Tales of a Bronze Bastard LXV

Current Rank: Silver II - 18 TP This is my 65th blog of playing Ranked Conquest games in Smite during Season 5. I qualified as a Bronze IV in Spring. I made it as a Bronze II in Summer split qualifiers, before getting into Silver V briefly towards the end. I qualified into Silver V for Fall, and have climbed to Silver II. Let's see what happens. I take Baron Samedi into Zhong Kui, solo. Let's do this. Well what do you know? Just when I thought I'd seen it all, they are pulling out Anubis solo in ranked. OK. I have a feeling I will own him. I take Magi's Blessing and he takes Warrior's, so I've already got a leg up. I start with T1 Boots because I think the early power spike will help me, and because it gives me the advantage with my 3, which in can turn can really help my zoning. The plan works as expected, since he starts with Bancroft's. This does make it hard for me to kill him, but I am able to still control the lane very easily with my maneuverability. I can dodge his 2 no problem, and can hit my 3 reliably. I find out early that he plans to save his ult in response to mine, so I only pull the ult out when I'm under tower. I survive twice, just because of this positioning and the potions I pop. I go back for my full Blue boots, so I really start spiking on this guy. Our Ao Kuang jungle is doing a great job of getting my blue down, and gives me a couple key ganks. My tower takes longer to come down, but I serve the purpose of controling solo and keeping Anubis from being a factor anywhere else. I rotate a couple of times and make big impacts in the mid lane with my ult. As my build develops, I go from controlling solo to just scaring Anubis off. I build Pestilence, Void Stone, Spear of the Magus, Soul Reaver, and top it off with Tahuti. Anubis now runs away from me at first sight. Our team communicates and plays well, with the enemy team surrendering at the 29-minute mark with all 3 phoenixes still up. I can't say I blame them, we were punishing them pretty much the whole game. I go 1-0-8 without doing much damage, but you can't argue with my complete control of the solo lane. Game II: Silver I - 29 TP Our top pick takes Tyr in response to the enemy Pele. I am 2nd pick and take Athena. I have mixed results with her, but the meta says she's good. My goal on this game is to just pay attention to the minimap and ward, a lot. It will be Jing Wei and I against Ares and Hachiman. We start off in a very back-and-forth battle. We start off pretty well, but get severely outplayed in the late game. Another loss.

Tales of a Bronze Bastard LXIV

 Current Rank: Silver II - 27 TP

I'm picking second and going solo.  I'm taking Artio into a Baron, which worked out very well for me in a prior attempt.  Welp, our 4th pick decides to lobby dodge.  Back to queue I go. 

And I'm the winner of a lucky 5th pick in this second lobby.  Our top pick is the same from last lobby, and once again takes Arachne jungle.  Our 2nd pick goes Cherno, with our third taking Nu Wa.  So, I'm getting one of my two favorite roles.  Solo goes Kumbha, so I take Ama.  I like playing Ama supp in casual, but this will be my first ranked.  Let's do this.

Cherno and I, against Sobek and Apollo.  Early game is rough with lack of pressure, but I make some good plays with my Heavenly Wings usage and extend our stay twice before I die.  But we start to turn things around at about the 15 minute mark.  The slow start gets the better of our Arachne.  She just starts talking and typing more than playing.  She leaves us hanging on a 4v5 in the jungle, and then she says she didn't want to join a group fight in the jungle.  I've been trolled.  Great. 

Tales of a Bronze Bastard LXIII

 Current Rank: Silver II - 16 TP

4.5 minute queue on a Friday night.  My guess is that this will go poorly, but maybe we'll get lucky.  I'm 2nd pick.  Merc is finally getting banned.  I like this.  Also banned: He Bo, Freya, Pele. 

And Baron is first picked by the enemy team.  Our top ELO goes with Nu Wa Mid.  I decide to take Artio solo, presumably into the Baron Solo.  The other team takes Athena and Rat.  We ban out Cherno in the second round of bans, trying to rob them of a bit of that mobility.  I suggest Apollo for a ban.  It takes the other team a while to respond, so I think it was a good ban.  The enemies last-pick Hel, so it's possible I could see her solo while Baron mids.  I'll take boots early and pick my defense later.  I decide since I'm going against a magical no matter what, I may as well take Magi's Blessing so I can up my damage on them.  My natural defenses and my Artio heals should keep me safe against Baron.

My plan works well.  I am a step faster than Baron, who took T1 Void Stone.  I am able to dodge most of his 3's and 2's.  He gets the best of me for the first 3-4 minutes, and gives me VEL spam after stealing my blue.  That was about the last chance he got to laugh at me.  I completed my early backing and got Blue boots. From here on, I pretty much run the show on this guy.  I do get some good help from my Baka jungle, but I'm also holding my side very well. 

By the 12 minute mark, I am in full control of my lane with Pestilence and Genji's finished. We get the tower.  What tends to happen is that I bully Baron back to the tower, the rest of my team is able to gank and kill the mid, then both rotate over and we 3v1.  It's pretty sweet, and possible because I'm owning the lane.  As I get my T2 void stone up, I make and advance on the T2 tower when the team gets into a fight at phoenix.  I divert to join the team fight and we end up taking phoenix.  I sacrifice myself in further skirmishing so the Baka can take the undefended right phoenix.  About two minutes later, we fight through the left tower and phoenix, with me once again leading the charge and taking a death as the phoenix days.  Total worth.  A Friday night when for the...Silver Bastard?

Tales of a Bronze Bastard LXII

Current Rank: Silver II - 27 TP Alright, let's see if this 30-second Saturday AM queue does anything for me. Nope, cannot find a match for me. Rather than be a priority for the next 9 minutes, I decide to practice an off roll in casual Casual - Role: Mid God selected - Anubis. I figure, what the hell and why not? I start with Mage's blessing and Tiny Trinket and 3 multi-pots and 2 wards. I'm going up against Thoth, who went blessing and T1 towards Chronos Pendant. I'm going to have to move quickly to stay out of position against this opponent, so I take an early opportunity and go back to get T1 boots. I end up losing the tip of my tower, but I call out that I'm returning to base and get a great cover from our Awilix, who helps defend my mid. When I get back, Thoth hasn't backed and my extra movement speed helps me juke him and gain advantage. I am hitting my wrap really well in the early game to survive an early Thana gank. I notice as I take a slow advantage that Thoth uses his 2 to get away from mine, so I decide to really start pushing the gas since he seems to be reacting to me and unwilling to attack. I learn a lesson about mid that I'm more successful when I just push minions into towers, and not go in to attack them myself. I take down the enemy T1 tower, and start rotating. Our Awilix is a force, just being everywhere and doing everything. We put on the pressure. We coordinate on two Fire Giants. We win pretty handily. Let's see how a ranked game goes. Silver II - 27 TP I'm second pick. The enemy team first picks Baron. Our top ELO takes Erlang solo, so I take Artio Supp. The enemy team has no Hunter. They are running Loki ADC, my guess. So this troll pick rolls all over my idiot Apollo, who just keeps running out and letting Loki invis behind him for a backstab. Like...literally every single time, he does the same way. This happens 4 times. I pretty much give up on the game at this point. Anyone with that much of a lack of awareness is in trouble and we're probably going to get rolled. That's pretty much what happens. I have a rough game, but the main problem is that Da Ji does no damage. She literally has less than my damage in a full tank build, when its said and done. She doesn't come and help with fights. The Apollo wants to split push, but dies numerous times by overextending himself. I try to stay positive and tell everyone we have a great late game comp. Ultimately, we have a chance to win with FG buff and their mid phoenix down. 3 of us call for retreat, and the bull-headed Erlang decides to charge in. He's 1v4-ing while literally everyone on the team is telling him to pull back because we have no health and need to regroup. If he'd listened, we would have won. As it turns out, he didn't and it was the turning point in the game. From there on, the enemies destroy us with a classic case of Loki split push. they take down all of our phoenixes and laugh on our graves.

Tales of a Bronze Bastard LXII

Current Rank: Silver II - 16 TP I'm second pick. Cherno gets through bans and 3 other picks, so I take him. I've got Athena as a partner against Neith and Xing Tian. Let's do this. We have super mobility here, so I need to remember to use my ult if we get any kind of advantage or someone is in hard trouble. Wards are extra important on this one. Their Xing DCs. I feel no mercy and just collapse on the Neith. We pressure her hard and take her buff. Our whole team proceeds to go on a rampage. Xing comes back at 4:50 and buys an item. Then, DCs again. They surrender at 10:15, as we already have an 11-2 lead. Game II Current Rank: Silver II - 25 TP I'm last pick, with one of the guys from last game in this one. I end up taking Artio support with a Neith ADC against Ganesha and Medusa. I'm going to get shell since both Neith and I have escapes. I am starting to really like Artio. I am able to really get into people's face. I am able to mess up Ganesha and Medusa on multiple occassions with my cripple + stun. I get Stone of Binding after finishing my boots, because our team is up to an early 3-0 lead. We continue to press the advantage. We ward well, I rotate often. We get good pressure and sustain it. After 25 minutes, I go 1-3-16 and we call it a win for the Bronze Bastard. Game III Current Rank: Silver II - 36 TP I am 4th pick waiting...and someone on the other side lobby dodges. 8 more minutes. Fun times. Take 2: I'm top pick. I take Cherno and trade it to our third pick, who grabs me Artio to join him in duo. We'll be going against Baron and Iza support. This is my first game against Baron in ranked as supp. I need to prioritize Pestilence. We get early pressure, as expected. We get kills on both duos, and perform the requisite purple steal. I go back to finish my boots quickly and decide to go Tank boots. We push the tower hard, and I go get the T1 towards Pesti. We get a decent advantage and then they have a DC. We get two towers, and then their DC comes back. Now, our Susano Jungle DCs. He comes back, but we get beat because he feeds 16 times. Sigh. I knew a winning streak was too good to be true.

Tales of a Bronze Bastard LXI

Current Rank: Silver II - 0 TP

2-and-a-half queue for a Friday evening.  So this will probably end badly.  But what the hell, let's give it a go!  And I'm top pick.  Uh oh.  I am first pick, so we ban out Cherno, He Bo, Freya, and Baron.  I take Merc to trade with our 3rd pick. Our 2nd pick takes Kukulkan.  I'm going to go either Supp/solo, depending on how the team shakes out.  Our last pick takes Xing Tian supp, so I'm going to take Artio solo into Erlang.  I feel good about that.  Let's do this!

I start with T1 boots and Magi's Blessing.  Today, I'm going with Fineokay's build guide for magical characters on 5.18.  I back early for T2 boots and immediately TP back.  Erlang is rushing Berserker's shield, so I'm going to have my hands full.  He's not quite getting the pressure on me, he's pushing minions to my tower and then backing.  I note this and run back to get my full boots, knowing my TP is still down. 

The gamble pays off, and I get back to lane with only a fifth of my tower damaged.  I know have full boots, and am running around Erlang.  Merc ganks and we get a kill.  I start pushing his tower, then back to get T1 Breastplate.  My TP is back up, so my gamble to back multiple times early pays off.  At this point, Erlang gets tired of matching me and decides to go to the middle.  I am able to take tower, and from there I am able to rotate.

We have a very toxic player being all manner of racist and anti-Semitic in chat, and our Merc is just handling it well by trolling him back.  I maintain my cool and stick to doing my job, but I definitely plan to report this jerk.  I get my Breastplate finished, then go Void Stone.  I'm able to really wail on people with my druid abilities. 

I finish out the build with Hide of the Urchin, Spirit Robe, and Stone of Gaia. We lead most of the game and everyone on the team finishes with a positive KDA.  I'm 3-4-16 with 12 wards placed.  Not bad, for the Bronze Bastard.  Its almost as satisfying as when I report the Kukulkan.

Tales of a Bronze Bastard LX

Current Rank: Silver II - 11 TP

I'm 4th pick. Our top pick goes Osiris solo.  Hope he/she is one of those awesome Osiris players.   Merc is open and 2nd pick asks if anyone wants it.  I think Merc is just win button, even though I missed some of his skills the last time I played him. I'm going to take him.  I hope this works, or I'll get flamed hard. 

My enemy jungler is Ne Zha.  He'll want to fight early and I'll want to maybe avoid him.  I level well, and my early game is full of good rotations and presence.  As we transition to the mid game and I go for more ganks, I get outplayed severely.  I make the right move and, but miss my skills.  This rinses and repeats for about 12 or 15 minute. We lose, and I'm the weak link.  Yay, welcome back to ranked. 

Game II
Current Rank: Silver II - 3 TP

Oh my, I'm top pick.  I end up taking Athena. Supp is my favorite position and I play her OK, I just don't have it in me to go Sylvanus at the moment. 

I get Anhur for a partner, and we'll be going against Baron and Iza.  Pressure city. And the enemy Ne Zha has about 15 stars.  Wonderful. 

Yadda yadda yadda, we lose.  I play about an even game, but this Anhur is trash in a bag.  He gets himself killed every other play.  Worthless. On to some casual to polish up.

Tales of a Bronze Bastard LIX

Current Rank: Silver II - 3 TP

OK, my first game in Silver II.  Sigh.  Friday night ranked, let's see what happens.  I'm 4th pick, so this should be a nice fill-in-the-gap-and-not-worry mode.  The enemy team first-picks Merc, and we get a top-pick Janus.  Second pick on our team goes Nemesis, while 3rd goes....nowhere.  Bank time expires.  As angry as it makes me to go back to queue for 9 more minutes, I'd ultimately rather not play with someone who is so childish and limited that they won't play if they don't get the role they want.  A selfish player that can't play multiple roles isn't worth having on your team, it could only be trouble. 

So I've got 5 minutes to kill, so I'll watch Weak3n and the boys probably beat CLG. I feel like I got robbed by CLG this season.  I bought their badge like 3 weeks into the Spring split when it looked like they were going to be hot.  I think they've literally lost every game since.  Or at least, its gotta be close.  Anyway, that's the kind of babble you get from me when we get a lobby-dodger and there's some SPL on. 

I come into the second attempt as last pick.  If I thought 4th was no pressure, last is definitely not.  Our third pick is setting off my troll alarm.  He's playing solo.  Hopefully he's not horrible.  Sigh, at least it will be a game.  I end up getting Sylvanus, going with Hachiman against Hou Yi and Kuzenbo.  Let's do this.

The mid lane loses both towers before 11 minute.  But the story of this game is easy: Mercury runs this game, pure and simple.  He's level 20 when our solo is level 16.  I'm 12.  We get crushed hard.  Mid lane gets destroyed and that's basically it.  Mercury and Sol feast.

Game 2
Current Rank: Silver II - 0 TP

One more try.  I decide to get nuts and take Merc from 2nd pick.  Hope it works. I have played a lot of Merc, but not recently.  This could be bad.  I'll do my Weak3n start, Assassin's blessing with T1 Katana.

I DC on loading screen.  The team pauses.  This is great...except for the fact that our top-pick Erlang lags out and DCs about 1.5 minutes later.  We are down 4v5, so I move into solo lane and try to hold on.  Our Medusa secures first blood.  I manage to hold my own against Cu Chu.  I start to bloom ideas of hope that we could win a 4v5, but I'm missing my moves and getting crushed. 

Then, Erlang comes back!  I feel good about our chances, despite the fact that Cherno is ulting everywhere and crushing us.  Now, I think he's going to 1v5 us.  Then, one of the enemies DCs, so we now have a 5v4 advantage.  Cherno continues to make it interesting for a very long while, but eventually I get my feel for Merc back and hit my stuff.  Then, we just crush them.  It isn't fair, but I'll take a win.