GreenTea supercharges ahq
If this was an old Shaw Brothers martial arts film, ahq e-Sports Club would be the dreaded dojo destroyers. Since the LoL Master Series Spring Split Playoffs, they’ve been a ruthlessly dominant presence on the island of Taiwan, sweeping through old adversaries like the Flash Wolves, Taipei Assassins, and Hong Kong Esports Clubs as if they were rookie teams. In the Summer, they went on a breathtaking 14-game winning streak before finally settling for tied 1-1 sets against Machi 17 and HKE in recent weeks. Even internationally, they’ve made their mark -- much to the chagrin of popular western teams Fnatic and Team SoloMid.
Yet this wasn’t expected by any means. In fact, back in Spring, ahq’s future looked increasingly grim.
Shang-Ching “GreenTea” Sa entered the season as one of the most respected players on the island. His crushingly effective Thresh plays versus China LPL’s Edward Gaming during the World Championship 2014 Group Stage cemented his reputation as a world-class support. But though his skill remained obvious within Taiwan’s new domestic circuit, his team struggled to recapture that magic.
Then, to the despair of his fans, GreenTea suddenly stepped down from the starting roster.
Dissatisfaction
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"After Worlds, we had some roster changes," said GreenTea. The team tested players in every position but mid lane and support, losing AD carry Lai "GarnetDevil" Yi I-Meng and jungler Chen "Naz" Tien Chih in particular. "After the changes, we had a bad start and had a bad [record] in the [LMS]. I started to wonder if I could solve these problems by myself."
Many of their issues stemmed from a lack of support staff. Former ahq top laner Kuang-Feng "Prydz" Chen was originally slated to be their behind-the-scenes expert, crunching numbers and providing data for coach Yan-fu "Backstairs" Chen. But Prydz left the organization early into 2015.
GreenTea took it upon himself to fill the analyst gap, stepping down from the starting roster two weeks before the LMS Spring Playoffs. He spent that time working out strategies and helping former jungler Chia-Wei "Albis" Kang take over the support role.
LEARNING ON THE JOB
GreenTea soon found that the skills required for analytical work fell outside of his experiences as a pro player. The practices that helped him succeed in Solo Queue and hook Chinese pro players weren’t directly transferrable to his new more research-oriented duties.
"I am still learning," said GreenTea. "Being a support player's been a big help, but watching the players as an analyst has also been a journey to learn. Being on the roster means more about practicing your own mechanics in the game. But as an analyst, you have to watch VODs of other teams and figure out how they play and how they act. Then go back to our own roster and analyze our own weaknesses to figure out a strategy to beat them."
The importance of the analyst position is often something overlooked by the Taiwanese community at large, explained GreenTea. In a lot of cases, stepping down from a starting position to analysis meant that the player was considering retirement or leaving the team -- but not in GreenTea’s case. He dismissed plans to return to the front lines. "Albis is playing very well," he said offhandedly, shrugging off his team's earlier statements about possibly rotating the two based on matchup or patch.
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"I think the Taiwanese esports industry thinks the analyst is just the backup roster for the team,” elaborated GreenTea. “I'm not sure if being a substitute and also serving as an analyst is the right idea. But I do think that, as an analyst, I should watch every scrim closely and figure out every weakness, then help [the team] solve their weaknesses and get stronger."
The effectiveness of his analysis was immediately apparent. With his help, ahq enacted a blitzkrieg campaign against the entirety of the Taiwanese scene. Both the Taipei Assassins and Hong Kong Esports, who previously had little difficulty against ahq, were cleaned out 3-0. Only the Flash Wolves survived a single game against ahq, conceding the spring title and the tickets to the Mid-Season Invitational.
At the Mid-Season Invitational, GreenTea and ahq proved that the Playoffs were no fluke, overturning two years of losses to Western teams to come out just behind Korea and China. Notably, however, they struggled hardest against their LPL scrim partners -- the same Edward Gaming that continued on to claim the MSI title. "During MSI, we didn't really have a special strategy versus EDG," said GreenTea. "We knew they were the best in the world, and all we were thinking was how to win one game at a time."
Lesson plans
With MSI’s taste of top-level competition still fresh on the tongue, GreenTea’s now looking ahead to Worlds. ahq’s continued to practice with EDG, though at a reduced rate. "Before October, we'll watch more LCK and LPL VODs," said GreenTea. "Not to imitate them, but to watch and find the best style for our team and a strategy to play against them."
The lessons learned from abroad’s been meticulously applied to their own work, as was demonstrated in a 2-0 shutout over the Flash Wolves. The performance was a reversal of their usual styles: ahq picked a highly technical pick composition, usually considered a Flash Wolves specialty, while the Wolves utilized a strategy more similar to the brawling style that ahq was known for in 2014. Yet it was ahq that come out ahead.
But, if anything, their rampant success has GreenTea mildly worried. "I think losing one or two times will be good for our team, so we can see our weaknesses. I still think we should lose once or twice before the Finals -- I don't think winning all the way to the Finals is the best thing for us." He expects Flash Wolves to have the best chance at bruising them.
But to the team’s surprise, it wasn’t the Flash Wolves that gave them their first taste of pain. In recent weeks, Machi 17 and Hong Kong Esports have snapped out of the summer haze afflicting their play, each taking 1-1 sets off of ahq.
It’s time for GreenTea and ahq to turn analysis and theory into practice.