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

Chapter 189 Roaming Mid Laner

6 month 18 day.

Day 5 of Week 2 of the LPL Summer Regular Season.

Friday at 5 p.m. is undoubtedly a prime time to watch the game.

Today, LPL finally welcomed back EDG after a long absence.

This is the MSI champion's first match in the Summer Split, so the level of attention is naturally high.

Even though there was still half an hour before the match started, the live broadcast room was already packed with people.

The live broadcast camera was now focused on the two teams' rest areas, where the players were preparing for the match.

On the TES side, everyone was showing determined looks as they discussed the next draft strategy with their coach, White Crescent.

For the TES team, the results of the Summer Split are crucial, especially since their performance in the Spring Split was not ideal. Considering the chance to qualify for the World Championship, they must achieve good results in the Summer Split.

Moreover, their start to the summer season was not ideal.

In the opening match of the Summer Split, TES made their first appearance, facing off against their old rival JDG, with whom they had been battling for a year.

Although JDG has lost Mingjing this year and their strength has declined since moving away from the jungle carry meta, Top Esports' decline in strength is even more dramatic.

JD Gaming swept Top Esports in both matches, easily securing victory in the opening game.

Top Esports, currently down 0-1, now faces EDG, which is clearly a major test of their mentality.

In contrast, EDG's situation is quite different.

Although the group was also discussing business cards, they appeared much more relaxed.

"Alright viewers, welcome to the fifth day of the second week of the 2021 LPL Summer Regular Season!" Wang Duoduo, sitting in the commentary booth, shouted loudly, "Today, we finally witness the debut of the newly crowned MSI champions, EDG!"

"This is not only EDG's first match in the Summer Split, but it should also be Xiaofei's first match in the LPL regular season!" Gugu chimed in, "If I remember correctly, Xiaofei has never played in an LPL regular season match before!"

“Yes! Xiaofei has been playing high-intensity games since his debut!” Wang Duoduo also laughed and said, “Perhaps we can look forward to what kind of performance Xiaofei will put on when the intensity of the regular season is not so high!”

The stands remained empty.

But this didn't stop countless viewers from gathering in the live stream room and flooding the screen with comments.

Top Esports' performance this year has been less than ideal, yet they still have to face EDG, making this the most cruel episode yet.

"Alright, the players are now entering the arena!"

"We can see that Top Esports' top laner is still Qingtian! It's worth mentioning that Qingtian and Xiaofei are both from the 2020 youth training camp, so this is like an old friend reuniting!"

Due to their unsatisfactory performance in the Spring Split and the impact of public opinion, TES decided to bench 369 and instead promoted Qingtian, the top laner from their second team.

Sunny day, Ming Jing still has a deep impression of Yu Zihan.

This guy's physique is unforgettable once you've seen it, and it's a testament to the high quality of his gaming chair.

Every time Mingjing wins a championship, Yu Zihan sends him a WeChat message to congratulate him.

As in this case, Yu Zihan immediately typed a greeting when both players joined the game room.

"We met at the summit, venerate the gods."

For some reason, Yu Zihan's words always had a slightly slangy tone.

"Shall we meet at the summit?" Ming Jing typed cheerfully, "OK."

Seeing that his old acquaintances from the youth academy had also made it into the starting lineup, Ming Jing was naturally happy.

And it must be said that last year's youth training camp really lived up to expectations.

Players like Peng Lixun, Fu Minghang, and Luo Wenjun, who stood out from the crowd in the youth training camp, have now become LPL first-team starters and are basically the backbone of their respective teams.

With the addition of Ming Jing and Yu Zihan in this match, five players from last year's youth training camp have now made it into the starting lineup.

This number alone exceeds the total of previous youth training camps.

As a result, countless viewers jokingly referred to the 2020 youth training camp as a golden age, and even produced a "Heavenly Emperor" named Ming Jing.

Since there were no spectators, the entrance process was kept simple.

The players from both sides took their seats in turn, and the preparation time quickly came to an end. Finally, the player from the blue team, Flandre, clicked to start the game, and the ban/pick phase began!
As the BP panel was switched in, Wang Duoduo and Gugu also naturally entered the commentary mode.

"Because Top Esports had the first-choice side in the Spring Finals, according to the rules, the first-choice side should be returned to EDG in the Summer Split! And we can see that EDG still chose the blue side in this game!"

"We can see that both sides are pushing forward with their bans very quickly!"

Since the summer season has just begun, the meta is still unpredictable, the relative strengths and weaknesses of heroes are still uncertain, and the two sides haven't played any scrims yet, so there's not much to say about the bans; it's basically about banning the opponent's signature heroes.

Maokai, positioned on the blue side, chose to ban Sett, Varus, and Udyr.

Sunny's gameplay style is highly consistent with his physique, highlighting that he doesn't play female heroes, but only heavy warriors, with Sett being his specialty.

In addition, Varus and Udyr were champions with a high pick rate during the TES Spring Split, so they deserve to be banned.

"Then, on the other side, Top Esports' ban picks are quite interesting. They chose to ban Diana, Lee Sin, and Rumble! That means Akali and Lucian are both free! It seems Top Esports' ban picks are quite bold!"

When facing EDG, any team will inevitably have to choose between Mingjing's signature heroes and the meta heroes.

Even DK couldn't give a good answer to this question; they even chose to gamble on Mingjing not playing Lee Sin in the final game of the finals.

As expected, they lost everything.

But Topsports seems to have its own ideas on this issue.

Since Lucian and Akali are also Knight's signature champions, Top Esports chose to trust Knight this time and simply picked these two champions, with each side picking one.

"That's very bold!" Maokai praised the idea with a smile before asking, "So, what do you mean, Mingjing? Which one do you want?"

"Hmm," Ming Jing thought for two seconds, then said, "Akali."

In high-level matchups, Akali is actually at a slight disadvantage in the laning phase.

The team that picks Akali will inevitably suffer some losses in the first few minutes.

But Mingjing didn't care about this, as he could make up for it through manipulation.

He was concerned about the mid-to-late game.

In the mid-to-late game, Akali's dominance in split pushing and team fights far surpasses Lucian's, something that is difficult to compensate for through melee skill alone.

Moreover, Lucian has been nerfed in this version, making him even less worth picking.

After securing Akali, TES's choices were self-evident: they immediately picked Lucian and Renekton, securing their mid and top lanes first.

"Next, EDG will choose Gwen for top lane! No problem, Gwen is indeed good against Renekton, and then they'll pick Jarvan IV for jungle. The top, mid, and jungle are now set!"

"Then, for Top Esports, picking Ziggs as their third pick is fine, it fills the gap in their AP damage! But Ziggs is still a bit vulnerable to Akali, which could be a potential problem!"

The two sides traded blows, and the lineups were quickly finalized.

Blue side EDG: Top laner Gwen, Jungler Jarvan IV, Mid laner Akali, Bot lane Kai'Sa and Nautilus. Red side TES: Top laner Renekton, Jungler Blade of the Ruined King, Mid laner Lucian, Bot lane Bot lane Bottom Lancer and Leona.

On the TES player bench, White Crescent finalized the lineups for both sides, then nodded, "Not bad, the strength is sufficient in the early, mid, and late game!"

"Don't rush this game. Just stay calm, slowly capitalize on the opponent's mistakes, and drag the game into the late game where the advantage will be ours!"

"Especially in the mid lane, Zhuo Ding, you must play it safe in lane. As long as the mid lane doesn't collapse, we have a chance!"

"This game depends on you, Karsa. Make sure you counter-gank well! And make sure you get the Herald at eight minutes!"

Karsa nodded in response to the coach's instructions, already having a general idea of ​​what to do at the start of the game.

After all, he is a top jungler known for his radar-like counter-ganking skills.

Why was Top Esports able to reach the top of the LPL last year with the jungle carry meta? One key reason is that junglers in the jungle carry meta prioritize clearing the jungle before ganking, making the routes too clear and allowing Karsa to easily control the map.

With the current version changes, the Jarvan IV champion that JieJie picked is known for its unconventional jungle play, and can even starve himself to gank, adding a bit of difficulty to Karsa's map control. However, he is experienced and this difficulty is not beyond his ability.

The match had barely begun when Karsa precisely caught out Jie Jie's three-point grab.

The mid and jungle players from both sides engaged in a thrilling 2v2 battle. Neither side backed down, and they fought until the very end. Both sides played very steadily, using Flash to save their lives!

"The two sides' mid and jungle players exchanged four Flashes in this exchange! But no kills were achieved!" Wang Duoduo laughed when he saw this. "This was a friendly exchange!"

"But this might hurt his left hand a bit!" GuGu chimed in. "Without Flash, Lucian might not be able to maintain his pressure on Akali!"

Gu Gu's words hit the nail on the head; this was exactly what Jie Jie aimed to achieve in the third level.

From the beginning, JieJie didn't expect to kill Lucian; he just wanted to force the opponent to use Flash.

Although the counter-gank caused a slight setback, the objective was ultimately achieved.

As long as Mingjing in the mid lane can be freed up, everything else will be fine.

In the following time, JieJie maintained his rapid offensive pace, showcasing the sharpness of a young jungler.

The prince rarely farms jungle camps; he almost always runs back and forth between the top, mid, and bottom lanes, making a strong presence.

What's frustrating is that Karsa's counter-ganking in this game was so overpowered that it was almost like wherever Jarvan IV appeared, Blade of the Ruined King's [Scorched Earth] would appear there as well.

After several rounds of fighting, although some kills were generated, neither side really lost anything, and the gap between them couldn't be widened at all.

This left Jie Jie quite helpless.

Why are you everywhere?

But JieJie wasn't flustered; he simply turned around and went back to the jungle.

He planted the seeds, and now they should bloom.

Seven minutes quickly passed. On the mid lane side, Mingjing pushed the lane into the tower.

Since Mingjing's Akali reached level six, ZuoShou's mid-lane laning phase has been extremely stable, giving him absolutely no chance.

Of course, his playing style is correct.

Because of Mingjing's ability to seize opportunities, if his left hand shows even the slightest weakness, he will surely face certain death!
Not only is Zuo Zhonglan still alive, but he's also leading in CS thanks to his long-range advantage, which is quite an achievement.

Showmaker has never done that before.

Everyone knows that Phi is an absolute laning monster; his primary goal is always to dominate his opponent in lane.

If the left hand can stabilize the middle lane and slow down Phi's momentum, Top Esports will have a greater chance of winning!
Ming Jing could roughly guess his opponent's idea from the way he played with his left hand, and couldn't help but laugh for a moment.

You guys are really unlucky.

If it were Mingjing a month ago, he might really have been going head-to-head with Top Esports in the mid lane.

He might just send his jungler and support to the mid lane, determined to kill Lucian once and for all.

But now, he doesn't think that way anymore.

Because after winning the MSI championship, Mingjing was also seeking change.

He is also exploring how to balance laning and roaming. This will be the final step for him to become the ultimate form.

Therefore, he is deliberately changing his playing style.

In his view, only by perfecting both laning and roaming can one combine the two and reach that ultimate level.

Therefore, he originally planned to completely change his playstyle in the summer split, and first become a roaming mid laner.

After pushing the lane, Mingjing turned around and disappeared from the mid lane.

This surprised Zuo Shou slightly.

He had prepared to guard against Prince Yuezhong, but it turned out that EDG had no intention of targeting him at all.
Where can he go?
Immediately afterwards, countless yellow question marks lit up in the middle lane, causing Top Esports' top and bottom lanes to tense up, and an overwhelming sense of crisis to wash over them.

But to the surprise of the Top Esports team, Akali's target was not the side lanes.

It's the jungle area.

In the early 2v2 mid-jungle skirmish, it wasn't just the mid laner who lost his Flash; both junglers also lost theirs.

Compared to the Renekton and Bomber with Flash, the Ruined King without Flash is obviously easier to catch!
Karsa blinked and saw Akali already using her ultimate to dash right in his face, then unleashing a Q at him.

But what can Karsa do with Blade of the Ruined King without Flash? He can only turn around, use W to stun Akali, and then use his ultimate to escape over the wall.

But the next second, Akali dashed in with R2, landed AQE smoothly, then unleashed a full combo of EAQ, and finally used a smoke grenade to accelerate, chasing after him with another QA combo, easily securing a solo kill!

"Dansha!" Wang Duoduo's voice rang out from the commentary booth. "Xiaofei's sense of smell is very sharp this time. He accurately caught Karsa going to counter-gank in the bottom lane!"

And it's not over yet.

At this point, the camera cuts back to the top lane.

Then we saw that JieJie's Prince had appeared from the red buff area of ​​TES, cutting off the retreat of QingTian's Crocodile!
JieJie had previously suffered from Karsa's counter-gank.

Now that Karsa has been taken down, he certainly won't hold back anymore!
Saint Gun had been waiting for a long time, and Miss Gwen immediately used her E to rush in, first applying a slow effect with her ultimate.

JieJie held both EQ and R in his hands and chased after the crocodile, firing a series of shots!

Even though the crocodile has thick skin and tough flesh, it was still struggling to withstand being chased by Gwen and the prince. It could only use two E skills to retreat.

But just as he emerged, Gwen's final ultimate ability pierced towards him, slowing him down. This was immediately followed by Jarvan IV's EQ combo!

Sunny dodged R with a flash, and only then did JieJie use his last move, trapping the crocodile with a powerful ultimate!

At this point, Qingtian had no choice but to activate R to counterattack.

The level 6 crocodile was quite powerful. After turning around and biting the prince, it unleashed a full combo, bringing the prince to near-death.

But that was his limit when he was low on health. At that moment, Gwent used her Q with full passive to cut him down and empty his health bar!
The situation has undergone a subtle change.

(End of this chapter)