The MVP interview didn’t last long. Hades did not rejoice after the narrow victory, instead, he was troubled by a new dilemma as he headed to the backstage.
Normally in a game, the importance of a carry was greater than the Jungler, and the Jungler was greater than the Support.
Simply put, the impact of a Support was fairly limited, and even though a lot of professional players had never stopped emphasizing the importance of this position, the best a Support could do in a teamfight was still restricted only to initiation, protection, or tanking… in the past.
He remembered that Coach Huang Kang had instructed them to drag on the game if they didn’t have the confidence to defeat Team Skycrown. The coach believed that they could overcome any opponent in the late-game by utilizing Team Daemons’ unparalleled chemistry.
However, Hades realized that such a notion was no longer true, not in front of Luocheng’s outrageous Anivia. The support role that Luocheng had played in that last game was more terrifying than an off-lane champion.
Team Daemons had reached the bottleneck at the moment, and they could no longer establish an absolute advantage solely based on their current game plan and early-game strategy. More so, they had never faced any team like Team Skycrown who had maximized their Support potential, and as a result, Team Daemons may be slightly inferior in terms of teamfight capacity as compared to Team Skycrown.
In retrospect, they would have lost the previous game if it were not for their 7,000 gold advantage. The Baron, and subsequently the Nexus, would have been Team Skycrown’s for the taking.
Hades searched for Coach Huang Kang as soon as he returned to the backstage, and as expected, their coach was equally restless with his brows furrowed.
“We could have lost without that successful Level 1 skirmish. Besides, I made a mistake. Team Skycrown is more resilient in the late-game than we initially thought,” Huang Kang changed his stance and corrected his misjudgment after watching the first game.
Hades nodded and was glad that their coach was able to identify the key issue at hand.
They could not have truly comprehended Team Skycrown’s quick growth spurt without getting first-hand experience by playing against them. Hades now finally grasped the true depth hidden under this streaking team.
“I finally understand why he has chosen the Support role.” Huang Kang took out a pen and started to scribble something into his notebook.
“Assuming that the role of each champion in a teamfight is represented with a number that tops at 1, then the impact of a Support player would usually be far less than 0.5.”
In most professional teams, each player understood their role and would play to their strengths. Not many players were like Hades, who could singlehandedly take over the game.
When a team had reached its peak, how would they bring their game to the next level and surpass the upper limit, a score of 4.5?
A lot of teams focused on developing their ADC, Jungler, Mid, and off-lane carry, but as previously mentioned, there was only one Hades, one Blood Eagle, and one Xiao Wang in each position…
“Fighting Hawk does not select any of the mainstream positions because it’s difficult to widen the gap with other teams by using these champions now. However, it’s a different story for the Support position which still offers a lot of potential. The limit of other teams’ Support is always 0.5, but his Support is as dangerous as a Jungler. His contribution to the team is greater than 1 considering his versatility in both defensive and offensive ends.”
“I believe this is the core idea of him playing as a Support. He has created an enormous value out of the most unthinkable position. Supports in the previous patch were heavily nerfed due to the gold restraint, but that has been greatly improved in this current patch, which has paved the way for him to perfect a revolutionary playstyle.”
While most professional players were still trapped in the past and limited the Supports to mere secondary or tertiary roles, Luocheng had been constantly inventing and testing new ideas.
Supports like Zyra and Annie had always been regarded as AP carries in the past. No one had ever thought that they would one day become regular Support champions.
Similarly, Luocheng had introduced a new perspective on the Support role through his Anivia in this match. This greatly shook the opponents as they would now wonder what kind of outrageous Support he was going to bring to the table this time?
New playstyles often troubled a team with a long tradition. Their vast experience could also be their Achilles’ heel as they may not be able to easily adapt to novel strategies within such a short timeframe.
This was even more true when competing against an unpredictable team like Team Skycrown. Their never-seen-before strategy was complemented by equally strong individual skills.
***
While Team Daemons was busy analyzing, Team Skycrown was also reflecting on the previous game.
As the team captain, Luocheng didn’t think that Lin Dong was the biggest reason they had lost the game. Their defeat at Level 1 was mainly due to his own poor judgment. Hades would not have gotten so many kills if he had asked the team to play more defensively, and thus, he bore great responsibility for giving Hades the chance to dominate the field.
A strong team would not recklessly initiate a teamfight at Level 1 because there were simply too many uncertainties. There was a chance that a team would not be able to recover after falling back this early. Solid laning and well-timed ganks, although dull, were still the safer approach in a professional match.
“What a fantastic teamfight toward the end despite falling behind by 7,000 gold. I bet you guys could have beaten them if you had developed properly! So, stop thinking about the loss and get ready for the second match.” Li Meiqi encouraged the team.
“Yeah, don’t be dejected. You guys will definitely win the second game!” Jian Feng tried to cheer them up as well.
“Don’t worry. We won’t be affected,” Luocheng replied with a smile.
“It’s not as though we have never lost a game. Remember how we got beaten up when we first played with the Taiwanese people? I was almost sure that I am already too old for this game…” Da Luo put on a wide smile.
He had had a memorable game against Charon. Though it was hard to tell who held the upper hand, Da Luo was enthused to spar against a worthy opponent.
Charon’s Rengar was the decider in the first match, but Da Luo swore that he was going to return the favor in the next one!
Lost?
It was a term that Team Skycrown had grown utterly familiar with. There were many players that were far more powerful in the MSN group, and getting beat up consecutively in a day had become a norm for Team Skycrown.
This even dated back to when they were still Team Wings. It was not as though they were unbeatable in the country when they had stepped onto the international stage. They had lost countless battles along the way, too. Yet, it was through these mountains of defeats that they were able to recognize their incompetency and improve on it.
When they were stationed in Demacia Café, Luocheng had even handicapped the team so that they could learn how to strive through various kinds of hurdles and failures.
Failure was a part of the journey to success. However, one line kept resonating in Luocheng’s mind.
“If you wish to participate in the Asian Indoor Games, then first prove to me that you are the best in China!”
Against Team Daemons, Luocheng could accept a single defeat. After all, they had been the pinnacle of this country’s E-sports for quite some time, there was no other way besides taking a hit if Team Skycrown wished to defeat them.
He would not allow his team to lose another game though. Otherwise, he would not be able to prove that Team Skycrown was capable of bearing the “strongest LOL team” label.
In the past, Luocheng had been crazy about competitive E-sports and had focused solely on his personal achievement. He strived only for the best and cared only about winning.
Fast forward to today, Luocheng, who had experienced so much, was no longer the naïve child he once was. The victory he was chasing now was tied to many other things. He had practiced and fought hard to reach this stage, claiming he was doing it for himself, but was that really the case?
***
“Asmodai, could you stay if we win the next game? We will go through to the international tournament after winning the next game, we could enter the quarter-finals for sure this time. Please retire after that and don’t give up on us prematurely,” Charon pleaded to Asmodai sincerely.
Asmodai tapped Charon’s keyboard lightly. He was well aware that Charon’s maneuver was the key to their last victory and he was proud to have such an outstanding teammate. In this match, everyone had outperformed themselves. Asmodai could tell that his teammates were bringing their A-game for him.
On the contrary, his performance was still bland. He was being carried by the team and not the other way around. As an ADC, he should be the one who had the team on his back, but alas, Asmodai could tell that he was no longer as sharp.
He believed he had been trying his best in facing Team Skycrown and Fighting Hawk, yet, his performance was nothing spectacular. He had been too hesitant when Anivia’s ice wall had appeared, wasting too much time on contemplating whether to charge in or focus on Anivia.
Fighting Hawk’s Support was much more prominent than a carry.
‘Meanwhile, my ADC…”
He was truly subdued by such a generational talent.
Hades could see through Asmodai’s sorrow and he said to him, “Asmodai, there’s one more game to go. If you really have decided to leave, then you should leave with dignity. Don’t become a forgettable player! Wouldn’t you feel regret if you did not leave behind a legacy in your final match?”
‘Regret?’ Asmodai was no doubt regretful that he had to make this decision. A whole six years of professional E-sports career. He had fallen and bounced back from uncertainties numerous times. Of course he had wished to stand on the grandest stage and receive applause from E-sports enthusiasts from all around the world.
His final year of this professional career had passed by in the blink of an eye, and Asmodai was terrified despite knowing that this day would eventually come. He was like a dying man knowing that his time would be up in the next game, in less than an hour. No one was ever fully prepared for stuff like this.
Nevertheless, he had decided to set all of his emotions aside. If he could not play unburdened in the final match of his professional career, then he would have betrayed the heart and soul he had been pouring into the game this entire time.
