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

Upon hearing the snake woman's choice, Maokai nodded in satisfaction.

There really isn't a problem.

With high AP damage output, excellent anti-engage and counter-engage capabilities, and most importantly, decent early-game fighting power, it better meets the team's needs compared to Azir.

Having a mid-laner with a deep champion pool is so great; you can have whatever you want.

With the snake woman's intervention, it was actually the death knight's side that suffered.

There aren't many champions that can easily counter a lane bully like Cassiopeia.

With few options, Showmaker simply locked in Syndra as his counter.

Syndra's push is surprisingly effective against short-legged mages like Cassiopeia.

With that, the lineups for both sides are finalized!
Blue side EDG: Top lane Aatrox, Jungle Poppy, Mid lane Cassiopeia, Bot lane Aphelios and Lulu.

Red team DK: Top lane Camille, Jungle Sejuani, Mid lane Syndra, Bot lane Kalista and Leona.

In terms of lineups, the focus of both sides is quite obvious.

Although DK has some late-game potential, it is no match for EDG's heroes. They must accumulate a considerable advantage in the early game.

On the other hand, EDG's goal is simple—to stall, just stall.

"I believe you all know how to play this round."

Before leaving, my cousin said, "Don't rush things. They have Kalista, so let the dragon go if you need to, and try to get the Rift Herald. Also, be a little more careful at the start of the game, watch out for enemy invasions."

"OK, OK." Meiko waved her hand lazily. "Don't worry, we understand."

Maokai didn't say much, but he patted Flandre on the shoulder and said, "Be careful, you're going to be on the front line this time, don't go around to the back."

"..." Saint Gun Bro didn't know what to say.

So you'll be talked about for the rest of your life after going around in circles, right?

Maokai and the factory manager exchanged a glance, then took off their headphones, walked to the center of the stage together, bumped fists, and left.

After a brief loading period, the match started quickly!
Both sides' heroes rushed out of the fountain to make their initial arrangements.

Because they had been invaded at level 1 in the first round, the EDG team was extra careful this time. JieJie placed a protective ward in the bottom jungle before recalling to base to get a scanner and heading to the top jungle.

Mingjing also deliberately moved closer to the Ueno area.

However, DK didn't seem to have any intention of engaging in a level 1 team fight this time, and both sides started the game in a standard manner.

Mingjing waited until the minion wave spawned before going online with the minions.

The level 1 Cassiopeia is quite strong; at the very least, she can last-hit anyone. So Mingjing was quite aggressive and immediately pushed forward after the minions were engaged.

On the other side, Showmaker was not intimidated at all, and Syndra stepped up to take the lead as well!

In terms of skill form, Cassiopeia's Q and Syndra's Q are actually almost the same type of skill.

All of them have long-range casting, small-area AOE, and delayed damage, and are also the core skills for their respective heroes in lane.

The accuracy of Syndra's Q skill almost directly determines the outcome of the lane matchup between Syndra and Cassiopeia.

Therefore, a battle of wits between the two sides is inevitable.

The team that wins the first-round trade will directly control the initiative in the first laning phase.

In fact, Mingjing really admires Showmaker. As a loser who has been defeated time and time again, Showmaker will always step up and fight Mingjing head-on in every new duel.

In terms of mentality, they are truly outstanding.

As for this operational confrontation, Ming Jing was not worried at all about losing.

If you want to compete with him in terms of skill, you'd better practice for a few years first.

Mingjing didn't hesitate and immediately used his Q to initiate the attack!
A green light exploded beneath the woman's feet.

Showmaker reacted quickly, immediately finding the optimal route and maneuvering to escape the skill's range.

Moreover, while moving, Syndra also simultaneously unleashed a Q, aiming it at Cassiopeia's feet!
Syndra actually has a slight advantage in level 1 skirmishes because she is one of the few champions in the game who can cast spells while moving. She can move around and cast spells at the same time, which gives her a huge advantage when it comes to accuracy.

Of course, Cassiopeia also has an additional advantage: her Q skill has a cooldown of only 3.5 seconds, which is only half that of Syndra's Q skill.

The moment Mingjing saw Syndra unleash her skill, he clicked the mouse, and the Cassiopeia slithered out of the skill's range, effortlessly landing a basic attack.

Showmaker wasn't going to back down either, and countered with a basic attack.

Both heroes' basic attacks attracted the aggro of the minions. To avoid being focused down by the minions, they should have stopped there and waited for the next round of skill exchanges.

But Mingjing, relying on his shorter Q skill cooldown, showed no intention of leaving and continued to press forward, landing another basic attack.

Since there was no difference in attack range between the two mid laners, Showmaker certainly had no reason to take the hits for nothing and immediately launched a basic attack.

But as he launched his basic attack, Showmaker also realized that Cassiopeia's Q was about to be ready, so he immediately dodged and tried to disrupt Mingjing.

But Ming Jing is known for not being fooled by feints. His powerful abilities allow him to quickly figure out Syndra's movement patterns and then seize the moment when she turns her head to strike with a Q!

The green skill exploded again right under Syndra's feet. Given Syndra's movement speed, she could have dodged the Q by moving immediately.

The problem is that Showmaker was in a state of moving by dragging the mouse, which caused his subsequent movement to be slightly slower, resulting in him not being able to leave the skill range.

At that moment, a streak of blue light appeared beneath the feet of the Cassiopeia, a special effect triggered by Phase Rush.

Cassiopeia players usually take Conqueror these days, but Mingjing now prefers the Phase Rush rune, which can further enhance his micro-management skills.

Taking advantage of the Phase Boots and Q speed boost, Cassiopeia moved incredibly fast, quickly pulling out of the minion's aggro range before returning.

That's right, even after gaining an extra Q damage, Ming Jing still didn't intend to leave.

If we're going to fight, let's fight to our hearts' content!

The two mid laners traded basic attacks again.

Showmaker brought Electrocute this game, but because there was too much time between this auto-attack and the previous two, Electrocute failed to trigger.

This was, of course, part of Ming Jing's calculations; he pulled on it for this very reason.

At this moment, the phase effect under the snake woman's feet finally disappeared.

Phase Rush's effect only lasts for three seconds, which is about the same as Cassiopeia's Q skill cooldown. The disappearance of the effect means that Cassiopeia's Q skill is ready again.

This also means that Syndra has waited for seven seconds and also has her Q skill ready!
Showmaker moved forward, pretending to exchange basic attacks with Cassiopeia, but actually used his Q skill decisively, hoping to catch Cassiopeia during the recovery animation of her basic attack.

But Mingjing's calculations were incredibly precise. He knew that Syndra's Q had already been upgraded, so of course he wouldn't be foolish enough to just auto-attack like that.

He immediately repositioned himself to cancel out his basic attack, dodging the Dark Orb while simultaneously unleashing another Q!

Showmaker tried to dodge again, but still couldn't dodge the skill and was hit by the Q skill again!
At this point, even if he attacks again with a basic attack, it won't make much difference.

Even though his Q skill missed, his Electrocute still failed to trigger.

In contrast, Cassiopeia, using the speed boost from her Q skill, caught up and landed another auto-attack. Then, before the opponent could unleash their third auto-attack after triggering Electrocute, she gracefully created distance. The exchange of blows temporarily came to an end.

Mingjing unleashed three Qs, hitting two of them, plus four basic attacks, directly reducing Syndra's health to less than half!
In contrast, Showmaker's Syndra missed both of her Qs and landed four auto attacks but didn't trigger Electrocute, resulting in Mingjing's health barely dropping and remaining quite healthy.

Unfortunately, the entire process of this mid-lane blood exchange was captured by the broadcast director, and viewers all over the world witnessed Mingjing's resounding victory in the blood exchange.

Even Faker couldn't help but raise his eyelids when he saw this scene in the T1 rest room.

To be honest, Phi's move was really too good.

Why is the Cassiopeia chasing Syndra around relentlessly at level one?

Faker looked at Ming Jing and saw only a younger version of himself in his eyes.

Seeing the difference in health between the two mid laners, Faker knew that the first round of their laning phase had already decided the outcome.

Cassiopeia will be strong at level two; few champions can beat her with Q and E. This situation will only change when both mid laners reach level three and Syndra has all her abilities.

Now that Cassiopeia has established such a huge advantage at level one, all she needs to do is convert her health into a minion wave advantage after level two. Then Syndra will be useless even if she reaches level three.

Cassiopeia doesn't need to fight you. She can just push the minion wave to the tower, then recall to base to buy Tear of the Goddess. When she comes back to lane, Syndra won't have time to push the minion wave to the tower, and you can easily create a TP advantage.

For a scaling champion like Cassiopeia, recalling to base to buy Tear of the Goddess and having a TP advantage is a truly perfect start. As long as she doesn't get caught and killed, she can easily reach 100 CS in 10 minutes.

At this moment, in the DK players' bench.

While Canyon was farming jungle camps, he casually switched screens to take a look at the mid lane.

The health of both mid-lane champions was both unexpected and reasonable.
It's unclear when it started, but Canyon has gotten used to the sight of Mingjing pooping on his teammates' heads.

From S10 to S12, wasn't it always like this?
"Should we help the mid lane?" Canyon's tone was completely flat.

“No need,” Showmaker shook his head. “It’s a minor issue.”

Showmaker was rather stubborn; he didn't think he had already lost.

It's only a loss of a little over a hundred HP, we can just fight it back later, right?

The few pieces of good news are that although the two mid laners fought quite intensely from level one, the minion waves were actually barely moved.

In fact, because Cassiopeia pushed forward and fought across the lane, Showmaker's minion wave had a slight advantage.

At this point, the second wave of minions had arrived, and both sides had reached level two after last-hitting the minions.

Showmaker made a rather aggressive choice; as soon as he reached level two, he learned E [Slaughter the Weak] and then pushed forward.

If you can dodge Cassiopeia's Q and then land a QEA Electrocute combo, you can immediately turn the tide of the laning phase!

But Mingjing was exceptionally flexible and adaptable. Seeing Syndra press forward like this, he showed no fighting spirit whatsoever and immediately retreated, giving up his advantageous position.

This move actually left everyone a bit confused.

"Huh? They withdrew?" Gumayusi, who was watching the match, was a little surprised. "You can still play!"

Guma is a player with a very aggressive laning style. Once he has established such a large health advantage, he will absolutely not back down.

While Syndra at level 2 is quite strong, Cassiopeia is significantly stronger. If her Q skill hits once, and then her AoE skill triggers Phase Boots, the opponent will lose at least half their health!

"Are we waiting for Phase Boots to be off cooldown?" support Keria chimed in. "It'll be a bit stressful without Phase Boots."

This is not the case.

The phase cooldown is only 15 seconds, and it's actually ready shortly after both sides level up to level two.

However, Mingjing still played quite conservatively, simply standing with the ranged minions and steadily using AoE to last-hit.

Soon, the third wave of artillery units arrived, and Syndra leveled up to level three and gained all her abilities.

At this stage, even if the snake woman wanted to be aggressive, it would be difficult for her to be.

After all, Syndra was picked as a counter-pick specifically to counter Cassiopeia. The QWE combo, which tests skill accuracy, is incredibly effective against short-legged mages like Cassiopeia, while Cassiopeia's W, Ground Bind, doesn't have much of a restrictive effect on Syndra.

As a result, the minion wave inevitably pushed towards EDG's tower.

Looking at the situation in the mid lane, the audience might not think much of it, but professional players who are more familiar with the rhythm of the game might not understand it.

"What are they playing at?"

Zeus couldn't help but scratch his head, bluntly expressing his doubts, "With such a huge advantage at level one, why give up the lane?"

Given Zeus's game-like mindset, he couldn't possibly conceive of a reason for such an action.

There are clearly better ways to handle this, so what are we doing?
But Faker shook his head upon hearing this and said, "He wants to get a solo kill."

Faker has always believed that Phi's thinking is very similar to his own in many ways, a game-thinking ability that can only be possessed by exceptional talent.

Therefore, it's not hard for Faker to understand Mingjing's thoughts.

Leaving the lane open is to extend the chasing distance and make it easier to get a solo kill, even if Syndra's health is already quite good.

As for the timing, it's not hard to imagine that it will be the moment the snake woman reaches level three.

"Huh?" The four little ones around him expressed their surprise in unison, and then looked at the scene in front of them.

Hmm. It actually seems quite possible.

But it wasn't just Faker who realized this; Showmaker on the field also did.

Xiu Shen often dreams of arguing with Ming Jing, so of course he can realize what Ming Jing is trying to do.

Are you trying to let the lane pass over and call the jungler?

EDG's jungler this game is Poppy, and this lane placement will create opportunities for Poppy to gank.

Or is he trying to get a solo kill?

In any case, we must be on guard.

Showmaker knew that EDG's Poppy would most likely start in the top half of the map and farm downwards, so he placed a ward in the top river and then returned to the mid lane to continue focusing on the laning phase.

As long as you don't get hit by Q, there shouldn't be any chance of being solo killed.

But just as he returned to lane, Cassiopeia pushed forward and seized the opportunity when he was last-hitting minions, throwing a Q [Plague Explosion] at his feet!
It's still very difficult to hit with a Q of this level. Showmaker quickly twisted to dodge, and then turned around to use EQ!

Syndra has been reworked in the live server version 12.19. While her skill set remains almost unchanged, her damage has been reduced and a stacking evolution mechanism has been added, transforming her from a lane bully mage into a stacking mage core similar to Viktor.

The EQ combo has also been removed.

However, the World Championship uses version 12.18, and Syndra is still the high-burst lane bully who can use the EQ combo.

But even the faster and harder-to-react EQ couldn't escape Ming Jing's eyes.

The instant Syndra used her E skill, a flash of golden light appeared. Ming Jing actually used Flash to dodge the EQ combo and brought Syndra into his basic attack range!
He actually used Flash to initiate the attack! (End of Chapter)