Full-time: The Strongest Sniper

So far, only two players in the league have broken the rookie wall. Even Huang Shaotian, who is currently in the spotlight, and Zhou Zekai, both from the golden generation, as well as Tang Hao and Zhao Yuzhe, who won the Rookie of the Year award last season, were all affected by the rookie wall and stopped before it.

It is precisely because of the objective existence of the rookie wall that all teams are very careful in order to ensure that their rookies can best navigate this period. The highly anticipated prodigy Gao Yingjie of Team Tiny Herb last season is a prime example of this.

When he first became a formal player for the team, he didn't immediately come into the public eye. Instead, he started as a substitute player and gradually adapted to the pace of the professional league. Because Gao Yingjie had too few appearances in the early stages, although his opponent's performance was amazing in the later part of last season, he lost the opportunity to become the best rookie due to his limited number of appearances.

Although he lost the Rookie of the Year award, this gradual approach allowed Gao Yingjie to smoothly overcome the rookie wall. By this season, Gao Yingjie has become a professional player with some experience and has adapted to the pace of professional competition and strong teams. In addition, he has a clearer understanding of his own strength in the later stages of the season. Even if he encounters any problems again this season, he will not be in the same situation as a rookie.

Different players and different teams naturally have different ways of dealing with the rookie wall.

Gao Yingjie has a gentle personality, so Team Tiny Herb chose to help him through the rookie hurdle in this way. Although it is a pity that he lost the Best Rookie award, this rookie award is not important in terms of the future and Gao Yingjie's future prospects.

Blue Rain did not allow Lu Hanwen to attend a press conference in the first round, which was also to protect him. It wasn't until the second round that he accepted an interview under the guidance of the two team captains.

However, after that interview, the reporters felt that Blue Rain's protection of Lu Hanwen in the first round was somewhat unnecessary.

Because Lu Hanwen is truly a very positive, sunny, and energetic young man. He was very confident and outspoken in front of reporters' cameras. He dared to say anything and do anything. Of course, this personality also led to some of his remarks being a bit blunt, but expecting a fourteen-year-old to learn to be tactful is really going too far.

In fact, for someone Lu Hanwen's age to be able to face such a situation without being timid is already quite remarkable and commendable. In comparison, even Gao Yingjie, who is a year older than him and has a year of experience, cannot handle these interviews as cleanly and efficiently as Lu Hanwen.

Of course, this only refers to his personality during interviews; Gao Yingjie is exceptionally talented in competitions. After all, esports is all about results, and personality traits revealed during interviews aren't particularly important. As long as you're skilled enough, even if you have significant personality flaws during interviews, no one can really criticize you. Don't you agree, Zhou Zekai and Huang Shaotian?
With the conclusion of the third round of the competition, Lu Hanwen, who performed exceptionally well in the third round, naturally attended the post-match press conference.

This fledgling young man instantly became the object of admiration for Blue Rain fans and a media darling. Especially at Blue Rain's press conference, even Huang Shaotian received few questions; after all, compared to his rambling, everyone preferred watching Lu Hanwen's adorable antics as she repeatedly made mistakes due to slips of the tongue. And naturally, Lu Hanwen was the front-page headline of this issue of the eSports Home newspaper. Undoubtedly, Lu Hanwen was the most dazzling player in this round of competition.

Of course, as the most authoritative and comprehensive publication, Esports Home would not favor any particular team. So while praising Lu Hanwen's performance, it also mentioned the issue of the "rookie wall".

This is why the public loves Esports Home so much. In contrast, the local esports media for Team Blue Rain lacks this integrity. Many of these media outlets don't even have dedicated esports columns; they just have an esports section and jump on whatever is trending. Being local media, their bias is quite obvious.

After all, the popularity of their reports is directly proportional to the popularity of the Blue Rain team. In addition, as the base of the Blue Rain club, it is also the place with the most Blue Rain fans. So naturally, they have to write content that local readers prefer. Therefore, some local media in Blue Rain are almost describing Lu Hanwen as a once-in-a-century genius. What rookie wall? That's just a stepping stone on his path to growth. And Lu Hanwen will inevitably become a rookie who breaks the rookie wall after Wang Jiexi and Sun Xiang.

Of course, being media outlets, these opinions couldn't just be empty talk; they included some analysis and presented them logically. They even analyzed why Wang Jiexi and Sun Xiang broke through the rookie barrier.

Wang Jiexi broke the rookie wall because of his ever-changing and unpredictable playing style, which he has even reached the pinnacle of. The title of "Magician" is beyond doubt. But because of this, there is no precedent for him. This caused other teams to hit the rookie wall when they faced Wang Jiexi. This hit made all the teams rich for the whole season. No matter how much they studied him, they could not keep up with Wang Jiexi's changes in actual games. As a result, Wang Jiexi was in the spotlight from beginning to end for the entire season.

Sun Xiang's situation is rather unique. Coming from a small team, even with exceptional skill, the team limits his potential. The goal of most teams is to defeat the entire team, not just any individual. Therefore, the time spent against such a lower-tier team is naturally limited, as they are no match for the established powerhouses. What good is Sun Xiang's individual skill if he can't perform well in team competitions? This, in turn, allowed Sun Xiang to dominate both individual and team competitions.

Both masters had their reasons for breaking the rookie wall, and according to the local media in Blue Rain, Lu Hanwen was no different. The support they found for this viewpoint was Lu Hanwen's personality.

After all, a young man like Lu Hanwen is fearless and unafraid of danger. Local media in Lanyu believe that with such a personality, Lu Hanwen will face and overcome any difficulties he encounters.

Some even felt that Wang Jiexi couldn't establish a rookie wall against his opponent, while Sun Xiang's rookie wall wasn't strong enough against him. Lu Hanwen, however, was the one who would definitively shatter that rookie wall completely. (End of Chapter)