Chapter 202: Muddying the Waters

"Crushing and decaying!" The commentator's voice echoed through the main arena.

"In the first game, V5 displayed unparalleled suppression. It was basically a total steamroll from start to finish—it's 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 game was basically blown open. Xiaotian's Spider was targeted repeatedly, and Xiaohu was suppressed from start to finish. Those few plays from 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's no such thing as a useless ultimate."

Jide nodded in extreme agreement: "Exactly! I really didn't expect that space-traveling Spider cut to the backline! It feels like an operation only this ID could pull off!"

"True imagination has no limits, and operations 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 benchwarmer, Cat Emperor's ID was barely remembered back when he was on the old TES.

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

In comparison, Ye Bo's career is simply like a soaring giant dragon!

It's hard not to be sour.

The V5 fans at the venue waved their flagpoles vigorously, the flags fluttering 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; the atmosphere in the arena was full of irony.

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 promising, the core playstyle had changed completely compared to last year and hadn't been verified—everyone knew what the Weibo Cup was all about.

While Top Esports also changed their top and mid laners.

At least in their first round of matches, the performance was completely the "Top Esports" flavor.

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

Their summer finals against EDG were a clash of titans!

This year's V5 roster had quite a bit of expectation in many people's eyes, but looking at the paper strength alone, they shouldn't be stronger than last year's EDG.

So how could they get beaten so miserably!?

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

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

"What was the point of giving Breathe the counter-pick? Did he have any impact? I'm really done!"

"Zhixi even called himself the Chinese Nuguri, I want to laugh. Even if it were true, the order of the two names would have to be reversed."

"Korean Breathe? Who are you insulting! The Bull is my second favorite top laner!"

"No, I mean, he can only be 'Bull-Zhixi' at best."

"Truly, having fewer fans means no human rights. Isn't Xiaohu fully responsible for this game? He only knows how to screw over my Ah Shui!"

"None of the mid laners at Top Esports in these years have been any good! They only know how to screw over my Ah Shui!"

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

The same sentence, typed out 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 think it was pretty good. We can try it again later~"

He knew what the other person wanted to say.

Twitch support—the important point wasn't the champion itself, but a playstyle, or rather, a system.

Beryl called it: The "Muddying the Waters" system.

It could be said that this was 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 {Champion Counters} rather than {Raw Laning Ability}.

Then, it advances to forcibly liberating the support early, constantly initiating numerical-advantage attacks on the enemy's side-lane jungle, forcing the opposing support to follow suit.

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

In fact, TES handled this very poorly, which was an important reason why they collapsed so quickly.

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 phase into a 1-1-1 situation.

And in doing so, an uncertain factor would appear on the map—directly causing the laners to be restricted, especially in the long lanes like top and bottom, which are more easily ganked.

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

Or perhaps Mark didn't have this level of understanding, or perhaps he was worried that their 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 six?

Besides the fact that Ye Bo's own laning ability was superior to Xiaohu's, and Sylas and Jayce had transformation-linkage capabilities, in fact, the laning situation was already a toss-up after level six.

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

Resulting in Jayce not daring to pressure Sylas at all!

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

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

What if Ashe followed along?

Then both sides would be destined to have frequent small-scale skirmishes on the map—the game content would change from simple laning competition to complex, variable, small-scale battles!

This would shift the battle point from where the V5 roster wasn't as skilled, to the direction they excelled in!

This system was originally designed for this V5 roster.

The situation of this V5 roster.

Top laner Flandre, bot lane Deft and Beryl—none of these lanes are players whose specialty is "laning."

Their strength lies in their accumulated champion pools, their performance in team fights, the key on-the-spot processing brought by rich experience, stable game performance, low error rates, and clear thinking and coordination in complex small-scale battles.

And with this shift, the disadvantageous points could become advantageous ones.

The previous Jhin support, and this Twitch support, were all attempts at this.

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

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

They couldn't provide enough pressure in the laning phase, couldn't keep up with the roaming tempo, and also fell for so many setups.

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

However, the Top Esports fans were still trying their best to save face on major forums and further assigning blame.

【Used to it. I can only say that real Top Esports fans aren't in a hurry; they even feel it's stable!】

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

【Can White Crescent actually draft properly? If he can't draft, can he just get out? I don't even understand what he's drafting. Draven paired with Ashe is a combo a human can pick? He didn't put our absolute core in his heart at all!】

【Isn't White Bean Sprout just like this? A pure formula-man. I already know his draft strategy for the next game.】

Someone posted a breakdown of White Crescent's draft strategy, which could also be called a "career summary" of White Crescent.

It summarizes into 3 points.

1. "When Top Esports has an early-game advantage and gets turned around in the late game"—a normal person's response is to improve the strength curve of the roster and improve mid-game decision-making.

Tooth-style draft: This means 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, let's take another ultimate tightrope-walking roster! Once 15 minutes pass, life and death are up to fate, and wealth is up to heaven!

2. "When a roster gets beaten up and loses the game"—a normal person would directly change the roster to help the players reset their feel.

Tooth-style draft: My roster design is seamless. Early game XX coordinates with XX to roam and gain an advantage, then XX enters the fight and coordinates with XX's ultimate to pull off a perfect combo. The opponent should have absolutely no way to fight back!

Lost? That's because the players weren't in good form and didn't execute it. If you don't believe me, let's watch the replay!

Let's go again! You all play well!

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

Tooth-style draft: Your form is finally good? Then we won't play the last one. Come, try my latest top-tier understanding!

A few of these have naturally perished due to the global ban-pick.

But, new problems have also emerged.

Backstage.

White Crescent, who was watching the replay, still didn't know where things went wrong in the first game.

To this day, he still believes that he lost because the opponent pulled out an unexpected champion to counter Draven, and the mid-lane champion counter didn't achieve the expected effect.

In general, it was all because of the blue-side advantage!

"It's a good thing there's this global ban-pick. They won't be able to pick Twitch next game. It's 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 cool off his belly. His increasingly bulging round belly looked like a capital '0', exceptionally round.

Suddenly asked, Xiaohu was also a bit stunned.

"Uh, anything is fine."

Xiaotian was picking at his fingers on the side, not saying a word.

JackeyLove, on the other hand, seemed to have a very good mindset, constantly comforting everyone by calling them "brother."

"It's not a big problem, we haven't played a match in so long, just warming up!"

"The other side really isn't that strong! If we adjust properly, we definitely have a chance!"

Bai Se Yue Ya also looked quite confident: "That's right, we're on the blue side next game, we can do whatever we want with the draft!"

After a simple adjustment, the second game started quickly.

Both sides stepped onto the player stage once again.

Before the match, excited Top Esports fans in the audience shouted, "Bai Se Yue Ya, draft well!!"

The draft panel pulled up.

Because Bai Se Yue Ya hadn't been able to find the root cause during the previous intermission review, he only thought it was because his own bottom lane couldn't handle the Twitch, which led to them failing to find the initiative, so he decided to focus on the bottom lane again this game.

It can only be said that review ability is one of the most important skills for a head coach.

This review ability doesn't refer to the recordings watched afterward; anyone can see things when slowly picking through them frame by frame.

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

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

"TES uses their priority side selection 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 picks, though their targets are different!" Guan Zeyuan commented.

"It looks like TES still wants to follow their strategy from the first game, targeting the opponent's main tempo points in the mid and support, while V5 continues to focus on the bottom lane."

Bai Se Yue Ya originally felt there was no problem; it didn't seem much different from the first game.

And the one that involved a game of wits was the third pick.

The blue side needs to make the third ban first.

But Bai Se Yue Ya had already thought of the formula, almost without hesitation.

In his view, as the draft progressed to this point, there were still T0 heroes worth fighting for in every position outside, such as the top/mid/jungle/bottom pool of K'Sante + Ryze + Vi/Wukong + Varus.

According to previous experience, V5 seems to really like banning Ryze.

"If they ban Ryze, then we first-pick K'Sante, and then pick a combo for the bottom lane in the second and third slots."

"In that case, let's ban LeBlanc; Xiaohu can pick a scaling hero for the mid lane this game!"

Bai Se Yue Ya made his decision, banning LeBlanc to reduce the pressure on defense and laning in the early game.

First round of bans for both sides————

TES: Akali, Heimerdinger, LeBlanc

V5: Zeri, Aphelios, Wukong!

"Did the red side use their third ban on Wukong?" Guan Zeyuan was slightly surprised.

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

Cat Emperor continued to describe the format: "This is the charm of global BP; many heroes burned in the first game inevitably need to be released in the draft, but this choice is a significant test for the coaching staff."

Jide 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 their first pick for the blue side.

"Doesn't Ye play Ryze..." Bai Se Yue Ya pulled at his hair with one hand.

The opponent didn't follow his expected formula for this last pick, leaving him a bit dazed, but he had to make a decision within 30 seconds.

Outside the game, the most worth picking were 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 for the bottom lane in the early-to-mid game.

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

Is because this hero's laning ability is considered second only to the peak version of Lucian, while————it also possesses extremely strong utility!

Jhin and Ashe, which also possess this kind of control + hard engage utility, clearly have inferior output capabilities compared to him.

Furthermore, Varus's item builds are extremely free; if you lack output, you can buy an attack speed build, if you lack poke and survival, you can buy a lethality build and hide in the back, and if you lack AP, you can even play an AP build!

"Coach, we're running out of time, what do we pick?" Breathing (Huxi) in the first slot said urgently.

The 30 seconds passed in a flash, and Bai Se Yue Ya, 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 desperation of the AD selection.

"Pick, give it to JackeyLove, Varus!"

Bai Se Yue Ya 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 the lane for you or gain an advantage before the mid-game.

Looking at this point alone

Especially for the mid lane, it seems like leaving it to the opponent is actually a good thing?

As for K'Sante in the top lane, Bai Se Yue Ya had asked Breathing before.

Breathing indicated he had a hero that could handle it.

So in the end, he decided to firmly implement his strategy and focus firmly on the bottom 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 slots, picking up two OPs!"

"TES here picks a combo for the bottom lane, getting Renata to pair with Varus to confirm a strong laning combo, and then snatches Vi for the jungler!"

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

"Why does V5's red side 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 result in an awkward situation where Poppy knocks away the teammates trying to follow up, leaving Vi deep in danger alone.

It's just that in this version, Poppy isn't common, and is even somewhat niche.

Ultimately, it's because Poppy's active ganking ability is quite average, and with many fasting-style junglers currently in vogue, this kind of slow-tempo hero might not keep up with the version.

Entering the second round of bans.

V5 bans Gwen + Azir.

TES bans Caitlyn + Lucian.

"V5's bottom lane doesn't seem to have a very good selection target; 4 ADCs were burned in the first game, four were banned this game, and one was snatched, that's 9 AD heroes gone in total!"

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

Bai Se Yue Ya had been paying attention to the opponent's bottom lane selection.

After seeing Jhin, he believed that no matter what the opponent's bottom lane picked, it would be a disadvantage.

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

Bai Se Yue Ya paused again.

Among the heroes that are good at handling K'Sante, Fiora and Gwen are considered good choices.

They were also the heroes Breathing said he was confident in.

As for others like Gnar or Kennen, although they can scale and look forward to team fights————there exists a counter-measure where they get picked off by K'Sante when entering the team fight, a scene that has appeared many times in previous matches.

"What do we pick, Coach Bai, we're running out of time!" JackeyLove in the fourth slot also urged.

At this urging.

Bai Se Yue Ya became even more anxious.

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

How did 30 seconds pass so quickly!

"Oh, trust Breathing, just pick Fiora for him... oh, pick faster!"

JackeyLove waited an extra five seconds before pressing confirm, and as the next 30 seconds immediately began, the blue side's fifth slot picked.

So what to pick for mid?

There are actually only two ways to play against Ryze.

Either you crush him in the early game.

Or you pick a hero that scales just as well as him and farm against him.

Azir, as well as Kassadin, who has been enjoying the benefits and is hot in the current version along with Ryze, are both examples of this.

And even if Bai Se Yue Ya were crazy, he wouldn't think about letting Xiaohu crush Ye in the early game; that's no different from asking Benbo'erba to take down the Tang Monk and his disciples.

"Not much time left, Coach!"

"Azir... oh, there's no Azir left, then Kassadin, Kassadin!"

V5's last pick gets Yuumi.

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

"To summarize, it's a pick with a very 'cohesive feel'!"

"As the red side's draft, I can't see any weaknesses in this lineup; at most, the bottom lane might get pushed in."

The commentary desk was analyzing the lineup.

But when it came to TES, they were all a bit hesitant to speak.

"Hiss, how should I put it regarding this TES lineup? Actually, it's quite good, it's just..."

"Yeah, I feel that with the global draft and only 30 seconds, it's indeed a bit rushed. After all, every counter-move from the opponent is a brand-new strategic gamble, making it hard to just follow a formulaic draft."

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

A teasing remark from Mao Huang hit the nail on the head instead.

"At first glance, they've picked all the meta-strong champions, but when you put them together, it feels really strange, right~"

"Exactly, exactly, that's just the feeling!"

It is worth mentioning.

Live drafting and post-game simulated drafting are two completely different things.

The gap is roughly like watching someone else drive on a phone screen versus sitting in the driver's seat yourself.

Because the draft is a confrontation between two sides, and the opponent will never act exactly according to your pre-game expectations.

A coach standing on the drafting stage must be prepared to react on the fly to every move the opponent makes.

As long as things don't go as expected, they must immediately produce a corresponding counter-strategy!

A coach also needs to make a choice between the two great historical dilemmas: "overall judgment" and "trusting the players."

Often, looking at any single pick, there is no problem at all.

But once all five positions are picked and combined, you will inexplicably feel that something is off.

To put it simply.

If the V5 lineup this game is a Gao Da, where one person forms the head, one person forms the energy core, and the others form the limbs, fitting together perfectly.

Then this TES lineup has a feeling of being patched together from here and there, like "everyone playing their own game."

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

He even looked a bit breathless, with clearly visible, glistening beads of sweat on his forehead.

Even though he was just standing in place for the draft.

Someone who didn't know better would think he had just walked off a fighting ring after being beaten up.

(End of this chapter)