The scandal involving Yaoguang quickly rose to the top of Weibo's trending searches. Other e-sports teams remained very quiet, with no one forwarding the news. Everyone was silently eating melons and watching the drama.
Ye Shaoyang sent a message to Xie Weiyu: "Xiao Yu, did you see the Alliance's announcement? [Web Link]"
Xie Weiyu replied, "I saw it…"
Ye Shaoyang sighed and said, "You were right to leave Yaoguang."
After a moment, Xie Weiyu sent three consecutive voice messages: "Actually, I left back then because Yaoguang's management changed. Before, Yaoguang's manager knew something about e-sports. But after last year's competition, the big boss suddenly intervened in the club's management and even called us for a talk."
"He said he wanted reporters to come to the team for interviews, film daily snippets, edit them into a variety show series, and release them to help us consolidate our fan base and make us super popular e-sports players. I couldn't handle these things, plus my contract expired, so I terminated my contract with Yaoguang."
"The current Yaoguang is indeed not the team that played seriously at the beginning. They care more about popularity and managing the fan circle. Sigh, it's not good to speak ill of my old employer. I'm only telling you this, Yangyang. Just listen and forget it. I'm recalling the messages."
The voice coming from the ear was very gentle, filled with regret. After all, he still had feelings for the Yaoguang team. Seeing Yaoguang come to this point, Xie Weiyu also felt a bit uncomfortable.
After listening, Ye Shaoyang opened WeChat and saw that he had already recalled the three voice messages.
Ye Shaoyang sent a hugging emoji and comforted him: "Let the past go. They brought it upon themselves; no one could stop them. You didn't let them down during your time at Yaoguang. Just have a clear conscience."
Xie Weiyu sent a smiley face: "Mn, I think so too."
Ye Shaoyang: "Let's not talk about these depressing things. Come, come, let's play an entertainment match?"
Xie Weiyu said, "Okay, wait for me to start a livestream."
The two teamed up again to livestream and play the "Clone Wars" entertainment match. Many fans in the bullet screen area were talking about Yaoguang, but neither Ye Shaoyang nor Xie Weiyu responded.
The next afternoon, the Professional Alliance announced the investigation results—
[After investigation and verification, there is clear evidence confirming that Yaoguang and Langzu Club engaged in private transactions. The involved personnel from both sides have confessed to this result.
The Alliance's penalties are as follows:
The Yaoguang Team and the Langzu Team are each fined 2 million.
Head coaches of both teams are suspended for reflection.
Players YG-Yu'mao and LZ-Tian Tian, involved in improper competition, are suspended for one year.
It is hoped that all major teams will take this as a warning, respect the spirit of e-sports, and jointly maintain a fair and just competitive environment.
Gods' War Official Disciplinary Committee Announcement]
The Disciplinary Team's investigation speed was so fast, Ming Sheng must have done the investigation in the early stages, grasped sufficient evidence, and the evidence handed to the Alliance directly hammered both sides to death.
The Alliance went through the motions, confirmed it, and issued the penalty announcement.
This announcement was very satisfying!
Yaoguang's official blog lost hundreds of thousands of fans in the blink of an eye, and the comment section was full of scolding.
Yu'mao was suspended.
Leaving such a serious stain on his professional career, let alone the Best Newcomer Award, it would be very difficult for him to come back and play matches in the future. Yaoguang's head coach was suspended, and the assistant coach took over. Next, Yaoguang's days in Group A wouldn't be too easy.
Group A had the very strong Luoshendi Team, and other teams had also been improving. This season, Yaoguang fell from the altar completely due to their own doing.
Ye Shaoyang closed the official blog webpage, feeling complicated.
LPL and KPL also had teams involved in match-fixing, and they were eventually penalized by the Alliance.
The fairness of the competitive environment needs everyone to maintain together. Team A secretly stuffing money to Team B to let the opponent throw the game, Team B colluding with Team C to deliberately make mistakes in team fights. If this goes on, what's the point of watching the game?
Ye Shaoyang couldn't understand this behavior, but there were always people crossing this red line.
Fortunately, the 6 teams remaining in Group S disdained doing such things. They all relied on their performance openly and honestly. In the upcoming matches, regardless of winning or losing, everyone could have a clear conscience.
The next day, Tianhuan's players returned to the team base after their holiday.
During dinner, everyone gathered in the dining room and discussed Yaoguang's penalty.
Cheng Xing gloated, "Yu'mao is finished now, right? However, he can rely on his face to make a living. Maybe he can follow his boss and become a star or something?"
Qu Jiang ridiculed, "The entertainment industry doesn't accept just any trash. His match-fixing penalty is already set in stone. He won't make it in the entertainment industry either. Once this dark history is dug up, his reputation will still be ruined."
Qin Yizhu scratched his head and said, "It's a pity. His talent is actually okay. Playing matches honestly would also yield results. Being too impatient and taking this crooked path is really ruining his own future."
Coach Lin walked over and interrupted them: "Alright, stop gossiping. The matter of Yaoguang is over. We won't encounter this team again. Let's study our opponents in Group S." He took out his phone and sent a table to the Tianhuan team group chat. "The match schedule is out. Everyone take a look first."
Everyone opened their phones one after another.
After the official match schedule was released, it would first be sent to the coaches of major teams before being announced online. Coach Lin came to find the team members immediately after receiving the schedule.
Tianhuan's schedule in Group S was not very optimistic.
But on second thought, there were no weak teams in Group S. It was the same whoever they played first.
This week was a bye week, and the third stage of the competition would start next week. Group S matches were all scheduled on weekends. Tianhuan's first match was on Saturday, May 21st, at 7 p.m., against Jingzhe. They still had about 10 days to prepare.
Coach Lin said, "After dinner, everyone go to the meeting room. Let's study how to play this match against Jingzhe."
Everyone stopped gossiping, quickly finished dinner, and followed the coach to the meeting room.
Coach Lin turned on the computer and connected the prepared PPT.
Tianhuan's coaching team wasn't just Coach Lin. There were also the data department and several assistant coaches. However, Coach Lin was the highest leader of the coaching team who communicated directly with the players and was responsible for BP on the field.
He showed the results of the coaching team's research to everyone: "Jingzhe Team is a team with strong comprehensive strength and a very comprehensive lineup. They often research some special tactical systems. For example, the S8 Poison Team system, where the Poison Warlock plays the marksman position, was first brought to the arena by Jingzhe."
The Poison Warlock was a mage. Due to low damage output and slow ultimate cooldown, it was a sewer hero that no one used for a long time. But after Jingzhe researched the Poison Team routine, letting him buy physical attack speed items to stack attack speed and deal damage by stacking poison, combined with the King Cobra, the effect was surprisingly good.
This kind of team willing to research new routines was very difficult to deal with.
Coach Lin said, "Jingzhe's performance this season has been very stable. Mid laner Fang Zhengqing, marksman Xie Yuan, and support Li Yunmo are known as the Iron Triangle combination. Top laner and jungler are also excellent players. This is their data for this season, including KDA, common hero pool, gold acquisition speed per minute, etc. Everyone take a look first."
Jingzhe's 5 IDs and their data for this season were displayed on the big screen.
I Am Very Square (Wo Hen Fang), I Am Very Round (Wo Hen Yuan), A Piece of Cloud (Yi Pian Yun), A Mountain (Yi Zuo Shan), A Knife (Yi Ba Dao).
The names of Jingzhe's players were a bit funny, probably led astray by Captain Fang Zhengqing. Fang Zhengqing deserved to be the laziest Alpha in the Alliance. His surname was Fang, so he named himself I Am Very Square, too lazy to even think of a new ID.
Fang Zhengqing and Xie Yuan's data looked very good, and their hero pools were also very deep. They deserved to be world-class mid laner and marksman.
Coach Lin continued to analyse: "Most teams playing against Jingzhe will target the mid laner and marksman in BP. But we cannot ignore that Jingzhe's support Li Yunmo is the calmest support in the entire Alliance and is very good at seizing opportunities. Under Li Yunmo's protection in the bot lane, it's hard to catch and kill the marksman. Playing the bot lane might not necessarily gain an advantage."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone: "After research, the coaching team decided to place the breakthrough point in the mid lane."
Chi Shuo raised his eyebrows: "Target Fang Zhengqing's lane?"
Coach Lin nodded: "Mn. Fang Zhengqing is indeed hard to deal with, but our Shaoyang is not bad either. I believe Shaoyang won't suffer a loss in a 1V1 lane against Fang Zhengqing. Chi Shuo, you can frequently help the mid lane. You two coordinate to send Captain Fang home, then go roaming to create a time difference."
Coach Lin paused, looked at Chi Shuo, and asked: "By the way, what mid lane heroes do you think Fang Zhengqing will pick when playing against our Tianhuan?"
Chi Shuo thought for a while and said: "King Cobra, Kraken of the North Sea. His favorite heroes are these two."
Coach Lin suddenly realized: "Okay, then no need to ban these two. He definitely won't pick them. Let's focus on banning the marksman position, banning Xie Yuan's best heroes."
Chi Shuo: "??"
Ye Shaoyang laughed out loud beside him: "Reverse elimination method. After all, you two have the 'tacit understanding' of a mid-jungle linkage that collapses three lanes. If you think he will pick it, then he definitely won't pick it."
Chi Shuo: "…"
Coach Lin continued to ask: "When Fang Zhengqing reaches level 6 in the first wave, will he support top lane or bot lane?"
Chi Shuo guessed: "Bot lane, right?"
Coach Lin looked at Qin Yizhu: "Old Qin, be careful. Fang Zhengqing has a high probability of ganking top lane at level 6."
Qin Yizhu sat up straight: "Received!"
Chi Shuo: "…"
At the same time, Jingzhe Team base.
Fang Zhengqing leaned back in his seat, squinting his eyes. Jingzhe's Coach Chen was dancing with joy beside him, explaining passionately: "Tianhuan has improved rapidly this season. Lieyang's personal strength is outstanding! Captain Fang can't completely suppress him in the mid lane, so we must guard against him supporting the side lanes! When Tianhuan plays our Jingzhe, there is a high probability they will use a mid-jungle linkage lineup, with the mid laner continuing to roam with the jungler."
He paused, looking at Fang Zhengqing: "Captain Fang, guess what hero Chi Shuo will pick?"
Fang Zhengqing thought for a moment and said: "Stealth Rogue, Blood-Clad Assassin? His two best jungle cores, can flank to instakill our marksman."
Coach Chen said: "Okay, then we won't ban these two heroes. Chi Shuo shouldn't pick them."
Fang Zhengqing: "?"
Xie Yuan chuckled lightly beside him: "You and Chi Shuo have no tacit understanding. The coach is using reverse elimination."
Fang Zhengqing adjusted his glasses: "Oh."
Coach Chen continued to look at Fang Zhengqing: "Which lane do you think Tianhuan will focus on attacking this time?"
Fang Zhengqing continued to guess: "Bot lane?"
Coach Chen: "Then bot lane can farm with peace of mind. We will focus on defending top lane and mid lane."
Fang Zhengqing: "…"
Can we still have a happy meeting!
After a round of reverse elimination by the coaches of both sides, the BP thinking was confirmed.
Tianhuan targeted the marksman position, leaving Fang Zhengqing's famous heroes open… Fang Zhengqing might not pick them.
Jingzhe targeted the mid lane position, leaving Chi Shuo's jungle cores open… Anyway, Chi Shuo had a high probability of not picking them.
Immediately after, both sides began to deploy troops and determine the lineup to practice next.
Playing against a strong team like Jingzhe, it was very likely to go to a decisive game. So, they must prepare 3 sets of lineups, as well as lower-tier alternatives after certain core heroes were banned.
These were things the coaching team had to research.
There was still a week before the official start of Group S, and everyone entered a tense internal training phase.
Although Ye Shaoyang and Chi Shuo sat together and spent time together day and night, both had determined the next goal—strive for the championship and put other things aside for now.
Under such tacit understanding, they no longer mentioned the marking. The topics discussed every day were heroes, tactics, and matches. Although their understanding of feelings was worlds apart and they always chatted across servers, their understanding of the game was very consistent. When talking about the game, their brainwaves were often synchronized.
The mid-jungle linkage combination that had practiced for a long time on the international server didn't need to be hidden anymore.
To deal with Jingzhe, they needed to bring out their strongest lineup