League: Educating LPL is my duty.

When EDG locked in their last hero, Kkoma's expression was grim. He knew that the game was likely over again, and they had already fallen behind since the draft phase.

As both coaches left the field, the game entered the loading screen:

SKT Blue Team:

Top Lane - Malphite

Jungler - Sejuani

Mid laner - Rock Bird

ad——mouse

Auxiliary - Purple Garlic

EDG Red Team:

Top Lane - LeBlanc

Jungler - Prince

Mid laner - Sion

ad——Velus

Support - Karma

That's right, for his last pick, Li Chen didn't choose the usual counters to Malphite like Rumble or Vladimir, but instead chose the reworked LeBlanc.

Admittedly, the current version of LeBlanc has various shortcomings and deficiencies compared to previous versions, but these cannot change one fact.

That is, the current version of LeBlanc is stronger than the previous and current versions in terms of wave clear and burst damage.

Later calculations showed that with the same 700 ability power, the current version of LeBlanc deals at least 35% more damage in a full combo than other versions.

Facing Li Chen's choice of LeBlanc, Huni was still hesitant before the battle even began, and asked somewhat flusteredly, "Sang-hyeok-hyung, is Malphite good against LeBlanc? I brought some magic resistance runes, can he still one-shot me at level four?"

Faker's expression froze for a moment. He immediately checked Huni's stats and, after confirming that Huni really had magic resistance runes, he was speechless.

You might not necessarily hit him!

This was the last thing Faker said to his teammates, based on his understanding of Li Chen.

Both sides remained at peace, each finding their own position in the river channel and looking at each other across the river.

When the two sides' mid-lane minions clashed, Li Chen controlled LeBlanc to emerge from behind the side wall, a smile on his face.

"Faker, we meet again!"

Faker, sitting opposite him, had already adjusted his posture and entered a state of 120% alert.

He occasionally duo queued with Li Chen during the summer season and also faced off against him in lane. He knew that he couldn't make any mistakes throughout the game, otherwise it would be difficult to overcome the three hurdles of level three, four, and six.

In the first laning phase, Taliyah had a certain advantage in clearing the lane, so Li Chen didn't rush to push forward, but instead kept using Supreme Auto-Attacks from the side.

Faker had no intention of going all out. He used his Q skill to throw out a bunch of rocks and started clearing minions and pushing the lane quickly, trying to control the lane and push back before reaching level four.

When Huni saw that she was going to face Sion in the top lane, although her expression was still not good, it was not as pale as before, and at least she dared to farm the minions.

As Faker used his Q skill, Li Chen began to move forward while auto-attacking.

He didn't think he could take down too much of Faker's health at level 1. The push was just to limit Faker's wave clear speed and make it less comfortable for Faker to farm minions.

The two players advanced and retreated alternately. Just as Faker reached the spot where he had used his Q skill, a small stone was suddenly thrown out.

Li Chen dodged to the side, then used his W to step next to Faker and began exchanging basic attacks.

When the second basic attack landed, Thunder Strike was triggered, and Faker's health was significantly reduced.

However, when Li Chen returned to his original position with his second W, Faker chose to continue chasing him. He released his Q skill as soon as it was off cooldown. The first two rocks did not block his movement, and Faker successfully hit Li Chen, making up for his health disadvantage.

The level 1 exchange between the two sides ended there. At this point, the blue team had the advantage in minion waves, and Li Chen could not continue to fight Faker. He could only retreat temporarily to clear the minion waves.

As the second wave of minions from the red team was cleared, the blue team's minions entered the tower, and Li Chen also showed off his skill in last-hitting under the tower.

Soon the third wave of cannon minions appeared, and the minion wave clashed near the red team's tower. This made Faker feel a little unsafe, so he turned around and took a few steps towards the river bush in the upper half of the map.

At the same time, Li Chen also paused briefly by leaning against the grass in the lower half of the riverbed; the two men's movements were basically synchronized.

From God's perspective, Ji De said with a strange expression, "Both of them in the mid lane are acting. It looks like they've both placed wards near the bushes, but actually neither of them has. They're thinking exactly the same thing."

"That's right, but as the levels rise, both sides will soon be level three, and LeBlanc will gradually gain the initiative in the laning phase. Faker's position is still a bit dangerous." Wawa said, looking at Faker's increasingly conservative positioning.

Looking at the signals on the map, Su Xiaoyan said, "C-God is sending a signal, clicking on the bush, but it's a request for assistance. He doesn't believe Faker placed a ward. However, Faker seems to be communicating with Peanut as well. Peanut is moving towards the mid lane. Neither of them managed to fool the other."

[Hilarious! Those two together are cunning and scheming.]

They're all old monsters, what are they doing playing at, like those ghost stories?

[Is this what a clash between the world's top high school and the world's top middle school looks like? No skillful maneuvering, just pure calculation.]

I bet you don't have any wards in the bushes!

In the game, Li Chen was clearing the lane while looking for an opportunity to move forward. He was pretty sure there was no vision in the river bush in the upper half of the map because Faker was too cautious and didn't dare to get close to the river bush.

Peanut controlled Sejuani to stop behind the Bird Pit wall, looking for an opportunity to catch Li Chen.

"Sang-hyuk hyung, I'll drive him. If we can hit him, we'll finish him off in no time."

Hearing Peanut's eager tone, Faker instinctively wanted to dissuade him, because he knew that unless it was an unavoidable hard CC, it was basically impossible to CC Li Chen.

But in the end, he hesitated for a moment and did not refuse Peanut's attempt. This group stage match was not that important, and they would likely lose. It would be better to take this opportunity to let Peanut face reality.

Li Chen couldn't pinpoint Sejuani's location yet, but based on Faker's movements, he could roughly determine that Sejuani was definitely near the mid lane.

"Factory, go to the riverbank bushes, there are definitely no wards there, I'm about to make my move." Li Chen gave instructions while continuing to push forward, seemingly trying to force Faker out of the experience zone.

Faker is now hesitant to use his skills recklessly. Even if he really wants to fight, he has to wait for Peanut to initiate first, or he can only counter-attack. Otherwise, if he misses his skills, the fight will be a disaster.

"They're about to make their move. Faker is trying to seduce C, and C's position is a bit dangerous. Peanut is only separated from him by a wall and has no vision. Clearlove is still a bit far away. Can he make it in time...?"

Before he could finish speaking, Peanut decisively took action, starting with a Q-Flash combo, not intending to give Li Chen a chance to react.

The doll shouted, "They've made their move! Peanut immediately used Q-Flash, and C-God reacted and also flashed forward. This was an E-Flash, and the E skill chain was used to chain Taliyah. Taliyah wanted to spread the stone array first, but C-God stepped on it directly."

E Flash WQ ignite!

Taking blood-thickening drugs.

Li Chen acted decisively; the moment Peanut chose to engage him, he used almost all of his skills.

Faker frowned as he watched his health plummet, and quickly used his dodge ability.