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

Chapter 294 Talent, and Luck
At the moment the award was presented, the large screen at the venue suddenly switched to display a photo of the five EDG players holding the trophy.

Without a doubt, the lineup that completes the Golden Road is the best lineup, and no other club should be allowed to take a share of the spoils.

The five EDG members were not surprised by this. They exchanged smiles, stood up, buttoned their suits, and walked onto the stage together.

Offstage, countless players applauded continuously, and the live stream chat unanimously displayed "reasonable," with no one believing there was anything wrong with the result.

[State Grid has truly established its dynasty.]

[Why even bother with an awards ceremony? Just send them all to the EDG base, okay? Are all the other clubs' players just here to be there and wait?]

Indeed, in previous years, when other teams won the championship, Guodian would always share the spoils. Why isn't there any this time?

[Is the person upstairs talking about Jβ? You don't win awards at Grand Slams, but you get awards for reaching the quarterfinals or round of 16? If you want awards, produce results! You didn't even reach the semifinals, what are you talking about?]

I can only say it's well-deserved; I can't say what kind of people are disagreeing at this time.

On stage, the five members of EDG stood in a row and received the trophy from Jin Yibo one by one, all with bright smiles on their faces.

For everyone, what was more important than the five of them winning the award together was that they went on stage together to receive it.

This is the real moment of glory.

Ming Jing, dressed in a white suit, stood in the center, still the most prominent one. He exchanged glances with a few teammates, and at their prompting, he was the first to step forward and give his remarks.

"Thank you again to the audience and the league for recognizing me and my teammates. It is an immense honor for EDG to end S11 with the All-Star Team of the Year."

Ming Jing sincerely said, "But I also believe that this is just the beginning, and the story of the five of us is far from over. Please stay tuned."

Another round of applause erupted from the audience!

Countless viewers are also curious to know how high the five people who have completed the Golden Road will reach if they push themselves for another year.

Will he perish halfway through the journey, or will he embark on the Journey to the West again and obtain the true scriptures once more?

Everyone hopes it will be the latter.

After the teammates finished speaking, the EDG members walked off the stage together.

But Ming Jing had barely sat down, not even warmed his seat, when he had to get up again.

"The most popular contestant of the year is—Phi! Congratulations again!"

This is an award that is completely predictable.

Some people are born to be big stars. Even if they are all champions, some people will gain more popularity.

Mingjing is that kind of person.

Even though he had just debuted last year, Ming Jing had already won over everyone with his unparalleled performance and forcibly won the title of the most popular contestant of the year, so it goes without saying that he won this year as well.

This award had previously been monopolized by TheShy, but in the voting of the past two years, TheShy has been crushed by Mingjing by a huge margin.

The audience was getting a little tired of seeing Ming Jing go on stage for the third time.

That's enough!

Ming Jing continued his acceptance speech with a cheerful smile, "This is my second time receiving this award. I am very happy and honored. I hope to come again next time."

This acceptance speech was just for fun, mainly because Ming Jing himself had nothing to say, and this most popular award doesn't really have any real value anyway.

Next, here are some other awards.

Best Anchor Award, Best Content Creator Award—Ming Jing watched as wave after wave of people went on stage to receive their trophies.

Next came the final part of the awards ceremony, which was the most prestigious event.

MVP of the year.

The award still had five nominees, and Tencent Esports displayed highlights of their best plays on the big screen at the venue.

The first nominee was Doinb.

As the absolute core of FPX, Doinb's performance this year is beyond doubt.

His highlight reels aren't flashy solo kills; they usually happen on the side lanes or in the jungle, where he uses his keen strategic awareness to help his team secure a series of decisive victories!
The second one is Xiao Hu.

Taking on a mission amidst defeat and being ordered to act in a time of crisis, Xiaohu's decision to switch the team to the top lane this year is already respectable, but his key performance in the top lane has refreshed people's perception of him.

In four words, he is impeccable. Many people say that Nuguri is the world's best top laner in terms of individual ability, but some people say that when it comes to contributions to victory, Nuguri is completely incomparable to Xiaohu.

The third is Zhao Lijie.

As a jungler who has completed the Golden Road, JieJie's performance this year has also been remarkable. After reaching the finals, JieJie has transformed into MingJing's right-hand man and is undoubtedly the second contributor.

Fourth nominee: Tarzan.

LNG's performance in the Summer Split impressed everyone. The team emerged as a dark horse and ultimately secured the fourth seed.

Everyone understands who the real core of this team's rise is.

After the first four speakers finished, we arrived at the final, most important part.

This is a long compilation of gameplay highlights.

In the Spring Split, Viktor's Chaos Storm swept across the field, dealing nearly 10,000 damage in a single team fight, helping his team crush RNG.

During the Mid-Season Invitational, Bloodseeker Darmo used his Blood Bar to perform a spectacular playstyle, utilizing the dual regeneration of his W and Bloodthirst to take on four opponents and kill three of them, including a crushing defeat of Death Knight!

During the Summer Split, Twisted Fate transformed into a top-tier dealer, using his exceptional skills to instantly draw yellow cards one after another, allowing his teammates to eliminate FPX members in turn.

In the S-series, Lucian, the Kraken, unleashed a barrage of double-gun fire, relentlessly reaping the kills of DK members!
Ming Jing's overwhelming popularity is for a reason; whenever he's in a match, there's always a delightful individual performance!
At this moment, the official photos of the five contestants were displayed on the big screen.

The five contestants were all offstage at the time, but the others couldn't help but laugh as they watched the scene unfold.

When they play highlight reels, each person plays one or two clips, but when it's Mingjing's turn, they play for almost half an hour!
Can't this favoritism be a little less blatant?!

"The MVP of the Year is .Phi! Congratulations again!"

Jin Yibo, who was in charge of presenting the award, said this with a big smile on his face.

Mingjing straightened his clothes and went on stage again.

As he walked onto the stage, spotlights converged on him, moving with his every step.

The custom-made bright white suit fits perfectly, with excellent shoulder width and waistline design, making the wearer look tall and straight.

The live stream room was bustling with activity, and the chat was buzzing with comments!

Well deserved!

[Little Fei!!!]

[Still calling him Little Fei? Now everyone calls him Flying God!]

[BYD is really handsome!]

Ming Jing walked to the center of the stage, took the trophy from Jin Yibo, and then faced the audience.

This time, Mingjing unusually took a longer time to organize his thoughts.

"I am delighted to receive this MVP award again, which is undoubtedly the best proof of EDG's achievements over the past year."

"When I received this trophy last time, I was full of pride and thought it was the best reward for my strength. But another year has passed, and I only think that I am the happiest and luckiest player in the past year."

“I have the best family who support all my ideas and bring me the best resources in a timely manner; a group of the best teammates who are willing to build tactics around me; and the best clubs, whether it is JD Gaming or EDG, they have given me the greatest support.”

"At the same time, there is also the best region that can provide me with a high level of competition, allowing me to keep improving. I can say with certainty that in the past year, the LPL has been the strongest region without a doubt."

"I was able to receive this award because of the combined effect of everything around me."

At this point, Ming Jing raised the trophy and said, "But I also believe that this result will not change in the future."

This was the longest statement Ming Jing had ever made in public, but its significance was extraordinary. Beside him, Jin Yibo, who was presenting the award, smiled and applauded, a touch of melancholy in his heart.

It must be said that Ming Jing's appearance was indeed the result of a series of coincidences.

Why was he able to get a spot in EDG's youth training program right after reaching Master rank?
Why was he able to join JDG right after graduating from youth training and go straight to the World Championship?
Besides his exceptional talent, which is unique in history, another important factor is his good luck. Even without him having to do anything, opportunities come to him on their own.

If Mingjing's cousin wasn't Mingkai, and if the youth training camp hadn't undergone restructuring and coincided with the LPL Summer Finals at the end of the camp, Mingjing wouldn't have come into Redmi's sights.
If JDG hadn't been in need of a top-tier AD carry...
Then he can only do what Faker did: first, honestly climb to the top of the regional server, then choose to join the club that offers the highest price, and start from scratch in the new season.

Other clubs may not have a team roster as strong as EDG's, so he is destined to have difficulty completing his legendary golden journey, and even winning the championship is a question mark.

Talent is a must.

Luck, indeed luck.

But at the same time, it is also LPL's good fortune.

After the LPL's two championships, there was indeed a clear lack of talent. The two championship teams faded away quickly, and the region lacked fresh blood and a Faker-like leader.

Mingjing's appearance was just in time.

It can only be said that everything is predestined. When the Koreans ride the wave of Faker's success to dominate, one day, a super genius of the same or even stronger level will emerge in China and make up for all the losses they have made.

The awards ceremony has now officially come to an end, and it's time to leave.

EDG Club had a very rewarding year at this awards ceremony, with several of their starters receiving trophies.

As for players like JieJie and Viper who received the Improvement Award or the Foreign Player Award, they received additional rewards.

Of course, it's far inferior to Mingjing.

Mingjing looked at the four trophies stacked at his feet. It would be difficult to take them with him, so he could only ask his cousin to help him take two.

Looking at the MVP and Most Popular Player trophies in his hands, my cousin felt a little sentimental.

He has received both of these honors before.

Mingjing returned to the hotel and put away the trophy, but his task was not yet over. He rushed back to the venue to prepare for this year's SOLO competition.

Due to special circumstances, Riot Games canceled the annual All-Star event for all regions and instead had each region host its own event.

Therefore, Tencent Esports combined the awards ceremony with the All-Star game this time, allowing the audience to watch both at once.

Today we have the All-Star Game as an appetizer, and tomorrow there will be the main game.

This SOLO competition is not large in scale, with only eight people in total, all of whom were selected by audience vote. If a player really does not want to participate, he/she can withdraw from the competition and find a substitute.

Ming Jing was undoubtedly one of the eight, and of course he had no intention of withdrawing from the competition.

Firstly, he has always enjoyed fighting, and the SOLO mode suits him perfectly.

Secondly, audiences also enjoy watching electronic cricket fighting, and Mingjing will naturally meet their needs.

As for those who quit the competition because they found it troublesome, or those who messed around in the SOLO competition for entertainment purposes, Ming Jing tends to think that this is a sign of cowardice.

It's simply that they feel they have little chance of winning in the end, so they might as well take it easy or just create some hype.

Of course, there's no point in discussing the result of the match.

In the quarterfinals, Ming Jing faced off against Shanks, who was also a candidate for Rookie of the Year, resulting in a true China-France showdown.

The two had agreed to choose a mage: Mingjing locked in Clockwork, while Shanks locked in Syndra.

Without a doubt, Syndra is far superior to Orianna in terms of laning strength.

But Shanks got a little dizzy after only two minutes in the first game.

No, why can't I win this Q?

Orianna's biggest weakness is her short range. After all, she's not a fast-moving champion and has no mobility skills. Her only self-defense options are the speed boost from her W and the plastic wrap shield from her E.

But for Mingjing, that was more than enough.

His reaction was enough to allow him to dodge 90% of Syndra's Q.

Even if he is occasionally hit due to poor positioning, he can negate the damage with the white shield from his E skill.

So after two minutes of laning, Shanks had used up most of his mana bar with his Q, while Orianna's health was still perfectly healthy!

On the contrary, Orianna repeatedly took advantage of Syndra's short Q skill cooldown period, using the speed boost to close the gap and chase her with auto-attacks!

Mingjing specifically brought Aery this time to increase the damage output of his basic attacks.

Shanks was completely outmatched in lane and was on the verge of being reduced to low health, so he had to return to base to replenish his supplies.

Ming Jing wasn't flustered; he simply pushed the lane into the tower and then took a layer of plating.

The SOLO tournament uses a special Howling Abyss map, where the towers are extremely fragile and each plating layer costs as much as 320 gold.

This push sent Syndra back to base, and Mingjing created an economic advantage with a wave of minions and a layer of plating, basically securing the victory.

Upon returning to base, immediately purchase Mercury's Treads and Recurve Bow, and start playing an attack speed build Orianna.

Actually, there's a reason behind the attack speed build for Orianna. Back when Ruofeng and Uzi won the SOLO tournament, they both used AD Orianna.

This equipment proved incredibly effective later on.

In the final shrinking phase, Orianna used Flash to dodge Syndra's push and charged right in her face!

Syndra still had Flash, so Mingjing wasn't in a hurry to use his ultimate. He just used the movement speed from Mercury's Treads and the pulling ability of his W to chase and auto-attack relentlessly.

Syndra was forced to use Flash due to low health, so he used QR to pull her back, then used W to slow her down and chased after her with two auto-attacks, finally sending Syndra away!

In this solo match, the audience saw nothing fancy, only pure and overwhelming fundamental skills.

Positioning, stealing attacks, distance control – all executed perfectly!

Even though Shanks' heroes are stronger, he has never gained an advantage in trades.

Of course, this is normal.

After the first game, Shanks was a bit dazed, and his performance in the second game was even more unpredictable.

Mingjing happened to pick Akali in this game, so there's not much to say. He seized the opportunity at level three and got a solo kill.

In this SOLO mode, the winner is decided by two lives before the circle shrinks, and only one life is lost after the circle shrinks.

After Mingjing secured a solo kill, he pushed the lane, took the turret plating, and returned to base to replenish his supplies. The economic gap between the two sides had widened to over a thousand, making the outcome virtually certain.

Having just reached level six, Mingjing immediately initiated with his ultimate, chasing Shanks with a series of QA attacks, and finally finishing him off with a combination of E and R.

Two to zero, advancing to the semifinals.

His opponent in the semifinals is TES's support player, Zhuo.

Against a player who isn't known for his skillful maneuvers, Ming Jing clearly has no chance of losing.

This time, the two chose to face off as archers, entering Mingjing's area of ​​expertise.

Without a doubt, it was another case of overwhelming superiority in fundamental skills.

In the first round, Mingjing only took the lead with Varus's 25-yard shooting range, and he made Zhuo suffer terribly.

In the second game, Mingjing chose Kalista, making it the most brutal episode yet!
Two to zero, another sweep to advance.

Seeing these two teams' overwhelmingly superior strength, the score was 2-0, and countless viewers laughed.

Is Fei Shen too much of a supermodel?
Amidst much anticipation, this relatively small-scale SOLO tournament has finally reached its final stage.

His opponent was Bin, who had also swept aside Flandre and GALA on the other side, advancing to the finals with a perfect record.

(End of this chapter)