Li Xiaofeng is known as "the first person in China's e-sports". Photo by Beijing News reporter Zhao Xue
A few days ago, the e-sports training program "Battle to the Peak 2" with the background of the Glory of Kings event began to be recorded, and Li Xiaofeng, known as "China's first e-sports player", appeared in the recording studio in Wuxi, Jiangsu. This season of the show, he will participate as a guest. From a professional e-sports player to founding a company and becoming a club owner, this figure, who is recognized as a milestone in China's e-sports industry, has been breaking through and has been on the road for more than a decade.
experienced
The legendary SKY, entrepreneurship is the boldest thing
Whenever Li Xiaofeng's name is mentioned, the name SKY he used when he was a professional often appears at the same time. In two consecutive WCG (World Electronic Sports Championships) competitions in 2005 and 2006, SKY twice stood on the top podium of the Warcraft event, and he was known as the "Human Emperor" of Warcraft, and he was the first person in the world to successfully defend the project.
The two high-value champions have greatly helped the fledgling Chinese e-sports, and Li Xiaofeng himself has become an idol in the hearts of countless young people.
I saw Li Xiaofeng at the recording site of "Battle to the Peak 2", he wore black short sleeves and pants of the same color, cleanly, and strode into the preparation room. Compared with the young man wearing the national flag more than ten years ago, Li Xiaofeng, who was almost unconfused, was more mature.
In the eyes of many people, when most people still don't know what e-sports is, Li Xiaofeng can choose to become a professional e-sports player without fear of the strange eyes of the people around him. But in his eyes, the reason why he was able to persevere in boring training at that time was more because of his extreme love for e-sports, and he wanted to prove himself through results.
After retiring, choosing to embark on the equally difficult path of entrepreneurship is the most daring thing he thinks he has done over the years. After leaving the professional arena, Li Xiaofeng became the founder of "Tidu" technology, and now he is also the owner of Xi'an Qujiang WE E-sports Club.
Looking at Li Xiaofeng's resume, whether he is an e-sports player or later opening a company, every step he takes seems to be pushing himself to the outside of his "comfort zone". "In addition to starting a company with a purpose (to promote yourself), other things like recording variety shows, that is, sometimes a show just finds me or a friend recommends me, and I think it's fun." Li Xiaofeng said.
Li Xiaofeng won the World Championship of the Warcraft project twice. Photo: Xi'an WE Esports Club
experience
Joined the TTG team and trained for 50 rounds over two days
Although he has left the professional arena, Li Xiaofeng's attention and love for esports have not changed. Recently, he has been particularly interested in King Glory, and on the recommendation of a friend, he accepted the recording invitation of "Battle to the Peak 2", "It just so happens that I also want to improve my strength of King Glory through the recording of this show and see where I can go." ”
Some time ago, Li Xiaofeng specially downloaded the glory of the king back after changing his new mobile phone. In a dozen days, he played more than thirty rounds in total. Li Xiaofeng revealed that entering the program recording cycle, in two days, he fought more than 50 with his teammates. He predicts that in the later stages, when the schedule tightens, the number may be even greater.
The time to participate in the recording is not too long, and Li Xiaofeng feels quite happy. Through the show, he also made several new friends. In his teammates, he saw the passion of non-professional gamers for esports. Although he is not a professional player of King Glory, Li Xiaofeng still hopes to use his understanding and experience of e-sports to go further with his teammates.
Li Xiaofeng's younger brother, Li Junfeng, is also an esports practitioner, and he is Lovecd, who is currently the head coach of the Guangzhou TTG team. "In terms of program recording, I believe he can't give me any advice, but on the glory of kings, we have a lot of exchanges." Li Xiaofeng said that he and his brother discussed which heroes are stronger in the current version and how to win the game better and faster.
I don't know if the program group has a heart, or Providence, Li Xiaofeng happened to be classified into the TTG team, "After the whole team understands, I think it is best to go to TTG, because my brother is here, and I am also very emotional about this team." ”
important task
Tano also served as the conductor, and when he went back, he had to pull the players to practice
For the glory of the king, Li Xiaofeng is the group of people who contacted relatively early. After the game went live, he played on and off for a while. In addition to the wandering characters who are not very good at it, Li Xiaofeng plays well in other positions, and the three heroes who are best at it are Yu Ji, Na Ke Lulu and Zhao Yun. This time he participated in the show, and he served as the team's field and also served as the conductor.
It is not easy to play this position well, the field is a great test of the player's game understanding, awareness and operation, and the concurrently serving as the conductor also means that Li Xiaofeng also has to spare energy to judge the overall situation and give instructions to his teammates. Li Xiaofeng's mentality is very optimistic, when he used to fight Warcraft, there were many complicated operations, and he could complete them well, so he believes that this time should be no exception. "Fighting in the field requires a high degree of concentration in positioning and operation, and there is really not so much energy left for the conductor. However, for me, there is a challenge to motivate, and I hope to accept this challenge and command better. ”
Among the five members of the team, Li Xiaofeng is the one who watches the most professional games of King Glory. However, this year's KPL (King Glory Pro League) spring game, Li Xiaofeng did not invest too much time. In addition to busy work and tight schedule, another very important reason is that the results of the WE King Glory Division this year were not very good, and the team was eliminated early in the regular season.
When it comes to team building and management, Li Xiaofeng said that he hopes that through participating in "Battle to the Peak 2" this time, he can understand more about the feelings of the players who are struggling on the front line, so as to give them more help. However, in the future, his efforts will mainly focus on finding good management, and he will not interfere too much in specific issues such as training and the selection of coaching staff and players, "I will leave it to the management to do this well, because they are on the front line and can be with the players every day." A lot of times, I still can't put all my energy into this. ”
As for whether he would worry about being judged by the club's players on his performance on the field, Li Xiaofeng's answer was no, he said with a smile: "After going back, they will feel the tension I brought them, and I will pull them together to practice." ”
Li Xiaofeng attended the Esports Summit. Photo: Li Xiaofeng Weibo
feel
Fulfill your dreams and envy the current esports players
From the Warcraft battle of one person fighting alone, to the glory of the king of five people cooperating to "push the tower", Li Xiaofeng clearly felt the difference between two different types of projects. "Personal projects belong to a person who is full, not the glory of the king. After cooperating with my teammates in the past two days, I have found that no matter how strong a person is, if your teammates don't keep up with your rhythm, or if you don't communicate well, it's completely impossible. Li Xiaofeng believes that this is also the attraction of team games, "We can feel the spirit and soul of a team, as well as the cooperation between everyone, (five people) must have an extreme tacit understanding." ”
After finishing his journey in 2013 and officially announcing his retirement in 2015, Li Xiaofeng sometimes dreams of returning to the arena. Coming to the first game of "Battle to the Top 2", he felt the familiar tension that he had lost for a long time, which is a feeling that he rarely experiences when watching his own team players play. Li Xiaofeng said with a smile that although it is not a professional game in the true sense, it can be regarded as the realization of his dream wish.
As a "veteran" figure in China's e-sports field, Li Xiaofeng has witnessed the continuous improvement of China's e-sports industry in more than 20 years. He cited the event prize money as an example: when he won the world championship of the WCG Warcraft project in 2005, the prize money was about 100,000 yuan. Now, like the King of Glory World Champions Cup, the prize money has reached tens of millions, and some e-sports events even have hundreds of millions of dollars, "This is nearly 1,000 times the gap." Li Xiaofeng couldn't help but sigh.
In addition, a show like "Battle to the Top 2" can invite so many cross-industry guests over, which means that the social recognition of esports is increasing. Including this year's Hangzhou Asian Games, there will be 7 e-sports gold medals. I think the esports environment is much better now than it was then. Li Xiaofeng revealed that he really envies today's e-sports players, "Since 2015 and 2016, I have envied until now." ”
At the end of the interview, Li Xiaofeng also improvised an almost exhaustive summary: "Thanks to some of my old fans, they may have been following me since I was playing in '05, and I hope everyone can continue to pay attention to us esports practitioners." For new esports enthusiasts, I hope you enjoy the joy of esports. At the same time, I also look forward to the performance of Chinese players in the e-sports arena. ”
Beijing News reporter Zhao Xue
Edited by Zhang Yunfeng
Proofreader: Chen Diyan