ARML CH80

The Gods’ War professional league has many sponsors. Therefore, the league established four competition venues in the eastern, western, southern, and northern cities of China, making it convenient for fans to watch matches nearby and for sponsors to run advertising campaigns.

Tianhuan’s first match against NTG in the first round was scheduled in Binghe City, a large provincial capital.

The coaches, team manager, and players flew to Binghe two days early to familiarize themselves with the environment.

This is an “Ice City” with an average temperature eight degrees colder than the imperial capital. January was still winter, and the entire city was clad in silvery white, with ice sculptures everywhere on the streets. During the trip from the airport to the hotel, Cheng Xing, visiting Binghe for the first time, excitedly took out his phone to snap photos of the snowy scenery along the way.

There were 4 matches scheduled at the Binghe Esports Center this week.

The 8 participating teams were all accommodated in the official partner hotel designated by the league for easier management.

The hotel environment was excellent, and double rooms were reserved for the major teams. Alphas and Omegas could not stay together, so the team manager Tang Can considerately reserved a single room for Ye Shaoyang to stay in alone.

This was Ye Shaoyang’s first time in this city, and the architectural style was quite distinctive. However, he had no interest in wandering around aimlessly. He honestly went to sleep, concentrating on preparing for the match on the 24th.

On January 24th, a heavy snow fell in Binghe City, and the temperature plummeted to -20 degrees Celsius.

The entire Tianhuan team wore thick down jackets over their team uniforms. When they arrived at the venue, the spectator seats were already quite full. Although it wasn’t a full house like the playoffs, a 50% attendance rate still exceeded Ye Shaoyang’s expectations.

“In such cold weather, and it’s just a Group B regular season match, I didn’t expect there to be so many viewers,” Ye Shaoyang said to the coach while taking off his down jacket. The venue had heating.

Coach Lin smiled, “There are also many viewers who aren’t fans of any specific team, but simply enjoy watching esports matches. There are many trolls online, but in reality, there are actually more viewers who silently watch the matches and support the league.”

Ye Shaoyang nodded, “That’s true.” He hung his down jacket on the coat rack in the lounge, turned back, and smiled at Coach Lin, “Coach, don’t mind those comments cursing you online. I know you’re actually shifting the pressure onto yourself so that not too many people scold me, and they all go to focus fire on the coach instead.”

Coach Lin turned to look at Ye Shaoyang, meeting his bright eyes. He seemed to understand everything.

The coaching staff’s decision was indeed inviting curses, but it also invisibly helped shift the crosshairs away from the players. Because Ye Shaoyang and Cheng Xing were both rookies, if they lost matches in Group S, netizens would curse them even more harshly.

Especially since Ye Shaoyang replaced Qu Jiang in the mid-lane position. When that time came, many people would say, “What right does an Omega have to replace Qu Jiang?” or “He doesn’t play as well as Qu Jiang, did he climb the ranks through improper relationships?” In that case, Shaoyang’s Omega identity would become the biggest point of controversy, and some might even suspect he used dishonorable means to squeeze Qu Jiang out.

Lin Feng didn’t want any rifts to appear within the Tianhuan team, nor did he want Ye Shaoyang to bear too much public pressure. Making Ye Shaoyang and Cheng Xing’s debut a bit smoother was what he could do for them as a coach.

Lin Feng patted Ye Shaoyang’s shoulder and said, “It’s fine, just play your best, I believe in you.”

Ye Shaoyang said earnestly, “Don’t worry, I’ll play well.” Although he wouldn’t be afraid to play in Group S now, since the coaching staff wanted his debut to be smoother and for him to win a few more games to build confidence… how could he disappoint the coach?

Everyone gathered in the lounge. With only half an hour left until the match, Cheng Xing nervously turned and went to the bathroom, while Ye Shaoyang calmly sat down next to Chi Shuo.

Chi Shuo turned to look at him and asked quietly, “First official match, aren’t you nervous?”

Ye Shaoyang replied, “It’s alright, I don’t feel anything in particular.”

Chi Shuo: “…” You really do have a big heart.

A moment later, the two official casters appeared on the screen in the preparation room.

Moran: “Viewers, welcome to the scene of the Gods’ War Official Professional League Season 10 Regular Season Round 1. We are here at the Binghe Esports Center!”

Xiaoyu: “The two teams competing today are Team Tianhuan and Team NTG from Group B. The players from both sides are ready. Let’s invite the starting players of the two teams to the main stage with a warm round of applause!”

Applause rang out from the audience. NTG’s starting roster and team promotional photos appeared on the screen, and the five members of NTG entered first. A staff member pushed open the door to the lounge, signaling the Tianhuan team to prepare to go on stage.

The bullet screen in the stream rapidly began to spam. [Will Tianhuan’s Omega player be playing? They wouldn’t send the 2nd team for the regular season, right!]

[If Tianhuan sends the 2nd team again, I’ll fucking blow up the coaching staff’s dog heads!]

[I’m just here to see how Tianhuan loses.]

[It should be the main squad this time; you can’t mess around in the regular season, right?]

[Is the Omega little brother the new support? Will he be playing this match?]

At this time, the players from Team NTG were already seated in the soundproof booth, configuring their equipment. Seeing Ye Shaoyang, the recently famous Omega player, among the 5 Tianhuan players walking onto the stage, NTG’s captain couldn’t help but smile, “Coach guessed right, Tianhuan indeed sent their main squad. That Omega should be the support. Although Omega supports are rare, don’t show any mercy, everyone.”

“Tianhuan’s starting lineup today features two rookies, it looks like we have a good chance of winning!” NTG’s coach was full of confidence and smiled, “Just focus on playing against Chi Shuo, blow up their jungle.”

Just as he said this, he saw the five Tianhuan players on the main stage standing shoulder-to-shoulder in a row, bowing to the audience. Their standing order was: Qin Yizhu, Chi Shuo, Ye Shaoyang, Cheng Xing, Qu Jiang.

The coach’s smile stiffened slightly, “Is this standing order… wrong?”

The captain also looked confused, “The Omega standing in the C-position in the promotional photos could be said to be for visual effect, but in an official match, there’s no need to be this accommodating, right?”

However, the five Tianhuan players did not adjust their order. After entering the soundproof booth bearing the Tianhuan team crest, they continued to sit in front of the computers in that exact order, connecting their personal keyboards and mice to the computers, putting on their headsets, and beginning to configure their equipment.

The audience finally realized something was wrong.

A massive row of question marks spammed across the live streams on major platforms online.

[What’s going on??!]

[The Omega little brother is actually sitting in the C-position! Is this a mistake or what?]

[Holy crap, he’s sitting right in the middle in the soundproof booth too! This is a fucking mid-laner!!]

[Seats during a match are assigned in order, there’s no way a support sits in the middle! So he really is a mid-laner?!]

Beimu Team Base. With no matches scheduled for today, Zhao Xin’an, who was watching the stream in the conference room, spat out a mouthful of tea: “Holy crap? I didn’t expect this wild strategy from Tianhuan!”

Zhao Xinping frowned, “Ye Shaoyang is the mid-laner? So Cheng Xing is playing the marksman role, and Qu Jiang has switched to support?”

The Beimu coach’s jaw almost dropped: “Cheng Xing was previously learning jungle from Chi Shuo, and suddenly switched to marksman… Qu Jiang switched from mid to support? And then they start a never-before-seen Omega rookie as mid-laner?!”

Everyone: “…”

Who could have thought of this? So, Tianhuan’s starting lineup this season had 3 out of 5 players swapped out?

The Beimu coach was thoughtful, “No wonder Coach Lin was willing to bear the pressure of being cursed onto the trending searches by not pushing for Group S. If it were me, with 3 out of 5 positions in the main roster swapped, I wouldn’t dare to go straight to Group S to clash with strong teams either. Losing 5 games in a row and getting eliminated might just boom their mentalities.”

Zhao Xin’an couldn’t keep things to himself and immediately sent messages to the group— [Reporter Zhao]: Holy crap, crap, crap, Tianhuan’s newly signed Omega player is actually a mid-laner! [Reporter Zhao]: Qu Jiang went to play support and let a rookie play mid? [Zhou Zhou]: Is that so? Let me go take a look. [I’m Very Square]: Just opened the stream, Ye Shaoyang really is the mid-laner.

At this moment, on the big screen at the venue, each player’s promotional photo was displayed for introduction. For Tianhuan, it was just getting to the middle position.

The caster Moran said excitedly, “This player has recently caused quite a bit of controversy. He is the Omega rookie that Tianhuan Club signed for a high price of 5 million. Everyone has been guessing, will he be a support? But today, Tianhuan’s starting lineup is unexpected—he is actually sitting in the middle position!”

Caster Xiaoyu: “Welcome Tianhuan Team’s new mid-laner, Ye Shaoyang, Tianhuan – Lieyang!”

During the pre-match introduction phase, the camera would sequentially take close-up shots of the players. Seeing the light turn on the camera in front of him, Ye Shaoyang smiled and waved. Thus, his magnified face appeared on both the venue screens and the stream screens, along with his smiling face as he waved to the audience.

[It’s the feeling of a heartbeat~ The Omega little brother is so handsome!]

[Let’s spare the Tianhuan coaching staff’s dog heads for now; maybe this is Tianhuan’s hidden secret weapon?]

[The starting lineup completely confused me; what tricks is the coaching staff playing, a massive roster overhaul?]

[What right does a rookie have to replace Qu Jiang’s mid-lane position! What right does a rookie have to replace a veteran!]

[Hehe, Tianhuan is still disappointing today.]

Praise and curses, the white bullet screens densely covered the screen. Compared to Ye Shaoyang’s composure, Cheng Xing’s smile when facing the camera appeared somewhat stiff. After all, he was Chi Shuo’s disciple and had a certain level of fame. Everyone knew he learned jungle from his master, so his sudden switch to the marksman role inevitably aroused the suspicions of many fans.

When it finally came time to introduce the support Qu Jiang, sure enough, some people started to lead the rhythm. [Making way for a rookie, feeling sad for my Brother Qu.] [Qu Jiang played mid-lane for three years. Even if he didn’t have great achievements, he worked hard. The coach making him step aside for a rookie, does he even have a conscience?] [Who told the new mid-laner to join the team with capital? That 5 million signing fee probably has some shady inside story.]

Offstage, Xie Xiaotian was watching the stream on his phone. Seeing the comments from these keyboard warriors, he couldn’t help but get angry: “A bunch of people only know how to spout nonsense here! My Brother Yang didn’t join the team with capital, he relies on his strength!”

Yan Bin said, “Don’t be angry, Brother Yang is a rookie replacing Brother Qu as the starting mid-laner, it’s normal for him to be questioned.” He paused, then added, “Don’t worry, they’ll be slapped in the face soon enough.”

The match began. In the first game, Tianhuan randomly drew the blue side, gaining priority in bans and picks.

The group stage of the regular season did not use global BP; heroes used could be used again, so the rules were relatively lenient.

Coach Lin stood behind everyone, holding a notepad, and said into the headset, “Ban [Radiant Shield] first.” This was a hard-engage support, and banning it could reduce the pressure on the bottom lane. Sitting on the far left, Qin Yizhu banned the hero according to the coach’s instructions.

Sure enough, the opposing NTG’s first ban went to Chi Shuo’s signature hero, [Bloodstained Assassin]. Coach Lin: “Continue to ban the support [Destruction Hammer].” NTG’s second ban still targeted Chi Shuo’s jungle-core [Stealth Rogue].

Caster Moran: “The first phase of BP for both sides has ended. Both of NTG’s bans targeted the jungler, while Tianhuan banned two supports in a row. What hero will Tianhuan prioritize picking next?”

Lin Feng: “Pick the top laner [Black Dragon Knight].” NTG then picked the strong bottom lane duo of [Forest Envoy] and [Holy Spirit Archer].

Lin Feng said, “Picks 2 and 3, take [Frost Goddess] and [Snow Girl].” Seeing this, NTG picked the mid-laner [Illusionist].

Caster Xiaoyu: “Both sides have finished selecting their mid-laners. NTG using [Illusionist] to counter [Frost Goddess] is a relatively good decision because [Illusionist] counters [Frost Goddess] very hard in lane.”

Caster Moran: “Surprisingly, Tianhuan didn’t prioritize picking a jungler in the first phase. This means NTG can continue to target the jungler position, and Captain Chi’s jungle-core heroes are going to be completely banned out!”

In the second phase of BP, NTG unsurprisingly and unapologetically continued to ban Chi Shuo’s jungle-core heroes. Banned were [King of Fighters], who was very strong when farmed, and the highly mobile assassin [Spirit Fox].

Tianhuan began banning top laners to reduce the pressure on Qin Yizhu. In one match, NTG directly banned four junglers! Chi Shuo had almost no jungle-core heroes left to choose from.

Tianhuan’s picks 4 and 5 began selecting heroes. Pick 4 locked in [Fighter], a jungle hero whose early game was too weak and in most cases could only act as a utility player. When it was pick 5’s turn, Caster Xiaoyu said: “What support will Tianhuan pick?”

As a result, pick 5 instantly locked in [Abyssal Lord]. The stream chat was instantly filled with question marks. [Picking two mages, are you kidding me?] [What’s going on?] [Tianhuan is truly disappointing this season!]

The two casters looked at each other:

“[Abyssal Lord] is a mage assassin, so what is [Frost Goddess] picked for?”

“Qu Jiang is very good at Frost Goddess. Is Frost Goddess playing support this game instead of mid-lane? Although Frost Goddess support is relatively rare, it’s also viable for providing crowd control.”

“Is Tianhuan going to use [Abyssal Lord] for a mid-core composition?!”

Coach Lin’s wild strategy completely confused NTG. They picked an [Illusionist] to counter [Frost Goddess], only for [Frost Goddess] to go to the support role, and an [Abyssal Lord] appeared in the mid-lane?

Both sides rapidly began swapping heroes. On Tianhuan’s side, the final pick [Abyssal Lord] was swapped to the 3rd slot, to be played by Tianhuan – Lieyang.

The camera focused on Ye Shaoyang sitting in the middle. His face still carried a smile, looking very relaxed. Netizens: “…” An Omega starting mid-laner bringing out [Abyssal Lord] directly in the first game, commendable courage!