Chapter 111: c111
In the afternoon the next day, Coach Lin sent a message in the group chat: "@Everyone, gather in the training room at three p.m. today punctually. I've made an appointment with a team from the Korean division for a training match."
Two days ago, Coach Lin had already said that Tianhuan's next Group A matches were with CYC, Jixuan, and Xueying. They should be able to win relatively easily against these teams. They can take the opportunity to make an appointment with the teams from the Korean division for training.
They didn't expect Coach Lin to be so efficient and had already made an appointment this quickly.
Chi Shuo asked in the group: "Which team?"
Ye Shaoyang also typed at the same time and sent: "Which team?"
The two messages were sent out at the same time. As for things like Tianhuan's mid/jungle duo's brain waves being in-sync with each other, they were already used to it as they saw it occurring quite often.
Qu Jiang sent a 'face with hand over mouth' emoji and texted, "I also wanted to ask but my hand speed wasn't as fast as the both of you."
Coach Lin replied: "TIP team."
The strongest in the Korean division currently is the ATB team led by Choi Hyuk and Park Wonseok who was also last year's world champion. The TIP team that Coach Lin had made an appointment with used to be an elite team in the Korean division. Later, they had a performance decline and were eliminated from the playoffs so they didn't manage to get a placement in the world championship.
Their captain was also someone whom Ye Shaoyang and Chi Shuo knew——back when the both of them were in the international server playing ranked and had happened to run into Zhou Jiawen and Kim Minjun. Kim Minjun was TIP's captain and had learned a little bit of Chinese from Zhou Jiawen. They often duo queued in the international server together.
Coach Lin said: "TIP's performance in the last season wasn't good but the new marksman and mid laner they had signed from the training camp are all excellent. Their results in Group A are currently not bad, and there's hope that they might get into Group S."
Lin Feng paused, then continued: "I actually wanted to make an appointment with the ATB champion team, but they ignored me when I chatted with their coach privately. They gave me the feeling that they looked down on Tianhuan."
Ye Shaoyang smiled: "We ran into Choi Hyuk and Park Wonseok during ranked with Captain Chi yesterday. They're indeed pretty proud and arrogant. Rather than saying that they look down on Tianhuan, it's more like they look down on all the teams in the Chinese division. They probably think that playing a training match with us is just like a King-ranked player abusing a Bronze-ranked player, very boring."
Coach Lin sighed: "Ai, we only have ourselves to blame for failing to live up to expectations, never winning the championship before."
The way he said it sounds a little sad. It was pretty difficult for Lin Feng to make appointments for training matches internationally, and he won't be able to make an appointment with the champion teams in each division at all. He could only arrange training matches with teams whose strength was on par with Tianhuan.
TIP was a team in the Korean division that could enter the playoffs but may not necessarily be able to get an award. They were quite similar to Tianhuan so when Lin Feng sent a message over to them, they straightforwardly agreed.
Chi Shuo asked: "How many rounds are we playing?"
Coach Lin: "Two rounds as usual, we can practice the comps."
Everyone had their lunch before swiftly making their way to the training room to gather. Coach Lin looked at everyone and said, "Korean TIP team's captain is Kim Minjun, and Chi Shuo had played against him before. He should be pretty familiar with his strength."
Chi Shuo agreed. "Mn, Kim Minjun's playing style is more inclined towards steadiness and is the typical development model for junglers. He won't fight too fiercely in the early game but once he had leveled up steadily, he would seek out chances to clear his jungle camp and snowball.
TL/n: To snowball is to continuously become stronger until you are unstoppable.
Coach Lin nodded and said, "TIP's strength in this season was far greater than their last season. The jungler Kim Minjun has a lot of experience playing in major competitions while the mid laner Jeong Chang-uk has a deep hero pool. The marksman Han Seungsoo is a newcomer who made his debut this season, but his performance was outstanding, and he currently has many MVP titles under his belt. He has the strength to compete for the Best Newcomer Award in the Korean division."
When Cheng Xing heard this, he couldn't help but lower his head secretly——both of them were newcomers, and while Han Seungsoo had an outstanding performance and was able to get the MVP which turned the tides, he had always depended on Yang-ge and master for victory. It really made him feel ashamed.
Coach Lin noticed Xiao Xing with his head lowered, then said, "Xiao Xing, the reason why I arranged for a training match with TIP was to let you practice dueling in the bottom lane."
Chi Shuo and Kim Minjun had played against each other before. If Tianhuan really played against TIP seriously, they just have to play a jungler core vs jungler core or attack the jungle with a mid/jungle duo to have a possibility of winning the match. But training that way would be meaningless.
The key focus of this training match was to dig out their weaknesses.
Tianhuan's current weakness was actually on the outer lanes.
Although Old Qin was stable, his performance wasn't of much brilliance.
Cheng Xing's play was very average. His average damage output per game was less than 30%, his KDA score wasn't high, and he completely relied on the mid/jungle duo to set the rhythm. He hasn't reached the standard of an outstanding marksman and can only be said to be barely qualified.
Tianhuan's Riyue was too dazzling, making it difficult to see Xiao Xingxing's might in games.
Thus, the reason why Coach Lin arranged for a team with a strong marksman to play a training match with them was to develop Cheng Xing, and to also let Cheng Xing mature as soon as possible. Even if he couldn't reach the standard of a top marksman, he should at least become an outstanding one.
Cheng Xing understood Coach Lin's intentions. He raised his head and said seriously, "Coach, I'll play well."
Coach Lin advised, "In today's training match, the jungler and mid laner will refrain from helping the bottom lane out. Let Cheng Xing and Qu Jiang do the confronting. It doesn't matter if we win or lose, what matters is for us to figure out the problem we have with our bottom lane's cooperation quickly."
Qu Jiang nodded, "Understood."
Coach Lin: "Okay, let's go to the training room to warm up and start the match on time at three."
Everyone sat down in the training room and opened the A.I training match mode, practicing their rotations casually. It wasn't until half an hour later that Coach Lin said, "Everyone, log in to the international server. I'll post the accounts and passwords in the group."
Coach Lin had a memo in his hand that specifically contains the passwords of their alts. After he copied and pasted it into the group chat, everyone logged into their accounts according to their respective positions.
The five alts they were using were all bronze-ranked, and the same as the ones used for the training match with America's FNO team, back when they played against Mitchell.
Coach Lin created a room and pulled in the coach for Korea's TIP. Both sides then started pulling people in.
Tianhuan's side was very uniformly named TH001~TH005 and was all bronze-ranked. On Korea's side, they used the naming method of TIP-A and TIP-B, and all five of their alts were also bronze-ranked.
Coach Lin turned on the voice channel, following which a young man's voice drifted into everyone's ears, "Hi everyone, I am, Kim, Minjun. It's a pleasure, to get to know, everyone."
Everyone: "..."
Ye Shaoyang held in his laughter and said, "This broken sentence of his sounds like it took a lot of effort."
Chi Shuo replied, "Zhou Jiawen taught him."
Captain Zhou was known as a social butterfly in the international server, and he was familiar with the professional players of each country. Mitchell, Kim Minjun, and others were all very familiar with him and had also learned some Chinese and emoticon packs from him.
Coach Lin replied politely, "Hello, hello. Our side has already finished preparing. Do we start now?"
Kim Minjun: "Okay. Do you, want, blue, or, red?"
Everyone was stunned.
Qu Jiang was full of doubts, "He directly asked if we're going after the blue or red first? Does he want to steal?"
Coach Lin finally reacted and said, "I think what he meant was to ask us if we're choosing the blue or red side first."
Everyone: "..."
Coach Lin said, "We, take, blue first. Next round, you, take blue?"
Kim Minjun: "OK."
Coach Lin was also led astray by Captain Kim and kept breaking his sentence after speaking
a word, as if he was out of breath. But they at least understood what the other party was trying to say.
Hence, Tianhuan was set as the blue side for the first round and could choose their heroes first. There wasn't a huge impact on the order of hero selection in training matches as both sides were practicing their comps. They could choose the heroes they liked.
The comp Tianhuan went with was very conventional. They chose the Black Knight, King of Fighters, Destruction Mage, Forest Envoy, and the Divine Archer. The top laner will hold his own lane as usual, the jungler and mid laner will be used to set the rhythm of the game.
The comp TIP will be running is the Holy Knight for top laner, a hero that can hold his own ground, the Stealthy Rogue for a jungler core, Great Witch of the North Sea for the mid laner, and the bottom lane duo will be the Radiant Shield and Wind Nymph.
Cheng Xing subsequently felt immense pressure.
The Stealthy Rogue can go into stealth and sneak up behind him to kill him, the Great Witch of the North Sea has an ult that can let a monster devour him in a single bite, and the Wind Nymph has nimble movements, making it very difficult for him to face off against him later.
Furthermore, Coach Lin has already said that the jungler and mid laner was not to help the bottom lane. This round is simply a 'hell mode for bottom lane'.
The game started.
Chi Shuo started off by going after the red buff, clearing all the way from the bottom side of the jungle to the top side. After he finished clearing the first wave of buffs, he went to the top lane with Ye Shaoyang and the bottom lane was left alone to be farmed. On the contrary, the enemy jungler's Stealthy Rogue was supporting the bottom lane, and their mid laner also went there.
Cheng Xing was about to retreat backwards when a red exclamation mark suddenly appeared on top of his head——
This was a sign that a player from the opposing team was in stealth near him.
Cheng Xing was so frightened that he directly flashed away but it was of no use. It was a 4v2 and they had ferociously charged into the range of the tower, unleashing a skill combo that took him down. Qu Jiang also wasn't spared.
At the same time, Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang teamed up with Old Qin in the top lane and killed the enemy top laner.
After reviving, Cheng Xing continued clearing minions in the bottom lane. Right as he finished clearing a wave, the enemy support suddenly threw out a control skill at him and Cheng Xing was immobilized on the spot. The marksman's Wind Nymph moved quickly and beat him down to low health while the jungler who was hiding nearby suddenly revealed himself and with an assassination skill combo, he killed him again.
In the top lane, Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang also killed the enemy top laner again.
TIP's top laner: "..."
Tianhuan's marksman: "..."
The top laner who was supposed to hold his own lane could no longer withstand it and the bottom lane that was meant for development was no more.
Kim Minjun quickly realized that Tianhuan was focusing on the top lane this round while the bottom lane was left alone for farming. Hence, he aggressively assisted the bottom lane and managed to take down the outer tower of the bottom lane at the fastest speed possible. Cheng Xing had almost broken down from being killed by him three times in succession.
The other party who had similarly broken down was none other than TIP's top laner. Previously, all the top laners were always alone but this time, it was far too lively. The enemy mid laner and jungler would frequently keep an eye on him and he really wanted to say something: Please don't come here!
TIP's top outer tower and Tianhuan's bottom outer tower fell practically at the same time.
Both teams grouped up and started to push down the middle lane. Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang cooperated to take down the enemy marksman, but TIP's marksman flashed away. TIP's mid laner unleashed his ult which engulfed Cheng Xing, beating him down to low health. Then, the enemy jungler took his head again.
Cheng Xing: "..."
There should be a discussion on how difficult it is for a marksman to survive.
The first game ended in less than 20 minutes. Although Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang had destroyed the top lane, Cheng Xing couldn't deal much damage during the team fight as he had been killed too many times in the early-game which caused a big difference in their gold and levels.
Coach Lin: "I'll, go, to drink, a sip, of coffee."
Coach Lin: "Rest, for five minutes, okay?"
Kim Minjun: "Yes!"
Coach Lin took a rest. Upon seeing Cheng Xing hanging his head with a depressed look, he walked over to him and said gently, "Xiao Xing, of all the games you have played until now, the situation you faced just now was probably the most difficult for you to deal with, right?"
"Mn." Cheng Xing replied with a meek voice.
As their mid laner and jungler deliberately didn't come over to help, the bottom lane frequently engaged in 2v4s. No matter how great a player is, they wouldn't be able to play 2v4 either, isn't that right? So being killed is perfectly normal. It's just that he got killed too many times so he couldn't help but feel bitter.
Coach Lin patted his shoulder and said, "In an actual competition, Chi Shuo and Shaoyang wouldn't stand by and watch you as you get killed. The pressure you feel right now would also definitely be way lesser than what you had felt in the training match just now… however, you can't always rely on your teammates. You have to find ways to protect yourself."
Cheng Xing nodded. "I know, Yang-ge had told me before. He said that as a marksman, we have to find ways to survive."
Coach Lin: "In the next game, try playing the Wind Nymph. This hero is the most nimble marksman and the hardest to operate well. Try your best to stay alive and drag the game out to the later stages. Can you do it?"
Cheng Xing took a deep breath and quickly adjusted his state of mind. He vigorously nodded, "Yes!"
Coach Lin turned on the microphone and spoke into it, "Let's start."
Kim Minjun; "Start! We take, blue?"
Coach Lin: "Okay."
In the second game, as TIP was the blue side, they chose their comp first. They took the classic tower-pushing comp of bottom lane + jungler core; On Tianhuan's side, the marksman changed his hero to Wind Nymph and the support took the Radiant Shield, a hero who had a stronger protection ability.
Both teams started to gank the bottom lane in a frenzy. This time, Cheng Xing learned from his mistakes and when the enemy jungler charged into the range of the tower to kill him, he swiftly cleansed himself and used a Q skill to leap to the woods on the side, managing to escape with low health.
In the second fight, Cheng Xing's 'cleanse' skill was on cooldown when Kim Minjun came to gank him. It was easy to die a sudden death if he was stunned, so Qu Jiang hurriedly raised his shield and helped block the key damages. Cheng Xing took advantage of the state of the terrain and directly activated 'storm' mode. He flipped over a wall and jumped right into the red buff area, managing to escape once more!.
He was very flexible and agile, like a rabbit frolicking about.
Kim Minjun realized this marksman wasn't easy to deal with. Hence, he changed his strategy and went to gank the top lane. He, however, happened to bump into Ye Shaoyang and Chi Shuo who were lying in ambush in the woods. The two swiftly killed him.
Both sides dragged on the second game until late-game, 25 minutes later.
During the team fight, Cheng Xing unleashed his ult and quickly moved and dealt damage. Although he was still opportunely killed off by Kim Minjun, he managed to deal a lot of damage before he died and beat down the front line to low health!
Ye Shaoyang and Chi Shuo worked together to finish off and took down three kills in one go, finally ending the game.
When they returned to the room, Kim Minjun asked, "Your, mid laner, is amazing. Is he, a newcomer?"
Coach Lin replied, "Yes. Your, newcomer, is amazing too."
Kim Minjun: "If, there's a chance, let's play, a training match again."
Coach Lin: "Alright, goodbye."
After both sides had courteously praised each other, they went offline.
They didn't put in too much effort into today's training match. It was just a simple training and comparing of notes and was meant for them to adjust their states too.
In both games, Ye Shaoyang's play was indeed impeccable. It was no wonder he got called out and praised by Kim Minjun. Cheng Xing died very miserably in the first game, getting killed five times in succession. He had immediately adjusted his state of mind in the second game.
What made Coach Lin pleasantly surprised was that the Wind Nymph was a hero that required good movement skills but when Cheng Xing played it, the effect was pretty good, and he persisted to the late-game.
Was he thinking too lightly of Cheng Xing's potential?
Previously, he had always let Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang set the rhythm which caused Cheng Xing's brilliance to be covered. In the subsequent games, maybe he can let Tianhuan's marksman play a greater role?
Just relying on the jungler and mid laner isn't enough if Tianhuan wants to enter the world championship. Their marksman cannot be a weakness.
Thinking of this, Lin Feng clapped his hands, signaling everyone to take off their headsets.
"Everyone performed well in the training match today. The upcoming Group A matches don't pose much of a problem for us, and the pressure isn't great. Cheng Xing can choose some comps centering around the marksman and try dealing as much damage as he can. Before we enter Group S, I hope that Tianhuan's overall strength can be improved and not just the mid laner and jungler!"
Ye Shaoyang's heart was full of admiration——Coach Lin's thoughts were actually right.
How much water a barrel can hold depends not on the tallest stave, but the shortest one. Similarly, how far a team can go depends not on the strongest player, but on the weakest one.
There were three lanes and once there was a gap, it'll be very easy for the opponents to snowball.
Tianhuan's mid laner and jungler were indeed strong. However, it isn't enough to fight against the strong world-class level teams by simply relying on them. Once Cheng Xing was killed in a team fight, Ye Shaoyang and Chi Shuo's damage output would simply not be enough and hence, taking this chance to train Cheng Xing was the right choice.
When the time comes that they got into Group S and their bottom lane was ganked, it would be too late for them to train again.
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