Scrim Day 1
The next day, I didn't wake up until past noon.
"Ugh... I had the weirdest dream all night..."
Maybe it was because Ritsu had tormented me all day yesterday, but it was a seriously bizarre dream. A log a hundred times bigger than me was rolling toward me from behind, and the one pushing it was Ritsu. After getting crushed flat into a 2D human, I woke up. No pain since it was a dream, but all I could think about was wanting to smack that sneering Ritsu a few times.
"Ugh... If I ever meet her for real someday, I'll give her a good flick on the forehead."
Anyway. Today was finally the first day of scrims. The scrims were set to run for a total of four days, and we'd probably face off against each of the other four teams for three games apiece—twelve matches total, spread out over the days. Assuming three games a day, plus watching the other teams play and giving feedback afterward, it might take longer than I thought. With five teams in the tournament overall, we wouldn't be doing three straight scrims back-to-back either.
We were supposed to meet up at 4 p.m., so until then, maybe I'd treat myself to a strawberry latte... not coffee.
Bzzz— bzzz—
...Or so I thought, but my phone rang. It was a call from President Yuseol.
"Hello?"
"Neru, am I interrupting your rest?"
"Nah, what's up?"
"Nothing major... Ritsu was pretty mischievous yesterday, so I wanted to check if you were okay."
Huh? Sure, she pranked me a lot, but I wasn't genuinely upset. I'd even gotten pretty close with Senior Ritsu.
"Really? Glad to hear it."
"Hehe, were you worried about me?"
"Well, this is a secret, but Ritsu asked me to check on her behalf. She was worried she went too far."
Oho. Now that's interesting. After all that teasing, she goes behind the scenes asking Yuseol if she overdid it with me? Turns out our senior has a secretly cute side. Nice, I'm in a good mood now. If we meet, I'll cut those forehead flicks from ten down to nine.
"Anyway, I wasn't really mad, so it's all good."
"Got it. Another secret: Ritsu really likes you."
"...Yeah, I kinda got that vibe."
Some people just wanna tease the ones they like extra hard. It's their awkward way of playing coy because they're embarrassed.
"Anyway, good luck with your stream today, Neru. Once the official matches start, all the Universe girls will be watching."
"Ahaha, guess I'll have to bring my A-game..."
After getting some encouragement from Yuseol, I took a short break until it was time to meet. The team chat was already full when I joined.
"Hey everyone."
The team greeted me warmly. The vibe was great, which put me in a good mood. Our first scrim was at 5 p.m., so we spent the hour chatting about current tier picks.
"SenT, do tournament picks differ much from solo queue tiers?"
"Yeah, definitely. Some champs multiply in strength with team coordination. Stuff like your Frey or Sphere—they thrive in that."
"Ah."
I also picked up on everyone's playstyles.
"Kang Hyun, how do you usually handle laning?"
"I like taking control picks and snowballing leads... but I can tank too."
"What about you, Senior Ritsu?"
"I don't chase kills—good farming even when behind works for me~"
And most importantly, I needed to learn about Dalgisoda, my bottom lane partner. I'd done some online research beforehand, of course.
Dalgisoda: energetic female streamer. Main content is League of Champions and Just Chatting. She usually streams with her cam on. Cute face and great chat skills make for a solid fanbase. Been playing RioCham for about two years, Bronze 3 tier. Holding down the 5th-tier ADC spot in the Zzzk Cup. We faced her in a practice scrim once, but she got her bottom blown up early, and I rotated up top, so I didn't see much.
Main champs: Lady Fortune, Ezze, Varos. Prefers balanced ADCs over hyper carries. Music to my ears. Hyper carries usually need constant babysitting from support, but hers are the opposite—they can fend for themselves if I step away briefly. Low tier means some risks, though. Skillshots are decent, but snap judgment is her big weakness.
But that's fine. I've got human-AI Neru on my side. (Not sure "human AI" is even a thing, but whatever.) Just guide her step-by-step on what to do.
Thirty minutes later, our team was up against the Uk Team. (They had some fancy team name, but it was a pain to say, so Uk Team it was.) They had a 1st-tier mid and solid players elsewhere.
"Get ready for scrim~"
"Yep."
We jumped into ban phase, and everyone's tier-1 bans flew. Thalia, one of my favorites, got banned.
Support main like me has to last-pick, so others went first.
"Dalgso, Lady Fortune?"
"Yep!"
Enemy support: Lena. CC-heavy with no mobility—perfect for pressuring immobile Lady Fortune.
Time to counter. I picked Frey.
"Ooh... this gonna be good?"
"You bet."
Laning phase. I ward the second bottom bush. Lena will push from center bush, but Frey's long auto range and passive slow will shove her back. Autos apply slow, making escapes tough. My runes included One-Point Shot, extra damage and armor shred on third auto hit. Perfect against a walking CC support like Lena.
"Dalgso, come help smack Lena~"
"Okaay."
Lena starts at half HP, forced to burn both pots. Watch for her level 3 all-skills timing. Drain her as much as possible before then so we don't fight.
I pop my pot, auto Varos while weaving forward, pull back when Lena dives. Rinse and repeat.
"Dalgso, ignore me and farm CS~"
"Yep."
She burns both pots, we get enemy duo under half. I'm half too, so no more poke. Level 3 incoming for Lena—time to play safe.
SenT's taking top river crab, no enemy jungler sighted. Means enemy jungler's likely bottom river.
"Dalgso, gank incoming—watch out."
"Ah, got it."
"I'll ward and be right back—play safe."
Sure enough, enemy jungler shows eating river crab. I W-arrow to steal, but ex-pro reflexes smite it away.
"Damn..."
Laning settles into our slight edge. Frey's strong until level 6. Post-6, ult value drops compared to others. Could ult-kill enemy bot, but better to feed my ADC the kill and grow her.
Recall and check mid. Enemy mid Fullname pushing Ritsu with flashy movement.
Time for my analysis to shine. Tower shield low—Fullname's skill means high chance he'll break it and base, or solo-kill our mid Ritsu if she overextends.
"Senior Ritsu, wanna wag that tail a bit?"
"Huh? Oh, okay~"
Everyone knows the puppy act is RioCham's ultimate CC—works regardless of tier.
Ritsu creeps forward in puppy mode to farm. I fire ult ice arrow. As expected, Fullname dives for the kill. Flash distance calculated... right here.
.
.
.
Fullname: Zzzk Cup's mid 1st-tier beast. Master last season, challenger-bound this one. Top dog across all mids with insane mechanics. Aggressive solo-kill hunter, prefers bursting mid lane over roaming to snowball games.
Fullname picked Sandra, ranged mage. Optimal for solo kills, counters Ritsu's Abinia.
"You coming out for this?"
Abinia creeps for farm. And puppy mode. Irresistible.
Even if he kills her, wave's crashing tower—worth it.
Moment he flashes for flash-ult—
Pew—!
Ice arrow nails him mid-flash, 3-second stun. Abinia doesn't miss, turns the tables and kills him.
"Whoa, how?!"
Was it a Frey ult to top? Nah, predicting flash is nuts. If predicted, he'd feel the wall.
"Ha... can't help but laugh."
First death of laning for Fullname.