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

Chapter 173 Shockwave!
Inside the DK lounge at the hotel.

As DK watched EDG push down GAM's base for the second time, several members of the team showed obvious disappointment.

"The Vietnamese team is so weak!" Ghost couldn't help but complain. "Do they really have no ability to put up any resistance at all?"

The two matches combined didn't even last 50 minutes! Is that even possible?
Ahead, Coach Kkoma also shook his head.

They certainly didn't expect GAM to actually beat EDG.

EDG is currently the biggest favorite to win the championship, while GAM is just a champion from a wildcard region. The difference in strength between the two sides is too great.

Which truly strong team could possibly lose to Vietnam?

They just hoped that GAM could put some pressure on EDG and force EDG to reveal something.

EDGMSI has been playing all this time, consistently using standard lineups. With such a long preparation period, DK would never believe they haven't been holding back.

Putting aside others, Phi, that eccentric guy, must be hiding something!

Unfortunately, GAM was simply not up to par, failing to put any pressure on EDG in either of the two games!

Now, the DK members are feeling the pressure.

The main reason is that they performed so poorly yesterday, actually losing two games to European teams.

In order to secure victory, they were forced to expose some things, which brought them into the open.

But now, EDG won so easily, which has obviously caused a slight imbalance in the finals situation between the two sides.

"One game left!" Ghost clasped his hands together. "Come on, GAM! Let's try to win this one!"

At this moment, inside the venue, in the EDG lounge.

Logically speaking, the MSI semifinals should be a tense time.

But with three match points in hand, the EDG players couldn't be nervous at all, and all of them had smiles on their faces.

Ahead, Abu was reminding his teammates to be serious and to wait until they won the BO5 before making any decisions.

The EDG members were all reasonable people and they all got involved in the discussion about the finals.

Ahead, Maokai also spoke up: "The first two games went quite smoothly, and no major problems were exposed, so there's not much to say. We still need to pay a little attention to Li Xuanjun's discipline; he died a bit too many times in these two games."

EDG died a total of seven times in these two games, with Flandre accounting for five of those deaths.

Of course, part of the reason is that he was targeted and had the task of initiating team fights and taking damage, but another reason is that he lacked discipline and was caught and killed in the laning phase and split pushing.

"Indeed, Li Xuanjun really needs to play it safe." Zhu Kai, who came to EDG from LNG with Flandre, chimed in, "You have a great group of teammates now, you don't need to rush!"

Saint Gun, who was suddenly called out, scratched his head, but still nodded seriously, indicating that he would definitely pay attention next time.

Compared to the calm and relaxed atmosphere on EDG's side, the atmosphere on GAM's side was completely the opposite.

Although they were mentally prepared to reach the semifinals as a success the moment they were selected by EDG, being so thoroughly defeated still left everyone feeling somewhat frustrated.

Even if you get stomped like this a couple of times in ranked matches, it's still painful!

"To be fair, you didn't perform to your full potential in the first two games! You made too many mistakes!"

GAM's coach emphasized, "In my opinion, there isn't a huge gap between us and EDG. It mainly comes down to which side makes fewer mistakes!"

"I don't expect you to win the next game, but I do expect you to concentrate! Be serious, be focused, and play to your full potential!"

"Last year, we couldn't participate in the Mid-Season Invitational due to the pandemic, and we missed our jungle carry meta. This year is a rare opportunity for us. I hope everyone can leave without regrets, and even if we lose, we should still shine in our own way!"

This is like a bowl of thick chicken soup, poured down the throats of everyone at GAM.

Last year, with the jungle carry meta, they, a team that had been playing jungle carry for many years, were unable to participate in the World Championship, which has always been their regret.

Even this MSI was a hard-won opportunity for them.

They had waited a whole year for this opportunity, and of course they didn't want to lose so miserably!

At this moment, the staff also came over, indicating that the third game was about to begin.

The Vietnamese men exchanged glances, then got up at the same time and headed to the stadium.

Rush!

Inside the Laugardalshll Indoor Stadium, the stands remained empty, but that didn't stop millions of viewers from around the world from watching the stadium through cameras.

In the third game, GAM, the loser, chose the side again, selecting the blue side.

With both sides exchanging blows, the lineups were quickly finalized.

Blue side GAM: Top lane Tryndamere, Jungle Lee Sin, Mid lane Syndra, Bot lane Xayah and Rakan.

Red side EDG: Top laner Gnar, jungler Morgana, mid laner Orianna, bot lane Kai'Sa and Nautilus.

"GAM's lineup this game is quite interesting. They've chosen a very individualistic lineup! It's incredibly aggressive in the early game!"

"It seems that even in a do-or-die situation, they still chose to trust their favorite hero!"

"On the other hand, EDG's lineup is much more conventional, consisting of heroes that are currently in the meta, and there haven't been many changes since!"

"Alright, the match has started. Let's see if GAM can pull off a miraculous comeback or if EDG will end the series!"

Amidst the commentary from various competition zones, the two coaches exchanged fist bumps in the center of the stage, signaling the official start of the third round!
Don't let Levi's reputation as a jungle carry fool you; his Lee Sin is also exceptional.

In the S6 All-Star game, during the clone match where nine Lee Sins played one ball, Levi was one of the players and put up the most impressive stats of the game with 18-3-16. Nobody knows how many times Levi killed Clearlove in that game.

During S7MSI, he also pulled off a series of tricky maneuvers with Lee Sin, using W to turn back while Q was entering the dragon pit, drawing a number 7 in the pit, and then using Smite to steal the dragon during the dash.

This GIF is still being circulated on various forums.

In this game, Levi was very aggressive from the start. He quickly reached level 3 with his Lee Sin and went to the mid lane to try and gank Mingjing's Orianna.

Syndra pressed W to pull the Dark Orb, then flashed forward, followed by a WEQ combo. The two Dark Orbs blocked all of Ming Jing's movement routes!
Ming Jing didn't hesitate and decisively dodged the push ball's control.

The enemy used Flash to lock him down, and he was going to have to use Flash anyway, so he might as well use it sooner to preserve his health and continue laning.

Although they managed to dodge the gank in the mid lane, the catastrophe in the mid lane was far from over.

Mingjing, who had no flash, had become a weak point in GAM's eyes!

Five minutes later, Captain Levi scored twice, netting another basket!
But this time, JieJie was prepared. Morgana was protecting him in the middle lane, and a crucial magic shield blocked the [Weaklings Begone], helping MingJing escape once again!

At seven and a half minutes, Mingjing flashed with only thirty-odd seconds left in the countdown. GAM chose to seize this last opportunity and try again!
This time, they finally succeeded.

There's nothing we can do; there are just too many people here this time.

Ming Jing was still finishing off the enemy when he saw a Rakan emerge from the river beside him, and quickly use Flash and W to rush to his feet!

Relying solely on Rakan's W wasn't a problem; Mingjing, who had already built Tier 2 boots, quickly pressed W to accelerate and perfectly dodged [Grand Entrance].

But then Syndra used her [Weaklings Begone] right away!

Mingjing knew he couldn't dodge the push, but he had a plan. He chose to use a QR combo, sending the puppet flying straight towards the Lee Sin, the massive impact pulling him towards the puppet.

Although Mingjing was stunned by [Weaklings Begone], his ultimate also controlled the Lee Sin, preventing the Captain from following up with [Sonic Wave]!
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Mingjing used the speed boost from W to quickly run towards the tower!

The captain knew that with Phi's reaction and positioning, if he were to gamble on the hit rate of [Sonic Wave] at this moment, he would inevitably lose everything.

He had no choice but to use his ward to teleport up, forcibly getting next to Ming Jing, and then using his R-flash to kick Ming Jing back!

That kick was the final death sentence for Clockwork!

Ming Jing, who was kicked back, was not annoyed, but just laughed happily.

In his calculations, this was already the limit he could achieve.

After all, GAM's mid, jungle, and support all have crowd control abilities, while he's just an Orianna without Flash or teammates.

Being able to trade two of the opponent's ultimate abilities for one of their two ultimate abilities is already considered a masterful play.

Moreover, this wasn't just a simple case of being arrested; it was an exchange of resources.

The reason JieJie wasn't in the mid lane this time is because he had other things to do.

On the top lane, the minion wave pushed into the tower, and JieJie appeared behind the tower right on time!

"They're here. EDG's top laner is also diving the tower, but Tryndamere has his ultimate. Can they kill him?"

In the video, EDG's top and jungle seemed to have already decided on their strategy. As soon as they entered the tower, Flandre's Gnar used his ultimate (R) to push Tryndamere down, and then used his W to stun him again.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, JieJie's Morgana quickly followed up with her ultimate.

Saint Gun was the main source of damage in the first wave, and his Gnar RWAQA combo dealt astonishing damage!

Tryndamere didn't actually have much health left, and after being hit by both of them, he was quickly brought down to the point where he would be forced to use his ultimate. But coincidentally, no sooner had he used his ultimate than Morgana's ultimate triggered, stunning him in place!

EDG's top laner and jungler left the tower first. While retreating, JieJie timed it perfectly and followed up with a Q [Dark Imprisonment] at the very last moment before his ultimate ended!
Tryndamere's ultimate ability grants him five seconds of invincibility, which is quite long, but against Morgana, it's still just a toy.

GAM's top laner watched as his ultimate ability's duration gradually came to an end; the control effect of [Dark Imprisonment] only ended at that moment.

This time, JieJie used basic attacks to tank the tower, and the now-shrunken Flandre threw a boomerang, instantly killing Tryndamere under the tower!
At this point, the camera cuts to the bottom lane.

Because of Rakan's roaming, GAM's Xayah is also having a hard time, and is currently being blocked under the tower by EDG's Kai'Sa and Nautilus duo!

Xia wasn't even level six yet, and she was completely helpless against the two of them diving under the tower.

Titan simply walked up, used a basic attack followed by Q, and Viper's Kai'Sa followed up with a Plasma combo, easily killing Xayah under the tower!
"Beautiful!" Guan Daxiao exclaimed loudly from the commentary booth, "Despite being targeted in the mid lane, EDG managed to score from multiple positions on both the top and bottom lanes! Overall, this was actually a one-for-two exchange! EDG's teammates did an excellent job of mitigating the damage!"

"And Xiaofei did a great job with the pressure this game! He got caught so many times, but he only died once, and his last-hitting was still just as good!"

At this moment, in EDG's voice channel, everyone was still celebrating this hugely profitable kill exchange.

"Lie down, Mingjing!" Holy Gun Bro said with a grin, "This round, the brothers will carry you!"

Upon hearing this, Ming Jing outwardly responded with a cheerful smile, but in reality, he had already begun to take it seriously.

You don't really think I can't carry this game, do you?
The time quickly reached 11 minutes and 30 seconds, and the second dragon spawned. Neither side would give way, and the four players in the lower half of the map gathered around the dragon to engage in a small team fight.

GAM was clearly going all out this game, playing very boldly and initiating team fights whenever they could. Rakan activated his ultimate and used W to charge at Mingjing's Orianna!
However, he had already used Flash in the mid lane, so the team fight wasn't sudden. Even JieJie reacted and moved the mouse to cast a magic shield on MingJing.

Mingjing actually had his finger on Flash, but when he saw the magic shield coming towards him, he didn't panic. He used EW on himself to create distance.

Meanwhile, Meiko took this opportunity to use Nautilus's ultimate ability on Xayah.

Xayah also has an ultimate, and Nautilus's ultimate will most likely be dodged by Xayah's ultimate, but it doesn't matter, ultimate for ultimate, that's Meiko's goal.

Both supports missed their ultimate abilities, but that didn't stop them from fighting each other.

Meiko ignored Xayah's ultimate ability and flew into the air, and Nautilus flashed and hooked Syndra precisely!
Viper's Kai'Sa decisively used E to charge in, then followed up with auto-attacks on Syndra!
Once Syndra pushes the ball, he uses Flash and then continues to chase with basic attacks.

But at this moment, the enemy Xayah finally landed her ultimate, and it was a thunderous attack. She used her hook to retrieve all the feathers from her ultimate, and then quickly pressed Flash and Gale, using two dashes to pull all the feathers onto Viper!
With that hook, Viper's health dropped by more than half in an instant!
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Captain Levi's Lee Sin quickly followed up with a W, and it looked like he was about to kill Viper!
But just then, another golden light flashed during the team fight!
Mingjing's Orianna, with a magic doll on her head, flashed into the fray and unleashed a QR combo centered on Syndra!
Surrounding Syndra were Lee Sin, who had just used W to poke her way in; Xayah, who flashed in with a whirlwind; and Rakan, who used E to return to his teammates!

Moreover, all three of them have lost their Flash ability!
This is the opportunity that Mingjing has been waiting for!

Upon seeing the puppet charge into the formation, GAM and the others' expressions changed.

Spicy balls!

Shockwave!
The clockwork puppet stirred up terrifying spatial forces, and none of the four members of GAM survived; they were all strangled to death!

"Wow, Brother Fei's ultimate move! He hit four targets!"

"This is going to be explosive!"

Several people in the LPL commentary booth instantly went wild!

In EDG's voice chat, several teammates exclaimed "Awesome!"
Taking advantage of this opportunity, JieJie Morgana quickly entered the fray. He didn't even need to follow up with his ultimate. He simply used Everfrost to imprison four people, and with the burning effect of W's Bloodlust, he unleashed an explosive wave of AOE!

Knowing that the tide had turned against them, GAM could only try to salvage the situation by trading blows. Syndra used [Power Surge] followed by Lee Sin's [Dragon's Tail], forcibly killing Viper, who was left with only half health.

But Mingjing was still at full strength at this moment. Clockwork followed Morgana and Titan, and the puppet flew around, reaping all of GAM's members!

With a 1-for-4 exchange, EDG secured the second dragon and extended their gold lead to over 4,000!

On the GAM players' bench, everyone's faces were stiff, knowing that this match was probably going to be difficult.

Backstage, Coach GAM looked at the scene before him and couldn't help but sigh.

In fact, the players played very well in this game, and there was basically nothing wrong with them.

All I can say is that EDG is just too strong.

Phi is still too strong.

The third game lasted slightly longer than the first two.

GAM held on for 30 minutes before losing the game, thus ending their run at the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational.

"Three to zero! Time to clock out!"

"Congratulations to EDG! They swept GAM 3-0 and successfully advanced to the 2021 MSI Grand Finals!"

In the LPL live stream room, the barrage of comments surged and filled the entire screen.

The EDG members stood up with smiles on their faces. They looked at each other and smiled.

"So, what do you mean?" Mingjing and Holy Gunner bumped fists. "Who carried whom to victory this round?"

"You carried me to victory, you carried me to victory," Flandre's tone was full of admiration.

There's no way around it, you have to admit it.

The opposing team is targeting him so much, but he's still acting like nothing's wrong, and his team fights are still just as disastrous. What else can we say?

"Let's go fist bump," Ming Jing smiled and gestured for Holy Gun Bro to go ahead.

Ultimately, this is only the semi-final, and the opponent isn't particularly strong, so Ming Jing doesn't feel much joy, only anticipation.

The anticipation of winning the championship.

During the fist-fighting segment, Levi seemed to have accepted defeat gracefully, and even put extra effort into his fist-fight with Akira.

Mingjing and the captain exchanged a glance, then nodded simultaneously, and parted ways.

Levi is indeed an impressive jungler, with skillful mechanics and a unique style.

Unfortunately, he was Vietnamese.

If he had been born in China or South Korea, he might have achieved even greater success.

After the punching match, Mingjing followed his teammates backstage.

Ming Jing was interviewed again in this post-match interview.

Mingjing followed Sjokz onto the stage and heard the question Sjokz asked.

"After winning this BO5, EDG will officially advance to the finals. This is the second time you have met DK in the finals since the 2020 World Championship. Are you confident about the upcoming finals?"

Hearing this, Ming Jing pondered for a few seconds before saying, "You know, DK has always been a very strong team. In last year's World Championship, they put tremendous pressure on my team. If I remember correctly, my win rate against them is only 50% so far."

"But that's all in the past. I'm disappointed with how much they've improved this season, and I should be able to win this game easily."

The commentators from each region were taken aback by this arrogant interview.

Wow, you can do interviews like this?

In the LPL live stream room, the word "Crazy" had filled the entire screen.

Unfortunately, the interview did not reach the ears of the DK members.

At this moment, the DK team had turned off the live broadcast of the match and entered a meeting mode.

The finals are tomorrow, and they need to finalize their draft strategy.

"Now, this is the last question."

Kkoma looked at the players in front of him and said, "Should we ban Lee Sin?"

If it were just Flandre's Lee Sin, then DK wouldn't need to ban him at all, since Nuguri has plenty of ways to deal with him.

But the main question is, will Phi do that?

Phi has never picked Lee Sin in the mid lane, and Lee Sin is almost never seen in his ranked game history.

Based solely on the data, it seems unlikely that Phi would do so.

But the DK members all felt something was amiss.

“He can’t possibly not know!” Showmaker declared, “He’s definitely faking it!”

Lee Sin is indeed a difficult champion to play, and the playstyle of fighter champions is somewhat different from that of mid-lane champions. If you are not used to playing fighter mid-lane champions, you may have some problems.

Showmaker is a victim; he still hasn't mastered mid-lane Lee Sin.

But Phi is clearly not included in this category.

Anyone who watched the LPL Spring Split Finals knows that Phi once picked Renekton and delivered a terrifying performance of taking on three opponents in a clutch situation.

If Phi can play Renekton mid well, it means he is fully capable of playing warrior mid. Combined with his incredible talent, there's no reason why he couldn't master Lee Sin after such a long time!

Just ban them!
Ming Jing clearly hadn't expected that his carefully concealed trump card, which he had kept hidden for so long, would have no deceptive effect on DK at all.
(End of this chapter)