KeG Presidential Cup / Seoul Regionals, vs Team EatAndLoCOnly (1)

CroMagnon decided not to leave. They would stay and watch the regional finals. Plenty of already-eliminated teams made finding seats a hassle, but what choice did they have?

Game One.

Jin Gyeo-wool locked in a tank champion again.

For all her skill with blade champions, she never once pulled one out.

The spectators could only click their tongues at her stubborn streak.

Throughout the entire Seoul regional bracket, she had chased stability at every turn, taking only roles that let her rein in her teammates' impulsive plays. That was why Winter Army's point men were always mid and bot.

Watching the match from behind an observer who was recording footage, Jeong Tae-yang muttered under his breath.

"Damn. This girl is hardcore. Seriously hardcore."

Park Su-ho, who had only just clawed his mental state back together, answered.

"Why?"

"I mean, honestly—if you're that good… couldn't you just grab a blade champ and carve through everyone?"

"Yeah."

"But she never picks one. Like there's some reason for it."

Even in an environment where she could have run wild, Jin Gyeo-wool deliberately chose tanks, drilling map control and vision expansion. She was running experiments with her teammates in tow—something the other teams had no way of knowing. And why would they? Even when Gyeo-wool looked like she was doing nothing, she was quietly covering every role the team needed.

Fellow top laner Park Su-ho offered his take.

"Looks like she's not doing much, but she's doing everything that matters. Watching her, I just think she's incredible. Like, it hits me every time I look."

"What hits you?"

Like a man who had met a great god, been captivated by the divine, and become a worshipper, Park Su-ho spoke with glazed, fervent eyes, as if in prayer.

"The absolute textbook of the stable, high-IQ top laner. Honestly, if you play like that, a top laner has zero reason to catch flak. Why? Because you actually did everything you were supposed to."

Jeong Tae-yang started to argue that her mechanics weren't exactly lacking either, then gave up. The trust radiating from Park Su-ho's set expression was something else entirely.

This guy's got it bad.

Park Su-ho had been a perfectly serviceable top laner. Somehow he'd turned into a complete fool. Had he taken an intelligence debuff or what?

Jeong Tae-yang sighed and turned his eyes back to the screen.

The game dragged on longer than a typical Winter Army match. Maybe it was because the opponents fielded three Challengers and two Grandmasters—mid and bot kept catching fire in one way or another. But through it all, Park Su-ho kept spouting fanatic lines like "Winter Army doesn't lose," and as if determined not to betray that faith, Winter Army closed it out in the late game with a picture-perfect surround teamfight sparked by Gyeo-wool's teleport.

Game time: forty-four minutes. Winter Army took the first win.

One more victory and Winter Army would stroll into the Presidential Cup national finals.

Park Su-ho glanced over to check on Gyeo-wool, then said,

"This next game's gonna get interesting."

Jeong Tae-yang scoffed.

"Based on what?"

"…It's the last game. I think she'll pick something fun this time. She was grinning like crazy."

Thinking back, Gyeo-wool really hadn't laughed out loud once during the whole tournament. Jeong Tae-yang gave Park Su-ho a surprised clap on the shoulder.

"This bastard's actually become a disciple."

"Ooh… Lady Jin Gyeo-wool."

"…. Hyung. Watching him is painful. Stop him."

"Yeah, shit…. This is mortifying."

But a smiling Jin Gyeo-wool was a rare enough sight that every member of CroMagnon turned to look.

"She's definitely pretty, though."

"A face you never get tired of looking at."

"For real."

And so Game Two began.

As if determined to live up to Park Su-ho's expectations, Jin Gyeo-wool locked in the aggressive bruiser she had seemed determined never to touch.

Seeing the Overlord Darius appear as Red Team's fourth pick, Park Su-ho shouted,

"I knew it!"

"Ohh…."

The fun part was that Gyeo-wool wasn't the only one grabbing an aggressive pick.

Moments later came the fifth pick. Winter Army handed Gong Je-hyeon MontBlanc, telegraphing that they intended to end this game fast.

Looking over the locked-in picks, Jeong Tae-yang launched into his own commentary, with the younger guys tossing in opinions along the way.

"EatAndLoC's draft is safe enough, but ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠if you pick that safe, don't you just get destroyed?"

"It's not like those are weak laning picks."

"They're solid, sure, but with safe picks like that it's hard to win lane against Winter Army."

"After Game One, I feel like they can still scrap."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Jeong Tae-yang said,

"No, but look—Winter Army went full fight-picks this time. They're straight-up saying they'll take this game in the early-to-mid."

If some other top laner had locked Darius, maybe nobody would have expected much. But it was Jin Gyeo-wool. The monster queen who could take a halberd and butcher every enemy on the field was sitting right there. And she was still smiling. That bold grin overflowed with confidence.

"Looking at her, I just feel like they're gonna win no matter what."

At that, the younger guys turned again to behold Lady Gyeo-wool. Still beautiful as ever.

"Agreed."

"Agreed, hyung."

A loss was a loss—but every time they looked at Jin Gyeo-wool their mood lifted, and the sting of defeat faded on its own. All five men of CroMagnon, Park Su-ho ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠included, had long since started paying more attention to Gyeo-wool than to the recon.

Two minutes into the game, a familiar picture took shape.

Choi Do-yun wove a bizarre path around the Red-side bottom scuttle, slipping past Blue Team's ward vision to set up an early bot gank. Vision control had come together naturally enough thanks to Ha Jeong-uk planting a ward in the river brush below mid early on.

EatAndLoC's bot lane, expecting Do-yun to full-clear, got blindsided by Trundle's pillar and coughed up First Blood before they could even process what happened.

There hadn't been any detailed orders from Jin Gyeo-wool. The only command she'd given was one: Let's set something up bot early.

"Nice!"

"Aw, damn, I took the kill."

"Doesn't matter."

Choi Do-yun whooped with excitement, Ha Jeong-uk apologized for snagging the kill out of support-player guilt, and Yu Min-jae waved it off like he couldn't care less. The team atmosphere was almost aggressively warm. It had been this way since May.

The single most important factor no amateur team could match against Winter Army—beyond raw skill—was teamwork.

Five minutes in, Choi Do-yun came for a top gank Gyeo-wool hadn't even asked for. She rarely requested top ganks, but she never turned one away either, so she farmed CS at a measured pace and played along. The problem was the players were a little too hyped—last game before nationals and all. Trundle dove too deep, ate tower shots, and came out looking like shredded paper.

"Kindred's probably heading top soon."

"I'll just grab the golems and back."

"Don't wander around on that HP. Just go home right now."

"Uh… it'll be fine, right?"

Gyeo-wool snapped,

"If you run into Kindred, run toward me."

"C'mon, they're not even—"

As she had said many times before: a bad feeling is never wrong.

The instant Trundle stepped into the golem brush, Kindred appeared and smited him.

"Aaaagh!"

"Hey! I told you to run this way!"

Panicking, Choi Do-yun even flashed wrong. She'd clearly told him to peel toward the top tower where her Darius was standing—instead he burned it toward the tier-two, opening the gap wider.

"Ugh, for real."

Gyeo-wool was about to lose it when she spotted Gong Je-hyeon clearing the wave and heading top, and shouted,

"Gong Je-hyeon—Kindred's here!"

"On my way! Legion Commander noona!"

Luckily, Kindred had burned flash chasing Trundle down. Darius and MontBlanc closed the net and cleaned Kindred up with ease.

"Kill, kill."

"Take it."

Kind Legion Commander Gyeo-wool handed the kill to Gong Je-hyeon. He fawned and swore his undying loyalty, but Gyeo-wool knew perfectly well he'd flip that script in under five minutes.

Back in the top lane, Choi Do-yun—who'd swung through Red buff to clear the golems—asked Gyeo-wool,

"Noona, Kindred's probably pathing top again. Want me to check?"

A top-lane siege wave was shoving in at just the right moment. Gyeo-wool called for Do-yun for the first time in a while.

"Yeah. Come."

Darius whirled his halberd—whoosh, whoosh—and shoved the entire Blue wave. A massive minion wave built up, pinning Mundo under tower; he couldn't step out without losing CS.

Trundle came sprinting in with his lens spinning. Something pinged inside his detection range in the top river brush.

"Huh? Kindred's right here?"

"Chase. No flash, remember?"

"I'll try to land a good pillar."

Kindred could have escaped earlier, but the reaction came late. Clearly they'd been staring at top lane and missed Trundle approaching on the map. Kindred hopped back with Q to create distance—exactly what Trundle had been waiting for. He dropped a fat pillar dead in the Lamb's path at perfect timing, sealing the escape route.

"On my way. I'll flash if I need to."

"Yeah, their Q's almost back up."

"Chip them down a bit more."

Before Darius even arrived, Trundle had already worked Kindred down to thirty percent with smite, club thrashing, and chomp. Kindred staggered away and used Q again, vaulting up the hillside toward the jungle.

Gyeo-wool didn't even have to say it—Do-yun just knew. A control ward thunked down on top of the hill. Toward that revealed vision, Gyeo-wool flashed in fast, closing on Kindred. A few more steps and they'd be past the blast cone—but the halberd in Darius's hands had just a little more reach.

The blast cone detonated, flinging Darius and Kindred back down into the river. Apprehend into Crippling Strike—and just like that, Kindred fed the kill to Jin Gyeo-wool.

Glad tidings for Winter Army. A death knell for EatAndLoCOnly.

An already strong Darius with a kill. And not just any Darius—Jin Gyeo-wool's Darius.

A few minutes later, Gyeo-wool dropped another order.

"Hey. I've got a solo-kill angle top. We can take dragon."

"Okay! Yo, noona says start the fight!"

"Let's gooo~!"

The second she greenlit the dragon fight, Gyeo-wool's Darius hooked Mundo with Apprehend as he fearlessly crossed mid-lane. Both champions' health bars drained at a steady clip until Dr. Mundo popped his ultimate first, ramping up massive healing and move speed.

Hulk Doctor with a giant Chinese cleaver versus the Legion Commander with a massive halberd. In a pure slugfest it might have looked like a stalemate—but the item gap was the problem. Same CS, yet Darius sat on one kill and one assist, one auto from his first completed item, while Mundo had bought a Stopwatch to contribute in teamfights and was still light on armor and HP.

Whoosh. Whoosh. The halberd carved in continuous arcs, stacking Darius's bleed cleanly over Dr. Mundo's head. Mundo tried to run too late—the hunting-hound marker of Darius's fully stacked passive was already active above him. At the same time, the Conqueror rune hit full stacks over Darius's head.

From here on, every hit would hurt enough to kill—and a Noxian Guillotine to the skull could split him clean in half. Running was the only way out.

Mundo sprinted hard to create distance, but Darius flashed even faster than expected and leapt into the sky. It was the wind-up for Noxian Guillotine—the ultimate that, on a fully stacked passive, felt like it literally cleaved your body in two.

The enemy top laner hesitated for a split second. Burn the Stopwatch and tank it? Or flash now and live to fight another day?

But the moment he spent thinking about it, it was already over. Jin Gyeo-wool had decided she was going to kill him. Hesitating in that situation was the same as announcing you wanted to die.

With a guttural snarl, the halberd came down through Dr. Mundo's torso. Behind Darius, as the blade slammed into the earth, the spectral form of a massive hound materialized and crushed Mundo under both paws.

Ding— the Stopwatch activated a beat too late. The damage was already in. Dr. Mundo had less than ten percent HP left.

Darius took a few more steps forward to cut off any flash, then—timing it like he had a stopwatch of his own—swept Decimate in a clean arc. The great halberd spun a full three-sixty with crushing force. The instant Mundo's gilded body turned soft again, the blade tore him clean across.