LOL: What does "mid-lane hybrid expert" mean?

Next, EDG secured the top-tier AD carry Kog'Maw on the third floor.

This choice is no surprise; the Lulu and Kog'Maw bot lane duo is a solid option in the current meta, both in lane and in team fights.

The second round of bans began, and RNG gave their last two bans to Lissandra, a champion Li Yi had previously used, and Maokai, a top laner who had a good synergy with Nocturne in the first game.

EDG countered by blocking Ming's signature Thresh and Letme's strong top lane champion Camille, and secured a top lane Gragas on the fourth floor of the red side.

RNG's next two choices were as expected.

Karma was indeed picked for Xiaohu in the mid lane, while Ming was given Zyra for support to strengthen the bot lane's laning pressure. In the top lane, Rumble, with his fast wave clear, was locked in to coordinate with Lee Sin's jungle invasions and create synergy.

"RNG's strategy in this game was very clear."

The two commentators summarized RNG's lineup: "They relied on a stronger top, mid, and jungle rhythm to suppress Nocturne's early jungle farming, and Sivir took over the game in the late game. The division of labor was very clear."

"Compared to the lineup in the first game that relied on early-game tempo, the lineup in this game is indeed more reasonable."

And at this point, there is only one variable.

It all comes down to the hero that EDG revealed on the fifth floor!

On the commentary panel.

Sika leaned back in his chair and started chuckling before he could even speak: "Brother Sun, I was scrolling through my phone during the break and saw a comment that was incredibly lewd."

"They say this Ray is a Fiji Cup-type mid-laner; regardless of whether he makes a difference or not, he makes his teammates feel very comfortable."

"Hehe, so lewd..."

Seeing the camera switch towards her, Xiaoxiao quickly stopped Xika: "I don't understand what you're saying! This is a clean and safe live stream, be mindful of your image!"

"No, Brother Sun!"

"I just saw EDG's lineup, what the hell did they pick on the fifth floor?"

Sika leaned closer to the screen and looked to make sure he wasn't seeing things: EDG's fifth pick had actually chosen a Wild Huntress—Nidalee?

"What a liar!"

It can only be said that the two are indeed former professional support players. When they saw this choice, they realized that it was a carefully designed draft trap by EDG.

In this way, the final path division becomes very clear.

Jungle Nidalee.

  

Mid-lane Nightmare!

"Quite a few people in ranked games have probably tried the mid-lane Nightmare build." Sika scratched his chin, recalling his usual ranked experiences.

Xiaoxiao also realized that this hesitation was actually reasonable: "It can only be said that Nightmare is a hero who clears waves very quickly and whose ultimate ability allows him to roam, which happens to be Ray's strength. How could RNG not guard against this?"

"Have you thought of anything, Brother Sun?"

"What the hell am I supposed to think of? I'm not a professional, but just because I can't think of it doesn't mean Uzi can't." Xiaoxiao spread her hands, arguing confidently.

"Everything is within Uzbekistan's calculations. All I can say is, let's watch Uzbekistan's performance."

"Oh, is there a performance?"

Xika couldn't help but let out a strange laugh: "RNG's lineup is designed to invade Nightmare. Now the jungler is a Nidalee who farms even faster. If you, Lee Sin, dare to enter my jungle, I'll switch jungles with you."

"You said you'd believe me first, right? You don't think Uz wouldn't have thought of that, do you?"

The final lineup has been confirmed.

RNG (blue side) fielded a lineup of top laner Rumble, jungler Lee Sin, mid laner Karma, and bot laners Sivir and Zyra.

EDG (Red Team): Top lane Gragas, Jungle Nidalee, Mid lane Nocturne, Bot lane Kog'Maw and Lulu.

Looking back at the ban/pick page, Xika belatedly realized: "I just realized... this Ray took four bans from RNG and tricked them into picking such a weird lineup."

"So, Sun was the right choice for mid lane in the Fiji Cup! He made his teammates feel very comfortable from the very beginning of the draft phase!"

-----------------

On the commentary panel.

Remember's voice was full of anticipation: "Alright, both teams have entered Summoner's Rift, the second game has officially begun!"

"I believe that most viewers, like me, thought that EDG would continue to jungle when they saw Nocturne locked in on the first floor before the match."

Rita nodded, her tone filled with undisguised surprise: "To be honest, since the quarterfinals, every time LeeE appears on the field, he has been refreshing my understanding of him."

"They had already banned Orianna in the first game, but in the second game they picked a mid-lane Nocturne that no one expected, completely disrupting RNG's draft strategy."

"If EDG can capitalize on their momentum and their mid-laner Nocturne makes a significant impact... then RNG's draft pressure in the next game will be immense. Just limiting LeeE might require five bans."

Enter the game.

RNG's top, mid, and jungle players on the blue side decisively grouped up and pushed into EDG's red jungle immediately.

Li Yi could roughly guess what the other party was thinking.

While top lane Rumble has extremely high laning strength, his problems are also obvious.

Mlxg's Lee Sin's Q skill, "Feast of Fire," pushes the lane too quickly, making him highly vulnerable to ganks from the enemy jungler. Therefore, Mlxg's Lee Sin chose to start in a different jungle, aiming to protect the top laner who was pushing the lane.

Therefore, upon seeing the opponent appear in the river, Li Yi did not hesitate and quickly reminded them in voice chat: "The enemy's top, mid, and jungle are too strong at level one. Mingkai, go and start in the enemy's red buff area."

Mingkai maneuvered the Cheetah to change direction.

Meanwhile, in the mid lane, Li Yi's Nightmare also adjusted his position, moving half a step towards the bottom river to prevent Karma from using RQ to block him from going back to lane.

Meanwhile, to prevent Lee Sin from ganking him from behind at level two, Li Yi did not move forward to last-hit minions and push the lane, but only used his Q skill to finish off low-health minions.

The gameplay of mid-lane Nightmare differs somewhat from that of jungler.

Jungle Nightmare is easily invaded in the early game. First, the jungle terrain is complex, and heroes without mobility will be very clumsy. Second, after the red and blue buffs were changed to single monsters, Nightmare's jungle clearing speed is much slower than before, and it is also difficult to maintain healthy health.

But mid-lane Nightmare doesn't need to worry about these things.

With the AOE damage from his Q skill [Nightmare's Dream Path] and passive [Shadow Blade], Nightmare can quickly push the lane and disappear from sight, putting invisible pressure on the enemy side lane.

The only downside is that it consumes too much mana in the early game.

Therefore, Li Yi abandoned the conventional Doran's set and instead chose to start with a longsword and three health potions, and also selected the "Secret Reserve" talent that can turn health potions into cookies.

Firstly, it's to keep mana within a range where you can fight back; secondly, the longsword can quickly replenish your core item, Tiamat.

[I just went to the bathroom, and when I came back, Nightmare had been given to Cup King in the mid lane?]

[You know what, after Nightmare builds Tiamat, his Q plus his passive can clear a wave of minions, making him a pretty typical non-interactive champion.]

This item was probably popular in ranked matches for a while, right?

This character is quite popular in the Chinese server where players enjoy fighting, mainly because its early-game stats are high enough to withstand melee attacks, and its passive ability allows it to sustain in lane against ranged, poke-heavy champions.

The biggest problem with mid-lane Nightmare is that it lacks mana in the early game, making it easy to lose lane control when facing mid-laners with strong early-game pressure...

[But this laner won't have this problem against Karma. Karma only has one RQ combo that does some damage, and it can be completely blocked by Nightmare's W shield.]

[The Cup King himself seems quite comfortable with this...]