Streamer Tournament (3)
Park Donghyun: Honestly, I talked a big game about how confident I was… It's embarrassing we couldn't make the finals, but third place is still pretty good.
"Yes, Park Donghyun's team! Congratulations on finishing third in the Universe Strongest Streamer Tournament! And with that, the grand finals will begin shortly."
Jimin: Ahem.
Park Solmi: Ahem.
Jimin: ·····
Render: Thanks, everyone, for everything so far.
Park Solmi: Are we going out there to die?
Chongmyeong: Peak cliché energy right there.
Yapang: Ah, I'm so nervous.
Hwata: Think top might get a ton of bans?
Jimin: It's fine.
Park Solmi: He says it's fine?
Chongmyeong: No problem at all.
Render: When the tournament's over, let's queue up together.
Jimin: Ranked?
Render: Sol ranked's a bit much.
Park Solmi: He really loves Sol, huh.
Chongmyeong: I bet it'd be crazy fun if I played like Jimin.
Yapang: Same.
Hwata: Me too.
Render: Huh?
Park Solmi: It's starting.
"Yes, yesterday's dominant force, Render's team, versus Park Gyeoul's team, who miraculously clawed their way into the finals! What's your take?"
"The key is how well Crow can shut down Jimin, who was operating on another level entirely."
"Yesterday, Render's team had no weaknesses. The top-lane demolition they showed in scrims was still there, and if anything, their bot duo looked even better in the actual tournament. Park Solmi also held her own against Master mid laners."
"Chongmyeong, the jungler who can convert top's carry power into growth, has been solid too. Park Gyeoul's team is going to need to step up even more than yesterday."
"Yes! Set one ban-pick is underway!"
Four teams had entered the tournament.
Third place went to Park Donghyun's team. Fourth place went to Hirose Haruka's team.
Now the grand finals to decide first and second had begun.
"Oh, Render's team is locking a champion in top right away."
"Mid Aetrox seems unlikely, right? Has to be top."
Render's team first-picked Aetrox.
"They'd been giving him the last pick in top to maximize his carry potential, but ha, today's different."
"Jason, Fiona—the champions Jimin is known for handling well—did get banned, though."
Both teams were taking relatively standard champions.
"Gwen!"
"Park Gyeoul's team locks Gwen. They're putting their faith in Crow's carry power, aren't they?"
"He got pushed around in yesterday's direct matchup, but fundamentally he's a high-weight-class player for a tournament like this."
Park Gyeoul's answer to Jimin's Aetrox was Gwen.
A champion with a side-lane edge into Aetrox—a pure fire-with-fire plan.
"Yes, both teams have locked in their champions."
Jimin (Master) — Aetrox vs. Gwen — Crow (Master)
Chongmyeong (Emerald) — Lee Sin vs. Rek'Sai — Park Gyeoul (Gold)
Park Solmi (Gold) — Neeko vs. Ahri — Chuchu (Master)
Render (Master) — Varus vs. Miss Fortune — Yongjin (Emerald)
Yapang (Bronze) — Leona vs. Nautilus — Mitani (Bronze)
"How do you see both teams' drafts?"
"Neither support really played grab champions yesterday—maybe they prepped this specifically for today?"
"Personally, I'm dying to see what happens in top."
Park Gyeoul's team had chosen to answer yesterday's demolisher, Jimin, with a hard counterpick.
The unexpected matchup was already stoking interest.
"Yes, finals set one is starting."
Best of five.
The curtain rose on the critical first set.
"Sparks are flying from the opening seconds, as expected."
"To borrow a few of the viewers' words—you absolutely cannot get baited by Jimin's signature trade style, the one that looks like he's looking down on his opponent."
Jimin's Aetrox stepped up first and attacked without hesitation.
But Crow, who had faced Jimin several times by now, fired back just as fiercely.
"Whoa whoa whoa—bot lane!"
While Render's Varus–Leona were already pressuring hard early, Leona's blade finally connected on Miss Fortune.
"They got it! Render's team takes the first kill!"
"Ha, Render and Yapang's chemistry is something else, isn't it?"
Render's bot duo, looking even better in the tournament than before, had delivered again.
"People say Gwen is comfortable into Aetrox on the side later, but that's later—and with bot already losing this hard for Park Gyeoul's team? Mid-wise, Ahri isn't even in a window where she can stomp Neeko right now."
Park Gyeoul's team had lost the initiative.
The bot-lane pressure kept coming.
"Chongmyeong keeps setting up vision around bot, and as captain and jungler, Park Gyeoul just doesn't have a good place to go."
From Park Gyeoul's perspective, the game kept flowing in the most frustrating way possible.
"Hold on a second—"
Top had been expected as the war zone, but the camera had been glued to bot instead.
Aetrox lighting up his ultimate finally filled the screen.
And then the trade began.
"Wow, Jimin's movement—what is that. And yeah, with Electrocute, the damage is terrifying."
Aetrox slipped Gwen's ultimate once.
In return, he landed every skill of his own and seized the advantage.
"With teleport down, getting chunked this hard… hmm."
"Another outstanding snap trade from Jimin."
Dodge theirs. Land yours.
In Sol, nothing produced better results than that.
Across the vast top lane, Gwen was stuck having to recall at a terrible timing.
"Right—it's rough, but somehow they have to get Gwen fed."
"Wait, but Aetrox already has his first—"
Aetrox had already walked back out with his first core item, Sundered Sky.
Park Gyeoul's Rek'Sai was sprinting top.
Aetrox was not backing off.
"Yes, Park Gyeoul's team is going for it this time!"
Rek'Sai's gank.
"No no no!"
"Whoa—!"
Aetrox weaved, lifestealed, and kept slamming damage in the middle of it all.
"It won't work! It won't work—he's a monster right now."
After the skill exchange, it was obvious they still couldn't kill Aetrox.
"Whoa—!"
Rek'Sai's health dropped.
In a flash, Aetrox burned flash and buried the third Q into Rek'Sai—then the passive auto that followed.
"They got him!"
"Jimin·····"
"Gwen has to run, and oh—this is an emergency."
In a two-versus-one, one dead and one fleeing.
Park Gyeoul's team had been crushed in the skirmish.
"They just have to give the grubs."
Render's team vacuumed up all six void grubs.
With the bot duo already up, they turned and looked at the top tower.
"Yes, Render's team takes first tower as well."
"Render's team! This is a perfect performance."
"They seized advantages in both top and bot, and because their play has been so good, even Chuchu—who locked Ahri—has had no real way to open the game up…"
Park Gyeoul's Master mid laner Chuchu had picked Ahri. But the superior laning he showed against his counterpart never managed to snowball.
"That said, Ahri's itemization is fully damage-focused, and Render's team has no hard tank, so a variable still exists."
Ahri, who had built a CS lead while winning lane into the early-strong Neeko. It was almost the only thing Park Gyeoul's team still believed in.
"Wow, this is not working."
Meanwhile, on the side, Aetrox kept stomping Gwen and delaying her powerspike.
"Gwen can break through eventually, but when that 'eventually' actually is… I have no idea."
"If Aetrox builds like that you should feel nervous, but I'm not feeling any of that at all."
Aetrox could freely swing between damage and tankiness. Jimin, though, had chosen full damage runes and items.
Even so, the Aetrox strolling around with a greatsword radiated nothing but raw strength.
"Yes, both sides are lining up now."
"Whoa—!"
Ahri suddenly stepped forward and fired a charm.
It hit Lee Sin, and Nautilus's follow-up opened the teamfight.
"Bloom! And MF ult!"
Neeko tried to cover, and Miss Fortune poured on even heavier firepower.
A full five-versus-five clash.
But Aetrox, holding a back position, stepped out of the dark fog of war.
"Aetrox!"
Render's Lee Sin went down.
Yet Aetrox charged into the Park Gyeoul team that had committed forward.
From behind, Leona's ultimate detonated.
Under the burst, Miss Fortune was left on death's door.
"Waaaaaah—they got her!"
The last hit was Varus's piercing arrow.
With their ADC dead and not enough damage left to even kill the full-damage Aetrox, Park Gyeoul's team looked finished. The enemy ADC was still perfectly healthy—the result was obvious.
"Double kill! Triple kill! World Ender!"
Every time Aetrox participated in a kill, his ultimate reset.
The ultimate never went down.
"Ahri barely makes it out—they gave Lee Sin, but Render's team takes four!"
"This is an emergency."
They had given the dragon, and three kills to Aetrox.
"Waaaaaah!"
A two-level gap on Gwen. And a one-and-a-half-core gap.
On the side, Aetrox's greatsword carved Gwen to pieces.
"Even in the finals, this kind of carry power—!"
"Jimin is truly incredible."
Getting hit clearly hurt—and yet Aetrox kept surviving and delivering burst after burst.
No matter how you looked at it, they had no answer.
"GG! Render's team takes set one."
"Hmm, a performance with nothing to criticize from Render's team!"
A clean win.
The finals looked no different from yesterday's league match.
"Set two ban-pick is starting."
"Ah, yes—they're cutting Aetrox."
"Fine, we accept it. But let's not even look at him."
Park Gyeoul's team had banned Aetrox on sight.
"Top Shen. A solid pick."
Park Gyeoul's team locked a tank for top.
Jungle and mid were Lee Sin–LeBlanc, a high-burst composition.
"This feels like they're saying they're going to tear mid completely open."
"And beyond that, it's a warning to the enemy top—step up too hard and we won't let it slide."
"Kennen? Render's team is putting Kennen in Jimin's hands."
"Lane priority plus late-game carry power. Looks like a strong choice."
Jimin had been given Kennen.
"Yes, set two ban-pick is complete."
Jimin (Master) — Kennen vs. Shen — Crow (Master)
Chongmyeong (Emerald) — Graves vs. Lee Sin — Park Gyeoul (Gold)
Park Solmi (Gold) — Malzahar vs. LeBlanc — Chuchu (Master)
Render (Master) — Jhin vs. Caitlyn — Yongjin (Emerald)
Yapang (Bronze) — Karma vs. Morgana — Mitani (Bronze)
"Bot looks ready to actually throw hands today."
"If Park Gyeoul's team doesn't explode early, the late game is going to be rough for them."
"Malzahar can keep LeBlanc in check with wave-push, but his body is fragile—ha ha, I'm curious how this goes."
"Set two, start!"
Whether it would become a one-sided stomp or a rebalanced game—set two would decide that outcome.
"Jimin's movement already looks anything but ordinary."
From the earliest moments, Kennen kept harassing Shen relentlessly.
Bot, too, was trading fights from the opening minutes.
"Lee Sin mid—"
Lee Sin appeared mid on a razor-sharp pathing line.
LeBlanc had already won her trades.
"Whoa, first blood!"
"Captain Park Gyeoul! Showing real early-game quality this time."
LeBlanc's excellent skillshots, followed by Lee Sin's sharp movement.
Park Gyeoul's team had successfully taken the lead through mid.
"Malzahar has no summoners, so mid laning gets really miserable like this."
"Park Gyeoul's team looked lifeless last game. Now they've seized a chance to drive the match."
LeBlanc kept tormenting Malzahar.
Top and bot flowed according to the draft's expected lanes.
"Ah, then Graves has to pull out."
"Kennen is shoving Shen around, but that doesn't mean he can make a huge impact in a fight at this timing."
Render's Kennen still needed growth.
Graves's jungle pathing looked uncomfortable too.
"Whoa, again—again!"
The moment LeBlanc hit six, she walked right in.
"Solo kill!"
She picked off Malzahar, who still hadn't hit six and had no ultimate.
"Wow, that was a golden solo-kill angle just now."
"Chuchu's performance in set two has been outstanding."
At last, Park Gyeoul's Chuchu was showing the tier gap in mid.
"Whoa—Deadly Flourish!"
Bot: Jhin's Deadly Flourish onto a slowed Caitlyn, followed by ultimate Curtain Call.
"Oh! That was close."
"But now Caitlyn has to recall."
Render's team had taken a clean bot-side advantage.
"Lee Sin–LeBlanc is completely cooking right now, but this tanks the Caitlyn–Morgana power spike hard."
"That could become a real variable."
"Render is in excellent form today."
Render's super play on Jhin. The team's breathing room started to open.
"Among tanks, Shen is one of the better fighters—and wow, Kennen hasn't been disrupted at all."
"Lee Sin checked top a few times earlier, but Kennen slipped away perfectly every time."
Despite the jungle deficit, Jimin's Kennen had grown himself while never giving a gank.
But mid-jungle's strength kept rolling.
Park Gyeoul's team even took Herald.
"The standoff continues."
"But wait—Park Gyeoul's scoring has stopped. Once Malzahar starts getting core items, even LeBlanc has a hard time breaking through."
Render's top and bot played so solidly that they put the brakes on Park Gyeoul's snowball.
The game drifted in a strange direction.
Before long, Jimin's Kennen had a healthy amount of items.
"This frustrating mid turret! Park Gyeoul's team is putting everything into it."
At a good timing, Park Gyeoul's team stacked champions mid.
They wanted to crack the mid tower that even Herald hadn't broken—the one Jhin–Karma were holding.
"Whoa—teleport?"
From dark vision, Jimin's Kennen rode a teleport in.
Every Park Gyeoul champion except Shen was clustered mid.
"Huh?"
Park Gyeoul's champions stepped slightly forward to break the tower.
Into that gap, Malzahar's Q silence landed perfectly.
And at the same instant, Kennen appeared.
"Uwaaaaaaaaaah!"
Flash into ultimate combo.
The silenced Park Gyeoul champions were helpless, and Render's team seized the offensive instead.
Shen ultimately rode his ultimate over, but·····
"Whoa, LeBlanc just exploded!"
Even with summoners up, LeBlanc burst.
Morgana the same.
"Triple kill… Shen barely escapes, but—"
The Shen who had ulted over had no option left but to run.
Render's team took Baron.
As if someone had flipped a switch, the game tilted hard.
What followed was a one-sided slaughter.
Park Gyeoul's composition had no late game left.
"GG! Render's team takes set two as well!"
"What a beautiful teamfight. Wow, truly incredible!"
The casters had nothing but praise.
And then set three.
"Aetrox!"
"We can do this too!"
Park Gyeoul's team first-picked Aetrox.
And·····
"Yohone!"
"Yohone here!"
Render's answer for facing Park Gyeoul's Aetrox.
It was Jimin's Yohone.
Render: I should practice Yohone too.
Park Solmi: Out of nowhere?
Render: He suddenly looks cool.
Chongmyeong: You have to be good first for it to look cool.
Yapang: Fighting.
Jimin: You don't have to look at top much.
Park Solmi: We couldn't even if we wanted to.
Chongmyeong: Sorry, Karthus, Viktor.
Hwata: Everyone's worked so hard through all of this.
Render: It's not over yet.
Hwata: No, it ends here.
Yapang: Fighting!
Jimin (Master) — Yohone vs. Aetrox — Crow (Master)
Chongmyeong (Emerald) — Karthus vs. Jarvan — Park Gyeoul (Gold)
Park Solmi (Gold) — Viktor vs. Orianna — Chuchu (Master)
Render (Master) — Xayah vs. Ezreal — Yongjin (Emerald)
Yapang (Bronze) — Yuumi vs. Rakan — Mitani (Bronze)
"Render's composition is looking extremely blatantly toward the late game."
"With the Yohone Jimin just picked, expectations are inevitable, right?"
No early priority, but terrifying late-game potential—that was Render's draft.
The only path to a clean scaling game seemed to be Jimin's unnatural laning.
"Yes—can they finish it here, or will it go on! Set three begins!"
The start of set three.
From early on, Render's team played a little shrunken.
Park Gyeoul's team, who needed to be aggressive, kept the pressure coming.
"In set three as well, Chuchu is looking strong in lane."
"Jarvan's pathing is a bit more aggressive too… whoa, top already—Yohone is—"
Like someone who had shown up for a fighting game, Yohone kept moving and attacking Aetrox nonstop.
"Yohone is a champion whose performance swings wildly depending on the player."
"Especially in a melee-versus-melee matchup where once a gap opens it's hard to flip… I'm curious whether he can show that miracle carry power again."
Yohone kept cycling skills.
"Wait, already—"
Yohone shoved the wave and kept the pressure on.
Aetrox's unique mechanics meant he could be neither too far nor too close.
Yohone was cutting right into that space.
"Jarvan is focused on mid… and top, Yohone is chasing Aetrox off the wave."
"Seriously, what even is Jimin."
"If you land every skill and dodge like that, of course everyone would play Yohone."
The more items came online, the harder Yohone pressed Aetrox.
"Whoa, if this happens—!"
Against an Aetrox with teleport down, Yohone took a massive trade win.
"Then Jarvan running around poking everywhere gets a lot harder."
"Park Gyeoul's team has to be wondering how it came to this."
A few mistakes from Aetrox stacked on top, and the top-lane balance collapsed fast.
"Jarvan goes for the gank."
Jarvan's top gank.
But Yohone traded summoners and slipped out.
"He burned flash, but the uncomfortable setup still isn't fixed."
Yohone's pressure continued.
Bot-side, Ezreal–Rakan had priority, but they weren't stomping Xayah–Yuumi as hard as they wanted.
Mid, Orianna stayed ahead the whole time, but Viktor was playing safe and still catching enough farm.
"Whoa whoa whoa—!"
Yohone activated Soul Unbound and used his ultimate to pin Aetrox down.
"Wow, right here."
"But—!"
The reason Yohone could smile even after barely missing the kill on Aetrox.
Karthus's ultimate dropped.
"Whoa, first blood! Karthus takes the kill."
"Jimin… wow, I didn't realize it was this level."
Jimin of Render's team, who had drawn eyes in scrims.
He was twisting the game beyond even those expectations.
Render's team was starting to stretch.
Yohone's first-core Blade of the Ruined King was impressive.
"Unlike Jimin's set-one Aetrox, Crow is going a fairly tanky Aetrox build—but Yohone is a champion who can just ignore that."
"And on top of that, BoRK is already out."
Park Gyeoul's team couldn't claim objectives.
They had broken the first tower, but it was hard to call it a real snowball.
"Whoa, again!"
Yohone was once more carving Aetrox apart with absurd skill accuracy.
"Solo kill!"
"Jimin! He's completely lost it—in the best way."
Aetrox could no longer withstand Yohone's scythe.
Yohone was demolishing the side lane, and the carry jungler Karthus, now with momentum, was growing.
Mid, Xayah's wave clear left Ezreal without answers.
Then the third-dragon fight.
"Whoa—Fate Seal!"
A fully grown Yohone's ultimate. Enemy champions launched skyward.
Orianna tried to answer with Shockwave, but Yohone tanked through it.
Then Karthus's ultimate.
"They can't take this fight."
Left on death's door, Park Gyeoul's team had no choice but to give the dragon and run.
"The CS gap already—"
Aetrox couldn't even step up, terrified of the solo kill.
The two-level gap with Yohone kept holding.
"Double kill!"
Xayah, buffed by Yuumi, was advancing now—along with a cored-up Viktor.
The moment Jarvan's Cataclysm and Orianna's Shockwave only burned flashes, the fight was decided.
And on the side, Yohone solo-killed Aetrox and took the tower.
Baron buff.
Fourth dragon.
Park Gyeoul's team handed everything over and waited for the death sentence.
"Yohone!"
"Jimin's Yohone has no intention of dying."
Yohone solo-killed Orianna on the side. Ezreal cut off the chase, afraid of being next.
"They can't stop it!"
Park Gyeoul's team couldn't handle the Baron minions.
Even their last thrash was nullified by Karthus's rank-three ultimate.
"GG!"
"Render's team wins the championship!"
In the end, the finals had finished almost anticlimactically.
And yet what made the match shine was Render's team's fantasista.
Chongmyeong: GG! We're champions!
Yapang: Ah… it's over.
Park Solmi: Ugh, that was exhausting! I'm never doing another tournament.
Chongmyeong: You said that last time too.
Park Solmi: I just got beat up the whole tournament! Ugh, for real.
Render: You did well. You held against all those strong mids.
"Thank you for your hard work."
Yapang: Jimin's the best.
Hwata: Ah, that felt so good. I thought I'd get ganked a few times, but I never did.
"There were a few dangerous moments, but the other side just never came in."
Chongmyeong: We just won and you're only giving feedback?
Park Solmi: He must've thought it was obvious.
"Ah… it's not that. It just doesn't feel real yet."
Yapang: Ah, that's funny.
Render: Seriously, thank you all for playing so well.
Hwata: You did well too, hyung.
Render: Jimin, see you in a bit.
"Yes."
A grin.
Jimin couldn't hide his smile.
So it's not ending right away.
He had grown fond of the teammates he'd played with. The tournament mattered, of course, but he didn't want to just cut this connection short either.
And the fact that they were already suggesting they do something together made Jimin happy.
"·····"
Should he mention Dahui in the interview?
If she had truly told him to do it, he would have—but Jimin wasn't the type to do something she didn't want.
The tournament champions: Render's team.
And the MVP: rookie streamer Jimin.
For a Universe Strongest Streamer Tournament thrown together on a short prep window and half-improvised, it had drawn a surprising crowd.
It closed out as a solid success.
"Thank you for the 50,000-won donation, 10YearTopLaner!"
Getting donations of this size still didn't feel natural to Jimin.
[LIVE] Thanks for the tournament MVP. Solo queue while waiting for teammates.
Viewers: 1,890.
His teammates still had more viewers. Even so, the number had grown quite a bit.
Even then, Jimin believed this viewer count would drop. But it didn't matter. He had been told more than once not to celebrate a bubble.
"Thank you for the 1,000-won donation. I was wondering what to do while waiting for the members, so I figured I'd just solo queue."
Everyone else was sharing tournament thoughts with their own viewers. Jimin was simply playing Sol.
The champion was Jason—one he hadn't gotten to play in the finals.
"·····"
But it wasn't only the viewer count that had changed on Jimin's stream.
"Thank you for the 10,000-won donation! Ah, that is… I'll talk about it later."
What am I supposed to say?
The first time he played Aetrox, a friend had told him to try it this way. And since it kept working, there was no real reason not to. Saying that out loud probably wouldn't fly. Hwata had also said it suited him.
For now, he shelved the answer.
"No, it's not."
With famous streamers showing up, of course he had to give out mod seats.
And suddenly the mod list was growing.
"No. No way."
Even when streamers he wasn't close with showed up, giving them mod was basic courtesy.
The problem·····
This is awkward.
They had all piled in at once and started talking, and he had no idea how to sort them out and answer.
Solo queue right before goofing off with the teammates who had just won the championship.
It had been a rather wholesome idea—but focusing on the game was getting hard for Jimin.