Rise

Team Shanghai showcased by far their strongest performance in the Round of 16 series versus Fuzhou Tech. But they were still a new team with clear weak spots. Their teamwork left a lot to be desired and the individual players weren’t necessarily the best in their role either. Zhang Hao in the top lane was quite clearly one of the weakest Toplaners in the entire Winter Collegiate Cup, and though Tang Bingyao had a lot of untapped potential, she was only average right now. That left Zeng Rui, An Xin and Lin Feng. Zeng Rui was an uncontested A- Support. Everyone recognized that. But An Xin and Lin Feng were new to the Shanghai scene. No one knew them beyond the few games they’d seen. And in those games, An Xin had played a strange method that looked lacking, while Lin Feng had a habit to be better than his lane opponent without actually looking all that much better.

Fuzhou Tech was the strongest opponent Team Shanghai had faced in the Winter Collegiate Cup. But just like in the previous rounds, they played at a level right above their opponents and beat them. There were no flashy plays, except from Lin Feng at the end of the second game, and nothing that stood out in particular. So it wasn’t all too surprising that Team Beijing didn’t think too much about Team Shanghai.

Team Beijing was a team of monstrous talents handpicked by the Beijing Esports Association. They were the best players from their region specifically recruited to beat the teams from the Shanghai and Guangzhou Esports Associations. And Goalie belonged to Team Guangzhou. The Beijing Esports Organization learned about Goalie early on, and so they knew they needed a lot more than just a university level team.

Zhejiang University was a solid B team. It could be argued that Sun Ruinian lifted them up to a B+ grade, though not everyone agreed with that notion. But Team Beijing was indisputably B+ grade. In most years, this was enough to compete for the title. And odds were that it was enough this time around as well. But Fan Yuan, the vice president of the Beijing Esports Association, wasn’t satisfied with his team. He looked at the individual members in the office room, one at a time, before lecturing them. “Stop underestimating your opponent,” he said before turning his back to them and looking at the projection of the replays on the wall. He then slapped his ruler against it and continued, “These five players are handpicked by the Shanghai Esports Association! They have beaten every opponent they’ve faced so far! And odds are that we have to play against them in the main tournament.”

Fan Yuan took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Our main roster consists of a B grade player, two B+s and two A-s. We have no Goalie in the mid lane, but we’ve got a strong team. Probably stronger than Team Shanghai. But not when we can’t even be bothered to take our opponents seriously. Team Shanghai has strong players. We need to… How do I get through their egos? He turned to look back at the seven players from Team Beijing and said, “Nothing good will come from looking down on them. All I’m asking is to consider their strengths and be ready to play against them, and beat them.”

A chuckle sounded in the quiet room. One of Team Beijing’s members shook his head and said, “You really think they’re going to make it to the main tournament? With that team? They’re playing Zhejiang University next, right? The way I’m seeing it, Zhejiang University has the better team. We just watched both games. Zhejiang University looked far more convincing.”

“I’d put my money on Zhejiang University. We should focus on them,” another team member chimed in.

The other players from Team Beijing all agreed. They started talking about the Zhejiang University versus Stepping Stone University game, commented on how Sun Ruinian had truly reached A- grade in the ad-carry role, and argued that with the line-up Zhejiang was sporting they really couldn’t be disregarded. Gradually, the arrogant and derisive undertone disappeared from their conversation and was replaced with respect. Zhejiang University was a strong team and deserved their full attention.

“True, true. Zhejiang University is indeed a strong team,” Fan Yuan agreed, nodding. I finally have their attention now. Good. We’ll focus on Zhejiang University first. He continued, “Zhejiang University won the first Collegiate Cup four years ago. Their founder became one of the best professional players in League of Legends, though he quit years ago. Our latest intel on him says he’s focusing on his studies.” He briefly paused before adding, “But that also means he’s still at Zhejiang University. Which means he is eligible to play. You might’ve heard his name before. AyDeeCee.”