.
That's why everyone encourages you to cheer on teammates who make mistakes and say "let's do better from now on."
Of course, seeing that kind of behavior is extremely rare.
Some people will stubbornly insult someone they don't like even when winning.
Sometimes that really gets under the other person's skin, making them abandon a game they were playing well and race full speed toward defeat.
Well, anyway.
Because of this, people's spirits often break when someone makes a critical mistake.
Even in winnable games, when teammates focus fiercely on hunting down the culprit,
it's only natural that someone who feels sorry and wants to try harder might think, "I'm getting cursed out anyway, so let's just give up," and want to abandon the game.
Maybe that's why the enemy team gave up.
They were halfheartedly clearing lanes, then abandoned even that and completely disappeared.
Only this Shin was left trying to block the incoming minion waves alone, becoming critically wounded as if soaked by a drizzle of rain, and fled.
The game ended so anticlimactically.
Still, thinking I'd shown enough, I turned my attention to the viewer chat.
"The game broke open too quickly, but I think I showed you what I wanted to. For top lane to have carry potential, you need to steadily push your lane like this."
I added some explanation so viewers could understand, but somehow they didn't seem convinced by my gameplay.
- ReturnTPTwiceThenJoin: Didn't you just push side lane constantly until the team stole dragon and the game broke open?
- DoublePeaceMaker: That Virego ult-flash-smite was so cool lol. Can you show us that replay?
- MidnightSnackChicken: How did you even do that?
- MidnightSnackChicken: I saw it happen on stream and thought "wow, nice steal" but I really don't understand how you did it
- Bakery: For real... Shin kicked it and Mao applied a binding but he just ignored all that and came right back
- TearRipShred: Virego's ult is unstoppable, right? He briefly crossed over the nest with flash, stole it, then came back
- ETB093: That works?
- TearRipShred: Of course it works lol. Timing the smite steal is pure skill though
- HungryBabyChick: But honestly all you did was dodge a few ganks
- HungryBabyChick: Weren't you just getting carried this game?
- MissingBnB: Yeah, you did well building a CS lead against Maokai... but you didn't really show any game-changing moments
- SilverPanthea: Jackson absorbed all the pressure for you lol
- SilverPanthea: While the jungler was babysitting you, team Virego was gaining advantage in bottom lane, and that's all that matters
Hmm.
Fair enough, there weren't really any impactful moments.
Even though I concentrated the whole game on distance management against Maokai and paid attention to interventions from other lanes,
to viewers it might have looked like we just farmed all day until the game ended.
Of course, you see what you know.
Some people did recognize that my play contributed significantly to the team's victory.
But it's also true that I didn't show much.
It was my teammates who seized the opportunities I created.
If Virego had failed the bottom lane gank, it would have been a zero-sum game.
And if we had to identify the biggest factor in the win...
It would be Virego stealing the dragon with an overwhelming performance, snatching the final blow from what the enemy team thought was a safe objective.
That's when the enemy's mental broke, whether from internal conflict or whatever, causing them to give up.
"Well, you're right. The game breaking point was definitely Virego's magma dragon steal. But what I was talking about was the basic fundamentals of top lane."
After all, what I wanted to show them was fundamentals.
The identity of my stream is as a League of Champions top laner.
Though I'm not Challenger or Grandmaster, competing with them is about teaching at this level.
The ones I've met were truly beasts.
Whether from accumulated experience or innate talent,
they make my careful distance management look trivial, create their own kill opportunities,
and know how to exert their influence. True predators.
Compared to them, I play knowing what to do in different situations.
And since I climbed from lower tiers, I think I can give more helpful advice to viewers.
That's why viewers come to my stream, I think.
Sure, some might be drawn by the clickbait of a woman streaming,
but since I'm not some beauty selling my face, I need to leave something useful behind.
That way they'll come back to my stream tomorrow and the day after.
So I carefully explained to the viewers who seemed willing to listen.
"You all know that League of Champions is basically a numbers game, right? And that you should generally join for objectives."
- TearRipShred: Yeah, some people call it a real-time turn-based game
- LetsGoToTheDeepSea: Even Bronze players know this concept these days lol. They just can't execute it...
- Bukovi: But everyone does gather for the fourth dragon lol
"But the fate of side lane champions is that they contribute less to team fights compared to tanks. So I stubbornly insist, like I did, that if you come down, I'll demolish your tower. That forces the enemy to either send multiple people to me or sacrifice the tower to try for the objective. The team that maximizes advantage from that situation wins. That's the basics."
Everyone seemed to agree with what I'd said so far, as if they already knew this content.
"Now, let's rewind a bit. I was ahead of Maokai in growth, right? Leading in levels and items. I hadn't completely crushed him, but I was definitely pressuring him. Maokai had no way to contain me. In this situation, would you roam mid or bottom to exert influence?"
- TearRipShred: Isn't it better to roam and help teammates grow since I've grown well?
- HungryBabyChick: If you're a top lane psycho, continuing to push top seems right... but from a team perspective, roaming seems correct
- SilverPanthea: But these days, those headbutting dinosaurs from top lane ignore other lanes and just push their own, and that seems to get better results lol
- EndlessDeathChallenge: Those damn headbutting dinosaurs make games so exhausting --
"SilverPanthea said it well. If you roam, you just become an ordinary top laner. If you really want to excel at top, you need to keep dominating your lane. I don't know about other lanes, but that's how top works."
- TearRipShred: ??? So selfish play is actually selfless play, that kind of feeling?
- QueenLexia: Kya, as expected, Noel is a top lane psycho
- HungryBabyChick: lol top lane psycho mode ON
- Rasputin14: Ah... I've realized... this stream is exactly my taste...
However, viewers didn't seem to accept what I said next.
That's understandable.
League of Champions is a team game, and promoting team growth over individual growth is generally better.
What I said might sound extremely selfish.
Of course, some people might play top lane because they like that aspect.
"Let me explain while watching the replay. At this timing, I've built more than a half-core item advantage over Maokai, right? If I leave Maokai and roam here, he'll farm freely."
- TearRipShred: Yeah, that's obvious
- qoalstj3825: But aren't you accepting that risk when you go down? You have to accept risk to get returns
- MissingBnB: Yeah, if you're too scared to do anything, you're leaving game variables to team luck...
"No, we need to calculate profit and loss here. I'll definitely incur losses while I'm gone. I'll miss at least two minion waves, while the enemy team clears jungle camps without experience loss. Then I intervene. I need to secure a kill here just to break even."
- SilverPanthea: I remember a pro saying top laners need a double kill when roaming just to break even
- Ulrari: But shouldn't a well-fed top laner accept small losses to help bottom lane? The whole team needs to do well for a higher win rate
"I thought that way at first, but let's consider focusing on my lane instead. Look, like I did. Maokai was hiding under tower, so I quickly cleared waves, over-farmed, and invaded enemy jungle camps. This way, I don't lose experience, and the enemy team has to spend resources on me. See how their mid came and suffered losses? Their support might come too. I'm making them spend their turns, not spending mine."
That's the reasoning behind my actions.
I wanted people to understand that.
I didn't want them saying I won by luck or because the enemy was bad.
Beyond that, I wanted viewers to enjoy the game more.
It's not fun to be constantly at the mercy of your team.
"I like what you said earlier about headbutting dinosaurs. Just stubbornly drawing the enemy team together like this is similar to how those players play, right? But that's the meta with good results. The more you suppress the enemy top laner and become a monster, the more you need to draw enemies to you. That way your team gains advantages elsewhere, whether objectives or towers. Oh, but Virego's dragon steal was truly fantastic."
With that satisfying thought, I wrapped up my explanation and watched the highlight.
Creating an ultimate ability's area of effect in the safe zone, briefly entering the dragon pit with Blink, then returning with the ultimate animation.
That determination to survive no matter what crowd control came his way was both impressive and amusing.
- TearRipShred: lololol damn, it's totally forced but since he actually pulled it off, it makes sense...
- SilverPanthea: Host, you're moving too fast
- HungryBabyChick: ??? But can't only champions with escape abilities do that? If you die, it's just a huge loss
- Bluefish8373: Just a maniac... what about people who can't do that? lol
- QueenLexia: But all carry-potential top laners do take that position. People say melee champions don't come down until second tower push
Viewers still weren't convinced by my explanation.
Some seemed to understand, but most thought I was forcing my point.
"No, even in terms of risk and return, staying in my lane seems better... I'm not saying to always draw aggro and fight. Set up vision, watch the map carefully, and if the lineup of incoming enemies looks beatable, try fighting; otherwise, just run away."
- FightToTheDeath: Teacher, normally when three people surround you, you die
- OnlyPlaysMeleeChamps: But top carries do need to play like this. If you can't play this way, just pick tanks and join team fights
- alsrjs7432: Is this how 0/9/0 Irelia and 0/12/0 Fiora win games?
- TearRipShred: lol seems like people don't understand, let's just recruit chat managers lol
- SilverPanthea: Yeah, host definitely needed managers
Unfortunately, my lecture failed.
Was my explanation insufficient, or was it unconvincing?
Maybe my teaching skills are lacking since I'm just a college student on leave, not a professor.
Though my tutoring students were happy about their improved midterm scores...
Well, anyway.
We were having a conversation with viewers before starting the game.
Streamers sometimes need to provide content that viewers want.
"Hmm, should we? But this isn't a big stream, and I'm not sure how many people would want to manage chat for an unknown streamer like me..."
- TearRipShred: Me
- NoelWheelchairThief: Me
- NoelCrutchBreaker: Me
- Walking300Gold: Me
- BurgeokJjigeok: If you give me the badge, I'll enforce iron discipline for a clean stream without any cursing
- SilverPanthea: Crazy lol look at these malicious usernames lol
I was worried no one would volunteer.
But as if that concern was unfounded, volunteers suddenly flooded in.
And they kept coming.
Just as viewers had questioned my gameplay earlier, now I was the one at a loss for words.
Why on earth...?