Gold Medal Coach

For the finals of the Asian Championship and World Series, both of them had a format of BO7. There were seven games with four victories. Each side had three home chances. If there was a 3:3 draw, the final game would be a random map and mode.

The BO7 schedule was longer than the group stage and knockout stage. Once the two sides were in a stalemate, they were likely to play seven games. This meant the match would take more than three hours.

Therefore, the finals not only tested the operational strength and tactical awareness of the players, but also tested the physical strength and psychological quality of the players.

If they played several games in a row, everyone would get tired.

Whether or not they could maintain a high operating speed and reaction speed in a fatigued state might have a fatal impact on the outcome of the species.

The players on both sides quickly adjusted their equipment quickly.

At the game venue, the Japanese commentator quickly introduced the players from both sides, followed by the words, “Before the match, 85% of the audience guessed that the Korean team would win and only 15% of the audience is supporting the Chinese team!”

“It is because the Korean team has won the last five Asian championships. In Asia, South Korea’s e-sports strength is unmatched! The Chinese team performed well in the first few matches but the odds of winning against South Korea aren’t great.”

“We can see that the starting lineup of the Korean team today are the two scouts Sage and Able, the sniper Simple, the charger Lofty and the assaulter Real. In other words, they have abandoned the medic and set out a pure output violent lineup of dual scouts plus a charger, assaulter and sniper!”

“Yes, Sage is the captain of this Asian Championship team and is the best newcomer of the Korean A-grade League. The sniper Simple is the winner of the Most Potential Rookie Award. The personal strength of these two is much higher than Snow And Fred of China! The lineup of dual scouts will also restrain the Chinese team’s lineup of dual snipers.”

“So the winning rate of the Chinese team is really small!”

Backstage, Anna understood Japanese and couldn’t help frowning. “Are they looking forward to China losing? Are the official commentators so biased?”

Qi Heng sneered. “Of course, Japan’s commentators don’t like us. If we hadn’t won 2:0 against Japan in the group stage, they could’ve still taken the runner-up this year. But… this one is really difficult to fight. It depends on how Ah Yu arranges it.”

He only knew that Jiang Shaoyu had led the players to practice all afternoon.

Qi Heng didn’t know exactly what they practiced. He could only hope that Jiang Shaoyu would have special tactical arrangements.

The match started quickly. The system randomly drew lots and South Korea drew the first hand.

The first was South Korea’s home match.

The coach of the Korean team didn’t hesitate to submit the mode: Endless Bloody Battle.

They were going to play a fast match.

Endless Bloody Battle mode was the simplest and roughest game mode. They could win by destroying their opponents. There was no need to worry over an IQ match between the police and bandits, nor was there a need to change resurrection points and calculate the amount of ammunition like in Extreme Duel mode. This was also the favorite mode of online game players. There was no need to think too much. They just needed to fight.

The Japanese commentator was curious. “What map will Coach Jiang ban?”

“If the Korean team uses the dual scout system, Coach Jiang should ban the hidden assassination maps that are more favorable for scouts, right?”

The two domestic commentators were also carefully analyzing it. “There is a high probability that he will ban Dark Swamp and Crystal Cave. 80% of the area of Dark Swamp is water and they can lurk and assassinate underwater. This is the favorite map of scouts.”

“Yes, Crystal Cave is also a very good map for scouts. There are a large number of stalactite obstacles. Flexible scouts can move around and sneak up from behind. Snipers will also be obstructed by obstacles and find it difficult to aim.”

“I think the third ban position should be given to Stonehenge? It is also a multi-obstacle map but on this map, snipers can climb up on stones to set up guns. A dual sniper lineup can also fight on it.”

“Let’s see how Coach Jiang arranges it.”

The domestic audience stared nervously at the big screen. The Japanese audience members also raised their heads, looking forward to how the head coach of the Chinese national team would do the BP.

In the next moment, the audience at the scene and the audience in front of the screen dropped their jaws in shock.

Three consecutive red crosses covered the blank maps.

[The Chinese team releases the BAN.]

Jiang Shaoyu’s action made the eyes of the Korean team’s coach widen. “Is there no mistake? Releasing the ban? What courage does he have to release the ban in front of our Korean team?”

The so-called ‘releasing the ban’ meant that not a single map was prohibited in the BP stage.

It was to let the opponent choose arbitrarily.

It usually only occurred in practice matches within the team or when two teams played a friendly match. They could agree in advance not to ban a map and the two sides would release the ban together.

However, in a world competition, there had never been a situation of releasing the ban!

Jiang Shaoyu’s ‘precedent-breaking’ release of the ban in the finals not only stunned the audience at the venue and in the live stream room, but the coaches of the Korean team were also stunned for a long time.

The on-site director immediately focused the camera on Jiang Shaoyu.

The head coach of the Chinese national team who caused the turmoil had a very calm expression at this time. The players of the Chinese national team also didn’t have surprised expressions on their faces. Obviously, this has been discussed by them a long time ago.

The Japanese commentators got stuck for a while before reacting and saying excitedly, “The Chinese team released the ban. In other words, the South Korean team can get the map they want to take the most!”

“Does Coach Jiang think he can fight no matter what map South Korea takes? This is overconfidence, right? No, it is just a dream!”

The two domestic commentators were also silent at this time. The live stream room was filled with dense barrages.

[What is he thinking? It is the finals!]

[South Korea has two scouts but he didn’t ban the map for scouts? Don’t tell me that it is a mistake?]

[Wing’s expression is very calm. It shouldn’t be an operation error.]

[I don’t understand. Why not ban any maps?]

[Could it be that he became arrogant after winning the group stage smoothly?]

Releasing the ban. It was either an absolute confidence that ‘I can play any map you choose’ or… taking it as a practice match?

The two commentators quickly realized and tried to smooth things over. “Maybe God Wing thinks this is a rare opportunity to fight against the Korean team and released the map for the Korean team to choose at will to play a practice match with them?”

“In this case, he has completely given up hope of winning the championship, right? He is taking this as training.”

“…I really can’t guess Coach Jiang’s thinking! Ahem, let’s watch the game.”

The South Korean team finally reacted and Coach Han couldn’t help smiling. “I understand. He thinks he can’t beat us even if he bans the maps, so it is better to let us choose and take it as a practice match with the Korean team. They should be ready to take the runner-up.”

“It makes sense,” the captain Jeong Jiwoo said with a smile. “In any case, they can win the runner-up and it is still their best result in history. Today, they released the map to fight us just to see the strength gap with South Korea.”

At this time, Jiang Shaoyu looked very calm in the soundproof room.

The coach of the Korean team guessed only half right.

Jiang Shaoyu released the map and it was indeed to play practice games with South Korea on the best maps for scouts. It was also to practice the ability of the national team members to resist pressure.

If they didn’t dare fight South Korea head-on in the Asian Championship and instead avoided them, banning the map that the other side was good at… what about the World Series after that?

What if they got a tiebreaker against South Korea in the future and a map advantageous to scouts happened to be randomly selected?

If they didn’t dare to fight then they wouldn’t be able to fight when the time came!

The Asian Championship was a rare opportunity to play against the Korean double scout lineup. Then consider the first game a practice game.

However, Jiang Shaoyu’s release of the ban didn’t mean he had given up hope of winning the championship. For BO7 matches, the home maps couldn’t be reused.

This was related to his planning for the next few rounds. Of course, netizens couldn’t see it at all. Apart from the diehard fans of God Wing who still believed in him, most passersby felt—

Coach Jiang didn’t want to win the championship. He just wanted to win the runner-up, so he let go and was playing a practice match with the Korean team!

Coach Han quickly submitted the game map: Dark Swamp.

Sure enough, he chose the water battle assassination map that was very favorable to scouts.

Grenades couldn’t be used on a water battle map. Only smoke bombs could be used. Both teams quickly selected their weapons and waited for the map to load.

The refresh points on both sides of the map were the large lotus leaves by the side of the swamp. If they wanted to change locations, they could only swim over.

Dark Swamp was dimly lit. 80% of the map was underwater and the remaining 20% was composed of lotus leaves they could stand on. The lotus leaves in the swamp pool were densely distributed. Every dozen meters or so, they could find lotus leaves of different sizes to hide or stand on. Therefore, this map was also known as the ‘best assassination map.’

In the murderous swamp, it wasn’t known where the opponent would come out of in order to stab them.

Of course, a sniper could stand on a lotus leaf and shoot into the water. However, after standing on a lotus leaf, they would become a live target that could be seen by all opponents!

The way that snipers usually played in the swamp was to assist teammates using long-range firepower suppression. They could use the short time when their bodies floated to the surface to open the scope, aim, find someone and shoot.

For snipers, this map was really difficult to play.

It was much harder than Crystal Cave!

The map loaded and the game officially began.

The five members of the Chinese team were refreshed on a large lotus leaf in the southeast corner and the Korean team was in the northwest corner. They were separated by the whole pond. The South Korean team reacted quickly and immediately jumped into the swamp.

On the Chinese team’s side, Pei Feng and Xiao Gui scattered and jumped into the swamp.

Hua Ran and Shu Chen were in a group while Qin Xueyao scouted alone.

The players of the South Korean team were very good at water battle maps. They dived into the water collectively. Since the Dark Swamp map was very dark and there were many lotus leaves in the swamp, it was difficult to lock onto their positions.

A moment later, a clear gunshot rang out from the right.

Bang!

The sniper of the Korean team had seized the opportunity to hide under a lotus leaf. His barrel protruded from a gap in the lotus leaf and he killed Hua Ran with a headshot!

Hua Ran was shocked in his heart and a layer of cold sweat appeared on his palms.

After lurking underwater for one minute, they must take a breath or they would suffocate. He saw that his breathing meter was almost gone and took a breath, but he was actually shot by the Korean sniper?

The South Korean team’s water combat ability was indeed the best in the world. The sniper on the opposite side had been lying in ambush under the lotus leaf for a long time!

For the first time, Hua Ran realized the gap between himself and a world-class player. He took a deep breath and was about to call for Brother Chen when he saw Shu Chen swimming quickly to save him.

After Pei Feng heard the gunshot, he immediately shot at the enemy sniper. The bullet pierced through the lotus leaf and killed the opponent in seconds! This precise marksmanship didn’t lose to the sniper of the Korean team.

However, Pei Feng also exposed his position when he fired. The audience from a god’s perspective could see that the two scouts of the Korean team were lurking underwater.

Pei Feng sensed this immediately and immediately fought back. However, his underwater vision was limited and the bullets were blocked. He only wounded Ahn Taehyeong (Able) on the opposite side, but he was assassinated by the other scout Jeong Jiwoo (Sage) from the back!

Hua Ran and Shu Chen teamed up to go over but the two scouts of the Korean team quickly dispersed. The two of them dived into the sea like fish, swimming flexibly and harvesting heads quickly. They followed up with another sneak attack and killed Xiao Gui.

In the first round, the Chinese team exchanged 5 heads for 3 and the South Korean team won.

In the second round, Pei Feng thought of a way. He and Xiao Gui jumped into the water at the beginning, one to the left and the other to the right. The distance was particularly far and they hid under the lotus leaves of the pond respectively. They let their teammates act as bait.

Shu Chen and Hua Ran teamed up to solve the sniper of the Korean team. Qin Xueyao risked danger to find the location of a scout of South Korea. She sacrificed herself to expose the enemy scout and Pei Feng immediately shot and killed Jeong Jiwoo.

Next, Pei Feng and Gui Siyang fought 2V3. The two of them hid under the lotus leaves and cooperated in a guerrilla battle. After fighting hard for five minutes, they finally killed all of the Korean team and won back a round.

But at the beginning of the third round, the South Korean team didn’t give them a chance to cooperate with long-range firepower. The two scouts didn’t pay attention to Hua Ran and Xueyao at all. They searched for Pei Feng underwater and killed Pei Feng 2V1. Pei Feng really received VIP treatment.

The Chinese team’s lineup was broken and it was impossible to form a cooperation.

In the 15th minute of the match, the Chinese team lost the first game 1:3.

The Japanese commentator at the scene said excitedly, “Congratulations to the Korean team for taking the lead in winning the Dark Swamp map and getting one point.”

“Their water battle is still as strong as ever!”

The South Korean team’s water battle wasn’t just strong in Asia but also the strongest in the world. This was the system they were best at.

In the domestic live stream room, people started to question Jiang Shaoyu.

[It is the consequences of not banning Dark Swamp!]

[Is Coach Jiang arrogant? He faced South Korea but actually released the ban.]

[Isn’t it good if he just banned Dark Swamp? Does he have to lose once before being happy?]

[He knows there are tigers on the mountain but insists on going there anyway. Coach Jiang is really headstrong!]

Jiang Shaoyu walked into the soundproof room and happened to meet Pei Feng’s gaze looking back. Pei Feng was in a complicated mood. He knew that his master’s approach would definitely cause a lot of controversy. At this time, there must be many keyboard warriors scolding Coach Jiang.

However, Jiang Shaoyu didn’t care about the outside world’s evaluation of him.

His goal was clear.

He lost the Dark Swamp battle with South Korea. Once he encountered this type of water battle map in the future, he would be able to come up with a better way to deal with it. This was the importance of experience.

The current Chinese team was still too immature to avoid the opponent’s strong maps all the time. It was only by facing difficulties that they could see the gap between them and a strong enemy.

Jiang Shaoyu looked at Pei Feng and said in a low voice, “It is okay. Fight hard in the second game.”

Pei Feng nodded. “I understand.”