An ode to those of us who try-hard every day
Normally I am not on the boards here, I am too busy playing. Today I wanted to share with all of you a story from last night. I was in game 5 of my promotional series to get to plat 5 from gold 1. I had lost games 3 and 4 already, and game 5 started off a disaster. I was behind, 0-5, and then our top laner disconnected. Already behind, a man down, and their team pressuring every lane relentlessly, it looked pretty grim. I was pissed, upset, and annoyed that I had come so far only to have my last 3 games of series wrecked by trolls, disconnects, and my own feeding.
Then something magical happened: We fought them back from a wide open nexus and won after almost an hour. There were so many ups and downs, and it was a mentally exhausting game. But what happened? How did we pull off the miracle? One might argue that it was team comp, that we had more skill, or they were trolling. I don't think any of those explain what happened. To me, it was an active decision to not play like an asshole. I wanted that win. I wanted to make it happen. I think the other 3 guys left on my team wanted that too. I also think the other team wanted it just as badly. Moral of the story is, as tiring and exhausting as it was, the game was a real game. With people who genuinely cared about their team and wanted to rise to the challenge.
As someone who is constantly put on the edge of flipping out and screaming at their team for trolling and otherwise asshole-ish behavior, I know how hard it is to let go of the negative in a single game and actually make that effort to turn it around and win. Many of you probably have experienced a moment of clarity similar to this, where the hard work actually turns into something special. Yes, I spent all of the game constantly pep talking my team, convincing them to not give up, to stay together as a team, and to play super careful for 40 minutes. I was doing the vast majority of communication, which is tiring. Yes, that isn't what most people envision doing when they start a ranked game. But that effort got me somewhere, a nice cushy seat in plat 5, and a fresh attitude towards league. It got me out of a game that could have been a silently depressing curbstomp loss.
Am I saying that I won't ever rage again? No. I probably will many more times in my lifetime. But I think this particular game has given me a new appreciation for all those little things that you've heard over the years, like muting people instead of spending all game typing nonsense. Or, not giving up and playing like shit because you just don't care anymore. Anyways, the match history is posted above, if anyone feels the need to verify my story. GG!
