Glory [e-sports]

Could he break down the crystal in 19 seconds?

It was difficult.

Y1 had been too strong in the early stages, and they had controlled their soldier lanes very well. Although Close had directly assaulted them in their face in this wave of fighting, they’d done their set up well in advance.

If their soldier lanes weren’t in a good state, they wouldn’t have gone to ambush their opponents.

This was the terrifying thing about having strong operations. It had an amazingly high fault tolerance rate, and there was rarely any opportunity for sudden death games.

For example, after FTW had managed to remain standing at the end of this fight, Wei Xiao didn’t delay at all. The shadow thief was a talent with considerable attack speed, but unfortunately, he was still unable to push all the way to the crystal. By the time he’d managed to take down one of the towers protecting the base, Dxrus had already rushed back out.

It was difficult for the shadow thief to gain the advantage against a blood warrior. There was a chance if this was just a solo game, but Y1’s entire team was about to resurrect, and if Wei Xiao tried to fight, he’d be playing irrationally and sending away his own head.

He went semi-invisible and dove back into the jungle zone, sweeping through and clearing it out at the fastest possible speed before returning to his own jungle zone.

He would snatch up resources and develop. If they could pull off another wave of team fighting just like earlier, then FTW could win the game!

Unfortunately…

Would there be another such chance?

Y1 wasn’t a team who would repeat mistakes. They had a strong ability to adjust, and wouldn’t make the same mistake twice in the same game.

On the sidelines, Yuan Ze could already see the ending.

FTW had lost this game, but it had been played wonderfully.

That round where they’d aced Y1 was a very commendable and classic group fight that would’ve been acknowledged even amongst all the global professional teams.

Close had decisively started up the group fight, and his teammates’ support had followed quickly. Their mage and marksman had positioned themselves very well, in places where they could DPS like crazy without getting ambushed. At the end, the timing of Wei Xiao’s entry into the fray had been executed with textbook accuracy.

He’d gone in with a combo and stacked up his arc damage faster than usual. What was more ingenious was that he’d learned his lesson and had already adapted to the elemental shaman’s rhythm, seizing a gap when he was unable to squeeze out a control totem to enter the fight. He was stable, accurate, and fierce, and his wave of explosive DPS laid the foundation for Y1’s mass destruction.

Close had started the group fight, and Wei Xiao had ended it.

These two had really found their own rhythm.

Yuan Ze sighed internally and had to admit: Close was really very suited to playing top-lane.

Three years ago, nobody had asked Close which position he wanted to play.

There was no need to ask, and they didn’t have to ask.

He was strong and fierce with thieves, and his rhythm when playing jungler was also amongst the best. As long as Yan Jiang was in the team, there was no problem with cooperation.

They’d crushed everyone the whole way to champion. Who could’ve thought that he might not like playing jungler? That he might not love this position, and there might be a more suitable choice for him?

No one asked, and he didn’t say.

In the arrogant Team of Gods, only little Close had cooperated with them right from the start.

And they…

Defeat!

FTW failed to resist Y1’s fierce assault and lost the training game.

This was within expectations.

They hadn’t taken it easy and had taken out the same momentum they had for the finals. With a Y1 where even Yan Jiang was so serious, how could they lose to FTW, who’d still been nervous at the start of the game and only found their optimal state halfway?

Yuan Ze glanced at Wei Xiao.

Wei Xiao was staring at the screen, his black eyes bright.

After losing the game, his mood was even higher than before.

Yuan Ze cursed secretly: So this is why I hate this kind of unkillable genius.

Even as he cursed, the corners of his mouth couldn’t help curving upwards.

“Again!” Wei Xiao was in high spirits.

Y1, on the other side: “……”

For a moment, it was unclear who had lost and who had won.

Yuan Ze answered, “To hell with ‘again.’”

Wei Xiao turned to stare at him.

Yuan Ze: “Get up, it’s time for big brother to play.”

The next match was L&P against Y1. The schedule was laid out right there.

Wei Xiao didn’t want to get up. He hadn’t played enough, and he didn’t want to rest!

Lu Feng looked at him. “Do you want to eat watermelon?”

Wei Xiao instantly lost interest in Old Dog Yuan, “Yes~”

Don’t ask. If you ask, then there really was a tilde in his voice.

FTW had a temporary break. Wei Xiao accepted the food offered by his captain and ate his watermelon while watching the game.

They’d just finished playing against Y1, and Wei Xiao’s hands were really itching. If it weren’t for the people in the room, he really would’ve wanted to hold Lu Feng’s hand.

Unfortunately, there were so many people in the room that they couldn’t even find a chance to touch sneakily.

His hands were itchy, and his heart was hot, but he could only watch.

He was envious and greedy for everything!

In Training Room B, Pro and EVE were having a tense game. They were playing two games in a row, but they were much slower than Training Room A. While they were already starting the third game on this side, Training Room B was still on the second game.

On one hand, the two sides were playing very seriously. On the other hand, the two teams were too familiar with each other. They were busy trying to trick each other, causing their speed to slow down.

Of course, there was another point that neither side wanted to admit––they didn’t want to lose.

Although it was a training match, they just didn’t want to lose!

The proud flower who was living in FTW didn’t want to have to move away, and Xie He, who had no chance to live at the base, wanted to move in.

It was unknown if these two teams would be able to encounter each other in the globals, but in any case, these two games right now were no less competitive than global competition games!

Wei Xiao went to Training Room B to have a look. Because the proud flower was too good at surviving, and the rhythm of the game was too slow, he slipped back out again. Of course, it was also because he hadn’t seen the earlier game situation, and it felt as if something was lacking when he started watching from halfway. It would be better to watch the game replay later; also, Y1 and L&P had just started their game, which looked to be more exciting.

L&P and Y1 were also old enemies.

In last year’s finals, L&P had been defeated 3:1 by Y1. This had left L&P nursing their anger for a long time.

During a BO5 game, L&P had only won the first match, and they’d been so angry their chests hurt for half a month straight.

The European fans had scolded and ridiculed L&P repeatedly.

To hell with being the runner-up. The golden dragon trophy holder was the real daddy!

With these old grievances in play, this training match between the two sides must be fun to watch.

Wei Xiao suddenly spoke up, “Are we enjoying the opening game for the globals ahead of time?”

FTW: “……”

You’re the one holding the script, you know everything!

L&P wasn’t as nervous as FTW had been.

This was an old opponent. To hell with being nervous! They entered the game and began to fight.

Old G took MO with him and headed straight for Y1’s jungle zone, catching God Hai and sending him off with a scythe.

Y1 was playing a marksman focused line-up in this game. Hai was using a toolman jungler, and not only did he not have Captain Yan beside him, he also didn’t have much DPS on his own.

At the end of the day, Gary was one of the top junglers in the world. He was both cool and handsome when he grew serious, and his berserker thief was the pinnacle of perfection as he killed off Hai within moments.

Wei Xiao was left breathless. “Old G is nursing deep resentment.”

They’d played quite a few training matches with L&P and were a bit more familiar with them. Not much needed to be said about Gary’s personal strength, but it depended on his state.

He was more casual and playful in training competitions, and he always wanted to mess with his idol (yes, it was Close). In fact, he’d only really played out 60-70% of his real strength.

Now, when faced with Y1, he was different right from the start and gave off a sense of being the number one jungler king in North America.

Playing competitive games built up experience and watching games also did the same.

This was especially the case when watching strong teams fight. Paying careful attention to the game could allow the watcher to learn a lot of details.

L&P was a team that was a bit similar to FTW. Watching them fight against Y1 meant that FTW could also review their performance in the previous game, and it was like a game replay review in disguise.

Unfortunately, the line-up that Y1 took this time was very different from the last game.

When they faced FTW, Y1 had chosen a team with a jungler core, and their intention of hitting them hard and fast had been obvious. This game was different. The marksman core system had to remain stable in the early stages, avoiding fights whenever they could and hiding wherever possible. Once they made it to the middle and late stages of the game, they would be able to shift the advantage and win the game.

In last year’s global finals, Y1 had used the marksman system in the third game they played against L&P. In the early stages, L&P had been reckless and beaten Y1 up until they were all bloody. Fans on the scene had thought that L&P would be able to win and bring the score to 2:1.

Unexpectedly, 20 minutes later, PIG managed to rise up, and the cold, chilly arrows of his marksman all shot true. Old G was skewered until he was bleeding all over. In the last wave, Yuan Ze and Gary worked together to take down PIG in a two for one exchange where only Yuan Ze was left alive. However, Quas, the mid-laner mage king picked up the baton, and Y1 aced L&P, ending the game.

The biggest thing to be afraid of with a marksman core wasn’t that the marksman would dominate the whole scene. What was the most fearsome was when the marksman fell to the ground and someone else in the team was still able to play out explosive DPS.

After killing off one big daddy, there was still another big daddy. This was really enough to make L&P, who had an early stage line-up, so angry that their livers hurt.

It was also because they’d lost the third match that L&P’s mentality collapsed slightly. Their performance in the fourth match was mediocre, and Y1 had snatched up the golden dragon trophy.

It was a training match, but it was the same line-up as the key game in last year’s finals. How could L&P not let it get to their heads!

Wei Xiao was quite sharp. He whispered quietly to Lu Feng and complained, “It feels like Y1’s not motivated.”

Lu Feng didn’t say anything, but Brother Cai heard him and replied, “It’s a marksman core, they’re always weak in the early stages.”

Wei Xiao felt that that wasn’t the case. They’d just finished playing together, and he had a basic sense of the starters in Y1. He could see that something was fishy even if he was only watching.

Lu Feng glanced in Y1’s direction out of the corner of his eyes and fed Wei Xiao a slice of watermelon.

Wei Xiao: “Wu… it’s really sweet.”

Lu Feng: “Last one. If you eat more, your stomach will feel uncomfortable.”

Wei Xiao: “One more, just one more.”

Lu Feng cut a small piece for him, and Wei Xiao leaned over to snatch it away. He was delighted. “Super sweet.”

Brother Cai, who was trying hard to block this sight from the rest of the room: “………”

Blame me, blame me for being too thin, but even though I’m trying my damned best to press the closet door shut for you, the door won’t hold anymore!

Wei Xiao wasn’t wrong. Y1 really wasn’t motivated.

In the middle and late stages, PIG had developed enough. They met L&P in a wave of fighting and then everything went as expected.

There was no need for Yuan Ze and Gary to pass over the baton to each other. Old G killed PIG on his own, Yuan Ze took down Quas, and Y1 collapsed.

Victory.

Yuan Ze, who’d won the game, wasn’t happy at all. He looked to the side to glare at Yuan Ze. “You’re a little overly biased!”

If Yuan Ze hadn’t seen how seriously Y1 had played in their game against FTW, then he could comfort himself by saying that Yan Jiang was lazy, and everyone in Y1 were noobs. Last year’s finals championship was just a damned accident.

Now…

It was clear that they just didn’t want to fight against him!

What made Old Dog Yuan so angry that his liver ached was that Yan Jiang even made a calm sound of acknowledgement.

He said that he was being biased!

And he even agreed!

Yuan Ze: “……………………”

This was really worthy of being Captain Yan. His ability to deal with his old teammates was as good as it had always been.