Hwasong High Charity Recon Tournament — First Half (2)
When Jackson, who should have been carrying the late game, self-destructed in a fit of explosive rage, the enemy team collapsed on its own.
No matter how desperately their Grandmaster tried, there was no stopping a game that had already started rolling downhill of its own accord.
Thanks to that, bot lane won without really doing much of anything.
Even in the mid-to-late teamfights, the moment Spring Mosquito took flight, the enemy scrambled in pure panic. The order to keep their distance was always given, but Jin Gyeo-wool's ultimate angles were razor-sharp. From any position, she landed her ult on at least three people right from the start — so of course every teamfight went to Winter Kingdom.
The other teams watching were stunned.
They'd been muttering among themselves that she was a Battle Master, only to realize she was a genuine Recon Master. Not some throwaway Master tier they'd assumed she'd lucked into — this was a real local powerhouse.
"Hey. Lee Yeong-bin… get over here."
The second the game ended and she logged out, Jin Gyeo-wool crumpled like an android whose power had been cut. Bracing herself against the desk with her right arm, she urgently called for Lee Yeong-bin.
On the way up it had been the nape of the neck, but on the way down it was at least a shoulder to lean on.
Laughter erupted from the waiting area at the sight of the staggering Jin Gyeo-wool.
Choi Go-yun, who had come down from the stage first, looked at Gyeo-wool already nodding off and asked Cha Ga-eul, who had been waiting.
"She always like this?"
As if Cha Ga-eul would know. She answered with pointed bluntness.
"No. First time I've seen her like that too."
As prickly as you'd expect from a friend of Jin Gyeo-wool's. Choi Go-yun recoiled in distaste and backed off.
"Ups-a-daisy."
"Aigoo… thanks."
The moment the words left her mouth, Jin Gyeo-wool was asleep again. Once more, Han Yeo-reum served as the pillow. After all that effort hauling her over, the only praise she got was a single "thanks."
Choi Go-yun patted Lee Yeong-bin's shoulder in sympathy.
"Just understand. You know kindness like that never gets repaid."
"…"
But to Lee Yeong-bin, even that single "thanks" was more than enough. He'd suffered through all of last year — and here he was, already seeing the fruits of that labor at the start of this one.
"It's fine. I'm gonna hit the bathroom real quick."
In that moment, Lee Yeong-bin was happier than anyone else in the world.
Having drawn the very last bracket of the Round of 16, their quarterfinal match was also the last one. From the semis onward everything would be next week, so the pick-ban phase of the final match among today's twelve games was now beginning.
Normally teams left once their own matches were done, but more than half of today's participants were still holding down the auditorium.
The reason was Jin Gyeo-wool.
From the very first game she had put the gap between Master and Diamond on full display. That alone left a strong impression — and it didn't stop there. The same champion locked in without hesitation. Cool air practically radiating off her, as if it didn't matter whether the opponent was Master or anything else.
— Ooh! Player Jin Gyeo-wool locks in Vladimir again!
The modest crowd began to stir. Even the temporary caster from Hwasong High — who had only planned to handle proceedings today, not commentate — caught the mood and launched into an unexpected full broadcast rant.
"She's having a blast."
"Honestly, who wouldn't be."
This was supposed to be a tournament only the winners got to enjoy. But the appearance of an irregular named Jin Gyeo-wool had flipped the atmosphere completely. Most of the students who could have just gone home after losing were still here, waiting to watch her play.
— Oh! Team Kasbak X Su has pulled out Rice!
"They grabbed Rice over there."
Choi Go-yun turned his head slightly toward Jin Gyeo-wool.
"Gyeo-wool, you gonna be okay?"
Jin Gyeo-wool was fiddling with her rune page, looking thoroughly uninterested.
"She says she's fine."
Choi Go-yun answered on her behalf without even listening. But nobody sitting in the row beside him bothered to contradict him. Why worry about Jin Gyeo-wool when they should be worrying about their own skill?
Rice, huh…
Jin Gyeo-wool had faced Rice on Vladimir plenty of times. The memories were hazy leftovers from her Bae Do-hyun days, but even then there had definitely been a few rough points.
First, the range.
Vladimir's primary tool was Q — Transfusion. Stacking properly and popping those empowered hits was the obvious way to win trades. But Rice's primary skill, Q — Overload, had a range of 1,000. A full 400 longer than Transfusion. Thankfully Transfusion still outranged Rice's W-E kit by 50, but even then, one bad move and you'd eat a hit while trying to suck blood.
And catching a skill was the least of it. Rice's auto-attack range matched his W-E kit too, so the moment you got snared you got absolutely pummeled.
This wasn't a swamp-control matchup. Even before the game started, it was clear she'd have to tough it out with pure mechanics. Macro could wait. First she had to win lane.
Jackson I could half-ass since he has to get on top of you to hit anything, but this time I need to go all out.
Help me out, Hon Gyeo-wool. This is your turn.
Calling to Hon Gyeo-wool, who would be watching the game through the mirror's field of view, Jin Gyeo-wool adjusted her grip on the mouse and keyboard.
— Whoa, player Kim Na-jun! What a trade!
The caster was having the time of his life. The observer didn't seem interested in any other lane either, keeping the camera locked on top almost constantly.
"Gyeo-wool, you holding up? Want me to come break it open?"
"Nah. Rice is out of mana now."
She'd been getting beaten on for a while, but what was Vladimir's greatest strength? Infinite sustain from that Q skill. Even if you got hit half to death, as long as you didn't actually die, you were fine. With no resource cost on the skill and constant health recovery, Vladimir got stronger the longer the fight dragged on.
Of course, sitting there getting slapped around in lane still wasn't exactly pleasant. Just like Jackson after getting wrecked by Jin Gyeo-wool last game, she could feel the anger steadily rising. She wasn't certain, but it felt like rage stacks built faster the more she leaned on mechanics over brainpower.
It was about time to let loose once.
Jin Gyeo-wool started weighing whether to call the jungler to break the freeze.
"Looks like a top gank incoming. You haven't seen their jungler, right?"
"Hold on."
Choi Go-yun swept his eyes across the map. Mid was shoved in; bot was getting shoved. But their mid laner was already heading back, so the only place the enemy could come was top.
"Yeah, they're coming like you said. Want a look behind?"
But Choi Go-yun happened to be on the bot side of the map. Calling him over would be a massive waste of jungle pathing. Jin Gyeo-wool decided to just take the hit herself.
"Don't. I'll hold. Just keep farming."
If they could just reach the teamfight stage without dying, Vladimir's mere existence was a massive asset to the team. If the enemy tried a tower dive with numbers, she could buy time with W — Pool of Blood — and waste a wave. It was still early enough that they couldn't sit under tower forever.
Wool-ah… just hang on a little longer…
Jin Gyeo-wool crushed down the rage with everything she had and held on. And held on some more.
Game time: fifteen minutes.
In the end, the top tower fell first. Inevitable, with Rice dictating the entire laning phase. Jin Gyeo-wool had never expected a perfect defense anyway.
"Dropping Cerberus mid?"
Still, thanks to the Cerberus they'd secured by winning a skirmish at the Peacock pit earlier, the team was advancing cleanly through mid. The tower score was 0–2 against them, but used well, Cerberus could put a dent in the mid tier-two at this timing.
"Mid's got top, ADC, support. Blitz is coming in!"
Jin Gyeo-wool's laner, who had been holding top, was nowhere to be found. Bot side, ADC Lee Yeong-bin's Kalista was dealing with the enemy mid laner Aurelia. This was a setup that needed Gyeo-wool to join. If even one more enemy arrived first, the mid fight could go badly.
She parked the wave just outside the tier-two and immediately teleported mid.
"Oh, for fuck's— how does that even land?"
Just her luck. Choi Go-yun's Nidalee, fleeing under Rice's fire, had used W — Pounce — in cougar form and still got snatched by Blitzcrank's claw stretching out from nowhere.
"I'll bodyblock!"
"Oh! Are You Silttak Minsu, what's gotten into you?!"
Thankfully, Yuk Min-su's Alistar finally came through for once. Always just throwing people around — this time he headbutted in on time and saved the Nidalee.
"I'm here!"
"Gyeo-wool, Xayah first!"
"Choi Go-yun, poke and heal up!"
Choi Go-yun topped off his health for a moment and started poking with spears. Taking over the space, Jin Gyeo-wool darted in and instantly landed a two-man ultimate on the Xayah and Blitzcrank locked down by Alistar's stun.
Right after the ult, E — Tides of Blood — finished charging. Without hesitation she flashed into the enemy bot duo's escape path. The moment Tides of Blood damage landed, she followed up with Hextech Belt to force the damage through, and the enemy Xayah couldn't take it — she popped first.
ValKyrie ▶ Pepperoncino
Jin Gyeo-wool slipped Rice's snare with W — Pool of Blood — and kept grinding on Blitzcrank to the end. The instant she emerged from the pool, she finished him with a Q for a clean double kill.
ValKyrie ▶ ChicagoBulls
"Nice!"
Top had been quiet while the Master-tier players traded blows, but mid and bot were loud. The balance that had been maintained by trading kills back and forth finally started to crack with this teamfight.
Then, out of nowhere, a kill announcement came from bot as well.
Zerobin ▶ EnsnaringYourHeart
Lee Yeong-bin, who had been holding the bot-side standoff, had casually killed the enemy mid laner who'd been farming up fine on Kalista. Jin Gyeo-wool laughed in disbelief — she hadn't expected that at all.
"What the hell, Lee Yeong-bin. You lose it?"
Lee Yeong-bin stammered like he couldn't believe it himself.
"No, I mean… what even?"
He'd only figure it out later when he reviewed the replay himself — he'd just played relatively well. Good auto-attack spacing and Q usage let him dodge Aurelia's satellite sustained damage this way and that, and he won by detonating the spears he'd stacked while dodging. The enemy's mechanics had just been that bad.
However he'd gotten it, one more kill was still a gain. And with the enemy jungler — previously missing — now showing mid, both of the enemy's remaining survivors were clustered there. That opened a clean path for Lee Yeong-bin to happily shove bot's tier-one tower.
"Anyway, nice work. Keep shoving bot until they respawn."
Mid lane, the surviving Cerberus was paving a highway. Significant advantages at a mere fifteen minutes in — the outlook for the game had brightened considerably.
"Just keep it like this. I'll have my second item, Rabadon's, around the twenty-minute mark."
"Already?"
"I just got two kills."
Rabadon's already, even after getting shoved in like that. Choi Go-yun could only click his tongue.
People aiming for pro really are built different, huh…!
Choi Go-yun always treated his little brother like an idiot, but even he had to respect CS intake and the ability to navigate a game. Those were the baseline qualifications of anyone chasing the pro scene.
Even if Diamond players got called good among regular people, one of the reasons a wall stood between them and the celestial realm of Master and above was CS farming. The moment you hit Master, the pace of the game became unimaginable. Blink and the scene had changed — that kind of tempo. Full-item slugfest teamfights became less likely, and everything got decided in the early-to-mid game. At that speed, missing even one CS per wave was a massive loss.
So no matter how much people mocked "CS slaves," the ones who gritted their teeth and farmed every last minion were the ones who eventually pulled their weight. Just like Jin Gyeo-wool right now — enduring a brutal laning phase only to go berserk in the teamfights.
"That's our Jin Gyeo-wool! Insane four-man Hemoplague!"
Game time: twenty-six minutes.
By now the win condition had tipped heavily toward Winter Kingdom. They'd just taken the mid and bot inhibitors, and all that remained was pushing the twin towers.
"Hey, Silttak Minsu, what are you doing. The captain just set the table — you gonna walk in or what?"
"I know the way!"
The blood brands dropped on four enemies by Jin Gyeo-wool's ultimate, Hemoplague. Yuk Min-su — who got cursed out every time he threw people — charged in with gusto on Choi Go-yun's order.
"BAM! THUD!"
"Niiice~"
Hoisted by the enraged cow's Headbutt, shoved by the Pulverize. In the middle of it all, Jin Gyeo-wool flashed-Belted in and unloaded burst damage with W-E.
— Wow! They close it out with a refreshing teamfight! And just like that, Team Winter Kingdom advances to the final spot in the semifinals!
The players on Team Kasbak X Su could never have imagined it in their wildest dreams. Who would have thought they'd get wrecked this badly by a Spring Mosquito that was supposed to be so hard to even see?