Bloody Rose (6)
We can do it.
We can win.
Against the king of Division 3 league.
Bloody Rose.
They say momentum is everything in a multi-game series. The side that catches the flow gets swept up in euphoria, brimming with confidence that makes them feel invincible no matter what.
It's true a hundred—no, a thousand—times over. And it doesn't just apply to multi-game series.
Every moment in pro matches is a battle of momentum.
Teams on a winning streak play boldly and assuredly, no matter what. Teams on a losing streak hesitate at every turn, worry eating them alive until they give up everything, even the Nexus.
Our clash with Bloody Rose—who had never lost a single match in Division 3 league—pitted two surging teams against each other after we'd snapped a four-game skid with four straight wins.
And in that momentum battle, we crushed them on raw power. A team that had only dropped one set ever now suffered their second—and to a team outclassing them in weight class.
The advantage from winning a momentum fight like that is enormous. For example...
"The pentakill star, Kim Seona, makes her entrance!"
Seona burst through the player lounge door, sweat beading on her forehead, chest puffed out proudly.
She'd always brimmed with baseless confidence anyway, but after her standout performance crushed Bloody Roseand netted a pentakill, it was obvious she was riding high.
"Everyone did amazing! Congrats on the pentakill, Seona!"
"Eheheh, I was awesome, right? I followed your tips perfectly, Coach?"
"Yeah, you remembered your training well. I was secretly worried you'd get cocky mid-game and throw yourself into some dumb death."
"Beep! Beep! Deduction! You always gotta add that one extra jab even when you're praising me!"
"Just kidding, kidding. All five of you were great. That mid teamfight call to head home, buy items, and return with Eunjae's ult? Spot on. Sera diving in without a care for her life to buy time? Perfect too. Carries shouldn't throw their lives away like that usually, but against their comp, you had more options than anyone—smart judgment.
Yuna held that 1v4 like a champ, Ha-young burning all her skills to the end instead of backing off nicely was clutch, and Eunjae's support was top-notch. Especially that mid gank on Seona early—without you, she might've died."
I exchanged high-fives with each of the five, celebrating our first-set win.
Then we reviewed the set, discussed likely picks and comps for the second, and the ten-minute break flew by. Time for set two.
As the blue side, we first grabbed Light Spirit, our reliable support who pulled her weight against anyone. Their picks...
Thunder Spirit. Hollow Spirit.
Mid and carry right out the gate. Thunder Spirit never lanes anywhere else, so Hollow Spirit had to be carry.
"Telling us to break our own comp ourselves, huh? Knew you'd pull this."
From reviewing Bloody Rose's past games, they had a habit of snagging our key picks in set two if they lost set one on power.
I'd drilled this into the players well before the match, teaching counters to our common comps too.
We followed with Mightback (perfect synergy with Light Spirit) and Seona's favorite Nightcrawler. They grabbed our staples Wave Sorcerer and Earth Spirit too.
They seemed convinced we never used Silent Magician after analyzing our games and scrims. They were right—we hadn't practiced it, let alone mastered it for tournament play.
"But we ain't out of picks ourselves."
Arcane Missile (Q) - Fires a slow projectile at a target, dealing base damage plus bonus damage proportional to your Intelligence stat.
Arcane Shock (W) - Launches homing missiles at the nearest enemy champion in a wide area around you, dealing damage and applying slow around the target.
Arcane Emblem (E) - Instantly silences a target. Silenced targets take increased magic damage.
Arcane Barrage (R) - Unleashes a barrage of fire in an area for a duration, dealing extreme damage. Damage is split among enemy champions in range.
Burning Chain (Q) - Binds two random nearby enemies with flame chains, dealing damage over time and rooting them.
Burning Slicer (W) - Sequentially basic attacks all enemies in a target area, then returns to cast location. Deals bonus damage to champions, half to minions. Invulnerable while passing through enemies.
Burning Shield (E) - Deploys a shield absorbing magic damage. While active, deals heavy damage over time to nearby enemies.
Flame Afterimage (R) - Sends a fast-moving flame afterimage to a target spot. It lingers, dealing damage when activated. Can charge up to 3 times.
Afterimage Activation (Passive) - Unlocks with Flame Afterimage. Teleport to a target afterimage (deals damage and vanishes). Defaults to the most recent if multiple.
Ultra-long-range poke with instant silence from Arcane Shooter, and Burning Spirit, the final—and fiery—Spirit champion.
Among all Eternal Combat champs, Arcane Shooter has the frailest body but annoys with endless pokes from insane range, murderous ult damage, and point-blank silence—frequent mid or support pick.
Burning Spirit has longer cooldowns than most Spirits (outside Burning Slicer), but excels in mobility and map control. That W enables one-sided AoE damage, and attack speed items turn her carry potential ridiculous.
She has decent base combat power among Spirits for a last-resort counterpick.
Bloody Rose rounded out with Thunder Spirit, Hollow Spirit, Earth Spirit, Wave Sorcerer, and Silent Magician to block counters.
We locked in Nightcrawler, Burning Spirit, Arcane Shooter, Light Spirit, Mightback.
And our comp wasn't done innovating.
Sera on Burning Spirit to mid, Seona on Nightcrawler to bot.
All pre-planned.
"They might snag our comp. If Thunder Spirit shows, Sera—you grab Burning Spirit and go mid."
"You sure? I'm melee, no evasion like Shadow Assassin."
"Levels 1-2 will suck. But at 3, it's your world. Unless they major screw up, Thunder Spirit can't win. Shield cooldowns? Solo kill city every time."
"What about me? Bot shared XP slows my Nightcrawler level-up."
"No sweat. When we pull Burning Spirit, we're empowering Sera. She farms jungle camps too. Offlaner can't handle Nightcrawler solo. If Big Shield or Mightback, supports harass 'em to death. Other champs? Easy. Sera, show 'em how to win lane on Burning Spirit from now on."
Sera ate hits quietly till level 2, focusing purely on CS.
Han Areum wasn't dumb—she didn't waste mana poking extra. Until level 3, it was just her wailing on Sera unopposed.
Then level 3.
Sera inched forward with CS. Once close enough, she popped Burning Shield.
The flame-wreathed Burning Spirit now blazed with a fiery shield, bathing everything in dazzling red.
Level 1 Burning Shield absorbs so little one skill strips it—zero reason to use at 1. But level 2 spikes absorption huge; no one or two skills peel it. Plus massive DoT while up.
Counter? Burst it fast. But Thunder Spirit has only Lightning Afterimage and passive tick—no real magic damage otherwise. Afterimage has delay; just sidestep.
"Tch..."
As her HP melted under the shield DoT, Han Areum backed off and dropped Lightning Afterimage. Sera dodged the activation range instantly, closing in. Just before distance grew, Sera spun, scattering Burning Chains.
"Gotcha."
Burning Chain roots two random nearby foes—truly random, no champ priority, sucks with minions around.
But here, chasing a retreating foe—no minions. The chains shot out, wrapping Han Areum's ankles.
"Aaaah! Hot!"
Shield DoT hurt, but chains piled on—HP vanishing at lightspeed. Rooted in place, bonus.
Sera strolled up casually, twin flaming blades drawn, tanking tower hits to hack away.
Han Areum's Thunder Spirit—lacking Elementalist mastery—crumpled pathetically. Sera dipped out, tower-dinged.
"Nice one, Sera~"
"What was that mid? Weaker than I thought."
"Yeah, kinda sucks."
Sera headed base to heal, dropping an assessment that would've made Han Areum spit blood.
But the players didn't realize something.
Han Areum wasn't a bad mid.
No one in Division 3 league had ever broken her—and they'd just done it effortlessly, unaware of their own massive growth.
The second hell for Han Areum and Bloody Rose was only beginning.