We promised to win the championship together, so why did you all retire?

Chapter 25: We're going to beat DWG? Really?

The online discussion was turbulent, but it had virtually no impact on RG.

Bai Liang didn't care at all what methods Chen Ye used to get the players, as long as it was legal and compliant.

He hasn't paid attention to this matter these days.

Instead, they are fully committed to adapting to this brand new version.

To be honest, the workload is enormous.

How much has it changed in nearly three years?

Let me give you the most straightforward example.

Season 8 didn't even have the Dragon Soul mechanic, let alone any Mythic equipment.

The various systems and new heroes that emerged during these three years caused Bai Liang a lot of trouble.

As a professional player, even if he doesn't need to know much about the new heroes in other lanes, he should at least know what their skills are, right?

There is so much that Bai Liang needs to learn.

His life is now quite regular.

I get up around 11 a.m.

I played ranked games until five or six in the afternoon.

We'll continue playing after dinner.

Interspersed in were one or two hours of mock business development (BP) meetings with the coaching staff.

The so-called BP simulation meeting is essentially a small meeting where the coaching staff and players communicate with each other, and formulate various BP tactics by clarifying the heroes that the players have mastered.

After the meeting, Bai Liang still had to use his spare time between ranked games to learn about the new heroes he didn't know by watching videos or practicing in training mode.

Then comes the ranked time, which combines ranking up and reviewing past games.

How tiring is this process?

To put it another way, Rank is actually a break for Bai Liang right now.

Especially the BP meetings, they gave him a real headache.

RG's coaching staff is quite professional these days.

However, the head coach and the two assistant coaches will always have different ideas, and at this time, they need to negotiate and communicate with each other slowly.

They will also ask the players to cooperate from time to time and do corresponding training.

Take Uzbekistan, for example.

Uzi has been in excellent form these past few days thanks to the help of his training card.

However, since he hadn't trained for a long time, his thinking and playstyle had become outdated. Therefore, the coaching staff asked him to practice the strong heroes of the current version as much as possible to regain his feel for the game, and to change his outdated output strategies as much as possible.

The three coaches were not lenient with Bai Liang either.

On one hand, he was instructed to continue practicing Zoe intensively, while on the other hand, he was made to master strong mid-laners like Viktor and Sylas as much as possible, and if possible, he was also required to master at least one of Orianna or Azir.

This ensures that there won't be any major flaws in the mid-lane hero pool.

Theshy actually has the fewest problems.

His competitive form is still strong, he's just neglected a lot of his warrior hero pool.

The coaching staff gave him a very simple task.

Try to regain proficiency with traditional top lane fighters like Renekton, Jayce, and Aatrox, and work together more with Xun in ranked games to continue developing synergy.

"Oh my god, I'm so screwed..."

"The enemy bot lane has two marksmen again!"

"This is disgusting, seriously. Which jerk on the Korean server came up with this dual marksman strategy?"

"His mom logged in and was already out of health, how am I supposed to play like this?!"

Three days before the start of the Demacia Cup.

Bai Liang walked in with a cup of cola as usual, and heard Uzi's complaints as he returned from the All-Star game.

He had just walked over when he heard Effort, the support player who had been there for over a week, offering a somewhat stammering words of comfort:

"Don't rush."

"I'll go first."

"Do you know?"

"당기면서하자, 너너무세게하지마, 형!"

(Pull and tug, don't be so aggressive, bro!)

This exchange... is quite unique.

They still communicate in three languages.

It still mixes Chinese and English.

They still rush to speak their mother tongue.

However, this is also a characteristic of clubs that rely on South Korean players.

Unfortunately, Effort had never played in the LPL before.

He can say things like "Don't rush" and "I'll go first," which are game-related terms he has hastily learned by finding a translator these past few days.

However, upon comparison—

Bai Liang glanced at TheShy, who was playing with the captain with a pained expression, his gaze somewhat subtle.

Damn it, look at other people!

Effort has only been in RG for five days, but his Chinese level is almost on par with yours.

Kang Seung-rok (TheShy's real name), be more careful!

Uz heard the noise behind him, turned around, and his eyes lit up.

"Hey? You got me a Coke?"

He casually stretched out his hand, and Bai Liang, without any hesitation, gave it to him.

Uzi's expression changed as soon as he got his hands on it: "What? What is this? It's hot?"

Who's the kind person who drinks hot Coke?!

Bai Liang calmly sat down. "Isn't that what they drink in Hubei? Ginger Coke, it's a classic."

"This stuff keeps you warm in winter."

Uzbekiss chuckled. "You know about this?"

Bai Liang smiled without saying a word.

At first, he also disliked hot cola.

But after the S6 tournament, he went to Wuhan with Mingkai for half a month.

Once, after he caught a cold, Mingkai got this for him.

Don't say it.

The taste was a bit strange, but it was actually alright.

Hot beer is a common sight, but hot cola is definitely not.

—By the way, I'm talking about Coca-Cola, not Pepsi.

Effort stammered a greeting to Bai Liang. Then he quickly patted Uzi on the shoulder and pointed to the screen.

Bai Liang didn't bother them any further and turned on his computer to log into the Chinese server.

With the team now fully assembled, Bai Liang has a better understanding of his current squad.

Not weak.

But it's not strong either.

According to his estimate, his skill level is roughly in the lower middle range of the LPL.

The scrims against some really bad LPL teams were quite effective.

The win rate can be maintained at around 70%.

But playing against those strong teams...

A win rate of 20% is considered extremely lucky.

Some people might ask...

No, aren't it hard to schedule practice matches with strong teams?

—Indeed, but there are exceptions.

For example, Top Esports.

And Top Esports.

And Topsports.

Despite Top Esports' impressive performances in international competitions, their overall record in foreign matches is so poor it's infuriating.

However, it remains very dominant in the LPL.

Moreover, Top Esports is one of the more humane clubs in the LPL.

Many strong teams usually don't accept scrim invitations from weaker teams, but Top Esports does.

Both manager Guo Hao and current head coach White Crescent are relatively honest and empathetic people.

Back when Top Esports was still called DAN, they were a terrible team.

Besides crushing EDG, who were at the peak of their league dominance, in several games.

This led to the meme "Ling Shi Road was destroyed by a DAN".

Basically, he remained relatively unknown.

Therefore, these veteran esports players who came from that era also know how difficult it is for weaker teams to schedule scrimmages.

under these circumstances.

As Top Esports gradually improves, they will still arrange some scrimmages with weaker teams.

It also helps the players regain their confidence.

Instead of completely ignoring weak teams.

[PS: This isn't made up; many players and coaches from weaker teams have thanked Top Esports in interviews for being willing to play scrims with them.]

"Brother Liang, who are we playing against in today's practice match?"

His voice was bright, and his tone was relaxed with a hint of curiosity.

It was Xun who spoke.

He arrived a day later than Effort.

But he has an outgoing personality and enjoys communicating.

Now, he's actually the only one in the entire team, besides Bai Liang, who's a special case, who can exchange a few words with everyone else.

Even Effort, the Korean support player, was all smiles when he talked to Xun.

It's truly remarkable how some people are born with the ability to make friends.

Bai Liang glanced at the schedule sent by Coach Kkoma and his brow twitched.

"DWG".

Xun: ?

Uzbekistan: ?