Chapter Text
Returning readers know I usually begin this series with the thirteenth-ranked team. I’ve chosen to start at number twelve this year, because despite their rankings Royal Style is not a low-tier team and Miracle is one.
Set aside, for a moment, their results this season and compare the two teams side by side. Miracle’s problems have not changed since I wrote my analysis of their debut: Miracle’s finances are shaky, their physical facilities are shoddy, their guild remains weak, they lack a training camp, and the average person requires a Baidu search to locate their home city on a map.
If not for the cosmic accident of Miracle’s emergence at the exact moment of Excellent Era’s demise, I have no doubt they would have become another one-season visitor to the league, relegated as soon as they debuted. Miracle’s twelfth rank placement was earned by the veteran players salvaged from former powerhouse Excellent Era: He Ming, Shen Jian and Wang Ze. Many of the team’s other resources, like rare materials and Silver Equipment, were scavenged from Excellent Era’s remains as well.
In comparison, Royal Style retains a solid foundation. With a ten-year history and a location in the esports-crazy city of Beijing, the team’s earning potential remains strong. Though Royal Style has shown lackluster results in recent seasons, they possess all the essential departments necessary to support a functioning pro team. A lean camel is still bigger than a horse: barring another Excellent Era-sized catastrophe, we can expect Royal Style to keep their place in the league for the foreseeable future, no matter how diminished they’ve become compared to their past glories.
Miracle’s future, on the other hand, will depend entirely on how the team’s investors handle their unforeseen success. Pro players do not last forever; one day, Excellent Era’s veterans will retire. Whether there are equally talented players to fill Miracle’s roster is the critical point.
If Miracle’s shareholders invest their profits back into the team itself, Miracle may develop the foundation it desperately needs to hold its spot in the league. If Miracle’s investors choose to treat the team as a mine for profits instead, Miracle’s longevity won’t long outlast their current players’ careers.
I’ll be watching the career of Miracle’s talented young rookie Launcher, Guo Shao, with particular interest. How Miracle handles his talent, and whether they can keep him from transferring to a higher-ranked team will tell us a great deal about what to expect from Miracle in the future.
Analysts have exhaustively dissected Miracle’s style and tactics in comparison to Excellent Era; this is an irrelevant exercise at best. Miracle faces the same growing pains as any new team. The excessive attention they’ve received is yet another benefit of Excellent Era’s notoriety, and one that will eventually wane. Unless Miracle’s management changes their haphazard attitude toward the team before then, I’m not hopeful this fortune's favorite will be a long-term presence in the league.