League of Legends Glossary

• Backdoor – A tactic of sneaking into the enemy base while most of the enemy team is elsewhere and successfully destroying the enemy's Nexus to win the game. Alternatively called the xPeke in League as his backdoor against SK Gaming at IEM Katowice in 2013 is considered the most famous play in League history by a Western player.
• Steal – In League of Legends, the slayer of a  neutral monster (and the beneficiary of any buffs it grants) is not  determined by who deals the most damage to it but by who deals the last  hit, and so it is possible to steal an objective by dealing this last hit after the other team has done most of the damage. Junglers are often the ones who can steal objectives, as they are  armed with Smite, a Summoner Spell that deals true damage (unaffected by  Armor or Magic Resistance) to monsters.

Author's Notes
I literally wrote this during the hectic last few days, including as we had the to the group stages and Cloud 9 advancing by the skin of their teeth to the quarterfinals to face Samsung. Still on a big high after that – and I know Samsung will be no picnic, but the team's already equaled its best performance at Worlds and has a chance to go farther than they ever have. One thing's for sure – I'll be watching the action from Chicago with bated breath this whole week because every quarterfinal has a big reason to watch! I'm also planning to do two more chapters before I consider this complete, though I may add more afterwards.
Usual rules apply – reviews welcome, but please, no flaming because you're not a fan.

The final quickly became the talk of Seoul and of Korea, to say nothing of the entire League of Legends competitive scene (especially in North America and China) and even of the E-Sports world. As we walked around, it was hard not to see print and video advertisements from the final showing either us, Oh My God or both. Prep was also back to very serious since it was the finals and since we hadn't faced OMG nearly as much as we'd faced Team SoloMid.

At the same time, it was also the last week before Girls' Generation's final performance before Jessica stepping down, and there was still no word about where it would be or at what time it would be. Particularly after Tiffany and Jessica's interview with Sjokz, Quickshot, Froggen and Krepo during our semifinal against TSM, a few people were speculating that it could have something to do with the final. With just a few days to go, it was also confirmed that it would just be a single song.

To add to things, two of us had meetings with Soshis concerning affairs of the heart – Hai with Taeyeon and me with Tiffany. In both cases, a lot of texts had been exchanged since boot camp the previous month, and they'd requested to meet with us alone since before the quarterfinals. I later confirmed with Hai that neither of us had certainly never expected we'd be in that kind of situation when we'd met Girls' Generation at KCON in August, which already seemed like a long time ago.

On Thursday night, I went to meet Tiffany at a lounge. Before she could make her way there, though, she texted me saying that something had come up – as I later found out, it was something regarding a later schedule.

She'd received a text from me saying that I was waiting there. When she texted me ten minutes later saying she was still being held up, though, there was no response. Very worried, she had arrived at the lounge thirty minutes late – as she later told me, she wouldn't have blamed me one bit if I'd decided to get up and leave.

When she got there, though, she found that I hadn't left yet and also found out why I hadn't left or responded to her second text. I was seated by myself at the back with a glass of Coca-Cola. My forearms were on the table and my chin was resting on my hand, and as she got closer, she could see that I had dozed off waiting. As she found out from me later that meeting, I'd slept badly because I'd been particularly restless over the coming series.

She later said she felt guilty that I'd waited so long that I'd fallen asleep as she woke me as gently as she could with a sideways hug. However, I still started, gasping, "Aah!" I then looked around a bit wildly before I digested where I was and said quietly but audibly enough, "Oh, thank goodness..." I could also hear and feel myself breathing a bit heavily.

"Did you have a bad dream?" Tiffany asked, recognizing what must have happened.

"Yeah." I managed to say.

"Oh, no...was it because of me? I'm so sorry..." She said apologetically.

"Don't worry, it wasn't. You were in it, but it wasn't because of a mistake you made. It was something I did." I said in a similar tone.

"What was it?" She asked, concerned.

I took a sip of my Coke to gather myself and then replied, "I dreamt we'd lost the final...I felt so bad seeing the looks on everyone's faces, but the worst part was seeing yours. You looked so heartbroken, so disappointed...It broke my heart too." As it was with dreams, the images faded from my mind – in this case, mercifully – but that last image stuck to me for a little longer and made me promise myself that I'd do all I could to not let it happen.

"Is that what you're afraid of? Letting people down?" Tiffany asked.

"Not just that...it's what I fear more than anything else." I replied sincerely. "More than failure, more than even death."

"Really?" She asked, stunned.

"Really." I answered, not averting my eyes.

"Do you mean...you don't want to disappoint me the most because you care about me that much?" She asked.

For a second, I felt myself frozen by fear. Then I remembered that emotional night at Fraser Place, when Jessica had told me to not be afraid to open up to Tiffany and I'd promised to be brave, and I found my voice and allowed myself to be daring and take the plunge.

"It's true...I've fallen for you, Tiffany noona. I love how you light up the world with everything you have – your smile, your eye smile, your voice, your kindness, your laughter – like you were born to do it...and in my mind, you were born to do it. I even love how brave you are – you proved it when you decided to come here to chase your dreams and I know you've only become braver since. And all that's without me saying you're beautiful."

I looked her in the eyes to both underline my point and gauge her response. I couldn't tell much – only that she was taken aback.

"I know there's so many people who could make you happier more easily than I can and I know I'm far from perfect, but if you granted me the chance, I'd do all I could to give you some light in return."

After a few moments, she said, "Oh, my...Carlo...I..."

"Hang on...whether it's yes or no, please don't tell me now. Save it until after the finals." I said.

"Are..are you still mad at me because I was so terribly late?" Tiffany asked, clearly worried.

"It's not that, don't worry." I said gently. "I promise. It's just that if you give an answer right now, no matter what it is, I might not be as focused as I need to be."

"Why, Jessi?" She had asked Jessica, puzzled. "Why did he tell me not to say anything? Did he think I was going to reject him?"

"I think I know, Tiff." Jessica replied. "He thought it through and decided that if you rejected him, he would have been heartrboken, and if you accepted him, he'd be so happy that he might not be able to think straight. Either way, he wouldn't be in the best shape emotionally. So he just didn't trust himself to properly deal with your response before the finals."

"I understand..." Tiffany said. Amazingly, I later found out that she was wiping her eyes here. "That's wise of him."

"What would you have told him?" Jessica asked.

Tiffany took a moment but then said firmly but sincerely, "I've fallen for him too..." Then she added, "I should apologize to him so much, because I was just so stunned at him feeling the same way that he probably thinks I don't like him."

"It's okay. I have a feeling it will work out...Can I tell you something?" Jessica asked, laying a hand on her arm comfortingly. "When you texted him on the night I went to Fraser Place, I told him to not be afraid to open himself up to you for two reasons. One, you're my best friend, and two, I could tell what you thought of him. Just the fact that you asked him if you could meet him alone told me a lot."

"Thanks a lot, Jessi." Tiffany replied, giving her a quick sideways hug.

"Anything for you." Jessica replied. "Was there anything else from your time with him?"

"Yes." Tiffany replied. "I asked him, 'You're a DJ...could you find a way to play a song we really like tomorrow when you're onstage? In a manner of speaking, of course.'"

"What did he say?" Jessica asked.

Tiffany responded, "He grinned and replied, 'We do have a little strat that we haven't dared tell anyone about. It needs to be into the right kind of opposing team comp, but we'll definitely keep our eyes out. Not only is it something I've wanted to do, but it's become something we've wanted to do for a while now.'"

Jessica smiled. "Knowing him, if he gets the chance, he'll do it. And the rest of the team will be ready to back it up."

On Friday, Hai met with Taeyeon again at a snack bar.

"I've never had the chance to play at a stadium like we will on Sunday, and given what's happened to me, I don't know when or if I'll have the chance again." Hai was saying. "Well, maybe IEM Katowice, but I don't really count that since they used only half of it."

"I think you also don't count it because it was the last tournament that you entered and didn't win." Taeyeon said understandingly. "I'd have done the same."

"Yeah, that too. That was the last one before Aurora and Carlo joined the main roster." Hai said, nodding.

"What was it like after you had the collapsed lung?" Taeyeon asked. "Sunny does deal with it as best as she can, but you've probably heard or seen that she's had to deal with those knee problems."

"It's okay. It does mean I can't practice as I long...I think the wrist problems have been more worrying, though, because that's what bothers me more often during a game." He replied.

"How do you manage to lead and shotcall as well as you can after all that?" She asked.

"I basically force myself to believe we're better than the other team, even if we're not at a certain point in the game." He responded. "Because if I don't, then I can't make the right calls."

Taeyeon's smile grew into one of kinship, admiration and affection, while Hai's was part cheeky and part abashed.

"I haven't had to compete head to head as much as you have and it's been so long, but I remember that so well. Having to wake up in those early days and continually tell myself that we were good enough...that we had what it took even when we hadn't yet made our mark." She said. Hai said he could tell she was reaching back to what seemed like days long gone, even though it had only been 2007.

"Because if you don't believe it..." Hai said.

"Then the team won't..." Taeyeon continued knowingly.

"And they can tell..." Hai continued, nodding...

"...Even if you don't say anything." They finished together.

They shared a laugh. She then said, "Can I ask you something else?"

"Sure, go right ahead." He answered.

"Was that basically what you were thinking when you asked if we could schedule our last performance with Jessica until after the finals?" She asked.

"That was part of it. What also gave me the courage to do that was...I could sense something." Hai said, and it was his turn to cast his mind back, though not nearly as far. "I could tell Sneaky, Meteos and Lemon all wanted to do something, to say nothing of Balls, Aurora and Carlo, when Jessica gave us the news. I then made the request, because I could tell for sure I wasn't the only one who was going to go in with that drive. And that's when I found out that all of them would because they were ready to fight for you guys too."

"Any idea on who they wanted to fight for most of the nine of us?" Taeyeon inquired.

"Well, I'm fairly confident in saying that all of us wanted to do it for Jessica because she was in the most pain, but she's taken." Hai said with a chuckle. "Yuri for Lemon, but he's got a girlfriend and is happy with her. Meteos and Sneaky for Sooyoung and Yoona..."

"Seohyun too, I think. She knows Sneaky's your maknae." Taeyeon said.

"Second maknae, actually – Balls is younger than Sneaky by a bit – but it's still a good point." Hai informed. "From there, Aurora for Hyoyeon as a friend, Balls for Sunny and Carlo for Tiffany."

Taeyeon smiled, nodded and then asked, "And what about you?"

Hai smiled. He then asked, "Well, let me try this...If there's one single member of SNSD you want me to fight for on Sunday, Taengoo noona, who is it?"

Taeyeon's smile changed to something neither Hai or any of us had seen up close. She motioned as if she wanted to take Hai's hand, and he smiled, nodded and allowed her to do so.

"Hai, could that one be me?" She asked.

"I was hoping you'd say that." He answered. "I'd be happy to fight for you on Sunday...beyond that if you'd let me."

"I would love that." Taeyeon said, and she leaned closer and kissed him on the cheek. "Saranghaeyo, Hai."

"Anh yêu em." Hai replied, smiling as he returned the kiss. "Saranghaeyo, Taeyeon noona."

"Oh, Vietnamese?" Taeyeon replied with a cheeky grin. "Oh, that's right, because your family's from there!"

Hai returned the grin. "Just don't ask me to say it in Chinese – I'll need some good lessons from Hyoyeon before I can do that if that's what you want."

On the night before the final, Girls' Generation visited the World Cup Stadium again and made the home locker room, which we would be using, one of their final stops. They found the lockers with our name plates above them and placed our new jerseys...

Author's Note: These are the 2016 jerseys, which Hai is modeling here, only with the 2014 sponsors:

...which had country flags added to the sleeves, inside along with individual letters that they had written (for example, Aurora had letters from Jessica and Hyoyeon, while Hai had a letter from Taeyeon.) They also left another envelope in each of our lockers, which read,

Dear Cloud 9,

We've always said that while we are nine different people, we are as one, and that means we feel each other's pain and also share each other's joy as if it were our own. Today is no different.

Every fight, every kill, every death, every defeat, every victory...we'll feel it with you.

But don't be afraid. We know and believe in our hearts that you can accomplish what you set out to do tomorrow not just for yourselves...not just for us too...but for all who believe in you...here, back in North America, and even around the world.

Embrace the moment. Amaze us. Make us dream.

And no matter what, we'll be watching throughout and we'll be there before it's all over.

You've already proven that you're winners and champions. Now go out and prove you're world champions.

All our love,
소녀시대 (So Nyuh Shi Dae / Girls' Generation)

Before they went to the final, though, there were some schedules that Girls' Generation had been unable to get out of, as they had both hinted at and explained to us. For example, Taeyeon and Jessica were making a guest appearance on a radio show just after Game 1 – which OMG won. The Soshis knew from us and from what they'd read elsewhere that Oh My God was also coming into the grand finals in great shape. We'd beaten them at All-Stars, but they had also been using Xiyang as a substitute for their regular mid-laner Cool, the most popular active Chinese mid following the retirement of Team WE's Misaya. They'd also always been able to rely on captain and top-laner Gogoing, widely considered the best top-laner in the LPL, and jungler Loveling, while support Cloud had stepped up after being subbed in following the group stage.

During the tournament, they'd also delved into the K-Pop/C-Pop scene when they did a cover of EXO-M's Light of the Planet, which was seriously cool to see. All that said, though, the girls were still shocked and understandably worried when they took the first game.

Before they went into the studio, Taeyeon saw Jessica take a phone call, where she finished by saying, "Yes. Thank you very much! Okay, we'll see you as soon as we can."

"Who was that?" Taeyeon asked.

"It's Jack." Jessica answered.

"Oh, Cloud 9's owner?" Taeyeon asked, coming over. "What did he say?"

"He said the team's refocusing, getting over their nerves...and he also told me congratulations." Jessica replied, breaking into a smile.

"What's going on?" Taeyeon asked excitedly.

"I took some time to think just after the semifinals and thought back to how much I enjoyed being with Cloud 9 before quarterfinals when I couldn't make it to Guangzhou with the girls...I asked him if I could join as a consulting manager after I stepped down from the group." Jessica answered.

"And?" Taeyeon asked, now smiling too.

"You won't believe this...he told me he'd love it!" Jessica answered. "He said he remembered how well the team responded to me being there before the quarterfinals."

Taeyeon's smile grew even more, and she engulfed Jessica in a sisterly hug. "Congratulations, Sica! I couldn't think of a better person for that to happen to! You know else that means, right?"

"What is it?" Jessica asked.

"We'll really still be one even though you'll be with Aurora and the boys and get to do your own thing too – they are part of us, after all." Taeyeon answered, tightening her hug again. "I'm so happy for you!"

"It's more than I could have hoped for, Tae." Jessica said, starting to tear up. "I always thought this day would be so bittersweet...and it still will be...but at least I get to celebrate starting a new chapter too."

"They'll make sure you really get that chance. They're going to have to kill Hai – and I mean literally kill him – to stop him from fighting for that championship." Taeyeon said firmly. "And that's to say nothing about the others."

About 50 minutes later, they had finished up, and Sunny, who had been finishing a schedule of her own nearby, came running up to them.

"They won Game 2!" She exclaimed, glowing.

"Yes!" Jessica exclaimed, giving a big sigh of relief, cheering and high-fiving them.

"All right!" Taeyeon whooped, before she asked Sunny, "What happened?"

"They outmaneuvered them and Hai pulled off a backdoor to end the game while OMG was trying for Baron!" Sunny said excitedly.

Taeyeon's face flushed with excitement as Sunny pulled up the replay on her phone. Hai had used Twisted Fate's Destiny / Gate to catch a wave of super minions and backdoor OMG while the rest of us had kept OMG busy near the Baron and prevented them from recalling.

Her face lit up as she saw OMG's Nexus explode, and she said quietly but clearly, "Hai, you magnificent man." Then she turned to the others who were there and said, "Okay. Everyone to the World Cup Stadium as soon as they're able. Our other seven members need us there!"

Texts flew out as well, and it soon became evident that nobody needed to be told twice. Girls' Generation was on its way to the World Cup Stadium post haste.

Luckily, none of the others was that far away, and everyone was at the stadium and getting ready by the time Game 3 got underway.

In the meantime, even more people were filing into the stadium, adding to the already great crowd that had been there when the broadcast had started, and while we didn't know it yet, just about all of them were on our side. With the increased interest in the final, previously unopened seating sections had been opened on the day of the final itself, and SM had pulled off a big feat in buying up the vast majority of them after Girls' Generation had first privately disclosed to the people upstairs that they were interested in performing at the final. They then gave them to League-playing SONEs, prioritizing honorable players (meaning those who weren't or hadn't been banned or chat-restricted for toxicity and such), collaborating with Riot Korea to verify their records. As Sunny later told us, "We've never leaned on it too much, but there are times we're glad that my uncle's the top person at SM." The group had then explained to those who had tickets – who had then spread the word – that if the performance wasn't at the final, then they would tell them where it was and provide the transportation there. The response from the fans had been very positive – including because many said they hoped to see them perform after we won.

On that subject, Taeyeon, who got ready first, made a beeline for Imagine Dragons, who had the final say on whether that idea could go ahead because they were the originally announced closing ceremony concert act, since they had provided Warriors as the theme of the 2014 Worlds. She had an idea that involved one of them and was hoping they could help with it.

Meanwhile, the others were congratulating Jessica on joining Cloud 9 and shared Taeyeon's sentiment down to the last woman – it meant that while she was stepping down, they really still would be one because she was joining us after they'd welcomed us and begun to consider us as a part of them following our resolution that Hai had led to win Worlds for them while their original roster was still together. They were also watching Game 3 intently, with those who were still getting ready relying on the commentary and the other girls' reactions.

"Oh, yes!" Sooyoung burst out. "That's our Meteos!"

"What happened?" Seohyun asked, unable to look over because she was one of the ones who was still getting her makeup done.

"OMG tried to rush Baron after they nearly killed Sneaky, but Meteos managed to steal it! They got a couple more kills on top of it and they're pushing!" Sooyoung replied ecstatically.

"Are they going for the win right now?" Seohyun asked, also excited.

"Not quite, but they're getting very close!" Yuri replied, who was also watching the broadcast after she finished getting ready. "I think it's going to be 2-1 and match point soon enough!"

"It should be." Hyoyeon said. "I'm confident that Cool didn't mean any disrespect, but I really didn't want him to win against Aurora and the boys after he picked Ahri!"

"At least he picked Dynasty Ahri and not Popstar Ahri." Tiffany said gratefully. "That would have felt so awkward."

Everyone nodded together. Seohyun and Yoona were the last two to finish getting ready, but as they turned to watch the screen, they saw us ace OMG after Aurora, who was playing Nami, landed a massive Tidal Wave that allowed us to clean up with Sneaky and Meteos in the lead. OMG, wanting to get it behind them and move on mentally to Game 4, didn't even wait for us to take out their Nexus.

"Oh, it's a surrender!" Hyoyeon said, as everyone whooped.

"It is! Wow...you can tell they're in their opponents' heads right now." Tiffany said.

Meanwhile, we all celebrated a bit but showed more steely focus than anything as we headed offstage, though we made sure to wave to the crowd. One more game, we were all thinking.

"Is it just me, or do they look even more handsome and beautiful today?" Jessica asked. They could also see that Aurora had a new ruffled skirt that she hadn't worn onstage that went above her knees and was white with a blue hem and sash, while I had opted for some changes too with an elbow-length white undershirt that went past my jersey and black shin-length pants with white socks. Sneaky had also been steadily losing weight since we'd arrived in Korea and looked very slim.

"They really do, Sica unnie." Yoona said, smiling. "They knew they had to really look good for today like us."

Each Girls' Generation outfit for the final performance – ranging from separate short skirts and tops to dresses reaching to above the knees – had both the pink "GG Crown" Girls' Generation emblem that dated back to their self-titled debut album and a blue Cloud 9 emblem, with their name next to a small country flag below the GG Crown. All were predominantly white with blue skirts, accents or both, with the exception of Jessica's, which was a blue sleeveless top with a white skirt as a nod to her joining C9, and included high heels. They bore a further resemblance to our jersey in that the tops also bore our sponsor logos (in their case, down the right side below the C9 logo.)

They also finished putting on jackets so they didn't give away everything if the cameras went on them, which they were bound to.

Sunny then reached for the door handle to peek outside, but Taeyeon stopped her, looking back at the screen. "Wait, Sunny – I think they're going by outside." She said cautiously.

Sure enough, a backstage camera on the Riot broadcast showed that both we and OMG were going by the room where they'd been getting ready.

About ten minutes after we'd passed, they got in some brief extra practice and then left the room. Eventually, they emerged to take their seats in the front row of one of the newly opened sections, which was filled with people who were SONEs cheering for C9, and an amazing sight greeted their eyes.

The stadium nights were ablaze as night had fallen, and over 60,000 people were seated in the stands and in seats on the field, many of whom had Thunder Stix and signs. North American and Chinese fans were also distinguishable since they'd brought American, Canadian and Chinese flags. Two elevated walkways connected to platforms in front of the stands at the goal ends, and it was by this way that we and OMG had entered at the start of the series. Another path went from the players' tunnel at midfield and up stairs to the stage in the center of the field.

On this stage were the two banks of stations, but this time, the two banks faced each other and also pointed towards the center, where the silver bejeweled Summoner's Cup rested on a pedestal. Our side had our team banner and the NA LCS banner, while OMG's side had their team banner and the LPL banner. Numerous video screens were also set up so people could see what was going on while still being able to see the stage. Also, as the girls later found out from us, our NA LCS and LPL colleagues who had also played in the tournament were in the front rows behind the two teams to lend their support to the finalists.

We were already seated again, as was OMG, because the draft for Game 4 was about to begin.