Chapter 153 Data Analysis

Jiang Xiao sat at Gu Shi'an's desk, searching through a lot of information.

In past years, it wasn't unheard of for support-type Star Warriors to participate in the singles competition, but their numbers were small, and their final rankings were low.

Here, it's important to address a key issue: similar to battle and magic-type Star Warriors, each Star Warrior's unique Star Map has an affinity for specific Star Techniques.

Han Jiangxue's White Flame Star Map has an affinity for magic, while Xia Yan's Two-Handed Greatsword Star Map has an affinity for battle.

Forcing Xia Yan to absorb magic-type Star Techniques is possible. For example, she possesses the relatively pure magic-type Star Technique "Exploding Flame," but the effect she produces is vastly different from what Han Jiangxue can achieve.

Moreover, assuming similar aptitude, Xia Yan would need to spend more Star Beads than Han Jiangxue to absorb "Exploding Flame."

Jiang Xiao had been discussing magic and battle types, but never considered this issue in relation to support types.

Since Jiang Xiao possesses the Inner Vision Star Map, he has a 100% success rate in absorbing any Star Technique.

But other support types are different. They only have an affinity for the support style. Whether they absorb magic or battle-type Star Beads, they must exert more effort than their counterparts in other professions to acquire Star Techniques.

Most importantly, the effects produced by support types are significantly reduced.

A typical example is Li Yuan, the support from the Capital Star Martial team during the National Competition. The attack-type Starfall he threw had significantly reduced force and speed. Even a Star Cloud-stage nobody like Jiang Xiao could dodge it, let alone inflict substantial damage.

Similarly, the damage inflicted by Jiang Xiao's Azure Glow differs from that inflicted by Xia Yan's. However, since Azure Glow is a Bronze-quality Star Technique, its damage is inherently low, so the difference isn't significant.

Furthermore, Jiang Xiao's Azure Glow can be upgraded, perfectly complementing and completely surpassing Azure Glow users in the warrior profession.

This has led to the dire situation for support types in the World Cup singles competition.

From the perspective of all countries worldwide, the best result ever achieved by a support type in the World Cup is eighth place.

And this record dates back to the late 1970s.

At that time, there were very few participating teams in the World Cup, with only 16 countries competing.

After that, as time passed and college students from various countries entered the World Cup stage, the top eight never saw the figure of a support type again.

Let alone the top eight... With the increasing number of participating countries, under the frantic assault of magic and battle types, even the top sixteen rarely featured a support type!

In the last twenty years, only two support players have successfully entered the top 16: an Egyptian student in 2003 and a Senegalese student in 2007.

Both students came from Africa and were hailed by the world as god-level support types.

But no matter how "godly," they only reached the top sixteen.

The top thirty-two is the pitiful realm of support students.

It can be seen that the top thirty-two is almost the limit for support types.

It is important to emphasize here that:

Don't think that the top thirty-two is a low ranking. In a top-level competition like the World Cup, your opponents are the top-tier Star Martial students from various countries.

As a support, being able to enter the top thirty-two means that you are a powerful combat healer!

Any support who enters the top thirty-two can definitely take down a team single-handedly.

The support profession has control and sustain. In theory, their results shouldn't be so dismal. The root cause of all this is the issue of output.

Support students are too easily countered. The output Star Techniques in their hands are greatly reduced, and some can't even break through the defense of battle types...

Wanting to incapacitate enemies through pure support-type Star Techniques, well... that's just very difficult.

The Star Martial students who participate in the singles competition almost all have a complete survival system of their own.

Of course, not all participating students can do this, but after the sifting of the sands, the top thirty-two students standing at the world's pinnacle can definitely do it.

What makes things worse for supports is that the magic type also has control-type Star Techniques. And within the battle type, shield warriors also have their own support Star Techniques...

The support's role is inherently a team role. They are few in number, and they are treated like lords and darlings everywhere they go, so why do you have to go find abuse in a one-on-one fight?

Because... I have a masochistic tendency!!!

Jiang Xiao watched the African brothers on the news, watching their combat videos, and couldn't help but grit his teeth. They are so damn strong!

Yes, I am a Jiu Xing Du Nai (Nine Star Poisonous Healer).

But damn... these two only top-sixteen support gods, this... how are these support types?

These are battle types disguised as supports, right!?

These two are simply Iron Yama, Living Vajra!

Gu Shi'an walked over and watched the video that Jiang Xiao was watching. His face changed again and again. Watching such fierce combat from a support type, Gu Shi'an even felt ashamed to call himself a shield warrior-strength warrior.

"Oh my god, is there anything more normal?" Jiang Xiao turned off the video and found a French student who entered the top thirty-two in 2009. She was a thin, small French girl, which was considered normal. She spammed negative status effects on the opponent and continuously buffed herself, fighting a war of attrition.

After a long while, Jiang Xiao managed to squeeze out a sentence: "It's too disadvantageous for support types to participate in the World Cup singles competition."

Gu Shi'an nodded in agreement: "The World Cup singles competition is still the era of battle types reigning supreme."

Under the Star River, whether it's one-on-one or team battles, the situation is almost the same around the world: magic types reign supreme.

But once you cross the threshold of the Star River, with a significant improvement in physical fitness, battle types catch up and become on par with magic types.

Although both magic and battle types experience a qualitative improvement in physical fitness after crossing the Star River threshold, warriors, who rely more on their bodies, benefit much more than magic types.

The so-called being on par means dominating in their respective fields.

In team competitions, due to tactical positioning and personnel configuration, magic types are still the undisputed kings, the absolute core of the team.

In singles competitions, due to the above-mentioned issues, battle types reign supreme.

Speaking with facts, in the last 10 World Cups, there were 3 shield warrior-strength warrior champions, 3 agile warrior-battle warrior champions, 2 agile warrior-assassin warrior champions, and 2 magic-type champions.

Battle types accounted for eight of them, with shield warrior-strength warriors and agile warrior-battle warriors being the most respected.

"Mm." Jiang Xiao nodded lightly. If battle types reign supreme, it would be more in line with Jiang Xiao's path. His sword skills, daggers, fist and foot techniques, as well as support Star Techniques with "poison," could support him in taking the battle-type route.

And even though Jiang Xiao possesses the Inner Vision Star Map, he now faces the same common problem that all other support types face: insufficient output!

Jiang Xiao doesn't have a decisive offensive Star Technique!

Turning the tide? Reversing the situation?

Jiang Xiao can totally do it!

But he needs to be equipped with a heavy artillery piece, like Han Jiangxue's Star Martial heavy artillery.

Jiang Xiao can control a dragon that soars into the sky and plunges into the sea, making it obediently coil at the foot of the mountain, without moving.

But this is already the limit of what Jiang Xiao can do. The dragon is indeed coiled, but it is still a dragon. Jiang Xiao can't tear it to pieces and exterminate it. He needs Han Jiangxue's heavy artillery, or Xia Yan's butcher knife.

In this light, the eighth Star Slot needs to be carefully studied and pondered over.

But apart from lacking heavy weapon output, Jiang Xiao has another weakness: he lacks purification-type Star Techniques.

Since he's going to participate in the singles competition, without purification, Jiang Xiao can't form a complete "survival system." Once targeted, Jiang Xiao will be eliminated in the first round.

Jiang Xiao had already decided to absorb a Star Pet in the ninth Star Slot.

Star Pets are of great help to a Star Warrior.

Regardless of what Star Techniques your Star Pet has, just the Star Power shared by the Star Pet is something that Jiang Xiao has been dreaming of.

Think about the Yan Tribunal back then. The violent Ogre Flame Master threw Platinum-quality Skyfall Meteorites for more than ten minutes, and that was even when he was interrupted. If he wasn't interrupted, how long could he throw them for?

How thick was the Ogre Flame Master's Star Power?

Now, Jiang Xiao is almost emptied of Star Power after one Spatial Shift and one Calamity of Shadows. But if Jiang Xiao had an Ogre Flame Master in his Star Map, could he flicker across the entire field, appearing and disappearing unpredictably?

The Platinum-level White Mountain Snow Feather is obviously a very ideal Star Pet: high health, high defense, thick Star Power, and a natural-type magic resistance, as well as an output heavy artillery – Platinum Ice Roar.

This seems to perfectly solve Jiang Xiao's lack of output, but the problem is that the World Cup does not allow summoning pets to the field. In other words, it can hide in your Star Map, providing you with a steady stream of Star Power, but it can't come out to help you defend against enemies.

Jiang Xiao sighed softly. Recognizing his shortcomings, understanding the problem, and making targeted efforts to make up for them is also a good thing.

Three points: purification, output, and total Star Power.

With the help of the Inner Vision Star Map, Jiang Xiao believes that he is qualified to stand on the stage of the World Cup if he solves these three problems.

In other aspects, Jiang Xiao is basically qualified.

He has defense and resistance to various types (Endurance), sustain (Clock, Affection, Light of the Current), consumption (Affection, Light of the Current), control (Blessing, Silence), and even entry and escape (Spatial Shift).

Although Jiang Xiao doesn't have many Star Slots available, as long as the final Star Technique choices are properly matched, he can form his own survival system.

Jiang Xiao was secretly cheering himself on, while Gu Shi'an, looking at the World Cup game videos, became more and more aware of his own limitations.

"This is simply not a competition that humans should participate in." Gu Shi'an frowned as he watched the video. "Who doesn't want to win glory for the country? But if I go, I'll just be embarrassing myself, and I'll be喷死 (pēn sǐ) (scolded to death) by the people when I come back..."

Gu Shi'an was overthinking it. He wouldn't even get the chance to be criticized by the people because he would be eliminated during the selection competition...

At this moment, Jiang Xiao had not yet realized that in addition to the three points he summarized above, which needed to be strengthened in a targeted manner, there was another major obstacle blocking his path.

Public opinion.

In modern society, never underestimate the impact that social opinion can have.

Participating in the World Cup and the singles competition is not just your personal behavior, it is a competition at the national level.

The national team only has 8-10 slots for singles, with a maximum of 2 substitutes.

In the entire country, only a mere 8 people can formally participate in the World Cup individual competition. If you were in their shoes, would you be willing to let a support profession with no prospects occupy a slot to participate in the singles competition for your country?

A maximum of the top thirty-two?

And that's in an extremely ideal situation. Are you even capable of reaching the top thirty-two?

If they were going to participate, it would definitely be shield warrior-strength warriors and agile warrior-battle warriors!

Unless there are extremely excellent magic-type players, even magic types shouldn't participate in the singles competition!