You've only been playing for half a year, and you've already reached the finals?

Chapter 109 Go for it, Mingjing, make it to the finals!
"Congratulations to JD Gaming on winning the first game of the semifinals!"

As the match finally ended, Guan Daxiao shouted loudly: "I have to say, JD.com's choice of the Ziggs hero in the first game was truly unexpected for all of us, and it did indeed produce very good results!"

"I think that's the charm of the World Championship," Ji De said with a smile. "After countless top professional teams have thoroughly studied a particular version, all sorts of hidden tricks will emerge! And this time, JD Gaming gave us a surprise!"

"On the other side, Top Esports' situation is much more dire!" Colonel Guan said. "How to deal with Ziggs is the primary problem Top Esports needs to address! This champion has practically countered their entire team!"

At this moment, the screen was filled with comments.

[Damn, I thought Xiao Fei was some kind of AD fundamentalist with his thick eyebrows and big eyes, but I didn't expect him to have so many outrageous tricks up his sleeve!]

[I'm going to prove who's the world's best AD carry (pulls out a bomb)]

[But it really worked! It turned Bingbing into a complete idiot!]

What's there to think about? Just ban it!

[Ban it, White Crescent, I'm begging you! Go back to the LPL, be as stubborn as you want!]

Is this really because of the bomber? I feel like Bingbing looks like someone just standing on the street.

[Is this supposed to be on the street? This is clearly a case of Xiaofei not having the spirit of an AD carry? Playing Ziggs here to avoid the laning phase!]

[Seriously, he's already backing down before the battle even begins. Let's ban the Bomber later and see how he plays!]

In Wuhan, China, Wang Hao, who was on Sunday holiday, looked at the scene in front of him and couldn't help but scratch his head.

To be honest, Wang Hao is still a little conflicted about the upcoming match.

As a die-hard fan, he should have supported Top Esports without any reason.

But unfortunately, the person on the other end is my good brother.
Now I'm truly torn between two equally beloved children.

Wang Hao really didn't expect that his good brother, who was playing duo queue with him just a few months ago, would be playing against JackeyLove in the blink of an eye!

And they won so easily!
However, the decision between the two is made in an instant.

A true brother will always prevail.

Or, to put it another way, you have your idol on one side and your brother on the other. You won't lose out if you win on either side!
Come on, Mingjing, make it to the finals!
The live stream showed the players' seats, where everyone from JD Gaming had stood up. Several of them spontaneously gathered around Ming Jing, their faces beaming with joy.

"Awesome, Mingjing!" Zoom's chubby face was beaming. "The Bomber is really something, he just carried us to victory!"

The Duke is truly happy now.

This isn't the first time JDG and TES have played a best-of-five series. The two teams have been neck and neck for a whole year, from the Spring Finals to the Summer Finals and now!

But in this match, Zoom has undoubtedly won the easiest one yet!
What did he do? He farmed minions under the tower in lane, used his ultimate twice in team fights, then helped his teammates with their items, and easily secured the win!
Compared to the past when we tried our best but failed to win, this is so much more satisfying.

The other teammates shared similar thoughts.

It still has to be Mingjing!

Ming Jing left the field surrounded by several teammates, clearly revealing his status as the team's leader.

Even Yicun, the LPL's official photographer, couldn't help but laugh and quickly snapped photos of the group.

Seeing this, it's hard to believe that this player has only been with the team for less than two months.

But then the camera switched to Top Esports' side, and the players there seemed to be out of sorts.

The thought of how he had just stepped on a landmine and died in front of a world-class audience made Zuo Shou feel extremely uncomfortable. After fidgeting for a few moments, he finally let out a bitter smile and a sigh.

The other contestants also sensed that something was wrong and hurriedly left the stage.

They need to discuss the drafting/blocking (BP) issue with the coach as soon as possible.

Back in the lounge, Coach White Crescent also looked even more serious than the players.

It's common knowledge that the blue side has a higher win rate.

Both sides went the distance in the spring and summer finals, playing two full best-of-five series, with the blue side having a 70% win rate!

In the Summer Split finals, both teams won four consecutive games on the blue side. TES only managed to win the Summer Championship by breaking through the blue side with the red side in the last game!
In the upcoming third BO5 match, JDG secured a red buff and a blue buff right at the start, and in such an easy manner that it was unacceptable to them.

Does this mean that JDG's understanding of the version and their progress have far surpassed theirs?

"No matter what, Ziggs is definitely going to be banned. If this hero is picked, we won't be able to play."

In this critical moment, White Crescent didn't dare to be reckless and simply said, "The key lies in the draft phase. Should we pick Draven again?"

The losing team chooses sides, and they remain on the blue side.

"Choose!" JackeyLove agreed immediately. "What's there to be afraid of!"

JackeyLove is a rare player with a strong mentality, and he certainly won't doubt himself because of one loss.

He also firmly believed that his Draven would be fine.

"That's fine then." The white crescent moon nodded.

Once the bot lane pick is decided, the draft will naturally become easier, since the bot lane is the absolute core of Top Esports.

"Zhuo Ding," White Crescent asked again, "How are you feeling in the mid lane? Can you break through?"

Since Phi joined, JDG's weakness has no longer been the bottom lane, but the mid lane.

This was evident in both the group stage and the quarterfinals.

Since Showmaker and Caps can suppress Toothpaste, then Knight should be able to as well. These three are currently the best mid laners in their respective regions.

"Sure." Zuo Shou didn't stand on ceremony and said directly, "For the next round, try to give me a later pick."

The left hand actually had a very smooth laning phase, and almost got sent home by toothpaste right at the start of the game.

If no one interferes, the left hand can easily take on two enemies with one life, and then use the extra TP to do things.

However, Kanavi's disruption reduced ZuoShou's advantage to almost nothing, and as a result, the bottom lane failed to gain momentum, causing the game to stall. Throughout the entire match, he didn't make any significant impact.

If he gets to pick second again this time, and his teammates don't make any mistakes, he's absolutely confident he can win the lane!

Seeing that his players weren't discouraged by the defeat, White Crescent nodded in satisfaction: "Next game, we'll stick to the same strategy! We'll use our best approach! You must believe in yourselves; JD Gaming isn't that strong!"

The entire Top Esports team unanimously believes that they absolutely have the ability to win the championship, and of course, they can defeat any team.

Soon, both players returned to the stage, and the draft phase began.

To protect Draven, White Crescent didn't hold back this time, banning Ziggs, Caitlyn, and Senna, effectively sealing off all the heroes Draven struggles against, and locking him in the first ban slot.

TES's draft strategy was clear and simple: first, they used three bans to protect Draven, then saved the mid-lane position for last to ensure Knight's mid-lane advantage. Their priority was ensuring the Sailor duo played comfortably; the other three positions could be sacrificed.

But as it turned out, there was no problem.

With three bans on the bot lane, there aren't many champions left to counter Draven, since he's a lane bully. TES having to use three bans already shows how deep Mingjing's champion pool is!

After much deliberation, Ming Jing decided to focus on using Jinx as his counter.

Jinx is one of the few champions who can compete with Draven's double axes for level 2, and the existence of traps is also a limitation for Draven, who has no mobility.

However, Jinx is ultimately a late-game carry. Even if she can go toe-to-toe with Draven in the early game, it's difficult for her to play a key role like Kalista or Ziggs. In this game, she still needs her teammates to contribute.

That means we'll have to see how the midfielder performs.

As long as the mid-lane doesn't collapse and helps Mingjing stabilize the situation, dragging the game to the point where he has three items, Mingjing is confident he can lead his team to victory!
Kanavi knew how much responsibility he had in this game. He had a clear strategy from the very beginning, farming and counter-ganking all the way through, successfully forcing Karsa to retreat, and even stealing the river crab in the bottom river!
With the jungler's protection, Mingjing's laning phase was also very stable. After several waves of waves, the CS of both AD carries were evenly matched!

"This isn't good news for Topsports," Colonel Guan frowned. "If things continue like this, they'll still face difficulties withdrawing funds from the upper management!"

Today's match is an internal LPL battle, and from the perspective of an LPL commentator, Guan Zeyuan naturally hopes that today's match will be more exciting and entertaining.

If both games go in the same direction, then obviously it's not very interesting.

With six minutes remaining in the game, the camera suddenly switched to the middle lane.

Then, Akali landed a Q at the furthest possible distance on Yagao's Orianna, then pressed W to become invisible and speed up, turning around to dodge Yagao's QW while pulling out her passive!

QW is gone?

Seeing this opportunity, Zuo Shou did not hesitate at all. He decisively accelerated forward, followed by an A followed by a Q combo, and then used his ultimate to close the gap!

Toothpaste realized something was wrong and decisively ran towards the tower, using his E to pull the ball back and then using his ultimate to counter!

Left Hand saw the ultimate move, but he wasn't afraid at all; he just quickly pressed E.

Akali used her E [Falcon Dance] the moment her ultimate landed. Although she was quickly caught by Orianna's ultimate, the E still landed on Orianna!
While Orianna was running away, Zuo Shou turned around and ran back to quickly activate his passive, then used his second E to kick her, followed by a Q in mid-air!

This version of Akali can use her second E to combo Q in mid-air, resulting in an exaggerated burst damage. By using Q in mid-air followed by the second E flying kick, and then landing with her passive, three hits of damage are dealt, and Orianna is already left with very low health!

Toothpaste flashed back to the tower, but Zuo Shou's killing intent was already set. Akali flashed and used R2 to stab out, wiping out Orianna's last bit of health!
"First blood!"

The news of the first blood resounded throughout the stadium, and countless Top Esports fans watching the game were all invigorated!
The white crescent moons backstage were excitedly clenching their fists and shouting!
I knew it!

This was crucial!

"It's all over, it's all over!" Teacher Ma exclaimed. "Orianna is a champion that can't stand being solo-killed by Akali! If she gets killed even once, the mid lane won't be able to hold the lane!"

Karsa understood perfectly. After constantly hitting roadblocks in the bot lane, he saw the mid laner manage to tower dive and get a solo kill, and he immediately knew how to play.

A Clockwerk without Flash is easy to kill, isn't it?

Eight minutes later, the Herald spawned, and Zuo Shou pushed the mid lane minions into the tower. Karsa appeared behind the tower right on time!
Neither of the mid laners has their ultimate ability available, but it's clear that Akali is stronger without her ultimate!
Nidalee gets close and uses her javelin to tank the tower, then transforms into a cougar and unleashes a combo. Akali's simple QEEQA combo is enough to take down Orianna without even needing to deal full damage!
"Toothpaste has fallen again, giving Top Esports a numerical advantage, which will allow them to secure control of the Vanguard!"

With two kills and the Rift Herald secured, TES's mid-jungle advantage in this game is overwhelming!
What they need to do next is to transfer the mid-jungle advantage to the bottom lane!
Within 10 minutes, TES changed their strategy again. To ensure success, even 369's Ornn came to the bottom lane and started with his ultimate!
bang!

Ornn unleashed his ultimate, forcing Mingjing, a Jinx without mobility, to use Flash to dodge. However, LvMao suffered the consequences – he had already used Flash during the previous bot lane skirmish.

Although Ornn's ultimate wasn't aimed at him, Tahm Kench, without Flash, had little room to escape and could only watch as TES players followed up and caught him.

Of course, TES didn't forget to give away kills.

JackeyLove's Draven accelerated and closed in, using his E ability to control the enemy, followed by two throwing axes to secure the kill!
With 220 stacks of his passive and the gold from kills, Draven earned a total of 740 gold in this fight!

Meanwhile, Karsa placed the Herald in the bottom lane, and the group pushed together, taking down the bottom lane tower in one fell swoop!
When he went out again, Draven already had a Bloodthirster and a B.F. Sword in his hands.

Faced with the bleak situation, a brief silence fell over JDG's voice channel.

Toothpaste sat crookedly in the chair, without saying a word.

Everyone understood that getting to this point was extremely difficult.

Why is Draven so strong when snowballing? Besides his powerful laning phase, another important reason is his extremely high synergy with Bloodthirster.

With his extremely high basic attack damage, Draven can heal up to 200 health with a single hit even if a minion has only 1 HP left!

Once Draven acquires Bloodthirster with an economic advantage, the high lifesteal and overhealing shield from this item will turn him into a perpetual health machine!

As long as you don't get instantly killed, you can quickly replenish your health in two or three hits!

"It's alright, let's try to break their rhythm in a team fight," Ming Jing said. "If we can disrupt their momentum, we'll have a chance."

If Draven gets snowballing, then avoiding fights won't work anymore; the pressure is too great, and we have to find an opportunity to disrupt his momentum.

If you can break a wave, you can be much more relaxed in terms of rhythm.

“Yes.” Kanavi nodded as well, as he had the same thought.

JDG finally seized an opportunity in the mid lane and initiated a team fight.

Kanavi's prince, carrying a clockwork ball, entered the field and launched a fierce attack on Draven.

The prince did manage to get the shot in, and Orianna also landed her ultimate, but unfortunately, the Orianna-Jinx combo had limited kill potential when at a disadvantage. Under Jinx's final ultimate, Draven barely survived with only 200 HP.

JackeyLove cleansed away from Jinx's trap, then flashed back to pull away, but instead of running away, he turned around and attacked, swinging his double axes wildly with low health!

Draven's health steadily increased under the Bloodthirst buff, and he quickly escaped the danger zone.

Mingjing sighed inwardly.

Pity.

If we can kill Draven, we might not win this team fight, but at least we'll have achieved our goal of disrupting the team's rhythm.

Unfortunately, it still fell short by a hair's breadth.

TES launched a counterattack, with Akali leaping into the fray and targeting Jinx, who was clearly under her control. After Jinx was devoured by Tahm Kench, TES immediately switched her attack to Orianna, using Hextech Gunblade to slow her down and then AEEQR. With just half a combo, TES defeated Orianna!

Meanwhile, Draven unleashed a flurry of axe strikes, cooperating with his teammates to eliminate JDG's top and jungle laners one after another.

At this point, Draven had returned to full health.

After this team fight, the outcome of the match was completely decided.

Facing Draven, who had completely snowballed his advantage, Mingjing knew that his opponent probably wouldn't give him a chance to carry in the late game.

At 28 minutes, TES pushed forward and won the game!
(End of this chapter)