Top Lane Solo Kill

The Priest versus Berserker top lane matchup... It was a position I'd played often back in my Master of League days. Since most warriors gravitated toward it, the raw stats of the commonly used classes tended to be on the higher side. The enemy team's TopLaneLifer (Berserker) was a class specialized in lane trading and early skirmishes. On top lane especially, without mid-lane interference, the side that seized the initiative first usually snowballed that advantage into a crushing lead. This matchup looked far from easy.

Even the chat window, which had been filled with nothing but awe and worship until moments ago, was now dominated ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠by negative sentiment. Yet their certainty and mockery only stirred my competitive spirit.

Of course, the chat exploded even faster, as if those words had been gasoline. "Ahaha... how adorable..." Their sharp reactions brought an involuntary smile to my face, signaling that my competitive spirit had been properly ignited.

Team BLUE

TopLaneLifer (Berserker)

V4WIN (Necromancer)

KillGivesCarry (StarlightArcher)

PinkBallDu (Conductor)

Team RED

Saintess (Priest)

VagueStrike (Illusionist)

Only2Hits (DemonHunter)

ExecutionKill (Ninja)

Since my motto was that victory always came down to the details, the moment the game started I immediately pulled up the Berserker's skills and read them carefully.

The Berserker was clearly specialized in close combat and possessed the power to even dive towers using its ultimate. The viewers' constant fussing was now somewhat understandable given that skill set. "Well then... I'll just have to show an even more entertaining reaction when I win, won't I?" No matter how strong the Berserker was, to me it was merely another source of dopamine. Since I could dodge all their attacks and land all of mine, it wasn't particularly threatening.

* * *

The early laning phase against the Berserker was more manageable than expected, perhaps because we were still in the upper Emerald bracket. The Berserker's skills frequently missed, and at level 2 the damage from the Priest's aggressive engages was steadily accumulating, leaving the Berserker unable to manage their health.

The chat was exploding with shock just from winning the early laning phase. "You guys have pretty low expectations when I haven't even gotten the solo kill yet." To surprise them even more, I immediately began looking for the Berserker's kill window. Both were level 2. The Berserker's health was below one-fifth. If I secured level 3 first and leveraged the advantage of having my ultimate, the calculation showed it was more than doable. "Two tower shots should be covered by Sanctuary, right?" Right up until the moment I hit level 3, I kept careful track of health calculations and the enemy's available skills. Just as I was about to secure the last minion and reach level 3 before the Berserker, the enemy Necromancer appeared from below.

Amid the flood of criticism toward the Berserker, some questioned whether the gank had been called too early. But I thought the Berserker's threat detection and game sense had been sharp. The opponent had already realized during our trades that I'd been aggressively looking for solo-kill opportunities and had compromised accordingly. Even at level 3 versus level 2, once a gank was called it became a 1v2 situation. Even if the low-health Berserker somehow secured the kill, the cooldowns and resources spent would leave an opening for the Necromancer to finish me off. Looking at the bigger picture beyond just this lane, the Berserker could reset the lane with the Necromancer's gank while the Necromancer escaped a difficult mid matchup and simultaneously helped top lane. From the enemy's perspective, it was a win-win. I couldn't say for certain they'd calculated everything that far ahead, but in the current situation their decision was optimal. "What a shame." In the end, the early phase concluded with me only lightly harassing the Necromancer who had come to create a recall window for the Berserker.

Fortunately, because the enemy Necromancer had focused solely on top, the growing gaps in mid and bot had somewhat eased the team's atmosphere. "If we can just reclaim top lane priority, we'll be able to take the next objective without much trouble." Once both sides had their items, the top lane matchup would clearly favor the Berserker, so I needed to widen the experience gap as much as possible right now. The enemy Necromancer also seemed to be near their base, so taking them out now would be ideal. I used Sacrifice at the exact moment the Berserker's Crush was on cooldown and dove in.

Sacrifice: Reduces the Priest's health to grant one nearby ally increased attack speed and movement speed for 2 seconds.

The Berserker tried to back off and create distance, but at the perfect timing the Priest's ultimate activated and rooted them in place.

Sanctuary: Creates a sanctuary lasting 4 seconds around ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠yourself. All enemies within the sanctuary are slowed and take continuous damage while allies receive a shield.

The Berserker responded with their saved Rage and ultimate, engaging in melee. But every single one of the Berserker's attacks was dismantled by the Priest's fluid movements, as if seeing the future, and their greatsword continued to cut only empty air. "Four seconds are up." After casually dodging even the Berserker's final strike and exploiting the opening right after the ultimate ended, the Berserker collapsed with an expression of shattered pride.