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

Chapter 245 Laning Domination!

As soon as Yasuo locked onto the target, the European audience in the audience immediately cheered!
As spectators, what they need most when watching a game is excitement.

While the strategic maneuvering of top teams is undoubtedly spectacular, it's not something viewers can see from their perspective, nor is it what they actually want to see.

Viewers love watching professional players pick difficult heroes and pull off miraculous, perfect plays.

Is Yasuo a good matchup against Twisted Fate?
The answer is obviously yes.

If Yasuo reacts quickly enough, Twisted Fate's yellow card has no effect on him. In addition, Yasuo's continuous movement ability allows him to easily get close to the face of a short-legged mage like Twisted Fate.

It's no exaggeration to say that this is a 90/10 matchup.

However, Yasuo's inconsistency cannot be ignored.

To dare to lock onto Yasuo, a champion with extremely high skill ceiling, under the high-pressure environment of the World Championship, is already worthy of applause!
Of course, if there are any Icelandic viewers in the audience who watched MSI, they will surely remember that Mingjing had already locked in Yasuo mid lane once during the MSI group stage match against DK, and he did indeed deliver a perfect performance.

So you specifically pick Yasuo for the World Championship?
"Hey, Yasuo!" When Toothpaste saw this hero, his lowered eyelids lifted slightly, allowing the audience to see his eyes for the first time. "You're really into this, Mingjing."

"But that's fine too."

Zoom nodded and smiled, "There might even be a solo kill this game!"

On the T1 player bench, Faker looked at the opponent locking onto Yasuo, and his expression became slightly serious.

Phi, you really dared to choose that!

The pressure came from all directions, giving Faker goosebumps.

Lee Sang-hyeok couldn't remember the last time he felt this kind of pressure.

But this is exactly what he has been searching for.

Faker gently closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and adjusted himself to his best state.

"Sang-hyeok," T1 coach stardust gently patted Fkaer on the shoulder from behind, "This game will be very stressful, are you okay?"

“No problem,” Faker said.

Hearing Faker say this, the coach felt much more at ease and then continued with the draft.

The subsequent draft phase progressed quickly for both sides. On the blue side, after locking in Yasuo, EDG then went on to lock in Nami.

The ideal combination for EDG would be Yasuo and Diana + Lucian and Ana.

However, in the first round, only three heroes can be selected, and the third hero can only be either Diana or Nami, as the other one will definitely be banned in the second round.

There's not much we can do then; we'll have to give up on Diana.

Of course, Diana as a jungler is not really a good fit for the current version.

In the second round of bans and picks, T1 indeed chose to ban Diana and Jarvan IV, not giving EDG the opportunity to form a mid-jungle duo.

With Xin Zhao banned and Lee Sin picked, there aren't many junglers with knock-up abilities left. It's basically a choice between Rek'Sai, Sejuani, and Wukong.

After much deliberation, EDG finally settled on the stronger Monkey King, and then added Kennen as a last pick, thus finalizing their lineup.

T1 later added a bot lane duo of Bomb and Shen.

Mingjing was somewhat surprised to see Shen, the last hero T1 had locked in.

The strategy still relies on the Bomber to withstand pressure, but Shen is used to enhance the roaming ability of the support role, in line with the global card deck strategy.
It must be said that T1's understanding is indeed quite insightful.

With this, the lineups for both sides are finalized.

Blue side EDG: Top lane Kennen, Jungle Wukong, Mid lane Yasuo, Bot lane Lucian and Nami.

Red Team T1: Top lane Jayce, Jungle Lee Sin, Mid lane Twisted Fate, Bot lane Bottom lane Shen.

"The later the game goes, the harder it is to fight against their lineup." Before leaving, Maokai gave him a final reminder: "Try to be more proactive in the early and mid-game. Our advantage in this game is to group up and fight. Just keep fighting head-on. Don't try to gank the side lanes with them. Their two global support units are too strong. If you gank them, you'll collapse."

"Understood, don't worry." The EDG members all nodded in response.

The global playstyle is a lineup composition that appeared in the early days of the league. Just like the four-protect-one strategy, it is a long-lasting lineup that can be used from time to time to make a move. EDG is certainly aware of this.

There's really not much to say about playing against this kind of lineup. Just maximize your laning strength, group up in the mid-game, and engage without thinking. This is one of LPL's specialties.

The two coaches gave each other a fist bump in the center of the stage, and under the watchful eyes of countless spectators, the camera slowly panned into Summoner's Rift, where the heroes of both sides had already emerged from the fountain.

On the minimap, signals from both sides flashed constantly, and signal sounds rose and fell, but neither side seemed to be planning a level 1 team fight; they simply determined their defensive positions.

In the EDG voice chat, Viper and Meiko were still discussing their laning strategy for the upcoming matchup.

Generally speaking, Lucian and Nami are not qualified to farm minions at level 1. Both of them have relatively short range for ranged champions, and their damage is not high. They are completely weak at level 1 and can only barely farm three melee minions by relying on Lucian's long-range W.

But this game is a special case. The enemy team has a combination of bombs and Shen, and Luna is basically a noob fight. As long as you don't get hit by Shen's E, you can still manage to exchange a few blows.

Mingjing is a skilled Lucian player, but he didn't interfere with the communication in the bot lane; his teammates made their own decisions.

He simply followed the minions to the lane and entered the laning phase.

In the video, Faker played quite aggressively. After the minions engaged, he drew his card at level one and pushed forward, trying to use his range to suppress the enemy.

But Mingjing didn't give in. Relying on his passive ability, he directly stepped on the minions and used his E skill on Mingjing's face!

If you're so capable, then issue me a yellow card.
Twisted Fate has short legs, and the stun duration of his level 1 yellow card is not long. It also attracts minion aggro, so even if you are stunned, you can't create distance and will definitely be countered by his E skill at close range.

Mingjing specifically brought Fleet Footwork in this game to enhance his laning ability. Once Yasuo gets close and triggers Fleet Footwork, Twisted Fate will definitely lose in a trade.

Furthermore, drawing a yellow card means that the card loses its crucial lane-pushing ability, allowing Mingjing to easily control the lane.

It can be said that if a player draws a yellow card, the laning phase is essentially over.

But Faker, having spent many years on the battlefield, naturally understood the key points. He casually drew a red card and threw it directly at the minion next to Mingjing.

The red card unleashed a large-scale AOE attack, which perfectly enveloped Mingjing.

The red card not only avoids attracting minion aggro but also restricts Yasuo's movement, making it a win-win situation.

Ming Jing raised an eyebrow, but his movements remained unchanged. He immediately used E to move the minion forward, quickly getting close to the card.

Faker calmly retreated to the ranged minions, and then, protected by the minions, drew his card and used a basic attack on Yasuo.

Ming Jing then used a minion to move closer to the card and landed a basic attack, restoring his health through Swift Step.

If both sides keep attacking, Yasuo will definitely win. However, Twisted Fate is stuck with his own minions, and the minion damage is too high in the early game. Mingjing can't withstand it either. He can only use AoE on Twisted Fate to deal a small burst of damage, and then use E on the minions to move back.

During this period, Faker continuously used basic attacks in coordination with the minions.

When Yasuo created distance again, both players' health was roughly at the same level, each having lost about a third.

"Wow." Green Hair couldn't help but laugh as he looked at the scene before him. "Both sides are really going at it, starting the fight at level one."

"Faker handled that play very well," Zoom said, squinting as he looked at the situation. "That red card was brilliant!"

The red card's AOE attack hit Yasuo on minions, achieving three goals at once: it didn't attract minion aggro, it whittled down Yasuo's health, and it pushed the lane.

"After all, it's Faker," Yagao said. "But thankfully, Mingjing still came out ahead this time. Yasuo has Celerity and Doran's Blade to heal, so this trade is fine."

It's an undeniable fact that Yasuo is good against Twisted Fate, and everyone believed that Mingjing would definitely gain an advantage in the laning phase. However, Faker's handling of the situation made that advantage come a little later.

At this moment, the camera suddenly cut to the bottom lane.

Just then, we saw that both sides in the bottom lane were also hot-tempered, and after the minion waves clashed, they started fighting!
Keria was playing with great passion, and Shen stepped into the middle bushes right from the start.

As we all know, the mid-bush in the bottom lane is always a battleground; whoever controls the mid-bush gains an advantage in the lane.

Meiko wasn't going to let it slide. Nami stepped on a blade of grass, placed a ward in the middle of the grass, and then launched a basic attack at Shen.

Facing a lineup of bombs and Shen, Meiko even considered trying to gain an advantage in lane.

However, the T1 bot lane duo was also quite aggressive. Their laning style was already rather fierce, and as soon as Nami launched her basic attack, the two of them attacked her.

The bomb landed on Nami with a basic attack, and then he held onto his Q skill and continued to press forward!

At the same time, Keria's Shen made the first move, sliding forward and charging towards Nami!

Shen's E skill has a range of 600 yards, which is slightly longer than Nami's basic attack range of 550 yards. As long as you are well prepared, you can seize the opportunity when the opponent uses a basic attack to hit with your taunt!

The Luna combo typically involves Lucian with Cleanse or Exhaust, and Nami with Ignite; they usually lack healing for self-preservation.

If this E hits, Shen can trigger Aftershock and stand in front, then stick to Nami with the bombs. Nami will have to use Flash at least once.

But in that instant, Nami raised her staff, and a bubble formed in her hand, which she threw towards her feet!

You have Zhang Liangji, I have a wall ladder.

Keria's level 1 E counter-attack surprised most people, but Meiko was not among them.

Most people probably don't know that Nami is actually Meiko's signature champion.

Back when she debuted in Season 5, Meiko introduced herself as "My name is Tianye, I am 16 years old, and I am good at Thresh and Nami."

Just as Shen arrived in front of Nami on his roller skates, he was perfectly hit by this preemptive water bubble!
The water bubble carried Shen Qi to the air, suspending him in mid-air!

Upon seeing this, everyone's eyes lit up!
"Holy crap!" even the green-haired guy exclaimed in surprise, "What amazing bubbles!"

Shen's taunt missed, meaning his aftershocks failed to trigger. Without any items at level 1, Shen isn't much tougher than Nami.

Taking this opportunity, Meiko launched another basic attack.

At the same time, Viper also pressed forward, unleashing a full AWAA combo that reduced Shen's health to less than half!
Below the stage, the audience even applauded, cheering for Meiko's atmospheric bubble effect.

The JDG team members were full of praise.

Who said EDG can't play Luna?! Who else has this level of Luna proficiency? In the entire World Championship, which other Nami player can throw that Q like that?

This was arguably the decisive Q in the first round of the laning phase.

After Shen lost half his health, he was no longer able to continue trading blows. The T1 duo was destined to endure the pressure before returning to base to replenish their supplies.

This is undoubtedly a good thing for EDG.

Luna can focus on farming and wait for her power spike. JieJie can also easily control the river crab with the bottom lane priority and try to invade or tower dive further. The situation in the bottom half of the map is very favorable.

In the mid lane, Ming Jing switched screens to observe his teammates' situation and nodded in satisfaction.

If there are no problems in the bot lane laning phase, then he can rest assured.

Next up is his turn in the mid lane.

At this point, the second wave of minions has arrived and is interacting with each other in the middle.

Mingjing seized the opportunity when the melee minion was low on health, and Yasuo immediately used his E to kill the minion and level up, while simultaneously moving forward to start the second wave of intense blood exchange.

The camera then quickly switched to the middle lane!

The match had only been going on for a little over half a minute when both sides had already engaged in multiple exchanges of blows, with the camera constantly switching between mid and low, making it quite a spectacle for the audience.

Faker knew Yasuo was about to level up to level 2, so he positioned himself quite conservatively, hiding behind the ranged minions.

However, Yasuo was able to use the minions to trigger his Swiftness, and his E combo was quite smooth, arriving in front of him almost in the blink of an eye.

Faker looked at the minions with half health left and knew he wouldn't have time to level up to level two, so he could only draw a yellow card and throw it at Yasuo while retreating.

Ming Jing's eyes flashed as he assessed the situation, and he quickly invested his skill points into W.

With a swift slash of his longsword, Yasuo created a wall of wind on the spot, instantly confiscating the yellow card!
Learning W at two levels just to confiscate a yellow card seems illogical, but in the current situation, it is the optimal solution.

Because if this yellow card hits, the card, which is already positioned far back, can use it to pull Yasuo out of the range of his E skill, thus easily avoiding this disadvantage.

Once this wind wall appears, everything will be different.

A level 1 Twisted Fate with his yellow card confiscated will be powerless against a Yasuo who gets right in his face!
Yasuo used his wind wall to dash through the enemy's defenses, easily getting close to Twisted Fate. He then unleashed a full combo of AEA, reducing Twisted Fate's health to below half.

Moreover, after examining the blade, Yasuo took two small steps, and the blade was once again enveloped in golden light, a sign that [Swift Step] had been fully stacked again.

Mingjing's attack triggered Swiftness again, and with the speed boost, he chased after the card all the way to the tower!
Standing at the turret's maximum distance, the final strike brought the card down to just one-third of its health.

With his health so low, he was practically within Yasuo's kill threshold, forcing Faker to drink his last potion to preserve his ability to continue laning.

Inside the stadium, countless spectators gasped in surprise once again.

Wow, the mid lane is really going all out too?

The game has only been going on for a little over two minutes, how come T1's laning phase is already in such a mess, with their mid and bot lanes completely losing?
That feels a bit far-fetched.

Ming Jing was already thinking about the four-man squad and two-man squad.

A low-health Twisted Fate crouching under the tower, even if he still has his Teleport, has already lost the ability to provide support.

At this moment, the third wave of minions was slowly coming online. Mingjing controlled the minion wave situation slightly, and only started to move left and right after the minions came up, using his E skill to push the lane.

Yasuo's E is also an excellent wave clear skill with a short cooldown and high damage. Mingjing stored up the minion wave, pushed the cannon minion wave into the tower, and then headed straight to the bottom lane!

This four-on-two situation came earlier than expected.

Of course, this attack wasn't very strong, and it was almost impossible for them to succeed.

After all, Yasuo's map traversal ability is still too slow, and he simply can't stop the opposing duo.

However, a four-man squad doesn't necessarily require a certain number of players.

In the mid lane, Faker immediately started pinging repeatedly, signaling the bottom lane to retreat.

Gumayusi felt his heart bleed as he watched the massive wave of cannon minions about to enter the tower, but his T1 background and discipline forced him to retreat with his support to a secluded bush.

EDG had anticipated this. After driving away the duo, Mingjing and Jiejie teamed up to invade the enemy jungle. They stole a set of Gromp in front of Oner, and then turned around to control the Rift Scuttler.

The duo, on the other hand, slowly chipped away at each layer of plating.

A wave of siege engines, two groups of neutral creeps, and a layer of plating.

When the EDG players retreated, the economic gap between the two sides had widened to 600!

(End of this chapter)