[Team] OriMeetPotato(Israel): I was just trying to play one game before going to lecture, but what's with the pro...
[Team] ChallengerAscentComplete(Lee Sin): I'm a pro, no worries
[Team] YouHaveVision(Viktor): Pro or not, I see they're Challenger... how do we win this?
[Team] DontReadOracle(Blitz): ? Just came back from smoking, there's a pro on the enemy team?
[Team] SecretRoomPunch(Dr. Mundo): Yeah, enemy support is a pro
[Team] DontReadOracle(Blitz): Well, if it was a damage support or grab support I might be worried... or a roamer
[Team] DontReadOracle(Blitz): But among supports, it's just Yuumi, what's there to be afraid of? Haha. Even if a pro plays Yuumi, it's still just Yuumi
[Team] ChallengerAscentComplete(Lee Sin): Agreed
There's a pro gamer on the enemy team.
Even considering normal games have different matchmaking standards than ranked, isn't this a bit much?
In League of Champions, beyond ranked game scores, there are invisible metrics.
Even in ranked games, your hidden score fluctuates based on your performance in previous games, or whether you're on a winning or losing streak.
This same system exists in normal games too.
Naturally, if you have a high win rate in normal games, you get matched with skilled players.
If your win rate is low, you get matched with people of similar skill level.
But Noel hardly ever played normal games.
She only played with friends before ranked games opened when she first started.
Back then, she didn't play much and wasn't serious about it.
So her low win rate made sense.
But that wasn't something her teammates could know.
They just complained about why a pro gamer was matched with Gold or Platinum tier players like themselves.
If League of Champions had any conscience, it was that:
Since there was a pro gamer on one side, they at least put a Challenger tier player on the other.
And the enemy team had three Bronze and Iron tier players.
They balanced it by average tier, at least.
So the man typed on his keyboard to encourage his teammates.
[Team] ChallengerAscentComplete(Lee Sin): Blitz is right, it's just Yuumi
[Team] ChallengerAscentComplete(Lee Sin): Their ADC is Grandmaster but I'll cover bot with frequent ganks
[Team] OriMeetPotato(Israel): No no, I'm not confident in bot lane honestly...
[Team] OriMeetPotato(Israel): Wouldn't it be better to play top-side since their top three are all low tier?
[Team] YouHaveVision(Viktor): Honestly, if I can't solo kill Ahri, I'd lose face as a Gold player haha
[Team] SecretRoomPunch(Dr. Mundo): When else would we get to take down a pro gamer? Haha, life achievement unlocked
[Team] OriMeetPotato(Israel): OK, I'll just farm CS with Q shots since I'm Ezreal...
Maybe because it was just a normal game?
The teammates didn't feel much pressure and instead were motivated by his encouragement, eager to take down a pro gamer.
So it was time for him to get serious too.
He'd originally just wanted to play a quick game to warm up before ranked.
But with Noel on the enemy team, he needed to step up his game.
Noel was originally a top laner.
He knew this from meeting her countless times in solo queue.
When she was on his team, she was reliable, though there was a time when he thought her tightrope-walking playstyle was nerve-wracking.
When she was on the enemy team, her instincts were so good he suspected she might be using hacks.
Back then he thought it was cheating, but it was all skill.
Sharp gameplay combined with meticulous information gathering.
That's probably why she became a pro gamer.
"Sigh, truly my love-hate Noel."
So with a half-sigh, half-smile.
The blind monk, Lee Sin, began hunting jungle camps relying on his senses.
As he told his teammates, he'd help the struggling bottom lane.
[SecretRoomPunch(Dr. Mundo) has slain ThunderBoomBang(Garen)!]
[All] ThunderBoomBang(Garen): ???
[All] ThunderBoomBang(Garen): Dr. Mundo is so broken ㅡㅡ
[All] SecretRoomPunch(Dr. Mundo): No, you should think about your health... even if Dr. Mundo is weak, with that health difference you'll lose...
[All] YouHaveVision(Viktor): It's "you'll" not "you will"
[YouHaveVision(Viktor) has slain 0505Discharge(Montblanc)!]
[All] 0505Discharge(Montblanc): Did you just kill me while chatting?
[All] 0505Discharge(Montblanc): I won't forget this humiliation
[All] YouHaveVision(Viktor): I can chat between clicks, you know...
Fortunately, the top and mid laners were handling their lane matchups well.
Their claim that as Platinum players they could handle Iron tier users wasn't just empty talk.
So it was time for him to step in and restore balance.
While the difference between Iron and Platinum tiers is certainly enormous,
there's also an immeasurable gap between Gold/Platinum players and pro gamers.
He needed to fill that gap.
Of course, that would come after he grew a bit himself.
Jumping into a disadvantageous lane without leveling up first was a shortcut to losing the game.
The best approach would be to shut down the enemy jungler, then use the advantage gained from top lane to snowball pressure onto bottom lane.
This assumes the bottom lane players can hold out, but Ezreal is a champion who can farm safely against anyone.
He just needs to stay back and shoot his Q skill, Mystic Shot, which can finish off minions from beyond the attack range of most ranged carries.
And that range is outside where Lucian, who already has short attack range, can dash in to fire his twin guns at Ezreal.
[Team] DontReadOracle(Blitz): Lucian's movement is pretty good
[Team] DontReadOracle(Blitz): Ezreal, try landing some Qs
[Team] OriMeetPotato(Israel): They're dodging everything by just walking;
[Team] OriMeetPotato(Israel): They need to burn their dash for you to hook them...
[Team] DontReadOracle(Blitz): Stop getting hit by curveballs
[Team] OriMeetPotato(Israel): How am I supposed to dodge pro curveballs ㅡㅡ
[Team] DontReadOracle(Blitz): Fair point
Was his thinking too complacent?
Or did he underestimate the situation because the bottom lane didn't explicitly say they were struggling?
After collecting kills in the top side and securing all objectives,
he thought Lucian wouldn't be able to harass much with his short attack range.
But when he went to help the struggling bottom lane, the atmosphere was awkward.
There's a saying about "gank failure."
It's when a jungler tries to help a struggling laner but someone dies, only benefiting the enemy.
That's exactly the situation now.
With Ezreal's health so low, if Lee Sin intervened, Ezreal would likely die.
Even at this early stage without many items, Lucian could just dash in with basic attacks and Q skills to kill him.
Lucian was also a Grandmaster tier user.
Even if he weren't high tier, anyone with fingers could kill Ezreal if Noel just said "Ezreal E-auto-Q-auto and he's dead."
The moment Ezreal entered Lucian's range, his screen would turn gray.
[Team] ChallengerAscentComplete(Lee Sin): Ezreal seems to be struggling a lot
[Team] ChallengerAscentComplete(Lee Sin): I'll come back later, don't give up kills and go back to base for now
[Team] DontReadOracle(Blitz): Yuumi throws curveballs too well, they all hit Ezreal
[Team] OriMeetPotato(Israel): Sorry...
[Team] ChallengerAscentComplete(Lee Sin): It's fine, top side is rolling well, just don't die and you'll do your part
So he took the longer route, as haste makes waste.
Top and mid were already growing well on their own.
He had also just bullied the enemy jungler, riding that growth momentum.
He could afford to give the enemy one turn.
Just give Ezreal some breathing room, then next time intervene bottom with the mid laner.
This would leave his team with three well-fed players and two struggling ones.
The enemy would have three struggling players and two who had only farmed minions.
The power balance would be completely lopsided.
He suddenly recalled a hot topic from gaming communities:
"Who would win: two Challengers and five Bronze players, or five pro gamers and one Iron player?"
Such matchups based on tiers and penalties.
YouTubers often made content about these scenarios.
The current situation felt similar.
His team had two well-fed Platinum users, a Challenger jungler, and two struggling bot laners.
The enemy had three failing Iron tier users and two who had only farmed minions.
And even then, it was just a Lucian-Yuumi combo.
While that combo does allow Lucian to thrive,
some duos can do the work of two people with their synergy, but this one only does about 1.5 people's worth.
So he figured Noel must have been eating ramen while playing.
Not that he planned to take it easy. This was his chance to finally beat Noel, even if it was just a normal game.
"Wait... something's strange here."
But after 10 minutes,
he sensed something odd.
The top and mid laners who had been creating solo kills and bringing victory to the team had gone quiet.
Of course, even against lower tier users, they might play more cautiously after dying a few times.
Players who aren't good at the game might even just lie flat and farm experience.
In such cases, it becomes difficult to force kills.
Even against such players, since he was Lee Sin,
he could sneak behind them, kick them with his ultimate Dragon's Rage to deliver them to allies,
and they could beat them down together to force a kill.
But somehow, these players who shouldn't even look at the minimap,
would retreat cautiously whenever he headed their way, not giving him any opportunity.
How did they know?
I wasn't even visible on the minimap?
Wait, aren't they in tiers that don't even ward?
As these questions arose, the four letters "Noel" caught his eye.
In that moment, he typed on his keyboard in disbelief.
[All] ChallengerAscentComplete(Lee Sin): Come on, Noel
[All] ChallengerAscentComplete(Lee Sin): Map hacks and coaching is a bit much **
[All] ChallengerAscentComplete(Lee Sin): You're tracking all my movements and briefing them, aren't you?
[All] Radroach(Master Yi): How did you know?
[All] ThunderBoomBang(Garen): Our Yuumi is telling us everything from our positions to item builds lol
[All] SecretRoomPunch(Dr. Mundo): I thought you could see Lee Sin pinging when he was coming lol, we just slipped back when he approached
"Why is this person following me even into normal games to torment me!"