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

Chapter 197 Forehand and Backhand Teaching!
"The Blue Legion has slain the Rift Herald!"

The message that the vanguard had been eliminated flashed across the screens of all ten players on both sides.

The EDG players looked at the scene before them with smiles on their faces, already confident of victory.

After this wave, the momentum is completely back!
The FPX players, who had just suffered a crushing defeat, all had their heads down, and the atmosphere was somewhat somber.

They knew that this round was probably over.

The director acted quickly, bringing up the replay as FPX players returned to base.

The combined ultimate abilities of Lillia, Lee Sin, and Gnar are a true visual feast!
"The most crucial thing was Xiaofei's kick!" Colonel Guan couldn't help but exclaim. "Not only did he kick away Kennen who was about to use his ultimate, but he also knocked two more enemies into the fray! He created the perfect opportunity for Flandre to use his ultimate!"

"That was so cool!" Miller couldn't help but laugh. "And that was purely an on-the-spot reaction! You can only say that Xiaofei's team fight strategy is just too clear!"

The live stream then switched back to the match, showing that all five EDG players had returned to the online arena.

Guan Zeyuan glanced at the data on the screen and said, "After this fight, the situation is a bit off. With a 6-1 kill score, EDG's gold lead has reached 3,000!"

"It's hard to believe that just three minutes ago, EDG was at a disadvantage!" Miller exclaimed in amazement. "Ever since Xiaofei switched to a roaming playstyle, the team's pace has accelerated dramatically!"

After this wave of attacks, the rhythm became quite clear.

Even the two commentators could guess EDG's decision.

They secured the Rift Herald, then ganked the bottom lane with four players, freeing up the bottom lane, and then controlled the dragon.

This has almost become EDG's formula after they take the Herald, but this powerful punch has almost never been successfully blocked by the opponent.

Even FPX is no exception.

To ensure the stability of this four-man gank on the second lane, EDG did not rush to make a move, but instead slowly accumulated strength and waited for the right opportunity.

The canyon entered a brief period of calm lasting a few minutes.

It wasn't until eleven minutes later, when the dragon spawned, that Mingjing finally returned to base and upgraded his Iron Spike Whip into a Bloodthirsty Battle Axe.

Because of the previous creation of cloth armor boots to boost combat power, the speed of thirsting for blood was slightly slower.

Of course, with three kills and three assists, Ming Jing can't be too slow; eleven minutes is already considered incredibly fast.

With Bloodlust and Tier 2 boots, Lee Sin is a god in this environment where the game is only a little over ten minutes in.

In that instant, EDG accelerated dramatically!
JieJie's Lillia appeared behind the FPX tower, cutting off the minion wave while placing a control ward, and a teleportation flash instantly lit up!

The Lee Sin, who had just returned to the fountain, immediately teleported to the back of FPX's first tower and launched a massive four-man gank on the second tower!
It was as if a towering wave had suddenly surged on a clear blue sea, and the canyon, which had been calm for just a few minutes, was suddenly engulfed in a bloody storm!
The pace of this game was so fast that FPX was completely unprepared, with neither their jungler nor support in the bottom lane!
"Liu Qingsong and Lin Weixiang still want to break through! But they can't, Lilia's ability to keep them in place is too strong!"

Lillia landed a QR combo, and FPX's bot lane duo instantly fell asleep.

Furthermore, because of the lack of crowd control in the laning phase against a duo like Ezreal and Karma, Lin Weixiang didn't choose Cleanse this game, but instead took Heal, leaving him with no way to deal with the sleep status.

As the progress bar reached its end, the FPX duo lay neatly asleep on the spot.

Before going to sleep, Liu Qingsong held up the security door in his hand, trying to make a last-ditch effort.

Jie Jie wasn't in a hurry to wake the two of them, but instead stood in front of Brom.

At that moment, Ming Jing landed via Teleport and immediately understood what Jie Jie meant. He used his W [Golden Bell Shield] to quickly reach Lillia's side.

At this moment, in front of him, Brûlée and Frost were now aligned in a line.

As a jungler, JieJie certainly understood what Lee Sin needed at this moment, so he chose the right angle for MingJing early on.

Mingjing unleashed a powerful "Dragon Tail" kick, sending Braum flying and simultaneously knocking Ashe away. He then landed a Q on Ashe, followed by an E followed by a Bloodthirsty Q, delivering a massive burst of damage across three stages almost instantly, wiping out Ashe's health bar!

"—Rampage!"

The kill was so fast that the EZ and Karma duo in the bottom lane didn't even have time to get an assist!

"Hey, hey, slow down, slow down!" Viper sounded quite anxious over the voice chat, her Chinese even becoming more fluent. "Give me one!"

Seeing his teammates carrying the team so well, while he still went 0-0-0, Viper was naturally anxious.

If things continue like this, won't he be out of the picture again?
Fortunately, EDG's mid and jungle players held back, bringing Braum to low health before stopping.

Viper, shielded by Karma, used his E to engage and secured the kill with a Q [Mystic Shot].

"A perfect four-man gank on the bot lane, and FPX's bot lane duo is completely wiped out!"

Miller, in the commentary booth, spoke with great enthusiasm, clearly indicating his stance: "JieJie releases the Herald, EDG is going to take the first tower!"

EDG's bot lane duo already had an advantageous matchup, with the opposing bot lane's first tower only having half health left. Now, with the Rift Herald charging in, the first tower bounty flew directly into the pockets of all four.

And that wasn't all. After destroying the tower, the four immediately turned around and headed straight for the river.

"Moreover, the dragon has only just been born, so EDG can still control it!"

The camera then cut to the top lane, where FPX launched a coordinated attack on Flandre.

Flandre certainly understood the principle of the half-area rule, and could have easily gone there, but Khan started a slow push early on, accumulating a large wave of minions.

If he retreats this wave, he will not only lose a large number of minions, but also lose the top tower!

So Flandre was quite frank and simply decided not to leave.

He chose to push the minion wave outside the tower and used RWQ to clear the entire wave of minions!

This scene immediately alarmed FPX. Tian and Doinb charged from behind the tower, carrying the tower with them, and together with Khan, they controlled and killed him.

However, Flandre had already cleared the minion wave before dying, so even if he died, he wouldn't lose much. Moreover, because he cleared the minion wave, FPX was unable to push the top lane tower and had to give up!

Seeing this, Doinb was so anxious that he scratched his head and felt that EDG was really too troublesome.

Even the weakest top laner on paper has their own strengths.

"Holy Gun's handling of this situation was excellent!" In the commentary booth, Guan Daxiao nodded in praise. "Although he still died, this was probably the best possible move in terms of minimizing losses!"

The camera then cut to the bottom half of the map, where JieJie used Smite to control the dragon, officially ending this round of attack.

Looking at the economic panel above, you can see that the kill score is now 8-2, and EDG's economic lead has expanded to 5,000!

At this point, the game enters a lane transition phase, with both sides deploying individual lanes on the sidelines.

FPX played a clever trick this time, switching lanes top and bottom, creating a mismatch between the top and mid lanes. Logically, this should be a strong period for Irelia, but the reality is quite the opposite. Irelia with Bloodthirster and maxed W has no dominance in the side lanes without an economic advantage.

Flandre specifically chose to build Divine Shield this game. Although he lost the tankiness of Bloodthirst in team fights, he was still very accurate in taking down Doinb's Irelia!

As for the bottom lane, it goes without saying that Kennen is just going to get kicked when facing a Lee Sin with four kills!
Changing the cable was pointless.

Moreover, the mid lane is even more so. EZ's fighting power is invincible when he has one or two items. What's more, in this version, Divine Shield also has health regeneration. In addition, even if Lee Sin doesn't consume mana, he can still get the blue buff, which can be described as emperor-level treatment!
EZ, with the blue buff under his feet, slowly whittled down FPX's bot lane duo's health to below half after two minutes of using QQQ, forcing them to recall!

Viper seized the opportunity to easily push down the mid-lane tower and, with the help of their team, take down the dragon, further expanding their advantage.

Forced into a corner, FPX had no choice but to gank Lee Sin in the bottom lane, attempting to secure Mingjing's bounty.

However, Ming Jing had already crafted a second Bloodthirster, making him incredibly tanky and impossible to kill in a short time.

Moreover, EDG's support was incredibly fast. JieJie and Meiko immediately appeared, and together with Flandre who teleported in, the four-man team was formed in no time!
Despite his low health, Lee Sin fought with increasing ferocity, working with his teammates to eliminate the FPX members one by one!

"Triple kill!"

"Godlike!"

This was FPX's last desperate counterattack.

With most of FPX's players injured or killed, the outcome of the match was no longer in doubt.

With an 8,000 gold lead, EDG swept away all the turrets and neutral resources like autumn leaves in the wind.

At 24 minutes, the economic gap had reached a terrifying 13,000. With the Baron buff, EDG pushed forward and easily won the first game!

"Then let's congratulate EDG!" Miller shouted loudly, "EDG takes the first win in this regular season top seed battle!"

Looking at Mingjing standing with his teammates on the screen, Miller's tone was full of praise: "Facing Doinb's hidden moves, Xiaofei's handling was textbook-level! His performance in this game was flawless!"

"It's mainly about Xiaofei's skills!" Colonel Guan emphasized. "Heroes may be countered, but Xiaofei's reaction and skills are something that can never be countered! If you want to defeat him, you can only defeat him head-on!"

Ming Jing blushed slightly as he listened to the commentator's barrage of compliments.

Is that so cringeworthy?
Beside him, Flandre was all smiles, singing in a rhythmic, melodious voice, "Wow, Little Fly's moves!"

"You mean disgusting people?"

Ming Jing was a little speechless, but simply said, "Let's go back to the lounge first and talk about BP."

Although they won this game, the Irelia player is definitely not to be ignored and is worth discussing.

Maokai and Mingjing were of one mind. After watching the players return to the rest room, they immediately pulled everyone together to start a discussion.

"Next game we need to get red, the draft will be more difficult."

Maokai spoke up, "Mingjing, what do you think of this move with Irelia?"

Ming Jing immediately nodded: "Very good! The main W and Bloodthirst build is too strong in the first twenty minutes!"

This build for Irelia is not only great at clearing waves, but it's also expected to dominate in mid-game skirmishes!
E and R are two area-of-effect crowd control skills that are incredibly disruptive, while W and the Bloodthirsty Axe provide tankiness, allowing Irelia to absorb a lot of damage!
However, Mingjing had anticipated this early on, so he had been trying to avoid small-scale clashes with FPX.

The only team fight was the Vanguard team fight at eight minutes, when Irelia's equipment was not yet fully completed, and she died from the control chain, so she could not use her strength.

"It's pretty much in line with our training team's assessment. This build has changed Irelia's power curve, almost entirely boosting her strength in the early to mid-game. It feels like this Irelia build is quite suitable for our current needs."

Maokai nodded and continued, "So, what do you think? Should we ban Irelia? Even though we're on the red side, we actually have enough bans."

Maokai banned Gwent, Ryze, and Jayce in the first game. Strictly speaking, none of these three bans were necessary; they could all be replaced.

"No." But Mingjing shook his head. "No need. Just stick with the bans from last game. No need to change them."

Upon hearing this, Maokai raised an eyebrow. "You mean..."

If the ban list remains unchanged, then Irelia and Lee Sin will both be available.
If FPX picks Irelia, it's still manageable; Mingjing can continue playing Lee Sin, following his winning streak.

But if FPX picks Lee Sin...
It is foreseeable that FPX will most likely choose the latter.

“I can pick Irelia,” Ming Jing chuckled. “His playstyle is pretty simple, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Although his words were simple, everyone in EDG could clearly sense the arrogance and ambition in Mingjing's words.

Is this an attempt to teach a lesson through both positive and negative methods?

The break time passed quickly, and both teams took to the stage again to begin the draft phase.

In the second game, FPX had the right to choose sides, and they unsurprisingly chose the blue side.

However, their ban picks remained unchanged, still consisting of Fryegwart, Akali, and Lucian.

They didn't ban Lee Sin last game because they were confident they could counter him with Irelia. Although they ultimately lost, that was the reasoning behind it.
Now that they're on the blue side and have the first pick right, they certainly don't need to ban Lee Sin anymore.

However, EDG's ban picks were somewhat unexpected.

EDG's bans remain unchanged.

This has left FPX a bit bewildered. What's going on here?

Why aren't they banning Irelia and Lee Sin? Are they trying to stick with the same matchup as last game?

What if we pick Lee Sin? Or does EDG have a plan to deal with mid-lane Lee Sin?

Lee Sin has been a popular mid-lane champion for so long, it's normal that EDG has the ability to handle it.
The FPX team looked at the bans from both sides and pondered for a long time.

Ultimately, they decided to lock down the Lee Sin.

After their crushing defeat in the previous game, they simply didn't have the courage to continue picking Irelia.

In comparison, Lee Sin is definitely the more reasonable choice. He is a high-priority hero, not only a specialty of Doinb, but also a versatile champion that can be picked in the top, mid, and jungle. Picking him first on the blue side is the most reasonable choice.

They released the Lee Sin, intending to steal the kill.

"Okay, FPX locks in Lee Sin on the first floor! No problem!"

Guan Zeyuan looked at the options and turned his gaze to the other side of the screen, "Let's see what EDG's strategy is!"

No sooner had she finished speaking than Irelia appeared on the first floor of EDG and locked onto her in a flash!
(End of this chapter)