Mingkai, if you're this cowardly, you should just go home and raise pigs.

Amidst the anticipation of countless viewers, the MSI has officially begun.

The opening match was between SKT and G2.

The audience gave both sides the warmest applause.

G2 has the advantage of a better venue, while SKT simply has more fans.

As expected, SKT secured a comfortable victory in the opening match.

Although G2 gained an advantage in kills in the early game, SKT's rhythm was not significantly affected. Through stable operations, they ensured that their economy did not fall behind.

After SKT won, the audience cheered for them once again.

With the opening match concluded, EDG is about to make their debut.

In EDG's backstage lounge, upon hearing the staff's order to go on stage, Abu clapped his hands and shouted, "Let's go, it's our turn!"

Led by Abu, everyone arrived at the stage.

Everyone was both excited and nervous, except for one person whose face was full of displeasure: Mingkai.

"Don't feel pressured in your debut. It's the same as when we play in the LPL. Good luck!" Abu stretched out his right hand.

"come on!"

"come on!"

"come on……"

Everyone stretched out their right hands and shouted encouragement in unison.

After a not-too-long wait, it was 3:30 in the blink of an eye.

The players from EDG and FW arrived at their respective player seats.

After testing the equipment and having the staff check with both parties to confirm that everything was OK, they entered the room to begin the business process!

"Hello everyone, I'm your commentator for today, Wawa!"

"I'm commentator Miller, welcome back everyone!"

"The Flash Wolves have fought their way up from the play-in stage, and their performance has been incredibly hot!" Wawa shouted.

"EDG, on the other hand, fought their way through the LPL playoffs, making them a battle-hardened team. It's hard to imagine what kind of sparks will fly when the two teams clash."

“That’s right! Version changes, fluctuations in form… we can see the form of both sides through this match.” Miller nodded vigorously: “This match is extremely important for both sides.”

"Alright! Let's begin the draft!" Wawa chimed in, "We can see that EDG banned Maple's signature Syndra right away! And Flash Wolves banned Lulu!"

The first round of bans between the two sides ended quickly.

EDG, on the blue side, chose to ban Syndra, LeBlanc, and Varus!

Syndra and LeBlanc are both signature champions of Flash Wolves mid laner Maple.

The Flash Wolves team basically revolves around starting their rhythm in the mid lane.

Because their jungler is Karsa, the jungler for RNG in S8!

A map-control style jungler with a style extremely similar to Mingkai's.

The reason why RNG in S8 was able to create the Uzi three-step strategy was because it was an unprecedented tactical system that almost all LCK players and coaches found hard to believe.

It has a lot to do with Karsa!

Before this, no one had ever imagined that a match could be played in this way.

In a five-person competition, four of them are used as dogs by one person!

Even Faker doesn't receive this kind of treatment.

In the LCK's system logic, shouldn't the strong help the weak? They don't understand why RNG would do the opposite!

Banning Varus forces Flash Wolves to make a choice.

In this MSI version, the strong early-game champions in the bot lane are still Ashe, Varus, and Kalista.

After banning one, there are two left.

And since Ashe is the AD carry for Counter-Strike, this forces Flash Wolves to make a choice.

Both of these champions are versatile for EDG players: Ashe can be used as a bot laner/support, and Kalista can be used as a backstabmer.

Flash Wolves will have a tough time no matter which pick they make!

Faced with EDG's relentless pressure in the draft phase, Flash Wolves opted to ban Ashe.

They also banned Spider!

Lulu, Spider, Ice!

These three bans show that Flash Wolves had no intention of outmaneuvering EDG in the draft phase, but instead targeted Clearlove as their weak point.

After the play-in stage, all the teams knew that jungler Elise was not a good fit for the team composition.

However, EDG is not included in this category because Zhou Hanyang can play AD top lane, which is a perfect match for Elise.

After Elise was banned, the only remaining top-tier junglers in this patch are Lee Sin and Graves.

"Oh? The first round of bans for both sides is over!" Wawa said with a sigh.

"Flash Wolves have clearly done their research on EDG; it's obvious they're taking this match very seriously. What will EDG choose? First pick Kalista or Graves?"

“I think Kalista is better!” Miller had just spoken when EDG locked onto Kalista on the first floor: “This is EDG after all. Kalista can move around, so he has a higher priority than Graves.”

"But then, the Graves is gone, right?" Wawa looked a little frustrated. "I have to say, Flash Wolves' Ashe ban was really good!"

If they don't ban Ashe, EDG can pick Graves first, then Kalista or Ashe. Even if they ban Kalista, EDG can still pick Graves first, then Caitlyn to counter Ashe!

Although he didn't say it explicitly, anyone with a basic understanding of games could understand the implication between the lines.

EDG doesn't have Lee Sin as a jungler option!

"Ivern is here too?" Miller was equally frustrated.

When they saw that EDG's first floor player had indeed picked up the Kalista, everyone on Flash Wolves laughed.

Coach Steak clapped his hands together, his face full of smugness: "I told you he wouldn't first pick Graves, right? If he did, we'd get Skateboard Shoes!"

Zet's signature move is Iceborn Gauntlet, followed by Kalista! Whether it's for the sake of BP's flexibility or to let Zet pick first, they'll definitely choose Kalista!

"Coach, you're awesome!"

"Wow, that's amazing!"

Hello, motorcycle!

"Hahahahaha..."

The Flash Wolves' team voice chat immediately erupted in laughter!

Amidst cheers and laughter, the Flash Wolves completed their player selection.

The first floor picked Graves!

I chose grasshoppers on the second floor!

Upon seeing Flash Wolves' choice, everyone wore expressions of "I knew it!"

Immediately, everyone became excited!

The SKT members, who had just won the game, were packing up their things in the rest room.

Seeing this, Huni teased Peanut, "Wow! If EDG loses this game, you'll be the one to take the blame!"

Little Peanut was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, and a huge question mark rose on his forehead.

Tilting his head, he looked at Huni with a puzzled expression, blinking his eyes, his dark pupils filled with confusion.

EDG lost, what does that have to do with me?

"It's all your fault for letting your idol beat you to a pulp at last year's World Championship! He completely wiped out Lee Sin from Clearlove's champion pool!"

"You still say you're his fan? What kind of fan are you?" Huni put his right arm around Peanut's neck and said with a grin.

Upon hearing this, Peanut suddenly realized what was happening and struck a classic bear pose with outstretched hands: "Brother Chengxun, I really am a Clearlove7 fan!"

When Peanut imitated Mingkai's teddy bear shrug and expression, the SKT team, who had just won the game, burst into laughter.

While the SKT members were chatting and laughing, EDG made their second round of picks!

They chose Lee Sin and Karma respectively!

"Wow! EDG picked Lee Sin!" Upon seeing this, Wawa's tone was exceptionally complex, a mixture of excitement and worry: "Lee Sin is great, he's incredibly strong in this patch!"

"These three heroes are all strong early-game picks! EDG clearly intends to play a game of early-game tempo against Flash Wolves, rather than relying on late-game team fights to decide the outcome!"

Miller exclaimed excitedly, "In this late-game focused meta, only EDG would dare to field such a lineup!"

The moment EDG locked in Lee Sin, the chat in the official domestic live stream was flooded with "4396"!

[Haha... Before the World Championship started, my colleague said EDG had absolutely no chance of making it to the semifinals. But I thought EDG would definitely make it to the semifinals! My colleague challenged me to a 1000-yuan bet! I accepted without hesitation! And I won today! But I didn't take the money; my colleague treated everyone to dinner instead. It cost over 600 yuan! Doesn't I have a good sense of style?]

I was delayed because of lunch, so it's a bit late! I'll write a chapter in advance for tomorrow before going to sleep! Two chapters will be posted together at 6 AM tomorrow!

EDG made it to the semifinals because their android was too good! His game understanding was on par with KK's, perfectly synergizing with him! This put immense pressure on the opposing team! They didn't have time to focus on the other three players! SG, needless to say, was already incredibly strong with his ball dominating, but even NB was fighting hard! You can imagine how much pressure KK put on the opposing team! As long as they didn't face the champions early on, they could easily have made it to the semifinals!