Chapter 296: Intensive Training for the Final Month

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The five of them sat in the living room, listening intently to Yu Luocheng. They were keen to know what kind of ingenious strategy their coach had drafted for them.

“I have been watching replays from the Korean Server these past few days. Plus, for the last three months of the winter holidays, I have been playing through the high ranks there too. Suffice to say that I now have a comprehensive understanding of their play style,” explained Yu Luocheng.

“In comparison, the games in our server usually progress in a rather static and uniform way. For instance, whenever there is a double kill at the bottom lane, the surviving champions would usually opt to Recall. This allows them to purchase stronger items before returning to the lane to gradually gain the advantage.”

The team nodded in agreement, being familiar with this tactic.

“However, from what I observed in the Korean Server, the winner would usually go for a strong push instead. This is because they are not only building on their kill advantage but they are also intending to transform it into team gain,” continued Yu Luocheng.

“The new strategy that I’m going to propose now is not very different from the Jungle Dominance strategy that we have been using. I just tweaked it a little to make it a more reliable system. I also tried to change some of the passive mindsets that have become a norm in our play style.”

With his detailed analysis, Yu Luocheng almost seemed like a knowledgeable professor giving an insightful lecture to his students. The five Skycrown members sat upright and concentrated carefully on his explanation.

“First up, I want all of you to focus on strengthening a select few champions each. In a game, champion drafting is always the first and foremost thing we do. We need to ensure that our champions pool is versatile enough so that we will not be easily overwhelmed by the opponent. Whether our game plan is executable or not relies heavily on how well we can pick our desired line-up.”

Yu Luocheng fixed his gaze on Da Luo as he addressed him directly.

“Da Luo, you need to be extra dominant with these particular champions. The bottom line is you can never lose a one vs. one battle at the top lane. I need you to hold the top line no matter what happens.”

Da Luo nodded. “I’m listening.”

“First, Jax. I don’t think I need to elaborate on this. To be fair, you’ve been excellent at using this hero so far. But I need you to do even more,” said Yu Luocheng.

“I think I’ve hit the ceiling with Jax,” replied Da Luo.

“Don’t worry. You’ll be able to have a breakthrough with the team’s help. Whether our new strategy works or not greatly depends on your strong play,” explained Yu Luocheng.

“Alright.”

“The second champion that I want you to master is Lee Shin. For this champion, go straight for a hard tank build. We might need its tanking ability to bait the enemy,” requested Yu Luocheng.

“Is it wise to ask Lee Shin at the top lane to join the fight that frequently?” asked Lin Dong.

“He will only be needed sporadically. Still, as I said, this strategy revolves around the Solo Top player.”

“Lastly, Shen. You should know what to do with this champion.” Yu Luocheng finalized his instructions to Da Luo.

“Understood.”

“I also have an additional mission for you to accomplish during your personal training. I will give you the details later.”

Da Luo nodded silently.

“Lin Dong, you’re next. For your position, I need you to focus on champions that are able to sweep the creep line quickly, especially during the early game. If the opponent has picked an AP first, then you should always consider Riven-mid,” said Yu Luocheng, turning to Lin Dong.

Lin Dong was not entirely convinced. He just stared at Yu Luocheng and said nothing.

“For Zhou Yan’s Jungler, I want you to focus on Aatrox. Next in line would be Vi, Jarvan, and Lee Shin,” commanded Yu Luocheng.

“Noted.”

“For the bottom lane, I want you two to be able to alternate freely between two different tactics. We will be going into the details of these tactics later. The champions that I have in mind for Xiao Bei are Caitlyn, Graves, Tristana, and Vayne; while for the support role I am happy to see Zyra, Thresh, Lulu, and Annie.”

The champion selection was extremely vital, which is why Yu Luocheng had specified several champions for each member. It was not his intention to restrict them from exploring the possibility of using other champions, but he knew that any improper champion selection would cost an underdeveloped team like Team Skycrown dearly.

***

Their financial instability was still the biggest issue at hand. Team Skycrown would have to bear with the worn out, leaky apartment for at least another month.

Their attempts at scheduling friendly matchups with other teams were still continuously being jeopardized. Fortunately, Fudan University was willing to train with them. They even generously introduced Team Skycrown to some overseas teams.

Since teams normally conceal their identity when playing with a foreign LOL team, both teams were able to not hold back during the practice match. This granted Team Skycrown an opportunity to perfect their innovative strategy within a short time frame. Sky Club, despite being influential domestically, had no control over foreign clubs.

Throughout the final month of training, Yu Luocheng basically left no breathing room for the five of them.

They only had one month left to get the hang of the new strategy. If they failed to do so, they wouldn’t stand a chance in the LPL, left alone at defeating Team Sky.

***

Once the semester began, Yu Luocheng was frequently absent from class as he wanted to ensure that Team Skycrown could perfectly carry out his game plan without a single hiccup.

“Luocheng, I was close to the Challenger rank before you brought up this new tactic. Since then, my ranking has plummeted right back into Diamond 2. Those who know me have not been easy on me recently,” Da Luo complained to Yu Luocheng with a long face.

“If you can’t get into Diamond 1 using this playstyle, then you can forget about the competition.” Yu Luocheng showed no empathy.

“But they don’t know that I’m undergoing special training. All of them were chastising me and claiming that I was purposely feeding.”

“Exactly. What I want from you is that even if you had fed during the early game, you would still be able to put together a strong enough build by mid-game.” insisted Yu Luocheng.

“Okay. I’ll try…”

***

Five days later, Da Luo’s face grew gloomier.

“Are you back in Diamond 1?” asked Yu Luocheng.

“Diamond 3.”

“That’s embarrassing. Keep practicing.”

“A lot of people have banned me and even reported me for trolling…”

“You don’t need to care about what others are saying. Just play the way I told you to. I’ll ask someone to push your rank back to Diamond 1 so that you can keep losing.”

Considering that players from a lower rank are usually mediocre, Yu Luocheng could not allow Da Luo’s rank to drop below Diamond. He would let the cycle continue repeatedly until Da Luo could match his expectations.

If you refuse to die in vain time after time, then you better be reborn from the ashes.

Being killed three times as a Solo Top was nothing. Someone from overseas who used Singed managed to rebound from dozens of deaths and saved the match in late-game. Da Luo’s situation was nothing compared to that.

***

“Luocheng, enough is enough. I’ve lost count how many times I’ve collected six Tears of Goddess.”

“Sell them all and start again.”

“Are you serious?!”

***

“Luoceheng, I’ve taken down 2,000 minions without any items and runes.”

“How many misses?”

“Maybe slightly more than 100?”

“You missed more than 100 creeps even when there’s no pressure? Get me another 2,000 CS with no more than 50 misses.”

“Stop kidding bro. The starting damage was only 57 and at max around 100. Those creeps had more HP than my champion towards the end.”

“Just start another custom AI game then. CS in LOL is considered easy. Do you want to try DOTA?”

“Alright… alright… a new custom game it is.”

***

“The ward here is unnecessary.”

“You have to block the vision here.”

“Place Vision Ward here whenever possible.”

“Keep up your attack on the minion right until the last hit.”

“At this point, you should have secured the vision around Dragon. Place your wards here, here, and here. Remember, when you catch the opponent’s Jungler at the top lane or when Da Luo is baiting, always get the tri-bush area warded first. If we are the blue side, then head to the river first. We have to prioritize the mid-tower over the Dragon, remember that!”

“Make sure you always keep the time Siege Minions are being spawned in mind. It will roll out every three waves. If you are using Soraka, I want you to pay extra attention to the siege minion in mid-lane. Depending on the situation, you should have the foresight to call upon Zhou Yan to gather mid earlier. What’s the timing of when the first siege minion will emerge there?” questioned Yu Luocheng.

“Three minutes and thirty-three seconds,” Wu Shen answered precisely.

“Remember, a qualified SP should have great map awareness at all times. The timing of the tiniest of details is equally essential too. Most importantly, you have to outsmart the opponent in securing the vision for the team. After Da Luo, your warding ability is the second factor determining whether this strategy will work out as I have pictured.”

***

“Zhou Yan, don’t just focus on farming the jungle. The money you can get from the jungle is limited. I forbid you to claim one particular monster — Krug from the red side. If we are on the red side, ignore it and restrain your farming zone within Wraiths and Wolf camps so that you can reach the mid-lane anytime.”

“Noted.” Zhou Yan nodded.

“Again, do proper warding. You can skip an item or two but never be stringy on buying wards. I don’t need you to know the exact location of the opponent’s Jungler but you have to be sure not to be counter ganked during an ambush. So other than wards for protection, you also have to learn how to ward aggressively at the enemy’s backline.”

***

Time flew by as twenty days came and went in the blink of an eye.

The LPL’s promotional campaign had swept over the entire country. Every team had appeared in front of the public at least once and received considerable coverage from the media to exert their confidence and expectations for the tournament.

Team Skycrown still buried themselves in their old apartment and practiced tirelessly.

They recognized the need for more training before they could bring their teamwork and the tailor-made game plan to the next level.

***

“What a bunch of lunatics. If I had played LOL non-stop for a month, I probably would loathe even the sight of the loading screen,” lamented Jian Feng.

Team Skycrown would be having a friendly match with Fudan University later that afternoon. To avoid any disturbance in the middle of the game due to hardware errors, they were borrowing computers from the E-sports clubroom.

This not only allowed Team Skycrown to enjoy a much-needed change of environment, but also provided an opportunity for the club members to get a sneak peek at an LPL-level match before the actual tournament.

The E-sports club was gaining considerable fame as an official LPL team had been visiting their clubroom frequently for the past few months. However, in order to keep their strategy a secret, Yu Luocheng had specifically requested a closed door match. He even asked Fudan University not to save any record of the match.

Fudan University was being incredibly nice to Team Skycrown. When the latter was being boycotted by most of the LPL teams, Fudan University volunteered to be their sparring partner, despite once being rivals in competing for an LPL spot. The members of Team Skycrown greatly appreciated their timely assistance.

“Yeap. Just watching them play gave me a headache,” said Qin Ting.

Monotonous training is pretty torturous. Lin Dong was forced to play against AIs every day and repetitively farmed for six Tear of Goddess. Xiao Bei was asked to achieve 2,000 CS without the help of items and runes. Worse, he had to start all over if he missed more than 50 creeps.

That’s absurd!

To be honest, a lot of people only saw the success of an E-sports player on stage. They had no idea how much pain and sacrifice a professional player had to bear behind the scenes.

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