Chapter 202

"Crushing and decaying!" I remember the voice echoing inside the main arena.

"In the first game, V5 displayed unparalleled suppression. It was almost a total steamroll from start to finish, which is really quite different from what we expected before the match!"

Guan Zeyuan chimed in: "The main thing is that the mid-jungle focus of this battle was almost completely dismantled. Xiaotian's Elise was repeatedly targeted, and Xiaohu was suppressed from beginning to end. Those few plays by Master Ye were completely unexpected!"

"I have to say, the Sylas in his hands is really different from everyone else's. We kept saying this Sylas had no ultimate to steal, but for Master Ye, it seems there is no such thing as a useless ultimate."

Remember nodded in extreme agreement: "Exactly! I really didn't expect that 'Aerospace Elise' flank! It feels like a play that only this ID could pull off!"

"True imagination has no limits, and mechanics have no ceiling!"

Cat Emperor shrugged, saying half-jokingly and half-seriously: "Maybe this is just talent."

However, his tone seemed a bit sour.

As a professional 'scraps' player, Cat Emperor's ID was almost never remembered back when he was on the old TES.

Moreover, after stepping onto the LPL stage in 2018 and being squeezed out by Ben in 2019, he retired at lightning speed. His professional career as a player had almost nothing worth praising.

By comparison, Ye Bo's professional career is simply like a soaring dragon!

It's hard not to be sour.

The V5 fans at the scene waved their flagpoles vigorously, causing them to flutter in the air, their cheers and shouts exceptionally loud.

It served as a stark contrast to the silent Top Esports fans in the neighboring seats, creating a full sense of irony at the venue.

Compared to WBG.

Clearly, the team fans had higher expectations for TES.

Both were rebuilt teams; WBG changed three key components in the mid, jungle, and bot lanes. Even if the IDs were highly anticipated, their core playstyle had changed completely compared to last year and hadn't been verified—everyone knows what the Weibo Cup was all about.

While Top Esports also changed their top and mid laners.

But at least in the first round of matches, their performance still tasted completely like the "Top Esports" team.

You have to know, Top Esports was the league runner-up last year!

Their summer finals against EDG were truly a clash of titans!

In many people's eyes, this year's V5 roster had high expectations, but looking at the paper strength alone, they shouldn't be stronger than last year's EDG.

How did they end up getting beaten so miserably!?

In the audience, some broken-hearted Top Esports fans had already started arresting "moles" on the spot, using the process of elimination.

The two replaced players in the top and mid lanes naturally became the targets of attack.

"Why did you give the first pick to Wayward to grab a hero? Did he make any impact! I'm truly convinced!"

"Wayward even called himself the 'Chinese Nuguri', I almost laughed. Even if it were true, the order of the two should be reversed."

"Korean Wayward? Who are you insulting! Nuguri is my second favorite top laner!"

"No, I mean, he can at most become 'Nuguri-lite'."

"It's really true that fans have no human rights if there are few of them. Isn't Xiaohu fully responsible for this game? He only knows how to sabotage my JackeyLove!"

"None of the mid laners at Top Esports these years have been good things! They only know how to sabotage my JackeyLove!"

The biggest difference between watching at the venue and discussing on online forums is being able to truly see the fans' real reactions.

The same sentence, typed out in text with a few emojis, feels like sarcasm.

But seeing the excited reactions in reality, it is completely genuine emotion!

The players rose from their seats and walked down.

BeryL walked with a swagger, his round belly protruding from beneath his team uniform, his arms and body seeming to move independently of each other.

"Aiyo, Master Ye, you killed too fast this game, I feel like I didn't even get to test the effect..."

Ye Bo corrected the other's pronunciation and replied with a smile: "I feel it was quite good, we can try it again later~"

He knew what the other wanted to say.

Twitch support's important intent wasn't the hero itself—but a playstyle, or rather, a system.

BeryL called it: The "Stirring the Mud" system.

It can be said that this is an "advanced version" of the lane priority logic he developed in S12.

It's not hard to understand.

It's about using "unconventional" picks in the bot lane to gain lane initiative through {hero counters} rather than {hard laning ability}.

Then, it advances to forcibly freeing the support early, constantly launching attacks with numerical advantages on the enemy's side lanes and jungle, forcing the opponent's support to have to follow along.

Turning the game into a "double jungler" situation in a sense!

In fact, TES handled this very poorly, which is also an important reason why they collapsed so rapidly.

According to BeryL's vision.

The correct response a normal person would make is for the opposing support to follow along, turning the map's three-lane laning into a 1-1-1 situation.

And once this happens, an uncertain accidental factor will appear on the map—directly causing the laners to be timid, especially in the long lanes that are more easily ganked, the top and bottom side lanes.

But perhaps TES thought Ashe's roaming couldn't compare to Twitch.

Or perhaps Mark didn't have this level of understanding, or perhaps he was worried that the absolute core Draven would easily die alone in the bot lane.

Why was Ye Bo able to easily grasp the initiative in the mid lane after level 6 this game?

Besides Ye Bo's own laning ability being above Xiaohu's, and Sylas and Jayce having transformation synergy, in fact, the hero laning situation was already 50-50 after level 6.

More importantly, V5 actually had an extra "jungler" most of the time!

Causing Jayce to not dare to pressure Sylas at all!

On the contrary, Sylas knew very well that there was almost always someone hovering around him, so he played quite fearlessly and proactively.

Not afraid of being ganked, he could fully exert his suppressing skills.

What if Ashe followed along?

Then both sides would be destined to frequently erupt in small-scale skirmishes on the map—the game content would change from simple laning competition to complex, variable small-scale battles wave after wave!

This would shift the battle point from where the V5 composition wasn't as proficient to the direction they were good at!

The original intent of this system was designed for this V5 composition.

The situation of this V5 composition.

Top laner Flandre, bot lane Deft+BeryL, these two lanes are not players whose specialty is "laning".

What they are strong at is their hero pool accumulation, their performance in team fights, the key on-the-spot processing brought by rich experience, stable game performance and low error rates, and clear thinking and coordinated cooperation in complex small-scale battles.

And with this shift, disadvantages can become advantages.

The previous Jhin support, this time's Twitch support, were all for this attempt.

This playstyle, theoretically, especially when facing those "muscle teams" where all three lanes are strong, might have miraculous effects.

It's just a pity that Top Esports doesn't count as this kind of muscle team.

They couldn't provide enough pressure in the laning phase, couldn't keep up with the roaming rhythm, and also ate so many waves of setups.

Finally, the mid lane was broken through rapidly, and the situation naturally collapsed.

However, Top Esports fans are currently desperately trying to save face on major forums and further assigning blame.

【Used to it, can only say true Top Esports fans aren't in a hurry, even feel it's stable!】

【Indeed, Top Esports was like this last year, anyway, give away one game at the start, kill back in the second, and then no regrets in the third!】

【Can Crescent really draft well? If he can't draft, can he get out? I don't understand what he's drafting at all. Draven with Ashe is a combination a human can pick? Not putting our absolute core in his heart at all!】

【Isn't Crescent just like this, a pure formula person, I even know his drafting logic for the next game.】

Someone in the bot lane posted a drafting logic analysis chart of Crescent, which can also be called Crescent's "career summary".

Summarized into 3 points.

1. "When Top Esports has an early game advantage, they get turned around in the late game" — A normal person's response is to improve the composition strength curve and improve mid-game decision-making.

Crescent-style drafting: This shows the early game isn't strong enough! If you can pin the opponent to death in the early game, wouldn't there be no mid-to-late game?

Come, take another ultimate tightrope-walking composition! Once 15 minutes pass, life and death are up to fate!

2. "When a composition gets beaten up and loses the game" — A normal person would directly change the composition to help the players wash off their bad touch.

Crescent-style drafting: My composition is designed seamlessly. Early game XX cooperates with XX to roam and gain an advantage, then XX enters the field to cooperate with XX's ultimate to pull off a perfect combo. The opponent should have absolutely no power to fight back!

Lose? That's because the players' state wasn't good and they didn't pull it off. If you don't believe me, let's watch the replay!

Come again! You all play well!

3. "The composition tasted right, finally won a game!" — A normal person would definitely think that since the composition is good, if the opponent doesn't ban it, I'll keep taking it.

Crescent-style drafting: Your state finally got better? Then let's not play the last one, come try my latest top-tier understanding!

Several lines have already naturally perished due to the global draft.

But, new problems have also emerged.

Backstage.

Crescent, who was watching the replay, still didn't know where the problem was in the first game.

He still thinks that he lost because the opponent pulled out an unexpected hero to counter Draven, and the hero counter in the mid lane didn't achieve the expected effect.

In general, it's all because of the blue side advantage!

"Fortunately, there is this global draft. They won't be able to pick Twitch next game, not a big problem."

"Xiaohu, do you have anything you want to play next game?"

Xiaohu was currently slumped in his gaming chair, slightly lifting his shirt to dissipate heat, his increasingly bulging round belly looking like a capital '0', exceptionally round.

Suddenly asked, Xiaohu was also a bit stunned.

"Uh... anything is fine."

Xiaotian was picking his fingers on the side, not speaking.

JackeyLove, however, looked to have a very good mentality, constantly comforting everyone by calling them 'brother'.

"Not a big problem, haven't played a match in so long, just warming up!"

"The opponent really isn't that strong! We'll definitely have a chance if we adjust well!"

Crescent also looked very confident: "That's right, we'll be on the blue side next game, we can draft however we want!"

After a simple adjustment, the second game started quickly.

Both sides stepped onto the player stage again.

Before the game, there were still excited Top Esports fans shouting from below, "Crescent, draft well!!"

The draft panel was pulled up.

Because Crescent couldn't find the clues in the review between games just now, and only thought it was because his own bot lane couldn't handle Twitch, which led to the bot lane never finding the initiative, so he decided to focus on the bot lane again this game.

Can only say that review ability is one of the most important abilities for a head coach.

This review ability doesn't refer to the replay watched afterwards; that kind of slowly peeling and analyzing frame by frame, anyone can see something.

True review ability is whether one can quickly find the key to the problem in the short ten minutes between games and think of a feasible key breakthrough.

This is the point that tests a coach's ability.

"TES uses the priority side selection right to come to the blue side!"

"Top Esports still bans Akali and Heimerdinger first, while V5 bans Zeri and Aphelios... Both sides are very formulaic with these two hands, but the points they target are different!" Guan Zeyuan commented.

"It looks like TES still wants to follow their ideas from the first game, targeting the opponent's main rhythm points in mid and support, while V5 continues to set up against the bot lane."

Crescent originally felt there was no problem, it seemed no different from the first game.

And what existed as a game of chess was the third pick.

The third ban position that the blue side needs to use first.

But Crescent had already thought about the formula, almost without hesitation.

In his view, the draft has progressed to now, and there are still T0 heroes worth fighting for in every position outside, such as K'Sante + Ryze + Vi/Wukong + Varus.

According to previous experience, V5 seems to like banning Ryze very much.

"They ban Ryze, then we first-pick K'Sante, and then pick a combination for the bot lane in the second and third rounds..."

"In that case, ban LeBlanc, Xiaohu can pick a scaling hero in the mid lane this game!"

Crescent made a decision, banning LeBlanc to reduce early game defensive and laning pressure.

First round of bans for both sides—

TES: Akali, Heimerdinger, LeBlanc

V5: Zeri, Aphelios, Wukong!

"The red side banned Wukong with the third ban?" Guan Zeyuan was slightly surprised.

"In that case, K'Sante, Ryze, and Varus, which were banned in the first round of the first game, are all released!"

Cat Emperor was still describing the tournament system: "This is the charm of the global draft. Many heroes burned in the first game cannot avoid needing to be released in the draft, but this is quite a test for the coaching staff when making choices."

Remember added: "This is giving TES a multiple-choice question. What are they going to first-pick now?"

Top Esports was clearly struggling.

The countdown was almost over, and they still hadn't revealed the blue side's first pick.

"Ye doesn't play Ryze..." Crescent pulled his hair from behind with one hand.

The opponent's last pick didn't follow the formula he expected, he was a bit shaken for a moment, but he had to make a decision within 30 seconds.

Outside, the most worth picking are undoubtedly K'Sante, Ryze, and Varus.

These three heroes each have their own tactical status.

For example, Ryze is unsolvable in the mid-to-late game, and K'Sante is extremely balanced in all abilities and can also be flexed.

And Varus means strong lane priority and combat power in the early-to-mid game for the bot lane.

The reason Varus has been strong from the S12 World Championship to S13.

Is because this hero's laning ability is considered to be second only to the peak version of Lucian—and yet it also possesses extremely strong functionality!

Jhin and Ashe, which also have this kind of control + strong engage functionality, are obviously inferior to him in output ability.

And Varus's itemization is extremely free. If lacking output, one can buy an attack speed build; if lacking poke and survival, one can buy a lethality build and hide in the back; if lacking AP, one can even play an AP build!

"Coach, it's almost too late, what to pick?" Wayward in the first position spoke urgently.

The 30 seconds passed in a flash, and Crescent, who was still struggling and thinking, kept biting the dead skin on his lower lip.

He looked at the ADs blocked by the red side, as well as the 4 AD heroes burned in the previous game, and felt the embarrassment of AD selection...

"Pick, pick Varus for JackeyLove!"

Crescent had his own considerations.

K'Sante and Ryze are indeed very strong.

But essentially, these heroes don't belong to the type that can crush you in the laning phase or gain an advantage before the mid game.

Looking at this point alone.

Especially for the mid lane, it seems like a good thing to leave it to the opponent?

As for K'Sante in the top lane, Crescent had asked Wayward before.

Wayward said he had heroes that could fight.

So in the end, he decided to firmly implement his tactics and firmly revolve around the bot lane!

"TES snatches Varus, that's no problem, but V5 is so comfortable! The red side gets Ryze + K'Sante directly in the first two picks, picking two OPs late!"

"TES picks a combination for the bot lane, getting Renata to cooperate with Varus to confirm the strength of the laning combination, and then snatches Vi for the jungler!"

"But... V5 directly picks Poppy, the classic Poppy counter to Vi!"

"V5's red side, why does the draft look so smooth?"

Poppy's W, Steadfast Presence, can guard against Vi's Q, Vault Breaker, engage and ganks.

At the same time, Vi's most proficient lock-on engage might end up with Poppy counter-hammering her teammates who want to follow up, leading to the awkward situation of Vi herself being deep in danger.

It's just that in this version, Poppy isn't common, even a bit niche.

In the final analysis, it's because Poppy's active ganking ability is relatively average, and currently, many fasting-style junglers are in vogue, so this slow-paced hero might not keep up with the version.

Entering the second round of bans.

V5 bans Gwen + Azir.

TES bans Caitlyn + Lucian.

"V5's bot lane doesn't seem to have a very good selection object. 4 ADCs were burned in the first game, four were banned in this game, and one was snatched, a total of 9 AD heroes have disappeared!"

"Finally, V5 picked Jhin, let's see what TES will pick for mid and top..."

Crescent had been paying attention to the opponent's bot lane selection.

After seeing Jhin, he thought that no matter how the opponent's bot lane picked, it would be a disadvantage.

But the next moment, the selection ended and it turned to them to pick heroes for mid and top.

Crescent paused again.

Among the heroes that are good at fighting K'Sante, Fiora and Gwen are not bad choices.

They are also heroes Wayward said he was confident in.

Others like Gnar, Kennen, although they can scale and look forward to team fights—but there is a counter-measure of being carried away by K'Sante when entering team fights, and this scene has appeared many times in previous matches.

"What to pick, Coach Crescent, it's too late!" JackeyLove in the fourth position also urged.

This urge.

Crescent became even more anxious.

Gwen was banned, the only one left seems to be Fiora.

How did 30 seconds pass so quickly!

"Aiya, trust Wayward, just pick Fiora for him... Aiya, pick slower!"

JackeyLove waited an extra five seconds before pressing confirm, and when the next 30 seconds started immediately after, the blue side's fifth position picked.

So what to pick for mid?

There are actually only two ideas for fighting Ryze.

Either you crush him in the early game.

Or pick a hero who isn't worse than him when scaled, and farm against him.

Azir, and Kassadin, who is currently hot and sharing the dividends with Ryze in the current version, are all examples of this.

And even if Crescent were crazy, he wouldn't think of letting Xiaohu crush Ye in the early game; that's no different from asking Benbo'erba to kill Tang Monk and his disciples.

"Not much time left, Coach!"

"Azir... oh, no Azir left, then Kassadin, Kassadin!"

V5's last pick gets Yuumi.

Both sides' compositions confirmed.

"Blue Side: TES vs Red Side: V5"

【Top: Fiora vs K'Sante】

【Jungle: Vi vs Poppy】

【Mid: Kassadin vs Ryze】

【ADC: Varus vs Jhin】

【Support: Renata Glasc vs Yuumi】

"V5's composition is very solid, two big front-liners in top and jungle, Yuumi can buff a main carry to solve the output problem, Jhin is used to supplement secondary control and damage."

"To summarize, it's chosen with a very 'fusion feel'!"

"As a red side draft, I can't see any disadvantage points in this composition, at most the bot lane laning might be pushed in."

The commentary desk was analyzing the composition.

But when talking about TES, they were all a bit hesitant.

"Hiss... how to say this Top Esports composition, actually it's quite good, it's just..."

"Hmm, I feel that the global draft is still 30 seconds, it's indeed a bit rushed. After all, every change of moves by the opponent is a brand new thinking game, it's hard to use formulaic drafting anymore."

The words Guan Zeyuan and Remember didn't say out loud.

Cat Emperor's teasing remark hit the nail on the head instead.

"At first glance, they are all version-strong heroes, but when put together, it feels very strange, right~"

"Aiya, yes, yes, yes, that's exactly the feeling!"

It is worth mentioning.

On-the-spot drafting and review simulation drafting are two completely different things.

The gap is probably like watching someone else drive on a mobile phone screen versus sitting in the car and driving yourself.

Because drafting is a confrontation between two sides, and the opponent cannot possibly follow your pre-match expectations completely.

The coach standing on the drafting stage must be prepared to respond to every move the opponent makes.

As long as it doesn't meet expectations, one must immediately produce a corresponding response strategy!

Coaches also need to make choices between their own "overall judgment" and "trusting the players," two major historical problems.

Many times, looking at a single pick alone, there is no problem at all.

But when all five positions are picked and put together, one will inexplicably feel a strange smell.

A simple description.

If V5's composition this game is a Gundam, one person forms the head, one person forms the energy core, others form the limbs, seamless.

Then TES's composition has a feeling of being pieced together, "each playing their own game."

When Crescent walked off the stage, it was as if he had experienced a hand-to-hand martial arts battle.

He even looked a bit out of breath, with clearly reflective sweat beads on his forehead.

Clearly, he was just standing there drafting.

Those who didn't know would think he had just walked off a martial arts arena and had just been beaten up...

(End of chapter)