The Bronze Bastard - Summer Split X

Current Rank - Bronze I - TP 84

OK, I'm 4th pick, going Bacchus supp.  In the lobby we've got one guy with open mic that is just messing up my mojo from the beginning, with sirens and other awful city noises in the background.  Things don't get better when our jungle decides that's a good reason to start BM-ing in lobby.

So our enemy duo lane is Ao Kuang ADC and Sobek tank.  I don't even know what to do. I end up taking 2 early deaths to the unexpected magic damage before I start in on T1 Genji to help with some magic defense.  The Serqet continues to just complain.  Our mid lane gets rolled.  Our duo lane has a rough go.  We take an early Gold Fury.    We fight back and have a chance at winning, despite being dysfunctional and going against a troll team comp.  Such is the life of the Bronze Bastard.

Game II Current TP - 75 

And first group has someone leave at the end of draft.  Gotta love it.  You think they'd leave BEFORE the draft fully completes.  Sigh.  At least they left before the game started.  Second draft, we take He Bo and Awi.  The enemy answers with Bacchus and Neith.  LOL.  I take Terra 4th, who they also decided not to ban.  Let's do THIS.  

I start with my 2 for the first time instead of my 3.  It helps me zone and confirm some damage, while having the same effect as my 3 when it comes to interacting with my passive.  I like this feel.  We fight to a pretty even stalemate against Bacchus and Neith. The Awilix play works great early, coming in with a couple nice steals on our side.  We eventually get our tower pretty easily. 

This game is an endurance fest.  I pull off some great plays as Terra, but I also get ran over on a few that I got clearly outplayed on.  I feel like I learned a lot here, and I did pick up 20 assists on the way to a 40 minute victory.  We won this on the strength of good FG takes at the end.  Objective control won this.  

Game III Current TP - 86

Well look at this, I'm 5th pick and get solo.  I seem to have either Artio or Hercules solo, so of course I'm going with my dog, Cerberus.  

I literally outlevel and out play this Hercules.  I get his tower.  But he's Hercules.  So about 15 minutes in, he just comes in and beats on my tower with 1 wave.  That's literally all it takes to knock out my tower.  Frustrating.  I end up doing second most damage on my team.  Once again, I prove that I can play solo well.  This team is horrible at calling out things, the jungler is rarely seen and barely effective when he shows up.  Meanwhile, the enemy He Bo is perfectly rotating to every lane when someone needs to back.  No one ever loses lane because He Bo never let a lane be open. I learn something. 

The Bronze Bastard - Summer Split IX

Current Rank Bronze I - TP 66

Well, I'm last pick off the rip, so at least this will be a stress-free game. Based on the planning period, I'm going to be mid or jungle.  The enemy team lets Achilles through and our top ELO picks him for Jungle, so I'm going to be mid.  My opponent will be a 2nd-pick Scylla.  Our Duo lane will be running Xba and Artio.  I'm thinking right now I may go either Agni or Chang'e.  I've played Chang'e more successfully lately, and can probably compete well with Scylla early.  Plus, my 2 can block her damage.  Let's do this.

Mid is my least-played role.  I know I gotta be careful of ganks.  Looks like the enemy jungler will be Ravana.  I'm expecting him to hurt me hard if i'm not vigilant. I'm going to start with Mage's blessing and T1 Chronos Pendant.  I get off to a slow start, victim of 2 early Scylla ults.   Our Achilles jungle proves to be the real deal, though.  On multiple occasions, he harasses just perfectly for me to get back to base and finish my boots.  I keep my wards up, my call-outs are good.  Our duo lane rolls, and our Solobek handles the enemy Chaac well. 

Good team work.  Solid, if not spectacular, outing for the Bronze Bastard. 

Game II - TP = 80

So we get one "did not accept" and then I lose another guy in the lobby of the second attempt.  Do I even try for a third one, or do I just take this as a bad sign?  I decide to go for it, and end up as Duo Terra.  I'm laning with Xba against Cabrakan and Artemis.  Let's do this.

Cab and Art just can't handle us.  I took my 3 first, and use it to heal and zone them apart.  We get Cab isolated and do a lot of damage.  We force them back and steal their purple.  I'm liking Terra a lot, glad they let her through.  I get 4 kills in the first 8 minutes, roaming my lane and the left jungle.  This is going exceptionally. 

The game is actually pretty close and a good match the whole way through.  Ultimately, we are just a little bit tougher and better coordinated.  Despite how close the kill and gold is, we just keep taking down their towers without losing lane.  Very good effort all the way around.  The Bronze Bastard wins with an OP god.  I'm on the way, baby.

Game III - TP = 90

Here's a promotion game.  Let's see how it goes.  I 4th pick.  I'm going to be ADC into a Xba and Khepri.  My lane partner will be my choice of Ymir or Sobek.  I ask for Ymir.  He's got the Nuclear Winter skin, so at least that will be cool.  Crud, he swaps it for Baron Frostchild.  I'm focused on the wrong thing.  Let's do this. 

I play a solid Artemis.  Our whole team plays well, actually.  Our Ymir stays horribly under-leveled and barely worth anything, but he's useful with CC and rotations.  We lead the entire game, and have it easily in-hand until about the 28th minute.  Their teamfight starts getting good.  An idiot on our team makes an ill-advised call for FG, and they steal it.  They kill us all.  They take down T2 mid tower.  They take down phoenix.  We throw on FG.  Bad call.  Stupid people making stupid calls.  Such is the life of the Bronze Bastard.

The Bronze Bastard - Summer Split VIII

the Bronze Bastard rides again
Current Rank Bronze I - 75 TP

I'm third-picking.  Bans: He-bo, Agni, Xbal, Terra.  Our top ELO drafts Chang'e Mid.  Our 2nd pick takes Achilles Jungle, sweet.  What will I pick for solo?  Oh...it doesn't matter because someone leaves lobby.

Take 2, now I'm 2nd pick.  Bans: He-bo, Achilles, Nemesis, Agni.  I'm going to take Cu Chu solo.  we've only got a few days till nerf, better get the mileage I can out of him now. It looks like my lane opponent will be Zhong Kui.  I think I'll start with T1 Genji's so I can take his poke and keep him on the defensive. 

I own this Zhong Khui, but our carry and mage are worthless.  At the end of the game, I had more damage than the two of them combined.  We won tower, I 1v4d a mid-lane...and I get stuck with a bunch of mouth-breathers who don't know what they are doing.  Yay, ranked!

OK, game II - 68 TP

I'm 3rd pick.  Our top pick takes Xba. Please be good.  I need a carry that can...you know...actually carry.  And our 2nd pick lets the bank time expire.  Cool, I'm out.  Not playing this game today, Ranked.  Not today. 

The Bronze Bastard - Summer Split VII

Bronze - Rank 1 TP 78

The Bronze Bastard is back!  Matchmaking wanted me back, so I'm here!  I've been straight owned by Loki twice in the solo lane.  He's brutal. For this one, I'm switching to ADC.  I'm Izanami, pairing with a Ymir into Cerb and Artemis. Ymir is trash.  He goes in and dies 5 times in the first 4 minutes.  The match pretty much goes like this the whole way.  Our idiot Ra is at mid tower over extended. I see Herc head his way and call "Be Careful Middle"  "Behind us!".  Needless to say, the Ra didn't pay attention and got destroyed.  Then he had the guile to tell me "why didn't you call that, Iza??"  I'm like...seriously?  Eff this.

Bronze Rank 1 TP 634

Good god, what a losing streak.  Thank god, the other team has not picked Loki. I am not sure what to build after my string of defeats.  I lost both of them because I didn't expect Loki in the lane and built items that were not the best.  I am once again not sure who I am going to fight, so I take T1 glad shield and 3 health pots.  This pushes me closer to something that will help me no matter the opponent since the passive benefits me.

Turns out I am going into a Zhong Kui solo.  Wow.  This will be a first.  I suspect I'll be able to bully Zhong, and that proves to be the case.  I'm a bully big time, and quickly gain two levels on him.  I crush my tower at minute 7 with only 2 recalls for boots, Health Chalice, and Glad shield.  I'm now a force.  My TP is up, so I back for a third time to get my next item, then I come back on the duo lane and lead a charge down that crushes both of the enemies and gets us half the T1 tower.

The other team actually leads this game until about the 18th minute, where our team comp comes together and absolutely shreds.  My leveling falls off a bit in the late game as my 2-level lead doesn't quite hold up once I start rotating heavily, but my presence lets me snap up 12 assists and really push objectives well.  The Bronze Bastard is back!

Bronze I - TP  78

I play Cerberus.  We lose.

The Bronze Bastard - Summer Split VI

Game 1 - Joust - Current Rank Bronze IV - 0 TP

This is my first match after completing qaulis with my good friend.  I went 3-7 and ranked pretty low.  Good news is...this allows me to still be the Bronze Bastard!!!

I decide to queue up and see if anyone is playing some ranked Joust this morning.  They let Achilles through, so I decide to try him out.  Not sure how he'll play in joust, but hey...it's just joust, right?  Looks like the enemy has picked Cu Chu.  Interesting.

We're playing against a 3-man premade Cu Chu, Medusa, Agni.  It is 0-16 at 7 minutes.  I hope they kill our titan before 10 minutes is up. 8:39.  woohoo! Feels bad man

Game 2 - Conquest - Current Rank Silver V - 3 TP

Almost 7 minutes to queue.  This team is super disorganized.  I want solo, but the 4th pick calls it and the 5th pick says he won't supp for this ADC.  So I pick Artio as a flex option.  Eventually it works out that the guy who wanted to solo will end up going Jungle and the 5th that didn't want to supp is going to supp anyway. Now I get to go Artio Solo for the first time ever.  Yay.  And with our group comp, they'll see it coming.  I'm up against either Cerb or Aphro.  Mag Defense item it is.

I start with blessing, 4 health pots, TP, and T1 Void Ston e for the MP and Magical prots.  And the solo ends up being Loki.  I've made a crucial error in gear.  Despite fighting Loki to a standstill early, I never recover from this mistake.  About 8 minutes, he gets my tower despite me being even with levels and not dying at all.  Loki just does so much damage that he can kill the tower so fast.  The whole team loses.  Our Jungler is the only one of any noteworthy impact. We lost this in the lobby, we were BMing each other before we'd even finished picking our gods.  Things didn't get any better.

Game 3 - Conquest - Current Rank Silver V - 0 TP

I'm going to try Cu Chu solo.  Oh cool, from the border around my avatar, I must have made gold on the leaderboard. At least there is that.

For the second game in a row, I get owned by Loki solo.  ouch.

The Bronze Bastard - Summer Split V

Game 1 - Current TP 26

OK I'm not entirely paying attn here and I lock in Cu Chu after our top pick goes Ravana Jungle and our 2nd guy picks Vamana.  I will be trying Cu Chu supp.  The ADC picks Poseidon, hope this crazy comp works.

It doesn't.  And its my fault for not paying attention.  To be fair, the Poseidon also sucks and just walks away and gets the door and dies under tower, leaving me also to die. In retrospect, the best move here would have been to pick nothing and let the timer expire.  2 minutes deserter is less painful than -9 TP.

Game 2 - Current TP 17

I gotta get my mojo back.  I can't go out like that last game.  I get Cu Chu for solo this time.  Sweet, this should work a little better.

I own my lane, but the duo gets rolled.  Hard.  They are both dead 10 times in the first 5 minutes.
And Scylla DCs at 8 minutes.  Fun.  Another loss for the Silver Sucker.

Game 3 - Current TP 10

Oh shit, I'm top ELO.  This team is too stupid to even draft right. We get kicked out of lobby after our third pick uses all the bank time and then our 4th is not even there.  My next queue also puts me in top ELO.  Oh boy.  Sigh.  I'm going into my first post-buff Guan Yu.  I hear he's been in a lot of upper-tier matches.  Let's see how he does here.  I got my Cu Chu.  Let's go.

Our midlane picks Au Puch.  He loses.  Hard.  It spreads to the rest of the team.  Well, looks my run is over.  sigh.
.

The Bronze Bastard(???) Summer Split IV

Current Rank: Silver V TP 3

Well, I guess I need to consider a new title to the blog.  Although, its possible I revert back so I'm just going to ride it, for now.  My streak of getting solo is over, I am going supp this time.  I take Ganesha because they have Cerb and Nox on the enemy team.  My ADC is Xba.  Let's see what happens, haven't played much support in the last run of games.

I start off with T1 boots and Guardian Blessing, 4 health pots and 2 wards.  This seems to be my solid "support start."  We are going into Sobek and Hou Yi.  Should be an interesting match.  We kind of stalemate, but our Loki jungle is a beast.  Me and Xba get solid push and invade successfully on purple.  We pull back.  Twice, my early wards neutralize early Bakasura gank attempts.  Win.

I end up 1-2-12, with a number  of good rotations.  This is a handy win for the...Bronze (?) Bastard. 

Game 2

Solo Cu Chu into Herc.  My nemesis.  This actually starts out beautifully.  I'm clearly worlds ahead of this Herc.  I handily win lane.  We dominate this game, primarily through my potent performance with Cu Chulainn.  Then, the unthinkable happens. My power literally blinks in and out, rebooting my computer right after we'd taken down the middle phoenix and were literally going in for the win.  By the time I reconnect to the game, they have just crushed our phoenix.  We make a valiant defense, but ultimately my absence is too much to make up and we lose a 52-minute effort.  Heartbreaking.

Game 3

I pick Ganesha again, after my early success.  It doesn't go as well here, as the tilt leads to another dropped match.  Such is the life of a Bronze bastard

The Bronze Bastard Summer Split III

Current Rank: Bronze III - Current TP 87

Here I am with another third-pick game.  Let's get it on.  And....lobby DC.  I come back immediately into another group, another third pick.  Cu Chu solo call.  Let's see if the BB can get a W. 

Cu Chu is so OP in lane right now, but everyone priority bans Achilles.  OK fine, if they insist I play with Cu Chu, then I will.  And I go with the "start" into an Amaterasu solo.  This should be fairly straightforward, there should be no time where she seriously threatens me.  This proves to be the case, as I easily bully lane until I'm ready to go back and buy full boots and T2 of breastplate.  Cu Chu can sustain if he gets the edge, and I have the edge on almost everyone.  I crush Ama early, and my TP game is strong.  I'm always in lane, she never really had a chance. 

We make good calls, solid rotations, good builds.  I end up going 5-1-9 on a team that wins with 30-7 K-D.  To be fair, they did have a DC around the 20th minute, when they were well behind. 

OMG PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!  I won a promotion match!  With this win, the Bronze Bastard goes from Bronze III to Silver V!!!!!  Woohoo!  I'm sure I'll lose horribly now and get ranked down, but this sure does feel good man. 

Current Rank: Silver V - Current TP 3

Well, sticking with Solo has worked out.  I think I'm for sure a Solo main, now.  I just really dig it.  Something about it. Looks like another Bellona matchup.  I'm considering going glad shield and pots.  I need something to get me going faster against her. 

This Bell is right out in land and certainly not proxy-ing.  I already like this matchup better than last. This Bellona never uses her ult against mine, she's definitely not as good as the last. I run her over, hard.   The rest of the team does as well.  Good comms, good wards, good win.  Hell Yeah.  The Bronze Bastard finishes Top Damage and wins again. 

The Bronze Bastard Summer Split II

Current Rank Bronze III - 45 TP

I 4th pick solo Odin.  It's been working, let's do it.  We have Thoth, 5.8 buff Xba, a Plat Ganesha, and for jungle we have nerfed Nemesis.  Let's see if she still got it after this nerf.  I am assuming that Poseidon is my lane opponent.  The other option might be Janus.  They have only Ymir as a frontliner.

I am going to start with the T1 Genji, with nerfed Warrior's blessing and 3 Health pots.  It proves to be a wise call, as I push Poseidon around like a doll for the first 10 minutes.  My first back I get Reinforced greaves and a Health Chalice. let's go, baby.  I keep crushing Poseidon, but our Xba is complete and utter trash.  He can't do any damage or secure any kills with the jacked up Ganesha in his solo.  Pretty frustrating, considering how I crush Poseidon solo and start moving my advantage around to mid.  I'm clearly the shining light on my team.  Jungle is only level 10 when I'm 17 at the 23 minute mark.  The team surrenders.  I was feeling this game and thought I could carry them, but probably better to just move on from the dead weight.  The Bronze Bastard takes a hit. 

Game iII

Current Rank Bronze III - 38 TP

3 minute ranked, looks like the new patch is pulling people out.  I'm 3rd pick.  I notice that the first team doesn't ban or pick He Bo.  I call this out, and we wisely draft He Bo.  Back to my selection, I take Cu Chulain.  Looks like I'll be going against Osiris again.  Hopefully my recent match against him will help this one.  Unless this person plays drastically different.

This is a better Osiris player.  He incorporates the Scythe a lot more, usually getting me with at least one of those two casts.  He's pretty experienced throwing this combo.  But I do what Cu Chulainn does, and pressured until I had the lead.  We struggled a bit as a team early, while I held left lane well.  Eventually I am able to win a big engage for my team, trading my life for two of the enemies and freezing lane with no damage to my tower. 

I eventually take tower  with mine still standing.  I'm now too big for the Osiris to handle.  I start making my presence known in the mid and right lanes, while using TP to cycle back to the left and keep minions pushed.  Since I'm doing well, I take Jotun's third and go next to Mystical Mail and then I have enough leeway to go Stone Cutting sword.  I'm virtually walking death right now.  This team works well.  We are in comms.  The freaking He Bo I suggested we take goes 24-3-11 in the jungle.  The Bronze Bastard won this one by paying attention during picks and bans.

Game III

Current Rank Bronze III - 54 TP

I'm third picking into a Sol, Tyr, Nike Combo.... with a Hachiman and Thoth on my side.  I decide to go Guan Yu support.  I feel like his patch will boost him.  I had a good run as supp with him in casual early, so figure why not.  With Hachi, I should be uber sustain.  Plus, if this is Sol ADC then I can T1 Genji.  Looks like Sol and Nike will be duo lane, with me and Hachi.  We *should have sustain for days.  We'll see what happens.  The enemy team has no hunters, their siege will be tough so they should agress early.  I advise my team to watch out for this as we head into loading screen.

I make one adjustment from my casual game, and take my 1 first this time.  Supp should heal, right?  Ok, Tyr and Sol are real cheeky and sneak in behind to proxy our minions. We recognize and defend against it, we lose a bit but not much.  They do pour on the pressure, though.  We hold out for quite some time, the Hachi is a master sustainsmen.  I resign myself to losing this lane early, and focusing on my team fight. 

Unfortunately, I die 5 or 6 times in the first 20 minutes.  My team covers that up though, and doesn't BM.  We fight back against their early pressure.  This is a back and forth game, pressing 45 minutes by the time it ends.  The faith my team had in me was well-placed, as I rebounded with a 3-9-19 line.  Not the best ever, and the team made it work despite my early feed, but I pulled off my first go as Guan support in S5.  I think he'll work a lot better in solo, though.  I don't think I'll try him in ranked supp until I put a lot more polish in on Casual

Game 14

Current Rank Bronze III - 70 TP

I pick Cu Chulainn into a 5-star Bellona.  Let's do this, yo.  We get Terra and a Xbal.  Hopefully this guy is better than the one that lost for us earlier. I decide to go with "the start."

Bellona proxies my wave, and I get flustered.  I just stay in lane.  Proves to be the mistake, because it gives her just enough of an edge over me that she eventually gets my tower.  This is a tough match for me early.  I know once I get to 5 that I'll be in real good shape, but she brings enough pressure to keep me from transforming.  We stalemate each other for quite some time, so that I'm able to go back and get T2 boots.  She's good at backing and then TPing for the win, so I gotta be careful to not get caught unawares. 

This Xba is a lot better than others.  He's playing hard, keeping up pressure.  Terra proves why she's an OP god. Our Zeus pushes past their Isis in another tight match up.  It really goes about 35 minutes before this one goes in our favor, but the enemy team decides to F6.  I finish a respectable 1-0-4, fighting hard and holding my lane and keeping a Gold Bellona out of the game.  Score another win for the Bronze Bastard. 

The Bronze Bastard Summer Split I

The Bronze Bastard - Summer Split
Curent Rank - Bronze 3 - 11 TP

I'm 4th pick and call solo/supp pref.  Going back to what worked.  Odin, here we come.  Into Cu Chulain.  Let's go.

I start with Breastplate T1 and my TP and Health Chalice.  I hang pretty well, but this is the best opponent I've faced in solo as Odin, yet.  I push and pull with him. Total stalemate in solo, but I keep him from going anywhere else This is a pretty even game, with a lot of action in duo and mid.  Our Serqet is great at being present, and she individually pushes each lane towards the enemy phoenixes.  The enemy team eventually F6s


Current Rank Bronze 3 - 25 TP

I'm 4th pick.  I call supp....and back to the queue.  I get top ELO on this next one, this will probably be bad.  I'm going to pick Cu Chu since he is there.  The opponent this time is a new one for me this season, Osiris.  I think  I should be able to handle him.  I go the T1 Breastplate.  I decide quickly I need Glad shield, for that Osiris 2.  I save enough on my first back to get Glad shield, so I do.

These are very long battles.  I quickly pick up on this Osiris's tendency to wait for me to attack the front row minions, then drop his 2.  I bait him into it a few more times, then I start getting into the same position and rotating out 90 degrees in either direction to keep him off.  Once I get my shoes and T2 Breastplate on the next back, I can easily bait the Osiris 2 and get out of its way.  Except for when I want it to proc my glad shield :).

Anyways, this is a pretty easy one that I get 2 levels ahead on by 16 minutes.  In this game I learn that the meta matters, and good gods are good for a reason.  Cu Chu is just a pressure monster.  A much different game than Odin, but another win for the Bronze Bastard.  The enemy team F6s in 18 minutes.  Man, the quitters are out today.  This is my first win from top pick.  Woot!

The Bronze Bastard Qualifies for Summer Split - VI

2-6 with 2 games to go.  Uggh. Less than 2 minutes to queue, though.  I'm fourth pick.  Takes some of the heat off. Cu Chulain and Apollo go first.  Against Bellona and Izanami on the enemy team.  Opponent's add Serqet, and our third god is Agni. I'm taking Mercury.  He's a comfort pick.  Let's hope it translates.  I'll need to get my farm on, hard.  This Serqet will give my team trouble. The opponents last-pick Ganesha.  Our 5th spot takes Anhur support.  whoo boy, here we go.  This will fly high, or crash hard.

I start off with the build I got from Weak3n, Assasin's blessing with the Kitana for movement speed and power early. I make a solid rotation and appear in both the solo and mid lanes to establish my presence.  I get the right-side harpies and loop back around to the red buff.  Duo already took care of purple, so I hit the back right harpies and get back to my speed buff right as it rematerializes.  I'd call that textbook. 

My first back I am able to get 2 levels of boots.  My build is slow, but it's great for harrassing.  I can swoop in and pound the mid and duo lane for a couple solid hits and then just be on my way.  I run into Serqet early and take my first whoopin.  I knew it would happen like that, she's going to kill me early.  This tends to be the story of most of the first 15 minutes of the game.  Serqet has the edge on me, but I stay at least 1 level to her at all times.  I'm having to overburn some farm.  I don't really get any kills, but I have learned that ganks don't always need to be.

As I finish hastened katana and get my T1 Poison star, I start hitting a lot more consistently. I get my first kill.  My farm this game is really good, and I need it because I keep meeting Serqet and losing.  This team is playing pretty well, over all. Apollo is a beast and Anhur is getting good pressure in each of the three lanes.  The other team just doesn't know how to deal with this comp, and I can't say that I blame them.  I start split pushing objectives, and eventually land a double kill in the duo lane and then crush the tower. 

We chip this team down with wards, communication, and strong individual play.  The Bronze Bastard picks up his third win of Qaulifiers. I was not great, but wasn't horrible either.  I call it a solid performance. 


Game 10 - Final  qualifier

I am an Odin solo into a Cu Chualin.  BOTH teams have a DC.  Their Jungler, our Mid.  4v4 for my last ranked qaulifier.  Woohoo. I play Odin well into Cu Chu, we are tied the whole way.  Eventually Poseidon comes back, so we are 5v4.  Even after this game, I can safely say that the Bronze Bastard has never been beaten when he's 5v4 in ranked.  Final qualifying status....Bronze III.  I am the Bronze Bastard. 


Game I - Bronze III  Current TP 0
Our first maych has the last pick call Jungle, then at the last pick say "oh we need a supp, right?" and then picking Kumba.  After I'd picked Fafnir support.  Wow, that's how it goes sometimes.  One guy got so triggered he left lobby and kicked us all back to queue.  Bless that bastard. 

OK.....and game 2 ends as the ADC also decides to disconnect in lobby.  There was no toxicity this time, but oh well. 

Third time's a charm....I hope.  I come in as the 4th pick. As it has been going, things come back around to me and I am solo with Cu Chulain being banned in the second round of bans.  I find myself looking at perhaps the best option  being Odin.  Hell, I won two in a row with him.  May as well go for 3.  I am up against an Erlang Shen.  First one of those I've seen in the solo lane.  I think Odin will match will with him.

Once again, I find myself stalemating the solo lane.  With little support from my jungle, around the 10-minute mark I start winning lane, but only by the edge of a minion wave. I utilize my The Duo lane is running strong, and our Jungle is maintaining a strong presence on the right side of the lane.  Their Da Ji never even sniffs my lane, so I don't mind the solitude.  The right side gets a tower.  The mid gets a tower.  The Bronze Bastard holds the solo lane while his team rolls to a win.  The other team F6s.  wow.  Score one more for the Bronze Bastard

Game 2 - Bronze III Current TP = 15
I get kicked out of another lobby.  At this point, I'm considering it good luck.  I come in at 2nd pick on the next game.  I calaim solo after the 1st ELO wants Jungle.  I take Cu Chu.  We took He Bo when they banned Achilles and Thoth.  He trades with our mid for Odin Jungle.  I like how this is shaping up so far.  We round out with a Medusa/Sylvanus duo.  They ask me if I want any solo bans, I have him ban Herc.  I friggen hate Hercules.  This leads the opponent to draft Chaac.  Chaac is my only 1-star X, so I know how he rolls.  I *should* be able to hold my own and eventually get the best of him.  I think I will go T1 Stone of Gaia to nullify his ult and get some sustain, I'll need it against the Mayan god. 

Welp, I play against Chaac very well.  I win the whole lane the whole first 13 minutes or so.  The rest of the team just can't hang.  It's a slow burn, but we lose after having a 3 tower and 1 phoenix lead.  They had a better team comp and teamfight than we did in the late game, and two big wipes cost us.  Simple as that. 

The Bronze Bastard Plays Joust

Summer Split Joust Qaulifiers - Game 1

I pick Achilles because he is meta good right now.  Problem, I haven't played enough Achilles to actually do this.  I make some good plays early.  However, by minute 8-9 it becomes apparent that I'm not mechanically used to playing this god.  I get caught out of position a couple of times. Then, I just start losing levels.  I miss my ult.  I see the right time to use it, I either don't react quickly enough or I mechanically fail to execute the move. 


Game 2

I pick Izanami.  I feel good about this.  Then, I leave to go get the pizza out of the oven and miss the first 2.5 minutes of the game.  I am behind.  I never recover.  The mistakes of a bronze bastard...


I decide to play a Ranked Duel while waiting on a friend.

I ban out Loki to troll, then get rid of a series of high early pressure gods.  I end up picking Sun Wukong.  My opponent goes with Hel.  Spicy.  I like it. 

This is definitely going to take a while.  She gets the clear because I decide to rush a pestilence.  Bad move.  Worse move was taking Warrior's blessing second item instead of boots.  I get a level behind, and eventually lose a tower.  I pick up a Runic Shield and then Jotun's.  Next I add Brawler's.  I eventually get her tower.  We're 20 minutes in before anyone dies.  It's me.

Over the course of the next 9 minutes, I replace Pesti with Genji's.  I replace the blessing with Crusher, and it's on.  I get my first kill and return the troll VEL he through at me earlier.  I get up to her phoenix, but it costs me way too much health and I can't push.  I go back, but Hel has had enough.  She F6's.  The Bronze Bastard wins his first Duel

The Bronze Bastard Qualifies for Summer Split - V

qualifiers Game 7
current record 2-4

5 minutes to queue on a Sunday night.  I'll take it. I'm top ELO, oh no.  I don't make my prior mistake, I ban He Bo first.  The opponent bans Achilles.  I sit Hachiman, at request of my team.  Terra is banned. I take Cerberus for Solo, our mid takes Agni.  The enemy lines up Nemesis, Geb, and Rama.  We take Merc for our Jungle.  I ban out Janus and Thoth since they have no mid, they put Ullr and Cu Chulain on the bench.  We take Artio, who is still open. The opponents answer with Bellona and .  I'll be going up against Bellona and Change'e.  I'm guessing its Bell as my lane opponent. I think I'll start with T1 Breastplate. 


Once again, my solo Cerberus holds its own but can't carry the game.  OK new rule: ban Nemesis.  Game Over.  On to the next one.

Game 8
2-5

I need a 3-0 run to finish Qaulis at a .500.  Unlikely to happen.  But let's see what goes in another game. He Bo and Nemesis are priority bans. 5.5 minutes to queue.  I'm 4th Pick.  I'm just going to be quite and take what comes to me.  I'm in love with our 1st ELO.  He bans Nem and He Bo!!! <3<3<3  Solo/Supp falls to me, and the 5th pick asks for solo.  I was going to go Nike.  I take Bacchus as supp, but second-guess myself and switch to Athena.  I like this team.  We are going into a tough comp, though.

The enemy jungler is Ao Kuang, and he just goes off.  Literally, why is it that every jungler that can hard carry well ends up on the other team?  Doesn't the law of averages state that half the time, MY team should be getting the elite jungler who can just dominate the game? I guess not...that's why I'm the Bronze Bastard...FML

The Bronze Bastard Qualifies for Summer Split - IV

qualifiers Game 5
current record 1-3

Well, its been 8 days since my last rumble.  Here we go again.  Finally feel confident enough in my internet speed to chance a ranked game.  How many minutes will it be? What role will I get?  I would like to go Cerberus Solo and see what happens.  4.5 minutes to queue, not too bad.  Thanks, Sunday afternoon. 

Welp, I'm last to pick.  So there's that.  I throw up a solo pref on Cerb. Bans are Nemesis, He Bo, Achilles, Serqet.  The opposing team drafts Arachne in the top spot.  Our top 2 go Thor and Izanami.  The other team counters with Agni and Hercules.  If I get Cerb solo, it will work great into Herc. Our three takes Janus.  Second round of bas is Geb, Terra, Ullr, Cerb.  This sucks.  Who am I taking into Herc?  I guess Sobek.  Sigh, I hope I don't let this destroy my run at Herc.  I will make this start with Warrior's blessing and T1 Shield of Gaia.  It's a 10-start Herc.  Wonderful.  OK, just got to stay patient.  Stay back near my tower.  Look for the pluck, leech XP on the camp. 

I play pretty well.  I edge Hercules on the solo lane. I repeatedly push Herc back, well into the 12 minute mark.  Unfortunately, our team is horrible and the Duo lane gets rolled over.  Their Arachne is far superior to our Thor, and sets up a duo lane double kill in the first 6 minutes.  We basically never recover.  Thor never even sniffs my blue buff, this sucks.  I still manage to tie the Herc.  The Aracnhe ganks me.  I almost beat them 2v1, but ultimately lose and die.

I go 2-5, stalemate Herc, and do well in teamfights.  I call this a success for me.  Unfortunately, its a loss for my horrible team.

Game II
Ok, I'm supp. The enemy has Jing Wei.  This is easy, I'm going Geb if they don't.  We start off holding our on, but same old story....in comes a ganking jungler while our Fenrir decides to camp on the right side.  Typical.  Frustrating. I die a lot this game.  I get a lot of good assists, too.  I peel well, and save our dominant Janus on more than one occasion. 

There are a few times I almost BM this team, but decide not to.  We all stay positive on comms.  Ultimately, we wait out the fight and just function better as a unit than the enemy team.  We lose the first towers, but push back until we have a pair of T2s standing against only their phoenixes.  We coordinate objectives well, nailing FG and GF during enemy wipes.  Good team work, solid effort overcoming an average performance and bringing home a win for the Bronze Bastard.