E Revolution Gaming Sweeps Team Fantasista 2-0 Again
"And just like in the last match, E Revolution Gaming takes down Team Fantasista 2-0!"
"Dice's performance was insanely good—in the best way possible, right?"
"I agree. The other players did great too, of course, but Dice's laning phase was definitely the foundation for every plan."
On Wednesday, we played our second match. And as expected, we won.
Thankfully, I didn't screw up the second MVP interview. It went off smoothly, nothing flashy. The community was full of complaints about it being boring, but whatever.
Still, I couldn't shake the uneasy feeling. I mean, come on. If I'd played like this normally, I'd have hit Challenger easily and dominated scrims too.
But in yesterday's scrims, I barely contributed anything. And solo queue? Same as always.
Even though it had only happened twice so far, that explosive physical skill only showed up in official matches. If I added the previous times... maybe back when I played Samurai?
Am I just strong in real games?
"You've always been like that to some extent, but isn't this gap a bit too big?"
The coach seemed a little puzzled by this phenomenon too.
Of course, getting better in actual matches wasn't a bad thing at all. But with swings this wild, it was hard not to feel anxious.
There'd be a gap between scrim data and real-game data, and if this level didn't show up in important matches, that'd be a huge problem.
Anyway, there wasn't much I could do about it. Just keep grinding games like usual and improve as much as possible—that was it.
Man, I really want to hit Challenger soon, but why do I always choke right at the threshold?
It's awkward to blame the team—honestly, if I'd performed even half as well as in the tournament, we'd have won easily. I couldn't settle for the losses not being my fault. I had to be the reason we win.
A sigh slipped out unbidden.
"Hoo."
"What's with the funeral face?"
I'd come to the practice room alone in the morning to grind games, and Yuseung strolled in late, asking me that. I rubbed my sleepy eyes and looked at him.
"Can't reach Challenger..."
"You're crushing it in tournaments—does that even matter? Plenty of pros slack on solo queue; no need to stress it."
"I can't help it."
I wanted to close the gap between practice and real games, even a little.
"I'm actually surprised you haven't climbed yet. You've got near clairvoyance. How do you see everything and still lose?"
"You think I hit 100% accuracy? If I did, I'd have won Worlds already. It's all mind games and reading opponent data, but I don't always match against junglers I know well."
The lower ranks were easy—I could read their thoughts plain as day. But up here? Not so much. So I relied on habits and paths from frequent matchups, but that had limits.
Junglers at this level wouldn't just roll over.
From there, it turned into a psychological war.
"Memorizing all that is pretty insane. And it's not just one or two guys."
"It's not memorizing—it just comes naturally. Ugh, queue's taking forever."
"Yawning like that? You barely slept. Go nap."
"Can't sleep, that's why I'm here. Ah, queue popped."
It took almost 20 minutes to match. Someone might dodge, or a position could flex—worst case. I'd even swap mid if asked.
My anxiety hit the mark: our top asked if they could mid.
The problem was their nickname.
"Fuck, why are you here?"
"Who'd you match with? Someone you know?"
"Pr... no, forget it. Doesn't matter."
Obviously, no one knew this was Proud's smurf account. Not even me—I didn't have hard proof.
I was pretty sure, but that came from getting stomped by it. No one would guess from two games, and they'd never believe me anyway.
Hell, even I thought it was a stretch sometimes.
"Anyway, some annoying asshole."
"Proud?"
...How the hell did he know? Did I slip up? While I floundered in shock, Yuseung explained.
"Whenever you say that, it's usually about Proud."
"You guessed?"
"Yeah."
"Ugh."
Should've just denied it. He read my panic. Annoying.
No matter who the enemy was, I'd considered swapping. But Proud? Hell no. Go top, punk.
Proud didn't argue, just browsed top champ portraits. Guess he'd go top without a fuss. Made sense—he rarely fought in solo queue anyway.
"Anyway, doesn't he know this ID is me now?"
"Doubt he doesn't."
"He knows it's me and still asks for mid? What a dick."
Same position meant we only teamed up when someone flexed. My lower-rated account rarely hit his main.
Still, knowing it's me and asking so boldly? Thinks he's better? Arrogant prick.
"Probably not thinking much."
"I know. He's probably like, 'What a trash pick-hoarder.'"
"You know that's not him."
...Yeah, I did.
Game started. Yuseung dragged a chair over, glued to my screen out of curiosity about Proud.
I picked Earthmover. Proud went Samurai—not a bad top, but usually mid due to size; not his common pick. Tough in tourneys.
My mid matchup: Commander. Control-heavy, but a hexagon champ that pops in high queue/tourneys despite constant nerfs. Not tanky, so manageable for strong-laning Earthmover.
I could focus elsewhere stably. Mapped the field, predicted enemy jungler paths.
Around 14 minutes, enemy jungler likely hit top for River Herald spawn.
Our jungler was dragging bottom, so they split.
But we controlled top and mid—no reason to let it go.
I spammed pings on River Herald. Proud didn't ignore.
He ulted Earthmover's global mud path straight there.
Soon as he spotted the enemy jungler, I upheaved earth, yanking him in. Couldn't solo this tanky champ quick, but I didn't need to.
Proud's Samurai leaped, knocking up the incoming champ.
Samurai ult comboed with Earthmover full burst—the charge exploded before touching me.
"Nice synergy."
"You trying to be cute?"
"Piss off."
Enemy mid Commander and top Speargunner arrived late.
Maybe thought missing Samurai ult made it winnable—Commander charged ult.
His soldier-push ult usually saved him, but could super-toss enemies too.
Full hit? He'd free-trade safe, we'd eat damage, airborne, and flip the fight.
No thanks.
Flash up—I burned it to dodge behind.
But Proud...
"Why isn't this guy flashing?"
Proud ate the ult full-on. Reaction fail? From Proud?
Inting on purpose? Weird choice. Felt like a noob whiff.
"Just a reaction miss, right?"
"No way."
...Really? Slacking in solo queue?
Speargunner dove exposed Samurai, but he pivoted smoothly to Commander. Same read as me—I skillshoted too.
But...
"We lost this."
We did.
Why? Samurai targeting Commander was 100% right, but low-HP meant he died first.
Proud fought hard, but squishy Samurai had limits.
I cleaned Commander, but Speargunner got the double.
"What?"
"Is that really Proud? Feels off."
"Nah, 200% sure."
...Kinda awkward, yeah. Proud doesn't eat that skill.
Someone else on the account? Pros don't share, though...
"Everyone slips sometimes. Guess he's human."
"What else, alien?"
I laughed despite myself. He kinda was alien-like.
2-for-2 trade. Our late jungler snagged River Herald—we profited. Speargunner double was risky, but Proud got a kill.
Base stats favored us; Samurai CS lead meant 1-kill gap wasn't huge.
Smooth sail to our win—then Samurai went rogue.
"Ooh, ballsy."
"Shut up."
Enemy jungler obviously lurking, but Samurai solo-dived.
Samurai's great at diving, but you too?
"Is he nuts?"
I said that, but secretly hoped. Proud-level? Superplay possible.
"Think it'll work?"
"Nope."
Yuseung killed the hype. Fair—without knowing it was Proud, it'd scream braindead.
But Proud? Could clutch if on form.
We backed up—chase block if live, cleanup if dead.
Dive ended awkwardly. Half-right from both of us.
Samurai clutched Speargunner but died. Scraped out on sliver HP—thought he'd make it?—but tower finished him.
One more skill dodge, and he'd live.
Felt... un-Proud-like.
Luckily, no more weirdness after. Samurai went full Proud, rampaging with me conquering rifts. Earthmover perfect for ally angles.
"You two sync great."
"Great my ass."
"Nah, like one team. You duo with him?"
"Bullshit."
"Just curious."
Yuseung's nonsense meant our chem was solid.
We won as expected. Twisty, but a stomp in the end.
"Damage graph says Samurai carried."
"I carried. He just poked."
"Sure, sure."
Honestly? Fun. Despite the fishiness.