The materials Ming Sheng brought amounted to dozens of gigabytes. The coaching staff studied them overnight, and Lin Feng was pleasantly surprised to find that Ming Sheng had organized Sean's experience in the European region into a document. This included video recordings of major matches during Sean's service with his previous team, HER, and even recordings of his ranked practice on the international server this season.
Sean had an unknown smurf account on the international server called XX733, and the accounts he duo-queued with were named ZZ750 or ZZ760. Lin Feng knew at a glance that these were the smurf accounts of the Zhao siblings, Zhao Xin'an and Zhao Xinping.
Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang's international server identities had long been exposed, and now, the accounts used by Beimu's players for training on the international server had also been dug up by the resourceful God Ming.
Watching the videos carefully revealed that after Sean joined Team Beimu, in order to mesh quickly with the Zhao siblings, they didn't adopt a method of queuing as a trio. Instead, Sean first practiced Top-Mid coordination with Zhao Xin'an, then Mid-Bot coordination with Zhao Xinping, meshing separately.
The three rarely queued together on the international server; they likely only meshed as a trio during Beimu's internal special training or secret scrims. Meshing with one side lane first, then collective training—this method allowed Sean to quickly understand the styles of different teammates and cultivate sufficient synergy with them.
The most valuable part of this data was that it revealed some hidden heroes and lineups of Beimu. Just like the Dual Flight combo Tianhuan had hidden before, they hadn't used them in the regular season, saving them for key opponents.
After watching over a dozen training videos, Coach Lin called all members of Tianhuan together for a meeting at noon the next day.
"Our coaching staff has carefully reviewed the materials God Ming gave us. The summary is that all three lanes of Beimu are very strong, and the three international-level players have very deep hero pools. They are the strongest opponent we have encountered in the domestic competition so far."
Among the teams in Group S, Jingzhe had strong dual carries, Huowen had strong Mid-Jungle, Yueying had top-tier dual side lanes, Binghun was powerful in team fights…
But Beimu had world-class players in all three lanes!
Their ability to steadily hold the first place throne in Group S was achieved through sheer hard power.
Seeing everyone listening attentively, Coach Lin continued, "Sean is a player from the European region, and we aren't very familiar with him. During the regular season this year, he mostly picked relatively common artillery mages. But actually, on the international server, he often practices several niche mid-lane heroes."
Sean's frequently practiced heroes on the international server were listed on the screen.
The first was the Dark Witch.
When Sean picked [Dark Witch], ZZ750 would pick [Dark Angel] to coordinate with him.
Coach Lin said, "[Dark Witch] as a mid laner can burst with the 'Bane of the Lich' black magic ultimate, dealing AOE magic damage. [Dark Angel]'s mid-range control can not only root people but also lower the opponent's defense. This combo is extremely effective when ganking together."
Chi Shuo frowned and said, "[Dark Angel] is a magic tank. Zhao Xin'an rarely takes tank heroes to the top lane. It seems that after Sean joined Beimu, to balance the economy distribution, Little Zhao is also changing his mindset."
Coach Lin said, "He plays just as aggressively with a magic tank. Usually, he only builds one defense item, then goes full magic power equipment, being both tanky and damaging. Combined with [Dark Witch]'s AOE black magic, they can rapidly lower the opponent's health bar. Their win rate in international server ranked is about the same as your Dual Flight combo, and their coordination is very seamless."
The coach paused, then used a laser pointer to point at the next hero: "There's another hero Sean practices on the international server, which is [Lord of the Forest]. I recall Yangyang can also play this hero, right?"
Ye Shaoyang said, "Of course. A summoner-type mid laner with green vines for crowd control. The playstyle is different from pet summoners like [Cobra King]. It's mainly about controlling the field and coordinating with teammates."
Coach Lin said, "Their [Lord of the Forest] mid laner is used in conjunction with the side lane warrior [Rose's Edge]. It's extremely strong at deleting the backline. Sean's vine skills are very accurate; the vine group control can lock down a large area, and then Zhao Xin'an flashes in to cut, directly slaughtering a group of people in the backline."
Everyone watched the replays Coach Lin selected, feeling incredibly shaken.
In this international ranked match, Sean's Forest Vine Extension ultimate directly controlled all 5 opponents. Zhao Xin'an flashed in, slashing wildly with his sharp blade, instantly taking a triple kill!
The coordination between a world-class top laner and mid laner was indeed terrifying.
Tianhuan's Mid-Jungle synergy was strong; this was beyond doubt. But Beimu's Top, Mid, and Bot—all three lanes were world-class players. It was clear that Beimu was very ambitious this season. They probably wanted to win the World Championship very badly, which was why they spared no expense to bring in a mid laner from Europe. They were also changing and improving.
Experts mesh quickly. Since Sean was of Chinese descent, there was no language barrier in communication. He practiced ranked on the international server with Big and Little Zhao every day, so the speed of Beimu's internal synergy building was actually much faster than Yueying's.
Did Beimu have no weaknesses?
Several Tianhuan players exchanged glances and looked at the coach in unison.
Coach Lin said, "Although Beimu is very strong, they also have a weakness—everyone should have thought of it. Their weakness lies in the jungle position."
With international-level players in Top, Mid, and Bot, the jungler had to yield economy to teammates and serve as an obscure utility tool. The strength of Beimu's jungler definitely had a gap compared to Chi Shuo.
Lin Feng said, "The jungle is our primary breakthrough point against Beimu."
He displayed the coaching staff's summary of Beimu's jungler's hero pool, movement route analysis maps, and economy distribution charts for everyone to review one by one.
"Beimu's jungler usually picks thick-skinned warriors, which are hard to kill. The probability of starting Blue is 80%, and the first Blue is usually given to the mid laner. The jungler's role is to feed the mid laner and marksman as fast as possible. So, the economy of Sean and Zhao Xinping takes off very quickly. By the 10-minute mark, they usually lead in economy across all three lanes."
Leading in economy in three lanes meant they generally won as long as they didn't make mistakes in team fights.
Continuing to snowball made it easy to take the match.
Chi Shuo frowned and said, "If we can use Mid-Jungle synergy to invade their jungle…"
Lin Feng said, "Beimu knows their jungle is weak. The support will constantly defend the jungle, and the mid laner will support at maximum speed. A direct forced attack might not necessarily break through."
Chi Shuo said calmly, "But if we ignore the jungle and force attacks on the side lanes, it will be even harder to break through."
Coach Lin nodded. "Yes. So, after analysis, the strategy decided by the coaching staff is also to attack the jungle. Shaoyang will choose his best assassin mages and force an attack on the enemy jungle with Chi Shuo, blowing up their jungle so their three lanes don't farm too comfortably."
He looked at Qin Yizhu and Cheng Xing. "What the side lanes need to do is to withstand the offensive of the opponent's side lanes before our Mid-Jungle blows up their jungle. Do not feed kills or economy to the opponent."
Qin Yizhu scratched his head. "It's not my first time playing against Little Zhao. I'm confident I won't be solo killed by him. But if Sean comes to support, I don't know if I can hold a 1v2."
Cheng Xing whispered, "Sister Xinping is very strong on both warrior side and marksman. I'll farm a bit more cowardly then, trying my best not to be blown up by her during laning."
Side lanes defending under pressure, Mid-Jungle attacking—this was the best way to play against Beimu.
Whether it would work or not had to be verified in actual combat.
As for BP, Coach Lin said, "Although we know in advance about the heroes and systems Beimu practiced on the international server, I don't intend to ban them. The logic remains the same: this is the regular season group stage. Whether we win or lose, we enter the Winner's Bracket. The playoffs are elimination style; we can't lose there. Encountering their strong lineups in advance and discovering our own problems and defects is a good thing. Everyone, don't have too much psychological pressure."
Everyone nodded to show understanding.
Lin Feng concluded, "Targeting Beimu's lineup system, the coaching staff has come up with several plans. Everyone seize the time to practice. For the last match of Group S, I want you all to let loose and fight!"
Everyone said in unison, "Received!"
At the same time, Team Beimu was also holding an emergency pre-match meeting.
Beimu's coach said seriously, "Theoretically speaking, Sean's individual strength and rich experience should be stronger than Lieyang's. But I find it very strange; Tianhuan's Lieyang doesn't look like a rookie at all. His performance this season is too dazzling, a bit like Chi Shuo in S6. This is a very talented player and also Tianhuan's biggest variable."
On the big screen, Lieyang's hero pool and match records were displayed.
In Season 10, the heroes Ye Shaoyang had used included Frost, Blazing Sun, Ocean, Thunder, Goddess of Fate, Holy Spirit, World-Ending, Earth, Flying, Sun Wheel Mage, Illusionist, Abyssal Lord, Nightmare, Flower Demon, and other assassin mages.
The win rate for many heroes remained at 100%, and currently, his MVP count was also number one in the league.
This hero pool was simply unfathomable!
Zhao Xin'an scratched his hair and said, "If he really is a rookie, then he is indeed very talented! When we first paid attention to him, he only had 8 National Server heroes. The heroes he brought out this season are almost 20, right? After he joined Tianhuan, Tianhuan's tactics also became very rich. They even improved Huowen's Goddess of Flame system and Jingzhe's Bounty Warlock system, bringing them out with good results!"
Zhao Xinping said calmly, "Indeed. We know players like Old Qin and Qu Jiang very well, and Cheng Xing is still a rookie. Tianhuan's biggest uncontrollable factor—is the mid laner Lieyang."
Silence fell in the conference room for a moment.
The coach said seriously, "So, playing against Tianhuan, we must focus on guarding against the mid laner point. One is to prevent their Mid-Jungle synergy from ganking side lanes, and two is to prevent their Mid-Jungle from teaming up to invade our jungle. Sean, you need to pay more attention to the mid position."
Sean nodded. "Understood. I will try my best to make his laning not so easy."
Zhao Xin'an smiled and patted Sean's shoulder. "Just don't let him leave, and our side lanes will have a much easier time."
The prerequisite for a mid laner to support was clearing the minion wave. As long as Sean had enough suppression power to prevent Ye Shaoyang from clearing the wave immediately, making it so Ye Shaoyang couldn't leave, then Tianhuan's Mid-Jungle synergy couldn't be executed.
Pinning down the mid laner—this was Beimu's important strategy against Tianhuan.
For a week, all teams in Group S were training desperately. The players didn't stream; apart from eating and sleeping, the rest of their time was spent practicing lineups and studying opponents.
Xiao Xing and Old Qin were almost growing dark circles under their eyes.
Ye Shaoyang and Chi Shuo continued to sleep early and wake up early. Their expressions looked very calm, and their mental state was particularly good. Seeing them so calm, the teammates felt much more relaxed.
In the blink of an eye, it was late June. The matches of the last week of the regular season would determine the fate of many teams.
All members of Tianhuan packed their luggage and arrived at the Ya'an Esports Center collectively.
They were about to face their last opponent of the regular season stage, who was also the strongest BOSS in Group S—
Team Beimu.