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

Chapter 181 One Kick to Death!
"I will use my own hands to make your dreams come true."

A blind monk appeared on the first floor of EDG and quickly locked onto the target.

This choice didn't generate much of a reaction from the audience and commentators, since Lee Sin is indeed a popular champion at this year's MSI, and he's practically a must-ban or must-pick.

But on DK's side, the pressure from this Lee Sin was immense.

The main problem is that the Lee Sin picked too quickly!
It must have been pre-selected; it was locked almost instantly the moment the window was opened!
If it were just Flandre's top lane Lee Sin, it definitely wouldn't have come to this!
Could he really do that?
The DK players were still unsure, so they decided to lock in Akali and Rumble and complete the hero trade.

On EDG's side, Maokai nodded as he looked at DK's choice.

Given that they were already set to let Lee Sin play, DK's draft strategy this time was indeed quite clear.

“But Akali shouldn’t be able to beat Lee Sin, right?” Maokai asked.

“Yes, they can’t beat them at all.” Ming Jing said confidently, “Their Akali can only go to the top lane, and the top laner can just pick a champion that can counter Akali.”

Maokai and Flandre discussed it and decided to pick Gragas for top lane.

Gragas doesn't have much of an advantage against Akali in lane, but he can at least protect himself. In mid-game team fights, Gragas's "Meatball" is devastating for assassins like Akali!

Most importantly, Gragas can also add some AP damage, which is crucial when both Rumble and Morgana, two AP junglers, are no longer available.

After locking in Gragas, Maokai locked in Kai'Sa as his third pick to further supplement AP damage. The first three picks directly determined the matchups for the three lanes.

Seeing EDG's two picks, the DK players were now certain that Phi did indeed know how to play Lee Sin.

But now that things have come to this, they have no room to struggle and can only proceed according to their planned strategy.

Currently, Lee Sin still has the possibility of being played as a jungler, so they are not in a hurry to lock in the mid lane. Instead, they will first pick Tristana to enter the second round of the draft.

"Then came the second round of bans! EDG chose to ban Zoe and Sett! These are both champions that Lee Sin has difficulty dealing with, so it seems that their Lee Sin is indeed a mid-laner!"

"On the other side, DK banned Nautilus and Leona! Then, as their fourth pick, they directly picked Riven! No problem! Riven's close-range control is quite effective against EDG's Gragas and Lee Sin!"

"Now the choice is back to EDG. With many jungle and support heroes banned, it seems that EDG doesn't have many options left!"

After much discussion, EDG decided to pick Jarvan IV as jungler and Rakan as support, both strong engage champions.

DK didn't hesitate much and immediately locked in Galio for the mid lane.

The lineups for both sides are now finalized.

Blue side EDG: Top lane Gragas, Jungle Jarvan IV, Mid lane Lee Sin, Bot lane Kai'Sa and Garen.

Red team DK: Top lane Akali, Jungle Rumble, Mid lane Galio, Bot lane Tristana.

Kkoma breathed a slight sigh of relief as he looked at the lineups of both sides.

From a team composition perspective, the draft picks in this game were quite good.

Although Phi ultimately got Lee Sin, they were prepared and picked heroes that could counter Lee Sin, and traded them for Akali and Rumble, forcing the opponent to lock in non-meta heroes like Gragas and Jarvan IV.

Whether from the perspective of laning or team fighting, they are not afraid at all.

It's no exaggeration to say that he won the draft in this game.

Kkoma patted Showmaker on the shoulder and then laughed, "This draft was pretty good, right? Keep it up, kids! If we can get through this one, the advantage will be back on our side!"

As everyone knows, the hardest part of coming back from a 0-2 deficit to win 3-2 is the fourth game.

Because in the fourth game, they were still behind in points, but the right to choose sides had been given to the other side, which put them under immense pressure and made things extremely difficult.

This is especially true for DK right now, because they also have to bear the unknown pressure of a mid-lane Lee Sin.

However, if they can win this game and tie the score at 2-2, not only will the pressure shift back to their opponents, but the Lee Sin's invincibility will also be broken.

A vast and boundless future awaits them!
The main question now is, what is Phi's skill level as a Lee Sin player?

Kkoma stepped to the center of the stage and exchanged fist bumps with EDG coach Maokai, trying to glean some clues from Maokai's expression.

But what he got in return was Maokai's incredibly bright and innocent smile, as if he had remembered something funny.

Seeing that innocent smile, Kkoma felt increasingly uneasy. He couldn't help but quicken his pace and hurried back to the backstage dressing room.

At this moment, the match has begun, and the heroes from both sides rush out of the fountain.

Mingjing moved the mouse, bought a Doran's Blade and a potion, and left the field, still discussing the opening strategy with the team.

In this game, JieJie played Jarvan IV, a champion who can gank at level two, showing considerable flexibility in tactical choices.

As long as the bot lane agrees, he wouldn't even mind paying homage to his cousin Mingjing and ganking bot lane twice.

However, the bot lane ultimately disagreed. The main reason was that their Kai'Sa and Rakan combination didn't have much laning strength to begin with. Even if they managed to get a kill by ganking bot lane at level two, it probably wouldn't change the fact that their bot lane was at a disadvantage.

The bottom lane should just patiently endure the pressure. If we consider a jungler's gank as a consumable resource, then that resource should naturally be invested in a better place.

“Then let’s try to catch him in the middle,” Ming Jing said. “As long as I can catch him with a flash, I can beat him however I want.”

Although Ming Jing is a lane-oriented player, he certainly wouldn't be obsessed with winning a one-on-one fight; that would be too foolish.

Moreover, Mingjing was already at a huge disadvantage in the mid lane this game, so he should call for backup whenever possible and cripple the opponent as soon as possible!

The main reason why Lee Sin is so popular in the mid lane this patch is that his skill set is indeed very comprehensive.

The shield and healing from [Golden Bell] and the efficient wave clear from [Thunder Strike] make it almost impossible for Lee Sin to lose lanes against any champion.

It's almost impossible to completely crush Lee Sin, so the usual approach to countering this champion is to focus on roaming and fighting.

Galio, who also possesses wave clearing and fighting abilities, is clearly in this category.

In fact, as long as Lee Sin can build Mercury's Treads and Bloodthirster, he can make Galio feel like an idiot, but Mingjing doesn't want to wait until that moment; he has to increase the tempo!

"Okay!" Jie Jie readily agreed, then simply chose to start with the red buff in the bottom half of the map, and then kept a close eye on the situation in the mid lane.

In the mid lane, Ming Jing followed the minions to the lane and played as aggressively as ever. As soon as the minions engaged, he pushed forward and hit six minions at the same time with an E!

Putting everything else aside, just looking at the wave-pushing efficiency of this E skill, no other hero can even come close.

Even against ranged champions, Lee Sin can even sacrifice health to reach level two first.

Showmaker certainly wouldn't miss this opportunity. Galio immediately pushed forward, seizing the chance before Lee Sin could create distance, and used his passive to hit the melee minions, successfully affecting Lee Sin with the AOE of his passive.

Furthermore, he seized the opportunity as Ming Jing continued to retreat, unleashing a Q [War Gale] that hit both the ranged minion and the Lee Sin simultaneously!
Galio's passive and Q both hit Lee Sin and minions simultaneously, allowing Galio to catch up with Lee Sin's level 2 progression.

It even gave Galio a health advantage!
Seeing this, Showmaker felt a little more at ease. Relying on his skills to refresh the cooldown of his passive ability, he took another step forward to maintain his dominance.

Mingjing waited a few seconds for his E skill to cool down, and then quickly returned. This time, he attacked both the enemy and the minions at the same time, but Showmaker didn't dodge or evade at all and landed another passive attack.

The second wave of minions is slowly spawning, and both sides are neck and neck in terms of reaching level two, as both have powerful wave-pushing abilities.

However, there is a slight imbalance in terms of health points.

After taking three hits from Galio, Lee Sin's health was clearly starting to drop.

Seeing this, Showmaker felt very gratified.

All I can say is that Galio has a significant advantage against melee heroes, and it's almost impossible for him to be at a disadvantage!
Moreover, Phi's control over Lee Sin seems rather average.
As long as he maintains this pace, once he reaches level three, the initiative will definitely fall into DK's hands!
But the reversal came quickly.

The second wave of minions slowly appeared, and Galio quickly cleared the first melee minion to reach level two first.

Showmaker was suppressed by Mingjing for three whole games, and he had been looking forward to this advantage for far too long.

Although he didn't know why Mingjing's laning phase had become so full of holes, he certainly wouldn't miss this opportunity to exert pressure. Galio quickly moved forward, trying to drive the Lee Sin away.

But at this moment, the level 1 Lee Sin, facing the level 2 Galio, showed no intention of retreating. Instead, he advanced and used a basic attack to bring the melee minion to low health.

Showmaker looked at the scene before him, his brow furrowing slightly as he realized something was amiss.

Galio's strength at level two is insane; whether he learns W or E, Lee Sin has absolutely no chance to fight back.

This Lee Sin dared to turn around and fight back; there's definitely something wrong with him!

Sure enough, the grass in the riverbed rustled, and a prince holding a halberd rushed out of the grass!

Two levels of attack!? Damn it!

Showmaker cursed inwardly and quickly invested his skill points into E [Righteous Punch], using E to escape!

Ming Jing deliberately sacrificed his health and pretended to be stupid at the beginning of the game, waiting for this moment. Of course, he couldn't let Galio get away so easily.

Ming Jing's hand speed was incredibly fast at that moment. The Lee Sin used E to flash forward and flashed into Galio's E skill's path!

"Buzz!"

At the same time, the melee minion that had just been weakened was also instantly killed by this E, and Lee Sin also leveled up to level two!
The next instant, Galio punched, sending the Lee Sin flying, but his own movement was also interrupted!
Taking this opportunity, JieJie's prince quickly stepped forward and unleashed an EQ combo!

Both the prince and the Lee Sin have exceptionally high combat power at both levels. If this EQ hits, it's certain death. Showmaker had no choice but to use Flash to dodge!

But Jie Jie was unusually focused at this moment, and the prince decisively followed and dashed after him!
Two golden lights flashed one after the other, and the Prince followed up with an EQ flash, forcefully knocking Galio into the air! Cheers erupted from the audience, with countless viewers applauding JieJie's daring move!
"EQ flash knock-up! Showmaker is out of Flash now! Looks like we can kill him!"

Ming Jing was also shouting "Awesome!" in the voice chat. He quickly used his second E skill [Bone Breaker] to slow down Galio, and then followed up with a basic attack!

Without his E and Flash, Galio had no way to escape and could only be chased and auto-attacked relentlessly by the Lee Sin and Jarvan IV brothers.

With the combined buffs of Conqueror and Demacian Standard, even their basic attacks deal considerable damage!

Once Galio was brought to low health, Mingjing calmly applied Q [Sonic Wave] at close range, followed by an auto-attack and then Q [Echo Strike], and finally a basic attack to reduce Galio's health to zero!
"First blood!"

The sound of First Blood echoed throughout the stadium, and the three commentators in the LPL commentary booth roared in unison!

"Nice! A perfect level 2 gank mid!" Miller shouted excitedly, "First blood goes to Xiaofei, no problem!"

"I knew it!" Colonel Guan shouted, "Given Xiaofei's laning skills, he couldn't possibly lose that much health at level one! He must have planned to gank mid beforehand, so he was deliberately baiting the enemy!"

The doll chuckled and said, "But Brother Xiaofei's acting was still a bit lacking. Next time, I suggest you make it more realistic!"

The chat room was filled with laughter.

[Two levels of enforcement!]

Wow, so this is the legacy of EDG, right?

[What a jerk! Who said Xiaofei is an honest guy who only tells the truth? How come he's so mean in games?!]

[Outside the game, he's an honest guy; inside the game, he's a king of Lilliput. You didn't even know that?]

[That's right, the Lee Sin who got First Blood went back to base and immediately got two Mercurial Scimitars. I don't know what Galio can use to counter him.]

The live stream footage showed that the deceased Showmaker was clearly panicked, his eyes darting around, and his hands clicking the mouse and keyboard unconsciously. It was unclear what he could possibly do while dead.

In contrast, Ming Jing's expression was much more relaxed, and he was full of praise.

"Awesome!" Ming Jing laughed. "Great EQ flash!"

When Mingjing saw Galio choose to use his E to escape, he realized the possibility of killing him, so he decisively used his E to flash forward, killing the melee minions while stopping his car with his own body.

But he alone is definitely not enough to kill Galio; JieJie will need to step in.

Fortunately, Jie Jie didn't miss this opportunity.

"Of course!" Jie Jie chuckled. "You've already used Flash, so I definitely understand what you mean!"

Hearing the mid-laner and jungler celebrate their victory, the top laner, Flandre, relaxed and laughed, "So, is it time to start killing?"

"It's still early, still early," Ming Jing said cheerfully. "Take your time, no rush."

Although Mingjing got the kill, he is only level two and doesn't have Flash yet. No one can guarantee what will happen before Flash is available again.

So it's definitely better to take it slow.

After taking down the enemy, Ming Jing didn't rush back to town. Instead, he slowly finished off the remaining enemies and used Doran's Blade to recover his health.

Showmaker teleported back to the lane immediately after respawning and maintained strong pressure after landing.

After all, it's two lives against one life, and he's in better condition, so of course he'll try to gain an advantage.

But this is obviously impossible.

Ming Jing lost health earlier only to lure Showmaker into a trap.

You don't really think your passive ability can hit me, do you?

Ming Jing stopped pretending at this point and began to show off his exquisite distance control. Showmaker used two passives and a Q in succession, but all of them missed.

On the other hand, Mingjing used his E skill, which has a larger range, to hit Galio multiple times!

With this shift in balance, both sides' health reached 80% at the same time, bringing them back to the same starting line!
Soon after, Mingjing seized the opportunity when both junglers showed up in the top lane, dashed into Galio's face and exchanged a combo of damage!
Galio's combo damage was incredibly powerful, reducing Lee Sin's health to only 30% in one go!
But Lee Sin wasn't going to back down. He chased Galio down with Conqueror, used Echo Slam to get close, and finished him off with his second E, Thunderstrike, forcibly reducing Galio's health to the same level!

The clash of muscles in the mid lane thrilled countless viewers!

At the same time, many people are still puzzled.

Wait, isn't this Lee Sin still at base? How can he possibly go toe-to-toe with Galio?
If he goes back to base to buy more equipment, how will Galio fight back?
Mingjing quickly demonstrated it himself.

The reason he fought Galio to the bitter end was because five minutes had passed, and he needed to recall to base to finish off the enemy. Naturally, he wanted to reduce the enemy's health as much as possible before recalling.

After Mingjing returned to the city and then TP'd back online, he was already equipped with an outrageous set of gear: Iron Spike Whip and Burning Gem.

Opposite him was Galio, who had barely recovered 40% of his health after drinking a potion, and that was with only his initial equipment.

Right now, Galio practically only has two paths to take.

Either go back to base, or you'll lose this wave of minions.

Either you get kicked to death under the tower and lose the wave of minions.

Just to be on the safe side, he still called for Jie Jie to come and help via voice message.

JieJie might not be able to help in this play, but even getting an assist would be good.

At this moment, the ninth wave of cannon minions has slowly come online. As soon as Ming Jing came online, he used his E skill to hit all the minions and began to push the lane aggressively!
Showmaker sensed a deathly aura as he watched Lee Sin push the lane.

Because he knew that after the Lee Sin pushed through this wave of cannon minions, he would definitely level up to level six.

A level 6 Lee Sin could easily kill a Galio with 40% health by kicking him.

But he really didn't want to give up this wave of artillery units.

Fortunately, Canyon was farming F6 nearby, so he could only quickly call for Canyon to come and protect him, sharing the kill under the tower.

Ming Jing looked at Rambo walking out from the alley next to F6, narrowed his eyes slightly, and found it a little funny.

You don't think a Rambo can save you, do you?
Who doesn't have teammates?
Jie Jie arrived even faster, already crouching in the grass along the upper riverbank, just a thin wall away from Rambo!

Seeing this, Jie Jie simply took action!
As Rambo was walking, a military flag suddenly fell from the sky and landed at his feet.

The prince followed closely behind, his halberd hooked around the military flag as he charged forward, mercilessly sending him flying!

"Get him!" JieJie shouted in the voice chat.

But Ming Jing had a different opinion when he looked at the situation.

Rumble is tough and has W and Flash. Moreover, if he uses his abilities on Rumble, Galio will definitely follow up and use his crowd control to interrupt their output.

If you can't kill Rambo instantly, you can at most use Flash.

Although using Flash would provide convenience for the Vanguard Group in the near future, this is clearly not what Mingjing wants.

That would be better.
Looking at the scene before him, Ming Jing suddenly had an idea.

He quickly maneuvered the Lee Sin towards Rumble's direction.

He didn't use Q or W; he simply took advantage of the knock-up to walk over and used E to slow down the enemy.

This move is certainly reasonable, since Rumble has Flash, and it's logical to save the QW dashes for Flash.

But just relying on E and basic attacks, the damage is already explosive enough. After all, Lee Sin is played with Conqueror and E maxed, plus the attack speed boost from Xin Zhao's Banner of the Army. His basic attacks are incredibly powerful, and with Jarvan IV's help, Rumble can be quickly reduced to below half health!

Canyon had little room to maneuver at this point. With Lee Sin's Q and W abilities already in hand, he didn't even dare to use Flash. He could only turn around and use his E ability to slow Lee Sin down, and then use W to speed up his escape.

Showmaker noticed his teammate's predicament and naturally rushed to his aid.

Galio timed his attack perfectly and unleashed his E [Righteous Punch].

Use E to knock Lee Sin into the air, triggering Aftershock, then hold onto W. When Lee Sin comes up, taunt to interrupt. As long as Lee Sin's movement is restricted, escaping shouldn't be a problem.

However, Ming Jing had been holding back his skills, waiting for this very moment!

The instant Galio stepped back, Mingjing decisively moved aside by touching his eye!

Lee Sin used a one-centimeter ward hop to reach Rumble's left side from below, and then unleashed his ultimate, Dragon's Tail!
At this moment, the three—Lee Sin, Rumble, and Galio—are standing in a straight line.

"Ichiku!"

With a powerful straight punch, God Fist Lee Sin sent Rambo flying backward.

On the other side, Galio also used his E to crash into them!

The mid and jungler from DK collided, and Galio, who already had only 40% health, was instantly reduced to low health by the impact!

Ming Jing had anticipated this scene, and he immediately followed up with a Q [Sonic Wave], which landed precisely on Galio!

Killing Rambo was a ruse; killing Galio was the real goal!

The Lee Sin swiftly used Echo Slam to dash forward, followed by a basic attack and Iron Whip, instantly emptying Galio's health bar!
(End of this chapter)