Looking back at the match between Wolves and WB, it can be summed up in two words: Wolves are once again the "Yang Bailao" of the annual finals.

Aside from AG Super Play and WB, the summer season is over for the rest of the KPL teams. The upcoming focus for these teams is the annual finals! The prizes there are very generous. But if Wolves stick with the summer lineup, chances are the finals won’t concern them at all!

Before the third round of this season, SK designed a strategy for Wolves that revolved entirely around the jungler—top, mid, and support serve as tools for the jungler, while the marksman is like the jungler’s mount. Any marksman starting is meant to absorb pressure, but does SK expect Daocai to take the brunt? His role is to stabilize the team first, give players some breathing room, and reduce his own pressure. So don’t expect Daocai’s rotation into the lineup to change the playstyle. Since SK joined Wolves, it was clear that the jungler would be the king for the foreseeable future.

Wolves had a smooth first half of the schedule, with Xiaopang winning MVPs frequently, but that came at the cost of the team’s overall progress. SK has done well to maintain stability; from the collapse in the spring season to the current “starlike” form, the playstyle tends toward the peak era of eStar, but the foundation remains much the same as in spring.

The tactical roles of Wolves’ players are extremely uneven, so no matter how they play, it doesn’t feel like a cohesive team. In the winner’s bracket first round, Wolves faced AG and managed to catch AG off guard by sheer momentum, masking issues in their macro play and team fights. This led some viewers to think, “Wolves who can suppress AG’s rhythm might still have a chance to win the championship.”

But when facing WB, who also dropped to the losers’ bracket and aimed for the championship, their teamwork completely fell apart. Their in-game judgment and adaptability worsened over time, truly embodying the saying, “strong at first, then declining, and finally exhausted.” Didn’t Wolves show the same pattern of losing confidence after setbacks in their BO7 against AG?

The rules SK mentioned in the documentary feel quite ironic. Did the heroes Wolves performed poorly with last season suddenly see a big win rate boost this season? Not really, except maybe Pei Qinhu. Did their macro play improve significantly from last season’s unimpressive S group? The answer is no: in the BO7 against AG, even with a double dragon advantage, they couldn’t push the high ground; in the BO7 against WB, they were frequently caught out mid-game. Their team fights last season were like a scattered mess—did that improve much this season? Forget combos, individual disconnections are glaring. The word “deserved” perfectly sums up Wolves’ summer season!

Therefore, if Wolves do not make adjustments before the annual finals, it will be very difficult for them to advance far in the tournament!

Perhaps many don’t realize, but Xiahou Dun as a support is currently very popular in high-level play. Xiahou Dun is very strong as a support because he is a pure tank hero with passive healing, giving him excellent survivability. Additionally, his crowd control is powerful: his first skill slows and knocks up, and his ultimate stuns. During laning, he can chain control to suppress opponents, and in team fights, he can initiate engagements with his ultimate or protect teammates by following up.

Unlike other support heroes, Xiahou Dun’s warrior role means his damage output is quite high. Even when built fully tanky, he can easily outmatch heroes like Hou Yi, making him a very offensively capable support.