Did The Captain Catch Up With The Coach Today [Esports] Chapter 51
byChapter 51
The second match began, and KPI’s Jungler, Fei Yu, picked Blade Shadow Dancer.
This was a Meta Pick, and rather than saying he snatched it, it was more accurate to say FHM let him have it.
In the first match, KPI used all five bans on the Jungler position, so FHM returned the favor by banning five Junglers as well. Although this did restrict Fei Yu’s technique to a certain extent, FHM’s own lineup was also significantly affected.
For the second match, since KPI released a Jungler, FHM also lifted their restrictions, intending to fight a hard battle with lineups they were both proficient in, leaving no room for complaint from either side’s fans.
Before the match started, unlike DIE, who were overly confident and thought they could instantly catch up the three points, the overall atmosphere on KPI’s side was heavy.
Both the coach and the players clearly understood that what KPI lacked compared to FHM was not strategy, but raw skill.
Of course, strategy was also a form of skill.
In short, this gap based on skill could not be quickly narrowed through bans or unconventional attempts. If they wanted to defeat FHM, besides stabilizing their mindset and performing well, they also needed a bit of luck.
Although everyone knew this, encouraging words still needed to be said.
Coach: “Just play normally. Stay stable in the early game. Fei Yu, look for opportunities to gain an advantage. Everyone else, play cautiously during the laning phase. As long as we can secure an advantage, no matter what Wei Xiao is playing, we can suppress him.”
Fei Yu hummed in agreement, sharing the same thought.
Junglers primarily compete on gold. With gold, they can execute a full combo and kill anyone they target. Without gold, they are just an outsider, their presence irrelevant.
Fei Yu started playing Jungler precisely for the satisfaction of instantly suppressing and killing opponents. He liked dominating others, not being trampled on.
But this Wei Xiao—he had never managed to reach his nape. Every time he faced him, he felt a sense of powerlessness, like a Golden Core cultivator facing a Grand Ascension master.
Fei Yu constantly convinced himself that the previous matches were only so difficult because Wei Xiao had secured the gold advantage first. He could win as long as he gained the gold advantage just once!
In any case, he had to win this round, both for the team and for himself!
The match began. In the 3rd minute, Fei Yu, relying on Blade Shadow Dancer’s mechanics advantage, actively approached the upper river where Wei Xiao was located.
A Level 2 Blade Shadow Dancer couldn’t possibly lose to a Level 2 Time Tracker!
He was going to suppress Wei Xiao right at the start. That way, he would feel comfortable for the entire match!
Thinking this, Fei Yu maneuvered his Blade Shadow Dancer, openly running toward the Time Tracker who was trying to secure vision in the upper river.
Wei Xiao noticed his approach and countered with a “Time Mark” on him: “Oh, you’re bolder this round. Perfect timing!”
When Blade Shadow Dancer was close enough to Wei Xiao, Fei Yu decisively used Flash! Determined to land the hit, he pressed two keys in quick succession, first throwing “Blade Chain” and then using Flash.
However, Wei Xiao had anticipated this, immediately using Flash to dodge the crowd control, then instantly hitting the W key. A “Tracking Claw” landed on Fei Yu after a short delay, instantly taking out half his health bar!
Fei Yu cursed and immediately turned to run!
Wei Xiao seized the opportunity, using several basic attacks plus Smite to secure the vision, leveling up to 3 and unlocking his third skill, “Plane Shift.” He used “Plane Shift” to chase behind Fei Yu and unleashed a flurry of basic attacks!
Fei Yu had already used Flash, and his displacement skill was not yet unlocked. He countered with his damage skill in a desperate attempt to fight back, but due to the health disadvantage, his health bar was cleared first.
[System Notification] Time Tracker secured First Blood!
[System Notification] Enemy Blade Shadow Dancer has been slain!
When Blade Shadow Dancer fell, Wei Xiao’s Time Tracker was left with only a sliver of health.
A Level 3 Time Tracker was not an opponent for a Level 2 Blade Shadow Dancer in the early game, but Fei Yu was too confident, using Flash without leaving himself any retreat.
The commentators were also stunned.
Yue Xia: “Fei Yu was very intent on killing this round! But Wei Xiao used Flash too decisively and didn’t let him succeed!”
Ri Xi: “Fei Yu was a bit too eager. He could have played around a bit first, maybe tried to contest the vision.”
Yue Xia: “But if he did that, both MID laners would come over, and it would turn into a 2v2.”
Ri Xi: “Yes, it seems Fei Yu was very confident he could solo kill Wei Xiao, but he underestimated Wei Xiao’s reaction speed.”
The live broadcast showed a slow-motion replay of that counter-kill. At 0.75x speed, both Flashes still looked simultaneous, making the scene even more shocking than at normal speed.
[Holy crap, what kind of reaction speed is that?]
[I’m speechless!]
[Mom asked why I’m watching the stream kneeling.]
[Whose chins are scattered all over the floor?]
[Wei Xiao is truly divine! This must be the value of a Solo Queue win rate over 90%!]
The barrage of exclamation marks in the live chat and comment section was overwhelming; almost all viewers were shocked by Wei Xiao’s reaction speed.
After dying once, Fei Yu stopped looking for trouble with Wei Xiao and retreated shamefully to farm in his own jungle.
Wei Xiao, having started, decided to finish, taking the vision in the lower river as well and then ganking the bottom lane.
He wanted to bait out Fei Yu, but Fei Yu didn’t appear. So, he cooperated with his ADC and Support to suppress and kill the enemy ADC, then immediately recalled to the top lane.
The enemy Top Laner, seeing Wei Xiao in the bottom lane, seized the opportunity to suppress Qin Jin Yao under the tower, trying to kill him instantly.
Qin Jin Yao had picked Bamboo Swordsman this round but was facing the highly targeted Ironclad Heavy Scythe, whose damage was barely scratching him.
Just as he was about to be killed under the tower, Wei Xiao arrived in time, using a “Plane Shift” to pounce on the enemy’s face and deliver a claw strike!
Ironclad Heavy Scythe took a tower hit and was already low on health. Wei Xiao’s claw strike sent him straight back to the fountain.
[System Notification] Time Tracker secured a Double Kill!
[System Notification] Enemy Ironclad Heavy Scythe has been slain!
—This was still within the time limit of the ADC kill, so it counted as a Double Kill.
Qin Jin Yao recalled on the spot, watching his health recover from 8 HP, and let out a long sigh of relief: “You arrived just in time. Why is this guy so aggressive today?”
“He realized his core position couldn’t gain an advantage, so he has to be aggressive,” Wei Xiao laughed. “No big deal, I’m fast.”
Qin Jin Yao: “True, four legs after all.”
After Wei Xiao secured three consecutive kills on KPI, they dared not act rashly anymore. All three lanes retreated under their towers, handing all the tempo to their Jungler, Fei Yu, hoping he could create opportunities for the team.
However, at the 5-minute mark, Wei Xiao’s Time Tracker reached Level 6 first and gained his ultimate ability.
At the 6-minute mark, Fei Yu’s Blade Shadow Dancer appeared in the bottom lane, attempting a gank. Wei Xiao immediately used his ultimate, “Time Pursuit,” appearing behind the enemy ADC who had a mark on them, using a combo to suppress and kill them, then immediately applying the mark and claw strike to Blade Shadow Dancer!
First killing the ADC, then the Jungler, and finally, the Support couldn’t escape either.
Single Kill, Double Kill, Triple Kill!
Time Tracker went on a rampage, moving so fast that Lu Qing Yang and Tang Li only managed to snag one assist each.
Commentator Ri Xi couldn’t help but exclaim: “A dog with a gold advantage is terrifying!”
Yue Xia: “Indeed, once the mark is applied, it won’t disappear unless the player dies. Players with the mark are under immense pressure!”
Ri Xi: “Wei Xiao has a plan. He’s in the upper jungle, but the mark is applied in the bottom lane. No matter which lane Fei Yu ganks, he can’t escape him.”
Yue Xia: “The gold gap between the two sides is widening further. This is fatal for a jungle-centric team like KPI. They might need to rely on team fights to turn the tide.”
Two minutes later, KPI initiated a team fight. And then, they were wiped out.
KPI’s Top Laner abandoned the top lane to try and help the bottom lane gain an advantage, and the MID Laner also came to assist. However, in their 5v4, after being poked by the Bamboo Swordsman rushing down from the top lane, they were then whipped by the ultimate of Thorn Whip, leaving everyone critically low on health. Wei Xiao had a field day cleaning up!
Zhou Miao Miao, the only one who didn’t participate in the team fight, took the opportunity to push down the mid-lane Tier 1 tower, and then went to push down the top-lane Tier 1 tower.
Actually, Wei Xiao originally intended to call Zhou Miao Miao to join the team fight and let Qin Jin Yao push the top-lane Tier 1 tower. But the moment he opened his mouth to say “Miao,” Qin Jin Yao used “Bamboo Shift” and flew from the top lane to the bottom lane.
Wei Xiao: “…Fine.”
It wasn’t a huge problem. In the end, they successfully wiped out KPI and secured two towers.
After securing the river objectives, KPI’s bottom-lane Tier 1 tower was also quickly gone.
Then Qin Jin Yao returned to the top lane to split push, Zhou Miao Miao, Lu Qing Yang, and Tang Li grouped up to push the bottom lane, and Wei Xiao infiltrated KPI’s jungle, sweeping it clean, leaving not a crumb for Fei Yu.
The second half of the match went smoothly. Except for Qin Jin Yao getting overzealous and dying once while diving the tower, no one else died much.
And in the team fight where Qin Jin Yao died, FHM wiped out KPI once again.
Ultimately, FHM pushed to KPI’s doorstep with a wave of Dragon minions.
The match time was 28 minutes, four minutes longer than the previous game, but the feeling was even more dominant, likely because Wei Xiao’s Time Tracker exerted too much pressure.
People in the live chat were already spamming [Wei Xiao First Jungler!], [Well deserved!], and [I know who the First Jungler is!], and some were even shouting [God Xiao!]
The subsequent third match was also without suspense; FHM won with a completely crushing performance.
One huge advantage could be attributed to luck, but three consecutive huge advantages could only be attributed to skill.
FHM and KPI had faced each other numerous times, but this was their first encounter in an official match, giving everyone following the competition a brand new understanding of FHM’s strength.
Immediately after the third match ended, before the judges could even select the MVP, the topic titled “Wei Xiao First Jungler” surged to the top of the hot search list.
Wei Xiao couldn’t check his phone yet, but as soon as he took off his headphones, he heard the cheers from the venue.
“Wei Xiao is awesome!”
“Go FHM!”
“Yu God is awesome!”
“FHM Champions!”
The other members of FHM heard it too. Zhou Miao Miao couldn’t help but complain: “Wow, I worked hard too, why aren’t they shouting my name?”
Qin Jin Yao replied: “Then the venue would be full of cat sounds.”
“Hahahahaha!”
All members of FHM burst into laughter. After laughing, Zhou Miao Miao said: “Captain Wei’s MVP is well deserved!”
Complaints aside, Wei Xiao’s skill was recognized by everyone in FHM. Having such a teammate on the team brought immense peace of mind. Although their own brilliance might be overshadowed by him, their flaws would also be covered up.
Just like Wen Shi Yu back then, he attracted all the spotlights. Those who praised him did so, and those who cursed him did so. As for who the other EN team members were? No one cared.
The difference was that the EN team members were resentful, while the FHM team only wanted to unite and win the championship.
Wei Xiao returned to the lounge and started smiling the moment his eyes met Wen Shi Yu’s.
Wen Shi Yu looked at the smile on his face, brighter than the spotlights, and couldn’t help but curve his lips, asking him: “What are you laughing about? You just beat a team we’ve won countless times against in scrims.”
Wei Xiao thought, I don’t know why, but I just can’t help but smile when I see you.
He maintained some reserve verbally: “Nothing, we won, I’m happy.”
Wen Shi Yu: “Don’t relax until you’ve defeated WI.”
“I won’t. You’re here, aren’t you?” Wei Xiao laughed. “If I relax, you’ll always be there to make me tense up again.”
Wen Shi Yu smiled helplessly, saying nothing more.
Wei Xiao immediately added: “After these three rounds, the title of First Jungler should be secured. But in my heart, you are the true First Jungler, whether in the past, present, or future.”
Wen Shi Yu: “You’ve already beaten me.”
Wei Xiao: “But I haven’t beaten you at your peak, and I never will in this lifetime.”
Wen Shi Yu was lost in thought for a moment.
“But I don’t feel regretful,” Wei Xiao smiled. “As long as someone is ahead, I have the motivation to keep moving forward.”