Get a life [Part-2]

It was 2012 and I was so into League but nowhere close to being good. But a lot changed when I got invited to this type of game mode called the ‘Ranked game’. These ranked games are meant to be more competitive and the result of the games mattered, unlike the regular games that players usually played. So, basically, the first ten ranked games decides how good you are and then puts you in different tiers based on the outcome of these games. Then, you’ll have to win games consecutively to earn ‘Ladder Points’ and climb tiers. I clearly did not know anything about this. Being the kid I was, I thought I could just boss my way through these “noobs” and win games. Turns out that I was the noob. Joke’s on me!

These games were far more competitive and gave you that extra added motivation to win games. Even though I was bad, I was one hell of a competitive mother fucker. I used to play 10 games a day and would probably end up winning like two or three games a day, four if I was lucky. But then, I wanted climb more than anything else. The other different thing about these ranked games was that the other nine players in the game took the game more seriously too. This meant that I got flamed harder and people were yelling at me more often than not but there were a few nice teammates that taught me the game. Every time I made a mistake, they told me what I could have done instead. This helped a lot. These people taught me how champions were to be played, how the role could be played and also taught me how the game worked. I played around 300 ranked games that season and finished in Bronze, which is the lowest tier but most importantly, I was a better player and that is what really mattered.

The ranked games kept me entertained but one major worry was the fact that I did not have anybody to talk about the games. It was around this time that I decided to recruit someone from my class so that I could just talk to him during school. I managed to lure the friend sitting next to me, let’s just call him ‘Thunder Bunny’ as it is his in-game name. Bunny and I were good pals. I’ve known him for a very long time and he really liked the concept of League. All I had to do was make him install the game, which I did the very next day. Voila! I now had a League buddy just like that. But little did I know that Bunny and I would end up becoming the closest of friends. But the path wasn’t easy…

-Nithin Karthikeyan

To know more about what happens next, check out this space next Saturday. More importantly, tell me what you think about the series and my story in the comments!