Master Swordsman’s Stream - Chapter 199

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 199

[At this rate, Han Pun-man is the only one who can win in EU]

People want to keep talking even while watching the tournament.
Humans are social animals, and leaving comments is a social activity.
Usually this need is satisfied through chat.
But some want to discuss a particular topic more deeply in their own way.
And some want their opinions recognized by others.
Chat can’t quite fulfill this demand.
That’s why communities form.
And what people mostly want recognition for there is how accurate their personal opinions are, how well they predict the future.
This shows clearly at the beginning of posts.

==
Just looking at it, the answer’s clear.

Han Pun-man wins. I had doubts at first, but once I saw Geomsin’s prediction crumble, I knew.

Wealth Gap will lose in the late game. They can’t stop Spoon’s dominance.

First, let me explain why Spoon becomes unstoppable once he scales.
It’s because of Han Pun-man’s healing and defense-focused composition.
If they don’t kill him in one go, he survives for sure and Spoon deals damage again.
Surviving one more turn to rejoin the fight is huge in teamfights. Even more so if he’s the ADC.
Plus, Wealth Gap has no assassins.
In my opinion, Geomsin should’ve picked an assassin hero instead. Not something like Jen, but something with good mobility.

But why didn’t he?
It’s obvious.
You know.
They just figured since they crushed last time they’d do the same this time, so they picked Eric.
It’d be easy if they could dominate the laning phase.
But that’s not working out?

Now let me predict what happens next.
Spoon will focus on farming, and they won’t be able to shut him down completely.
Even if they block his basic attacks, they can just find the same way around it and grab minions.
Unless Rumi awakens and creates some crazy angles, Spoon can’t be stopped.
Even calling ganks, they probably won’t catch Spoon. They might catch Gong Beol-le though.
It’s hard to leverage jungle objectives since Han Pun-man’s jungle is B-rank. Master tier.
There’s a skill gap with Alpaca who hasn’t played jungle, so they’ll probably buy time until Spoon grows.
To worsen that jungle’s influence, the mid lane in the center would be much better lol
Oh man, they went bottom instead.

Going ADC was the worst move possible.
And with Eric, you can’t even expect carry power in the late game.
==

-I saw your delusion post
-It lacks depth, doesn’t it?
└But it seems like you might be right?
-Really seems arrogant. Didn’t even do one scrim
-Acting like they prepared it obviously but picking Eric is still weird
└But if they hadn’t picked Eric, you’d be complaining about that too
└lmao you’d say they got scared
-Physically he seems like a monster at least. Seeing how he blocks basic attacks.
└How do you think the rest will do?
└I agree with this post
└No matter how well they block, there’s a limit
└Can’t really tell about the teammates. Honestly it’s so imbalanced
└E-rank top lane matchup. Mid jungle B and C respectively lolololololololololol

* * *

“Ah! First Blood appears just 10 minutes into the game! And the protagonist is Ha Yun-ho from the top lane!”
Arin’s cheer celebrated the first kill that came at the ten-minute mark.
It was Ha Yun-ho’s pure one-versus-one solo kill.
“An E-rank matchup! Unlike the mid and jungle fighting intensely over dominance, neither side touched the top lane!”
“Because there’s no need to touch it, right? There’s no reason to feed an E-rank.”
“Penguin, your commentary is a bit harsh.”
“But it’s true. Of course, having the jungle take a kill from top would be nice, but if the enemy gets a kill from mid instead, we lose much more. That’s the real advantage.”
Simply put, it’s a resource allocation problem.
If you have to funnel kills or lane priority to someone, who should you grow?
An E-rank? Or the B and C mid laners who already heavily influence jungle dominance?
It’s strange that each jungle isn’t focusing on their mid.
“The game really feels like each lane is playing separately. I’m not the only one feeling this, right, commentators?”
“That feeling is accurate. The jungle has no reason to gank top. And going bottom—Han Pun-man just doesn’t want to fight at all……”
“At all? Why aren’t you finishing, Bang Ju?”
“Well… Wealth Gap……”

[Ah! Blocked again! Come on! If I grow like this, prepare yourselves.]
[Yes. Eat a lot and grow big.]
[You can’t keep throwing the Chain if you want to farm! Three chains is hell, seriously.]

Bang Ju wondered if Seo Jun was actually enjoying this.
Spoon, now completely lost in thought, just chatting with Seo Jun.
And Seo Jun, unchanged, flinging a Chain every second alternately at Spoon and the bullet.
To Bang Ju, it looked like Seo Jun had no intention of calling the jungle.
‘Did he get a taste for tormenting him?’
Bang Ju, who had done joint broadcasts for the Sect, knew Seo Jun well.
Not quite a pervert. But definitely a jerk.
Would he really ignore the tournament and just have fun?
Rather, he’s being a jerk because no matter what, he has a way to win.
The kind of person who thinks pure mechanics solve everything.
“I think they decided blocking CS would be enough. I’m curious what the other commentators think.”
Bang Ju just moved on.
If he said Seo Jun simply didn’t call the jungle because he wanted to torment Spoon longer, they wouldn’t buy it anyway.

-Wait, isn’t that villain guy maybe dragging it out to mess with Spoon longer?
-lol true
-But it’s a tournament…
-Possible tho

‘Or maybe? There’s someone thinking the same thing.’
Bang Ju thought that the image already burned into viewers’ minds was nearly enough to deduce the answer.
Anyway.
“Hmm… Wealth Gap could try diving, sure. But Eric is a really dangerous hero for diving.”
Ah.
Bang Ju was impressed.
Pros really do see a lot in one go.
“The most important thing when attacking enemies inside a tower is Aggro Management and speed.”
Each hit from a tower’s incredibly powerful.
So you either kill the enemy inside the tower as fast as possible and take fewer shots,
or dive back in and out of range to spread the tower’s damage across your team.
“Usually speed is most important. And if Eric messes up his skill even once, diving will have double the risk. Unless he can guarantee a hit……”

-I see
-Yeah never seen anyone dive with Eric lololololol
-A guy praying for the Chain to connect, how’s he diving lololololololololololol
-But what if Rumi lands a grab, the jungle is there too
-There’s healing so if you don’t finish in one combo you need two, three combos. So what dive

This was definitely the best they could do for now.

[Geomsin – CS 108]
[Impatient Frustration – CS 64]

But Bang Ju thought it wouldn’t work like this.
‘I’m not sure. In a few minutes they’ll buy their first rune—what are they planning?’
Seo Jun is definitely not someone who does nothing.
He’s someone who predicts every single action in his head.
He might’ve even calculated every bit of his personality shown in broadcasts, every comment.
‘Though looking at his actual character, he just seems like a complete asshole.’
Anyway.
“Ah! Top lane again! Ha Yun-ho unleashes a fierce assault!”

-lolol we’re not curious about that trash E-rank matchup
-Bottom and mid are what matter
-This really seems like Wealth Gap’s gonna lose? They gotta do something
-fr lol

“Ah! Now the mid lane! The mid finally takes dominance! Just as you’d expect from the former A-rank, Wind Sword!”
The game hadn’t turned, but it had shifted in Wealth Gap’s favor.
“And Seo Jun! Heading home! The gold from minions has piled up! Buying a rune!”

-Still doesn’t matter if Spoon reaches his power spike
-They gotta do something to win
-Then why go bottom lol just go mid and carry the ADC
-What rune is he buying?

“What should I buy?”
“It seems like they’re looking for a way to turn things around in the rune purchase… but I can’t quite tell. Hmm…?”
Seo Jun bought the rune without a moment’s hesitation and rushed back to the lane.
“Added one Magic Circle! Ah! Seo Jun! If he has four, could that make a difference? Bang Ju? Tae-yang? Penguin?”
“Hmm……”

-Just a jerk move lololol
-Looks like he just wants to torment him
-But what about actually playing the game

But fortunately for him, contrary to Bang Ju’s thoughts, Seo Jun seemed to be preparing something.
“Wait? Why is Seo Jun only using three Magic Circles?”
“That’s odd. Using only three doesn’t increase damage? There’s no mana issue to save for……”
“Just like before, Seo Jun throws the Chain every second. This has to be intentional!”
“What is he aiming for!”

* * *

More time passed. Game time: 29 minutes.
Spoon didn’t join fights at all until he could afford two runes, completely focused on growth.
Thanks to that, Wealth Gap secured two Dragon objectives.
But they couldn’t take down the Uninvited Crash, which gives an even stronger and bigger buff than the Dragon.
Whoosh! Thud!
“Why are you even coming to top for this!”
Seo Jun didn’t care and just kept following Spoon wherever he went.
Bang!

[Ankle, left.]

Bang!
Hearing Gong Beol-le’s warning, Spoon shifted the angle of his second step in an instant.
But it didn’t end there.
‘Damn.’
A Chain flew at him.
Fortunately, he kept moving in the direction Gong Beol-le mentioned, so he dodged it.
‘Lucky. I won the gamble this time.’
He looked up and the next Chain was already coming. But it was aimed at the right of where he stood.
He lost the gamble this time.
‘It hurts when it connects. He bought a rune to enhance Chain damage.’
The real problem was the second rune’s identity.
Spoon didn’t know.
The opponent was hiding it.
‘Skill damage boost for sure. And two spells? Or maybe a Cooldown reduction rune?’
Whatever it was, it didn’t matter.
“Hahaha! Now it’s over!”
He’d just grabbed enough gold from the minions he ate.
He could also afford his second rune now, and the opponent had failed to stop him using the growth gap.
“What a shame.”
Spoon’s body trembled.
Getting poked non-stop, every second, was definitely hellish.
But he’d made it through.
Spoon headed home, leaving Seo Jun behind, and bought his rune.
The one he’d bought before was a rune that boosted critical strike chance.
And the one he was buying now.

[Quickshot: Cooldown significantly reduced after successfully attacking following movement.]

With this, the foundation for carrying was laid. He hadn’t made up the level gap, but he’d reached the level he needed.

[Everyone? Thank you for your patience.]
[We believed in you! Spoon!]
[So we can play aggressively from here on, right?]
[I was suffocating playing defense.]

Spoon finally broke into a smile of relief.

[Let’s go.]

* * *

Meanwhile.
Seo Jun also returned to buy his rune.

-Why are you buying a rune now you madman
-Made the money ages ago wtf lololol
-Already bought the first rune and didn’t use the 4th Magic Circle, wtf.
-Are you insane? You should have a rune advantage and the enemy shouldn’t, right?

“You don’t know Method acting? Everything I do has meaning.”

-Method acting or whatever, if you lose it’s on you
-So what second rune are you buying?
-Spoon reached his power spike!

“What second rune am I buying, you ask?”

-Why is the chat actually responding lololol
-The viewers are simple
-So what is it

“This one.”
Seo Jun placed his hand on a rune in the shop window.

-???
-Stop
-Not this one lololololol
-He’s throwing the game
-How’s he ever gonna hit it

* * *

[Teamfights finally happening soon. Yun-ho, get ready to join.]
[The enemy might attack first. Be careful.]
[Should’ve pushed past the inhibitor turret. Such a waste.]

The team’s tension evaporates, clear from the conversation.
Rather than tense, they’re anticipating a proper 5v5 teamfight.
Even knowing they had an easy time against a passive enemy without their A-rank joining, they’re relaxed. That’s good.
The enemy team gathering in mid feels the same.
They hold in their eyes the certainty that they’ll win thanks to the Ace’s stable growth.
“Don’t worry, everyone. It’ll end in one go.”
Seo Jun watched the distant enemies and spoke to the viewers.

-lol true
-If you hit it, I’ll give it to you fr
-Yeah Gong Beol-le
-Did you set up the groundwork to end it in one shot lololol will it even work?
-Can’t even hit 100% right now at 3 seconds

An ADC’s advantage is sustained damage.
The enemy’s composition is the maximization of that sustained output.
Then.

[Destructive Chain: Magic Circle standby time extends to 20 seconds. Damage increases proportionally.]

Send it all at once.
No matter what.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————