Gal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Next day. Four hours before the scrim scheduled for 6 p.m.
I met up with Dalgisoda one-on-one via Discord, separately from the team.
"H-Hello?"
"Hey."
The stream was still off. After wrapping up yesterday's scrim with a 1-2 loss record and finishing feedback, I'd done a ton of thinking.
Right now, it wasn't like the meta was so skewed toward upper-body or lower-body dominance, but bot lane was the riskiest—if you exploded in lane, both of you went down together, which hurt way more than other lanes.
So, I planned to boost her laning skills through duo queue with her.
"First off, a few questions."
"Sure~."
"You wanna do well, right, Dalgisoda?"
"Huh? Of course... "
"No, I mean, are you really ready? Like, committed?"
I had no intention of settling for her just pulling her weight. To me, an ADC was the team's ultimate firepower—the one who devoured resources, grew stronger than anyone, and carried. For that, she needed unbreakable will. Not some half-assed improvement, but the resolve of a true warrior.
If she hit me with some "it's just a game, no need to go that far" vibe, I'd be seriously disappointed. If you can't excel, at least grind hard.
"You don't wanna keep getting flamed, hearing 'bus rider' all the time, do you?"
"..."
"It's not that you're getting targeted 'cause you're trash—you wanna be targeted 'cause you're the ace, right?"
"..."
"Don't you wanna try carrying bot in a tournament with tens of thousands watching?"
Dalgisoda must've felt my intensity. She went quiet for a bit, then spoke with firm resolve.
"...Yeah! I do. What do I need to do?"
"3 hours and 40 minutes till scrim. We're duo-queuing bot lane nonstop till then."
And in the process, I planned to unleash unfiltered feedback storms on her. My physicals weren't god-tier, but my brain was my biggest weapon.
"One promise first, though."
"What?"
First: Drop the formal speech between us.
"Th-That one's easy."
Second: No filtering feedback from here on—don't let it break your spirit.
"Mm, I figured as much...!"
Third: Voice any ideas that pop up immediately. (But I'll clap back hard if it's nonsense.)
"...Yeah, I'll try!"
With promises sealed, we fired up League of Champions right away. No stream—easier for me to talk freely, less pressure on her too.
"Let's talk growth direction. Dalgisoda, I'm building you around aggression as your playstyle."
"Aggression...? But..."
"I know you read kill angles great, but your biggest issue is not seeing your death angles."
Dalgisoda's mechanics were decent for Bronze—good skillshots, killer focus when a kill was on. But positioning in fights and narrow vision were her fatal flaws.
"It's a tightrope walk. So far, you've been riding a unicycle off a cliff edge—can't even pedal a bike straight."
"R-Really...?"
"Ditch Varos. Poke champs don't suit you."
At first, I was glad she could handle balanced ADCs, but style-wise, hyper-carry was the way. Bonus: I'd sharpen my peel skills too.
I recommended a new ADC champ.
"Try Vain."
"Vain...?"
Vain was an assassin with a crossbow, more common top than bot in ranked. Simple kit, low skill floor. But needed distance mastery to shine.
"Let's go."
"Y-Yeah!"
Duo queue started. Enemy ADC: Eze. Enemy support: Kalma.
Eze + Kalma was infamous for strong laning.
Dalgisoda picked Vain.
"Know Vain's biggest weakness?"
"Uh... no. I know her DPS and carry potential are top-tier."
She was right—Vain's single-target DPS and carry power rivaled the best in RioCham. Land three autos, and her passive (god knows who thought that up) slapped max HP true damage via W. Melted tanks easy. Ult boosted movespeed and AD, Q roll added brief stealth—battlefield dominator.
But her fatal flaw? Short arms. Autos shorter range than most ADCs, no projectile poke. Pure melee-range autos only.
Top worked 'cause melees everywhere, but bot? Ranged poke whittled you down.
"Th-Then what do we do?"
"Don't worry. That's why I'm here—to cover those stubs."
I picked Melio, a support I'd eyed. Scrims taught me utility was key.
Quick kit rundown: Q kicks a ball for knockback + damage. W lays a zone that follows allies, healing them on it +20% attack range. E shield. R instant cleanses ally CC + big heal. Passive: DoT on ally autos/skills after her heals/shields.
Get it? W was our focus—fixed Vain's range (550 to 660, matching or beating others). Perfect for in-fight peel on hyper Vain. Intuitive skills, quick mastery.
Explanation done, into lane.
Eze-Kalma strong early, but dodge Kalma Q energy ball and you're fine. Vain's Q roll from lvl1 made dodging easier than most ADCs.
"Lvl1 we're trash weak—pull back, farm safe. No greedy last-hits."
"O-Okay."
Dalgisoda hung back... but habit kicked in on a near minion, stepping up.
Kalma Q sniped Vain.
"Ow..."
"Eek!"
"Told you not to push. Vain needs patience till 6."
"S-Sorry... "
Then top death ping. Our top solo-killed.
I refocused her.
"Our top ain't Kang Hyun. Solo queue expectations?"
"N-No..."
"That crazy sh—"
[Inappropriate word detected. Censorship applied.]
"Headache like that on our team—who carries? Us."
"Y-Yeah. Right."
Kalma all-ins Q on Vain.
"Too cocky? Fight 'em! Trust me!"
"O-Okay!"
I heal-spelled us for HP and speed. Pre-6, but Vain still hits hard. W zone down, E shield up.
Vain pops speed boots, rolls forward shooting Kalma.
"Not her—Eze first! 2v2, always target their ADC!"
She swaps. Eze trades a bit, panics at our damage—survival, shield, flash... all used.
But Vain Q cooldown short, speed spell chase god-tier. Solo Eze, clean double on Kalma.
"Whoa! We did it!"
"Joy later—push wave first."
"Okay..."
Dalgisoda shoved with ~33% HP. Vain's second flaw: slowest waveclear—all auto, no AoE.
"Shove moderate, base. Delay and they return stronger."
"Got it."
Mid death ping. Upper body funeral vibes. Solo kills, lane-jg clashes—game over basically.
"Mm... this one's tough... quick surrender?"
"Eek! S-Sorry!"
Times like this, we stay sharp and lead. Her "surrender deficits" mindset was the issue.
"Post-6 we're solid. Ping teamfight."
Lane ended no more kills. 1-core Vain? Beast mode. Ult up, enemy tank top one-shotted, mid fleeing.
"Trust and dive!!! I'll peel forever!!"
"Y-Yeah!! Charging!"
Her bold plays stacked kills. I chased her speed, zoning, shielding, ult-cleanse.
By 30 min: Vain 9/4/2. Me 1/5/14. Kills 16-31, no flip.
"Teamfight! Heroes' hour!!!"
"Gozuaaaah!!!"
Of course, lost that fight. GG.
....
"See? You're flawless. Top-mid trash carried the loss."
"Y-Yeah! We rocked!"
"That's the mindset. Grind these 3 hours!"
We duo'd nonstop 3 hours. 8 games, 4-4. Decent vs. curse RNG.
She carried a few, gained confidence, full trust in me.
"B-But scrim tier diff might suck..."
"Eek! G-Got it!"
"Repeat: I'm the strongest!"
"I-I'm the strongest!"
Mentality locked. Scrim day 3 began.