Starting with Zaozi Ge, a dream lineup

Chapter 396 You think I'll play by the rules?

Just as the commentators finished announcing the lineups for both sides, the director's notification came simultaneously, and the screen switched to the BP interface.

In this highly anticipated MSI final, Edg finally had a stroke of luck, securing a large point and moving to the blue side, while G2 could only be on the red side in the first game.

Right from the start, Edg banned Yuumi, a champion that G2 has been particularly fond of lately.

Especially in games where G2 manages to get the Yuumi and Ezreal combination, without exception, they manage to take control of the tempo around the 25-minute mark.

Seeing EDG's first ban, G2's coach was a little confused, but following international practice, he still firmly banned Graves and Elise.

Speaking of connections between junglers, G2's jungler Yangkousi and Clearlove actually have quite a few connections.

In 2016, while playing for H2K, Jankos made his debut at the S6 World Championship, defeating EDG in the group stage tiebreaker to secure first place in the group.

They then easily defeated the strongest wildcard ANX in the quarterfinals, but lost 0-3 to the S6 runner-up SSG in the semifinals to reach the semifinals. It can be said that Jankos' 16 was much stronger than WUNDER's.

However, his lack of fame in s7 led him to choose to transfer to G2 at the end of 17 along with WUNDER. The two even joined the G2 family on the same day.

JANKOS is a person with a very artistic decision-making logic. He always avoids direct confrontation when choosing a jungle route, but is very successful in resource exchange.

His playstyle may seem like bullying the weak and fearing the strong, but he always manages to win in the game of helping his teammates, which was clearly seen at the S9 MSI.

Without Li Luo's interference, Yang Kou would have been a jungler with a style similar to that of the factory manager to some extent.

but now.
Seeing G2's coach banning two junglers in a row in frustration, not only did the Edg team laugh, but Abu also laughed.

"It seems G2 was prepared in advance and doesn't plan to fight us in the jungle." Abu flipped through his notebook and quickly found the place he was looking for.

"They definitely won't dare to fight us. Can Yang Kou Si beat Clearlove, who's aiming for Worlds? That's a joke!" Zaozi said with a smile. "But I'm telling you, since they don't want to fight, we can go after their weak points in the first game and crush Yang Kou Si's mentality in one fell swoop!"

"Hey puppy, are you sure this isn't revenge for your S8 performance?" Tianye chimed in from the side, drawing laughter and playful insults from the crowd.

After hesitating for a moment, Edg banned Zilean and Jarvan IV, the old-school tanky jungler, to ensure that G2 would pick the champions as planned.

On the other side, G2's third pick finally turned out to be normal, giving it to Zaozi's Miss Fortune.

Both sides clearly did a lot of research before banning players.

"Haha, it's clear that both sides are paying close attention to the bans after entering the finals. Especially G2's two picks of Clearlove's champion pool, they were just right. It seems we won't be seeing Graves and Elise in the finals..." Miller laughed.

Wawa shook her head: "Actually, there are still quite a few strong junglers out there. Kindred wasn't banned, and neither was Trundle. Especially Trundle, since Graves isn't available, it's still worth picking first. After all, Trundle's win rate is still firmly in the T1 tier this patch. Whether it's team composition depth or small-scale team fights in the early, mid, and late game, Trundle is very popular."

"Edg is on the blue side in this match and has the first pick. Let's see what they choose. By the way, Clearlove hasn't used Trundle in this patch, right? He used to love using him in previous matches. Since the start of this patch, Clearlove has abandoned those clunky teamfight heroes and is now mostly picking heroes that can be aggressive in the early game."

"Of course, if they don't pick Trundle on the first floor, they might also pick a jungler who isn't afraid of Trundle to counter him."

After the three finished speaking, Edg revealed their first hero, which was none other than Sett, the hottest hero of the year.

Since its release, this hero has been incredibly powerful, whether played in the mid, jungle, or carry lanes, or as a support.

In the current version, which hasn't been significantly nerfed, it's practically a walking bug-generating machine.

Picking this hero is considered an ultimate flexible pick, and even if you take this hero to the jungle to fight against Trundle, you won't be at a disadvantage at all.

Upon seeing Sett, G2 immediately chose their bot lane duo: Janna and Ezreal, a kiting combination.

"Janna, Ezreal, Sett, thankfully, even if Sett is playing support, the two enemy champions will still have a hard time. But G2 is also being cunning, clearly indicating that they're not going to fight the bot lane. It seems they'll have to allocate all their resources to Wunder or Caps in the top lane?"

"If you don't pick a jungler, I won't pick a jungler either. We'll just leave Trundle out there and see who picks it first. Both sides are setting traps for the other, but that's G2's usual style. They can't afford not to show off some plays."

"But Clearlove's champion pool is unconventional; it's an ocean of champions. G2 definitely can't limit that. Right now, it all depends on whether both sides have any clever strategies in their team compositions."

As they talked, the first round of ban/pick was over.

In the second round, Edg chose to pick Azir, a champion that is extremely strong in the late game in this version, to play in the mid lane, and also picked Kalista as their ADC.

G2, not to be outdone, picked Ornn as their third pick.

Since neither side got a jungler in the first round, as expected, the second round of bans turned into a classic jungler-targeting phase.

Next, G2 picked Kassadin to face Azir, choosing to leave the last counter pick to their jungler, Kayle, thus handing the problem back to Edg.

"G2's lineup is pretty good. Now it's up to Edg. G2's first four picks are Ornn, Kassadin, Ezreal, and Janna. They are all champions that can perform well in the early, mid, and late game."

"And have you noticed that, apart from the first fifteen minutes, G2 has had heroes who can step up and lead the team forward in every subsequent period? So, let's make a bold guess?" Miller analyzed, frowning.

"It's possible. G2 will most likely pick a strong early-game jungler as their fifth pick to counter Clearlove and help the team overcome their early-game weakness. Once the mid-game arrives and their teammates take over, their jungler will simply become a utility champion. There are actually quite a few champions like that."

"No, no, no, bro, G2's lineup only has two champions they can pick. They need to be absolutely strong and have absolute dominance in the early game, and they also need to have a high margin for error. Otherwise, if their performance is off or they get caught out by Edg, they can easily fall apart in the early game. Skt's game was a good example of that. I don't think G2 will make that kind of mistake, right?"

I remember the teacher and Miller were still analyzing when Wawa interrupted them excitedly: "Hey? Edg made their move here, the fourth pick is for Flandre to get a hero?"

"monkey!!"

"Edg picked Wukong as their fourth pick, giving it to Flandre. Since Wukong's rework in patch 10.6, he's become a very popular champion in ranked games. However, he's rarely picked in major tournaments because he's currently inconsistent and can easily get wiped out with early mistakes. I think picking him to counter Ornn is a perfectly viable strategy!"

"So, this Sett must have gone to either Miko or Clearlove?"

Before the doll could finish speaking, Edg's final pick—the jungler—revealed a hero they'd never seen before. "My sword is your sword!"

The Sword Saint of Wuji?!

When Edg revealed their final jungler pick, commentators from major regions around the world were completely dumbfounded.

Wuji Sword Saint, also known as Yi Baiwan.

Just by looking at this nickname, you can tell what kind of hero this is.

This hero is similar to Yasuo and Teemo, and compared to Yasuo, Master Yi is very popular in solo queue games. From high-level Challenger and Grandmaster games to Iron, Bronze, and ARAM games, Master Yi may be late, but he is never absent.

As for seeing it on the competition field, that's extremely rare.

Aside from the fact that the Gem and Master Yi combo was extremely overpowered back when there was no penalty for junglers taking lane farm, nobody would pick this champion in competitive play.

It's not that the Sword Saint isn't strong, but rather that this hero is too vulnerable to crowd control, and without mobility, he can't catch many people.

Picking this champion, and with G2 still not having picked a jungler, feels like practically giving away a free win.

"Oh my, Edg pulled a sneaky move, deliberately showing off a Wuji Sword." Wawa was a little nervous at first, but after seeing that he wasn't selected, he smiled confidently. However...
confirmed! ! !
"Huh? Edg picked Master Yi for Clearlove as their fifth pick?! And he's going to jungle? No way, did they pick the wrong champion?" Miller was dumbfounded, and even the teacher was quite shocked.

"Without the gem hitting the target, the jungler penalty in this version will be very strong. Isn't picking Master Yi a bit too wise?"

"They actually locked it!" The three commentators exchanged glances and saw the smiles on the faces of the Edg team members in the camera. They were clearly prepared and had not made a mistake in their operation.

Wow!
The tens of thousands of spectators at the scene immediately went wild.

They didn't care whether the hero Juggernaut could be played in professional matches; all they knew was that many people played Juggernaut, and that once he got going, he could take on five opponents at once!
confirmed!
It's Master Yi jungling!

"Could it be a powerful attack?"

"No matter what, there must be some tactic involved." Miller's mind was a bit confused. No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't figure out the reason why EdgG chose Juggernaut in this lineup.

However, it must be said that Master Yi is afraid of crowd control, and G2's current lineup doesn't have a single hard crowd control ability. In ranked games, this is truly Master Yi's favorite lineup.

At this point, G2 also finalized their last jungler pick.

It's nothing special, it's something everyone is very familiar with--
Trundle, the Troll King!
Seeing this choice, everyone knew that the jungler Master Yi would definitely get slaughtered by Trundle in this game.

"What the hell? Trundle is locked in! G2 has confirmed Trundle!" Wawa exclaimed in astonishment. "Has it even started? This game wasn't supposed to be a jungle battle, but it ended up turning into a jungle fight. Is this EdgG for you?"

"The dunking has started!" Miller took a breath, looking at the almost ecstatic expressions on the faces of the entire G2 team on the camera, and continued:
"Everyone is probably familiar with the player Yang Kou Si. Trundle is actually one of his signature heroes. It can be said that Yang Kou Si played a crucial role in eliminating SKT. Now that he has been given a counter-pick and a hero advantage, it seems he wants to have a good showdown with Clearlove in the jungle!"

"We're going to give it our all! If I remember correctly, it's been almost two years since Sofm lost the game with Master Yi in S8 until S10. This is Master Yi's return to the competitive scene. Will Clearlove give us all a surprise?"

The doll is right.

In the Summer Split of S8, SofM used a game of Master Yi.

But even he didn't expect that his use of the sword would become the swordsman's final performance in professional matches.

Against the Li Ning team, Ma Ge directly used Heimerdinger in the bottom lane, while mid laner Jin Yasheng chose Aatrox with Exhaust to counter Aatrox.

Until the loss, SofM's equipment was nothing special, and his record was mediocre at 1-2 with no achievements.

But now, two years later, Clearlove brought out the champion Master Yi in the MSI finals, which is definitely a rare occurrence!
Some Bronze and Iron players who don't usually watch matches stopped closing the stream and stayed after seeing the Juggernaut's icon appear.

At this point, the lineups for both sides were finalized, and the game entered the loading screen.

"Looking forward to the jungler showdown. This might be a top-tier matchup that we won't see for many seasons from now on. How exactly is the Master Yi champion used in today's competition? Let's jump into the game and watch from Clearlove's perspective as the match begins!"

"Let us in!"

Summoner's Rift!

As soon as he finished speaking, cheers from Edg fans erupted, a thunderous roar that assaulted everyone's ears.

The European spectators on the sidelines were equally enthusiastic, chanting "G2," singing songs, and cheering them on.

In this match, Edg's lineup was actually quite strange. The other positions were fine, but Kalista and Azir were destined to have a development period. It was a lineup that could exert its strength in the mid-to-late game.

However, the presence of the Sword Saint makes this lineup seem somewhat out of place.
Because Trolls counter Master Yi too much in the jungle!
Even though Edg secured Kalista first, G2 still had to grit their teeth and pick Troll Warlord, which shows the difference in status between Master Yi and Troll Warlord in the jungle.

He can't split push effectively, and he's too clumsy in team fights. With Janna's protection, it's too difficult for Master Yi to engage, and he simply can't handle Kassadin and Ezreal.

On the other hand, G2 maintained their usual style in major tournaments, trying their best to protect the development of Perkz and Caps. Furthermore, the mobility of their mid-lane Kassadin and Ezreal meant that they could absolutely dictate the pace of the game once the late game arrived.

Add a troll, and you can split push or team fight.

Whether it's support, tactical flexibility, or any other aspect, Edg seems to be at a disadvantage.

But can the game really unfold according to the script?

(End of this chapter)