wCg left this world silently, without anyone paying much attention. Netizens were more focused on viciously insulting Jiangnan Cup online. However, at the same time, a group of staunch defenders of Jiangnan Cup emerged, and the two sides engaged in a virtual war of words across the internet. Amidst this conflict, Jiangnan Cup continuously dominated online news headlines, with related news and match information frequently trending.
On the twelfth day of the Jiangnan Cup, March 4th, the event was scheduled to conclude, marking the grand finale of Warcraft 4, the most anticipated match.
As the undisputed most lucrative e-sports event, Warcraft 4, after twelve days of intense build-up, thrilling battles, and the perennial allure of China-Korea showdowns, finally reached its final. This was also the last match of the entire Jiangnan Cup, set to be the grand finale, bringing the event to a perfect close.
The finalists were Sky, a Chinese e-sports superstar and a two-time consecutive wcg world champion, hailed as the unbeatable Human Emperor. He had once again embarked on his path to glory, reaching the finals with an undefeated record.
Facing him was the European newcomer, Guapi.
Guapi was originally intended in the wcG plan to succeed Sky and compete against the greatest Warcraft player in Korea, Moon.
However, the Divine Altar in Warcraft 4 could not only summon a hero for free at the beginning of the game but also directly summon an army worth 30 Divine Coins.
The Divine Altar contained all tier 1 and tier 2 combat units of the player's own race, with each unit having a different Divine Coin cost. All players started with 30 Divine Coins. These 30 Divine Coins had a time limit of one minute; if not used within that minute, they would disappear.
This forced all players to utilize their Divine Coins within the first minute of the game, creating an army with mid-game strength within that initial minute.
Furthermore, at the center of the map, a neutral creep named the Divine Lord would spawn. This was the only creep in the entire game that would drop Base Equipment.
Base Equipment, as the name suggested, could be equipped onto the player's main base. There were four types of such equipment: "Eye of Divinity," which allowed the user to reveal all Fog of War for 5 seconds. For professional players, a 5-second map reveal could provide a comprehensive understanding of the opponent's strategies, offering a significant advantage, and could be used every 5 minutes.
The second type of equipment was "Power of Divinity." Its effect was incredibly potent, increasing the attack power of all units by 5 for 5 seconds. This could also be used every 5 minutes.
While this number might seem small, during intense battles between the main armies, the effect of a 5-point attack boost for all units could be enough to cause the opponent's forces to completely collapse.
The third type of equipment was "Guard of Divinity," which reduced all incoming damage to units by 20% for 5 seconds.
The final type was "Heal of Divinity," which allowed all units to recover 20% of their lost health and would also randomly resurrect two friendly unit corpses, excluding heroes.
From the effects of these four types of equipment, it was clear that any Base Equipment possessed the ability to instantly change the entire battle. If a player could successfully acquire Base Equipment, it would undoubtedly greatly increase their chances of victory.
However, Divine Lords could not be attacked directly. They had an aura with a radius. As long as more than 20 population units of a player occupied the area within the radius and maintained control for more than 20 seconds, Base Equipment would drop.
The introduction of this new Divine series of settings directly led to fierce early-game conflicts.
Most players would choose to lead their armies to attack the Divine Lord early on to obtain Base Equipment that could alter the course of the game. This would result in intense battles between both players near the Divine Lord, allowing the audience to witness a major confrontation from the outset.
Since players could customize the unit composition of their Divine forces according to their needs, predicting the opponent's unit composition and then adjusting their own became a key aspect of strategic play for many professional players, significantly increasing the intensity of the early game.
Of course, some players later found alternative strategies, opting not to contest for Divine Equipment in the early game. Instead, they would use the 20 seconds the opponent spent acquiring equipment to attack their base. If they could destroy half of the opponent's buildings, their own development would gain a massive advantage.
However, this approach would inevitably lead to facing the enemy hero, who, with Base Equipment, would teleport back to their base, while their main army would launch a counter-attack, ambushing the player's forces at their own base.
Given that units supported by Base Equipment were almost guaranteed to win in professional matches, players who were caught in such ambushes would face the complete annihilation of their main army. They would then be forced to confront the opponent's 30-population army, supported by Base Equipment, in a counter-offensive.
In any case, the addition of the Divine series made the early-game combat and strategic play in Warcraft 4 incredibly thrilling, with all players consistently delivering exciting battles and matches to the audience right from the start.
Of course, even if a player failed to secure Divine Equipment, it wasn't an automatic loss. Warcraft 4 also specifically designed comeback mechanisms for weaker players to make desperate counter-attacks.
However, overall, the Divine series settings reduced the average match duration of Warcraft 4 from approximately 20-30 minutes in the Warcraft 3 era to under 20 minutes. Consequently, changing the format to a best-of-seven series became a necessity, as a grand final that lasted only a little over an hour, rather than several hours, would undoubtedly displease both the audience and the sponsors.
Moreover, with the ever-increasing online buzz, over a dozen brand names had already appeared in the host's commentary and on-site promotions. These were companies that had temporarily sponsored the Jiangnan Cup. If their sponsorships were to conclude within just over an hour, these sponsors would understandably be furious.