Division 3 Winter Season (7)

Things went smoothly after they properly repelled that one bottom tower dive.

With Sera and Hayoung already suppressing the enemy offlaner, Seona racked up kills left and right by countering the dive.

The Spirits—especially Thunder Spirit—had gank and roam ranges that started from distances transcending human perception, as long as mana allowed.

On top of that, Earth Spirit covered insane distances with Ground Roll, unleashing a barrage of skills.

While the two Spirits wreaked havoc, Hollow Spirit slipped in with her scythe, sweeping across the battlefield.

Once the three well-farmed Spirits went on the rampage, Peacemaker—who had no silence—couldn't get their act together and got toyed with relentlessly.

Of course, the enemy had solid fundamentals, and Jeong Yujin's farming was decent enough that their teamfight power was still evenly matched. But in terms of macro, we dominated.

The days of drilling the players until their ears bled paid off—their synergy was incredibly satisfying.

And the moment that sealed the game's fate erupted from bot lane.

"Argh! I-I'm airborne!"

Peacemaker's first support, Chae Minji's Gran Magus, got caught in a powerful whirlwind from her ultimate and launched sky-high. But there were no allies nearby to answer her pitiful scream.

Sera, who had built Cyclone Scepter, activated its active effect to launch Chae Minji into the sky. The target was invincible while airborne, and the landing damage was weaker than a single support auto-attack—but the key was pinning the enemy in place definitively for a moment.

The instant Chae Minji got lifted by Cyclone, a translucent afterimage identical to Sera extended from her body. Moments later, the afterimage fully materialized and surged toward the cyclone with its black scythe whirling fiercely.

Hollow Spirit's Void Afterimage had a brief delay before activation. That delay made it tricky to land sometimes—enemies could dodge or sidestep the pull. But with the target fixed in place by Cyclone?

The Void Afterimage fully formed and extended its arm precisely at Chae Minji's position.

"Guh... kkh..."

As the whirlwind faded and Chae Minji's feet touched ground, light burst from the outstretched hand of the purple afterimage, yanking her toward it.

She struggled futilely, gripped like an invisible ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hand, and the next thing she saw was Sera drawing her Void Scythe and slashing down at her.

One advancing slash, then another retreating back to position. Hollow Spirit's ultimate, Void Flash, stacked to 2 and detonated. Seven deep purple portals instantly spawned at the spot. Sera reappeared exactly where she'd vanished, exploding the dimensional gates. Chae Minji, caught in the blast, died without resistance.

Meanwhile, in mid.

"You bastard! Die, just die already!"

Seona dueled Jeong Yujin's Tidal using the invincibility frames on her ultimate, darting back and forth, side to side every second.

No matter how bursty Tidal was with Ethereal Amulet, it meant nothing if it didn't connect. Landing all her skills against Thunder Spirit zipping around with cooldown-free ult invincibility was insanely tough.

"Keep showboating!"

Jeong Yujin gritted her teeth, enduring Seona's constant poke. Thunder Spirit's ult consumed a fixed base mana plus a percentage of max mana based on distance traveled. Short hops minimized the percentage cost, but the base mana still prevented spamming forever.

She figured Seona would run dry soon if she kept it up.

And her calculation hit the mark—Seona, who'd been poking relentlessly with skills and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ult, burned through her mana without enough left to ult-retreat.

Time for payback.

"Die yourself, you bitch!"

Jeong Yujin surged forward as a massive wave to vent her frustration.

But Seona was pulling farther away.

"Wha—"

Jeong Yujin was charging toward Seona—or rather, far beyond her. There, Hayoung extended her arm from afar, magnetically yanking Seona like a magnet.

Earth Spirit's Earth Grip, a silence and rescue tool.

"That... damn..."

Jeong Yujin bit her lip, cursing under her breath. Her team had no weaknesses in teamfights or laning—yet the enemy felt like a squad that had gelled perfectly in just four months since relegation, or really just one week since snapping their pathetic losing streak. No gaps whatsoever.

"Yuna, Eunjae! Move in!"

I shouted at the match, even though the players couldn't hear me.

Yet they reacted instantly, as if they had.

"Ganging mid with unnie!"

Eunjae linked with Yuna and focused. They teleported right in front of Jeong Yujin.

Tidal Wave was Tidal's bread-and-butter survival, dash, and AoE nuke. Without it, she was exposed for a gank.

"Had your fun, punk?"

Yuna grinned, twirling her flail with Eunjae's backup.

"Kh... help me out!"

Jeong Yujin instantly ulted, shapeshifting into an identical Mightback. Using Mightback's damage reduction passive to mitigate hits while fleeing—best call in the moment.

Fundamentals are solid, alright.

Worth her status as Division 3 third-place captain and main carry. How they'd even dropped to relegation last season was baffling.

Jeong Yujin tanked with Mightback's side/rear damage reduction passive, retreating to their tower while scattering Thorn Burst.

But the real Mightback, Yuna, countered with her own Thorn Burst and Paralysis Thorns, backed by Light Spirit Eunjae. Yuna had the edge across the board. Plus, her stacking passive ult outscaled Tidal's copycat ult, which couldn't replicate it.

As Yuna's flail nearly finished Jeong Yujin, Peacemaker reinforcements dove to protect their carry.

"Yujin! Base and recover! We'll hold 'em!"

"Ha? Hold without a carry?"

Light Spirit-backed Mightback was near-perfect. As Yuna said, the remaining three couldn't stop her.

Peacemaker knew it too. They abandoned targeting Yuna.

"Grab that bitch first!"

All three rushed the rear Eunjae. Cut the all-stats supplier, and Mightback either chases without mana, dribbles, or gets processed. Solid call.

"Damn it, Eunjae! Fall back!"

Mightback had penetration and tankiness but poor ally peel. With three ignoring her to charge ahead, Yuna could only smack autos and scatter more thorns. Her stacked ult autos hurt like hell, though.

"No HP? Stay away from Mightback! Grab Light and scatter!"

"Can't do that!"

Another voice rang out as something barreled into the fray at high speed. Hayoung, using Ground Roll with absorbed Earth Afterimage.

Boom. She collided with Peacemaker's frontline offlaner.

"Kh, what the—"

"Haaah!"

Hayoung slammed the ground, summoning surging earth around her. Earth Spirit's ultimate, Earth's Wrath, debuffed the entire Peacemaker squad.

While Hayoung stalled them, Eunjae survived until Light Ally expired and blinked away.

"Everyone, fight on!"

Eunjae had to return home as time ran out, severing Light Bond to not drag Yuna along. Best she could do.

Missing their target, Peacemaker pivoted to the squishier Hayoung. Yuna chased hard, but suddenly her feet lifted off the ground, actions locked.

"Wh-what!?"

"I'll pin her! Target support first!"

Revived Chae Minji's Gran Magus lifted Yuna with Telekinesis, dropping her behind their second tower—far from the frontline. But it closed the gap between them.

"Ha, gonna 1v1 me now? Yeah? Try stealing a skill and showboating again!"

Recalling last teamfight's rout from stolen Wave Sorcerer ult, Yuna went berserk after Chae Minji.

Even if Gran Magus Spellsteal targeted something, our comp's champs relied on combo synergy over single-skill powerhouses—nothing worth stealing. The comp naturally countered her. Yuna and even Chae Minji knew it.

Meanwhile, Hayoung—targeted by offlaner, second support, and mid.

Hayoung periodically spawned Earth Afterimages amid her pursuers, refreshing Earth's Wrath debuff while kiting. They chipped her HP, but lacked finisher damage.

"Ugh... not looking good..."

"Hayoung! I'm here!"

"Seona!"

Seona, mana recovered, dashed in as lightning bolt at blinding speed, sucking the biggest threat—mid—into Electromagnetic Field.

"Damn it, let go! Release me!"

"Pfft! Would you?"

Even while fleeing, Hayoung clocked Lightning Vortex cast precisely.

Coach said no CC first. For range, spawn afterimage right after Vortex—but up close, halfway... now!

As Seona applied slow with empowered autos post-skill, Hayoung seized the sub-second window. At half-pull on Lightning Vortex, she summoned Earth Afterimage before her eyes and punted it.

Peacemaker's clustered champs ate Boulder Smash for a 3-man stun. Hayoung yanked the afterimage back with Earth Grip.

Earth Grip silences; all with Earth's Wrath debuff share the CC.

Instant 3-man silence. Hayoung burned all her afterimage stacks refreshing debuffs nonstop. Seona's Thunder Spirit toyed with them unhindered.

Yuna's solo kill pinged simultaneously. A support like Gran ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Magus couldn't beat Mightback—she crumpled under Yuna's flail, bloodied.

Seconds later, Seona nabbed mid. Offlaner and second support succumbed to stacked Earth's Wrath DoT. Perfect teamfight ace.

"Damn, chased her and ate too much tower. I'm out."

"Ugh... no HP or mana left. Me too."

Yuna, deep in enemy turf after killing Chae Minji, and battered Hayoung retreated. Seona had dumped all her mana too.

But it wasn't over.

"You're not going anywhere!"

A magic circle spawned at the wrecked mid second tower. Incarnation of living waves: Tidal, Jeong Yujin—recovered at fountain.

"Shit, of all things... can we survive?"

"Ugh... I'll die to a graze... barely enough mana for one skill."

"Want me to Vortex and stall? I'll be dry too."

"No, you're mid. I'm support—I'll tank. Run."

"Get ready!!!"

Jeong Yujin surged as a wave. Too far for Tidal Wave damage, but she closed on Hayoung fast, raising watery arms for a skill.

"Die...?!"

Aiming High Tide and Low Tide, Jeong Yujin froze mid-cast. Body slid sideways, distancing from Hayoung.

Turning, she saw deep purple energy streaming from the forest beside their mid first tower. Through the trees, a purple silhouette pulled her in.

"No... no!!!"

"What's not?"

Something rocketed from the forest. Sera—from bot lane—nabbed Jeong Yujin finishing Hayoung with Void Afterimage.

"Knew you'd chase."

Arriving post-cleanup, Sera had pre-planted Void Afterimage where Tidal would dash. Jeong Yujin exposed herself perfectly. Sera latched with Void Flash ult.

Seeing Jeong Yujin sucked in, the retreating players wheeled around. Low on HP/mana, but enough for one skill.

"Sera, clutch!"

Perfectly timed with Void Afterimage pull end, Hayoung's punted Earth Afterimage smashed Jeong Yujin.

"My turn!"

As stun faded, Seona's Lightning Vortex chained, disabling again. Sera vanished, spawning seven purple portals, exploding one under Jeong Yujin upon reappearing.

"Owe you big time last time, you bitch!"

Yuna stomped up, flail thrashing the helpless Jeong Yujin like a fish in water.

"Damn, our damage might fall short..."

Everyone's mana too low to finish full-HP Jeong Yujin.

"Seon-ah! I'm here! Finisher!"

Final backup: Eunjae, ult-expired and rushed mid, linked Light Bond to Seona from afar and flew in.

Instant mana restore. Seona grinned ear-to-ear.

"You're done!"

A middle-finger-saluting afterimage spawned where Seona stood.

Thunder Spirit's Lightning Afterimage activated instantly—no delay like Void's. It exploded, filling the last 2%.

"This... fucking..."

1v1 monster, but infinite CC-chained by the team—Jeong Yujin died without a swing, cursing bitterly.

Eunjae switched Light Bond to highest-auto Yuna. Yuna recovered fast under support, body-blocking tower while pushing. Spirits sucked at structures, but Yuna made quick work—Peacemaker Nexus exploded soon after.

Sera's bot solo, mid skirmish exploding into epic mega-teamfight 5-0 ace.

Proof we weren't just surprise picks—we'd grown massively in raw power. The Division 3 protagonists ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fully awake.