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

The snake woman's sudden forward movement startled all the spectators.

Even Showmaker was startled. His first instinct was to use Flash to create distance, since trading Flash for Flash was a win-win situation.

But his greed still held back his hand that was about to strike.

After all, his health was quite good after drinking two bottles of red potion, so he didn't look like he was going to die.

As he ran, he grabbed a minion and slammed it at the snake woman to slow her down, then turned to run away again.

But Ming Jing only sneered when he saw this.

If you want to save time, then don't flash your lights.

He glanced at his mana and, after confirming that everything was fine, unleashed a basic attack, followed by two Venom Fangs!

The three-stage damage successfully triggered Phase Boots. Phase Boots' slow resistance ignored Syndra's W slow. Cassiopeia quickly ran up and launched another auto-attack at Syndra, followed by W [Poisonous Mist]!
Enemies within the range of Cassiopeia's W will be rooted to the ground and unable to use any movement abilities, including Flash.

If this W hits, followed by a Q, Syndra will either be dead or severely injured!

Of course, dodging this W with Flash won't help, because Cassiopeia is in Phase Rush mode, and Syndra can't create distance even if she Flashes, and she'll still be chased down and Q'd.

Showmaker's mind raced, and he quickly realized his predicament; even if he wanted to make a move, he had little room for maneuver.

He could only watch as W's ground-binding spell fell at his feet. Taking advantage of W's poison effect, Cassiopeia spat two venomous fangs at him, and then, just before Syndra stepped out of the poison mist, landed a clean Q.

Thanks to the speed boost, the Cassiopeia kept casting spells, but the distance between the two sides did not increase; instead, they got closer and closer.

Mingjing unleashes a basic attack, followed by two E attacks, maintaining a perfect EEA cycle for output.

Syndra's health plummeted, and by the time the three-second poison effect of her Q skill ended, Syndra was already at low health.

Fortunately, Cassiopeia's mana was almost depleted, with only enough mana left for either her Q or E.

Now, without a doubt, it's time to see how the players position themselves.

Cassiopeia's E attack only deals half damage to targets not poisoned, and Cassiopeia's remaining mana is insufficient to kill Syndra with E alone.

As long as Syndra can dodge the subsequent Q, she definitely won't die this wave!

Mingjing unleashed a basic attack, using his last bit of mana, and cast his Q [Plague Explosion] at Syndra's feet.

Showmaker's first reaction was to move aside, but under immense pressure, he couldn't calmly assess whether he could dodge the attack, nor did he dare to gamble.

After a moment's hesitation, he simply used Flash to dodge the skill's range.

Ming Jing watched as Syndra used Flash to pull away, sighed inwardly, and turned to pull away as well.

It's fair to say that the durability patch saved Showmaker's life; without it, Syndra would have been lying in the fountain long ago.

However, it's not a big problem.

Because he still has teammates.

Showmaker's previous precautions against the jungler were not without reason, because JieJie was not far from the mid lane in this play.

Seeing the mid lane in such a state, JieJie certainly wouldn't miss the opportunity. Poppy activated her W and appeared in Showmaker's vision.

Show God's skills were all off at this moment, he didn't even have Flash, and he was helpless as Poppy charged towards him.

Poppy used her E to stick to Syndra, and then casually followed up with a passive auto-attack to secure the kill!

"Firrrrrrrst blood!"

Inside the stadium at Madison Square Garden, the North American commentator even excitedly clicked his tongue, his voice deep and resonant: "It was born in an unexpected way!"

The North American audience below the stage also cheered continuously.

This first blood was truly unexpected by the audience.

After all, in the last minute, the two mid laners have been very respectful to each other, and haven't even exchanged skills much.

Who would have thought that the snake woman wasn't just taking a beating, but was actually looking for an opportunity to launch a big attack!
"Ah!" In the T1 lounge, Zeus looked at the scene before him with some surprise. "Sang-hyeok-hyung really guessed right!"

"After all, they're players of the same caliber," Oner said with a silly grin. "In this world, only Sang-hyeok could keep up with Phi's laning strategy, right?"

Faker calmly shook his head upon hearing this: "No, I probably can't keep up now either."

Faker, on the other hand, saw things clearly.

Now 26 years old, his reactions and skills are no longer as sharp as they were in his youth. If you ask him to compete with an 18-year-old in his prime, he would certainly feel inferior.

Just like him now, he can't compete with his younger self in terms of skill; he would definitely lose.

"Brother," Keria thought for two seconds before saying, "Don't say things like that! You're the best."

Faker smiled but did not refute his subordinate's words.

Because he thinks so too.

Being unable to compete with Phi in terms of operation is one thing, but who ultimately wins and who loses is another matter entirely.

Faker's nearly ten years of competitive experience has given him an unparalleled level of expertise, which is his advantage over Phi.

This year's T1 is very strong, and Faker is confident of winning the championship.

Only then did Faker refocus his attention on the match in front of him.

As for this match, there's really nothing to say about it.

DK has probably already lost.

By letting Cassiopeia develop, Faker couldn't figure out how to play DK's aggressive lineup.

After turning around and pulling away, Ming Jing knew that Showmaker was doomed. He didn't even bother to switch screens to take a look and let Jie Jie finish him off.

He then turned around and quickly dealt with the minion wave.

Because Mingjing had been deliberately letting the lane go, the minion wave was pushing towards him, and he is currently stuck in front of EDG's tower.

Therefore, Mingjing doesn't need to push the lane into the tower. He simply deals with a few low-health minions, leaves a few small minions, continues to block the minion wave in front of the tower, and then returns to base to replenish supplies.

In this situation, Showmaker must teleport back to lane after respawning to push the minion wave into the tower.

This period of time was enough for Mingjing to leisurely return to town to upgrade his equipment before slithering back online.

Although Ming Jing didn't get a kill this time, the first blood assist is worth 200 gold, which is still quite considerable.

Upon release, the Cassiopeia's equipment inventory already included the Killing Ring and the Tear of the Goddess, highlighting a promising future.

Ming Jing, on the other hand, was self-aware and did not become complacent after killing Syndra once; he continued to bear the pressure as before.

After all, Syndra's strength is still undeniable; dying once won't cause Syndra to lose a skill.

In addition, Mingjing's two items are already at a disadvantage, and he doesn't have Flash right now, so he should play it safe and wait until Flash is ready before discussing anything else.

But it's not a big problem. After all, Ming Jing has no offensive pressure. He can develop so comfortably, which is already a success. It's the other side that should be anxious.

DK is indeed in a hurry. At this moment, Canyon is lingering near EDG's bottom tower, trying to coordinate with the duo pushing the lane into the tower to launch a tower dive.

Normally, if JieJie chooses to gank mid after finishing in the half of the box, then Canyon will definitely have a time difference before falling.

However, this move by JieJie could hardly be called a gank in the mid lane; he simply went to the mid lane and casually picked up a kill without wasting any time at all.

Seeing Poppy also appear in the bottom lane, DK lost their idea of ​​tower diving and could only turn around and move away.

The failed tower dive made the DK team increasingly anxious, but they had no way to break the deadlock and could only proceed slowly according to the original plan.

At the very least, we can still control the dragon. As long as the dragon soul rhythm isn't disrupted, we're still on track.

In the blink of an eye, five minutes had passed.

DK prioritized the dragon above all else in this game, with the mid and top lanes starting preparations almost a minute in advance, ready to engage as soon as the dragon spawned.

It can only be said that DK has found the key to victory. If the Dragon Soul rhythm is compressed so tightly, then EDG may face the pressure of the Dragon Soul team fight in just over 20 minutes, which is indeed a bit difficult to withstand. This is definitely not Aphelios's power spike period.

But EDG hasn't said anything.

After all, the enemy's Syndra + Kalista duo was too overpowered at the five-minute mark, plus Sejuani and Leona were tanking in front of them.

Even if Flandre comes to support this wave, EDG will most likely lose a 5v4 situation.
Therefore, Mingjing's strategy was quite clear: he chose to gank Nuguri in the top lane to stop the loss.

Nuguri's discipline is quite good. Following the principle of half the map, he ran to the second tower in advance when he saw that EDG's mid laner disappeared!
But JieJie didn't give him that chance. Poppy appeared behind the tower in advance and flashed to pin him against the wall behind the second tower.

JieJie had a clear strategy. After the wall slam, he used QA to trigger Phase Rush, and then held onto W, blocking Camille's path.

If Camille dares to use her E to hang on the wall, he will immediately interrupt her with his W. Moreover, he is positioned in front of her, so Camille doesn't even have a chance to use Flash.

Mingjing arrived slowly from behind, immediately casting a W to slow down Camille, and then followed up with a QE combo.

At this moment, Flandre's Aatrox finally arrived leisurely, but he was only there to get an assist. Aatrox's Q1E hit, and Camille was already reduced to low health.

With Jie Jie deliberately letting Ming Jing get the kill, Ming Jing used his E Poison Fang skill to easily secure the win.

Why is it said that EDG is a formidable team even when playing in the late game?
Besides having the world's best dual Cs, another key point is that with their strong cooperation and execution, they can easily stop losses.

We did lose the dragon, but it doesn't matter, we caught someone in the top lane.

Including kills, assists, and minion plating, this wave of attacks has created an economic gap of around 700.

With the previous first blood, Mingjing only needed to do a quick calculation to figure out that the economic difference between the two sides had reached 1.4K.

It's still under control.

This wave is a key glimpse into what will follow.

DK controlled the entire game, almost completely controlling all resources, while EDG seized the opportunity to take resources and stop losses in the gaps, miraculously widening the economic gap.

Eight minutes later, the vanguard spawned.

DK originally didn't plan to take the Rift Herald, since the team's top half of the map wasn't particularly strong, and they would have to bring their bot lane duo up, which might cause some unpredictability.

But given the current situation, they really don't dare to give the vanguard to EDG again. What if Cassiopeia takes away another tower?

There was no other way but to force the duo to come on and take on the vanguard.

EDG is still playing it safe, but of course, they're not playing it safe blindly.

In the bottom lane, Viper's Aphelios was incredibly skilled, and he had already timed his ultimate three-hit combo (blue, white, and red) perfectly.

After pushing the minion wave to the tower, use the blue blade Q to clear the minions while stacking the white blade wheel. First, use the wheel to attack the tower aggressively. When the wheel is about to disappear, switch to the red blade that you just pulled out of your pants and continue stacking the wheel.

Aphelios is surrounded by a full eight flying wheels, making him incredibly efficient at pushing towers. As a result, DK was completely wiped out while diving the tower in the bottom lane!
Meanwhile, JieJie also stormed into DK's lower jungle, showing off a set of three wolves and a set of swamp frogs.

DK did manage to control the Vanguard, but at the cost of losing two camps, a wave of creeps, and three plating layers, instantly widening the economic gap between the two sides to two thousand.

And it's not over yet.

After finishing this wave, the EDG bot lane duo immediately recalled to base and headed straight for the top lane.

Meanwhile, Flandre leisurely headed to the bottom lane.

That line-changing maneuver was the real highlight.

With nearly ten minutes already elapsed, the second dragon is about to spawn.

To maintain the momentum of the Dragon Soul, DK cannot push the top lane. After taking the Rift Herald, the duo will definitely return to the bottom lane to prepare to push the first tower and control the second dragon.

For DK, this is a huge wave of momentum.

However, if EDG insists on defending the bottom half of the map, it will only affect Viper's development and will not help the situation at all.

Because the equipment of the two DPS characters is far from sufficient to go head-to-head with the DK.

Therefore, the correct solution is to have the duo switch to the top lane to farm turret plating.

Admittedly, this lane swap is equivalent to giving up the first turret and the second dragon in the bottom lane.

However, EDG was able to take advantage of the nearly two minutes that DK lingered in the bottom half of the map to push down DK's top lane tower.

When Viper and Meiko appeared in the top lane, the DK team was completely stunned.

Are you that good at having fun?
But at this point, they clearly lacked the ability to adapt, so they could only ask Nuguri to make do for a while while they continued with their plan.

What followed was nothing out of the ordinary—the exchange of resources.

"The Red Legion destroyed the first tower!"

"The Red Legion has slain the Ocean Dragon!"

"The Blue Legion has destroyed a defensive tower!"

Announcements rang out one after another.

Thanks to the extra bounty from the first tower, DK managed to recover their economy a little. Now the economic difference between the two sides is only 1.5K, and with two dragons in hand, the two sides seem to be evenly matched at the moment.

However, the DK members all had their brows furrowed, clearly under considerable pressure.

Because they all understand that this is far from enough.

They secured those two dragons through their draft picks and strong team composition.

However, their economic disadvantage stems from losses incurred due to their own limitations.
Under normal circumstances, they should never be the economically disadvantaged party!
Why is it that even after taking the first tower, the economy is still lagging behind?

It must be said that EDG's defensive counter-attacking ability over the past ten minutes has been top-notch.

It even gave DK the illusion that they were facing GEN!
It's one thing to be so fierce against Velociraptors, but to be so smooth in counter-attacks as well?

In contrast, the EDG players looked much more relaxed, with smiles on their faces. DK's two dragons didn't seem to pose any pressure to them.

"Almost there." Ming Jing pressed TAB, glanced at his teammates' gold, and said, "Next dragon, get ready to engage." (End of Chapter)