Original articles by tanqiu, tank player for LGD Gaming

[Chapter 1, original article: https://weibo.com/6477536455/HarKnrDEm]

Overwatch Contenders 2018 Season 3 China semifinals. It was the first time [current LGD DPS player] Eternal had played offline, his hands were shaking, his palms were sweating. He was such a bundle of nerves that he couldn’t hear his teammates’ calls, and made many big mistakes on stage. Eventually, his team had lost. His mind came to a freeze, and suddenly, he collapsed on the floor.

After regaining his consciousness, Eternal realized his surroundings had changed. It seemed foreign, yet familiar to him. He eyed a fierce-looking man violently shaking him awake, then in a much gentler voice the man spoke to Eternal, “Wake up Eternal… it’s time for scrims..!”

Wait… [1246 DPS] samsara? Am I not at Contenders, but back at 1246..? What did samsara say, scrims?

Eternal asked samsara, “What day is it today?” “You’ve got to be kidding me. We just won OWPS [Overwatch Premier Series] Spring. Have you forgotten the date after being asleep?” samsara replied.

“That means, I just time-travelled?” Eternal still couldn’t believe it. After checking the news on his computer he finally realized. He did time-travel, back to the time when he was trialing on 1246 two years ago.

Eternal promised to himself, This time, I won’t lose. I’ll use my time-travelling powers to my advantage, and become the best flex DPS player!

[Chapter 2, original article: https://weibo.com/6477536455/Has67b22v]

The reborn Eternal knew he couldn’t build his own dream team just yet. He wasn’t on LGD yet, he was just a 14-year-old child. No one would believe what a rookie to the scene like him could do. Eternal took his time. It wasn’t long before he [Doomfist]was in the game. He had to prove himself to 1246 first, prove that he could be better than [1246 DPS] S1mpfall. At the time, Eternal was only with 1246 for about half a month. But now, it’s a whole different story.

The 7th of July, 2017, was when Blizzard first revealed Doomfist. At this time, no one really knew what Doomfist could bring to the game. Most people thought that while the hero was strong, he would be nothing more than a niche pick. Little did they know about the chain reactions this hero brought to the game’s meta, but, the reborn Eternal knew exactly what it did.

10th of August, 2017. The OWPS Summer Season got off to a bang with a stunning upset. A plucky team that qualified from the preseason, ViCi Gaming (VG) pulled off a 2–1 upset over the Spring champions 1246. The unstoppable DPS player from the Spring season, S1mpfall, was no match for VG’s DPS Jason, and [VG DPS] Diya crushed the last hopes of 1246. But little did people know that this was just a minor hiccup to 1246’s second championship run, not having pulled up the ace up their sleeves yet.

12th of August, 2017. 1246 was facing off against LGD Gaming, hungry for revenge after losing in the Spring finals to 1246. On the starting lineup wasn’t S1mpfall at all today. It was their new rookie — Eternal.

“Who is he? What is 1246 thinking? Starting a rookie in such an important matchup? You can’t just pick anyone to start, the fans won’t be happy!”

“1246 really got cocky after winning the Spring title, didn’t they? Starting a newbie against LGD? Don’t they realize how hungry LGD is for revenge? It’s over.”

Many a passer-by questioned this starting lineup of 1246. No one believed this rookie could transform this team whatsoever.

“To all those critics of me, who think I can’t beat S1mpfall”, Eternal laughed, “That’s fine with me. I hope LGD feels the same way as you, because I promise all of you will remember my name.”

[The match begins]

“[LGD DPS] Undead takes down samsara’s McCree, looks like this teamfight is over for 1246… hold on… Eternal! His Doomfist killed both of LGD supports! How does he do that all by himself?!” caster ChiXiaoTu exclaimed with bewilderment.

“Looks like the supports were out of position, but somehow Eternal turned this losing fight around for 1246,” [caster] Ms-Joy commentated. “Eternal! Him again! Right as the teamfight begins he takes down [LGD tank] guxue and [LGD off-tank] MG! What a monster! Just like the hero he’s playing, bringing fists of doom to his opponents!”

1246 took down LGD in a 2–0.

“Didn’t realize how good this guy is.” In front of a computer desk, some guy was watching the match. But every time he saw Eternal’s face it made him feel something weird, as if the two of them were teammates somehow. He still didn’t know the stage Eternal would bring him to eventually however. “Whatever, I can’t just sit and watch all day, let me get into a match!” The guy turned out to be DPS player of Hero Taciturn Panther (HTP) — Effort.

[Chapter 3, original article: https://weibo.com/6477536455/HaAavuewF]

18th of August. 1246 is facing off against Miraculous Youngsters (MY).

Eternal is a little nervous. After all, he knew that MY were the eventual champions in the original timeline, before he traveled back into the past. However, he still didn’t have much tournament experience, and challenging the original champions was no easy feat.

“1246’s new member Eternal does have an incredible Doomfist, indeed about that,” caster XiaoYao commented, “But he still hasn’t synergized well with his team. It’s a weakness MY can exploit.”

[The match begins]

“It’s Eternal! Eternal took down MY’s Ana all by himself! But [MY DPS] leave took down [1246 Tank] Zod in a trade! Eternal’s using his ult! Where’s he going? Is he going for a health pack? What?! Eternal got two!”

Eventually it was a 2–1 victory for 1246, but 1246’s problems had been exposed. Eternal still hadn’t spend much time with 1246. He just didn’t synchronize perfectly with the team. While he can get the opening kill in a team fight, the enemy team can land a counter-punch and put them on the back-foot.

Even though 1246’s issues have been revealed, the schedule for the regular season had been too tightly packed. There just wasn’t enough time for teams to thoroughly research methods to countering Eternal. And it’s not like his teammates are pushovers either. It’s just like knowing how to play against [League of Legends team] SK Telecom T1’s [bot laner] Bang, but realizing you’d still have to deal with [SKT mid laner] Faker. As the regular season comes to a close, 1246 comes out on top with a 10–1 match score. Heading into the playoffs, their first opponent would be ViCi Gaming.

VG had been experiencing some shakeups back then, now everyone is practicing every day, trying to improve themselves. Everyone thought they couldn’t beat 1246 with the best DPS in China, Eternal, except for a man with rather large cheeks. He watched 1246's VODs, and a spark flashed through his eyes.

The match day

“Ukyra, what do you think of this VG vs. 1246 matchup?” Even though there has been some shifts in the timeline, the casters that day remained the same — MsJoy and Ukyra.

“Even though VG beat 1246 in the regular season, that was before Eternal played. Now, 1246 can take down titans like MY or LGD, so I think 1246 has a better shot at winning today,” Ukyra commented.

“What’s going on, Eternal? You look a bit down,” asked [1246 support] BBcat.

“I don’t know why,” Eternal shuddered, “it felt like Diya was staring into me… It’s weird. Feels like he knows who I am.”

“Who doesn’t know you? Casters, fans, everyone’s been hyping you up,” BBcat didn’t understand what Eternal had said, his eyebrows raised in confusion. The screen just happened to turn to some screaming fans.

“That’s not what I meant… I just feel that we’re about to lose today.”

“Don’t feel that way. Just be yourself, and believe in us.”

Meanwhile at VG’s practice room, everyone had been discussing whether to play PUBG or Werewolf after today’s match. Everyone cheered and laughed. The interview staff who were around seemed puzzled by the team’s behaviour, “Aren’t you nervous going up against the Spring champions?” Diya smiled, “I told them if we win [VG support] yumu will play what we want tonight.”

“Please don’t play McCree. You’re up against Eternal, he can solo kill people like [LGD DPS] Eileen or [MY DPS] Leave”, [VG support] Eagle worried for Diya. “Play something like Tracer and harass him. If you pick McCree I might not be able to heal you.”

“I want to play McCree,” Diya took in a deep breath. People had been doubting him for a long while, even lasting up till now during the Summer Season. But he knew, he was the best. “Just play like how we played against LinGan e-Sports (LGE). Protect me, make some space for me, even if it means losing your lives. I’ll definitely kill him.”

“Alright then. [VG DPS] Jason, can you play more passively today? Don’t go aggressive,” Eagle was still a little nervous.

“Jason, you wanna carry?” “Yeah.” “Alright. Go aggressive then.”

“Diya, there isn’t enough resources to go around!” their coach tried to persuade him, but Diya turned his head and winked at his coach, “Just let him play aggressive. Trust me.”

“Alright then…” their coach wiped the sweat off his forehead. He had never seen Diya this confident in a while.

[In game]

“Final teamfight. Can’t believe 1246 got 3–0'd on control today. We thought Eternal’s Doomfist was impressive, but Jason’s been smashing him into the ground on his own Doomfist today,” Ms-Joy could not believe it.

On stage, Eternal recalled the match he played before he traveled through time, his hands were shaking nonstop. No matter where he went, there was always a McCree waiting for him, bursting him as he peeked. Then, Jason’s Doomfist would come over for a duel. How could he pop off when he’s at such low health! Eternal thought of the chat, claiming the newbie was no better than S1mpfall, and that he should be playing instead. Eternal felt hopeless.

“What happened Eternal? Stopped talking, not ulting in a crucial teamfight?”

“I don’t know either. I’ve never been through anything like this so far this year,” Eternal stumbled, “What can I do? The other Doomfist was looking for me. When the tanks told me to go forward, there always was a McCree there. How could I go?”

Peng, 1246’s coach gave Eternal a punch on the shoulder. “You been obsessed with all your praise lately. Let me remind you about who you really are.”

The match ended, even though Eternal got over his emotions, it was far too late. Saint Diya-go and Jason worked together and ended 1246’s journey in the Summer Season. Eternal sulked in his chair, waiting for his opponents to come over to shake hands.

“You played well,” Diya shook Eternal’s hand, “I suppose you traveled back here, right?”

Eternal suddenly got goose bumps all over him. “How… How did you know?” Diya smiled, as if light shined angelically from behind him, “I came back after the Shanghai Dragons went 0–40. I had to save Chinese Overwatch. Seems like you did travel back too, we should talk more backstage.”