League of Legends: Reborn in Season 3, Tuning the Entire League

Chapter 150 Hey you, close the door.

Wang Wang glanced at the information in his hand. It was about a player who was always getting caught for being distracted at work and who lacked talent, leading his coaching team to deem him a "waste brick."

He understood in his heart that he roughly knew why the manager had stopped the other person.

"Theking, right? You failed the top lane trial without a doubt. But the boss thinks you have the potential to play mid lane or even join the coaching staff. Do you want to give it a try?"

"Ah...is that so?" The young man called Zhao Hao's first reaction was that he had only heard the first half, and his expression became increasingly gloomy.

He was wondering if he was really not suited for esports and that it would be better for him to go home and inherit his father's slaughterhouse.

"Don't look so down. If you really have no redeeming qualities, why would I waste my breath arguing with you?"

"You are quite attentive and able to process feedback from your teammates. You have a good overall perspective, but your weakness is that you are not mentally stable when playing top lane and you can't make decisive decisions when it's time to engage in team fights."

"Although I don't know what will happen after you switch to mid lane, given your level of effort, it won't be worse than it is now."

Mo Ziye took out a contract and said, "We have looked into your background. You are a local from Nanjing, and your family is not bad off. Your parents are not too opposed to your involvement in esports. Unlike other youth training players who come from afar, if you want to try a different position, you can sign this."

"The club is willing to spend at least three years training you. If you like esports, and if you really can't make it as a player, you can leave NXG to become a professional coach."

"Thank you, Brother Mo."

Zhao Hao looked at the standard youth training contract in his hand, his heart filled with gratitude.

He knew that after failing the trial, the club could have easily thrown him out of the training base, but NXG did not. In fact, throughout the entire youth training camp, as long as a player had any potential for development, whether it was suggesting a position change like him or directly moving from player to assistant coach, the club was very willing to provide them with a concrete development contract.

Yes, it's a training contract. It's a youth training contract that provides room and board and a monthly "minimum wage" to these people who can't create any value.

Without hesitation, he immediately signed his name.

At this time, like Zhao Hao, all the other players who were able to stay in the club also received the same youth training contract.

They were given a day off to consider whether players who were underage could find a guardian to sign a contract.

The content of the youth training contract differs significantly from the formal contracts of NXG players.

First, the training content was clearly written down, including various skills training that the club must provide during the contract period, such as tactical analysis, operational training, match review, and game interpretation.

Their contracts are also longer than those of regular team members, with the shortest being three years.

Youth training players are different from regular players. Before they play in matches, everything is cultivated by the club. You can't just go through all the trouble of bringing them up and then suddenly transfer them to someone else.

Of course, Jiang Ming adhered to his consistent principle and did not play any word games on the contract term or other details. As long as the youth training players passed the assessment during the training period and were able to officially play, their contracts could be directly changed to official player contracts.

Let's stop being gods of contracts, starting with ourselves.

The formal contracts are divided into two levels of treatment: secondary league and LPL. NXG players are currently under a three-tier treatment system.

Youth training players earn 800 yuan per month, secondary league players earn 1800 yuan, and LPL official players earn 2800 yuan!

Of course, the specific figures will be adjusted according to the actual market situation each season, and each player has the right to apply for season changes.

During the final contract signing stage, a small number of people still chose to give up and leave the base.

In the eyes of these proud and arrogant players, passing the trial means that even if they don't get a first-team contract, they should at least get a second-team contract. A youth training contract is certainly not worthy of their "talent".

If others want to leave, Jiang Ming and his NXG team won't stop them. The club didn't teach them much in the first seven days. They focused more on testing the players' resilience through continuous ranked games, basic skills practice, and pressure training matches. This was to facilitate the coaching staff's ability assessment and initial record of their playstyle, in order to discover players with good willpower and perseverance. Are there any geniuses out there?
Yes, but before you can do anything and create value for the club, why should I offer you a formal player contract?
It's probably because he's spoiled. The fact that he didn't charge extra for training like the trainees recruited in the neighboring region shows how kind he is.

In the current League of Legends esports scene, not to mention that many teams still rely on their players to make a living and play for free, even clubs that can afford to pay a stable salary can't afford to pay a newcomer with no professional experience. And even if you do get playing time, how much growth can you expect in this unregulated environment?

……

That evening, Jiang Ming arrived at the youth training base and officially met with the group of youth trainees.

Inside the meeting room, the lights were bright and dazzling. A group of youth training athletes sat together, their eyes filled with a hint of expectation and a touch of curiosity.

Many of them chose NXG, mainly because of Jiang Ming's influence in the LPL esports scene.

"To be honest, I didn't expect so many people to stay after seven days. I'm quite surprised."

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Jiang Ming. I am the owner of this NXG eSports club, the head coach of the NXG team's first team, and also the mid-lane player 'JM' for the NXG team." After entering the conference room and taking his stand, Jiang Ming slowly began to speak, glancing at the players in front of him.

"I believe that many of you have watched my matches to some extent. I also know that each of you harbors an e-sports dream and longs to shine on the highest stage."

"However, I believe that after these few days of basic skills training, you have all come to understand one thing: it is not easy to stand on that stage filled with lights, flowers and applause."

"My first sentence is not a joke, because in my opinion, if ten of you here can persevere to the end in the e-sports industry, that would be a lot."

"The glamour on stage requires countless hours and sweat to cultivate offstage."

"From the moment you signed your contracts, you became part of NXG. The club has both the obligation and the ability to help you unlock your full potential. What you need to do is turn every minute into nourishment for growth and keep improving!"

"It won't be long, and some of you with exceptional talent might even be able to join my ranks in just ten days or half a month."

"Join, become, and surpass!"

For young people just starting out, occasionally serving them a bowl of chicken soup often yields surprisingly good results.

Before Jiang Ming finished speaking, the confusion that had lingered on those young faces dissipated like morning mist, and a kind of pilgrim-like light appeared in their innocent eyes.

"It's about time. If we leave it for a few years, a few banknotes won't be as practical as a dream."

If you only feed them chicken soup for the soul, these energetic and inquisitive young people will soon feel spiritually hungry late at night.

Jiang Ming knew this well, so he specially served them another hardcore dish that was even more nourishing to the soul.

"Now, let me announce the specific arrangements for the second team selection and youth training."

"The club has decided to form two new teams. The players will be selected from the existing youth training camp and those who will come to the club for trials. The selection process will take half a month, from the end of the LPL Spring Finals to the start of the 5th City League of Legends Championship."

"Over the next two weeks, the club will provide you with comprehensive and professional training. How far you go depends entirely on yourselves."

"Manager Mo, I'm leaving the rest of the training arrangements to you." Jiang Ming said, handing over the reins to Mo Ziye.

In any company or team, there must be someone who plays the good cop and someone who plays the bad cop.

As the club leader standing in the spotlight, Jiang Ming naturally wouldn't be the bad guy; that role would fall to his middle-level managers.

Having witnessed Jiang Ming train the first team for several months, and with a written, systematic set of training and match rules handed to him, the first phase of training for the club's second team was not a difficult task for him.

……

Soon, just like Song Yuan and his teammates had done before, the youth training team members had an extremely detailed training plan in their hands.

Basic skills: ① Hero pool expansion... ② Custom last-hitting... ③ Skill avoidance training...

Advanced Matchmaking: ① Best-of-five (BO5) practice... ② Explanation of version and hero counter-relationships... ③ Individual improvement training...

Other categories: ① Physical training... ② Psychological development... ③ Professional skills training...

Unlike the simple endless ranked games or getting beaten up in scrims during the trial period, the plan not only specifies the training content, time, and training volume in detail, but also provides corresponding assessment scores for each item.

The training plan that the players are currently holding is the revised version of Season 3. After being submitted to Jiang Ming for review and approval, Mo Ziye made some refinements and added some unique derivative content of his own.

For example, in the custom last-hitting practice, the original three-stage last-hitting practice has now added an additional "normal difficulty" computer last-hitting practice, with the computer's selected hero being fixed as Fiddlesticks.

The reason is simple: in normal difficulty AI gameplay, computer-controlled heroes will frequently disrupt your rhythm with their skills. In addition, the hero Fiddlesticks' Q skill is Fear, making it a very good training opportunity.

Mo Ziye slightly modified the passing score requirement for last-hitting skills.

In undisturbed conditions, the passing grade for basic last-hitting skills with no equipment is 80 last hits in 10 minutes, while under normal computer interference, 75 last hits is acceptable.

In addition, he also used color coding to classify the club's various tasks and requirements.

For example, long-term hero pool expansion and the basic last-hitting skills practiced as the first thing to do every morning can be categorized as red.

This requirement is a mandatory assessment that everyone must complete. Failure to complete it results in immediate disqualification. The first offense results in a one-week ban from participating in training matches, the second offense results in a warning sign, and there is no third chance. The third offense results in immediate dismissal.

For a professional player, fundamental skills are the underlying technical support for their last-hitting, skill release accuracy, and positioning and avoidance efficiency. They are the guarantee of tactical execution and the adaptability to high-pressure competition environments.

Emphasizing fundamentals doesn't mean that mastering them will guarantee you a good professional career, but those who lack fundamentals will definitely not excel as professional players.

He rated tasks like rank assessments and Bo5 practice matches, which are affected by various factors, as yellow, leaving some room for maneuver.

However, if your rank score is not up to par, or if your overall performance in intra-team scrimmages is too low, you won't be selected for the second team.

In terms of time, the youth training players have adapted to NXG's schedule in the past seven days, so they have not wasted any time on it.

Upon seeing such detailed task requirements, several quick-thinking contestants immediately realized that the lack of a specific number of rank requirements during the trial period was also a form of assessment for them.

In fact, during the trial period, the youth training camp management staff would occasionally stand behind the players to observe their first-person perspective. After each day's trial period, they would also log into the players' accounts to check their rank records. They did not require a certain number of ranks per day, but the number of times a player played in the same amount of time was used as a standard to evaluate whether a youth training player was self-disciplined.

Most of those who were eliminated had slacked off during the scheduled training time, and their ranked games were sometimes even less effective than the casual games they played when they were addicted to the internet.

If you have this attitude before even making the starting lineup, what will you be like once you do?

Finally, the additional task of cultivating professional qualities was naturally added by Jiang Ming after review. Students of different ages were required to take cultural courses with varying requirements.

It's fair to say that for these youth training players, the shock of learning that they still couldn't escape academic studies even if they were playing professionally was no less than the shock of seeing the training hours of the NXG club online.

"Mental health class?"

"Event etiquette, anti-match-fixing and gambling-specific video education, media interview simulations?"

"I can accept the above, but the problem is whether the political and historical information is labeled incorrectly."

"Playing professionally is no easier than studying!"

"I started playing esports to avoid the painful study in school, but now that I'm in an esports club, I still have to attend classes. What's the point of coming here?"

Is it too late for me to regret it now?

Mo Ziye pulled out a baseball bat from somewhere and said with a friendly smile, "Once the contract is signed, you can't say 'oh dear'!"

"Wang Wang, close the club's main gate, yes, the iron gate, weld it shut."

"Don't worry, I will take good care of you."

"Let's have some incredibly fun special training together!"

"Jie Jie Jie!"

……

"Our region is really interesting. We were sandwiched between the All-Star game and the regular season and playoffs. When we came back, we had to readjust to the new version."

NXG main base, team one training room.

Song Yuan and the others were furiously complaining to their boss about the competition format.

"This isn't even the top-tier part. I don't know if you've seen the schedule for the Summer Split. After the regular season, the S3 World Championship is in September. That means after the World Championship, you come back to play the playoffs and compete for the Summer Split championship."

"What, you're saying that a world championship in table tennis isn't as prestigious as a domestic championship?"

Xu Jing used both his hands and feet to describe it vividly.

It can only be said that these kids are still quite naive.

Jiang Ming chuckled. They probably never imagined that LPL, this makeshift organization, would produce BO2 matches, a bunch of 1-1 tiebreakers, and then a team playing two BO5 matches in one day—such incredible feats!

However, discussing these issues is pointless. If our "Competitive Culture" can successfully host the LPL league in the future, then some avoidable mistakes can naturally be avoided.

"Physical assassins have been nerfed, but Riot has overlooked a few mage champions. Ahri, Ryze, Orianna, and Gragas can all be played. This doesn't affect us much. Everyone has a good grasp of the strong champions in the current version. We can focus on the PE champion pool and the players' habits, and do targeted practice."

Mo Ziye was in charge of basic skills training at the youth training camp, while Jiang Ming and the first team were making final preparations for the LPL Spring Finals.

PE team is a familiar name to us.

From being utterly crushed in the server competition to showing their talent after entering the LPL, and finally joining forces with NXG to reach the LPL Spring Split finals, it has to be said that Jiang Ming's publicly announced LOL professional training standards, operational concepts, tactical depth, and team execution are the most profound among all teams in the entire LPL region.

It's no exaggeration to say that against this enhanced PE team, not to mention LPL teams, even teams from OGN would be no match.

It's worth noting that NXG still doesn't have a dedicated data analyst, whereas PE had one from the very beginning of LPL's formation.

Regardless of the actual skill level of PE's data analyst, Xiao Xigua, having this position proves that the team has a certain level of expertise in tactical understanding.

Therefore, in order to ensure that the prize money from the Spring Finals wouldn't disappear, Jiang Ming decided to further enhance the training depth for his team members.

"With the female police officer nerfed and Varus' ultimate ability hitbox adjusted, the probability of PE picking Varus in the bot lane will increase. In addition, his Ezreal usage rate is very low. Plus, Xika likes to use poke-type supports. Considering Thresh is being banned, Xiao Pang can practice Blitzcrank more."

"No problem, Ming. When I was working with All-Star Smile, he shared a lot of Curly's experience using the robot with me."

Pang Ran's response to Jiang Ming's request surprised and delighted the team members.

Song Yuan jumped onto Pang Ran's body, "Ahhh, stop showing off that you can beat the All-Stars, okay? I'm so jealous!"

"What's it like working with Pangpang and Weixiao together?" Xiaowu, the mid-laner, was curious about this.

"The feeling of walking down with a smile~" Pang Ran glanced at a certain AD who was pretending not to care but was actually gripping the soles of his feet tightly, and laughed, "It's hard to say about individual skills, but in terms of teamwork and execution, Lao Xu is definitely stronger."

Xu Jing: "Hmph ╭(╯^╰)╮!"

Jiang Ming tapped Song Yuan on his laptop to tell him to return to his original position, then looked at Xiao Shitou and asked, "After the jungle revamp, do you have any thoughts on this?"

He prefers to guide the players in his team more and explain them more, trying to tap into their individual potential.

“With the buff experience nerfed, the strategy of quickly ganking with red and blue buffs will definitely be limited. I think in the new version, when planning jungle routes, it’s more important to prioritize ensuring jungle development. Otherwise, if the Krugs or F4 are invaded, the jungle level gap will be too large, and it’s easy to collapse first,” Shi Zhenyu said, sharing his understanding.

"Of course, as long as the Prophet's Potion exists, the strong jungle champions will still be the same few. This thing has a very strong snowballing ability. As long as it exists, some scaling junglers will have a hard time playing. I think Riot's attitude towards adjusting the Prophet's Potion should be to just remove it."

In the previous regular season, LPL teams had tried using farm-oriented junglers to counter NXG.

The trade-off is that once the situation turns against you, with the help of two Prophet Potions, you will lose vision control of the jungle indefinitely. You won't even be able to enter the jungle, so how can a herbivore jungler develop?

The jungle skirmishes in the finals were a key point in the rhythm of the two teams. Both PE's jungler Jing and Xiaoshitou himself were good at playing heroes like Lee Sin and Jarvan IV, which were very suitable for the current version.

"Jungle planning?"

Xu Jing laughed, "Little Stone, Ming-ge has been making you practice that thing, it's not reliable."

Shi Zhenyu shook his head, "You can't say that. Jungle planning is different every game, and PE's junglers like to invade the jungle. If I stick to a fixed jungle route, I'll easily get crushed by players who play like that."

"Go on a hunger strike!" Pang Ran reminded him.

"Oh, Ming said that this jungling style is called the 'starvation style,' which is very effective against our conventional playstyle."

"Speaking of which, there seems to be a kid in our youth training camp who plays like that."

"What's his name?"

"Liu Shiyu, MLXG!"

"Spicy stir-fry?"

"Yes, but compared to PE junglers, their experience is much worse, and they often just recklessly charge in."

Yes, MLXG is not the first LPL jungler to use the "starvation" strategy.

Strictly speaking, PE's jungler, Jing, is the true first generation of the "starvation style".

"Don't worry, as I've told you before, the fasting jungler relies heavily on teammates. If there are problems with the teammates or they can't provide timely help to the jungler, the fasting strategy will only disrupt the rhythm."

"Our debriefing today will mainly focus on the habits of the other four PE players besides the jungler. You need to remember these and provide timely feedback to Xiaoshitou." Jiang Ming walked to the tactics board and spoke to the Rift map: "Positioning, vision control, pre-teamfight positioning..."

"Also, PE has only scratched the surface when it comes to understanding minion waves. We can use this advantage, combined with vision control, to set traps for them."

Having a basic understanding of minion waves and knowing how to use them are two different things.

The outside world thinks that NXG's tactical understanding is at the second level, and that they can close the gap after learning the first level. But actually, we are at the atmosphere.

A decade or so of advanced understanding of minion waves cannot be compensated for by simply saying "I understand fast and slow minion wave pushes and cannon minion wave control".

Not to mention the minion wave management on the lane, Jiang Ming also has many more tricks up his sleeve.

Even if you understand everything, it can only be called a basic understanding and an introduction. It's a skill that any Diamond Master player in the future can master by watching tutorial videos.

The real challenge lies in the team's overall coordination, utilizing the lanes, jungler, and even the three lanes of minions to cooperate with each other.

Hero pool targeting, player habit research, vision control, and minion lane setup are a set of "mechanism" combinations that Jiang Mingchun prepared for PE when he couldn't improve his own players' "stats" for the time being.

In addition, even if the basic functional capabilities of both parties are at a similar level, NXG's operational rhythm, team cooperation, and powerful timely response capabilities provided by high communication efficiency are also undeniable advantages.

There's a saying that goes, "Anyone can do mechanics." When heroes and stats become increasingly similar, or when reaction time and judgment are virtually indistinguishable, the outcome of the game ultimately comes down to the fundamental human attributes that give humans an edge over beasts.

That is wisdom and judgment that transcends muscle memory, judgment, and even instinct.

　A new month begins, please vote with monthly tickets!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)