SS-Rank Opponents in the Grandmaster Queue

Was it because this was a Grandmaster promotion match stacked with SS-rank players above the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠usual S-rank ones, with even Bahamut thrown into the mix? The allied lineup I quickly checked was no joke. Top lane was Bahamut, whom I had just sweet-talked over. Bot lane had STD’s promising ADC prospect and ZX’s support. And me in mid. ZX in particular was a team that, from my memory, only ever played at the absolute top tier. If this world flowed the same way as the first one, they were scheduled to sweep the spring season, summer season, and Worlds this year.

However, contrary to expectations, our team started creaking from the very first ban-pick phase.

It was proof that the professional league was still in its early days—pros were already fighting in team chat before the game even started.

Sheesh… it’s noisy from the pick screen already.

Still, what could I do? They were ultimately my teammates. If we wanted to win, I had to drag them along somehow.

Fortunately, the dispute that had nearly escalated was cut short by my intervention. The ADC who had raised the objection seemed to silently agree as well; he stayed quiet without further resistance.

The Church seemed slightly dissatisfied with my gentle attitude toward the pros and demanded I treat them kindly as well.

“A little more kindly, you say?”

There were still about twenty seconds left until the game started, so I quickly made time for a Q&A.

“Hah…”

Most of the Church’s reactions were split between yes and no, but the last comment made my head throb. Without a word I slapped a one-week ban on that person and entered the game.

Of course, with three pros already on our team, it was practically guaranteed that the enemy team would have a few pros of their own. But unlike our pros—who were mostly upper-mid S-rank to high A-rank—the pros on the opposing side were the so-called SS-rank assets, top-tier professional gamers in the industry. Even if there were only two, the pressure their names carried was not something to take lightly.

From the Church’s lack of pure excitement, it was clear they, like Bahamut, still lacked real experience.

Then this is a definite opportunity.

Even if they hadn’t fully bloomed yet, their name value alone was outstanding. If I could achieve an overwhelming victory against them, I could leave a solid impression in a situation where twice the usual number of viewers were watching. Since it would be a win against two pros who would be mentioned steadily in the future, this was an important match that would be talked about for a long time.

“I’ll look at the chat again after the game ends.”

At that same moment, GOD’s top laner Bahamut—who had somehow ended up on the Saintess’s team—was crushing his lane thanks to her continuous involvement.

“I’ll guard top one more time, so please prepare to follow up.”

She seemed determined to make full use of a duo’s advantages, constantly communicating and stably succeeding in her ganks. The result was the enemy Berserker’s downfall.

LongHairLongHairLong (Berserker) 0/3/0

It was clearly a bad matchup for Paladin versus Berserker, yet the growth difference had already tilted in the Paladin’s favor.

“You’re seriously… really good.”

From appropriate skill distribution to bold engages and outstanding physical mechanics at the end—she was the epitome of a perfect mid laner, the most standout existence in the entire game.

TIME : 11m 31s

The opponents had also caught up quickly by snatching our bot duo several times thanks to their mid laner’s sharp macro. On top of that, we had just lost bot priority and even handed over the Wyvern. However, our enhanced turret-taking power from Cerberus combined with the top dive had left the enemy’s first top turret in tatters.

The remaining task was to catch the no-death, overfed enemy mid and ADC at least once before Dragon spawned. If we could take just those two, we could tilt the tight game in our favor.

…If the bot duo hadn’t just died in a double kill, that would have been the case.

From the beginning our bot duo had been shaky, and now they used the timing of their simultaneous deaths as an excuse to dive headfirst into a bloody keyboard battle. In the meantime, the enemy took advantage of the gap in our numbers and was currently taking the freshly spawned Dragon.

If we lost the Dragon here, the ADC’s growth gap would widen to 1500 gold, and the lagging Berserker would slowly catch up as well. Our comp already lacked firepower; if the opponent gained defense from the Dragon effect, the situation would clearly become even more difficult. On top of that, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠our bot duo’s mental had clearly already been ground to dust, so there seemed to be no more hope.

“This game looks unfortunate.”

In the end, I judged that we should give up on this one and told her we should try to win the next game.

“It still looks doable, though?”

She didn’t seem to have any intention of giving up on this game so easily.