You Call This Steady

Chapter 44: Can't Ghost Jump, What Are You Playing, Terrorist?

"Wow, this W, why did AK place a W here?"

"This targeted demolition is worth a thousand gold!"

The casters were going wild.

Were the casters unable to understand the teamfight, so the players had to show them how it's done?

That fatal targeted demolition was unleashed, directly forcing the Nunu, who was preparing to engage, out of its large Nunu form. Of course, that wasn't the most crucial part. The most crucial part was... the sliver of time gained by this W gave PPGOD a chance to react.

"Swish~" Flash!

E [Apex Blade] followed by R [Solar Flare] was cast. At this moment, PPGOD no longer cared about any ultimate abilities targeting the backline. In such a critical situation, protecting his own double carries was the top priority.

Qing Tian, who had been blown away, finally reacted and prepared to use his ultimate to salvage the situation.

Too bad... if the opportunity is missed, it's missed.

A similar flash of light erupted. Luo Zhen's Ziggs directly flashed away by one unit, and Graves slid back. Then, they watched as Nunu aggressively pushed with its ultimate towards the wall, managing to only push PPGOD's Leona against the wall.

From this moment on, TES was doomed.

[WTF, RIGGED!]

[Listen to the footsteps, this is definitely listening to footsteps!]

[I demand a urine... pfft, where's the referee? Haven't they gone to check if there are any rectangular boxes on the computer screen?]

[Hmph, naive. You can tell this Nunu hasn't played CF much. Anyone who's played Ghost Mode knows that Terrorists need to ghost jump before knifing when facing Guards. If you flash over like that, you'll give yourself away immediately.]

Incomprehensible, unbelievable, but the ridiculous reality was unfolding.

Without the threat of a frontline, V5's three-ship bombardment composition instantly transformed into a massive war machine on the battlefield. Corki's Yordle Snap Trap and missiles, Graves' shotgun, smoke bombs, and ultimate bomb, Ziggs' bouncing bombs and minefields. For a time, the entire map turned from Summoner's Rift into a Syrian battlefield, with V5's firepower dominating everywhere.

TES was blown up.

It wasn't that they couldn't win technically, but they were utterly defeated in terms of composition.

They couldn't engage, they had no room to output damage, and when they tried to flank, they were caught. TES's space to perform was cut off in every conceivable way.

0 for 3.

Except for the double carries standing farthest away who immediately distanced themselves from the battlefield to save their lives, the other three who engaged were almost all doomed. Watching V5's subsequent Elemental Dragon and Baron Nashor tempo, JKL and Knight wanted to intervene.

However...

"Taste this big boy!"

The R skill, now off cooldown, was aimed at Aphelios, unleashing a Chibaku Tensei. After the burn damage from the double masks dealt nearly a quarter of his health, the sailor duo completely abandoned the idea of risking it all for Baron Nashor.

Next, it was a one-sided push.

As V5's three-ship bombardment composition was fully formed, pushing towards TES's high ground with a massive Baron Nashor buff wave, facing the endless tide of minions and bombs, the TES members felt the top-tier pressure from an "Infinite Ammo" special mode composition for the first time in the match.

1:0.

V5 took the victory first, winning the game!

"Wuhu~ Awesome!"

The moment the crystal exploded, almost everyone on the V5 player bench burst into laughter simultaneously.

Rich, Rookie, and Luo Zhen had a blast this game, purely throwing skills like it was infinite ammo, or more directly, you could even call it ARAM. And ARAM brings happiness. Karsa and PPGOD were similar; they only needed to defend, and PPGOD could occasionally throw out his ultimate as a bombing target. With Luo Zhen's chuunibyo-esque pronouncements, they even felt a surge of passion while throwing abilities.

For a team, atmosphere is a very important thing.

Just like LNG's seven consecutive BO5s in the summer of '12, Doinb's presence definitely contributed a significant portion. Although they ultimately didn't make it to Worlds, it wasn't his fault.

Rookie and Karsa were soft-spoken, PPGOD needed someone to lead him to liven up the atmosphere, and Rich was somewhat withdrawn due to the language barrier. At this point, Luo Zhen's incessant chuunibyo phrases through the headset began to play their role.

After all, who could refuse a hot-blooded idiot on their team?

"Good game, first game."

As soon as they returned to the lounge, Coach Homme gave the players his affirmation.

For a coach, managing players is like raising kids. They need to be disciplined at the right time and encouraged when they achieve results, because setting aside their professional roles, the people in the room were just youngsters with an average age of under 22.

If they followed the normal nine years of compulsory education, at 22, they would just be preparing to graduate from university, not having experienced the harshness of society yet, their minds pure and clean.

Of course, their bodies might also be quite pure, as more and more people can't find girlfriends these days (lol).

"That's all thanks to the coach's good BP. By the way, Coach, are there any more fun strategies like this? Let us have another blast?" PPGOD had completely let go. Being a brainless support was quite comfortable, really. He wished every game was like this, only needing to think about throwing his ultimate at people.

"That won't do. Last game was Ziggs, we can't do that again, can we? If we play Ziggs and Senna every game, am I weaker than the enemy AD?" Hearing this, everyone in the room paused, then turned to look at Luo Zhen, who had spoken.

"What kind of confidence allows you to say such a thing at this point? It makes me feel like you have a beauty born from a lack of brainstem."

"No, shouldn't you guys be trying to convince me that I'm the world's number one AD right now? This isn't the right vibe."

Luo Zhen was shocked.

In his past life, when he watched those match vlogs, the coaches, analysts, and teammates were all trying to awaken their Mangekyo Sharingan and cast Tsukuyomi on their top laner, mid laner, AD, etc., to brainwash them. Why was it that when it came to him, these guys were being so brutally honest?

"Although I really want to feed you chicken soup and mess with your head, JKL is indeed much stronger than you at this stage."

Although the first game didn't give JKL much room to perform, it allowed Coach Homme to see his condition clearly from God's perspective.

It wasn't good, but it wasn't bad either. Overall, they maintained a relatively good state compared to other players.

And that was already terrifying enough.

It's important to remember that for many seasons, JKL's AD position stats ranked first in the league for damage dealt, showcasing the terrifying power of his consistent performance.

"Alright, I actually know that too," Luo Zhen quickly regained his composure after Coach Homme said that. "It's a pity, bragging is a bad habit, but I don't think I can quit."

"Ah, indeed, being proven wrong has its consequences, but you seem inseparable from it."

The bot lane support and the mid laner bantered back and forth, once again making everyone in the room laugh. With such a good atmosphere to ease the tension, Coach Homme then took the opportunity to discuss the strategy for the next game.

"For the next match, Coach Bai Seyueya will likely pick a lineup they're most familiar with to turn the tide. After all, being 0/2 puts immense pressure on players. Given Xiao Tian's current state, it'll be hard for him to overcome that hurdle," Coach Homme said casually, sitting on a chair and tapping the player IDs on the small blackboard.

"Oh, I get it. Coach means we need to completely crush Xiao Tian's state, so we should go head-to-head with them in the second game?" Luo Zhen asked curiously, raising his hand like a student.

"That... might be a bit different from what you're thinking."

"Huh?"

Seeing his confused teammates, Coach Homme's smile grew more confident.

"For the next game, our mission is to completely shut down their offensive momentum."

Chapter 45: The Three Topics of Men's Conversations

Beyond the competition strategy lies the art of war.

If they had the strength, Coach Homme would naturally have preferred to win 3-0 and finish early. Wouldn't everyone prefer to clock out sooner? If the overall environment wasn't so harsh these days, who would want to be a workaholic and make their boss drive a Range Rover at such a young age?

Unfortunately, their raw strength was indeed a bit lacking.

For the second game, Coach Homme selected a lineup that had potential in the early and mid-game. The strategy still revolved around the top, jungle, and mid lanes, with the bot lane taking on a supportive role. However, the demand placed on Luo Zhen and the others was to stall.

Yes, to stall mindlessly.

To slow down the opponent's offensive tempo and prolong the game's duration. This kind of strategy deployment could feel strange, especially since V5 was a team that typically struggled against "old man" tactics. Why would they suddenly decide to play the game this way?

It's simple: if the goal was just to stall and not necessarily to win, V5's energy consumption wouldn't be as high as TES's.

Before discussing this point, we first need to understand the difference between the blue and red sides.

The blue side, due to the straight path from mid lane to bot lane through the jungle, allows for faster mid-lane support to the bot lane, which in turn influences the entire lower half of the map. This means the blue side's quick support to the bot lane indirectly affects control over the Elemental Dragon. Furthermore, the blue side has the first ban and pick advantage, giving them a slight edge in securing meta heroes.

The red side can be understood in the opposite way.

Therefore, for the second game, TES chose the red side.

The counter pick in the fifth slot on the red side would allow the top laner Qing Tian to play more comfortably against V5's top-mid-jungle composition. Moreover, since their bot lane was JKL, they weren't afraid of V5's small BP advantage in the bot lane, regardless of whether they were blue or red. It was a matter of crushing them with raw strength.

Since they couldn't gain the initiative in the BP for the mid, top, and jungle, and winning the game would require significant effort and increase player fatigue, V5 decided to let it go!

However, letting go didn't mean giving it up for free; they still had to drain some of the opponent's player energy.

Top-tier coaches often have such peculiar BP habits. It's like how kkOma liked to let the opponent pick first in the World Championship to see their strategy. It might seem like an advantage for them, but in reality, you've already lost.

It can only be said that these old foxes are all masters of Machiavellianism.

Under Coach Homme's calculations.

TES successfully secured the second game, bringing the series to a 1-1 tie.

In this game, Luo Zhen's record wasn't very impressive. Due to the bot lane being a sacrificial position and lacking the long-range wave clear advantage of Ziggs from the previous game, he was essentially facing JKL head-on.

As a result... not only was he out-laned, but his team fight damage output was also completely outclassed by the opponent.

The advantage of out-laning and gaining CS lead from previous games was gone. Instead, he was down dozens of CS. If he hadn't picked a functional AD, which preserved some of his dignity, his reputation would have been ruined after this game.

[The "Sailor" combo is still strong.]

[Little Uzi is not Uzi after all; facing JKL head-on is still too early for him.]

[V5's offensive tempo in this game was so strange. In the mid-game, it felt like the whole team suddenly lost rhythm, like a dead calm.]

[Was there a problem with the shot-calling? Karsa's radar often malfunctioning is already a common occurrence.]

The audience couldn't understand the psychological warfare happening off-stage. They only saw V5 suddenly lose their rhythm in the mid-game, and as both teams stalled, TES's two carries successfully farmed up in the mid-game and took over the second game.

It was... quite predictable. There weren't even any major conflicts, it was like boiling a frog in warm water; the frog was cooked before it knew it.

However.

In V5's lounge, the atmosphere was nothing like a team that had just lost a match. The players were even chatting and joking with each other.

"Hey, let me tell you, I was amazing in that last game. Knight couldn't kill me with his full combo in mid lane, even though he had such a big advantage. He got so frustrated after I dodged one skill that he flashed!"

"No... why are you bragging about this too?"

"Why can't I brag? If it were any other AD, they would have been instantly killed if they didn't dodge that skill, right? At least I forced him to use a flash."

"Tch, then you're not as good as me. Seriously, if you weren't so bad and affecting my performance, I could have solo-killed the enemy support in a 1v1."

Luo Zhen and PPGOD bickered verbally, but their faces showed no sign of dejection from losing the match.

They were executing the strategy.

The strategy didn't prioritize the bot lane, and their mechanical skill was indeed inferior to the opponents. It was normal to lose in such a situation; there was nothing to say about being outplayed. But to stop them from bragging because of that? You'd be underestimating men.

Men's conversations generally revolve around three topics: career, family, and ideals.

Of course, to put it less delicately, it could be called greed, lust, and bragging. In any case, the meaning wouldn't be too far off.

"So, how does it feel to officially go up against JKL?" Coach Homme sat next to Luo Zhen, asking him with a kind expression.

Luo Zhen paused upon hearing the question before truthfully sharing his feedback: "It feels a bit different from what I expected. Since we're both back from break, I'm not sure what his true skill ceiling is. But as it stands, his laning prowess is very strong. It feels like I triggered his 'pick-up' passive, yet it also feels like it's okay, because I always feel that if I were more focused and careful, we could have held on in the bot lane."

Yes.

Although he fell apart in the second game, the main reason was the lack of good coordination with PPGOD, which led to many wasted opportunities. Even though he was indeed behind in farm, being behind in farm when there's a skill disparity isn't a collapse for a utility ADC against a hypercarry ADC; it's a very normal occurrence.

What's more.

The pressure in the bot lane didn't primarily come from the ADC, but the support. Judging by the laning phase, Zhuo couldn't put too much pressure on them.

Therefore, there's a chance to fight!

Coach Homme's question was simple. With one game as a baseline and another to gauge their opponent, the third game should logically be the time to go all-in.

That's right.

Starting from this game, their true battle against TES would begin.

"So, starting from the third game, we'll try to compete with them. No problem?" Coach Homme's gaze remained warm and full of trust. Against opponents, his strategic BP could be a nightmare for many teams; but for his own players, he was often like a teacher from childhood. Even when his students were about to face a terrifying challenge, he would still place his full trust in them.

"No problem, let me go in, I'm the main carry!"

Meanwhile, in a hotel room outside the arena, LWX unhurriedly got out of bed and turned on the live broadcast. The tiredness on his face suggested he had just woken up. Upon seeing the score displayed on the screen was 1-1, he paused for a moment before making a call.

"Hello?"

"Hello."