LOL: My talent is top-tier, my professional skills are unparalleled.

Chapter 238 EDGaming! This battle will be remembered!
"In addition, Ryze and Taliyah have been slightly nerfed, while Galio's ultimate cooldown has been significantly reduced. It's clear that the designers are targeting support-oriented mid laners," Maokai said.

Ryze, Taliyah, and Galio are all mid-lane champions with extremely high pick rates throughout the Spring Split.

Galio has already been nerfed, and now he absolutely needs to build AP items, which essentially reduces the champion's margin for error.

However, the designers didn't expect the [Aftershock] talent, which forcibly compensated for the problem caused by Galio's reduced tankiness, and then the unstoppable W-flash initiation allowed this hero to still be able to hold his own in the mid lane.

It's understandable to nerf roaming mid laners, since the overall theme of the S8 season's version changes was to make the game more exciting to play.

If everyone's tankiness has decreased, and the rewards for fighting and killing are higher than those for managing resources, and the economy grows faster, wouldn't that be exciting!
Riot Games wants players to trade blows and get more solo kills during the laning phase, rather than having the two mid laners compete to see who can clear waves faster or provide support more quickly.

Therefore, support-type mid laners are being nerfed severely!

"Let's start playing a few practice matches in a bit. Everyone should try to find problems during the practice matches," Maokai said.

Since the LPL region won its first S-series championship last year, EDG, with its star player Wang Yao, has become a top team second only to SKT, and has no trouble finding scrimmages in various regions.

After several attempts over the past few days, Wang Yao has come to the conclusion that Irelia is actually more suitable for the mid lane in the current version!

While Irelia may seem capable of switching between top and mid lanes, her impact on the game is actually far less significant in the top lane compared to her mid lane role.

The reason is that the top laner in this version has a very limited impact on the game. Even if the top laner can gain an advantage in the laning phase, it is difficult to convert it into an advantage for the team.

First, the area that the upper road can cover is not as large as that of the middle road.

Secondly, the current single-band environment has changed.

In previous versions, the green jungle item allowed teammates to provide ample vision, ensuring your top laner could safely split push.

But this version doesn't work; top laners can't push too far into lane, so the role of top lane Irelia is greatly weakened.

But the middle lane is different.

The mid lane may seem short, leaving Irelia with insufficient distance for chasing maneuvers, but Irelia is, after all, a warrior champion, and one with stat-heavy stats among warrior champions.

Even against those mages with terrible stats in the mid lane, I can still crush them, even if they're the warrior heroes with the worst stats.

The reason why Lucian was so popular in the mid lane during S7 last year was partly due to his stats, since mages have such poor base stats in the early game.

Even if you can't get a solo kill, you can easily gain lane control!
If you can consistently secure lane priority in the mid lane, it becomes much easier to coordinate with the jungler's invasions or roam to the side lanes to tower dive!

In team fights, Irelia has an ultimate skill that "disarms," ​​which instantly silences the enemy's backline damage dealers once she charges in and uses her ultimate.

This hero is a natural counter to the enemy's mid and bot lane carries, and playing him well will definitely bring many benefits!
Of course, Wang Yao wasn't worried about the enemy picking Irelia to target his two carries, since he knew which heroes could counter Irelia.

After these few days of training matches...

EDG's win rate in scrims is pretty good. Although they don't dominate every time, they can still achieve a win rate of over 70%.

However, Zhu Kai and Mao Kai still did not relax. Training match results can only be used as a reference and cannot determine the players' performance on the field.

Fortunately, with Wang Yao on the team, they felt quite reassured. Having such a top player anchoring the mid lane gave them a relaxed and calm mindset. As the match drew closer, the entire EDG team was gradually adjusting their form.

Professional players need to learn how to adjust their state and strive to be in the best condition before each game.

Meanwhile, domestic viewers are also paying extra attention to EDG's participation in MSI this time!
Since EDG won the championship at the Bird's Nest last year, the label of "domestic champions, foreign losers" has finally been mostly removed.

If we can win the MSI championship again this year, it will be a complete farewell to the past, and the fans will be reborn!

Casual viewers also have extremely high expectations for EDG, the championship team, hoping they will not only be invincible and dominant domestically, but also make a name for themselves internationally.

May 5st!
The highly anticipated MSI is about to officially begin its group stage, drawing the attention of League of Legends players worldwide!
To cater to the viewing experience of a global audience, Riot Games has also done a good job in scheduling the matches.

The match started at exactly 7 PM in China, which is prime time for watching the game!

In the European LCS studio in Berlin, Germany, players from all six participating teams gathered together, ready to officially take the stage and face this brutal battle!

However, the scale of this year's MSI event is far smaller than that of last year's Bird's Nest, and its scale is not grand.

The opening performance was already underway on stage, and it wasn't until after the show ended that the staff reminded the contestants to prepare to go on stage.

Although the venue wasn't very large, the enthusiasm of the European audience was very high, and the venue was packed with people, creating a fantastic atmosphere.

The host was a burly white man with a strong, booming voice. He shouted, "Next... let's welcome the 2018 LPL Spring Split champions, EDGaming!!"

Amid cheers from the audience, the entire EDG team walked from the edge of the stage across the steps toward the center.

When the contestants came onto the stage, they could see the championship trophy displayed on the platform in front of them, shining brightly under the lights.

The European audience's reaction did not disappoint Wang Yao. The moment the entire EDG team took the stage, cheers and enthusiastic applause suddenly erupted from all around.

Although Wang Yao's popularity is not as high as Lee Sang-hyeok's, he can still be considered one of the top players in LOL, second only to Faker.

This is mainly due to Riot's continuous marketing and promotion of Wang Yao on foreign websites, and Wang Yao has indeed lived up to expectations, making several memorable plays this season.

Besides the pentakill Draven in last year's Bird's Nest finals, Camille's "Pointing the Way" and Kai'Sa's pentakill through the backline this year have sparked heated discussions among foreign viewers.

Add to that the media frenzy surrounding his transition from AD carry to mid lane as the FMVP, and the sheer volume of marketing opportunities surrounding Wang Yao, both off-field hype and on-field performance.

Therefore, it is understandable that Wang Yao has attracted a lot of attention from these foreign players.

Following EDG on stage was KZ from the LCK. This team didn't have the same fan base as SKT from the same region. Their most popular player was Peanut, who had just transferred to the team.

Soon, all six teams had made their appearances.

The MSI schedule is very tight, so all the procedures are relatively short, and the competition starts right away!
The opening match was naturally played by the host team, Fnatic. Their opponent was relatively weak, as they chose the weakest team, EvoS from Vietnam.

Clearly, FNC knows that a winning start is auspicious; being crushed by a strong team right from the start would be embarrassing.

(End of this chapter)