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

At this moment, in the T1 voice channel.

Seeing their eldest brother get tower-dived and solo-killed, causing the situation to turn around rapidly, the four younger members wanted to say something, but didn't know what to say.
Everyone knows who T1's biggest weakness was in this game.

However, the traditional Korean etiquette of respecting elders and superiors is deeply ingrained, so even if T1 doesn't follow this rule, they wouldn't dare to speak recklessly at such a moment.

Little Lu Bu turned his head and glanced at his elder brother.

Faker's expression was obviously not good either.

This match was nothing special; it was simply a matter of overwhelming the opponent with superior skills.

18-year-old Mingjing completely outplayed 26-year-old Faker in terms of skill.

Of course, this is normal.

This is the power of time.

18-year-old Lee Sang-hyeok was able to outperform his 26-year-old self.

Once both sides enter a situation where they are competing in terms of skill, Faker's defeat will be inevitable.

However, Faker did make a mistake.

His mistake was that he shouldn't have given an 18-year-old the opportunity to do it.

Phi's advantage is his youth, while Faker's advantage is his age.

Faker could easily use his ten years of experience to completely drown Phi underwater, leaving him no room to fight.

"Just relax, this is only the first game."

Faker said calmly, "This game was my fault. Let's get back together."

Lee Sang-hyeok has lost countless matches throughout his career, but he has also played countless best-of-five series where he lost the first game but ultimately won.

It was indeed his mistake in the first game, but that doesn't mean anything.

Their advantage in the first game proves that their chances of winning are not small.

It'll be fine if they come back later.

Regardless, T1 certainly didn't have much of a chance of winning this first game.

If we only look at the situation, it's not that bad. After all, we're only behind by three or four thousand in economy right now, and there have been times when a team has turned the tide despite being that far behind.

The main problem right now is that this economic gap of three to four thousand is almost entirely concentrated on the person in the center position.

Xiao Lu Bu was already in a terrible state, and with Faker getting tower-dived, he also fell apart, resulting in both carries having extremely poor economy, lagging behind by more than a thousand gold per person.

In addition, EDG uses champions like Kalista and Sylas who become unreasonable once they gain an advantage.

How can you win?

In the time that followed, EDG simply relied on their carry advantage to conquer territory and continuously expand their lead.

At 15 minutes, Oner came to the mid lane and suddenly attacked Viper's Kalista!
EDG only had a duo in the mid lane, but the two were not panicked when surrounded. Lena deliberately sacrificed herself, and her QR combo hit three people.

Viper waited until Meiko was low on health before healing him back up, and then decisively counterattacked!

With her health critically low, Renata burned herself, knocking three people away, while Viper seized the opportunity to leap forward and thrust her spear forward!
First, he pulled out his spear and killed the most threatening Lee Sin. Then, he used Cleanse to instantly remove Ashe's close-range ultimate. He then flashed to dodge Seraphine's R. With his skillful maneuvering, he neutralized countless key crowd control abilities. Then, with a few thrusts of his spear, all three of T1's bottom junglers returned to the fountain!

With a 3-for-1 exchange, EDG's advantage has grown even stronger!
At 18 minutes, Ornn's Lava Goat charged forward at high speed, knocking Zeus's barrel away. Immediately afterwards, Sylas and Jarvan IV rushed in and easily took down the enemy!
After securing the kill, EDG moved to the bottom river and took control of another dragon.

Of course, this wave of Zeus's death was actually a deliberate act by T1.

The camera cuts to the top half of the map, showing T1 pushing forward in the mid and top lanes, quickly taking down EDG's mid lane tower and top lane towers.

This T1 swap wasn't a loss, it was even a bit of a gain, as it significantly healed the carry.

However, this still doesn't help the situation much.

EDG recalled to base to replenish supplies, and then, taking advantage of the lack of resources on the map at the moment, they immediately began their push!
EDG's two carries are simply too powerful; once they start pushing, their momentum is unstoppable.

T1 had just gained a lot of gold through the turrets, but EDG only needed to exert a little effort to quickly fight back, and the gold difference even widened!
After destroying the two defensive towers in the middle lane of T1, all six outer towers of T1 have been eliminated.

EDG recalled to base to replenish supplies, and when they left the base again, their two carries had already reached the three-item stage.

"Kalista with three pieces is terrifyingly dominant at this stage!"

Looking at the items of EDG's two carries, Roaring Emperor felt his scalp tingle. "And it seems they're not planning to take the dragon anymore; they want to force a team fight at Baron!"

In the video, after clearing the vision around the Baron pit, EDG immediately started Baron.

As the number of spears on Baron Nashor increased, the three LCK commentators grew increasingly anxious.

What's the difference between this spear and the one stuck in T1's base?
If this dragon is thrown away, it could even be set on fire!
The T1 team was also in a hurry, quickly rushing to the front of the Dragon Pit.

Seeing that the dragon's health had dropped below half and was covered in spears, the T1 players realized that fighting for Smite was no longer a realistic option, and the only solution was to engage in team fights.

After Keria cleared the vision of his own blue buff area's triangular bush, Faker crouched in the bush in the dark.

Looking at Kalista's position, Faker quickly made a decision.

He watched as the dragon's health steadily decreased, and it was about to enter the kill threshold when he finally made his move.

The Tsar summoned sand soldiers, then used EQ to dash directly behind Viper!

Because Baron Nashor was already low on health, Viper couldn't retreat in order to coordinate the kill.

Faker seized this opportunity!

We can give up Baron Nashor, but we must win the team fight!

At the same time, Oner's Lee Sin also entered the Baron pit from the side, making a final attempt.

EDG certainly wouldn't make such a basic mistake. The marksman and jungler both targeted the 2500 HP mark and attacked simultaneously, almost instantly depleting the Baron's HP bar.

But at the same time, Faker's Azir finally drifted into position and landed directly behind Viper.

Faker's strategy was incredibly clear: he used Sand Soldier to poke Kalista to apply pressure, then immediately flashed backward and unleashed his ultimate, "Wall of the Forbidden Army"!
On the other side, Viper, trying to avoid being pushed back, could only flash backward, but that was exactly what Faker wanted!

The two sides exchanged fire almost simultaneously, and their relative positions remained unchanged.

Immediately afterwards, the shield-wielding guards charged out and pushed Viper directly into the center of the T1 camp!

Age has robbed Faker of his unparalleled laning ability, but it hasn't taken away his team fight prowess.

In the LCK, he may not be as good as Chovy as a teamfight damage dealer, but as an initiator and a game-changer, Faker is unparalleled.

Upon seeing this, all three commentators in the LCK commentary booth immediately stood up!
"They rejected Kalista!"

"Sang-hyeok has unleashed his power!"

This push even gave them a fleeting glimmer of hope for a comeback!
But it was only for a moment.

Because Kalista, pushed into the center of the enemy formation, wasn't immediately eliminated. Lena's ultimate, [Honest Acquisition], was deployed into the river, throwing the T1 team into disarray and preventing them from following up with a burst of damage!

Meanwhile, Sylas and the Prince, the mid-jungle duo, used the cover to charge into the battlefield!
The prince followed up with EQ and then R, aiming for Lu Bu.

Little Lu Bu had just used Flash to dodge the ultimate move, but the next second an ice arrow shot straight at his face!

Before he could react, the Frost Arrow stunned him on the spot and took away nearly half of his health!
Sylas's damage is just too outrageous.

Even if Lu Bu cleanses away the stun, it won't make much difference, because Sylas has already charged in and unleashed a three-stage attack with WAQ, instantly depleting his health bar!
T1 also managed to kill Viper's Kalista, but thanks to Lena's timely rescue and Ashe's death, Kalista immediately revived, shattering T1's hopes of a comeback.

"Ah!!!" The three LCK commentators started wailing again.

Nothing is more despairing than the shattering of hope.

The outcome of the team fight was no longer in doubt, and T1 finally managed to kill Viper again, sending him back to the fountain.

However, as a price, none of the five members of T1 survived; they were all wiped out!
The audience roared with cheers.

The remaining four members of EDG split up under Mingjing's command.

JieJie went to solo the Earth Dragon that had just spawned, while MingJing led the top and support players to push all the way from the middle lane and destroyed T1's middle lane high ground.

At this moment, T1 was still putting up a last stand. The top and mid laners, after respawning, simultaneously teleported to the top jungle ward, hoping to coordinate with their teammates who rushed out of the fountain to complete a gank.

T1 likes to place small foreshadowings in ward placements. This ward in the top jungle area was placed before the previous Baron fight. In addition to clearing vision, it also serves as a ward to set up a flanking maneuver for the next wave.

However, Mingjing was prepared for this. While pushing the tower, he was also directing Meiko to switch screens to observe the jungle.

Teleports (TPs) in the fog of war won't appear on the minimap, but you can still see the teleport effect if you switch the screen to that location.

With Meiko frequently switching screens, he actually saw the TP effect in the top jungle. The entire EDG team quickly moved to the bottom jungle, easily pulling out T1's encirclement.

T1's Ueno surrounded them, but they only managed to catch nothing and could only watch the tiger return to the mountain.

Seeing EDG successfully break through, countless viewers breathed a sigh of relief.

After all, EDG is currently missing some players and is not in good form. If they are surrounded, there is a real possibility that a few of them could be left behind.

To be fair, the T1 players are quite resilient and haven't completely given up despite their disadvantage.

Whether it's the lane switching strategy when they have an early advantage, or the several decisions they make after they fall behind, they're all a bit scary.

Fortunately, EDG made timely decisions and didn't give them a chance.

This is a true final-level competition.

After returning to base to resupply, the next step is to push forward using the super minions and the Baron buff.

Mingjing pushed the top lane, the super minion pushed the middle lane, and the other four pushed the bottom lane.

As the three lanes of minions pushed up to the high ground, T1 was overwhelmed and simply launched a head-on team fight!
Ashe's ultimate arrow hits JieJie's Jarvan IV, followed by Seraphine's E and R, and a team fight is about to break out!
"However, T1's damage output is clearly insufficient!"

Both Azir and Ashe are notorious for their negligible damage in disadvantageous situations. Even if the team's control chain is perfectly coordinated and several people control JieJie's Jarvan IV for several seconds, the two of them can only manage to trigger Jarvan IV's Bloodthirster shield.

Jie Jie, shielded and fearless, directly engaged with EQ. Upon landing, he pressed Bloodlust and, despite being heavily injured, pulled his health bar back to more than half!
Meanwhile, Mingjing's Sylas crossed the T1 high ground and arrived at the rear of T1.

Sylas extended his chains and stole Gragas' ultimate ability, then threw it back at him.

The Exploding Barrel exploded in the center of the T1 camp!

Except for Zeus, all four members of T1 were within the range of their ultimate abilities!

Sylas with Eternal Frostbite, Void Staff, and Mejai's Soulstealer deals damage that no one can comprehend.

Even though Keria reacted in time and pressed W to activate the group shield, the health bars of the four T1 members still dropped significantly, and they flew out in different directions, instantly destroying the defensive formation!

Oner was the most unfortunate one. His Lee Sin was blasted into the center of EDG's camp, and then he was caught by Lena's Q and sent away happily.

The economic disparity is now extremely evident.

The prince is impossible to kill; the blind monk would shatter at the slightest touch.

The subsequent team battles were naturally a foregone conclusion.

With Ming Jing blocking their way, T1 had no chance to retreat even if they wanted to.

Viper, taking advantage of Lena's speed boost, frantically jumped forward, and the two carries attacked from the front and back, sending all of T1's players back to the fountain!

“Triple”

"Double kill!"

"ACE!"

The next step is simply a push forward.

Under the watchful eyes of the entire audience, the T1 base exploded, and then the game screen instantly shrank and disappeared, replaced by a shot of the EDG players' bench.

After securing a winning start in the finals, all five members of EDG had enthusiastic smiles on their faces. They celebrated with fist bumps before quickly heading backstage.

The cheers from the audience below the stage grew even louder. The 20,000 North American fans once again chanted the team name EDG in unison. The three English letters were clearly pronounced, wave after wave, with an overwhelming momentum!

In contrast, the T1 players who lost the first game seemed to be ignored, and even when the camera focused on Faker, he did not receive much cheering.

In previous years, Faker was undoubtedly the most popular player in Europe and America because of his title as GOAT. Whenever T1 played in an international tournament, the number of viewers watching the English stream was more than that of European and American teams.

It's hard to imagine that T1 could ever fall behind in popularity in Europe and America, becoming an away team.

This clearly shows the will of the people.

Compared to the storyline of the "Great Demon King" living a second life and winning four more championships, people would rather see a young genius achieve an unprecedented three-peat and be truly crowned.

The three commentators on the LCK team had already prepared for defeat, so their emotions were relatively stable at the moment.

As the players from both sides left the stage, the Roaring Emperor was still summarizing the reasons for the previous game's defeat: "I can only say that we still can't underestimate EDG. This team is really too strange!"

Strange, that's the evaluation that Roaring Emperor came up with after watching the first game.

The most crucial turning point in this game was undoubtedly that vanguard team fight.

EDG took the initiative to ambush and outnumber their opponents in team fights, and won a great victory.

To be honest, no other team besides EDG would play like that.

It all looks like a gift.

But the most outrageous thing is that they actually pulled it off.

Who can bear this?
"We were definitely careless," CT sighed. "If we had played more cautiously in that skirmish and focused on protecting the bottom lane and farming, the situation would have been much clearer."

"So we need to be extra careful next game," the Roaring Emperor emphasized. "I believe our players are in no way inferior to EDG! As long as we stay focused and make sound decisions, victory will definitely be ours!"

"Go for it, T1!" (End of Chapter)