The Beginning of a Miracle

The team that was sold off somehow managed to scrape together a playoff squad.

Back then, none of us had any idea that the slogan “Surpass God” would come true to this extent.

RVKGG unveiled a new team name and initials alongside their fresh catchphrase: RVGL Resistance / RV.

Pre-season predictions varied from person to person, but most placed them around fifth or sixth. And so the first half of the RCLK 2023 season began.

They shattered every forecast, battling RTH Crown for first place. Let’s take a look at one match that perfectly showcased the transformed RVGL.

RCLK 2023 First-Half Season – WIZ vs RV Game 3, Set 2

RTH Ronos vs RV White Fox.

White Fox was a composite-weapon robot shaped like a paper-craft fox mask. A triple-bladed horizontal spinner sat at the front, while a short vertical drum occupied the rear. Instead of large wheels, it used separate wheels mounted on ear-like protrusions—an ingenious way to achieve dual-sided drive without oversized tires.

White Fox charged forward with its rear drum leading, flipping the mighty Ronos clean over.

It couldn’t secure a KO, but White Fox still took a unanimous judges’ decision.

At the time, White Fox was a veteran rookie who had bounced between several teams. Its market value sat just slightly above the league minimum of fifty million won. In contrast, Ronos held the highest valuation among all horizontal spinner blade-types in the RCLK. On top of that, every single one of their robots looked championship-caliber.

“Finishing second in the regular season was already amazing, but we never expected to reach the finals.”

“Now that I think about it, that’s kind of Cheong-hyeon unnie’s dark history…”

“Sau-ya, a lot of things overlapped back then. Stop digging that up.”

They finished second, three wins behind first and four wins ahead of third—the highest regular-season standing in team history.

Starting in 2023, the RCLK playoffs adopted a double-elimination format.

Who did RVGL, who earned a direct bye into Round 2, face? It was Wizard Air’s White Witch, the sixth-place team that pulled off the second-largest upset in RCLK history. WIZ had barely advanced past SHU in a grueling 4-3 series. As the eight-win gap in regular-season standings suggested, the difference in overall strength was enormous.

RVGL cruised through with a clean 4-1 victory and advanced to the winners’ bracket of Round 3.

The defending champion RTH Crown was terrifyingly strong. Sung Tan-ho managed only a single set win before falling 1-4. Even so, that result locked them into at least third place overall—surpassing their best finish from the Hallelujah era. In one sense, they had truly lived up to the slogan “Surpass God.”

“When we lost the finals qualifier 4-1, I honestly thought we’d never make it to the grand finals.”

“But we did in the end, right? That eight-win gap wasn’t for nothing.”

“Sau-ya, isn’t that what they call hindsight bias? Why does it sound exactly like your name?”

Hindsight bias, explained simply, goes like this:

1. An unexpected event occurs.

2. After it happens, signs that were invisible before suddenly become obvious.

3. You start believing it was inevitable all along.

It may not be one hundred percent accurate, but the general framework holds.

In the losers’ bracket final, they met Wizard Air’s White Witch once again. RVGL took an early three-set lead, but the road was anything but easy. Let’s look at the first set, which perfectly captured the struggle.

RCLK 2023 First-Half Season Playoffs – Round 4 Losers’ Bracket Final, Set 1

WIZ Raging Sun vs RV RAZA Blade.

RAZA Blade was a textbook four-wheel-drive vertical spinner. A relatively large and thick vertical blade sat atop its wedge-shaped front. When flipped, it deployed a self-righting mechanism that resembled a car spoiler. The black chassis was accented with rainbow LED lighting.

Raging Sun was an octagonal four-wheel-drive vertical spinner. All eight sides featured sloped armor. Thanks to a special structure that kept it glued to the floor, it could burrow under opponents from any angle. A slightly smaller vertical blade protruded from the front, while a self-righting lifter occupied the rear.

Both machines moved like slugs, clearly exhausted. Though they eventually found their rhythm, neither could land a KO. The match went to the judges, who awarded RAZA Blade a 4-1 decision victory.

Sets one through three were sluggish on both sides, as if fatigue had caught up with everyone. Starting in set four, Wizard Air’s White Witch launched a ferocious counterattack. Let’s look at set four—the turning point and highlight of the series.

RCLK 2023 First-Half Season Playoffs – Round 4 Losers’ Bracket Final, Set 5

RV White Fox vs WIZ ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠OZ Black Mage.

OZ Black Mage was an extremely standard four-wheel-drive vertical spinner. A vertical blade protruded from the front of its rectangular body, supported by sloped armor designed to dig under opponents. That armor could be swapped for a wedge when needed. The blade’s support structure used a truss design, topped with an auxiliary wheel mount that resembled a wizard’s robe covering the blade from above. It wielded one of the larger blades among robots of the same type.

It was true that White Fox’s complex design led to a higher malfunction rate. Wizard Air’s White Witch dominated sets four, five, and six. In the decisive ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠seventh set, both teams finally deployed the aces they had been holding in reserve.

RCLK 2023 First-Half Season Playoffs – Round 4 Losers’ Bracket Final, Set 7

WIZ Baekto vs RV Sung Tan-ho.

“I can’t forget the crushing defeat in the grand finals. We lost so miserably…”

“Cheong-hyeon unnie, please calm down.”

“I need to get a grip too, Naru-ya…”

Kang Cheong-hyeon grimaced as an unpleasant memory resurfaced—the devastating first-set loss in the 2023 first-half season finals.

And so the bracket for the RCLK 2023 first-half season grand finals was set:

RTH Crown versus RVGL Resistance.

Grand Finals Set 1 – RV White Fox vs RTH Neptune

RVGL Resistance took the first set with clinical precision.