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

Chapter 322 Instant Prison Shadow Killing Array

The moment the hero was revealed, a gasp of surprise erupted from the audience, and this gasp amplified instantly as the choice was made!
"Huh? A robbery?"

The three commentators were a bit stunned by the appearance of this ninja hero.

What kind of hidden hero is this?

957 mentally simulated the mid-lane matchup before saying, "Zed should have no problem against Taliyah."

Taliyah, a hero traditionally positioned as a mage, is remarkably unafraid of melee combat.

The main reason is that it has two self-protection skills, Rock Slash and Stone Scatter, to prevent being ambushed, plus a constant stream of Q [Stone Pierce] for harassment and pushing lanes, leaving a whole bunch of melee and assassin heroes helpless.

They can't get a blood exchange, they can't push the lane, and their health can't hold up.

But Jie is not afraid of these.

Because of the rework of [Greedy Hydra], this version of Zed is a pure mage counter.

The current version of [Ravenous Hydra] can trigger the passive AOE effect through skills, which greatly improves Zed's wave clear ability. In addition, its lifesteal attribute allows Zed to ignore the mage's poke.

The most crucial point is that Zed's movement abilities are all instantaneous, allowing him to ignore Taliyah's W and E!

Anyone who has played games can easily understand the relationship of restraint in this game.

But Colonel Guan shook his head after hearing this.

"The laning phase is indeed easy, but what about the follow-up?" Colonel Guan asked doubtfully, "Zed is useless in team fights!"

Zed's skill set is quite superior. As a melee assassin mid-laner, he has rare long-range output capabilities and also has an escape skill, making him a level above assassins like Talon who can't get out once they go in.

However, its drawbacks are also obvious: it deals very little damage and can't kill anyone at all, earning it the nickname "Humorous Darts Man".

In particular, the opposing team has champions like Lena and Vi, who are perfect for dealing with flashy but ineffective strategies.

In late-game team fights, isn't this just a case of being one person short?

"Well..." Miller didn't want to draw a conclusion, but said, "Considering that it was chosen by the Flying God, there might be some explanation for it."

Upon hearing this, Colonel Guan calmed down and said, "That's right, I believe you."

As they were talking, the two players had already exchanged heroes, and their team compositions were now clearly displayed.

Blue side TES: Top laner Renekton, jungler Vi, mid laner Taliyah, bot laner Sivir and Natasha.

Red team EDG: Top lane Sejuani, Jungle Wukong, Mid lane Zed, Bot lane Zephyr and Lulu.

At this moment, the camera in the middle is focused on the TES players' bench, where JackeyLove's head is swaying from side to side as he communicates with his teammates.

EDG's Zed pick really caught them off guard, but one thing is for sure: it will put pressure on JackeyLove.

"It shouldn't be a big problem." JackeyLove listened to the coach's concerns but didn't take it seriously. "What trash champion is Zed? He can't kill anyone."

"Okay." White Crescent nodded and said, "Just play it safe. There's no need to rush in the early game. We can't lose this game in the late game."

Sejuani is useless in the late game, and Zed is also half useless if he can't kill anyone. EDG definitely can't withstand the late game by relying on Zeli alone!
Meanwhile, on the EDG players' bench, the older cousin didn't say much, but just patted his younger cousin on the shoulder and said, "Good luck, let's win the first game first."

"Don't worry," Ming Jing said as always, "Watch my performance."

The two coaches punched each other and left the arena amidst cheers. Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the loading time quickly passed, and the final match officially began!
"EDG! Come on!"

"Top Esports! Go for it!"

Led by their leaders, supporters from both sides shouted their long-lost cheers, while the director quickly pulled up the LPL's appearance record for the champion Zed.

Zed has actually made occasional appearances this year. At the beginning of the season, the designers gave him jungle clearing ability, allowing him to appear in the jungle a few times.

But if we're talking about Zed in the mid lane, we have to go back to the Summer Split of Season 10.

Two years ago, when Ming Jing hadn't even debuted yet.

Interestingly, the player who played Zed in the mid lane last time was also an old acquaintance.

It was Zeka, who was Mingjing's substitute at the time and was still with VG.

Backstage at EDG, Zeka was slightly taken aback when he saw the appearance record in front of him.

Does this have anything to do with him?

He did remember that match; his team was playing against IG.

He confidently picked Zed, which was considered strong in the current version, but he was outmatched by Rookie's Galio in lane. He couldn't win the lane, was useless in team fights, and kept getting caught while split pushing. It was a very painful experience.

But that's alright.

He really wanted to see just how far Phi's Zed could go.

"Army attack!"

The minions are online, and the first match of the finals has officially begun!
In the early stages of the match, there wasn't much to say.

Zed's strength lies in Ravenous Hydra, and he needs Tiamat for the next level; otherwise, he'll be finished if he gets beaten up in the early levels.

However, Mingjing's equipment build was still a bit arrogant, consisting of a longsword and a reusable potion.

Moreover, the talent isn't the usual double healing from red blood taste and biscuits.

Instead, it's about first strike, Magical Boots, Minion Dematerializer, Astral Insight, and the secondary runes Transcendence and Waterwalking.

This talent and starting items setup can indeed enable you to quickly achieve Greed and control the lane, but its drawbacks are also extremely obvious: severe lack of sustain, relying entirely on those two sips of mung bean soup.

Seeing this, Zeka couldn't help but feel a little worried.

Does this really live up to the line?
After all, Zeka is still a little afraid of Knight, the mid laner.

This is undoubtedly one of the world's top mid laners, and he is known for his laning prowess.

During the regular season, EDG suffered a crushing defeat against TES, mainly because Zeka was no match for Knight in the mid lane, which led to a complete loss of momentum.

It's one thing to be a little greedy when playing against Xiaohu or Yagao, but are you going to be this greedy when playing against Knight?
Even Phi wouldn't work, right?

Of course, Zeka didn't voice his concerns; he simply watched the minions come online.

Several JDG members watching the game also noticed Mingjing's starting items and talents.

"Wow, that build with such high talent points. That's insane!" Even Toothpaste couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement. "The margin for error is just too low!"

The limited healing from this reusable potion is only good enough to last-hit minions at level 1.

After that, every time Taliyah hits you, you have to go back to town to replenish your health and mana!
"I believe you." Zoom wasn't too flustered. "What pressure could there be in playing with your left hand?"

On the TES player bench, after following the minions to lane, ZuoShou immediately pressed TAB to check Zed's starting items and rune choices.

The primary tree is Inspiration, and the secondary tree is Sorcery. At first glance, there seems to be no problem.

However, Zed's inventory includes a Longsword, a Refillable Potion, and a Minion Dematerializer, indicating that Zed did not select Biscuits; the buff list also does not show the effect of Nullifying Orb.

So what makes you think you can win in lane?
How can someone be so disrespectful?
Enraged, Zuo Shou immediately pressed down on him.

Taliyah is already a high-strength champion at level 1, so against a Zed like this, it would be a crime not to push the opponent out of the experience zone.

Of course, Zed has the initiative, which is something to keep in mind.

My left hand didn't want the robber to steal even five dollars.
But at that moment, Jie suddenly turned around and threw a shuriken!

Just then, the left hand took a step forward and entered the center of the skill's trajectory. It was too late to dodge, and the dart hit the target.

"Ding~"

The pleasant sound effect triggered by the first strike plays, dealing an additional 10% damage to Taliyah while converting the damage into Zed's gold.

Including the five gold given when triggered, Zed earned more than ten gold coins from this one Q, which is close to the value of a minion.

(At that time, the initiative value ↓)

Early attacks don't steal much money, but for the left hand, it's no different from public humiliation.

Enraged, he immediately used Q [Stone Pierce] to retaliate!
But Mingjing was prepared. The moment Zed finished casting Q, he hid behind the minions, only taking one small stone hit and dodging most of the subsequent damage by relying on the minions.

Upon seeing this, Zuo Shou's expression changed.

broken.

At this moment, the numerous spectators who witnessed this scene reacted in various ways.

Zeka frowned instinctively, somewhat puzzled by the operation of her left hand.

"Holy crap?" Toothpaste's eyes widened in surprise. "What the hell is Zhuo Ding doing? Does he not know how to play games anymore when he plays with Ming Jing?" Anyone with eyes could see how crazy Zuo Shou was this time.

The outcome of the blood exchange is secondary, since this small amount of health won't affect the overall situation.

The main thing is that after exchanging Qs like this, the level 1 pressure is gone.

At this point, both sides' melee minions were almost at low health. Zed would have had to pay a heavy price to finish off these three melee minions, since Taliyah could easily land a full QA combo during Zed's QA animation, which would take away at least a third of Zed's health!

This is why toothpaste thinks reusable toothpaste is useless; at most, it can only replace three soldiers.

Now that Taliyah's Q skill is on cooldown, things are different.

In the video, Zed easily last-hit three melee minions with a QA combo, while Taliyah's Q skill had two seconds left on cooldown, so she could only lightly throw out two auto-attacks, which were barely effective.

And it's not over yet.

The wires also broke.

The fact that Taliyah's previous stones all hit ranged minions was a crucial foreshadowing.

This foreshadowing will be revealed after the second wave of minions arrives, and then the minion wave will be quickly pushed forward.

For Zed, this was undoubtedly the scene he most wanted to see.

As long as the minion wave can get through, it's comfortable to either block the wave in front of the tower or let it go inside the tower.

It's no exaggeration to say that with just that one Q, ZuoShou had already lost the lane.

He has completely lost his ability to suppress Jie.

Ming Jing was also somewhat surprised by the mistake made by his left hand; he hadn't expected his opponent to make such a basic error.

Regardless, the current minion wave situation perfectly suited his needs, and he didn't feel any pressure playing it, just using Q to last-hit low-health minions from a distance.

Zed's Q skill has a cooldown of only 6 seconds and a range of up to 900 yards. It is so powerful that you will almost never miss a last hit. This is why Zed is called the "Shuriken Man". If you can't win the lane, you can just use your shuriken to last hit and survive forever!
Of course, once the minion wave pushes into the tower, you'll inevitably get poked by Taliyah while last-hitting minions under the tower, but that doesn't really matter.

This level of consumption is manageable with reusable potions and one's own health. After all, since one is constantly moving in front of the tower, there is not much pressure even if one's health is a little low.

It wasn't until four minutes later that Mingjing's low-health Zed finally returned to base.

But less than a second after returning to base, Zed immediately used Teleport and logged back in.

The longsword in Zed's hand has officially evolved into Tiamat.

From this moment on, the nature of the laning phase has changed.

Tiamat's ample area-of-effect damage makes Zed's wave clear ability no less than Taliyah's, and perhaps even better.

While this isn't enough to turn the tide, it's more than sufficient for self-preservation.

The current Zed can mindlessly tank Taliyah's damage to clear the wave, then recall to base for supplies and come back, making him virtually invincible in lane.

Seeing Zed rampaging through the minions, Zuo Shou grew increasingly anxious.

Although the left hand still has a slight advantage, in this matchup, this advantage is meaningless.

He played this game so greedily, he should have just destroyed it!

If the robbers really unleash the Hydra of Greed, then what are they fighting for?
His gaze hardened, and he could only press forward with Taliyah, trying to put more pressure on Zed's health.

But this is destined to be a pipe dream.

Don't forget, Mingjing chose the Zed/Taliyah combo as the second pick.

Mingjing watched the approaching Taliyah calmly, simply looking down at his own initiative cooldown.

He first feigned a retreat, and then, the moment the offensive turned around, WE decisively made their move!

"Ding~"

The sound effect of the first strike was triggered again. Taking advantage of the slowdown, Zed and Shadow threw shurikens at the same time. Accompanied by a basic attack after switching positions, they stole a wave of fun in one go!

The person on the left was shocked by what they saw.

He really didn't expect that this calamity would actually switch places!

Without time to think, he quickly moved the mouse, predicting Zed's movement trajectory, and WE's double attack was already launched.

This prediction was incredibly accurate; a red circle appeared right under Jie's feet.

Without shoes in the early stages, such accurate prediction of the [Rock Shoal] is almost a sure thing!

But some people are just weirdos.

Under intense focus, Yan Que's raised head was clearly visible in Ming Jing's eyes.

In a flash, Mingjing found the shortest path and moved the mouse.

Zed quickly turned and moved, and just before the Rock Strike took effect, Zed's heel left the red circle.

"He dodged it!" Miller exclaimed, his eyes wide in disbelief. "That's a problem!"

In the video, after Zed dodged the rock spike, the distance between the two sides did not increase, and Zed attacked again with a basic attack.

With AD and AP champions right in front of him and having dodged the opponent's key skills, Mingjing has nothing to fear. He can just trade blows until the very end.

The left hand should be the one to be afraid of now.

His left hand had no room to maneuver in this environment, so he had no choice but to run.

Fortunately, Zed was also out of skills at the moment, and was slowed down by the stone array, so he could still run away without much trouble.

Ming Jing didn't pursue the matter further. He delivered a final passive attack to the half-health Rock Sparrow, then turned and pulled away.

Taliyah also didn't have TP. After this exchange of blows, Knight either had to lose lane and return to base to recover his health, or let the jungler lose and call for help to push.

If it's the former, Mingjing has no choice but to push the lane into the tower and gain a wave of minions.

if the latter one.
Left Hand couldn't accept his losses, so he had to call Xiao Tian to help him push the lane.

As long as you can push the lane and return to the fountain, then the failure of this trade can be considered as nothing happened.

Although Xiaotian was somewhat helpless about this, he didn't have many options and could only abandon the jungle monsters at hand and quickly head towards the mid lane.

But facing the pressure from Vi and Taliyah, Mingjing showed no sign of backing down. He even took two steps forward and used a QA combo to kill two minions.

Xiao Tian frowned as he watched this scene. He glanced at the time and quickly realized something. Vi decisively charged up her Q and pressed down, still trying to drive Zed out of the experience zone!
But Mingjing didn't retreat. He killed another creep with an AE attack and then charged straight at Taliyah.

During the sprint, the [Minion Dematerializer] effect appeared on another full-health melee minion.

Zuo Shou's heart raced again. He turned around and used the [Stone Scattering Formation] to slow down the enemy, then ran away without looking back, not daring to linger for even a moment.

Xiao Tian also took the opportunity to rush forward with a Q!
Ming Jing didn't hesitate and decisively used Flash!
The moment the Flash attack was launched, the Minion Dematerializer was also ready, instantly killing the melee minion!

With the infusion of experience, a light of upgrade emanated from Jie's body, instantly leveling him up to level six!

Ming Jing's move of advancing instead of retreating was precisely what he was waiting for this moment.

However, Mingjing did not rush to use his ultimate move. Instead, he pressed WWE repeatedly, first using Shadow E to slow down Taliyah, then switching positions and chasing her down with another slash.

In this situation, Taliyah has only two options: either use her W to knock Zed away, or use Flash to create distance.

Left Hand chose the latter; he didn't want to greedily use Flash, he just wanted to survive.

But regardless of the interpretation, there is only one way to solve Mingjing's problem.

[Instant Shadow Assassination Array!]

Zed vanished from the scene, transforming into three black shadows that rushed toward Taliyah, who had used Flash to create distance.

Despite his rapid heartbeat, his movements remained precise. He quickly placed the [Rock Thrust] behind him and, before attempting to seize the opportunity, got up and carried it away.

He did indeed succeed; Zed had barely landed and hadn't even had a chance to use his skills when he was knocked away by this rock spike.

But it doesn't mean much.

Mingjing was still holding Q in his hand.

Zed and his ultimate's shadow simultaneously threw shurikens, which precisely sliced ​​through Taliyah's body, further reducing her health!
Having calculated the damage accurately, Mingjing turned away without looking at Yan Que again.

The next second, the ultimate skill mark exploded, killing the low-health Taliyah!

"First blood!"

(End of this chapter)