Chapter 640: You Can See That Too!
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: GravityTales
“Really?” Wei Chen heard Ye Xiu’s remark and asked.
Han Wenqing had been playing since the beginning of the professional scene, so Wei Chen obviously knew him. They had fought against each other many a time before, but it had been many years since then and no matter how deep of an impression he had of him, there was no way it could compare to the deep rivalry that existed between Ye Xiu and Han Wenqing. Ye Xiu had noticed a problem, but he hadn’t noticed anything wrong at all. In his eyes, the two sides had fought intensely. It was a very high skill match and he hadn’t seen any issues with Tyranny’s ace player, Han Wenqing.
“Uh, I guess he’s not playing badly, but something doesn’t feel right!” Ye Xiu said.
“What doesn’t feel right?” Wei Chen immediately asked. He wasn’t nervous for no reason. As a retired pro player, his reaction speed and hand speed was declining, but he was certainly still at a pro level in terms of experience, knowledge, and perceptiveness.
“I can’t say exactly right now……” Ye Xiu furrowed his brow and shook his head.
Happy Internet Cafe would, without question, stream the playoffs, but they were currently watching it in the practice room. Because of their differences in skill levels, their discussions were at a different level. Ye Xiu and Wei Chen gave their opinions on the matches. Chen Guo knew a bit more about the game, so she could understand some of what they were saying. As for Tang Rou and Steamed Bun, they had only played for several months already, but weren’t complete noobs anymore. However, if they had to discuss the very fine details of the match, the two probably wouldn’t be able to keep up.
The two were at a complete loss when Ye Xiu said that something was wrong with Han Wenqing. Both of them looked at Ye Xiu, waiting for him to continue.
Ye Xiu didn’t say anything further though. The stream was already showing the post-match interview. Tyranny and Misty Rain hadn’t made any major mistakes. Both teams had gone all out that match and neither team would feel too regretful if they lost. The interviewed players practically said the same thing. They expressed their confidence in their respective teams, praised their opponents, and spoke of their faith in being able to win the next match, etc.
Tyranny’s captain Han Wenqing naturally participated in the interview. Because Ye Xiu had specially called him out, everyone else paid close attention to what he said and also stared at his facial expressions. However, everything seemed to be normal. It didn’t look like there was anything abnormal with Han Wenqing’s condition. When the interview ended and the stream went offline, everyone turned to look at Ye Xiu, waiting for him to say something.
Ye Xiu only shook his head and returned to his computer.
Everyone else returned to their seats too. Wei Chen went back to his seat and saw that Ye Xiu still seemed to be thinking hard. He didn’t bother him and handed him a cigarette instead.
Ye Xiu received it and quietly lit it. He still didn’t say anything. He opened up a web browser and typed in a few words.
Wei Chen watched from over his shoulder and saw that it was a site for downloading VODs. It seemed like Ye Xiu was planning on studying the match. However, since the match just ended, it would take some time before it would be uploaded. Seeing that it couldn’t be downloaded yet, Ye Xiu opened up a folder and began looking through Tyranny’s previous matches.
He watched match after match, closely spectating Han Wenqing’s Desert Smoke. Ye Xiu gradually began to relax. Soon afterwards, he went back to the site and downloaded the most recent match.
Wei Chen had been paying attention to Ye Xiu’s actions the entire time, so when he saw the change in expression, he asked: “Did you figure it out?”
“Pretty much!” Ye Xiu replied.
Chen Guo went over and asked: “What’s the situation?”
“He’s changing.” Ye Xiu said.
“Changing?”
“Yeah, he’s changing his habits and Striker movements. He’s researching a new style of playing his class.” Ye Xiu said.
“He really refuses to give up!” Wei Chen sighed.
Creating a new style wasn’t an easy task. Even though every few levels brought new skills or new equipment, there was always a certain amount of variance, but the change from these new skills or equipment could only be considered adjustments. They wouldn’t cause a player to significantly change his or her playstyle. The classes in Glory were very balanced, so updates didn’t bring much change to a class’ core.
If Ye Xiu said someone of Han Wenqing’s caliber was researching a new playstyle, it wasn’t going to be just a simple numbers adjustment. A slight adjustment like that wasn’t anything difficult for a pro player to adapt to. It wouldn’t be something that Ye Xiu would be so surprised about either.
Han Wenqing was clearly trying to do something completely different.
Soon afterwards, Ye Xiu finished downloading the VOD. Ye Xiu immediately replayed it. Wei Chen also watched. Even though Tang Rou and Steamed Bun were interested, it wasn’t something they would be able to comprehend.
To put it plainly, pro players specialized in PvP. The biggest difference between PvP and PvE was how deep one’s understanding of all the classes were, whether it was your class or any other class. What skills, combos, playstyles, strategy, etc. were all something that pro players needed to know very thoroughly. Tang Rou and Steamed Bun were quite familiar with their respective classes, but their understanding of other classes was still limited. Let alone someone trying to create a new playstyle, let alone them, even Chen Guo wouldn’t be able to say much.
Sure enough, Chen Guo was also at a complete loss when Ye Xiu paused and commented on a segment, but this time, she felt gratified that even Wei Chen was at a loss too.
“See, here.” After watching several of Desert Smoke’s matches, Ye Xiu had grasped the general line of thinking and pointed out the changes in his playstyle: “If this had happened in the past, he would have most likely stepped forward and began pushing forward using Reinforced Iron Bones or jumped backwards and sent a Whirlwind Kick back. Instead, he stepped sideways and used a Collapsing Fist. It seems like he plans on initiating with an Empty-Handed Block. I’ve never seen him do something like that before.”
“Really?” Wei Chen was really at a loss because Ye Xiu’s comment had been too detailed and random. Every player would react differently depending on each situation. How could Ye Xiu guess all of that?
“Over here too.” Not waiting for Wei Chen to understand, Ye Xiu pointed at another place: “Here. Don’t you think this Dual Tiger Fists is too sudden?”
“Really? I feel like it’s a good choice……” Wei Chen continued to be at a loss.
The screen was currently playing the most recent match between Misty Rain and Tyranny. Two melee characters closed in under the protection of the bombardment by Chu Yunxiu’s Windy Rain. However, Desert Smoke closed in on them faster and sent the two flying away with a Dual Tiger Fists.
“Cloud Body Dual Tiger Fists. Isn’t that a common combo?” Wei Chen said. Cloud Body was a movement skill for Strikers. Cloud Body followed by Dual Tiger Fists was called Cloud Body Dual Tiger Fists. It was one of the most commonly used Striker combos.
“Cloud Body was used a bit later, but Dual Tiger Fists was used a bit earlier.” Ye Xiu said.
“.......” Wei Chen rewatched the segment twice and then gave up :”Okay, who else here actually sees that?”
Wei Chen looked towards Chen Guo, who shook her head too. Cloud Body Dual Tiger Fists was a common combo that she also knew about, but everyone used it slightly differently. Han Wenqing’s usage of the combo seemed to have a good effect, but she couldn’t see anything weird about it.
“If it was before, he would have never played like this.” Ye Xiu said.
“How did he do it before?” Wei Chen asked.
“Is it better or worse now?” Chen Guo asked.
Ye Xiu only shook his head: “I can’t say. It seems like he’s still figuring it out too.”
Ye Xiu continued to watch and found several other segments to talk about, but Wei Chen and Chen Guo were completely at a loss. They listened and listened and got a general understanding of the changes. Han Wenqing’s changes were in the small details. Some of the places were just his intentions, but Ye Xiu could actually see through these intentions and analyze them.
“He’s a bit late here…..”
“That’s not something he would have done in the past…….”
“He’s probably thinking of……”
In the end, Chen Guo couldn’t help but feel moved after hearing Ye Xiu come to these conclusions: “The person who understands you the best is your enemy. This saying really isn’t wrong.”
“Not wrong at all.” Wei Chen nodded his head. He wasn’t nervous anymore. Not being able to see what Ye Xiu was seeing wasn’t an issue with his skill level, but rather his understanding of Han Wenqing himself. Ye Xiu was also nicknamed Glory’s Encyclopedia and he probably had a better understanding of the various classes, apart from Warlocks, than Wei Chen.
And from the sounds of it, Han Wenqing’s new playstyle wasn’t something at a fundamental level. If not, a new skill combo would have easily been noticed by any experienced player, let alone a pro, but for these minute changes, there were very few people besides Ye Xiu who would notice them. At the post-match interview, Misty Rain’s players never mentioned this change. It meant that Han Wenqing was still in the midst of changing it!
Once he figured this out, Wei Chen didn’t want to watch any further. He patted Ye Xiu and said: “You should have Little Tang and Steamed Bun listen to your chatter. It’ll definitely increase their understanding of Strikers.”
“Mm, those two need to improve in this area.” Ye Xiu heard his advice and nodded his head.