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

Chapter 253 Stable
Watching the five EDG players retreat in perfect unison, the JDG players watching the game nodded in satisfaction.

"Although we didn't get the vanguard, we managed a three-for-one trade!" Green Hair's tone was filled with joy. "Awesome, Ming Jing, you seized the opportunity perfectly!"

You have a lot of front-line HLEs, trying to steal the vanguard, then I'll just kill your front line!
Flash in and control three enemies!
Zoom nodded in agreement: "The key is that the teammates also played really well. JieJie kicked three, Viper used his ultimate on three, and Flandre's Gwent was dealing maximum damage on the sidelines!"

"It felt like the victory was almost natural; the team's coordination was just too good."

Ming Jing's decision to charge in and initiate a team fight was actually a very dangerous move.

If the team's coordination is poor, or if the teammates are slow to follow up, Ming Jing will be killed instantly if he takes another skill.

If Mingjing goes in and gives up another one after already losing the vanguard, it will be another blow to the team!

But this did not happen.

Toothpaste's words carried a hint of melancholy, "It feels like EDG is getting more and more like that team."

Everyone here actually knows what the toothpaste tastes like.

Simply put, he has the look of a champion.

That's the kind of aura that only championship contenders have.

It is an invincible spirit forged through countless trials and tribulations, and through overcoming numerous obstacles.

The team members trust each other, play boldly, and cooperate closely, enabling them to reach a higher ceiling than usual.

Last year at the World Championship, JDG, who had gone through countless trials and tribulations to reach the finals, briefly reached that level. It was precisely because of this that they were able to defeat their opponents with weaker theoretical strength and win the final championship with great difficulty.

However, this state of being did not last long. After Mingjing left the team, the team's invincibility quickly crumbled, and they fell directly from a champion team to a fringe team in the competition.

And right now, EDG has undoubtedly reached that level.

They are getting stronger.

In fact, after this wave, HLE was already halfway to the grave.

The crushing defeat of trading three for zero gold widened the economic gap between the two sides to two thousand gold, and EDG also took advantage of the situation to secure the first dragon.

HLE's chances of winning almost entirely depend on the Rift Herald they possess.

If they can't coordinate with the vanguard to launch a major counterattack, then this game will be no different from the last one, except they'll die a little slower.

Mingjing was also fully aware of this and gave instructions in a voice message.

"We need to play it safe for the next two minutes. We can let the enemy break through our plating, but we must not let our first tower fall. If we play it safe for two minutes, I can make a move."

Two minutes is the cooldown time for Ming Jing's ultimate skill.

Once his ultimate ability is ready, he can ensure that the enemy vanguard will not be able to create any rhythm, but before that, his teammates have to hold on on their own.

"Row."

"OK."

The EDG players responded enthusiastically, and they did indeed do it.

In the following time, HLE's jungler Willer roamed around with the Herald's Eye, trying to find opportunities, but EDG's top and bottom lanes remained as solid as a rock, giving them no chance at all.

JieJie's sense of smell was off the charts, and he seemed to have the jungler's flair, almost following Willer the whole time.

They hadn't found any opportunities even after ten minutes of the game.

With no other option, HLE had to place the Rift Herald in the bottom lane, in exchange for two insignificant turret plating layers.

But at the same time, EDG's mid and jungle players also seized the opportunity.

In the mid lane, Mingjing regained control of the lane after using his ultimate. Seeing that HLE's jungler was in the bottom lane, he quickly pushed the lane into the tower in the mid lane.

But this time, after pushing the lane into the tower, he didn't disappear as usual; instead, he pushed the middle tower on the spot.

On the other side, Chovy looked at the scene before him, his eyes slightly narrowed.

Is this a move to cut losses after seeing the jungler is in the bottom lane?
Without much thought, Chovy quickly stepped on the enemy with LeBlanc's W and R, intending to clear out the minions!

But to his surprise, just as he activated W, the Ice Maiden raised her right hand and unleashed her ultimate, Frozen Tomb!

"freeze!"

With a cold shout, the Demoness was frozen in place before she could even unleash her ultimate skill.

At the same time, a golden light flashed in the F6 camp nearby, and a Lee Sin emerged from the darkness. He used Q [Sonic Wave] and W [Golden Bell] to reach the minions next to LeBlanc.

Upon witnessing this, Chovy suffered a sudden cardiac arrest.

What's going on? The jungler didn't go to the bottom lane to protect them?

Just then, the Ice Maiden pressed W again, creating a ring of ice and extending the immobilization effect.

This ample control time is enough for Lee Sin to follow up with his skills.

"Ichiku!"

The Lee Sin closes in, unleashes his ultimate, Dragon Tail, followed by his E, Thunder Strike, and then a basic attack with Echo Slam.

The two of them unleashed their full damage combo, just enough to kill the full-health LeBlanc!

Although the bottom lane secured the turret plating, the cost was the death of the mid laner, resulting in another huge loss for HLE.

Inside the hotel, in the DK training room.

The DK members were also watching this first match of the quarterfinals. Seeing Chovy die in the mid lane again, they all shook their heads.

"Is it over?" Ghost asked.

“It’s over.” Showmaker nodded. “Let’s wait for the third round.”

It's still a matter of one round.

There is a clear distinction between offense and defense in the operation of the game.

If the advantage gained during the offensive round is not significant enough, it can be considered a poor performance.

For example, if you only get a single, unproductive kill, it basically means you haven't gained anything.

In defensive rounds, as long as you don't lose any items, you're considered to have succeeded.

From a lineup perspective, both the previous vanguard team and this offensive and defensive phase were HLE's offensive rounds.

But in these two rounds of attack, HLE not only didn't gain anything, but actually lost money in every round. What's the point of fighting like this?

When EDG reaches their peak and it's their offensive turn, won't they collapse completely?
Of course, the DK players didn't think HLE could win. HLE was far inferior in terms of player talent and team coordination, and had no championship potential whatsoever, let alone compared to EDG.

They just hope that HLE can replicate some of EDG's performance, so that if they win the championship, they can share a third of the credit with HLE.

But now it seems that even this small goal is beyond HLE's capabilities.

After losing their key player, HLE failed to make any significant impact in subsequent matches.

Ming Jing hasn't actually gotten a single kill this game, his development isn't good, and he hasn't even gotten his Mythic item after just over ten minutes.

But he wasn't in a hurry; instead, he focused on farming and leveling up in the mid lane.

After waiting until the 13-minute mark, his Flash and ultimate were both ready, he finally had the Eternal Frost in his grasp, and the dragon was finally entering its respawn countdown. Without a doubt, it was now EDG's turn to attack.

As for the target, it's undoubtedly the bottom lane!
Nakano's all-around game is always an indispensable part of the game.

But there are countless follow-up developments surrounding this point of the game.

For example, besieging a point to attack reinforcements.

Poor Willer had no idea he had become EDG's target. He saw the bottom lane being surrounded and rushed over, only to find an ice claw sticking out at his face halfway there.

The next second, he was frozen into an ice sculpture, and then killed by the combined efforts of the Blind Monk and the Lissandra.

With their jungler dead, the bottom lane duo didn't dare to be careless and quickly ran back to the second tower.

However, in return, they can forget about taking the bottom lane tower and the dragon that is about to spawn.

"The Red Legion has slain the Ocean Dragon!"

"The Red Legion destroyed the first tower!"

The situation at HLE is getting worse and worse.

In the next few minutes, EDG successfully swapped lanes.

Viper went to the mid lane to start farming quickly, while Mingjing continued his roaming rhythm, pushing the lanes on the side lanes and then disappearing into the shadows. Through wave after wave of high-paced battles, he snowballed his gold advantage, quickly pushing it to over 10,000!
This game was slightly longer than the last one, but not by much.

At 28 minutes, EDG had already pushed into HLE's high ground with the Baron buff and super minions.

As the team's initiator, Ming Jing didn't hold back. He stretched his Ice Claw into HLE's high ground and immediately switched positions to enter!

Fun fact: Some skills that can be cast on yourself can be quickly self-cast by simply pressing ALT + the corresponding skill key.

Characters like Ice Maiden can freeze themselves the moment they land by pressing ALT+R immediately after pressing E to switch positions. This has extremely high priority and can ignore most crowd control abilities that pressure a character's recovery.

The Ice Maiden entered the arena and transformed into an ice sculpture. The frozen domain spread out from the Ice Maiden, enveloping all five members of HLE!

"Wow! How many big ones did this go?!" Green Hair's eyes widened when he saw this. "Five big ones!"

At 29 minutes, even though the Ice Maiden didn't have many kills, she still had an exaggerated three-item build and twenty stacks of Mejai's Soulstealer due to the team's huge advantage!
This ultimate move spread out, slowing down all five members of HLE and causing their health bars to drop significantly, creating a visually stunning effect!
With such an opening move, the outcome was naturally a foregone conclusion.

Gwen and Lee Sin followed closely behind, each unleashing their abilities and turning the team fight into chaos.

Viper went berserk, Aphelios's ultimate hit two people with his white blade, stacking seven layers of flying wheels, and then he flashed in to fight!
As the flywheel spun back and forth, not a single HLE member survived; they were all wiped out.

After the team was wiped out, the outcome was no longer in doubt. EDG pushed forward and easily won the second game!

"Then, let's congratulate EDG again!" Wawa shouted from the commentary booth, raising his arms. "Two to zero! They've taken the match point!"

"Both of these games were won cleanly and decisively, with incredibly smooth rhythm! This is the dominance EDG should have!"

Under Wawa's passionate voice, LPL viewers were also extremely excited, with the barrage of comments filling the entire screen and flying by in a blur.

Wow, EDG is going to make it to the semifinals!
The EDG players also had obvious smiles on their faces. They punched each other in celebration and left the field with joyful steps.

Back at the entrance to the lounge, boss Edward Zhu's smile was on his face. He took over the role previously held by Abu and Maokai, standing in front and giving each player a high-five.

Mingkai stood behind the boss. As he watched his cousin return, he hooked his arm around his cousin's shoulder and gave him a thumbs up.

"Well played! Keep it up!"

"It's covered."

Ming Jing grinned.

It was the boss who spoke at this moment. He drawled out his words and said slowly, "Oh my, it's my cousin who's in charge. He's already gone much further than Mingkai."

Being a boss isn't easy either.

EDG Club has been running for so many years and has invested so much money. Most of the time, it has been very successful, but only now is it finally possible to break through to the quarterfinals!

Who can I talk to to explain this?

The rest of the EDG players were also delighted to hear this.

My cousin wasn't annoyed at all, and just chuckled, "Of course, of course, Mingjing is definitely better than me."

At that moment, the TV in the lounge showed the MVP of the game.

The MVP of this game is well-deserved. In terms of K/D ratio, damage output, and gold advantage against his lane opponent, Viper's Aphelios was undoubtedly the top pick.

But in terms of performance and impact, no one can compare to Mingjing.

Crystal Maiden made two perfect entries in the Vanguard team fight and the final team fight, making her presence felt!
As it turns out, the European director does understand games.

The MVP award ultimately went to Ming Jing.

A 4-0-13 KD is pleasing to the eye, and while the 26.43% damage share and the 2200 gold difference with the opponent are not exaggerated, they are definitely excellent.

"Tsk tsk." Even Flandre couldn't help but squint. "This SuperWilliams is really good at last hitting. He's only 2,000 gold behind, and he's playing LeBlanc."

“That’s really impressive.” Ming Jing nodded. “I feel like I really need to learn from him.”

It has to be said that Chovy is a mid-laner with a very distinct personal style.

You'd say he's bad? Not really, he's just playing a bit against the meta.

During the laning phase against Chovy, you could clearly feel his almost fanatical obsession with the minion wave.

To this end, he developed a unique understanding of minion waves, focusing entirely on last-hitting minions, ensuring that he never missed a single minion during a normal recall.

This guy has an absolute knack for developmental abilities.

The current meta is all about tempo, and mid-lane champions are mostly tempo-based heroes, which is why Mingjing's roaming and laning-focused playstyle is so effective.

If the meta shifts to a version where mid laners are the main carry, Chovy's playstyle will immediately become mainstream.

Ming Jing doesn't want to fall behind in the future.

“There’s no rush to learn this,” Maokai chuckled. “Let’s figure out the current World Championship version first. This playstyle doesn’t work well in the current version.”

In the current version, Chovy's playstyle is nothing short of a weakness.

HLE's excessive obsession with last-hitting minions resulted in the lowest mid-jungle synergy among the top eight teams!

Everyone else is using which cards to fight, while you're in the mid lane researching last-hitting. How are you going to win?
"Next game, we'll still focus on mid-jungle synergy," Maokai continued. "Their mid-jungle is too weak; they can't compete with us."

Upon hearing this, the EDG members all nodded in agreement.

That's exactly what they wanted to do too!
The short break passed quickly, and both players returned to the stage.

Amidst the cheers of the audience, Ming Jing turned his head and looked at the opposite side of the stage.

HLE players also took to the stage, but compared to EDG's confident and flamboyant performance, HLE players were clearly in much worse shape. They all had furrowed brows and looked rather unwell, suggesting they might have had a heated argument in the rest area.

This state is remarkably similar to FPX's performance in the group stage.

Seeing this, Ming Jing knew that this game was probably already won.

The third draft phase began quickly.

(End of this chapter)