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

Chapter 266 The Value of a Champion
"EDG Phi has killed GEN BDD!"

The kill sound rang in the headset, but it didn't elicit a particularly enthusiastic response in EDG's voice chat.

No other reason than I'm tired of hearing it all.

What's the big deal? It's always like this.

"You really went a bit too far today," Flandre said chuckled. "Don't make him retire, okay?"

Saint Gun remembers that BDD was a player from the same era as him, and he is indeed not young anymore.

"That's not my fault." Ming Jing smiled and shrugged. "He was really bad this game."

If BDD hadn't made that mistake by walking into the river, resulting in losing his flash and giving away a kill, then none of the subsequent kills would have happened.

Blame yourself; you ruined your own worth.
When Mingjing went out again, he had a new pair of Mercury Shoes, and his economic situation had improved even further.

Ryze is a champion with a tanky mage role; as long as he has an economic and level advantage, he is invincible.

When Mingjing went out again, he easily helped the team control a small dragon.

Actually, GEN's previous rhythm was pretty good. Although they didn't get any kills, they still managed to control all the dragons and Rift Heralds.

If BDD hadn't fed, they might have actually had a chance to go toe-to-toe with EDG in the late game.

But if BDD gives it to you, that's a different story.

With such a huge gap in mid lane between the two sides, GEN was no longer qualified to participate in any subsequent team fights.

But this is absolutely devastating bad news for GEN.

Originally, the snowball effect could have been exploited in the later stages.

If Xiaolong's rhythm is disrupted, what's the point of fighting?
There was no other way; no matter how difficult it was, the GEN team had to find a way to keep the dragon's momentum going.

At 19 minutes, a team fight broke out for the third dragon.

The Dragon Soul in this game is once again set to the Fire Dragon, which is exactly the Dragon Soul attribute needed by both sides. Therefore, neither side is willing to let it go and both are on high alert.

On GEN's side, both Renekton and Xin Zhao have their ultimate abilities, so they are positioned at the front, actively controlling vision around the dragon pit.

Meanwhile, Orianna and Rakan were standing close together, ready to coordinate with Miss Fortune for a dream team fight at any moment.

It has to be said that GEN's team fight lineup is indeed top-notch.

But EDG wasn't backing down either.

Without him.

With a Ryze equipped with two pieces of the Eternal Frost Archangel set here, they can't lose.

Just as Xiaolong was low on health, JieJie's Prince used his ultimate to enter the fray, and two beams of Smite struck one after the other!

"The Red Legion has captured the Infernal Dragon!"

"Got it!" On the commentary booth, Wawa and Miller exclaimed in unison, "JieJie's Smite is very reliable! But be careful when initiating team fights!"

In the video, Rakan, with Orianna's puppet, uses his E to fly to Xin Zhao's side, then flashes and uses his W to rush out, aiming straight for EDG's backline!

But the reactions of the two carries speak for themselves. Mingjing immediately used Flash to avoid it, while Viper was more composed, simply letting out a light gust of wind.

Luo Hao charged over in a mighty procession, but only managed to lift Lulu away.

Seizing the opportunity, Mingjing used EW to immobilize Rakan, allowing his teammates to counter-attack!

At this stage, Ragnaros is incredibly tanky, and Ryze's EW followed by the continuous crowd control from Everfrost is enough for the two carries to focus fire and secure the kill.

However, while the two carries focused their fire on and killed Luo, Jie Jie, who was facing them head-on, was also having a hard time.

The continuous crowd control from Renekton and Xin Zhao, combined with the sustained damage from Miss Fortune and Orianna, caused Jarvan IV's health bar to plummet. If it weren't for Thirst's healing, he would probably be dead on the spot!

Fortunately, EDG killed Rakan faster. Meiko moved the mouse and immediately used his ultimate!

The prince suddenly grew larger, knocking away all the crocodiles around him, including Zhao Xin.

Taking this opportunity, Flandre also built up his rage on Rakan. Gnar flipped in mid-air and used his ultimate to stun both of them against the wall created by Jarvan IV's ultimate!
GEN's counterattack came quickly. BDD's Orianna used a QR combo to pull the ball and directly strangle Jarvan IV and Gnar. At the same time, Ruler's Miss Fortune also used her ultimate, trying to forcefully deal damage and kill EDG's backline first!

"Ah... uh."

But just as the female gunner unleashed her ultimate ability, a Demacian flag landed squarely on his face.

The next instant, a giant prince wielding a halberd charged straight at him, sending him flying into the air!

JieJie is holding onto his EQ combo, just waiting for Miss Fortune's ultimate!

Although his low-health EQ combo was a death sentence, he stole the dragon, took tons of damage, and even interrupted Miss Fortune's ultimate, which can be considered a great deed!

EDG's two carries moved extremely fast at this moment, and the two had already charged into the enemy formation.

Viper worked alongside Flandre to deal with the two front-line tanks, while Mingjing, fueled by Meiko's speed boost, continuously unleashed skills to eliminate the back-line tanks, moving like a dragon in flight!
When everything settled down, no one from GEN's side survived.

A crushing 1-for-5 exchange rendered the game meaningless once again.

"The game is now at exactly twenty minutes in, and EDG's four players are in pretty good shape. It looks like they can go straight for Baron!"

EDG's Gnar, Ryze, and Aphelios are all excellent at taking down dragons, so EDG didn't hesitate at all and immediately headed towards the top half of the map.

With their team wiped out, EDG faced virtually no pressure and even leisurely waited for JieJie to revive before finally securing Baron Nashor!

"The Red Legion killed Baron Nash!"

With the dragon secured, the economic gap between the two sides, which wasn't particularly large to begin with, was widened to 8,000 after this wave!

When the timer reached 24 minutes, the economic gap widened to 11,000.

Although the Baron buff on EDG's side has dissipated, the two lanes of super minions have also reached GEN's base, and are cooperating with EDG's five players to launch the final push.

EDG's huge economic advantage allowed their carry players to complete their equipment ahead of time, making them unstoppable in team fights.

"Hey, over here at GEN, Luo is flanking from behind!"

"Rakan initiated the team fight from behind, a great opportunity! EDG's two carries don't have Flash, but neither does Rakan!"

In the scene, Luo activates his ultimate ability, using his W ability to fly towards the feet of EDG's two carries.

Viper remained focused as always, and Aphelios used a whirlwind movement to successfully dodge.

But Ming Jing wasn't so lucky; he was charmed by Luo Chong and then lifted into the air.

The next instant, Zhao Xin, along with his puppet, successfully used W-Flash to stab Ming Jing, and then used E to rush in.

During his movement, the puppet on Zhao Xin began to twist and contort space, landing just in time to unleash his ultimate ability, [Command: Shockwave!].

This ultimate ability was executed perfectly, hitting not only Mingjing's Ryze, but also Gnar and Jarvan IV nearby.

One ultimate move, sending three people flying!

The next instant, the female gunner unleashed her ultimate skill, and a barrage of bullets rained down, rapidly reducing the health bars of the three players!
"But...the damage doesn't seem to be enough!"

In the video, all three members of EDG – top, mid, and jungle – have lost health to varying degrees. The top and jungle are doing relatively well, but Gnar and Jarvan IV are tough and won't die in one wave.

Although Ryze lost a lot of health initially, he was able to survive for a short time after triggering the Archangel's Shield when he was low on health!
The next second, Lulu unleashed another ultimate, and Ryze's health bar surged again, making him seem almost indestructible!
The female gunner's ultimate skill swept across the entire area, but she couldn't even cripple a single person, let alone kill them!

On the contrary, Ming Jinghu's Ryze landed and used Yongshuang's EQ combo to send Zhao Xin and Renekton away in a joyful manner!

GEN's ultimate-based teamfight strategy was a joke given the huge economic disparity.

"Viper is still at full health, and he went straight to the backline. The damage from the white-bladed Aphelios is outrageous, and GEN's two carries can't handle it at all!"

"BDD has also been killed by Viper! GEN is wiped out!" Miller's voice was full of excitement in the commentary booth. "There's no suspense anymore!"

The GEN players slumped dejectedly in their gaming chairs, watching their base explode in a spectacular crash! "In this China-Korea showdown, EDG still emerged victorious!"

Although Wawa isn't the main stage controller, he had to take over the responsibility when Guan Daxiao was speechless and lost his voice: "Let's congratulate EDG! They swept GENG 3-0 and successfully advanced to the final!"

The European audience gave them a huge thumbs up, cheering enthusiastically!
They've watched EDG come all the way, and with European teams already eliminated, they'll only cheer for EDG!

At this moment, the live stream chat was already flooded with comments.

Today's match was absolutely thrilling! Did Samsung really stomp them completely?

[Those K-pop fans who said GEN could crush EDG, can you shut up now?]

I don't know where those people get their confidence from. Let the GEN players say it themselves, would they dare say they can beat EDG?

They were touting a three-horse race before the competition, now there are only two left.

[Isn't there only one left? Anyway, it's the finals, it's all 1v1 anyway]

Can't we get T1 into the finals? I really want to beat Faker at Worlds!

[It seems unlikely; it'll probably end up with DK playing against EDG.]

[It doesn't matter, I just want the championship!]

The camera then panned to the players' benches, where the EDG players stood up in unison, all with smiles on their faces.

With a broad smile on his face, Mingjing gave his teammates a thumbs up, "Well done, brothers."

"What are you talking about?" Meiko laughed. "Who can beat you as well?"

"No, no, you guys played really well today."

These are truly Mingjing's heartfelt words.

In this best-of-five series, Mingjing could clearly feel that his teammates were performing better than before.

This is probably the strongest bot lane duo against LCK teams. The bot lane teammates showed no fear whatsoever and even had a lane advantage every game.

The top laner, Flandre, also performed admirably, giving the opponent no chance while playing alone.

It was precisely because of teammates like this that Mingjing was able to confidently choose heroes like Mazha.

His teammates deserve it.

"Let's go shake hands."

Saint Gun took the lead and led his teammates to GEN's player bench.

The expressions on the faces of the GEN members were clearly not pleasant.

In today's best-of-five series, no one was giving their all; it was just a matter of who gave more or less.

Rascal and Clid, the Ueno pair, didn't give away many kills, since they weren't in the eye of the storm.

So the two of them didn't have any conflict, but their movements were perfectly synchronized. They couldn't help but look at BDD, their eyes filled with a hint of doubt and anger.

The two were completely baffled as to what had gotten into their mid-laner today.

Why do I keep getting killed in every game?
The scene of Ueno examining the mid laner together was well shown through the live broadcast, and tens of millions of viewers around the world saw the scene. Everyone who watched it couldn't help but smile.

Last year at the World Championship, GEN was ruthlessly eliminated by SN. The top and jungle duo of Rascal and Clid were outmatched by Bin and SofM, and their cold smiles and hostile stares as they left the stage were interpreted by many viewers as GEN having a boxing match backstage.

At the time, a reverse abstract meme circulated: "Brothers who have survived all tribulations are still here; a smile at our reunion will erase all enmity."

This year, thanks to the performance of war criminal BDD, the Ueno brothers have actually become united against external forces?

Of course, there's nothing wrong with it.
BDD, who was being scrutinized by Ueno, didn't dare to raise his head. He just kept his head down and packed his mouse and keyboard. When the EDG members walked up to him, he reluctantly turned around and gave them a fist bump.

Mingjing and BDD didn't have much to talk about. They just nodded, casually said "Well played," and walked up to Ruler.

Emperor Chi's expression was not good either.

Because he understands that his performance today was not good enough.

The bottom lane didn't achieve anything significant; in fact, they were at a huge disadvantage.

"Well played." Ming Jing's voice reached his ears, causing Emperor Chi to tremble slightly. The two exchanged a glance.

Emperor Chi still held Ming Jing in some respect.

After all, Mingjing and Ruler are the only two AD carry players to win the FMVP award.

However, unlike Ruler, who was the FMVP of the Ardent Censer version and won by sheer force, Mingjing was the FMVP who truly carried the game with his raw skill in a counter-meta environment.

"Keep up the good work," Ruler said sincerely. "Winning the championship this time won't be easy. DK is stronger than last year."

Although the results of the other half of the bracket are still pending, Ruler is already certain that DK will be the one to advance to the finals.

Only teams from the LCK region can truly understand the power of DK.

This is a team that dominated the region for an entire year.

Bearing the shame of being runners-up, they worked hard and became even more dominant than last year!
"It's alright," Ming Jing chuckled. "I believe we can win."

After the handshake, the EDG members bowed to the audience in the center of the stage, then packed up their peripherals and left.

On the peninsula, various hosts appeared one after another, dividing up EDG.

Viper was invited to the main stage this time, while Ming Jing was pulled away by Yu Shuang to participate in her own Chinese stream interview.

This time, the main stage invited the factory manager for an interview, while Ming Jing returned to his own Chinese-language channel.

While waiting for the interview, Ming Jing also saw the MVP candidate for this game.

As you can see, the MVP of this game was ultimately awarded to JieJie.

JieJie's rhythm in this game was indeed excellent. His participation rate in team fights was at its maximum in the early game, and he also had a perfect team fight initiation performance in the late game. He even outperformed the two carries with maximum output without any problems.

EDG has made significant progress in this year's World Championship, with its competitiveness showing considerable improvement compared to other teams in the region. Among them, Zhao Lijie has made the most progress. He is no longer just an appendage to Mingjing in the mid lane, but has truly developed the qualities of a championship jungler.

Ming Jing looked at the scene before him, nodded in satisfaction, and then began the interview.

"Having successfully won the semi-final, how do you feel now?"

Hearing Yu Shuang's question, Ming Jing answered without thinking, "It was pretty good. I won the competition quite smoothly today, so I'm very happy."

In the LPL live stream, the audience burst into laughter upon hearing Mingjing's answer.

So you really do speak without restraint during your own interviews? Everything went smoothly!

Of course, it went smoothly.

Throughout the entire series, viewers couldn't recall what GEN had done; they only remembered that they got beaten.

Yu Shuang was slightly surprised, but she still smiled and continued to ask, "EDG's opponent in the finals will be either DK or T1. Phi, who do you think will advance?"

Upon hearing this answer, Ming Jing pondered for a couple of seconds before saying, "From my personal understanding, I still believe that DK is more likely to advance; they are stronger."

"However, no matter who advances, I believe EDG will ultimately win. Only after defeating DK will EDG's championship have more real value."

It's easy to sense Ming Jing's burgeoning ambition from his words, which stirred the hearts of countless viewers.

They defeated T1 twice in the group stage, swept HLE in the quarterfinals, and crushed GEN in the semifinals.

If they beat DK in the finals, then they've truly given LCK a run for their money!

Yu Shuang took a deep breath and smiled, "Then I hope EDG can live up to expectations and keep the championship in the LPL!"

(End of this chapter)