Glossary (for those new to League)
Dragon – An epic monster in League of Legends. At the time of the main plotline (2014), slaying one awarded the whole team bonus Gold. Currently, there are various elemental Dragons that do not do so but award various bonuses like damage, Health and Mana Regen and movement speed.

OGN – OnGameNet, a gaming-focused TV channel in South Korea that is the organizer of the top League of Legends competition in the country.

Wombo Combo – This term actually originated in Super Smash Bros. Melee and was used to describe a double-team combo by SilentSpectre and Tang during a doubles tournament. After the video of the cast went viral, MOBA commentators took to using the term to describe a combination of abilities from multiple players that decimate multiple opponents.

2014 League of Legends World Championship
Semifinals
Olympic Gymnastics Arena, Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea
October 11th – 12th

Cloud 9 (North America)
Top - Carlo (Phillip Carlo Santos, USA)
Jungle - Meteos (Will Hartman, USA)
Mid - Hai (Hai Du Lam, USA)
AD Carry - Sneaky (Zach Scuderi, USA)
Support - Aurora (Caroline Aurora Lea, Canada)
Substitute - Balls (An Van Le, USA)
Coach/Emergency Sub - LemonNation (Daerek Hart, USA)

Team SoloMid (North America)
Top - Dyrus (Marcus Hill, USA)
Jungle - TheOddOne (Bryan Wyllie, Canada)
Mid - Bjergsen (Søren Bjerg, Denmark)
AD Carry - WildTurtle (Jason Tran, Canada)
Support - Xpecial (Alex Chu, USA)
Substitute/Owner - Reginald (Andy Dinh, USA)
Coach - Locodoco (Choi Yoonsub, South Korea)

Most times, as with other Western teams, a little extra work went  into preparation at Worlds not just because of the stakes but because we  were playing against teams we had rarely played against, if ever. This time, though, we were up against an opponent we knew perhaps better than  any other in the field (and vice versa) because we'd gone toe to toe so  often back home.

The C9-TSM storyline needed no introduction. Team SoloMid had won the  very first split of the North American LCS in Spring 2013 against Good  Game University (now Team Coast). Then the original Cloud 9 had turned  up after qualifying for the Summer Split and been a thorn in their side  since. Not only were we three-time defending NA LCS champions, but the  last three NA LCS finals, including the one earlier in the fall at PAX Prime, had all been contested by our two teams. Three of our starters  (Hai, Meteos and Sneaky) had played in all three, while four of their  starters had done the same (Dyrus, TheOddOne, WildTurtle and Xpecial.)  Our owner and co-founder Jack had even gotten his experience in  management with TSM before he'd received Reginald's blessing to head his  own brand, which became C9, while WildTurtle had been part of Quantic  (which had become Cloud 9) and had been trained up a bit by LemonNation.

Also, not since the very first League World Championship at Dreamhack Summer 2011 in Jönköping, Sweden had two North American teams  faced each other in a Worlds playoff (specifically, TSM against Epik Gamer in a loser's bracket semifinal.)

"We are certain of one thing. If they had to choose between winning  the last three NA LCS finals or winning this Worlds semifinal, they'd choose winning the semifinal, because we'd choose the same." Aurora said  in some of her pre-match comments. Meanwhile, I was on the record as  saying that I remembered how amazing it was when the GSL (StarCraft II) brought the Code S Finals to BlizzCon in 2011 – and now we were getting the chance  to bring the NA LCS Finals to Korea with a spot in the Worlds Grand  Finals on the line.

The semifinal venue was the Olympic Gymnastics Arena at the Olympic  Park in Songpa-gu, Seoul, about an hour away from Fraser Place by foot  and public transportation. As the name suggested, it had been built as  the gymnastics venue for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, and since  then, it had become a famous concert venue. Girls' Generation had  performed there, as had many other illustrious Korean and Western artists  including Super Junior, Big Bang, Beyoncé and Taylor Swift...and now  we, Team SoloMid, Samsung White and Oh My God would get to play there.

We went to watch the first semifinal between Oh My God and Samsung  White the day before our semifinal, and something that proved to be  fortuitous happened. In a very hotly contested series, OMG beat White in  five games, mainly thanks to Gogoing and Cool even though the entire  team played strongly. Even though we knew OMG was the real deal, we were  picking our jaws off the floor because we admittedly were expecting to  have to face SSW in the finals. Then we also gradually realized that  everyone who'd been pulling for Samsung White first now had to choose  between one of the remaining three teams to support, and the clear  majority picked us. We understood that this meant that they would favor  the winner of our semifinal, though, because either we or TSM would be  up against the Chinese top guns who had knocked out the last Korean team  in the tournament.

Following the first semifinal, Taeyeon suggested that we arrive at  the Olympic Gymnastics Arena half an hour earlier than we had planned.  The reason became apparent as we arrived to find that one of Girls'  Generation's stylists and makeup artists was there to help us with  makeup before we went out. The guys needed just facial powder, but  Aurora was very happy at getting the chance to don that plus some  vibrant pink lipstick and some mascara.

After about fifteen minutes, Sunny, Yoona, Taeyeon, Tiffany and  Jessica, who had been meeting TSM first (to make things fair) arrived,  accompanied by another female idol who we recognized as Red Velvet's  Wendy – Aurora's favorite female idol outside of Girls' Generation and  someone who I'd become a fan of too. Then Taeyeon gave us another  surprise, as she said, "We're actually also going to be helping with  national anthems before everyone is seated. I'll be singing the Korean  one, while Wendy will do the Canadian one and Tiffany and Jessica will  do the American one."

--------------

Unlike in the first semifinal, where OMG and Samsung White entered  from just offstage, we and TSM entered from the back going down towards  the stage down one aisle each, slapping hands with fans all the way  down. As big and energetic as the crowd had been in Busan, this crowd  was even bigger and more amped up – and the fact that it was not hostile  was a huge shot in the arm for everybody. As we made our way to the  stage and then turned to face the audience, we could also see quite a  few fans who had made the trip from North America.

Onstage close to our stations (called "sleds") were the banners of  both the World Championship and the North American LCS. The American and  Canadian flags also hung over the stage next to the South Korean one.  Overall, it felt a lot like when we faced each other back in Los Angeles  or Seattle, only kicked up quite a few notches because of the  atmosphere, including even more fired-up voices exchanging dueling fan  chants as we took the stage and were introduced.

"Cloud 9! Cloud 9! Cloud 9!"

"TSM! TSM! TSM! TSM!"

Then Taeyeon emerged and the crowd exploded. All of us on the Cloud 9  side grinned at seeing that there were apparently a ton of SONEs in the  crowd, and I noticed WildTurtle and Xpecial grinning too. We then bowed  our heads respectfully as she sang Aegukga and then joined in  the big applause that followed. Then the Canadians – Aurora, OddOne and  WildTurtle – came to the center and locked arms as Wendy sang O Canada.  More applause ensued, especially from Canadians and Red Velvet fans in  the crowd, and finally, the Americans – our whole team minus Aurora and  then also Dyrus and Xpecial – came to the center and locked arms as  Tiffany and Jessica sang The Star-Spangled Banner, which got a surprisingly raucous cheer from the SONEs and the Americans in the crowd.

It was a big reminder to both teams if any of us ever needed it that  no matter who won, we had represented our countries and our region well  and it would be up to us to do so again that night – and up to the  winner to do so one more time in the final. Looking to my left and right  during the anthems, everyone knew it, and it was written on our faces. A  number of us had been mouthing or murmuring our anthems as they were  sung as well.

We and TSM shook hands onstage with Tiffany, Jessica, Wendy and  Taeyeon and then with each other before we broke to take our seats at  our positions and get ready.

Game 1 was close with both of our teams fired up but not managing to  land blows until we took a big fight at the Dragon that threw the game  open for us. Game 2 was similar, only it happened even earlier and it  accelerated faster since we had TSM firmly on their heels, meaning we  headed offstage for the second break with a 2-0 lead and, needless to  say, in even higher spirits.

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While we were discussing Game 3 plans backstage, Sunny, Yoona and  Taeyeon were interviewed for the OGN broadcast while Tiffany and Jessica  headed to the Riot analyst desk for an interview.

Eefje "Sjokz" Depoortere (EU LCS):  Welcome back to the 2014 World Championship semifinals, where Cloud 9  is up 2-0 over Team SoloMid in this best-of-5. Right now...well, I think  it should be said: "Right Now, It's Girls' Generation!" Because we have  the pleasure of being joined by a pair of special guests – two of the  women who helped us with the anthems before this all-North American  clash got underway. It's Girls' Generation's JeTi – Jessica and Tiffany!  Thank you very much for being here tonight and helping us.

Tiffany: Thank you very much!

Jessica: Thank you, Sjokz. Glad to be here.

Sjokz:  Fantastic! I have to ask first...you and Cloud 9. It really has been an  awe-inspiring story just from what we know about how you've interacted  with each other since meeting at KCON – did you see think for one moment  that this would happen?

Tiffany: We  certainly didn't, but looking back on it, it certainly wasn't an  accident. I think both we and Cloud 9 not only enjoy each other's work  but also see how hard the other group has been working, and we both want  to do our best for our fans because we so often draw our strength from  them and it makes us want to do something we haven't done before. And  that admiration has drawn us closer."

Jessica:  There's a reason why we picked them even over SK Telecom - as funny as  it sounds, we recognized that bit of ourselves in them and we know what  it can do.

Sjokz:  Wow. Let me stay with you for this next question, Jessica. What was it  like hearing the C9 comms as they clinched victory against SKT last week  saying that that win was for you?

Jessica:  It meant a lot, especially since they told me that not only did they  want to support me during that tough period, but that they wanted to  repay me for the support I gave after I was unable to travel to  Guangzhou with the group. But I also knew it was for the group as a  whole as well, and I did like that very much...I must say I don't think I  could have inspired what they did against SK Telecom by myself.

Mitch "Krepo" Voorspels (Evil Geniuses, guest analyst):  On a less serious note, and this is something you touched on...we've  talked about imports a lot this year, especially in North America – (at  Froggen) and yes, I know I'm part of that – for our viewers who aren't  yet familiar with K-Pop or Girls' Generation, you two are actually, if  we're speaking in League terms, North American imports to Korea, hence your names.

Tiffany:  Some of the Cloud 9 players have referred to us as such, and we do have  fun with it. I think that's a reason that, while they get along with  all of us, it's been even easier in our case. And it's true – we were  born in San Francisco – in the same hospital, actually...and both grew  up in California. When we came to Korea – Sica did when she was 10, I  did when I was 15 – we also attended the same foreign school in Seoul.

Jessica:  I do remember that just after Cloud 9 beat SK Telecom, Sneaky said  something when I was with them that made me laugh. He said, "NA Jessica  > KR Jessica." I told him later that he could have also said,  "Jessica > Sooyeon", which is my Korean name. Oh, quick quiz question  – what's Tiffany's Korean name?

Henrik "Froggen" Hansen (Alliance, guest analyst): Miyoung?

Tiffany: Excellent! How did you find out? Because I was watching you and I know you didn't cop out and look at your notes.

Froggen:  We scrimmed Cloud 9 ahead of the semifinals and I asked each who their  favorite Girls' Generation member was. Carlo said you were his favorite  and quizzed me on your Korean name. But still, that's unbelievable – and  I need to listen to some of your music, but I can tell the synergy is  real. If only Krepo and I were born in the same hospital and went to the  same school...then maybe we win OGN Summer two years ago.

Krepo: That's probably you and Wickd since I'm not Danish, but thanks.

Trevor "Quickshot" Henry (EU LCS):  On that subject, one of our production team members, who is an avid fan  of yours, was telling me during the break that...we know that with  CLG.EU and EG, the saying was "Fit with Snoopeh, Fat with Krepo, Fed  with Froggen."

Krepo: Yep.

Quickshot: Well, these girls don't so much have a saying...as they have their own drink!

Froggen: No way!

Quickshot:  We have some of it here – for those who don't know, there is actually a  chocolate drink called JeTi here in Korea and we have a box right here.

Jessica: I actually drank that in high school, so this came out before we made our debut with Girls' Generation.

Tiffany: Fans tell us that it fits us because it's sweet like our voices, and that always makes us happy.

Quickshot:  I would call it a well-deserved honor for sure. Now, back to some more  serious matters...by now, even those of us who are not familiar with  K-Pop have heard the news that you announced, Jessica, following the  quarterfinals, that your last performance before stepping down from  Girls' Generation will be in one week on the same day as the final. Have  you two or anyone in the group considered performing at the final?  Before you answer, please also allow us to say thank you for everything  that you and the group have given us.

Jessica:  Thank you, Quickshot. That's very kind. In answer to that...we have.  There are three things we can say...one, nothing is set in stone yet  about whether we have that last performance at the final. Two, if we  did, we wouldn't be pushing aside Imagine Dragons. Three, it must be  said...if we did, nothing against the other teams, but we would love it  if we got to perform after a Cloud 9 victory.

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For Game 3, which we would play from the red side, we picked Jinx for Sneaky, Thresh for Aurora, Kha'Zix for Meteos and finally two off-the-wall picks: Orianna for me and Kennen for Hai (normally picks for mid and top, not the other way around), while TSM, knowing they were  against the ropes, went to two unconventional but comfort picks in  Dyrus' and OddOne's favorite champions: Singed and then Maokai in the  jungle and also got LeBlanc for Bjergsen.

This time, though, TSM got off to a great start, especially thanks to  Dyrus, OddOne and Xpecial. Bjergsen also got fed significantly more and  earlier than he did in our other games in that series and back in North  America, which was the last thing anyone facing TSM needed. Adding to  that, Aurora went for an adventurous solo ward clear but got picked off.

"Sorry about that, I got impatient." Aurora said apologetically.

"Deep breath, everyone. Just gotta focus." I said supportively.

"Yeah, like I said, we have to know they're going to throw the kitchen sink at us when we're 2-0 up." Hai responded.

"Yeah..." Meteos said a bit sheepishly, before he said, "I think we  can turn this quickly, though. I think they're going to try  Baron...Wait, they are. I just saw them."

"Okay." Hai said. "Sneaky, Carlo and I all have ults ready. If they keep trying to take it, we'll go after them if they group."

"You smelling a steal, Meteos?" Sneaky asked with a grin.

"F**k yeah, I am." Meteos replied with a grin of his own.

"We might get it, but even if they secure it, they're not leaving that fight alive." Hai said determinedly. "Worth either way."

"Heck yeah. Okay, let's put it together!" I said.

Joe:  Baron has been dealing a lot of damage, though, and Hai and Carlo are  there along with Meteos, all coming from different angles and managing  to dodge the TSM wards and not reveal themselves early. We could have  another big fight right now.

David "Phreak" Turley (NA LCS): In goes Hai with Slicing Maelstrom and tags four! Shockwave follows!

Joe: Rocket's been fired as well and it's going to land!

Phreak:  Whoa! It does land and that's Bjergsen and Turtle gone! Hai, Meteos and  Carlo are going after Dyrus and OddOne with TSM low on health and  missing their damage! And down they go! Baron was secured by TheOddOne,  but Team SoloMid just lost four of its members, so I'm not sure if that  was worth!

Joe: I don't think it was. Instead, it's going to be Cloud 9 pushing and getting one turret, maybe two.

Kobe:  You have to like the aggressive call there – even after Aurora gets  picked off, the remaining four members of Cloud 9 are still ready if TSM  tries to burst down the Baron with the man advantage and they line up  this wombo combo beautifully. Hai gets in before anyone can react, gets  his ultimate down, followed by the Shockwave and the Super Mega Death  Rocket, and from there, it was an easy cleanup. Baron is secured and  it's still on Xpecial, but those are about the only good things that  came out of that fight for TSM.

We did indeed get a pair or turrets off of it and also got ourselves  in position to keep eyes on whether TSM went for the Dragon when the  next one arrived.

"Looks like someone's pulling on the line...make that five of them."  Aurora set. "I should definitely be able to hook either Bjergsen or OddOne and give us the chance to burst him preemptively. I'm feeling it  again."

"Nice." Hai said, poised. "Okay, start us off – that Dragon's going down fast."

"Come to mama..." Aurora said quietly but in a tone that still  betrayed her focus. Then she saw it connect and yelled, "Got him!"

"Nice! Bjergsen! Kill Bjergsen!" Hai shouted.

Joe:  The hook lands onto Bjergsen! Shockwave goes down onto him and  TheOddOne again! And this time, Meteos does come up with the steal!  Another fight over an objective breaks out, and this time, Cloud 9 leave  no one standing!

Phreak:  Dragon as well on top of that. Cloud 9 have come back from a 3,000 Gold  deficit since before that fight at Baron to lead by almost 2,000 now,  and it just looks to get bigger as they'll get more turrets off of this.

Kobe:  You can also see that they're trying to settle down and re-establish  vision control as well. It's one of those things that you can sometimes  forget when trying to come back because your eyes are on that objective  or that kill that can narrow or erase that gold deficit, but now that  they're back in front, they're trying to do the little things as well to  make sure TSM doesn't make another run.

We used the chance that ace gave us to push down mid, which we hadn't  been able to do successfully that game yet, all the way to the  inhibitor turret.

"Just make sure Sneaky doesn't die and we should have this siege." Hai said.

"Yeah, finally been able to eat this game instead of feeding. FeelsGoodMan." Sneaky said with a grin.

"Got you covered – saving Protect for if they try to take you out, Sneaky." I said reassuringly.

"Okay, Carlo, I'm counting on you." Sneaky responded. "Oh, here we go!"

Joe:  Bjergsen goes in on Sneaky, but Carlo's ready with the Command: Protect  and Sneaky stays alive. Aurora even lands another hook and they've  killed Bjergsen again! I wouldn't even call that a bad decision from him  – it was just an even better reaction by Cloud 9!

Phreak:  I completely agree, Joe. That means a 5v4 in favor of Cloud 9 and  Meteos leaps forward with Aurora's lantern as a quick escape option and  chunks WildTurtle to below half! Dyrus wants to look for the toss, but  Aurora gets in and Flays him to disrupt that. Nobody else goes down, but  TSM's forced to back off and this will likely be their inhibitor going  down.

Kobe:  A huge pick there, especially with Baron respawning just now. Bjergsen is not coming back for another ten seconds and Cloud 9 is making sure  all of their vision is in place so that they can track TSM while they  start it up.

As it turned out, TSM elected to concede the Baron since we'd knocked  out one of their inhibitors and their strongest player, so we quickly  took it down and launched a 4-1 split push with Meteos mid and pushing  and empowering a wave going towards TSM's Nexus turrets while the rest  of us besieged the top inhibitor turret.

Phreak:  Keep your eyes on Aurora here – she has really stepped up with those  hooks. If she gets another one, it very well could be a ticket to the  finals that she reels in too for Cloud 9.

Joe:  Hook goes out and she's got one, all right, and it's WildTurtle! He  gets locked up and finished off, and that's a 4v3 now in favor of C9 as  Meteos is keeping Dyrus busy! TSM has got to go in and they do as OddOne  activates Vengeful Maelstrom and looks for Sneaky. Bjergsen does so as  well, but the Slicing Maelstrom / Shockwave combo lands again! Sneaky's  still not down and is still doing so much damage! It's a triple kill for  him in the end as Cloud 9 look to go all the way!

"Mom, what's in the box?!" Meteos was screaming ecstatically.

"Hey, I'm not Mrs. Hartman, but I'll tell you what it is, Meteos – a ticket to the Worlds finals!" I yelled.

Phreak: As  the Nexus turrets fall, it's on the other side of the Pacific, but it's  a familiar story: Cloud 9 rises above TSM and they will represent North  America in the World Championship finals against OMG!

It was as we took off our headsets and jumped up that the noise hit  us again and the feeling overtook us that we were seriously doing  something that nobody in our region had done before. There was now a World Championship grand final in one week – and we would be the first North American team to play in it.

"We made it!" Sneaky yelled, almost gruffly. "It's lit, fam!"

"We're going to the 'ship! We're going to the 'ship!" Aurora was chanting as we huddled up.

"Yo, one more to go, but if we do what we did tonight, we can be  World Champions. Let's do it!" Hai exhorted, and we all agreed as we  broke the huddle.

We went over to Team SoloMid and they, like SKT, were understandably  down on themselves. However, when we came over, they were quicker to  graciously get to their feet and shake hands with us.

"Hey, good game. You guys be sure to beat OMG for us, all right?" Dyrus told Hai.

"We got you, fam." Hai replied.

"The score might say otherwise, but that was no stomp." I said to  TheOddOne as I shook his hand. "You guys made us work for that."

"Thanks, man." He replied. "Promise is a promise – we'll be there at the final to cheer you on!"

"We'll do our best for you guys too, don't worry." Aurora said, clapping him on the shoulder.

We also did the same thing as we'd done with SKT after the previous  round and invited them to take a bow onstage with us. They then went off  to allow us our moment of glory, and as the crowd chanted as one, I  could feel more energy than what they'd given to OMG the previous night.  I looked at the others and saw that they sensed it too – another  collective message saying, Do it for us!

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Following our interviews and packing our gear, the Soshis offered to  take us in a pair of vans to Seoul World Cup Stadium so we could see  right away where we would be playing in a week's time, and we  immediately accepted. We thus made the trip over there and had the honor  of looking up at it, lit up as night had fallen, and marveling at it  while also savoring the fact that in one week, we would play there for  all the marbles.

There was no shortage of hugging and cheering as Seohyun, Sooyoung,  Yuri and Hyoyeon, who had finished their schedules, greeted the other  twelve of us as we arrived. Soon, though, everyone fell quiet as the  Soshis realized that we were taking in the stadium in full because we  were awestruck by it. Built for the 2002 World Cup, it was and remains  the largest purpose-built soccer (football) stadium in Asia and had also  hosted concerts including the SM Live World Tour opening stop earlier  that August, which Girls' Generation had been a part of, and is by far  the biggest venue in terms of seating capacity and size to host a League of Legends match.

Hai was the first to speak again, and he just managed to say two words, although they resonated with everyone. "One more."

"One more." Taeyeon agreed, taking his hand as they smiled at each other.

"One more." Jessica echoed, though, like Taeyeon, it was for both the  same and different reasons and her smile had some wistfulness to it.

"Hey, Sica...don't worry. You deserve to be there. I want you there." Taeyeon said, holding out her hand encouragingly.

"Thanks a lot, Taengoo." Jessica replied gratefully, and she hugged her quickly but tightly before she accepted her hand.

Aurora smiled at that and finished doing a brief bit with her phone.  In a moment, we could see what, as her headset, which was around her  neck, began playing some some classic Wonder Girls that made us smile  and captured the moment.

I want nobody, nobody but you
I want nobody, nobody but you
Nan dareun sarameun sirheo
Niga animyeon sirheo
I want nobody, nobody, nobody, nobody

English
I want nobody, nobody but you
I want nobody, nobody but you
I don't want anyone else
I can't have anyone but you
I want nobody, nobody, nobody, nobody

"Come on, let's get the team in can see just what it's like in  there." Taeyeon said, turning to Hai with an even brighter smile, waving  us onward and approaching one of the security personnel, who smiled and  opened the closest door.

Semifinal Results – Venue: Olympic Gymnastics Arena, Seoul
Semifinal 1 (October 11th) – Oh My God (China) 3-2 Samsung Galaxy White (Korea)
Semifinal 2 (October 12th) – Cloud 9 (North America) 3-0 Team SoloMid (North America)

The Final – Venue: Seoul World Cup Stadium
Final (October 19th) – Oh My God (China) vs. Cloud 9 (North America)

Graphic