Chapter 73: Spring Split Grand Finals (Part 2) Reporting Cheating…
During the ban phase, Zuo Chi intentionally left the current meta’s most dominant marksman-support combo open. This duo boasted a staggering 73% win rate in the Spring Split and had practically become a “ban or first-pick” priority.
Commentator A: “Oh? Coach Zuo actually left this marksman-support duo open. ZAP has the first pick—will they take it immediately?”
“ZAP locked it in instantly! That means ZAP’s bottom lane duo will be extremely oppressive. Beyond is probably going to suffer during the laning phase… Coach Zuo focused all his bans on the top and jungle positions. It seems he wants to play for top-side tempo in game one!”
“Uh… but Coach Zuo didn’t prioritize picking top and jungle. Instead, he secured heroes for Beyond and Wall first. These two heroes are highly mobile with multiple dashes and are hard to lock down, but they require high mechanical execution and synergy. If they fall behind, it’ll be tough to play.”
ZAP rode the momentum and locked in a dominant meta jungler. Their first three picks were nothing short of a luxury lineup.
[My vision is going dark. You’re giving the opponent whatever heroes are strong. Are you treating your players like they’re Japanese kamikaze pilots?]
[Has Coach Zuo gone insane? Whatever demon is possessing him, get out of Coach Zuo’s body right now!]
[Even though my rank isn’t high, ZAP’s jungle, marksman, and support are all T0-tier. Giving them such a stacked lineup, how are you supposed to play the game?!]
“Wu Yang and Fugui, pick your heroes.”
Wu Yang locked in a utility mage with fast wave clear and long-range crowd control. Fugui selected a late-game scaling warrior.
ZAP’s jungle, marksman, and support were already incredibly oppressive, so their final two picks were relatively standard, safe heroes.
“Land, can we play a tank jungler?”
Ning Luzhao’s mouse hovered over a specific hero icon: “Lock him in?”
“Yes.”
[Forest Anaconda? A tank picked for the jungle role?]
[No way… Look at VEX’s lineup. Out of their five heroes, only Fugui’s is considered T0. What is the rest of this garbage?]
[A tank in the jungle, and a mid-laner that isn’t a burst mage or assassin. With this draft, how are they supposed to dive the enemy carries? Fugui can’t do it alone. Are they expecting Beyond to dive with him?]
[The draft ratio between VEX and ZAP is basically 3:7. No, 2:8.]
“The BP phase for both teams has concluded. We are now entering the final preparation phase.”
Zuo Chi ruffled the hair of every single cub. “Land, whether we can take early team fights and whether Beyond has room to deal damage all depends on your tankiness.”
“Mm.”
“Beyond, rotate lanes frequently. Farm everything you can and get as fed as possible.”
“Understood, Coach Zuo.”
“Wu Yang, if we fall behind, we have to stall for the late game. Managing the minion waves relies entirely on you. Their wave clear is very slow.”
“Got it, I’ll try my best not to die.”
“Wall, look for opportunities to dive the carries with Beyond.”
“When I debuted, I engaged on four people at once with this hero.”
“Fugui, you know what to do in the late game.”
“I know. In the late game, I’ll hyper-focus on their carries. At worst, it’s a one-for-one trade.”
“OK, time for me to head to the coach’s seats. Regardless of how the game goes, remember this: if we win, it’s a massive net gain; if we lose, it’s not a loss. It’s a BO7. The real hard battles are later. It’s not a one-game sudden death.”
It was unclear who initiated the chant in the comms first: “VEX—”
“Let’s go!!!”
By the time he arrived at the coach’s seating area, the heroes on both sides had reached their respective lanes.
Since ZAP’s marksman and support were incredibly oppressive, the cubs executed a lane swap. Wu Yang, utilizing his long range and fast wave clear, went to the bottom lane to absorb the pressure. Beyond and Wall headed to the mid-lane to catch the first wave. Capitalizing on his high mobility, Beyond then rotated to the bottom lane to soak two minions Wu Yang specifically left for him. After absorbing that gold, he headed into the jungle to help Land clear.
Different heroes have different power spikes. Fugui knew his hero was essentially a glorified cannon minion in the early game with negligible combat power. He focused on freezing the wave and soaking gold alongside Land.
After picking a utility mage, Wu Yang practically surrendered all available farm to the jungle and marksman.
On the attribute panel, the gold and items of the ten heroes were clearly displayed.
“Coach Zuo, rotating this frequently, won’t Beyond get ganked if ZAP catches on?”
Although he could rotate through his own jungle to avoid the river, Beyond still had to show his face in the lane to clear waves.
Zuo Chi explained: “Of course ZAP doesn’t want to let Beyond farm for free like this. But Wall and Land are constantly tracking Beyond’s position. Land’s jungle pathing is synchronized with Beyond as much as possible to ensure immediate backup. If ZAP really comes to gank, we can reinforce immediately.”
Manager Li studied the attribute panel for a moment.
“But isn’t Fugui a late-game hero? Sharing his minion waves with Land, won’t his scaling be delayed?”
“It will. But in the early game, if he just solo-farms, his damage is too low and he’s useless in team fights anyway. It’s better to let Land hit his item spikes as fast as possible. Once we win team fights, Fugui will have plenty of time to farm. Right now, Fugui’s only job is to anchor the enemy side-laner. Let the two of them play their own mini-game in the top lane and stay out of the 4v4 team fights.”
Manager Li nodded, half-understanding, and then asked: “But aren’t tank junglers supposed to absorb damage? Giving him so much gold…”
ZAP noticed VEX’s rotation strategy. Without hesitation, they invaded VEX’s Red side, aiming to force a team fight around the Red buff.
It had to be said, ZAP’s reaction speed and decisive shot-calling were demonstrably a tier above any team they had previously faced.
The moment Fugui heard the enemy’s positions called out, he immediately engaged ZAP’s side-laner, abandoning his minion wave to brawl and preventing the opponent from rotating to the Red side.
A 4v4 team fight erupted in the Red jungle.
Commentator A: “Land has just started the Red buff, and ZAP’s four members have already converged on the jungle!”
“Land decides to pull the Red buff away to reset it. Sea and Beyond arrive quickly to defend, while Wall looks for a flanking angle!”
“ZAP’s draft strength is undeniable, and VEX simply lacks the damage right now. Every aggressively pushes into the Red buff pit. Will VEX yield the buff and back off?”
Yield?
“Beyond and Sea are both moving back toward their lanes. It looks like they don’t want to take this fight—Wait, Land! Land locks his ultimate onto Every, chaining a stun into Smite, and steals the Red buff back!!!”
“But all four members of ZAP are right there! Isn’t diving in alone to steal the buff a bit too reckless?!”
Seeing the Red buff snatched away right under their noses, ZAP’s four players instantly focused fire on Land. Every dumped his entire combo first, followed swiftly by ultimates from the support and mid-laner—three ultimates! Even a tank shouldn’t be able to survive that!
Because tank junglers weren’t meta in the league, the Forest Anaconda was primarily played in the solo-lane. The players’ damage calculations were based on their experience dealing with top-lane Forest Anacondas.
As the three ultimates connected, the anticipated “First Blood” announcement never came.
Land’s health bar was virtually depleted, leaving only a sliver of a shield.
The commentator was stunned for a second: “He wasn’t burst down!!! Land survived! He built Ninja Tabi (Armor Boots) and rushed a defensive shield item as his first major purchase! Triggering his passive at low health, he’s actually regenerating!”
“What an incredibly beefy Forest Anaconda! Is this the advantage of a tank jungler? Having far more gold than a top-lane tank allows him to complete his first major item by level 6, drastically boosting his health and resistances! And now, during ZAP’s ultimate cooldown window, Wall engages from the flank! His ultimate catches everyone! He pulled all four of them! Wu Yang Flashes back, lands his W, and knocks them up!”
“Beyond double-dashes in with his ultimate to clean up! First Blood! Double Kill! Triple Kill!!!”
“With one Red buff invasion, ZAP just blew themselves wide open!!!”
[Wait, who blew who open? Are you telling me VEX, with their garbage draft, is leading by 3 kills in the early game?!]
[Hacks! Land is hacking! Four people focused him and he didn’t die?! How is that fair???]
[Investigate Land immediately! Check if he’s using a health-lock hack!!!]
[Forest Anaconda is naturally tanky in the early game, and Land has a massive gold lead. He built full tank and bought a shield item. What’s so surprising about him surviving that? (Sorry Coach Zuo for being too loud earlier, I admit this tank jungle pick is genius!)]
Amidst the torrent of arguments and accusations flooding the livestream chat, the words [ZAP Requests Pause] flashed onto the venue’s giant screen.
Manager Li’s grin instantly vanished. “What does this mean?”
“It means ZAP is requesting a technical pause from the officials,” Zuo Chi smiled, his tone entirely relaxed. “It’s just a quick inspection. Won’t take more than five minutes.”
Manager Li didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “No way, isn’t this ridiculous? The computers are all provided by the league. The players only brought their own mouse and keyboard…”
On the big screen, Every wore a stern expression as he spoke to the referee behind him. The referee promptly walked over to VEX’s match booth.
Soon after, several staff members entered the booth and began disassembling Land’s keyboard and mouse, inspecting them piece by piece.
[ZAP requested an inspection of Land’s PC to see if he’s actually hacking?]
[I knew Land surviving that team fight was impossible. If he’s hacking, it all makes sense.]
[If he’s really hacking, they should just hand the trophy to ZAP right now, strip VEX of their runner-up spot, and revoke their Worlds qualification. Who knows if they cheated in their previous matches too.]
[Can the person above not hold their breath until the inspection results come out?]
[If VEX didn’t cheat, then ZAP just has to admit they suck. Drafting a luxury lineup and getting stomped 3:0 in the early game. What a joke.]
The league officials operated with high efficiency. After inspecting Land’s PC and peripherals, they reconnected everything, allowed the player to test them, and the referee announced the match would resume.
The official Arena Weibo account updated simultaneously.
[During Game 1 of the Spring Split Grand Finals, ZAP requested a pause to inspect VEX’s jungler Land’s PC and peripherals for illicit third-party software. Following official inspection, no evidence of cheating was found. The match will proceed as normal.]
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