Pan Ying thought for a moment: “It’s probably because the coaching staff had already explained various situations and tactics in detail, and we had done a lot of targeted training. So everyone knew what to do. When I simply said a couple of words, everyone understood.”

“So I actually didn’t do much commanding work.”

The host was very surprised: “So are you saying that including early resource exchanges, explosive kills, and even whether to join team fights were all arranged by the coaching staff beforehand?”

Pan Ying nodded: “Although it can’t be specific to every team fight, considering factors like the economic difference between both teams and key equipment of core heroes, we can judge whether we should engage. All of this was explained by the coaching staff in advance.”

After the translation, the audience below looked very surprised.

Although Pan Ying’s words sounded a bit far-fetched, he wasn’t the first team member to say this.

All members of the FV team, including the top, mid, bottom lanes, and jungle player interviewed earlier, all said their performance was inseparable from the coaching staff’s arrangements. Just following the strategies planned by the coaching staff made winning easy.

The host asked again: “So what do you think was most important in winning this championship? Was it team coordination? Or trust between teammates?”

Pan Ying thought and said: “Thanks to the coaching staff for arranging tactics for us, and to our sister team SUG for practice matches. I think our team’s overall strength doesn’t have an obvious gap compared to teams like FRY. We won entirely because we were well prepared.”

“Of course, most importantly, thank our boss Mr. Pei, because ultimately everything was arranged by him.”

The host was somewhat surprised because all the team members had unanimously credited the coaching staff as the biggest contributor!

This was actually quite a rare situation.

Because during this period, while esports clubs worldwide had coach positions, coaches were far from having absolute authority.

In China, many players were internet-addicted youth and high-ranked solo players. They looked down on coaches from the bottom of their hearts, thinking: “Coach, your rank is lower than mine, why should you tell me what to do? You can analyze strategies eloquently but can’t even handle high-tier games, how can that work in competitions?”

So in many domestic clubs, coaches were reduced to ordering takeout. The strategies they developed were more like suggestions, while star players held strong influence.

In Europe and America, the current situation wasn’t much different, not much better than China.

Unless they were retired veteran players turned coaches who had more authority, other coaches were basically worthless.

A situation like FV team, where they completely obeyed the coaching team’s instructions, and the coaching team could fully predict in-game situations and make arrangements in advance, was unprecedented.

Finally, the host came to coach Zhou Pengyuan.

“Coach Zhou, the players all credit winning the championship to the coaching team. So how did you and FV’s coaching team develop these imaginative strategies?”

The strategies from these three games—whether using force-push against global composition, using lane swaps to protect Chaos and Doom’s development, or the “daddy-supporting” play with Storm Swordsman and Ghost Blacksmith—were all extremely imaginative.

Not only did the opposing FRY team not anticipate them, even the commentators and audience with god’s-eye view completely didn’t expect FV team would play this way.

Zhou Pengyuan smiled and said: “Because we have a dedicated data analysis team that comprehensively evaluated all heroes’ values in early, mid, and late game after the version update. Through lane practice and scrims, we discovered many seemingly niche but actually viable heroes. We also have a specialized tactics team that adapts classic tactics into our own.”

The host was listening attentively when suddenly the director’s slightly nervous voice came through the earpiece: “Don’t dig deeper into this question!”

The host’s expression changed. Only after the director briefly explained did he realize these tactics were all evolved from GOG strategies. Continuing would cause major problems, so he quickly switched questions.

“So what significance does winning this championship hold for your coaching career? Do you plan to reach new heights with FV’s players in the future? For example, maintaining current dominance to compete for next year’s world championship title?”

Zhou Pengyuan was silent for a moment, then said: “I was actually assigned by the boss to coach FV team just before the world tournament started. For me, this championship is a nice episode in my coaching career.”

“As for the future… I’m not sure if I’ll continue coaching FV team since I have my own team to manage. But working with FV’s players and team was pleasant, so we’ll see about the future.”

The director’s nervous voice came through the earpiece again: “Don’t pursue this question either! He’s GOG team’s coach!”

The host felt speechless. What was with this interview? Everything was a trap!

Not daring to ask more questions—what if something inappropriate came up? That would be disastrous!

The entire world tournament had gone smoothly until now. If the final celebration interview had issues, that would be terrible!

The host hurriedly said: “OK, let’s thank FV’s players once more for the interview. Let’s give our applause and cheers again to this year’s IOI global championship winning team, FV!”

Amid warm applause and cheers, the IOI global championship finally came to a successful conclusion!

…

Meanwhile, China’s live stream chat had exploded.

Not just the chat rooms—countless viewers and players on various forums were discussing the final interview segment.

“Why are FV’s players acting so cool one by one! Every interview had quotable moments!”

“Top lane: ‘Just need hands,’ Jungle: ‘Teammates kill too fast,’ Mid: ‘Basic operations,’ ADC: ‘Just following teammates,’ Support: ‘Didn’t command much.’ Unbelievable!”

“Wait, I’ve watched these guys’ regular game streams, they’re not usually this cocky? Did someone influence them?”

“These answers are ridiculously consistent. Everyone feels they didn’t carry, just did their part? Is it circular carrying? No leg to hug in the team, or everyone’s a leg?”

“No, the players honestly said it—the coaching staff are the real MVPs!”

“Pan Ying said all tactics, gameplay, and potential in-game situations were pre-arranged by coaches. Is this real? That amazing?”

“Damn, Zhou’s interview is legendary! Winning the IOI world championship is just an episode in his coaching career?”

“Zhou probably thinks coaching DGE is more important. After all, he didn’t even play IOI before. Came here to coach for a month and took FV to world championship—probably feels it’s not challenging enough!”

“True, I think Zhou’s next goal should be training DGE players properly, sending more talented rookies to clubs, hoping to get more GPL championships from his trainees!”

“Zhou mentioned dedicated data analysis and tactics teams, analyzing IOI’s game version and adapting established tactics. These ‘established tactics’ are clearly from GOG! Take force-push—that was obviously a popular GOG strategy!”

“Exactly, and the last game’s daddy-supporting comp seems like a niche GOG tactic too. Originally wasn’t good in IOI matches, but after version updates changed farming rules, it worked brilliantly!”

“This interview was too short, no fun. Many key questions weren’t asked!”

“They probably didn’t dare dig deeper. If Zhou revealed he’d only been playing GOG before and researched IOI for a month, wouldn’t that create a broadcast incident?”

“Hope domestic media properly interviews FV team. Their month in Los Angeles feels mysterious—somehow they transformed. Hard to believe they’re the same FV that struggled to qualify domestically!”

“Anyway, looking forward to the champions’ return! Can’t wait to watch their streams!”

After FV team won the IOI global championship, domestic public opinion was overwhelmingly positive.

From the initial disappointment of the other two teams’ group stage exits, to FV’s quarterfinals comeback surprise, to the finals’ decisive victory with such dominant performance—the entire IOI world tournament was a drama that left audiences thrilled.

Even many GOG players who had no matches to watch during GPL’s off-season enjoyed it thoroughly and genuinely celebrated FV’s success.

After all, this was Mr. Pei’s team, coached by DGE’s Zhou—naturally endearing.

Amid this celebratory atmosphere, a forum post appeared and quickly sparked heated discussion.

The post’s title was: “From Worst Team to World Champions: What Magic Does Mr. Pei Possess to Transform FV Team So Completely?”