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

Chapter 254: Treat it as the last game of your professional career.

Deft sat down with the group, and after putting on his headphones, there was a continuous silence in the voice channel.

Only the occasional cheers from the audience pierced through the noise-canceling headphones, faintly echoing in my ears as background noise.

Deft took a deep breath before saying, "Come on, kids, we'll catch up one step at a time."

His response was a weak, feeble voice.

With a score of 2-0, the fourth seed from the LCK is now on the brink of elimination.

For the HLE team, the only way to continue their story is to come back from a 0-2 deficit to win 3-2.

It must be said that as the fourth seed, to evolve under dire circumstances, come back from a 0-2 deficit to win 3-2 and ultimately take the championship is quite a legendary story.

Deft really wants to see this story, but his teammates might not have the confidence to.

Deft didn't say much; he knew this wasn't the time to boost morale with words alone.

All he can do is finish off each wound and complete each blood exchange.

As long as the bottom lane can establish a certain advantage, morale will definitely recover gradually.

Just as I was thinking this, the draft phase had already begun for both sides.

In the third game, both sides continued with standard drafting strategies, with approaches largely the same as in the first two games.

HLE was truly out of options. Their only hidden strategy was to pick Yasuo in the mid lane in the first game, but it failed to make any impact and was easily countered by a lane swap.

EDG certainly has some tricks up their sleeve, but with a 2-0 lead, there's no need to pull out any traps; they can just play normally.

"On the blue side, Hanwha's ban picks have changed slightly. They've chosen to ban Yuumi, Lissandra, and Yasuo! It seems that Xiaofei's Lissandra in the last game put a lot of pressure on them."

"On the other side, EDG still banned Sylas, Jarvan IV, and Twisted Fate, keeping the bans unchanged!"

"That means Luna is out! Let's see if Hanhua will take her!"

The answer is no. HLE's first floor still locks onto the Enchantress.

There's not much to say. When facing EDG on the blue side, Chovy didn't have many good options against Phi, who was picked later. For him, LeBlanc was the only choice.

HLE's solution for this final game was to give EDG Luna, who is weak in the laning phase, and then lock in strong lane champions for their two carries, attempting to win through the laning phase.

This draft strategy is certainly sound. The only variable is what champion Phi plans to choose to counter LeBlanc when he doesn't have Lissandra.

Phi quickly gave his answer.

This answer doesn't really have a specific explanation, and it even seems a bit humorous.

Malzahar, the Void Prophet

When EDG locked in Malzahar after Luna, countless viewers gaped in astonishment.

Making Xiaofei play with grasshoppers is a bit like Zhang Fei eating bean sprouts, isn't it?

Of course, there's no problem.
As long as you're skilled enough, the grasshopper is definitely LeBlanc's strongest nemesis.

On the HLE player bench, Chovy looked at the enemy's locked-on Malzahar, and his face turned somewhat dark for a moment.

Malzahar? He has no soul of the mid lane!

Damn it, looking at your big, browed face, I never thought you were a scoundrel too!

Coach HLE was also somewhat helpless at this moment, thinking to himself that Phi's hero selection was really uncouth.

But since things have come to this, all they can do is try to salvage the situation.

HLE then locked in Olaf, who isn't afraid of Malzahar, for the jungle position, and then picked the strong combination of Miss Fortune and Nautilus, sticking to their opening strategy.

On the other side, EDG added Gnar and Jarvan IV, thus finalizing the lineups for both teams.

After switching positions, Deft took one last look at the lineups on both sides.

Blue side HLE: Top lane Renekton, Jungle Olaf, Mid lane LeBlanc, Bot lane Miss Fortune and Nautilus.

Red team EDG: Top laner Gnar, jungler Jarvan IV, mid laner Malzahar, bot lane Lucian and Nami.

Just like in the previous game, HLE once again chose an early-game lineup.

For them, it's unrealistic to choose a late-game lineup for a defensive counter-attacking strategy. The first two games have already shown that there are differences between the two teams in all aspects. HLE can only have a chance to win if they disrupt the situation in the early game and make good use of every offensive round.

Deft was more serious than anyone else at this moment, taking deep breaths to adjust his state during the game's loading time.

At the same time, the broadcast showed interviews with both players that were recorded before the start of the match.

The interviewees were the ADs from both sides.

Viper's performance was unremarkable; he simply thanked his teammates as usual and expressed his expectations for the championship.

On the other hand, Deft's answer was rather unique; he simply stated that he would cherish this World Championship journey.

Deft's career is a book filled with regrets between the lines.

Having graduated from the same high school as Faker, he also displayed exceptional talent during his student years, naturally leading him to join the professional system.

Compared to Faker, who possesses exceptional talent and won the ultimate championship right from his debut, Deft's talent may be considered somewhat inferior. However, in his second year as a professional player, he shone brightly with Samsung Blue and became an undisputed favorite to win the championship.

Unfortunately, in the final S-series tournament, Deft lost to his fellow club, Samsung White, and consequently left the Samsung club.

Later, they continued to decline in various competition areas.

As long as he's on the team, they're always contenders for the championship, but they'll never actually win it.

Nine years have passed in the blink of an eye, and he has transformed from a naive high school student full of challenges into a 24-year-old veteran.

Born on October 23, 1996, he will celebrate his 25th birthday tomorrow.

As I get older, the biggest feeling is that my attention span isn't as good as it was when I was younger.

When I was young, I could concentrate fully on completing an entire best-of-five series, and even when my attention was focused to the limit, I could feel that everything was under my control.

As you get older, your reaction time isn't much slower than when you were younger, but the problem is that you can't concentrate. You become like a dazed, walking corpse, processing information around you on instinct.

His talent is slipping away.

Deft took another deep breath, steadying his slightly trembling hands.

When he opened his eyes, his previously lifeless eyes were now filled with determination.

Treat it like the last game of your professional career.

Nobody knows if he'll ever have another chance to qualify for the World Championship.

The call to arms echoed in his ears as Deft went online with the minions.

Miss Fortune and Nautilus faced off against Luna in a lane matchup that couldn't afford to lose. Fortunately, Deft and support Vsta handled the game quite well. Right at the start of the game, the support Nautilus landed a hook on Nami, and the two immediately started fighting.

EDG's Luna duo was clearly outmatched in the fight, but fortunately, they had the help of minions, and Viper's Exhaust was applied to Miss Fortune immediately, so the two sides ended up with equal health.

However, for the HLE duo, this was clearly a win for them, since they had the absolute first move advantage. If both sides were to enter the kill threshold at the same time, the side with the first move advantage would definitely gain more.

Furthermore, they used one less Summoner Spell this time, which will provide an extra boost to their next fight.

And the next round of competition came very quickly.

However, this confrontation was initiated by EDG.

Because of the previous skirmish, HLE's Titan was low on health, only at half health. On a whim, JieJie decided to gank the bottom lane.

With three and a half minutes left in the game, the prince emerged from the river and, together with a double team, surrounded them.

Deft surveyed the situation with unprecedented clarity in his mind. He quickly calculated the damage and then said, "We can fight!"

After saying that, Deft didn't retreat but advanced, turning around and landing a basic attack on the prince.

Jie Jie didn't hold back either, and the prince followed up with an EQ move!
But at that very moment, the support was prepared. Nautilus hooked right in front of Jarvan IV, forcibly breaking his EQ combo! Miss Fortune activated her W [Great Stride] to increase her attack speed and unleashed a barrage of shots at Jarvan IV!

Meanwhile, Viper also noticed that the situation was slightly unfavorable. Lucian took Nami's bubble and glided forward, trying to force Miss Fortune back.

But as soon as he cast his E, Miss Fortune used her E [Rain of Bullets] to lock onto his landing point.

Lucian was slowed down as soon as he landed and was limited by his 500-yard attack range, so he couldn't even use his basic attacks!
Instead, Deft, with Miss Fortune's 550-yard range and the slow effect of her E skill, countered by firing a shot at Lucian to reset his passive, and then fired another shot at Jarvan IV, playing both hands!
At this moment, Jie Jie also noticed something was wrong, and the prince immediately turned around and pulled away.

But to everyone's surprise, the EDG duo didn't care about him at all. At that moment, the Titan decisively flashed forward and used a basic attack to pin down Lucian who had used E, creating a root effect.

Deft also switched targets, triggering Lucian's passive with a basic attack, and then unleashed a barrage of basic attacks!

Lucian wasn't exactly a tanky champion to begin with, and he even used Exhaust in the early skirmish. Now, with Miss Fortune and Nautilus unleashing their combo, he immediately lost most of his health!

There was no other way but for Viper to flash away.

"But the Hanwha duo is fierce, they flashed at the same time! Viper doesn't seem to be able to escape!"

Viper kept track of the cooldowns in his mind. He knew that Titan's hook was about to be ready. He was stuck with two people and was doomed. So he stopped running, turned around and fired two shots at Titan, then unleashed a full QAWA combo.

Fortunately, Titan only had half health to begin with, and now that the Aftershock buff has dissipated, it's not exactly tanky.

EDG's three junglers unleashed a burst of damage, quickly depleting the Titan's health!
"First blood!"

The news of the first blood resounded throughout the arena. Deft faced a situation of one against three, but he remained determined to fight to the death.

He didn't rush to kill the low-health Lucian. Instead, he first shot the prince, then hit Lucian with a basic attack, and then used his Q on the prince, bringing the prince to low health as well!

Deft never intended to just replace one; he wanted to kill all of Lucian's princes!

At this moment, Jie Jie also noticed something was wrong. He decisively dodged and tried to run away.

But Deft remained calm, killing Lucian with a single auto-attack, refreshing his W [Great Stride], and then activating W again for a speed boost!
Miss Fortune staggered forward, catching up with the Prince who had used Flash to create distance in three steps, and then unleashed another basic attack, taking the Prince's life as well!

"Double kill!"

The sound of a double kill rang out in the arena. Facing an encirclement, the HLE duo calmly dealt with the situation and turned the tables, eliminating two opponents!

"Awesome, bro!" Support Vsta exclaimed excitedly, "One for two!"

Deft felt his heart pounding wildly and secretly breathed a sigh of relief. "Come on, the game isn't over yet."

Nothing can boost morale more than excellent in-game performance, and the atmosphere in the HLE voice channel became noticeably more lively at this moment.

At the very least, after this wave of attacks, they now have the resources to achieve victory.

As long as they continue to focus on the bottom lane, victory will surely come their way!

The chain reaction from the bottom lane continues.

With JieJie dying in the bottom lane, HLE's jungler was no longer hindered and decisively initiated a gank in the mid lane.

This gank was quite unreasonable. Chovy's LeBlanc used W to dash forward, and then used E-Flash to rush directly into Mingjing's face, forcibly hitting him with the chains!

Ming Jing couldn't help but frown as he watched the Enchantress flash in and apply her E.

It's not necessary.

The key to countering LeBlanc is almost always her ultimate. Her passive is practically useless. When Mingjing is chained at close range, she doesn't have many options. Even if she uses Flash, she can't break free from the chains. Being trapped and comboed is inevitable.

But Ming Jing also knew that he would definitely not die in this wave.

After all, his positioning was meticulous, and he wasn't far from the turret. Olaf had no crowd control abilities, so even if he stuck to Olaf and unleashed a combo, Olaf would at most be reduced to low health.

However, LeBlanc's ability to initiate fights is undeniable. If he gets severely damaged, he definitely won't be able to lane anymore and will have to return to base to finish off the remaining enemies.

So you want to trade Flash for my Teleport?

Mingjing roughly understood Chovy's thoughts.

Chovy understood that in terms of roaming ability, LeBlanc was far inferior to Malzahar.

If things continue peacefully, Malzahar will definitely roam to the bottom lane, disrupting Deft's rhythm.

Therefore, he had no choice but to resort to this desperate measure and forcibly replace the grasshopper's TP.

He can accept a disadvantage in the mid lane, but not in the bot lane.

This mentality is somewhat similar to that of toothpaste last year.
But choosing a seductress to be a slacker isn't appropriate, is it?

Without much thought, Ming Jing returned to the tower after being beaten up, and as planned, teleported back to base to replenish his supplies before re-entering the game.

This return to the city was still a bit of a blow to Ming Jing, since he hadn't had time to complete the lost chapter yet. This return to the city only allowed him to buy one amplification book, which had a significant impact on his progress.

Even if Malzahar gains lane control through his pushing ability, he will inevitably be unable to roam freely due to the lack of Teleport.

This lineup was already at a disadvantage in the early game, and the bottom lane also had problems, so it was inevitable that the situation would be passive. Mingjing, who was not even level 6, could not change anything.

All he could do was lock the LeBlanc in the mid lane.

The rest depends on the fate of the bot lane.

As expected, HLE continued their offensive on the bottom lane in the following period.

The minion wave pushed into the tower, and Olaf was perfectly positioned, launching a dive right away!
Fortunately, JieJie was also in the bottom lane this time, which helped the bottom lane get through this crisis.

"But that would be bad for the jungle. JieJie won't be able to defend the jungle monsters, and HanWah can also control the dragon!"

Thanks to the advantage in the bottom lane, HLE's jungler Willer was able to finally be in control. Olaf roamed freely in JieJie's bottom jungle, first stealing a Gromp, and then turning around to secure a Viper.

Moreover, even though Jie Jie managed to save the day despite the loss, it didn't ultimately lead to a good outcome.

Seven and a half minutes have passed in the blink of an eye. HLE's bot lane duo pushes the lane into the tower, seemingly planning to recall and then control the Rift Herald in the top side of the map.

But this is just appearance.

In HLE's team voice chat, the duo was already plotting a big kill in lane.

Because Deft had killed two people in the previous skirmish and survived, he pushed the minion wave into the tower by himself and gained a lot of experience all by himself.

This resulted in his experience bar being significantly higher than usual, and he was now only a hair's breadth away from reaching level six.

So after pushing the lane, the two didn't leave, but instead moved forward and started taking the turret plating.

On the other side, although the EDG duo found it strange, they were certain that HLE's jungler was not in the bottom lane, so they weren't too afraid. The two of them even pushed forward to lower the Titan's health and try to preserve the plating.

But at the same time, a new wave of minions slowly approached the tower from behind the two.

On HLE's side, the support Titan quickly used [Minion Dematerializer] and targeted the first melee minion!
When the EDG duo saw the dematerializer being used, they sensed something was wrong. Although they didn't understand what was going to happen, they still instinctively retreated.

Unfortunately, it was too late to retreat at that point.

Titan hooked Nami, who was already not far away, right to her face!
At the same time, the Dematerializer killed the minions, and the female gunner's body glowed with an upgrade light, suddenly leveling up to level six.

Immediately following was a hail of bullets!
The barrage of E and R attacks rained down on Nami, and combined with the immobilization effect of the Titan's subsequent basic attacks, Nami's fragile health bar plummeted!
There wasn't even a chance to flash; Deft canceled his ultimate early, then used AQ to finish off Nami's health bar!
"HLE Deft is on a killing spree!"

Another kill is imminent; the female gunner already boasts a terrifying 3-0 score!
Off the field, a small number of South Korean supporters cheered loudly, and even the "Roaring Emperor" in the commentary booth got excited and became extremely enthusiastic!

This wave has truly given supporters a glimmer of hope for victory.

But before we could get too excited about this wave of gains, another piece of news came into view!

"EDG Phi has eliminated HLE Chovy!"

Single kill!

The Roaring Emperor's previous excitement instantly turned into endless confusion, followed by a "Huh???" that echoed throughout the entire Korean live stream room.

"How did they manage to solo kill that!"

(End of this chapter)