Chapter 54: The Quarterfinals (Part I); Wishing for a Brilliant Match…
The draw for the Quarterfinals was still conducted live online by the league officials.
Unlike the last draw, the “Winning by Luck” theories had almost completely vanished from the bullet chat.
None of the teams that made the Top 8 were soft persimmons. The fans of each team were waiting quietly for the results so they could grab tickets for the match day.
The onlookers were busy posting their predicted Top 4 lists.
“Why are there still so few people guessing that VEX will advance to the Top 4!” Fugui grumbled. “And look at the official’s new activity for predicting the advancing teams to win prizes—zero people predicted our team as the champions!”
Ning Luzhao shook his phone. “It’s not zero anymore. I predicted we’d advance to the Top 4, then the Finals, and finally take the championship.”
Zuo Chi grabbed the other’s phone and began “copying his homework.”
“Alright, it’s two people now.”
Fugui looked up at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle in sorrow. “In the end, only people from our own team are making the predictions. It’s actually quite tragic, isn’t it?”
“The draw is starting.”
The cubs crowded around him tightly. Even though their own phones were all open on the livestream, they insisted on huddling together to watch the PC screen in front of Zuo Chi. He felt like he had fallen into a huddle of penguins; it was incredibly hot.
First group: ZAP vs. TIG.
[No—why did our TIG draw this? It’s a shady deal, it must be a shady deal!]
[Stop it, just carry them away.]
[Grateful to TIG for feeding the tiger. The teams after you will forever remember your kindness.]
Second group: KVG vs. GO.
[These two teams traded wins last year, right? It should be quite a good watch.]
[Hard to guess, a lot of suspense.]
Third group: VEX vs. BLUE.
Here it came.
It was a middling draw. BLUE was a title favorite last year and had even taken runner-up. However, after being eliminated by ZAP in the Autumn Split, their strength had regressed somewhat.
Even if they had regressed, their foundation was still there. Moreover, once the Quarterfinals were reached, every team would fight with their lives on the line. Theories online about “hiding strength” or “saving a trump card for the finals” were basically impossible in a real match.
The strength gap between the Top 8 teams wasn’t that large; upsets happened frequently in scrims. Furthermore, players aren’t machines; their states fluctuate every day.
Hide your strength? If you hide it too well, you might hide your Finals ticket right into a plane ticket home. Hide my ass.
After the draw ended, there would be a three-day break before the first match.
They were in the third match, so they had more preparation time.
Based on what he knew of BLUE, the players in every position had no obvious weaknesses; in terms of individual skill, they were all T0 level. Their laning was particularly strong, but their coordination and decision-making during mid-to-late game team fights often had issues.
Fleeting mistakes.
ZAP could grasp those brief mistakes, which is why they defeated BLUE in the Autumn Split.
He could review and explain the mistakes the opponents had made to the players, but the situation faced in every match is completely different. Whether the cubs could keenly grasp the opponent’s mistakes in a matter of seconds—or even frames—depended on their performance on the day.
At that time, he could only sit in the coach’s seat and watch them.
Once again, they set off for Haishi and stayed in the familiar hotel. The Top 8 teams had organized a dinner together, with BLUE taking the lead.
BLUE was considered the most well-liked team in the circle, mainly because their players were veterans who were very social and talkative, with “brothers” in every team. Moreover, the club was born from esports, not some capital running in for money; there were no scandalous rumors about them.
Therefore, playing against BLUE was always harmonious, with little “gunpowder” scent.
The five-man queue before heading to the dinner lasted a bit longer, so they hit the evening rush hour.
Haishi’s rush hour was completely congested. By the time they reached the BBQ restaurant for the dinner, the sky was already dark.
When they pushed open the private room door, the players from other teams had indeed already arrived; they were the last ones.
Before Zuo Chi could apologize, BLUE’s captain, storm, walked to the door with two glasses of beer to greet them. Amidst the cheers, he laughed: “As agreed in the group chat, those who are late must self-punish with two glasses! Will Coach Zuo drink these?”
“The Coach can’t drink. I’ll do it.”
Ning Luzhao took the glasses and downed them in one go.
“Come in, come in, sit down. Actually, you’re not that late; we just arrived ourselves. The dishes haven’t even all come out yet.” storm ushered them to seats in the room.
The room was large, with six tables booked, each seating ten people. Many plates of BBQ meat were already on the tables, untouched, with only a few bottles of alcohol and soda opened.
“Old rules: players with a match tomorrow aren’t allowed to drink! Everyone else, as you please! Today’s expenses are on our boss; no need to save money, eat your fill!”
Plates of meat were placed on the iron grills, sizzling and fragrant.
The players from different teams sat mixed together. Some were catch-up sessions with old teammates after a transfer; some were veterans greeting rookies; some directly started a game on their phones, solo-dueling their rivals while they ate and bragged about anything under the sun.
Wall and Beyond went to ZAP’s table to chat. Fugui grabbed Wu Yang and went everywhere; in no time, they were already shoulders-to-shoulders with the BLUE players like sworn brothers.
Zuo Chi sat in his seat, focused entirely on eating BBQ.
He didn’t have many acquaintances in the circle. On one hand, there was a layer between coaches and players; on the other hand, he was a rookie coach in his first season. His contact with other teams was mostly through watching their matches.
Most importantly, the traffic jam had left him so hungry his stomach was protesting. The beef at this BBQ place was exceptionally good.
After eating three large plates of beef, he slowed down his pace and looked around for the cubs.
Turning his head, he saw Ning Luzhao sitting next to him. Seeing his bowl empty, the boy placed another batch of meat on the grill, carefully flipping it with tongs.
“You… aren’t going to chat with the players from other teams?”
“I’ve already greeted them.”
“Does BLUE organize a gathering like this every season during the knockouts?”
“Yes. Many players from different teams are old friends from the youth training camps, or brothers who were side-by-side for years before being separated by transfers… The bases of each team are too far apart, and we might not draw the same group in the group stages. It’s only during the knockouts, when everyone is in the same city, that we have time to gather.”
Zuo Chi took a sip of plum juice to cut through the richness of the meat, looking at the noisy room. “It seems very few players stay with one team until retirement, and no five-man roster can avoid eventually disbanding.”
Take ZAP for example. Even as the Autumn Split champions, their jungler still went through being a sub before returning to the start. Whether there would be more changes after the Spring Split, no one could say for sure.
Ning Luzhao lightly clinked his glass with Zuo Chi’s; the boy was drinking beer.
“We VEX are a seven-man roster.”
Zuo Chi raised an eyebrow.
“The Coach and Manager Li too.”
He smiled. “Alright. Let’s see how long our seven-man roster can last.”
Halfway through the dinner, he suspected the only ones actually eating BBQ were him and Ning Luzhao. Everyone else was there for the drinking. ZAP and TIG left early since they had a match the next night. The players from other teams drank more as they chatted, going through an entire crate of beer.
Half-drunk, many were slumped over the tables.
Fortunately, Zuo Chi had given strict orders before the dinner, forbidding the cubs from drinking too much. Fugui and the others had only about three or four glasses and were still very clear-headed, busy calling the waiters for hangover soup.
Team BLUE’s manager began contacting the other teams to send cars to pick up the slightly drunk players.
storm had also drunk quite a bit, smelling of alcohol. After helping a player to the door, he turned and walked toward them.
storm and Wall had started their professional careers in the same year. storm had maintained his peak for a long time, only showing slight signs of decline since last year. Even with the decline, he was still a T0 level player.
Zuo Chi stood up to greet him. “storm, want some hangover soup?”
storm picked up a bowl of soup from the table. “Thanks, Coach Zuo… I’m getting older, can’t hold my liquor like I used to. I used to drink three bottles without blinking. Land, long time no see.”
“Yeah. Last time was that showmatch last year.”
“I still remember that showmatch. Land, you had just started playing then, right? We were on the same team, and your Snowfield God was incredibly flashy…”
After a few sentences of chatting, storm suddenly beckoned to the BLUE table nearby, calling over two kids from their second team.
“Coach Zuo, I’m not one for fancy talk. So… I have a favor to ask.”
“Land probably heard about it. The five of us in BLUE have been playing together for a long time. People online say we’re past our peak this Spring Split, and we know it ourselves. The team has been trying to train the second team to take over, but… it’s been over a year. The second-team roster changes constantly, and even after giving them some small matches for experience, none of them can carry the team flag.”
“These two kids were recruited during this transfer period. I know Coach Zuo has a knack for picking players—otherwise, you couldn’t have assembled a team like VEX and made the Top 8 in one season… I was thinking, after we finish our Quarterfinal match, could I trouble Coach Zuo to take a look at these newcomers from our second team? It absolutely won’t take up too much of your time.”
The two kids from BLUE’s second team respectfully greeted them.
“No problem. Let’s meet at the hotel after the match. I’ll take a look at these new players… However, no matter how much potential a player has, they still need a suitable team and compatible teammates.”
Seemingly not expecting Zuo Chi to agree so readily, storm was stunned for a moment before laughing: “I understand. Regardless, thank you, Coach Zuo. If VEX ever needs to book a scrim, just let us know—see you in two days. I hope we can play a brilliant match.”
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