For the MSI final, the LPL broadcast sent out the league's top-tier caster lineup.
Wawa, Miller, plus Guan Zeyuan.
The three of them kept chattering away in the livestream.
With them there, even before the match started, the viewers didn't feel bored—if anything, it was entertaining.
Mainly because the topics they were talking about were exactly what everyone wanted to hear.
As the match time drew closer, the three of them couldn't help raising their voices.
"Alright, the final is about to begin. I'm sure everyone's been looking forward to today's match for a long time."
Wawa then smiled and said, "I totally agree with Miller's earlier point. From spring split to MSI, TES's performance—we've all seen it. Just going by the numbers, they've already won twenty-two straight. Their domination over matches is beyond imagination."
"So today I'm going to make a bold prediction: 3–0. TES takes it 3–0."
"Hahaha, Wawa, that really is bold. I do think highly of TES too, but I'll predict 3–1," Guan Zeyuan thought for a moment. He felt that sounded more appropriate.
That way it would sound like he was supporting SKT. Plus, he had that "caster curse" attribute—if TES won easily, it would be partly thanks to him.
And if they lost, nobody could blame him. A little bit of cleverness.
"I'm with Wawa. TES wins 3–0. MSI still isn't anywhere near their ceiling. This title is just the starting line!
I believe this season, TES will achieve even better results," Miller's voice brimmed with passion.
The LPL region had already won three Worlds titles.
But compared to the LCK, besides the gap in total championships, the number of titles per player was still far behind.
People can say Faker is washed, that he's already in the latter half of his career.
But his three-time world champion honor is still a height no LPL player has ever reached.
And TES had a real shot to win it all this year. If they did, they'd also add another two-time champion to the region—JackeyLove.
That would narrow the honor gap between the two regions, which was genuinely a good thing.
As the background music rose, the screen officially switched to the Ban-Pick interface.
The side selection for the final was decided by a coin toss.
Fortunately, TES chose heads and secured side selection priority.
Naturally, TES picked blue side, the side with the patch advantage.
Over on SKT's side, everyone's brows were knotted tight.
Blue side made Ban-Pick smoother—you could draft a composition more comfortably.
Especially for strong teams: if you got blue side, it often meant you could lock in the win.
Even if the series went all five games, TES could still use the advantage of having blue side in three games to take the match.
So SKT's coach was already cursing in his head.
Damn it!
If they wanted to win this series, they'd have to rely even more on the players' performance.
They needed to win at least one unfavorable game first—only then would the later games be easier.
He glanced at the official referee, still a bit confused.
Was this discrimination against the LCK?
Why were the referees in other regions local?
But when Korea hosted, they sent official referees—and not just one, but four.
He adjusted his mood and began directing his players through bans.
First, they banned Renekton.
"Renekton, huh? Infinite Borders Bro picked Renekton in that last match and even got a pentakill, but I think this champion is the kind that's pretty manageable," Wawa said.
"Maybe they want Faker on something else? This champ gets countered by Renekton?"
"Could be."
Otherwise, it was hard to understand why they would ban Renekton.
Top lane wouldn't be afraid of him at all—if anything, they'd smile when they saw him.
The only one on TES who'd ever pulled out Renekton and posted absurd numbers was Infinite Borders Bro in mid.
So that Renekton ban was clearly aimed at mid.
"TES is still mostly targeting top lane. Zeus really is worthy of being the LCK's number-one top laner—his play is very sharp. I think this Ban-Pick is pretty good," Miller said.
Before long, the first ban phase ended.
Now it was blue side TES's turn to pick.
"For first pick, Twisted Fate or Viego would both be good choices. Let's see what TES goes with."
"For Tian, I think Hecarim fits him better."
"Gwen? Gwen is solid. Zoom's top lane is still about absorbing pressure, but with Gwen—and with Jayce not on the other side—then only Kennen is really the first-pick option. The pressure isn't that big, and in teamfights he can look for angles to cut into the backline."
"It also prevents Zeus from getting it. No problem."
To secure top lane advantage, SKT indeed locked Kennen for top again.
When Zeus saw Kennen, he didn't feel great.
Last game he'd gotten beaten so badly it left nothing but shadows.
Then they grabbed Caitlyn for bot.
No matter what, with Caitlyn, Gumayusi shouldn't get blown up in lane.
SKT's demand for bot lane was low: just don't mess up.
Because his performance this MSI… everyone knew.
Where was the swagger of the "world's best ADC"?
Across the forums, he was getting flamed by everyone.
SKT's Class-A war criminal.
If they failed to win the title today, he'd be the first to get "liquidated."
So this Caitlyn pick was something he strongly demanded. Pair it with Morgana or Karma, and no matter how fierce the enemy was, they wouldn't be able to get a lane solo kill, right?
As for Caitlyn herself, it didn't have much to do with whether they won or lost.
Gumayusi had already thought through his backup plan.
TES saw the Caitlyn and thought for a moment, then instantly answered with Draven plus Nautilus.
If you get hooked once, you die—brutal and simple.
Facing a bot lane like that, SKT immediately took Morgana.
Morgana–Caitlyn was the classic duo lane. The aggression wasn't as high as Lux–Caitlyn, but the survivability was maxed out.
As long as the support reacted fast enough and shielded the crowd control with Black Shield, Caitlyn would be very hard to kill.
In the first three picks, the two sides traded evenly.
No one had a decisive advantage yet.
So the suspense was pushed into the second phase.
SKT kept targeting mid, banning Syndra and LeBlanc.
TES also banned mid to squeeze the pool—Zoe and Azir both went onto the ban list.
This game was going to come down to who had deeper mid-lane champion depth.
"Twisted Fate still isn't banned."
"They probably have something to counter it?"
SKT's fourth pick locked Twisted Fate.
"Steal it instead of banning it!"
"Galio is still available. I don't think this is SKT's best pick, but Faker's Twisted Fate is a signature."
"Then will SKT pick Nocturne? That would counter Galio, so maybe that's why they saved fifth pick as a counter slot for jungle."
TES discussed it too. They thought it was possible, and to avoid getting countered—
They took Ryze and Nocturne on picks four and five.
Ryze was mainly picked to pair with Nocturne. When Nocturne pops his ultimate, Ryze can use Realm Warp to "hide in plain sight"—it's insanely effective in teamfights.
Once Nocturne's ultimate comes down, a whole squad appears right on the opponent's face.
The whole point is to catch them off guard.
SKT clearly didn't expect TES to draft like that on 4–5.
They only thought that with Twisted Fate picked, TES would likely take Galio.
Because once bot lane got a strong lane, mid would lean toward roaming support.
So they saved a slot and took the strongest global Twisted Fate, planning to pick Nocturne fifth to delete one ultimate.
SKT's coach felt the plan was perfect.
For red side to produce a Ban-Pick like that…
But they never expected TES to do the opposite and take Nocturne themselves.
As long as TES pulled the trigger first, Twisted Fate's ultimate was basically useless—flying in would just deliver himself.
They'd tied their own noose.
Annoying, but there was nothing else to do—jungle had to fill with Viego.
If the other side refused to follow the script, what could you do?
"TES's Nocturne… I can only say it's brilliant. They snapped it up first."
"But Tian's Nocturne—let's see how he performs this game," Guan Zeyuan said.
Wawa and Miller gave him a thumbs-up.
"Nice. This one's locked!"
With both drafts set:
Blue side TES: Top Gwen, jungle Nocturne, mid Ryze, bot Draven + Nautilus.
Red side SKT: Top Kennen, jungle Viego, mid Twisted Fate, bot Caitlyn + Morgana.
After the draft, SKT's coach walked straight toward the backstage lounge.
Blue side advantage was just too huge!
How has Riot still not balanced this? Otherwise they wouldn't get screwed like this.
As the loading screen ended, Game 1 of the MSI final officially began!
They'd played each other twice already in earlier matches, so both sides understood the other's fundamentals. No one invaded at level one—everyone simply stood across the river, staring each other down and dancing.
From a composition standpoint, TES's level one was stronger. Nautilus's hook was lethal—if it landed, someone could die.
But SKT had positioned well for defense, and Morgana hadn't learned a skill yet, so they weren't scared at all.
Just like that, both sides transitioned smoothly into lanes.
Mid lane—Twisted Fate versus Ryze—didn't have much to say.
Faker just wanted to farm extra gold with his passive and then, at level six, go help his teammates.
Ryze's level-six ultimate pressure was still weak. Compared to Twisted Fate, it was nowhere close.
Sure, he could bring people, but who was there to bring in the early game?
So SKT had to rely on mid to start the tempo. If they failed to do that, teamfights in mid game would become extremely stressful.
Because Twisted Fate's damage couldn't compare to Ryze. And another thing—Ryze was a very solid battle mage, practically a mage bruiser.
And on top of that, Draven could chop through SKT in three hits. That was the draft disadvantage.
"They'll definitely fight for early tempo. We just need to steady ourselves and not give them openings. JackeyLove, play slower early. Stack your passive a bit. Once I've got full lane control, I'll come down and help you cash out."
"Okay." JackeyLove immediately backed off a little.
If there wasn't a good chance, then just stack passive slowly. With Morgana, even if you get hooked, it's not easy to kill.
Since Fan-ge said so, play safer.
"Of course, if they give us an opening, we still have to kill."
Gumayusi…
His MSI performance—everyone knew.
"Don't worry. If they give me a chance, I'll walk up and chop him down in two hits."
"Tian, just keep farming. When the timing looks right, start leaning bot."
"Mm."
"What about top? Don't we care about Duke?" JackeyLove asked.
"Top is steady as hell. Nothing to say. On Gwen versus Kennen, Duke definitely knows how to play it," Lin Fan said.
Zoom's chubby face broke into a grin.
Looks like top lane gave Tu Bro a huge sense of security.
From the viewer perspective, TES's early game looked different than before.
They didn't feel as aggressively invasive.
But that was normal—Ryze plus Nocturne mid-jungle, how are you supposed to play invade aggression with that?
Of course, SKT was similar. Viego also leaned toward farming. Whether he could make something happen depended on whether lanes gave opportunities.
Originally, Oner planned to gank bot at 3:30.
With TES drafting like this, they should play more aggressively.
But after glancing at the minimap, he saw TES wasn't pushing.
No choice—he could only turn back and keep farming.
And Twisted Fate roaming against Ryze wasn't that easy either. Especially after level four, the wave simply wouldn't push faster than Ryze.
So with this tempo, there probably wouldn't be any kills for the first six or seven minutes.
SKT's coach could only hope they could link up at level six for a tempo play.
As long as they could get Caitlyn's turret-taking tempo rolling, they could snowball an advantage fast.
But right after that, Ryze's movement made the coach's scalp go numb.
Ryze shoved a wave. His mana was nearly gone, so he backed off to his turret—and then looped around toward bot lane.
That motion was extremely deceptive.
Twisted Fate's mana wasn't healthy either and he was clearing under his turret.
Meanwhile, Nocturne met up with Ryze in the jungle.
This was a level-four mid-jungle duo!
"Here it comes! I really didn't expect TES to find tempo like this."
"I thought they'd wait until level six, but they're starting a four-man bot dive at level four!"
"And this wave was frozen by JackeyLove right in front of the turret. The timing is perfect."
Wawa, Miller, and Guan Zeyuan were hyped, shouting loudly in the broadcast.
At this pace, they were guaranteed to catch them.
Even if Ryze's mana was low, he could still throw out an EW root!
Even the live crowd wailed, "Gumayusi, hurry and notice Ryze is coming!"
Sadly, the scene they wanted never appeared. Ryze and Nocturne successfully wrapped behind them, forming the perfect 4v2.
By the time SKT's bot lane realized Ryze and Nocturne were behind them, it was already too late to run.
"Damn it!" Gumayusi cursed, but it changed nothing.
Nautilus flashed in point-blank, baiting Morgana's Black Shield. His E plus Nocturne's E instantly broke the shield!
This time, it wasn't just one kill—they wanted them both.
Lin Fan instantly used EW to lock Morgana down. Tian autoed Caitlyn once, then turned to output onto Morgana.
TES split their labor cleanly.
Bot lane kills Caitlyn; mid-jungle kills Morgana.
JackeyLove secured first blood. Lin Fan followed with an auto to take Morgana's head.
SKT's bot duo got sent straight back to fountain for a bath!
Uzi—still wrapped in a bath towel—watched the stream and shouted, "Nice!"
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup