Did The Captain Catch Up With The Coach Today [Esports] Chapter 36

“I have a phrase I want to say, but I don’t know if I should.”

“You shouldn’t.”

The moment Lu Qing Yang finished speaking, Wei Xiao, Zhou Miao Miao, and Tang Li responded in unison with those three words. After responding, they couldn’t help but laugh.

The only one who hadn’t spoken, Qin Jin Yao, also chuckled upon hearing those words. He laughed and said, “What is there to say? This isn’t the first time this has happened to you.”

“That’s true,” Lu Qing Yang admitted.

Just as KCD analyzed, although FHM was a newly established team with many immature aspects, the individual strength of every member was undeniable.

Before joining FHM, Lu Qing Yang had reached the top ten in the entire server through Solo Queue.

The skill level of random teammates varied greatly, and he never expected the randomly matched support to have the ability or awareness to protect him. He had always charged into battle alone, carried the entire game, and secured victory, long accustomed to fighting solo.

On the contrary, after joining FHM, his teammates were stronger than the last, making him look like a useless player who was just being carried.

However, this was not a bad thing for him.

Who wouldn’t enjoy being carried by powerful teammates?

The reason he complained about no one protecting him was just to make a joke and preemptively play the victim.

After all, this was the first time he had faced a lineup with three Assassins simultaneously in a professional match, and there was a real possibility of him being ganked into oblivion.

The lineups for the first game were:

Blue Team – FHM: TOP – Moon Shadow Spider, MID – Rift Star Mark, BOT – Thorn Whip, FOU – Soul Summoning Bell, JUNGLE – Full Moon Ferocious Wolf

Red Team – KCD: TOP – Bamboo Forest Swordsman, MID – Phantom Assassin, BOT – Abyssal Gaze, FOU – Undying Heroic Spirit, JUNGLE – Cursed Blade Scissors

Players could only confirm which heroes were in whose hands after entering the map, but the commentators and audience had seen it clearly long before that.

The commentator Wu Ya could only use one word to describe this lineup: “Exciting!”

“KCD seems to be using the opponent’s favored lineup to fight them, right? If they win, that would be incredibly provocative!” he said.

“Indeed,” commentator Xue Xiao agreed. “Bamboo Forest Swordsman is a hero FHM’s TOP laner excels at. KCD’s TOP laner picking it to lane against him is courageous on one hand, and certainly very provocative on the other. If KCD loses this game, I won’t be too surprised, but if they win, the blow to FHM will be huge, because it proves that their strategy isn’t exclusive to them.”

Wu Ya: “KCD looked like an honest team, I didn’t expect them to pull a stunt like this!”

Xue Xiao: “It’s understandable when you think about it. The outcome of this game doesn’t affect their advancement to the quarterfinals, so it’s a good opportunity to try out new tactics.”

Wu Ya: “Let’s watch and see if KCD’s new tactics can work!”

Before entering the map, Wei Xiao gave his teammates a heads-up: “The pace of this game will be very fast.”

“Definitely,” Qin Jin Yao had anticipated this. “With so many Assassins, they’ll be ganking everywhere. Anyone could show up in any lane.”

“Absolutely,” Zhou Miao Miao also said. “It’s a game of instant kills. It all comes down to reaction time and positioning.”

One spoke of awareness, the other of mechanics, but both demonstrated their understanding of the Assassin role.

Lu Qing Yang, speaking entirely from the victim’s perspective, said, “Don’t worry, I will absolutely not push past the lane when my Flash is down.”

Wei Xiao felt reassured.

Before the ban/pick phase, the reason he felt they had to win this game was that if they truly wanted to win the championship, they couldn’t lose to any team.

But now, he had another reason: They think they can beat us just by picking a few more Assassins? They must not think much of our coach!

When it comes to playing Assassins, FHM is serious from top to bottom!

Considering that this game was focused on the early game, where a disadvantage would be hard to overturn, neither side risked an invade, opting for a standard jungle start.

After taking the buffs and one small camp, Wei Xiao and KCD’s Jungler skirmished twice in the upper river, ending with Wei Xiao securing the vision.

KCD’s Jungler, Cursed Blade Scissors, gave up quickly and retreated fast, preferring to concede vision rather than give up a kill. The cost was that their MID laner could only watch helplessly as Zhou Miao Miao controlled the lane in the middle, forced to risk being harassed just to secure minions.

Wei Xiao checked the positions of both TOP and MID laners, planning to gank TOP first. He decided not to secure the lower river vision and instead invaded the enemy’s upper jungle, thinking that if the lower river vision was taken, so be it, since the resources hadn’t spawned yet anyway.

However, when Tang Li harassed the opposing BOT duo back to their tower and checked the river vision, he found the vision was still there!

“Huh? The enemy didn’t take it?” Tang Li was surprised.

“They just gave it up?” Zhou Miao Miao was incredulous.

“Are they that timid?” Wei Xiao didn’t understand.

Assassins, being squishy, certainly need to act cautiously, but what is the core goal of an Assassin? It’s to kill!

Characterized by high burst damage and mobility, they specialize in quickly eliminating enemy targets.

The role with the highest killing intent in Hero League was being played so timidly by the opposing Jungler!

“Is this some kind of tactic?” Tang Li didn’t believe the opponent would just give up.

However, the actual situation was this:

KCD’s Jungler: “Wei Xiao’s Wolf is too fierce. I’m not his match. Should I still contest the lower river vision?”

KCD’s FOU: “The opposing FOU is harassing too hard. We can’t support you. Don’t contest it, you won’t win.”

KCD’s Jungler breathed a sigh of relief: “Then I’ll go farm my jungle.”

KCD assumed Wei Xiao would come down to contest the vision, as this was Wei Xiao’s consistent style—never conceding an inch of the jungle. Whoever contested him, he killed.

In this game, if KCD still focused primarily on their Marksman as before, then the Jungler dying wouldn’t matter much.

But since they had three Assassins this game, they had to play for the early game. Every time the Jungler died, the scales of victory would tip towards FHM, especially if they died to the opposing core player.

But the consequence of giving up immediately was that they weren’t sure if Wei Xiao had actually gone BOT.

So, when Wei Xiao appeared in the TOP lane, KCD’s TOP laner was caught completely off guard!

“Jin Yao, go!” Wei Xiao commanded. Full Moon Ferocious Wolf and Moon Shadow Spider sandwiched the enemy TOP laner, Bamboo Forest Swordsman, instantly killing him!

The hero Full Moon Ferocious Wolf, as the name suggests, is incredibly fierce.

Its first skill, “Fierce Claw,” is a continuous triple claw attack, each hit dealing more damage than the last. Its early-game output is comparable to any Assassin.

During the contest for the upper river vision, the opposing Jungler was scratched by this attack and was so scared he even used his Flash.

After Wei Xiao secured the vision, he didn’t chase because the distance was too far, sparing the opponent’s life.

Perhaps it was because he had no Flash that the opposing Jungler didn’t secure the lower river vision.

Since he didn’t take it, Wei Xiao certainly would!

“Tang Li Ge, check it for me again!”

“Okay.” Tang Li responded, checking the river again. The vision was still intact.

Wei Xiao immediately maneuvered his Full Moon Ferocious Wolf, running down on all fours.

Full Moon Ferocious Wolf is actually a humanoid hero, standing on two feet when stationary, but moving on all fours.

The original skin’s face is somewhere between a wolf and a human, making it popular among furry enthusiasts. Unfortunately, the skin Wei Xiao was using this game sported the face of a handsome human male.

Wen Shi Yu had noticed long ago that Wei Xiao had requirements for the appearance of the heroes he played.

Wen Shi Yu once asked him, “Why don’t you play Soul Lantern Guide?”

His answer wasn’t about operational issues like “the skills are too complex, require too much hand speed, or have low hit rates,” but a single word: “Ugly.”

Why did Wen Shi Yu notice this? Because…

Wei Xiao: “I haven’t seen you play it either?”

Wen Shi Yu: “I also think it’s ugly.”

Wei Xiao: “Hahahahaha!”

Winning the match is important, but making oneself happy is equally important, because a game with wins and losses is still a game. If playing a game isn’t fun, can it still be called playing a game?

But then again.

Wen Shi Yu: “If one day the officials lose their minds and give Soul Lantern Guide an epic buff, making it a Meta Pick, would you play it?”

Wei Xiao: “Ah… well… I’d choose to ban it.”

Wen Shi Yu: “That is also an option.”

Wei Xiao: “What about you? Would you play it?”

Wen Shi Yu: “Yes, why wouldn’t I? I would play it while commissioning someone to draw a stunning new skin for Soul Lantern Guide, and then pressure the officials until they were forced to implement that skin for me.”

Wei Xiao: “Good heavens, that’s exactly like you.”

Every conversation increased Wei Xiao’s admiration and affection for Wen Shi Yu.

He dreamed of surpassing Wen Shi Yu, not to step on him, but to earn his recognition.

But he felt he would never surpass Wen Shi Yu in this lifetime, because when faced with a problem, he would only look for solutions within the rules, only choosing from the options laid out before him, while Wen Shi Yu could always jump outside the constraints of the rules and create a win-win option himself.

Many of Wei Xiao’s hero mechanics and habits were inherited from Wen Shi Yu. Many players familiar with Wen Shi Yu’s style could see his shadow in Wei Xiao.

This is why, after winning against EN using Phantom Assassin, many people said Wen Shi Yu was back, and many even directly called Wei Xiao Little Yu God.

Wei Xiao himself didn’t mind, and even liked being called that, enjoying the association with Wen Shi Yu.

However… he and Wen Shi Yu were ultimately different.

There were heroes he excelled at that Wen Shi Yu rarely played.

For example, Overlord Blade, and also—Full Moon Ferocious Wolf.

Wei Xiao arrived at the lower river, secured the vision, and after reaching level 4, immediately pounced on the enemy BOT lane.

“Go!”

When he said go, he went. Tang Li and Lu Qing Yang didn’t have time to analyze the situation and blindly followed, because they trusted Wei Xiao.

However, the opposing Marksman and Support had just recalled to replenish their status and were nearly full health. Engaging so aggressively was too…

Full Moon Ferocious Wolf used “Ferocious Wolf Pounce” to dash onto the Marksman’s face, immediately followed by the “Fierce Claw” triple strike!

The squishy Marksman’s health was instantly depleted!

[System] Full Moon Ferocious Wolf, First Kill!

[System] Enemy Abyssal Gaze has been slain!

The second skill, “Full Moon Heavy Strike,” enhanced the basic attack. The first hit was guaranteed to be a critical strike and increased the attack speed of the second hit.

The squishy Support was scratched by these two hits, leaving only a sliver of health, which was finished off by Lu Qing Yang’s basic attack.

[System] Thorn Whip, First Kill!

[System] Enemy Undying Heroic Spirit has been slain!

Wei Xiao took one tower hit, dashed out of the tower range, and headed straight for their own lower jungle.

Leaving behind his two teammates who hadn’t yet processed what happened.

After a long pause, Lu Qing Yang finally came to his senses: “Huh?”

Dude, how did you get those kills?

I didn’t even blink!