A story about growing up, stepping into the inner world of KPL newcomer MVP Xuan Ran

The Paper

2024-05-13 21:11 Published on the official account of Shanghai The Paper

On May 10, the 2024 KPL Spring Playoffs Winners' Group held a key battle, Chengdu AG Super Play Club defeated the old rival Chongqing Wolves 4-1 and took the lead in getting a ticket to the spring finals.

Head coach Milk Tea admitted frankly after the game that the goal at the beginning of the season was not to fall into Group B, but as the whole team became more and more tacit, he and the players agreed that we should change our goals and rush to the championship together, right?

Regardless of the final result, this is a story of growth and transformation, about everyone up and down the Chengdu AG Super Play Club, if you pick an individual from it, the top laner Xuan Ran is undoubtedly representative. Less than a year after entering the KPL, I have tasted the pain of success and failure, but also reaped the joy of winning the championship, and this season I won the regular season MVP in one fell swoop with a strong attitude.

A story about growing up, stepping into the inner world of KPL newcomer MVP Xuan Ran

"I have memorized it for a long time" acceptance speech

"I am very excited and happy to win the best player in the regular season, and winning this award is a recognition of my performance on the field, thanks to the KPL league, thank my teammates for their trust in me, thank the coaching staff for nurturing me, and thank you to the ......fans who have supported me all the way."

Turning the time back to the moment of the regular season awards, Xuan Ran stood on the stage and read his acceptance speech without pause, and at that time, former KPL coach Gemini joked, "Xuan Ran must have memorized it for a long time."

Interestingly, when he recalled the mood of that moment, Xuan Ran repeated it as it was, and when asked if he had prepared the "lines", he was very honest, "I was prepared, and the club also helped." ”

This is just a big boy under 19 years old, who only made his KPL debut in August last year, and he couldn't help but be nervous when he stood in the spotlight. However, Xuan Ran, who entered the King's Canyon, was unusually relaxed, because of his aggressive and sharp operation, he was dubbed "General" by fans, and his career was even smoother on the surface.

From the debut of the summer season, the Challenger Cup reached the finals with his teammates in November, and the king of the world championship KIC finals simply lifted the championship trophy and won the MVP of the regular season of the spring season after entering 2024......

For a newcomer, everything seems to come too quickly, and even Xuan Ran himself looks back on the way, somewhat with some childish understatement.

"Satisfied (with my performance), in fact, we also have a lot of flaws, every game, but we were not caught by the opponent." As for the famous scenes in his career, Xuan Ran doesn't seem to take it too seriously, "I don't feel that any of them are particularly good, in fact, they are all the same." Together with the 2023 King World Crown, which is regarded as a classic by countless fans, Xuan Ran still recalls it very calmly, "We often do this kind of operation in training matches, which is quite normal. ”

There are too many difficulties behind the understatement

It sounds like the road to professional e-sports that countless players are looking forward to is not as difficult as they imagined, but this is not the case, too many difficulties have been hidden behind Xuan Ran's childish face.

As early as 2021, 16-year-old Xuan Ran was recruited into the youth academy of Chengdu AG because of his talent, but because of the subsequent age limit of the Honor of Kings Professional League (you must be at least 18 years old to participate), he can only go home and wait. This is a period of hard work, even if he is not in the team, Xuan Ran still spends 10 hours a day practicing.

In his own words, "I just want to play professionally, and I also feel that this is something that can be fought for as a career." "My parents didn't understand it, but fortunately, my sister, who was 10 years older, understood Xuan Ran and persuaded her parents again and again.

When Xuan Ran first came to prominence in the tournament in July last year, he was loaned to Taicang Q9 by Chengdu AG Super Play Club to compete in the 7th National Competition of Glory of Kings, Xuan Ran and his teammates performed well, and finally defeated Wuhan DKL 4-2 to win the championship, and Xuan Ran won the FMVP.

Even so, at that time, he still didn't dare to think about the KPL, "I felt that it was still far from that stage." ”

However, more than a month later, the dream came true, because Yinuo competed in the Asian Games, the club had an additional place, and Xuan Ran was added to the squad. Some people say that Xuan Ran is lucky, but why not leave the opportunity to those who are prepared?

At the beginning of entering the KPL, Xuan Ran quickly felt the pressure of the top league, and his debut came in the third round of the regular season of the 2023 Summer League, when Chengdu AG Super Play played against Guangzhou TTG, falling behind 1-2, and Xuan Ran came off the bench in the match point game. There is no so-called World War I god, this newcomer does not have a strong sense of existence, and Chengdu AG Super Play Club also lost the game.

In Xuan Ran's eyes, the real grinding with teammates has been the Challenger Cup 3 months later, Chengdu AG Super Play Club went all the way to the finals, losing 2-4 to Chongqing Wolves, ranking second.

"I lost the game, but picking the cup is a field of my own transformation, the problem of my easy to get on has gradually been solved, and the understanding between teammates has become more and more tacit." A month later, in the 2023 World Championship KIC Finals, Xuan Ran did not let the opportunity slip away again, and Chengdu AG Super Play Club defeated Beijing WB 4-2 to win the championship, which was the club's second championship after 1,477 days.

For newcomer Genzome, it took only 142 days to win his first world title, and he was lucky, and his hard work deserved it. Entering 2024, Chengdu AG Super Play Club began to experience the replacement of the old and the new, and Xuan Ran used a more stable performance to push the team forward, Chengdu AG Super Play Club only lost one big game in the regular season, and advanced to the finals in the playoffs with two 4-1 in the upper bracket.

"It's a really hard road," thanks to his coach and teammates

To this day, Xuan Ran is willing to leave the most memorable moments to the world championship, and the most thanks are given to coach Li Tuo and his teammates.

In Xuan Ran's description, Coach Li Tuo is the one who has changed him the most, "Everyone calls me 'military general' because I am very brave when I play, I want to play when I see an opportunity, and I often chase five people by myself." It's easy to be killed by my opponent, but the coach communicates with me again and again, guides me, makes me pay attention to the cooperation with my teammates, and makes me more stable. ”

As for teammates, a group of young people are indispensable to fight and make trouble on weekdays, but training and competitions, Xuan Ran admitted frankly, everyone is serious.

"Everyone is not without disagreements, once in a game, I told my teammates that I wanted to use Yalian (hero name), at first they all objected, but I saw that Yalian was very strong in the later stage, and insisted on using this hero, and finally the game was won, and the first to come up to encourage me were teammates." Obviously, in this collective, everyone can actively try, and in order to win, everyone is twisted into a rope in their hearts.

Every time I think of the bits and pieces in these clubs, Xuan Ran has a grateful heart, and the reason for this is that Xuan Ran threw out a sentence, "Because this road is really not easy to walk." ”

Xuan Ran candidly said that it takes not only strength but also luck for a professional esports player to be able to play. This kind of luck largely stems from the platform and environment that you can access, "What kind of teammates you meet, what kind of club you meet is very important, not only personal play, the environment is not suitable will also be very tormenting, and Chengdu AG Super Play Club is like a big family, without coaches and teammates, there is no current me." ”

As he continued to achieve good results on the field, he gained more and more fans, and he was happy to interact with fans in the live broadcast, because the conversation was real and interesting, and he was laughed at by fans as "an anchor who was delayed by professional competitions", and Xuan Ran began to think about how to use his influence to help more people.

March 3 this year is the National Ear Day, and on this day, as an e-sports player, Xuan Ran issued a public welfare appeal, hoping that more people will pay attention to hearing-impaired children.

Talking about this, Xuan Ran was a little shy: "I don't know how many fans I have, and I don't dare to say how influential I am, but as a professional e-sports player, I hope to pass on positive energy, and doing public welfare itself is a happy thing." ”

Today's Xuan Ran has become one of the eye-catching players in the KPL, and his journey as a king is about to usher in a new climax. Xuan Ran has previously revealed his two goals for this season, the first is to help the team reach the final, the second is to win the league championship with his teammates, the first goal has been achieved, on May 18 at the Dalian Sports Center Gymnasium, we will witness this young man once again attack his dream.

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