After all the members of the Chinese team returned to the hotel, the logistics team prepared two dinner tables to celebrate.
Everyone gathered together in the dining room for a late-night meal. Vice-chairman Qi excitedly raised a glass of juice and said with a smile, “Congratulations to everyone for reaching the finals! Regardless of winning or losing, at least we can get a trophy this time!”
Winning a trophy was something he never dared to think about before.
Now the Chinese national team had achieved the ‘zero breakthrough’ under Coach Jiang’s leadership. Their national team had created a miracle together!
Everyone happily ate the late-night meal. It was only 11 o’clock when they finished. Jiang Shaoyu summoned the players back to his room and briefly reviewed today’s game.
The review finished, and the players went back to rest. The coaching staff stayed behind to work overtime to prepare the lineup and tactics for the next finals.
Qin Bo opened the compiled information of the US team’s players. He pointed to the data table and said, “The US national team’s lineup this year is similar to last year. There are three snipers and two people each in the other positions.”
“Among them, the snipers Venus, Robert, and Patton have all played in the group stage and knockout rounds. The strongest one is Venus, who is the absolute main force and has the most kills. Patton serves as more of a long-range cover to assist his teammates in advancing. Coaches, you can take a look at my statistics…”
It was obvious from the graph that Venus was the main output was Venus. He got most of the kills in the games he played. Robert was the auxiliary output, while Patton was more used for suppression fire and to provide cover. If it was a game in which Patton played, most of the heads ended up in the hands of his front-row teammates.
The sniper’s fighting style originally had two types: the main attack and the auxiliary cover. The configuration of the three snipers of the US team was two main forces and one auxiliary.
“The charger Stay and assaulter Rich are from the same club. They are regular partners and often appear together. The medic Stella and the scout Simil are also players from the same club. I calculated the group stage and knockout rounds. According to the data of this stage, I have found that their lineup is determined more by the combination situation, and the error rate in the games is very low.”
Jiang Shaoyu looked at the data in a thoughtful manner. It was difficult to play against a team with such a low error rate. They wouldn’t make mistakes when having the advantage, and they sought opportunities without arrogance in games where they were at a disadvantage. At the very least, the mentality of the US team was much more stable than the Korean team.
South Korea’s loss to China in the Asian Championship left a psychological shadow on them. In addition, Cha Injun was eager to show himself after taking office. The entire team was impetuous. China won two games first, and their mentality completely collapsed.
Meanwhile, the US team was different. The head coach Asta had led the team for five years. The national team’s morale was very stable. Asta appeared to be personable on the surface. He smiled and shook hands every time he saw Jiang Shaoyu. He also took the initiative to congratulate the team for reaching the semi-finals. In fact, this person was full of bad intentions and had rich tactical ideas.
This ‘smiling tiger’ was the strongest opponent.
Compared with Cha Injun, who just took over the Korean team, he wasn’t on the same level at all.
Jiang Shaoyu listened to Qin Bo’s summary and calmly said, “Xiao Pei’s free person style of play has been exposed. The United States will definitely find a way to target it. Their most powerful lineup is the three person lineup. Our Chinese team also has three snipers. If we fight directly with snipers, what do you think the odds of winning are?”
Old Xu said with a smile, “Xiao Liu and Xiao Pei are very stable. If the three snipers really go against each other, the key depends on Mo Hantian’s performance!”
Old Cui agreed. “Last year, Xiao Mo was shot in the head by Venus of the US team and was psychologically affected. He walked off the stage crying. I’m afraid his mentality will collapse again when he thinks of this dark history!”
The pressure of the finals was already very high. Mo Hantian was indeed an uncertain factor.
Jiang Shaoyu nodded. “I think that when playing against the US team, the commander can be appropriately changed to disrupt their rhythm. For example, the first-paced sneak attack style commanded by Ye Qingming hasn’t been used yet. On some maps, scouts are very effective against snipers.”
Everyone nodded in agreement. In fact, the combination of the lineup and map was the key to the tactical layout. The biggest advantage of the Chinese team was that they had spent nearly half a year familiarizing themselves with all the maps. No matter what map their opponent chose, they didn’t have to be afraid.
The tactical discussion continued until 3 o’clock in the morning when Jiang Shaoyu went to bed.
Before going to bed, he turned on his phone and found an unread message from his oldest brother. “I went to the US on a business trip and bought tickets for the finals. I will go to the scene to experience it.”
Jiang Shaoyu frowned and replied, “You don’t understand e-sports. Why come here?”
Jiang Shaocheng asked, “You still aren’t asleep? It is already 3 o’clock.”
Jiang Shaoyu said, “We were having a tactical discussion meeting. Why aren’t you asleep?”
Jiang Shaocheng sent a helpless emoji. “The company has a lot of business and I am doing remote video conferences with China.” Then he asked, “After this competition, isn’t it time for you to go home if you win the championship?”
Jiang Shaoyu frowned. “Let’s talk about it later.”
Jiang Shaocheng didn’t ask any longer and put down his phone.
At the same time, the coaching staff on the US side were also working urgently overtime.
Asta held a stack of materials in his hands and analyzed them carefully. “The Chinese team’s tactics are ever-changing. Judging from the current situation, the lineup they have used in this World Series includes the one-wave melee lineup, three snipers long-range guerrilla warfare, and three scouts. There are also the assassination flow, ACE 2.0 stable system, double snipers explosion mode, etc. “ He paused and looked at the several assistant coaches. “But no matter how the lineup changes, the Chinese team has an absolute core.”
The group of people looked at each other and spoke at the same time. “Fred?”
Asta nodded. “Yes! Fred is their absolute core. This is a rare talented player with excellent overall awareness and commanding ability. Moreover, he has a strange tacit understanding with Coach Jiang. The scariest thing about him is that he can present 100% of the coach’s tactical ideas on the field.”
The coaching staff had great ideas, but it was difficult to exert half the power in actual practice. If the players really fought, they might forget the coach’s instructions while playing.
But every time Fred commanded, he could fully present his master’s ideas. On the surface, it seemed that Fred was leading the team in the game, but in fact, the real opponent of the US team was Jiang Shaoyu, who was behind the scenes.
“I have led the team for so many years. This is the first time I have met a coach like Jiang Shaoyu,” Asta said with emotion. “He dares to be innovative, is very calm, and is very good at grasping the opponent’s mental state and the rhythm of the game. Have you noticed that all the teams that faced the Chinese team didn’t have enough timeouts?”
Everyone thought about it carefully and found it was really like this! The German team, the British team, and the Korean team never had enough timeouts in the later critical rounds. However, Jiang Shaoyu was able to do so with ease.
This was the master of psychological warfare.
“This final isn’t only a technical competition but also a psychological game.” Asta touched his chin and said with a smile. “Not only do we have to arrange the lineup and tactics in advance, but we also have to think about when to call a timeout. Moreover, we have to also guess what position Fred will play, guess who will direct, and what map will be used.”
Everyone: “……”
They were tired! Had this turned into a guessing game?
The US team also met until 3 o’clock in the morning when the lineup and map against China were determined.
The grand final officially started at 7 p.m. on December 21st.
There were still three days to rest and adjust before the finals. The American team and the Chinese team were training intensively. The Korean team also had to play for third place against Italy. These two teams were also practicing like crazy.
The Italian players had a very relaxed mentality. They reached the semi-finals for the first time this year, which was already the best result in history. On the contrary, the Korean team was under huge psychological pressure. The overwhelming domestic criticism put a heavy burden on every player and coaching staff.
On the evening of December 20th, the third place battle began.
Italy played very casually, like a stream of consciousness game where they ‘shot at random.’ However, the Korean team couldn’t relax. They were too tense. The more they worried about making mistakes, the easier it was to make mistakes.
The overall strength of the Italian team actually wasn’t as good as Germany.
However, they were really lucky this year. During the 8 to 4 round, Brazil’s unlucky coach drew China while they got Germany. As a result, the German team’s mentality had collapsed, and Italy unexpectedly won.
Now in the battle for third place… the mentality of the South Korean team collapsed again.
Italy unexpectedly won against South Korea.
The entire audience was stunned. Wasn’t the Korean team’s mistakes too serious this year? They didn’t even get third place! The Italian team lay down and somehow won!
All the members of the Korean team desperately booked flights to return home overnight. As they were packing their bags and heading to the airport, they happened to be seen by Lao Lin and the others passing by. Everyone sighed in their hearts.
There was no eternal king in e-sports. If they used all types of tricks without focusing on training and competition, the final result was that they could only be surpassed by others.
Go well, I won’t send you off.
—
December 21st, the day of the finals of the 6th World Series.
The match venue was crowded with people. Since it was the home stadium of the United States, many local people came to the scene to cheer for the national team. There were hundreds of thousands of spectators at the game and the stars and stripes of the US team were flying everywhere.
Of course, there were also some Chinese people who came to watch the game. The red square composed of Chinese people was very eye-catching. Everyone held a national flag in their hands and shouted excitedly.
Compared to the more than 90% of American viewers, the number of Chinese viewers was pitifully small. Still, their enthusiasm was clearly transmitted to the backstage through the live screen of the game.
They represented the support and expectations of countless Chinese people for the national team.
The atmosphere was very lively. Jiang Shaoyu led the team backstage and rested in the preparation room with the team members. Suddenly, the screen of the preparation room showed the camera focused on the audience. A familiar figure appeared on the screen.
The man wore a suit, mask, and sunglasses. He looked out of place in the audience. Jiang Shaoyu stared at him. Pei Feng noticed his master’s gaze and looked over. Wasn’t this the alpha brother who came to the national team’s base to find Jiang Shaoyu?
Pei Feng was jealous at the time and misunderstood the relationship between the other person and his master. It turned out that this was his master’s brother.
Pei Feng remembered his mistake at that time and coughed in an embarrassed manner. He said with a smile, “Master, your older brother personally came to watch the match.”
Jiang Shaoyu raised an eyebrow. “He recently came to the United States on a business trip and stopped by to take a look.”
Pei Feng found that his master’s personality was actually a bit arrogant. He was obviously happy when he saw his brother just now, but on the surface, he pretended to be cold and had an attitude of ‘it doesn’t matter if he comes or not.’
For such a proud person, even if he liked it, he would be embarrassed to say it, right?
Jiang Shaoyu changed the topic and said, “Okay, get ready to play.” He turned back to look at the players and reached out his hand. “In the finals, relax and play well. Winning or losing doesn’t matter. It is great to get to this point. Just play to your level, and don’t leave regrets.”
Pei Feng immediately stretched out his hand and placed it on the back of his master’s hand. The others also gathered around and placed their hands together. Pei Feng shouted loudly, “Chinese team, jiayou!”
Everyone shouted together. “Jiayou!”
……
“Viewers, welcome to the finals of the 6th World Series! Tonight, the Chinese team and the United States team will determine the winner of this World Series through a BO7 finals!”
“In the past, it was very difficult for our Chinese team to even qualify for the group stage. But this year, we have reached the finals. Let us give the national team some encouragement with the greatest enthusiasm!”
The number of viewers in the live stream room exceeded 50 million. This was nearly ten times more than the previous World Series. This final had been anticipated for six full years and attracted the attention of almost all Gun King e-sports fans in the country.
The barrage area was filled with cheers for the Chinese team.
At 7 o’clock in the evening, the match officially started. Asta and Jiang Shaoyu walked to the big stage together and shook hands politely in the middle of the stage.
Reporters from all over the world were excitedly filming this scene. This would be the pinnacle of the showdown between the world’s strongest theoretical old coach and a new practical coach who was an e-sports player!
The two of them went to the soundproof room to confirm the system draw.
The US team got the first hand.
“The most chosen by Asta is Endless Bloody Battle. In the first game, they will play a quick game!”
“There are many maps in Endless Bloody Battle mode. Let’s take a look at Coach Jiang’s BP. Ghost Castle, Food Pedestrian Street, Hope Port.. he banned all the maps that are easier for snipers to fight?”
“The snipers of the US team are very strong, but the snipers of China aren’t weak either. The first game is a test of each other. With Coach Jiang’s BP method, there is a high probability that he won’t send the three sniper lineup.”
“Coach Asta submitted the map.”
It was Horror Cinema, a relatively unpopular map.
Would there be any special tactical arrangements for Asta to choose this map?
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Chinese team, jiayou!!! 🙌🏻