KeG Presidential Cup Finals, vs Gyeonggi (2)

"Whoa, bot lane!!"

"First blood's down!!"

The casters had just finished noting how Seoul's bot lane was at a disadvantage early — and yet, somehow, it was Seoul's bot who drew first blood.

Jin Gyeo-wool's threats, Yu Min-jae's desperation, and the hard-trained composure of the bot duo had all come together to make it happen.

And though it never quite showed on the surface, Coach Chae Hojin's role in stabilizing that bot lane had quietly shone through.

Whenever Jin Gyeo-wool pointed something out, Yu Min-jae would feel the pressure even more keenly. Trying too hard for a girl who supposedly had no time left, he'd force plays and end up making mistakes. But once Chae Hojin started calmly walking him through the problems, that tension eased, and Min-jae settled into his natural rhythm. Ha Jeong-uk, already a steady presence, simply matched that pace — and the effect doubled.

That foundation had carried their bot lane's stability through the entire national bracket. Even in the quarterfinals, when Jin Gyeo-wool and Choi Do-yun both went down and the team was forced into a 3v5 teamfight, those two had calmly engaged and wiped the enemy clean.

"Looking at the replay… wow, Alistar perfectly timed Varus's E and launched him with the W/Headbutt–Q/Pulverize combo."

"Then Kai'Sa lands her W…"

"She sticks to him with E — doesn't quite get the stun, but Kai'Sa immediately follows up with her ultimate and piles on the extra damage."

"And finishes with Ignite. Clean kill!"

Top lane, meanwhile, was unfolding exactly as everyone had expected — and then some.

There had been talk that Canil held a slight edge in the 1v1 matchup. And yet, within ten minutes, Jin Gyeo-wool had opened a thirty-CS lead and was simply crushing her opponent.

Recon fans who'd only ever heard scrim rumors and were seeing Jin Gyeo-wool's actual play for the first time flooded the chat with pure bewilderment.

But Jin Gyeo-wool's terror wasn't limited to lane dominance.

"Canil no TP. Mont Blanc's clearing the wave."

"I'm looking at a bot reverse-gank angle right now."

"Taliyah's bot angle is pretty sharp, though."

"I'll body-block it."

"Call."

"Uh, Noona — mind if I TP first?"

"Go ahead. I'll shove the wave and decide from there."

"Ah, call! Going for the kill—!"

As if they were all drones belonging to a single hive mind named Jin Gyeo-wool, every player began seeing the same picture. It was the product of countless hours of her nagging, controlling, directing, and drilling them until the patterns stuck.

Just as planned, Ha Jeong-uk's Alistar deliberately set up the angle for Varus's ultimate—

— Hyaaat!

As if it had been waiting for exactly that, Varus's ultimate came screaming in. Two black serpents twisted through the air like braided rope and rooted Alistar in place.

"Not yet. Wait longer."

And just as Alistar's root was about to expire, Poppy charged in to slam him into the wall for a stun. Taliyah followed right behind Varus out of the brush.

The instant all three enemy champions crossed the halfway point of the brush below bot lane—

Gong Je-hyeon's TP locked onto a minion behind Varus, and at the same moment Kai'Sa vaulted past Alistar and glued herself to the ADC. Simultaneously, a terrifying Olaf burst out of the jungle with the Council Rune Predator active, a menacing whistle cutting the air as the movement-speed buff kicked in.

"Varus! Varus first!"

On Ha Jeong-uk's call, Olaf burned Flash without hesitation and latched onto Varus. A heavy axe carved through him, and Varus's body went sluggish. With Kai'Sa piled on as well, his health plummeted below half in seconds. The Golden Clock he'd been saving popped instantly.

But using that Golden Clock was poison. He was dead either way — better to just die clean. Canil's TP still needed at least twenty more seconds to come up. Rice was already a heartbeat from landing via TP. Mont Blanc, no matter how fast he ran, had only just reached the brush below mid. Poppy had spent her dash on Alistar and couldn't peel the Olaf now glued to her ADC. And Taliyah had dumped every damage skill into Alistar long ago.

In the middle of all that, Yu Min-jae casually sidestepped Poppy's ultimate — Hammer of Judgment — with a clean vertical juke.

The casters launched into a frantic play-by-play.

"Rice arrives!"

"Choi Do-yun — Choi Do-yun is chasing Taliyah!"

"Varus is already a dead man!"

Yu Min-jae's Kai'Sa cheerfully pocketed her second kill. Bot lane was supposed to be the weakest early — and somehow it was the bot duo growing the hardest.

What that meant was simple and clear. The game had exploded open, and Seoul already held the high ground.

Situation over. Kai'Sa walked away with two kills and an assist, announcing to the world that bot lane had completely collapsed. Jin Gyeo-wool hadn't even needed to show up.

Once things settled, Jin Gyeo-wool offered her teammates praise for the first time in what felt like forever.

"Nice work!"

Not her usual drained, flat voice — a bright, clear one full of life. The energy carried straight to her teammates, and everyone burst into noisy laughter, celebrating the fight win.

"Honestly, Gyeonggi had the better matchup advantage. Seoul was supposed to be the team that had to survive into the late game."

"Right."

"But top lane — Jin Gyeo-wool just solved the game on her own. And bot lane, four Seoul players stacked up and shoved the tower first."

"Meaning Seoul's pulled ahead."

"Exactly. The global gold difference is already over two thousand."

After taking the bot tower and recalling to gear up, Choi Do-yun headed back to the jungle with one thought on his mind.

It's about time I path top once…

But as always, the moment he showed up top, Jin Gyeo-wool would get snippy. It was better than it used to be, but even if he just loitered in the brush below ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her lane, her razor-edged glare would come flying his way.

He snuck a glance. Jin Gyeo-wool was busy thrashing Canil. Still a thirty-CS lead. No need to go.

Bot it is.

Bot had already blown open — no harm in blowing it open further. Shoving bot one more time unlocked a lot of value. The first dragon was still alive heading into thirteen minutes, and that would make the take easier. They could also snag the Cerberus just standing around at the Peacock outpost. And conveniently, the enemy jungler's estimated position was on a different side of the map.

"Enemy jungler looks like he's above mid right now?"

"Don't worry about top."

"Then I'll dig into bot once."

"I throw W, and if it lands we go in first?"

"Call."

Based on the vision they'd secured of the enemy jungler's path after he'd briefly dropped off the map, he was somewhere around upper or lower mid. Ha Jeong-uk cleared the vision ward in the tri-brush so Olaf could path behind the dragon pit. Yu Min-jae, ready to leap in and open the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠engage the second he got a chance, fired his long-range W/Void Seeker down the lane.

Pew. A mark bloomed on Varus's body.

"Hit. Going in?"

"Hold on — we go together when we go in…… now!"

In an instant, Yu Min-jae's Kai'Sa vaulted across the void and pounced on the marked Varus. At the same time, Olaf and Alistar burst out of the river above.

The casters couldn't stop praising Seoul's relentless bot-lane pressure.

"And there's Choi Do-yun arriving bot again!"

"There's no outer tower left, and the enemy bot duo stepped up a little too far. Perfect puncture."

"Kim Ho-jae's Varus dies again like this!"

"Olaf eats Poppy's ult with Ragnarok! Stun — and they pick up Kim Won-gyu too!"

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

"Seoul is digging into bot way too well!"

"They sniped that so precisely. Dragon flips too, and Kim Ho-jae's Varus is on three deaths. That hurts badly!"

"This is bad. Gold difference just crossed three thousand."

"Mont Blanc's feet are glued right now. Gong Je-hyeon keeps hard-shoving mid so he can't leave."

Gyeonggi's jungler, squeezed on every lane, started scrambling. He had to cover top. He had to cover bot. But his feet were always just a half-step slow — because Choi Do-yun was always a beat faster, tearing across the map. And what made that possible were always those two rock-solid pillars: top and mid. Seoul's only Challengers. Jin Gyeo-wool and Gong Je-hyeon.

"Watch this — Choi Do-yun knows the enemy jungler will try to cover bot, so he just keeps hovering nearby looking for the reverse gank, doesn't he?"

"Exactly. They swapped lanes for a bit and had a three-on-three standoff top, but it looks like things are quietly resolving."

"Seoul wants the Cerberus right now."

"They've got the tempo. They'll take the hunt the moment they see an opening."

Time ticked to sixteen minutes.

Both junglers had swung by top and then peeled off to farm again when Yu Min-jae sounded another victory horn. Alistar, lurking in the brush, launched Varus with the Headbutt-Pulverize combo, and Kai'Sa's burst poured in. Poppy tried to knock Kai'Sa out of the fight with her ultimate — but by the time the hammer landed, only an afterimage remained. Kai'Sa, who'd shown a gorgeous dodge with her ultimate Void Rush, latched back onto Varus and added another clean kill.

"Wow, Seoul! Yu Min-jae!"

"Another kill!!"

"Bot lane is completely obliterated. The global gold lead is about to hit five thousand!"

Seoul knew exactly how to turn an advantage into a bigger one. Of course they did — Jin Gyeo-wool had nagged them about it countless times. Find something to do. Don't just let the game roll along comfortably — go look for something. Do that long enough and a gap will open somewhere.

And so, before anyone knew it, Choi Do-yun's Olaf had looped all the way through the enemy's top-side jungle and popped out in front of their Tier-2 tower — effectively their backline. With a thunderous roar — Kuuwooo! — the Viking butchered the fleeing Poppy.

The enemy Taliyah, who'd come to babysit bot, suddenly found herself trapped — and died under tower to a furious bull and a Viking diving her.

"Ah, Taliyah's boxed in. Even under tower she can't—!"

"She's gone!!"

"Top tower goes down, and Cerberus goes with it!"

"The power gap is getting severe. Even if they hit Cerberus, Gyeonggi can't do a thing! They can't stop it!"

"Seoul can just sit and wait for the Peacock at twenty minutes."

Seventeen minutes in. Global gold difference: six thousand. Kill score: 8–0.

After that, there wasn't much left to watch.

Jin Gyeo-wool's fully grown Aatrox poured on the split-push pressure, constantly disrupting any attempt the enemy made to group. Whenever they tried to pick her off, she slipped away with uncanny timing and left them empty-handed. Once she secured the Peacock buff and started pressing two lanes at once, the game raced toward its end.

"It's 5v4 right now — Jin Gyeo-wool's Aatrox TPed in first!"

"Canil's a beat late getting back! Looks like they lost track of Aatrox's position?!"

"Jin Gyeo-wool engages! She's swinging that greatsword wildly!"

"Poppy knocks Yu Min-jae away — but he's already back!"

"They can close this out right here—!"

"Aceeeee!"

"Seoul!"

A crushing teamfight victory while pushing the top inhibitor. The Winter Army had never once surrendered tempo to the enemy — a perfect win. It stood in stark contrast to the slightly shaky performances from the quarters and semis, as if they were standing on this stage today and screaming a proper appeal at every league scout in the building.

"And just like that, Seoul takes the first game in under thirty minutes!"

"We'd heard the Gyeonggi players were extremely well-trained. But there had been talk since before the tournament that Seoul was a massive dark horse. Yu Min-jae flew all game long!"

"That's right — and Jin Gyeo-wool!"

"Yes, that player. That adorable kid grinning so brightly on camera right now completely dominated her opponent through every minute of laning phase! Truly remarkable."

Whether the casters' comments had anything to do with it or not — in the short window before the next game, the cameraman shamelessly parked his lens on Jin Gyeo-wool alone and held it there for a very long time.