The first game of the finals, after fifty-five minutes of intense battle, ultimately concluded with an astonishing comeback by Forbidden City Peak. This epic showdown not only drained a significant amount of energy from the players but also subtly affected the mindset of both sides. Forbidden City Peak, having snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, saw their morale greatly boosted, showcasing the depth of a champion in adversity. The Star Sea Team, however, having failed at the last hurdle when victory was within reach, was shrouded in a cloud of immense disappointment and self-doubt in their lounge.
After a short break, both teams' players once again took the stage. When the camera focused on the Star Sea Team members, their solemn expressions were clearly visible, the shadow of their first game's loss still lingering. In contrast, Forbidden City Peak appeared more composed and confident.
"Welcome back! The second game of the finals is about to begin!" Commentator's voice carried a hint of fatigue, but more so, anticipation for the upcoming match. "The loss in the first game had a big impact on the Star Sea Team's mentality; let's see if they can adjust in time."
"Yes," Yao Yao interjected, "In a BO5 series, the ability to adjust is crucial. Now all the pressure is on the Star Sea Team."
BP Chess, Star Sea Seeks Change
In the second game, the Star Sea Team was on the blue side. They clearly tried to change their strategy, first picking the meta T1 jungler – Demacian Prince Jarvan IV, intending for Lüeyǐng to seize early game tempo control.
Forbidden City Peak responded calmly, counter-picking Xayah for the ADC position and Rakan for the support position, dismantling the potential Xayah-Rakan combination the Star Sea Team might have chosen, and forming their own powerful bottom lane duo.
Subsequently, the Star Sea Team selected ezreal for Su Xiao, to enhance their early to mid-game combat capability and flexibility, and secured his highly proficient Gui Shu LeBlanc for Star Track, their mid-laner, continuing to implement an aggressive, tearing-apart tactic.
Forbidden City Peak, however, countered each move, bringing out Shen for top lane, Sejuani for jungle, and Karma for mid lane, in conjunction with Xayah and Rakan, forming an ultimate "four-protect-one" system highly skilled at kiting, protection, and counter-engaging.
Final Lineup:
Blue Side - Star Sea Team: Jayce, Jarvan IV, LeBlanc, ezreal, braum
Red Side - Forbidden City Peak: Shen, Sejuani, Karma, Xayah, Rakan
"The Star Sea Team has an extreme early to mid-game poke and hard engage system! Jayce and LeBlanc need to create a huge lane advantage and resource control in the early to mid-game!" Commentator analyzed.
"And Forbidden City Peak is a standard counter-engage and protection composition," Yao Yao added, "As long as Xayah develops well and they drag the game into the late stage, the Star Sea Team's composition will be very difficult to play against! The key lies in how fierce the Star Sea Team's early to mid-game offensive can be."
Early Setbacks, Broken Tempo
As the game began, the Star Sea Team indeed planned an invasion from level one, attempting to replicate their dominant performance when they swept Phantom. However, Forbidden City Peak's defense was like a precisely calculated machine; their vision control was perfect, preventing the Star Sea Team from gaining any advantage.
During the laning phase, Star Track's LeBlanc, leveraging her flexibility, did indeed pressure Karma in lane. But Forbidden City Peak's Karma player was extremely steady, using abilities to clear waves and heal, firmly holding the line and not giving LeBlanc any opportunity for a solo kill.
Lüeyǐng's Jarvan IV attempted several ganks on the bottom lane, but Forbidden City Peak's bottom lane duo positioned cautiously, coupled with Rakan's flexible crowd control and protection, causing all ganks to return empty-handed. Instead, Forbidden City Peak's jungler, Sejuani, utilized a counter-gank, combined with Shen's Ultimate Ability support, to kill the overly aggressive Star Sea Team top laner Jayce, securing First Blood.
"Dawn's Jayce wanted to create an advantage too much; getting caught in that counter-gank was very costly!" Commentator commented, "The Star Sea Team's offensive tempo encountered resistance from the very beginning."
In early skirmishes, Forbidden City Peak consistently gained the upper hand due to superior team coordination and faster support. The Star Sea Team's renowned early game aggression, under Forbidden City Peak's ironclad defense and counter-attacks, proved to be all bark and no bite. The gold difference, by ten minutes, had instead swung to Forbidden City Peak's favor by over a thousand.
Mid-Game Misdirection, Fatal Error
As the game entered the mid-game, the Star Sea Team grew increasingly impatient. They deeply understood that their composition's power spike was slowly fading. Around the second Rift Herald, both sides converged in the mid lane.
At this moment, the Star Sea Team committed the most fatal error of this game, and possibly the entire series.
Lüeyǐng's Jarvan IV was looking for an opportunity on the flank, seeing an angle that seemed to allow him to EQ Flash to knock up Xayah. He didn't wait for his teammates to be fully in position, nor did he confirm if the opponent's key abilities (such as Xayah's Ultimate Ability, Rakan's Grand Entrance) were on cooldown, yet he resolutely initiated the engage!
"Jarvan IV is going in! EQ Flash! The target is Xayah!"
However, the instant Jarvan IV's flag landed, Forbidden City Peak's ADC player displayed top-tier reaction time, almost simultaneously with Jarvan IV's flash engage, pressing Xayah's ultimate self-preservation ability — R [Featherstorm]!
Xayah became untargetable, gracefully leaping into the air, dodging Jarvan IV's fatal knock-up!
"She dodged it! Xayah used her Ultimate Ability to dodge Jarvan IV's EQ Flash! My goodness! What a reaction!"
Jarvan IV, isolated and having used all his abilities without controlling the key carry, was instantly exposed to the firepower of Forbidden City Peak's five members! The support Rakan immediately countered with W [Grand Entrance] to knock him up, Sejuani followed with crowd control, and Xayah unleashed furious damage upon landing!
Jarvan IV couldn't even cast his Ultimate Ability before being instantly killed!
"Jarvan IV is dead! The Star Sea Team's team fight is going to collapse!"
Losing their jungler and primary engage, the Star Sea Team's formation was in disarray. Forbidden City Peak seized the opportunity to counter-engage, Shen's Ultimate Ability shield was cast on Xayah, and Karma's team-wide speed boost made Forbidden City Peak's chase like a whirlwind! LeBlanc and ezreal tried to kite and deal damage, but in front of Forbidden City Peak's perfect formation and protection, their damage was negligible.
A 0 for 4 ace! Forbidden City Peak then secured the Rift Herald and Baron!
"They're doomed! The Star Sea Team is completely doomed!" Commentator exclaimed, heartbroken, "Lüeyǐng was too impatient there! Engaging a Xayah with her Ultimate Ability and Flash up, without ensuring key abilities were forced out or that teammates could follow up, was almost suicidal!"
"This mistake... it's too fatal." Yao Yao's tone was also filled with regret, "Not just losing Baron and getting aced, but more importantly, it almost destroyed the Star Sea Team's already unstable mentality."
Defeat like a collapsing mountain, beyond salvation
Carrying the Baron Buff, Forbidden City Peak began their signature snowballing strategy. The gold difference rapidly widened to eight thousand, then ten thousand... The Star Sea Team tried to find opportunities, but their mechanics were already faltering, and their coordination repeatedly broke down. Forbidden City Peak, however, played steadily, giving no chances.
At twenty-eight minutes, Forbidden City Peak, with a massive gold advantage and item superiority, executed another perfect team fight on the Star Sea Team's high ground, easily acing their opponents and destroying their base.
"Victory!"
The purple victory sign lit up again! A total score of 2:0!
"Congratulations Forbidden City Peak!" Yao Yao announced loudly, but with a hint of complexity in her tone, "Another victory! They hold three match points, just one step away from defending their Star Sea Cup championship title!"
"And the Star Sea Team..." Commentator looked at the bewildered, lost, and even somewhat numb expressions of the Star Sea Team members on camera, and said heavily, "They paid a heavy price for their impatience and mistakes. Two consecutive losses, especially such a catastrophic mid-game decision in the second game, pushed them to the edge of the cliff. The time left for them, and their chance to adjust their mentality, is truly not much."
The Star Sea Team members silently walked off the stage, their figures appearing somewhat hunched. Lüeyǐng kept his head down, hands in his pockets; no one knew what he was thinking. Lin Haoming's face was ashen backstage, not uttering a word.
0:2! Despair!
The Star Sea Battleship, this highly anticipated new flagship, was on the verge of capsizing amidst the fierce winds and waves of the finals. Could they create a miracle in the upcoming games and avoid the fate of being swept? A huge question mark hung in everyone's hearts.