League of Legends: League of Unknowns

At the 2,000-point Ranked play, a Jungler was compulsory.

If you don’t mind a bit of a lecture, this is also a good time to explain why the 2-1-2 formation is less than optimal, and why having a Jungler is so important . ¹

A detailed discussion of each lane is beyond the scope of this lecture, but let’s take the Top lane for instance:

The first issue concerns finances.

No matter how efficient they are at farming, there are only so many minions in the Top lane to be shared between two people.

Players with some experience in the game should understand that when there are two people sharing one lane, one thing is for sure: both will have less gold!

In that case, it might be better to let just one player take all the minions, in order to maximize that champion’s gold income. (This is the governing principle in the Bottom lane.)

Next, let’s talk about Experience Points (XP).

One person, alone in their lane, is guaranteed to accrue more XP than two, which means they’ll get to Level 6 ² sooner.

If you have one player up in the Top lane, going against two enemy champions, then even if they gain control over the minion waves, as long as you don’t allow them to kill you off or chase you out of range to receive XP from their minions’ deaths, then you’ll eventually out-level the both of them.

Meanwhile, you should have a Jungler on your team, freely farming XP and gold from the Jungle regions. With the aid of a Double Buff early on, your Jungler is certain to out-strip both the opponents in the Top lane, in no time at all.

And then your Jungler can come to the assistance of your Solo Top by ganking the paired enemy Top-laners. (‘Gank’, in this case, refers to launching a surprise ambush on enemy players.)

Your Solo Top should generally be higher level than the enemy’s Duo Top, or at least equal. Meanwhile, your Jungler should definitely have overtaken the both of them, and early on it’s likely that no one’s gone back to base yet to spend their gold on better equipment.

If both of your champions are one level higher than both of theirs, in addition to a Double Buff on one of you, this becomes a dire threat to the enemy players!

Oftentimes, it could even mean a Double Kill!

And that’s just as far as the Top lane is concerned; a Jungler can visit the other lanes as well, regularly creating a situation where the enemy is outnumbered, and thereby gaining your teammates the upper hand.

If you don’t have a Jungler of your own, it’ll be nearly impossible to keep up with such tactics. One loss will lead to another, an endless snowball to defeat.

There are still more details one might consider, but the point is that going 2-1-1, with a Jungler, is far superior to the 2-1-2 formation.

(Recently, I’ve noticed that in some regions, the 2-1-2 formation is still very common in Ranked play.

This is not a good sign and, although I don’t want to confront this matter too directly, it suggests that there is still a general lack of MOBA games expertise, so I thought it might be helpful to occasionally provide an explanation like this for those players still getting to grips with this genre.)

***

“Welcome to Summoner’s Rift!”

“Thirty seconds until minions spawn!”

Yu Luocheng always heard this sharp, austere female voice at the beginning of every round.

Except this time, it wasn’t coming from the in-game announcer!

Yu Luocheng’s lady friend was performing an exact imitation of those lines, overlaying the actual announcements with perfect timing!

In fact, rather than calling it an imitation, it sounded as though Riot Inc. had actually used her voice!

“Are you sure you’re not a voice actress?” Yu Luocheng asked.

“Keep guessing.” Still no answer out of her.

Yu Luocheng was almost certain. “Let’s have a video chat some time. I can tell a person’s profession by looking at their face.”

“You take me for a child!” Yi Qin laughed, seeing through his ploy.

“Eh? I think one of the enemy players knows you,” Yu Luocheng said, looking at the chat box. “That SSS guy is trying to get your attention.”

The chat box was full of red text ³ . Yu Luocheng had always firmly believed in one fact of life: When you were performing well, everyone liked you. You became a shining star, their brightest hope for victory!

But to come across somebody who actually knew you, and wanted to say hi… that was pure chance.

“Ms Snow! Fancy seeing you here,” the player named ‘SSS’ said.

“Hehe… what luck, indeed!” Snowfall replied. “Here you are, playing ADC. I trust you understand what you have to do?”

SSS answered immediately. “Of course! I shall present my head to your rifle, and protect your KDA ⁴ with my life!”

This SSS dude was a hoot. To prostrate himself before the enemy so openly, wasn’t he worried what his teammates might say?

“Enemy ADC is a chick?”

“Man, that one’s a perfect ten, I tell you.”

“Hey babe, Bottom lane, right? I’m coming over to your Tower right now. I’m ready to let you have my first time!”

“Scram, you creep! It’s called First Blood!”

***

Watching this dialogue playing out, Yu Luocheng was dumbfounded.

Some people here had spent several months fighting tooth-and-nail to achieve 2,000 points, using their own allowance money to buy Runes and Rune Pages ⁵ … but it was nothing compared to the authority of being a girl gamer!

“You know this SSS guy? Friend in real life?” Yu Luocheng asked.

“I’ve seen him a couple of times. Ah, we’re not winning this game.” She sighed.

“How could we lose? They’re all rushing over to feed you kills now, aren’t they?”

“They’re just teasing me. What fool would believe them? I’ll be lucky if they don’t gang up to pick on me,” she said sourly.

“That guy, SSS… he used to be a pro-gamer in DOTA: Asmodai, the ace of Team ‘Daemons’. He’s switched over to LOL now, still playing professionally. What foul luck that we have to fight against him, damn it!”

Asmodai? Yu Luocheng stared, thunderstruck. It was a name he knew very well.

Charon, Belial, Mephistopheles, Hades, and Asmodai … ⁶ taking their names from various demons in folklore and mythology, these were the key players of the highly prestigious DOTA pro-gaming team, ‘Daemons’!

Their achievements in DOTA were too numerous to list, both locally as well as abroad. The five members of Daemons had ascended to the level where the very sight of their names struck terror in the hearts of their enemies!

More importantly, during Yu Luocheng’s previous career as a pro-gamer himself, he’d faced Team ‘Daemons’ during the final round of the national championship! His team had just barely managed to claw their way to victory, allowing them to take part in the following championship in London!

Although Team ‘Daemons’ had lost to the team Yu Luocheng had been in, he very clearly understood that they were opponents to be respected and feared. Even now, his pulse pounded when he recalled that match against them!

The memories of that tournament flashed through Yu Luocheng’s mind. He vaguely remembered ‘Asmodai’ to be a young man of twenty years. After their defeat, he shook hands with Yu Luocheng, and gave him a thumbs up!

It had been a gesture of respect.

So now he was playing LoL? Now he was on the opposing side, once again? Yu Luocheng’s heart was racing out of control.

He’d sworn never to return to the world of professional gaming, but he was a true gamer, nevertheless. Even if he stayed away from tournaments, he would never lose his passion for battle!

He was like a master swordsman who’d set aside his blade, until one day, when he crossed paths with another illustrious grandmaster. Unconsciously, he’d fall into a combat stance, the carrot he’d just bought at the market twisting in his grip!

“Asmodai? Awesome! Just… awesome!” Even his fingertips felt like they were on fire! Every inch of his body was straining to get started!

“Nothing awesome about it. Casual gamers like us stand no chance against professionals like them. I just hope I’ll still be able to walk after this…” His partner muttered.

“Don’t bet on that!” Yu Luocheng’s blood was boiling!

This wasn’t DOTA—they were playing LoL now.

Back then, they’d fought with every fiber of their being, risking everything to rise to the top in DOTA.

Now, they would meet once again on the field of battle, in LoL!

Asmodai, do your worst!