Did The Captain Catch Up With The Coach Today [Esports] Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Training matches are designed to allow teams to probe each other’s tactics and adjust their own strategies through informal skirmishes before the official competition.

Because they expose tactics to a certain extent, training matches are usually not public; if they are made public, it’s usually after the official competition.

The reason DIE chose to publicize the first match was entirely because their coach couldn’t stop running his mouth in the group chat.

His original intention was to seize the opportunity to mock KPI, but he ended up digging his own grave.

KPI and other professional teams were happy to push DIE onto FHM to scout FHM’s strength, so they not only thoughtfully helped DIE fill in the dirt but also threw away the shovel.

They figured that even if DIE was the weakest of the top eight teams, and even if they lost in under 20 minutes, they should still be able to gather some intelligence.

DIE itself thought, “A loss is a loss. We lost so badly in the invitational tournament at the beginning of the year, so one more loss won’t matter. But what if we win? What a great chance to show off!”

And they actually won!

DIE: Is that all you’ve got?

DIE: Can KPI not even beat a team like this?

This message was posted in the “E-sports Alliance Hero League Professional League Division” group, which FHM couldn’t see, but the entire E-sports circle, excluding FHM, could.

Almost all teams sent representatives to watch the first training match between DIE and FHM. Some teams even stopped their training to watch the match entirely.

While watching, they had already prepared the words they would use to mock DIE after the match, but unexpectedly, the second half of the game was dominated by DIE’s ADC showing off.

Then, unsurprisingly, after DIE won the match, they went straight for KPI!

DIE: KPI should seriously reflect on whether the Jungler core strategy is failing or if Fei Yu is failing.

As soon as this message appeared, KPI’s coach immediately ordered someone to cover Fei Yu’s eyes: “Fei Yu, don’t look, it’s a bad review!”

Fei Yu was speechless.

No, he had to speak his mind: “I wasn’t looking! You insisted on telling me!”

KPI had also watched the entire training match.

Although the internal group chat and forums were now filled with verbal attacks against them, they were not depressed after watching the match; instead, they were full of confidence!

Because the tactics FHM displayed in this training match were—no tactics at all!

“They rely entirely on the Jungler carrying them, but the Jungler’s mindset is completely Solo Queue—helping whoever is winning, with zero trust between him and his disadvantaged teammates,” said Hai Tun, KPI’s Support.

“Indeed. Although their ADC is weird, he’s not weak. If they helped him a few more times, he wouldn’t have collapsed so completely,” said Hai Ou, KPI’s ADC.

He hadn’t won his lane against Lu Qing Yang and Tang Li, so saying they were weak would be slapping his own face, which was absolutely unacceptable!

But the MID, Hu Die, didn’t have this concern: “What is their MID playing? Is this Xing Guang trying to make me laugh so hard that he can inherit my Starter position in KPI?”

“Seriously, he’s too rotten. It doesn’t look like he’s faking it; he genuinely doesn’t know how to play,” said Mi Lu, the Top Laner. “Looking at the whole game, FHM seemed to be missing three people, and one of them went to the enemy side. 2v6, and they still managed to hold on past 20 minutes. DIE is truly weak.”

“FHM must be hiding their strength. DIE is the one that truly exposed their tactics,” Fei Yu said. “After their Top and Jungler collapsed, they stopped fighting and started farming for their ADC. Isn’t that clearly telling everyone not to let their team’s ADC get ahead?”

“I really want to know how they played the second match. Watching DIE jump around in the group chat is so annoying!” Hai Tun pouted.

DIE jumped around for more than ten messages before KPI finally glanced at them.

DIE: What’s wrong? Why aren’t you saying anything? Did we break you? No way, no way?

KPI: Lol.

DIE: What do you mean? You lost to a team like that and you’re still happy?

KPI: Nothing, congratulations.

After typing those five words, KPI’s coach snorted: “They look like they’ve never won before. Just wait until the league; we’ll crush you!”

He thought DIE would continue to jump around, so he temporarily logged out, believing that out of sight was out of mind.

However, for the next period, DIE was incredibly silent. Anyone unaware of the situation would have thought they had been muted by the group admin.

The second game: 10 minutes, 0-18.

Who wouldn’t be silent seeing that score?

And out of the 18 kills DIE gave up, 5 were the ADC’s, and the remaining 13 were sacrifices made for the ADC.

In this game, Wei Xiao started by going to the top side jungle, clearing camps all the way to the bottom side jungle, hitting level 3 just in time to gank!

He cooperated with Lu Qing Yang and Tang Li’s baiting to completely surround the bottom lane duo. DIE’s ADC and Support had nowhere to run.

After securing a double kill, Wei Xiao snuck into DIE’s bottom side jungle, Solo Killed the Jungler, and then killed the MID who rushed over to help. That made 4 kills.

Immediately after, he ambushed DIE’s bottom lane duo on their way to the Tier 1 tower, using a combo to instantly eliminate the ADC—his 5th kill!

Having stayed in the bottom half of the map for so long, shouldn’t he go to the top half?

Heh, Wei Xiao wouldn’t!

After returning to FHM’s bottom side jungle to clear a wave of camps, he once again cooperated with the bottom lane to gank. He first pinned down DIE’s ADC and Support, then pinned down the MID and Jungler who rushed in to assist, securing 4 kills in one go, bringing his total kills to 9.

“What the hell! Why is he still here!” DIE’s ADC was collapsing.

DIE’s MID was even more distraught. He had been dominating the opposing Xing Guang in the mid-lane. Although he hadn’t managed a Solo Kill, he had already taken half the tower’s health. But his two attempts to assist resulted in him feeding two kills to the enemy Jungler, making him deeply regret his choices.

Qin Jin Yao was enjoying a peaceful time in the top lane, playing a 5v5 game like a 1v1.

In this match, Wei Xiao hadn’t helped the top lane at all; he had only entered the top side jungle once. Both Top Laners were like orphans, completely ignored.

“Switch lanes! We must switch lanes!” DIE couldn’t take it anymore. They swapped Top and Bot lanes. The Top Laner went bot to get abused, and the ADC and Support went top to find a breakthrough.

As soon as they arrived in the top lane, Wei Xiao chased after them, launching a surprise attack with Qin Jin Yao. The burst damage from the two Assassins instantly emptied the ADC’s health bar!

The top lane is much longer than the bottom lane. The Support ran for a long time but couldn’t reach the tower and was chased down and killed by Wei Xiao.

DIE’s Jungler rushed over to die, and Wei Xiao didn’t hesitate to kill him too!

He passed through the jungle, used Smite to recover his health, went to the mid-lane, tower-dived and killed the MID, then backed out of the tower to recall and buy items.

Zhou Miao Miao, who hadn’t been able to help at all, could only clap enthusiastically: “Awesome! You’re so handsome I’m dizzy!”

“Captain Wei has gone insane with kills!” Lu Qing Yang also praised him involuntarily while bullying the enemy Top Laner. “He’s slaying gods and slaughtering Buddhas!”

“Gods? Buddhas? They aren’t worthy.” Wei Xiao successfully recalled, purchasing items with extremely fast hands while boasting, “Iron Man without his armor is just a mortal, and what I intend to overturn is this firmament!”

“Good, good, good!” Zhou Miao Miao blindly praised him.

“Good! Very spirited!” Lu Qing Yang flashed a “Well Played” emote in the game.

“Charge, charge, charge!” Qin Jin Yao was encouraged and Solo Pushed DIE’s top Tier 1 tower.

“Hahaha, alright,” even the usually calm Tang Li joined in the fun.

Wen Shi Yu raised his hand to cover his eyes, slightly unable to watch, his lips curving slightly as he tried to suppress a laugh.

Overturning the firmament, seriously… Are you a male protagonist from a web novel?

As DIE’s three Tier 1 towers were successively destroyed, the scales of victory tipped toward FHM.

Since this wasn’t an official match, DIE, facing such a massive disadvantage, chose to surrender.

Wei Xiao hadn’t expected them to surrender. He stared at the post-match summary screen for a long time: “Huh? Are professional players allowed to surrender?”

“It’s never been disallowed,” Wen Shi Yu replied. “But surrendering shows disrespect to both teammates and opponents. At least, I won’t allow you to surrender, whether it’s in an official match or private training.”

“Exactly. It’s not that I’m afraid of being flamed or anything, but until the very last moment, anything is possible. Why do they think they are guaranteed to lose?” Wei Xiao frowned. “They are an ADC core team! Isn’t the ADC core meant for the late game? Waiting until the late game when everyone has six items is their time to shine, although I wouldn’t give them that chance.”

“That’s why they are the bottom of the top eight,” Wen Shi Yu responded. “Only by developing the habit of persisting until the end of every match can you create the miracle of turning around a losing game in the league. It’s the same principle as the military folding their blankets into perfect squares every day; you can’t wait until the battlefield to give your all. People need to know their limits, otherwise, they tend to overestimate themselves, and then they completely break down the moment they realize the truth.”

“Well said!” Wei Xiao looked at Wen Shi Yu with approval, giving him a thumbs up. “As expected of my idol, this passage is worth memorizing word for word!”

Wen Shi Yu glanced at him and looked away.

After a moment, he said flatly, “There’s nothing to review. Next game.”

Different teams are like different bosses, requiring different strategies.

Judging from the process and result of the second game, Wei Xiao already clearly understood how to defeat the DIE boss, even achieving a flawless victory. There was no need for a detailed review.

While there were minor issues—for instance, he hadn’t completely moved away from the Solo Queue mindset, preferring to find opportunities himself rather than coordinating with teammates—it wasn’t a major problem. This was because Wen Shi Yu had decided on the Jungler core strategy long before creating FHM, so the teammates he found for Wei Xiao were all excellent at coordinating with the Jungler.

Even Qin Jin Yao, who was the most difficult to manage, would never abandon a teammate to save himself.

Therefore, as the Jungler of this team, Wei Xiao just needed to kill, kill, kill, and the job would be done.

In the third game, DIE’s composition showed a clear change. Instead of focusing on active offense, they leaned toward defense.

They realized how strong Wei Xiao’s aggression was. Since they weren’t confident in winning the early game, they would defend and stall, hoping for an opportunity in the late game.

However, while they were adjusting their tactics, FHM was not standing still.

“Top Laner take Teleport, and come gank the bottom lane with me!” Wei Xiao had already decided how to play this game during the ban/pick phase.

Since DIE relied so heavily on their ADC, eliminating their ADC in the shortest possible time was worth sacrificing a top lane tower!

Wen Shi Yu looked at Qin Jin Yao, expecting him to object, but unexpectedly, he didn’t even ask for a reason. He just said “Oh” and changed his Summoner Spell to Teleport.

Wen Shi Yu: “…”

You’ve changed! You are no longer the Qin Jin Yao I knew, who would argue back three sentences for every one I said!

Why? Do I seem unreliable? Is it just because I can’t shout embarrassing things like “I intend to overturn this firmament”?

Wen Shi Yu felt a little psychologically unbalanced, but he said nothing, silently watching everyone prepare for the match and enter the battlefield.

While the map was loading, Wei Xiao suddenly turned back to him and gave him a wink.

“Eye twitch?” Wen Shi Yu was completely unfazed.

Wei Xiao chuckled and replied, “Don’t blink, because from now on, every game will end faster than the last!”