Chapter 77 of 100
Chapter 77
6 min read1,578 words
### Chapter 77: Gatekeeper
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My current tier is Diamond 3.
There are about 3 days left.
The journey to Master has truly begun.
[Game found!]
[Accept / Decline]
Without hesitation, I accepted.
───────────────
qpingeourhome13 has joined the lobby.
DiamondorDiamond has joined the lobby.
Outlaw has joined the lobby.
TriangleMidlaner has joined the lobby.
IIIIlIllIIIlI has joined the lobby.
───────────────
The average tier of my teammates, including myself, is around Diamond 1.
If we combine the tiers of the opposing team, it would be correct to assume they are in the upper Diamond to lower Master range.
‘What should I do?’
While I was contemplating,
[DiamondorDiamond: 3Pick]
[DiamondorDiamond: Can I go jungle?]
Hmm, well.
Although I need to climb the tier a bit urgently, this seems more efficient.
I can do well in any role.
[Outlaw: Sure]
[DiamondorDiamond: kk]
I unexpectedly became a support, but personally, I don't particularly dislike the role.
This is because the support position is quite similar to the jungle in terms of role.
Of course, this is only when I get to pick the champion I want.
‘Still, these IDs seem familiar...’
Occasionally, while playing, I come across such IDs.
I definitely feel like I've met them before, but I can't figure out where.
To me, this game is like that.
The nicknames of my teammates all seem familiar.
‘Did I meet them in a regular game?’
Just in case, I searched for DiamondorDiamond's ID to find Outlaw, but there was no record of us meeting.
The same was true for the other IDs.
‘Maybe it’s just my imagination.’
Well, it’s not important anyway.
+
[Ban List]
BaeGgo / Ezreal
/ Kassadin
Shaco /
/
Ezreal / Lissandra
+
The bans were now complete.
Given the unusually high number of no-bans, it really hit home that I was in the hellish tier.
‘We have the first pick.’
Our team is the Blue team.
That is, the bottom side.
[qpingeourhome13: Anyone up for first pick?]
[qpingeourhome13: Top first pick?]
Like most Blue team first picks for top, qpingeourhome13 chose to swap after a safe pick.
However, unfortunately, none of my teammates were willing to accommodate his heartfelt request.
[Outlaw: Give me Camille]
Camille support is a champion I occasionally play when I get support, and I think it's quite useful, except for a few counter-picks.
Well... only in terms of fun, though.
[qpingeourhome13: ?]
[qpingeourhome13: Really?]
[Outlaw: Yes]
[qpingeourhome13: ok;;]
Camille.
[IIIIlIllIIIlI: Ah]
As soon as the first pick was Camille support, a protest erupted from our ADC.
[IIIIlIllIIIlI: Camille support?]
[IIIIlIllIIIlI: Can't you play another support?]
Just as I was about to say something,
[TriangleMidlaner: I checked, 3Pick is a main account with a 100% win rate]
[IIIIlIllIIIlI: ?]
[IIIIlIllIIIlI: Really?]
[IIIIlIllIIIlI: How many points?]
Thanks to the unexpected support from the fourth pick, the ADC's anger seemed to subside a bit.
[qpingeourhome13: ?]
[qpingeourhome13: Do it? Or not?]
[Outlaw: Give me]
After that, the champions were chosen one by one, and the ban-pick phase was completed.
[Allies / Enemies]
Top: Jason / Sett
Jungle: Xin Zhao / Nidalee
Mid: Sylas / Renekton
ADC: Varus / Aphelios
Support: Camille / Nautilus
+
‘Hmm.’
Despite picking Camille support, our ADC chose Varus, which isn't a particularly good combination.
It seems he was determined to carry the lane despite the potential weakness of the Camille support.
‘This isn’t bad either.’
There are two main ways to effectively play a troll pick like Camille support.
One is to pick a champion like Lucian, who excels in fights, and continuously engage in skirmishes to gain an advantage.
The other is to pick a champion like Varus or Zane, who are strong in lane, to influence other lanes.
Otherwise, it’s pretty much a troll pick and not particularly good.
‘Hmm.’
Our team composition can be seen as a typical poke composition.
Jason and Varus will be dealing damage from the back, while Xin Zhao, Sylas, and Camille will be holding the front line.
Of course, this doesn’t mean the enemy is completely weak in a poke composition.
They have Nidalee, who is strong in poke and sustain.
‘And most importantly, they have a very powerful initiation combo.’
Sett, Renekton, and Nautilus.
While Renekton is strong, Sett and Nautilus have very powerful initiation abilities.
‘And there’s the conditional initiation from Aphelios.’
Given the composition, we can say that we are countered.
However,
‘The biggest variable in team fights is the ultimate abilities of Xin Zhao and Sylas.’
Xin Zhao’s ultimate is great for repelling incoming enemies, and Sylas’s ultimate can be used in many ways given the current enemy ultimates.
Even though the composition looks like we are countered, the way our front-line players perform can completely change the game.
‘Camille... Hmm, let’s give it a try.’
It’s a bit funny to say this after picking her, but Camille support is a champion with both clear strengths and weaknesses.
But the important thing is to show the meaning of the pick.
[Please select a champion!]
[Please select a skin!]
The game started amidst these thoughts.
+
───────────────
Jungler Sett
MeatPeriodicTable Nidalee
MIDIA Renekton
HwangPelius Aphelios
NyamiManham Nautilus
───────────────
+
At first glance, it’s a pretty ordinary loading screen.
However, when I saw the nickname of the enemy jungler, I was momentarily stunned.
[MeatPeriodicTable Nidalee]
I knew that nickname.
“...He’s still here.”
Gatekeeper.
That’s what they are called.
These are typically players who are found in the Platinum 1 to Diamond 4 and Diamond 2 to Master tiers. Usually, when someone is called a gatekeeper without any qualifiers like “Diamond” or “Master,” it leans more towards the latter.
Diamond gatekeepers often have a good alternative term, “Yeti.”
Anyway, this is a story from a long time ago, when I had just started playing League of Legends.
It was Season 2.
I was climbing as a Prisoner, and MeatPeriodicTable and I first met in the Platinum tier, around the 2000-point mark.
At the time, my score was 2010, and MeatPeriodicTable’s current score was lower than mine, but his top rating was higher than mine.
[All] [MeatPeriodicTable (Master I): Man, the enemy jungler is trash]
[All] [MeatPeriodicTable (Master I): Is it fun to win by team difference?]
Considering the culture at the time, where scores were often discussed based on top ratings, it’s understandable that MeatPeriodicTable couldn’t accept losing to me.
Well, at that time, I was in the middle of climbing, so my score was always my top rating.
[All] [Prisoner (Skarner): It’s a jungle difference]
[All] [MeatPeriodicTable (Master I): Haha, **** you, just reroll, I’ll destroy you]
Back then, I was young and easily responded to his taunts.
[All] [Prisoner (Skarner): Try it, haha]
That was the start of our bad blood.
I still remember that day.
It was a weekday morning.
[All] [MeatPeriodicTable (Master I): Haha, we meet again, I’ll destroy you this time]
[All] [Prisoner (Rengar): Try it, haha]
Maybe it was because it was a weekday morning, or because we were both filled with animosity, but MeatPeriodicTable and I met in 8 consecutive games.
Despite the lack of position selection, 7 out of those 8 games had us as enemies, and the one game where we were on the same team ended in a dodge due to our fighting in the pick phase.
The result was 4 wins and 3 losses.
[Prisoner: 1Pick, the enemy jungler is Master I, ban him]
Ultimately, I won, but it was partly because I started banning MeatPeriodicTable’s main champion, Master I, from the fourth game.
[All] [MeatPeriodicTable (Rengar): Ah, **** dirty ****, he’s banning my main]
[All] [MeatPeriodicTable (Rengar): Scared?]
Although we didn’t meet again after that, MeatPeriodicTable was, in a way, my first rival.
‘Back then, playing 7 consecutive games made me pass out for about three days. It was a bad move.’
It was after that incident that I started strictly controlling the number of games I played in a day.
I remember how my mother cried so bitterly... Even though I was dazed, the sound of her crying echoed in my ears.
‘But... that guy is still here.’
I can understand it.
Gatekeepers, as they are called, have a common trait: they generally have higher skill than their current tier, but they remain stuck.
Why? There are several reasons, but the biggest one is that they have significant mental weaknesses.
You don’t deserve to win.
One of the outcomes for players who get addicted to the number of games is to become such gatekeepers.
They have played so many games in similar tiers and in similar ways that they know exactly how a small early-game disadvantage can snowball.
So they give up easily.
I won’t do it, gg
The problem is that their throwing turns winnable games into losses.
The game’s lenient policy on trolling means they often return after a few bans.
Ah, I met that guy again
? Trolling? I won’t do it, gg
And they repeat the cycle.
Whether it’s trolling or dodging.
The resulting bad reputation solidifies them as gatekeepers, and their teammates’ morale drops, further lowering their win rate.
Naturally, they get trapped.
And they start pulling others down to keep them in the same place.
Whether it’s allies or enemies.
They become gatekeepers, guarding the gate (門) so that no one can pass.
‘It’s been a while. Maybe I should teach him a lesson.’
Welcome to Summoner’s Rift!
The game began.
* * *