Chapter 175

The fleeting nature of the last wave, the sudden and earth-shattering variable that occurred—the scene seemed not to have reacted yet to the several reversals that happened within this half-minute!

The moment the nexus crystal exploded and canyon time stood still.

The atmosphere at the scene suddenly reached a boiling point, the sounds from all directions converged, as if forming an indescribable sense of heat spreading wantonly in the arena!

"Two to zero!!!" Wawa didn't care at all that his voice was distorted and deformed: "Three whole championship points, on the stage of the finals! They have already stood at a historical node that is hard to imagine!"

Wang Duoduo was clearly still feeling amazed by the last wave: "Aatrox couldn't save the team! He couldn't stand until the end in this peak duel, couldn't recreate the miracle of defending the home in the last wave of the semifinals!"

"This time it was Sylas who stood until the end! And it was precisely because he stood until the end that he directly killed the game in one fell swoop!"

"This 'Peak of the Forbidden City' duel will definitely become a famous scene in history!"

He became more and more excited as he spoke: "A result no one could have thought of, and even less could anyone have predicted that it would end in such a way..."

Miller also took over the conversation and analyzed: "In this last team fight, EDG was short-handed, and even in the situation where their own Sejuani and support were caught and killed instantly, they actually still won this miraculous team fight!"

"I dare say that if it were 99% of other teams, they wouldn't have dared to go in like that in the last wave... even if they knew the Varus ultimate effect!"

Wang Duoduo nodded extremely vigorously: "Yes! But that is why EDG was able to get to this point!"

"Facing any fleeting opportunity, they not only can grasp it, but also show true decisiveness, like the discipline of an army!"

"This is a team victory, and also a victory of EDG's command and decision-making!"

When the OB perspective saw DRX decisively abandon the tower and TP, wanting to use the numerical advantage to forcefully engage the Yuumi and Sejuani.

All the domestic viewers' hearts just went "clunk" loudly.

According to the expected development of that wave, Sejuani and Yuumi would be killed, and the remaining 2 vs 5 on the front line would definitely not be able to fight again.

Camille would at best take down one high-ground lane, but DRX would win the team fight while at a disadvantage, and then turn around to take the Baron and the small dragon, undoubtedly reversing the situation instantly!

But who knew that a variable no one could have thought of would suddenly appear!

First of all, the timing of the engagement could not have the slightest hesitation—only when the teammates hadn't fallen yet to help attract firepower could Sylas wait for the Corrupting Chains stacks to take effect!

Of course, the truly fatal result was the final 1v1 in the river—if the final winner had been Aatrox, it would actually have been completely acceptable for DRX.

Don't look at it as just a 4-for-4 trade, even giving up their own bottom high ground.

But what they would have gained was the qualification for DRX to engage in team fights head-on afterward!

From Aatrox's team fight performance at the end, it could be seen that the fattest Aatrox on DRX was actually not that easy to kill anymore, and Kingen's subsequent operation completely unleashed the terrifying upper limit of this hero!

And once Aatrox secured a quadra-kill and recalled to buy a Maw of Malmortius, Sylas would be helpless against him.

Only then would it be DRX's true time to counterattack!

But, it was just that one line of difference at the end.

Ye Bo, with a superior "big heart" operation, stood until the end, seized the opportunity while Camille was holding the TP for a split-push, and killed the game in one wave.

He forcefully severed the glimmer of light that DRX had managed to tear open in the desperate darkness!

The dense barrage in the LPL broadcast room almost crowded out the screen content.

【EDG! My superman! Master Ye! My god!】

【I just said this year's finals should be the one with the least suspense, DRX is clearly the weakest finals team in history!】

【If you really watched the game and can still say this, I can only say you're just following the crowd; it's clear this was the hardest game EDG has played, okay? If it weren't for Master Ye's several tightrope-walking operations, it might have gone wrong!】

【Anyway, with a two-to-zero start, I don't know how they can lose!】

【Popping champagne at halftime is not advisable, oh. DRX has been reverse-sweeping every day this year; didn't you forget they just reverse-swept JDG in the quarterfinals? They also reverse-swept T1; this team is a professional at playing from behind...】

【If EDG can win another championship, I swear I'll never bash them for the rest of my life! Back in the LPL, they can throw however they want! They can even just tank next year!】

"Son! That's awesome, son!!!"

Ye Ying, while excitedly holding her Geodude plushie high with both hands, had silver light inexplicably welling up in the corners of her eyes.

Being too excited makes one want to cry, especially for someone who is truly happy for the other person.

Ye Xiong was still looking confused—although he had been trying hard to learn this game in his spare time from work recently, he was limited by his age and being a tech-illiterate, and so far hadn't been able to break free from the suppression of {Normal Difficulty} bots.

He still didn't understand why, a second ago, the person beside him was still wailing that something terrible had happened.

The next second, it suddenly turned into passionate cheers!

"What happened? How did they suddenly win?" He could only ask his excited wife beside him in confusion.

"Oh my, I told you to watch more of their game replays! Where did that studious spirit you had when you were in school go? I'm starting to doubt how you even got into our university!"

Ye Ying gave him a sideways glance, but still explained simply: "Their opponents are really very strong too; they spent a lot of effort digging a hole and almost turned the game around! They even succeeded, but our son forcefully took the fruits of their labor and suddenly turned them into a weapon to defeat them!"

Seeing that he was still confused and didn't understand.

Ye Ying could only use a vivid metaphor again.

"It's like you go fishing; you catch more at first, but someone next to you spends a lot of effort and suddenly catches a king fish. You are about to be overtaken and lose, but you go up and kick his fish basket into the river!"

Ye Xiong's immersion instantly kicked in, and his eyes clearly brightened.

"Is it that satisfying?"

"Even more satisfying than that! Our son is better than you; he kicked the opponent directly into the river!"

Hearing this, Ye Xiong suddenly turned his head and started shouting toward the stage.

Ye Ying was stunned for a moment, but immediately followed up with a shout: "Go son! Beat them!"

Of course, these shouts couldn't be heard on stage.

However, interestingly, this conversation was recorded by a few young domestic fans nearby who were filming and taking photos, with a "teasing" mentality.

These young people noticed this mainly because Ye Ying shouted too loudly.

E-sports competitions are mostly aimed at young groups; sometimes when emotions run high, shouting various "direct relative titles" as the highest respect is very normal.

But this was the first time they had truly seen a living "Mom Fan" in reality.

A post soon appeared on Tieba titled: 【Whoa, there really are Mom Fans, I thought the Mom Fans on Weibo were all fakes】.

The EDG players on the big screen stood up.

Everyone hugged Ye Bo one after another, and Ye Bo also responded enthusiastically to everyone's embraces; no one could hide their excitement.

Hearing the cheers sent to them by the whole arena, Ye Bo only felt his heart surging at this moment.

"Good thing you were there," Jie Jie said with a look of lingering fear: "Master Ye, your performance today was truly divine!"

"Just a normal performance!" Brother Shengqiang smiled undisguisedly: "What level is Master Ye? DRX's brains and hands were both suppressed by him!"

Ye Bo grinned and responded sincerely: "But this last wave was really dangerous; DRX's tactical changes were so fast, I didn't expect it... Good thing Viper helped me kill everyone behind me at the end!"

Viper shook his head vigorously: "Actually, I only killed one; you're the amazing one."

"Everyone is amazing, everyone is amazing!" Meiko was also clearly relieved.

And as everyone walked off the stage, they happened to look toward the player tunnel on the other side.

They happened to lock eyes with DRX, who were also looking over.

Kingen stared straight at Ye Bo, his eyes fierce as if he had been possessed by an unwilling Aatrox, clearly still heartbroken that he couldn't save everything in the last wave.

Zeka and Pyosik didn't look up, their emotions appearing quite low.

Deft managed a forced smile at everyone and nodded at them, before leaning over to pat the shoulders of the mid-jungle duo behind him.

Beryl, on the other hand, looked completely carefree, swinging his arms and walking off the stage with a swagger.

The LCK broadcast room was full of wailing.

【Damn it! Our LCK region has never been three-to-zeroed in the finals! If you dare to be three-to-zeroed, just wait when you get back to Korea! Damn DRX!】

【A fourth seed is just a fourth seed! To be honest, it would have been better to let T1 enter the finals; if T1 entered the finals, they would have definitely won the championship!】

【Oh, then why didn't T1 enter? Did they not want to?】

【Mr. Deft is truly miserable; nine years ago, the closest he was to the championship was being forcefully thrown away by the Mid Emperor—nine years later, the 1-to-1 scene repeats, let's do it again!】

【Why does Beryl look like he doesn't care about winning or losing at all? No wonder they can't win! There's a reason this guy was kicked by DK!】

【Don't bash him blindly, Beryl is wondering if his resin has refreshed; calculating the time, if it's a three-to-zero, he should be able to make it just in time.】

The Roaring Emperor adjusted his emotions: "Our opponents are very strong, but I hope our audience friends will also applaud for DRX; they really did very well in this game."

"From the early game maneuvering, the vision trap three-man-gank-one in mid, the successful consecutive attacks on the top lane, the resource allocation to take the Rift Herald, and even this last life-or-death counterattack..."

Brother CT also expressed his agreement at this time: "With this performance, we should believe in DRX even more! They have already created countless miracles in this World Championship and are the only team in this World Championship to have completed a reverse-sweep!"

"They can definitely do it!"

That's what they said.

But it was obvious that when these two said this, they had no confidence.

Backstage.

Ming Kai and Maokai were waiting for everyone at the backstage entrance, hugging everyone enthusiastically one by one.

"You guys are truly awesome! I really didn't think we could get a two-to-zero, too strong!" The excited Ming Kai hugged Jie Jie while cracking jokes.

"It's just you, Zhao Lijie, this pig of yours isn't good either~"

"Hey Factory Manager, that's not true, this pig is super critical!" Jie Jie said seriously: "Without this pig adding a buff, Master Ye might have died in the last wave!"

"I've discovered that ever since Master Ye came, your skin has been really itchy lately..."

Ye Bo looked at the Factory Manager, who was showing off his arm strength, and asked with a curious blink: "What does this mean?"

Brother Shengqiang hugged him with a mischievous smile: "Little Ye Bo, it seems you are still not familiar enough with EDG's history; EDG never getting aced depends on this pig..."

After everyone had a good laugh.

Ye Bo was still the first to clap his hands, quickly pulling their attention back.

"Alright everyone, we still can't relax; several waves in this game were actually really dangerous, the opponents really shouldn't be underestimated."

"For this last game, I think we might need to change some ideas..."

The key turning points in the second game were actually flashes of inspiration from both sides in actual combat, with not much meaning in reviewing them.

However, for EDG, the key points brought to them by this game were not few.

First of all, after this game ended, Yone's poor performance, especially Zeka's understanding and control, clearly appeared stretched thin when facing Ye Bo.

It was unlikely DRX would continue to execute this strategy.

And Yone, Aatrox, Yuumi, Sylas...

For both sides, the BP for this game would see many variables.

Should they stick to their own views and look for flaws, or boldly change formations and fight for it?

The key to the match-point game, perhaps some "trick moves" could also be called other variables...

On the other side.

Unexpectedly, the backstage atmosphere of DRX was completely devoid of the suffocating oppression of GEN's third game.

Deft was smiling, as if the game hadn't started yet, like he was telling stories to his teammates.

"That was my mindset at the time, so I hope you can think that way too."

What he was telling was his own S4 World Championship, the Samsung Blue vs. White civil war.

Although that game wasn't the finals, in the minds of most viewers, the champion that year was highly likely to be between Blue and White, and it was also considered the time with the most obvious strength gap with other teams.

More importantly, SSB had beaten SSW for a whole year that year! It could be said that SSB was the true center of attention!

As a result, they didn't expect that in the final S-series, there would suddenly be a big one, with mid-top Dade and Acorn wildly throwing three games, with several consecutive games being exaggerated 0-7 records...

"At that time, I was thinking, if it doesn't work this year, then next year, just come back and win it next year," Deft said with more and more emotion, the smile on his face becoming more and more natural.

"At that time, I was certain that in the future, I would definitely return here and make it to the finals."

"Look, although it took a while, didn't I come back?"

"The oldest among you is only Gan-hee, who has only played for four years; the road ahead is still very long," Deft said, patting his teammates' shoulders one by one: "Compared to back then, no one is optimistic about us this time, but we still made it here."

"So everyone, even if we lose, it doesn't matter; play well next season, even if we won't be together anymore."

Deft tried his best to make his tone more cheerful.

But Pyosik, who didn't have high emotional intelligence, interrupted at an inappropriate time and asked: "Brother, do you still have next season..."

This question.

The atmosphere that had already eased suddenly became uncomfortable and oppressive again.

Kingen felt a bit speechless, but still pretended to joke and interrupted: "Brother Hyuk-kyu only has next season if we lose, so we have to work hard, let Brother Hyuk-kyu retire properly!"

Hearing this, Deft also shrugged and replied: "That's right, if we lose, maybe I'll have next season; thinking in a good direction, maybe losing will let me play for another year."

"Anyway, as long as we each gave our all, no matter the result, it's the best result."

As he said this, he reached out and hugged Beryl: "Just like the magical operations of the mid-laner on the other side, they weren't achieved by luck... I heard from Meiko that he studies and develops those every day, just like Gan-hee."

Beryl, who had always been carefree, was mentioned, and suddenly felt a bit sad.

He suddenly regretted why he didn't practice ranked more and played fewer two-dimensional mobile games; maybe he could have done better in the game just now—although he actually hadn't practiced any less.

Deft knew this partner best.

He knew that although the other party didn't do rank training, the time spent on training wasn't less than theirs, just in his own way.

Those key overall situation mobilizations, exquisite on-the-spot designs, and flashes of key decision-making were all "instinctive reactions" developed after chewing through countless replay videos, allowing him to think of and master them in actual combat.

Deft had heard Meiko sigh about Ye Bo's daily life.

In his view, the seemingly "high-risk" operations the other party made were actually instinctive operations after others had been tempered a thousand times.

They weren't "unlucky" to be reversed wave after wave by the opponent's high-risk operations—but rather, when the opponent reached that scene, they would definitely be able to pull it off.

Because this scene might have already appeared in their past training or experiences.

"Alright, let's talk about the game," Deft clapped his hands gently to greet everyone.

"Let's talk about next year next year; I've only played this one final in nine years, I don't want to just leave like that~"

Beryl nodded: "I was actually thinking when I walked off the stage just now, I wonder if they will make any changes in this game, but we must make sacrifices in the BP..."

The short halftime passed quickly.

Under the space intersection overlooking the world, the two backstages were like parallel contrasts.

Ten palms overlapped in the air at the same time, then pressed down heavily.

Truth be told.

Everyone had their own reasons for not being able to lose.

For themselves, for their dreams, for their persistence, for their fans and supporters, and even for not letting those who love them down...

No one is more noble than anyone else; every one of them is a huge reason.

And in the end, there can only be one winner; this is the charm and meaning of competition.

Both sides came to the player tunnel.

Step by step, they climbed the stairs in the spotlight.

The lights in the Chase Center became scorching again, and the clamor from all directions surrounded them.

The local English-language commentators were shouting in a passionate tone.

"Meiko and Deft meet again on the field after 7 years! Beryl stands opposite EDG for the second consecutive year where he once failed! A battle for EDG's entire team's regional historical-level defense of honor! A predictable legendary career beginning for young Ye is imminent! Zeka and Kingen, two disappointed people who traveled far to return, prove..."

"Will EDG achieve an unprecedented two-consecutive-championship team in the LPL region, or will DRX achieve the same unprecedented legendary fourth-seed championship miracle!"

"This will be a battle destined to give birth to a legend!"

"Let us wait and see!"

The clanging sound resonated.

The BP panel pulled up!

"It's here! Please everyone cheer for EDG! I hope we can witness this historical moment together today!"

After Wawa shouted excitedly, he focused his full attention on the BP panel.

"DRX banned Sylas right away! This is the ability of player Ye; as long as you don't believe in evil and let him out, he can use his strength to make you ban him back in the next game!"

"As for EDG's ban slots, it seems there isn't much change..."

While backstage, both sides carefully thought about the previous game.

For both teams—actually, the previous game was acceptable!

For DRX, they were nothing more than the fact that the mid lane became a flaw again, which was the biggest problem—but this was also the reason they were able to get Aatrox in the previous game and achieve that effect.

And for EDG, it was still the same principle: you can't have both fish and bear's paw.

At least on the red side of this version, they didn't have enough ban slots to target the top and bottom lanes at the same time; by comparison, they were already familiar with Kingen's Aatrox, so there was no need to take risks to try the more "unknown" bottom lane.

First round of bans for both sides—

DRX: Sylas, Sejuani, Yone

EDG: Caitlyn, Heimerdinger, Ashe

"DRX made up for the BP trap of the previous game, because they didn't expect the opponent not to ban Yuumi and Aatrox in the previous game, so they deliberately didn't target the strong heroes to pick later, which gave the red side so many opportunities to pick later!" Miller said so.

"However, because player Zeka's Yone clearly couldn't withstand Master Ye's firepower, he could only use the ban slot to deal with it!"

"It's here! Zeka picks Akali! DRX still believes in Akali, who has shown many wonderful performances along the way, and believes in their teammates!"

The commentator's words were biased toward the scene.

In fact, those who understand can see that Zeka's mindset must have some problems.

In other words, anyone who comes to this stage, after being full of ambition and high expectations before the game, only to be solo-killed four times in two games!

This is why DRX chose to handle this ban slot this way—because they must let Zeka get either Sylas or Akali.

Only by getting these two signature heroes, and not giving the opponent's mid-laner a chance to pick them back.

Only then could Zeka stabilize his performance under such a mindset.

"EDG doesn't have many strong heroes they can grab, mainly have to see if they still want Yuumi... they took it!"

"EDG still locks in Yuumi! The successful system from the previous game continues to be implemented, no problem!"

"It's just that their choice this game is... Kalista!?"

Ye Bo made modifications to this game.

The main thing in the previous game was Yuumi's roaming defect, but this was a problem the hero couldn't solve.

Since that's the case—pick Kalista, a "single-player hero" with a strong lane presence, to force the lane situation in the bottom lane!

If DRX picks Varus + a soft support for laning, it's easy to find an advantage in the bottom lane—but for the opponent's roaming threat and Yuumi's mid-game ability, it's definitely worth it!

"DRX picks very quickly, Aatrox and Viego come out together! Viego can limit the opponent's top-jungle, they didn't pick Varus!"

"Wait? EDG picks Fiddlesticks on the third floor!?"

"Mid Fiddlesticks against Akali? Could it be player Ye's secret weapon!"

"As the player who knows Akali best in this World Championship, we can definitely reasonably suspect that this is a secret weapon he specifically prepared!"

Shouts came from the commentary booth on both sides at the same time, frantically discussing the significance of this pick.

Zeka's expression froze for a moment, then his eyes suddenly widened slightly.

Second round of bans—

DRX: Fiora, Maokai

EDG: Sivir, Varus

"EDG picks Ornn on the fourth floor, there's no other way, there's nothing else to use, Brother Shengqiang clearly became the sacrifice for the BP."

EDG could actually have picked Fiora on the third floor and Fiddlesticks later to bait a ban, but they didn't do so.

This was also the decision Brother Shengqiang made himself when facing Ye Bo's inquiry.

Fiora against Aatrox is a reverse-counter that has been shown many times in the S-series alone—unlike Yone, this is not a 100% stable matchup, it can only be said to be 6-4.

And most importantly, picking Fiora affects team fights.

It can even be said to completely ruin the lineup!

By comparison, although Ornn is very uncomfortable against Aatrox in lane—compared to the Camille of the previous game, even if he is "targeted" like that, he can still hold on!

Still the same saying.

Someone has to make sacrifices.

In the BP duel between these two teams, both sides will face a situation where they cannot have both the top and bottom lanes.

"Their lineup... Gan-hee, do you want to try Bard?" Deft suddenly took the initiative to suggest at this time.

"The four of them have no displacement, and it can also deal with Fiddlesticks."

"Bard... huh."

Beryl thought for a moment, and suddenly his eyes lit up.

"It really could work, but you will be very uncomfortable... because their Kalista wants to help Yuumi make up for the laning, and tower diving will be a threat."

Deft nodded firmly: "There aren't many ADs left, our top-mid-jungle lineup is very comfortable, we can't take care of the bottom half of the map anymore."

"For the sake of team fights."

DRX not picking Varus in the first few picks of this game actually already made it very clear that they weren't prepared to play for the lane.

Beryl's idea was very simple—he just wanted to release Yuumi and then continue to implement the roaming of the previous game.

Even taking roaming to the extreme, giving up laning!

It's just that his original idea was more extreme... he wanted to pick Blitzcrank directly!

So they were originally prepared to give the Varus, which has no displacement and is slightly uncomfortable to hang alone, to the opponent.

Anyway, Yuumi paired with Varus doesn't have any tower-diving ability.

But Beryl didn't expect the opponent's strategy to evolve just as quickly, thinking of using Kalista's laning pressure to maximize Yuumi's tower-diving kill ability...

"Bard!?"

"Beryl picked Bard, whom no one has picked in this World Championship! Both sides seem to have secret weapons in this game!"

"Bard paired with Ezreal, if nothing else, DRX's bottom lane survival ability is maxed out."

EDG on the other side was also clearly very surprised.

Ye Bo was certain that Beryl hadn't picked Bard even once throughout this entire season.

"Master Ye, if it's Bard, can our lineup still play Nocturne?" Jie Jie asked the formulator of this lineup.

"Hmm, it even feels like it might be even better."

Everyone didn't say anything more, and EDG's fifth floor locked in the target.

Both lineups were confirmed.

《Blue Side: DRX | Red Side: EDG》

【Top: Aatrox vs. Ornn】

【Jungle: Viego vs. Nocturne】

【Mid: Akali vs. Fiddlesticks】

【ADC: Ezreal vs. Kalista】

【Support: Bard vs. Yuumi】

(End of chapter)