Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it was the third week of May.
The third round of the regular season of the Gods' War Professional League officially began.
On Friday morning, all of Team Tianhuan flew to Ya'an City, where this round of matches was being held. When they arrived at the hotel to check in, they happened to run into the members of Team Jingzhe.
Fang Zhengqing proactively walked up and smiled at Chi Shuo, "What a coincidence."
Chi Shuo looked at the luggage in his hand and asked, "You guys just arrived too?"
Fang Zhengqing nodded. "Yeah, morning flight."
The coaches of both teams shook hands, and Coach Lin said with a smile, "Old Chen, what lineup are you using tomorrow?"
Coach Chen smiled thinly, "Just ask your Captain Chi, he can guess it."
Chi Shuo: "…"
Fat chance he could guess it. The coaches always made him guess, and then reverse-eliminated the options.
Coach Chen looked at Ye Shaoyang and said, "Lieyang, you're not going to pick Goddess of Destiny again tomorrow, are you? This is destiny, don't try to resist it?"
Ye Shaoyang said, "If I really pick her, you guys can try to resist too."
A round of laughter erupted around them.
Fang Zhengqing narrowed his eyes and looked at Ye Shaoyang, saying, "A duel between the league's two biggest poop scoopers. How about this, whoever loses tomorrow's match buys a box of good food for the other's cat?"
Ye Shaoyang readily agreed, "Sure. Captain Fang, what brand of canned food does your cat eat?"
Fang Zhengqing said helplessly, "My cat is extremely picky. It doesn't eat canned food, only freeze-dried treats."
Ye Shaoyang was a bit surprised. "Really? My cat only loves canned food and doesn't eat freeze-dried treats."
The two exchanged a look. Fang Zhengqing thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll mail the canned food I bought before to Tianhuan for your Xiao Bai. Otherwise, it's just going to waste sitting there."
Ye Shaoyang said, "No problem, I'll thank Captain Fang on Xiao Bai's behalf."
Fang Zhengqing asked, "Is your cat a boy or a girl?"
Ye Shaoyang said, "It's a boy."
"Neutered yet?"
"Not yet. I plan to wait until he's a bit older, around 1 year old."
The surrounding teammates pricked up their ears to listen to their conversation.
Chi Shuo frowned slightly and looked at Fang Zhengqing, "For tomorrow's match, why don't you let your cat go up and play?"
Fang Zhengqing said, "Sure. How about we apply to the league together? For the Tianhuan vs. Jingzhe match, everyone rests offstage, and we let the two cats fight it out to determine the winner?"
As they were chatting, another group of people walked over from behind—the members of Team Yaoguang. Their Group A also had a match on Saturday afternoon. Since Yu'mao was banned, Yaoguang had swapped in a new marksman.
When everyone met at the hotel front desk, the atmosphere instantly became awkward.
Fang Zhengqing didn't continue the cat topic. He quickly finished the check-in procedures and everyone returned to their rooms.
On Saturday afternoon, Group A's Yaoguang vs. Luo Shen Temple took place. Ye Shaoyang watched the live broadcast of this match at the hotel. Yaoguang was hammered by Luo Shen Temple, losing 0:2 in an unusually tragic manner. The bullet screen in the live broadcast room was full of ridicule and cursing.
Ye Shaoyang finished watching the match with complicated feelings. After dinner, he went to the venue with his teammates.
At 7 PM, Tianhuan vs. Jingzhe was the main event of the evening.
The spectator seats of the entire Ya'an E-sports Center were packed. A large row of support posters was pulled up in the back row. Tianhuan fans were not only holding promotional photos of the 5 members and the team flag, but also many holding small cat avatars of Ye Shaoyang's cat.
Xiao Bai was already cute, and fans had drawn Q-version avatars for him. Looking around, the spectator seats on the left were filled with Q-version Xiao Bai avatars. Jingzhe was not to be outdone; Fang Zhengqing's fans had also drawn avatars. His Ragdoll cat was a seal point, with a black nose and black face, looking very cool.
Thus, the entire spectator section became…
A duel between two cats.
The big screen happened to show the scene in the spectator seats, and the netizens in the live broadcast room laughed together.
[This is a duel between the league's two biggest poop scoopers!]
[Actually, they should have brought the two cats to the venue today, let them fight first, and then decide who is the blue side and who is the red side?]
[Everyone guess, whose combat power is stronger, Xiao Fang or Xiao Bai?]
[I bet on Xiao Fang. After all, he looks fierce. Xiao Bai is soft and well-behaved, probably can't beat him!]
[Don't judge a cat by its appearance. The better-behaved a Ragdoll looks, the fiercer its combat power.]
[It is said that a cat's personality follows its owner. Captain Fang is so lazy, his cat must be even lazier. If they really fight, Xiao Bai's combat power is obviously stronger, because Xiao Fang is too lazy to move?]
[Hahaha, how lazy is Fang Zhengqing? He named himself [I'm Very Square] (Wo Hen Fang), and named his cat [Little Square] (Xiao Fang). Besides 'Fang' (Square), does he not know how to write any other characters?!]
[Since Captain Fang is so lazy, just stay in the mid lane and don't move!]
[He's still quite diligent when playing matches [dog head.jpg]]
Ye Shaoyang looked at the bullet screen flooding the live broadcast room, laughing and crying at the same time.
If there's a chance in the future, maybe he should let Xiao Bai meet Captain Fang's cat. Would the two cats become friends? Or fight as soon as they meet? Ye Shaoyang was quite curious.
The time reached 18:40, and the screen cut to the commentary booth.
Backstage staff knocked on the door: "Tianhuan players, get ready to go on stage."
On the big screen, the two commentators' voices were excited: "Audience friends, welcome to the Ya'an E-sports Center! This is the first week of the third round of the regular season of the 10th season of the Gods's War Official Professional League, Group S Tianhuan vs. Jingzhe!"
"We can see that many fans of both teams have come to the scene today. Moreover, a large number of cat avatars have appeared in the spectator seats."
"Yes! The cat people are also cheering for this match!"
"The mid laners of both teams are poop scoopers, raising Ragdoll cats of different colors. Although the two cats didn't come to the scene in person, their avatars have already occupied one-third of the venue!"
A burst of laughter erupted from the audience.
"Next, please welcome the players from both sides to the main stage!"
Players from Tianhuan and Jingzhe came to the stage from the left and right passages respectively. The on-site host conducted a simple pre-match warm-up: "International convention, the trash-talking segment before the match. Do the players on both sides have anything to say?"
Fang Zhengqing took the microphone, adjusted his glasses, and said, "I don't ask for much, Chi Shuo just needs to give me first blood."
Chi Shuo glanced at him: "Understood. I'll come for your head right at the start."
The host teased: "Captain Chi and Captain Fang have quite the chemistry this time!"
Another burst of laughter erupted from the scene.
Host: "Everyone please go to the soundproof booths to prepare. Looking forward to the wonderful performance of the two teams!"
Players from both sides entered the soundproof booths to prepare, and the commentators began to introduce the situation of each player.
A moment later, the match began.
The BP screen for the first game appeared on the big screen.
"Let's look at the BP for the first game. Tianhuan was randomized to the blue side, picking and banning first. I wonder what hero Coach Lin will ban?"
"Will he ban [Cobra King]? After all, this is Captain Fang's signature hero, and also the core of Jingzhe's formidable poison team system."
"Coach Lin banned [Holy Archer]. Is this targeting the marksman position?"
"What will Jingzhe ban? Jungler or mid laner?"
"Uh… Jingzhe prioritized banning the support [Forest Envoy], banning the healer!"
"Tianhuan's second ban goes to [Poison Warlock]. Jingzhe bans the support [BlessedPriest]. Both sides' BP in the P1 phase are targeting the bot lane. So, is this game going to revolve around the bot lane?"
The BP of both sides left netizens confused.
Mid laner and jungler all left open?
Did Chi Shuo and Fang Zhengqing's reverse chemistry work?
Regardless of what Chi Shuo and Fang Zhengqing thought, the coaches on both sides had a tacit understanding. In the P1 phase, the BP frantically targeted the bot lane. Tianhuan's first pick also grabbed bot lane, and Jingzhe also chose bot lane.
The heroes finally selected by both sides were: Tianhuan had [Vampire Princess] marksman, [Radiant Shield] support, [Man of Steel] top laner. Jingzhe had [Snow Maiden] marksman, [White Bear] support, [Dark Angel] top laner.
The two commentators analyzed: "Jingzhe's [Snow Maiden] + [White Bear] combo—[Snow Maiden] marksman can shoot ice arrows to slow down opponents, and [White Bear] can block damage and summon a small bear to stun people. It's a control-based route. Tianhuan's [Vampire Princess] can steal life and has strong self-preservation ability, and the support can also block damage."
"Both bot lanes are hard to gank. For the top lane, Tianhuan is still mainly focused on resisting pressure. Jingzhe's top laner has mid-range control, and can coordinate chain control with the support in team fights."
"Let's look at the P2 phase! Both sides should continue BP targeting mid laner and jungler."
Since the coaches of both sides tacitly chose top and bot lanes in the P1 phase, leaving mid and jungle to P2, the 4 ban slots in the second phase would definitely involve a game of wits targeting mid laner and jungler.
Everyone thought that Fang Zhengqing's [Cobra King] would definitely be banned.
However, Tianhuan actually banned [Frost Goddess] and [Flame Goddess] in the P2 phase??
The audience speculated that Jingzhe should ban Chi Shuo's jungle carry.
As a result, Jingzhe banned Ye Shaoyang's [Abyssal Lord] and [Holy Mage]?
The two commentators looked at each other: "Can't really understand the BP of both sides."
"Yes, Chi Shuo's jungle carries are all left open, and Fang Zhengqing's signature mid lane heroes are also all released? Why did Tianhuan ban Frost Goddess and Flame Goddess? Fang Zhengqing hardly uses these two heroes, right?"
"Yes, Captain Fang has only picked Frost Goddess once and Flame Goddess once this season. These kinds of AOE control heroes are what Team Huowen excels at. Playing against Jingzhe today, why ban the system commonly used by Huowen?"
Fang Zhengqing frowned slightly: "Banning two AOE control grand mages, what are they planning to do?"
Coach Chen was also a bit puzzled and said thoughtfully, "Could it be that they're picking dive assassins and are afraid of being controlled?"
Fang Zhengqing adjusted his glasses: "It's possible."
Coach Chen: "We'll pick jungler first, leave the final counter pick for mid lane."
In the BP phase, the blue side picks first and bans first, having the first-move advantage. The red side picks heroes later and has a Counter pick (targeted position). After the opponent has finished picking, they bring out a targeted hero at the very end to counter.
Jingzhe took the jungler [Fighter], a utility jungler idea to protect the mid lane.
It was Tianhuan's turn to choose.
In Tianhuan's two selection boxes, a pair of heroes appeared simultaneously that no one had expected—
Mid Laner: White Fox King.
Jungler: Black Wolf King.
The two commentators said in shock: "Is this the Black and White Wolf-Fox combo that has disappeared for four seasons?!"
Fang Zhengqing: "…"
His glasses almost fell off.
Coach Chen felt complicated and whispered, "Didn't you say Chi Shuo doesn't play Black Wolf?"
Fang Zhengqing: "…"
Don't ask. If you ask, it's just a lack of chemistry.
Coach Chen complained frantically in his heart. Previously, a pair of mysterious experts, Sunshine and Moonlight, appeared on the international server playing the Black and White Wolf-Fox. He guessed at the time that Moonlight was Chi Shuo. As a result, Fang Zhengqing said with absolute certainty: "Chi Shuo doesn't play Wolf King, it's impossible for him to use such an obvious name for a smurf account, and Chi Shuo never gets up early."
Since Fang Zhengqing said so—then didn't that mean it must be, definitely was Chi Shuo!
It was his own fault for not learning the reverse elimination method at the time.
He was actually led astray by Fang Zhengqing and eliminated the correct answer.