Duo Queue with Crisu

I hadn't been paying any special attention to Crisu, so I only found out she'd dropped to Master when I checked her recent games just now. It must've been because of that losing streak right before. Thanks to that, the point gap between us had widened enough that we could match up again.

"When the hell did ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠she drop to Master?"

"Nah, I just knew she was Grandmaster."

"Don't do that for real. What pure healer? I'm not a pure healer."

"No, I'm just looking at the lanes. Crisu's no pure healer either. I saw her support last time—she was amazing."

"No, I've never seen her play ADC. That's why I'm thinking about what pick fits."

Top had a tanky Holy Knight, mid and jungle had aggressive duo Battle Mage and Monk. We had strong teamfight but shaky engages, so I should've picked an engager, but first I needed to see what ADC Crisu went for.

Sniper? Frost Archer? Or Outlaw? We needed that more than care-heavy Flame Archer or Ranger types.

"...Spear Thrower?"

Spear Thrower was exactly what it sounded like—a warrior-class character who threw spears, but uniquely played as a ranged dealer despite being warrior-class.

She had warrior-level raw power, range a bit shorter than average ranged dealers but compensated with insane damage. All-purpose ADC for standoffs or all-ins, but high skill cap, recently nerfed hard, so she rarely showed up.

Honestly, I never thought Crisu could pull it off. Her history showed it, but low playcount.

"...Alright, I'll go Guardian then."

I'd been torn between engage or ADC survival, but compromised. Guardian wasn't pure engage but could do it, and had solid peel too.

Block enemy attacks with her shield, global ult to shield and dash to allies—great for rotations. Safest pick right now.

"No, why are you making shit up? I've never said that."

...Ah, fuck. That one pissed me off. Hit too close to home, scratched a nerve. Couldn't show it, so I shut up and waited for game start—but that apparently made it more obvious.

"What if I hit Challenger later? Then what?"

Couldn't hold back, fired back. Just a petty grumble.

"I don't wanna see any of that. Game started. Everyone shut up."

Early game kicked off with intense invade clash. We weren't invade-strong but solid on defense—enemies dove trusting just Psyker's grab. Luckily it missed, letting Guardian (me) chain CC for the win.

3-for-1 trade, all three kills to Crisu's Spear Thrower.

"Good start. Spear Thrower falls off late, so we gotta end early when she's strong—but 3 kills to open? No way she hits expiration now. Enemy jungler's 1 kill is a wildcard, but we'll stomp bot, no ganks incoming probably. Just watch mid/top."

"No idea. Just followed along."

"...What’s she talking about?"

"It's Pudge Dice."

Couldn't keep up with viewer shitposts once laning started. Enemy bot was Flame Archer Forest Warden duo—insanely long-range archers, so we ate free poke unless we dodged.

But 3 kills flipped matchup hard; if we caught angle, auto-win. Enemies knew, so they farmed safe at max range.

Anyway, at lvl 6 ults ready, they'd need permission just to CS. No need to rush.

Problem hit top side. That wildcard jungler—Barbarian Warrior with 1 kill—upgraded movespeed, roamed top-mid and snowballed. Top Holy Knight could tank, but mid/jungle getting rolled? Emergency. Bot growth now everything.

Thankfully hit 6 smooth, both ulted up.

Spear Thrower's ult rained spears from sky—ranged AoE slow field. Guardian weak engage alone, but with it? Deadly combo.

Just a tad, as Flame Archer and Forest Warden stepped close—we pinged without a word and dove in.

Why give range at 6? Knew they weren't alone. Enemy Psyker global ult incoming, fat Barbarian Warrior jumping us soon.

But 3-kill early-upgraded Spear Thrower could handle.

Flame Archer and Forest Warden flash together—Barbarian leaps from behind on Spear Thrower.

But that was our real target. I ulted Spear Thrower to save, peppered Barbarian. He was fat but no tank—couldn't tank Spear Thrower's burst, turned to flee.

Then Spear Thrower's massive spear chased...

And naturally, execute on Spear Thrower...

"Huh?"

It whiffed.

"...Stuff happens, misses happen."

"Not Purr."

Sent Barbarian packing, so post-fight went south. Viewers spamming joyfully, we burned all survival to escape ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠enemy bot.

Couldn't call us favored anymore, but well-grown Spear Thrower had shot. Enemy range advantage, but weak to engage.

Issue was synergy. Felt it earlier—me and Crisu not syncing. Different reads? Neither wrong, just different minds.

"Ah, should've just fought instead of backing."

"We had to back."

"Coulda saved but you didn't trust me..."

"No, how do you miss that?"

...Didn't wanna say it, but Spear Thrower didn't suit Crisu. History had decent winrate low sample, but with me? Not clicking.

Crisu wasn't bad ADC. Spear Thrower mastery iffy, but not huge issue.

Normally I'd cover easy. Even post-TS, as mid sure—but support? Tough.

Couldn't deny our plays clashing. And not just her fault.

"No, not saying Crisu's bad at all. Just... my fault. I should've played around you, but our reads differ."

Yeah Crisu whiffed, but no idiot voicing it. Easier blame myself. We'd clashed faces once; didn't want round two, whatever her side.

One thing I forgot...

My viewers weren't normal.

We slowly got pushed, reverse swept. Worried Crisu'd rage non-carry, but top fed first—everyone ghosted post-game.

"Too bad. Top/jungle lost pos, unavoidable L. Coulda won if better."

"Next game mid please... Huh?"

Back to lobby, spotted a friend request.

Crisu.