LOL: What does it mean to torture players?

"Ah Chen, you and Meiko hold the mid-lane bushes and don't let them cross the river easily. Jack, you and Xiao Yue keep your distance." Su Mo marked the Elder Dragon Pit, and then the Widowmaker's figure disappeared into the fog of war once again.

29 minutes 50 seconds.

T1's five players grouped together and slowly advanced from the high ground. They played extremely cautiously, with Titan leading the way, constantly scanning and placing a control ward every few steps.

The two sides met near the middle of the river.

The air is thick with tension, and the clash between the two regions' top fighters is about to reach its final conclusion on this river.

30 minutes 00 seconds.

An ancient dragon let out a roar that shook the entire canyon, and its massive body stretched out in the dragon pit.

T1's five players had advanced to the vicinity of the mid-lane river bushes. Keria's Titan activated his scan, the anchor in his hand gleaming coldly within the red circle.

"T1 is playing too steadily, step by step." Guan Zeyuan looked at the big screen. "They're not in a hurry to go to the river. Instead, they've used true sight wards to spot all the bushes above the river. This is clearly to prevent Mozi's Widowmaker from flanking!"

Just then, Oner's prince placed a true sight ward at the F6 pass.

"Ding!"

Within the range of the True Sight, a seductive purple figure instantly appeared!

"The widow is here!!" Oner shouted, without the slightest hesitation, and immediately used his EQ combo to launch himself at her!
This wasn't a solo kill; all five members of T1 were nearby!
Zeus's Malphite reacted extremely quickly, unleashing his ultimate ability, Unstoppable Force, the instant Jarvan IV initiated his attack!
"T1 has initiated a team fight!! They caught Mozi in the jungle!! Jarvan IV and Malphite used their ultimates to slam him in the face!!" Miller's voice instantly reached its limit.

But this is Su Mo!

Within a fraction of a second of being exposed by the true eye, his fingers were already on the keyboard.

Faced with the combined onslaught of the prince and the stone man, Su Mo neither used Flash nor his ultimate!

He calmly pressed the push rod, and Widowmaker's body lunged forward a short distance at the last second, managing to squeeze through the gap between Jarvan IV's EQ combo and Malphite's ultimate!

Not only that, the movement of the push rod allowed him to get right up to Faker, who was standing to the side and behind him!

"He dodged it!! My God!! He could dodge that?!" I remember holding my head, my face full of disbelief.

When Faker's Master Yi saw Evelynn close in, his heart skipped a beat. He immediately activated his ultimate, Highlander, and his E skill, Wuju Style, hoping to use the high movement speed and true damage to counterattack!

But Su Mo didn't even look at him.

Widowmaker's Q skill, Hatred Spike, landed squarely on Master Yi's face, followed by a powerful E skill, Lash!
"Snapped!"

No ultimate ability, no W charm, just QE plus the enhanced basic attacks from Hextech Protobelt and Lich Bane!
The Sword Saint, who was at full health, had more than half of his health bar evaporate instantly!

Faker was shocked and quickly used his Q skill, Alpha Strike, to avoid further damage.

At this moment, T1's formation had been completely disrupted by Evelynn's "suicidal" entry. The front-line Jarvan IV and Malphite missed all their skills, and the back-line Caitlyn and Lux ​​were forced to retreat to avoid Evelynn.

"Counterattack!!"

In EDG's voice chat, Ah Chen roared.

Sejuani's Q skill, "Arctic Assault," allows her to pass through walls, and her ultimate, "Arctic Prison," freezes the Prince who has just landed!
Meiko's Rakan activated his ultimate, "Fleeting Glimpse," and then used Flash + W, "Grand Entrance," to lift up the Nautilus and Malphite, who were without Flash!
JackeyLove's Xayah unleashed a barrage of feathers, while Xiaoyue's Syndra unleashed a devastating burst of damage.

Without their two ultimate abilities, T1's front line melted instantly under EDG's focused fire!

"Oner and Zeus are down!! The front row of T1 has been instantly vaporized!!" Guan Zeyuan shouted hoarsely.

But T1's counterattack was equally fierce.

Gumayusi's Caitlyn unleashed a barrage of attacks from a safe distance, coordinating with Lux's crowd control to bring Rakan and Sejuani to low health. Faker's Master Yi landed from his Q skill, seized the opportunity to dive into the fray, and killed the low-health Rakan with two strikes, then turned his attention to Syndra!

"Faker's in!! He's still dealing damage!!" Miller shouted.

At this critical moment.

The widow, whom everyone thought had escaped the battlefield, has once again emerged from the shadows!
After severely damaging the Sword Saint, Su Mo used his invisibility passive to circle around the jungle, and reappeared just as the Sword Saint killed Rakan!
The W skill [Lure] is applied to the Master Yi's head.

The layers of hearts exploded instantly!
Charm! Reduces magic resistance!

The ultimate move, [Final Comfort], is unleashed!
"Whoosh—!"

The purple rift flashed by, not only killing the low-health Sword Saint, but also grazing the Caitlyn who was trying to move forward to deal damage, taking away half of her health bar!
"EDG.Mo has killed T1.Faker!"

"Brother Mozi is back!! He's like a ghost roaming the battlefield!! Faker is down!!" Remember's excited voice echoed throughout the arena.

Without Master Yi, T1 was left with only Caitlyn and Lux, who were simply unable to withstand EDG's advance.

EDG scored a 2-for-3 trade and secured the Elder Dragon.

32 minutes 10 seconds.

With the combined buffs of the Elder Dragon and the Hextech Dragon Soul, EDG's five players once again stormed the T1 high ground.

At this point, T1's mid and bottom lane inhibitors had respawned, but they still seemed to be struggling against the super minions with the Dragon Soul.

"We can't delay any longer, Baron Nashor will respawn in one minute. Let's end the game before Baron Nashor respawns," Su Mo calmly commanded in the voice chat.

He led the top lane across the river, then stealthily entered T1's upper jungle.

34 minutes 00 seconds.

EDG's four players grouped up and pushed forward in the mid lane.

T1's five members held their ground in front of the turret, desperately trying to hold on using the female police officer's long reach and Jayce's poke.

"boom!"

Zeus' Jayce landed a powerful shot on Xiaoyue's Syndra, triggering the Elder Dragon's execute effect. Syndra's health was reduced to almost zero, forcing her to use her Zhonya's Hourglass.

"T1 is still holding on!! They're so resilient!!" Guan Zeyuan stared at the screen. "But where's Mozi? Mozi's disappeared again!"

The director cuts the camera to the top of the road.

That purple figure, leading a wave of super minions, has already pushed down T1's top lane inhibitor tower!

"They're raiding our base again!! Mozi is soloing the high ground again!!" Miller roared.

In T1's team voice chat, the alarm bells of despair rang out once again.

"Top lane! Top lane high ground is gone!" Oner shouted.

"Send two people to guard! Prince and Nautilus, go!" Faker gritted his teeth and gave the order.

Oner and Keria immediately returned to defend the top lane.

But this is exactly the effect Su Mo wanted.

"They've split up, let's open the front." Su Mo's voice remained completely calm. The moment the prince and Titan left the front.

Ah Chen's Sejuani used her Q skill to flash, and then her ultimate [Frost Prison] precisely froze the Caitlyn who had no mobility!

JackeyLove's Xayah's ultimate hook was fully executed, instantly killing the female police officer!
Without their AD carry, T1's front line completely collapsed. Faker's Master Yi activated his ultimate to try and trade kills with Xayah, but was pushed away by Syndra's Scatter Spell and then focused down and killed.

"A complete rout!! T1's mid and bot lane carries are both dead!!"

Meanwhile, on the top lane, they faced the Prince and Titan who came to defend.

Su Mo's widow didn't even glance at them.

He withstood the damage from the two opponents, landing one basic attack after another on the top lane inhibitor crystal.

"Crack!"

The crystal on the top lane shattered!

The instant the prince's ultimate skill landed, Su Mo unleashed his own ultimate skill, [Final Consolation], and leaped backward with remarkable grace, disappearing beyond the high ground wall.

36 minutes 30 seconds.

EDG's three lanes of super minions converged on T1 high ground.

With only the Prince, Nautilus, and Jayce left, T1 seemed powerless against the surging super minions and the four EDG players buffed by the Elder Dragon.

"It's over," Su Mo said softly in the voice chat.

Instead of switching targets, he worked with his teammates to gradually dismantle T1's last line of defense.

The tooth tower collapsed.

The blue crystal hub is exposed to the air.

"Activate the crystal!!"

Amidst the countdown from the entire audience.

38 minutes 15 seconds.

"boom--!!!"

The blue crystal hub of T1 exploded in a dazzling burst of light!
"Let's congratulate EDG!!!" Guan Zeyuan roared hoarsely, "2-0!!! On the stage of the S13 World Championship, they used two unreasonable and overwhelming attacks to push T1 to the brink of defeat! They have match point! They are really only one step away from lifting the Summoner's Cup!"

"Incredible!" Miller took off his glasses and wiped his eyes. "The first game was Tryndamere, the second was Evelynn. Su Mo used the most uncommon strategy in League of Legends to prove to the world what absolute tactical dominance is! T1's seemingly perfect dive composition was completely outmaneuvered by a top lane Evelynn from start to finish!"

"Lift the trophy!! EDG!!!" Remember's voice was completely hoarse, his eyes red-rimmed. "Just one more win, and the LPL dynasty will continue!"

The Gochiku Sky Dome erupted in cheers. Countless red support lights intertwined, and the cheers of LPL fans swept across the entire arena like a tsunami.

On the battle platform, Su Mo took off his noise-canceling headphones, listening to the deafening roar of the arena, his expression unchanged.

Unlike Ah Chen and Xiao Yue, who jumped up and hugged each other excitedly, he didn't ecstatically celebrate. Instead, he slowly wound up the mouse cable, picked up the black thermos on the table, unscrewed the lid, and took a sip of warm goji berry water.

"Alright, don't break Tianye's neck." Su Mo stood up, patted A Chen on the shoulder, and said calmly, "We've only won two games. Opening champagne at the halfway point is a major taboo in warfare. Let's go back to the rest room."

He slung his peripheral bag over his shoulder and walked out of the arena first. His tall and slender figure seemed out of place amidst the frenzied atmosphere, yet he exuded a composure that was impossible to ignore.

The director's camera keenly captured this moment, and the chat rooms around the world instantly flooded with comments:

Here it comes again! That darn feeling of relaxation!

[Others get match point: Ecstatic celebration. Mozi: I'm thirsty, let's have some water.]

Looking at his back, you'd think he'd just finished a game of ARAM and was heading out for a late-night snack.

[T1's mentality is really collapsing this game. They got completely outplayed and killed by a Widowmaker who backdoored and flanked them.]

[Despair, you can feel Zeus's despair even through the screen. He picked Malphite to play passively, but got tower-dived and slaughtered by Evelynn.]

Inside the T1 soundproof booth on the other side of the stage, the atmosphere was deathly silent.

Zeus lifted his hands from the keyboard, staring blankly at the glaring "Defeat" message on the screen. His pride and joy in his skills and reflexes had been shattered in these two games. He was crushed by Tryndamere in the first game, and in the second, he picked Malphite to try and withstand the pressure, but he didn't even dare to farm the minion wave under the tower. In team fights, he was melted before he could even touch Evelynn.

Oner covered his face and sighed deeply. This completely ruined his early game rhythm as Jarvan IV, and his jungle was torn apart by Evelynn's counter-jungling and vision control.

"Let's go back to the rest room first." Faker stood up and pushed up his round-framed glasses.

As the team's backbone, his face didn't show much emotion, but his tightly pursed lips betrayed the heaviness in his heart. He patted Zeus on the shoulder and led the way out of the soundproof booth.

The backstage corridor was divided into two completely different worlds.

As soon as the door to EDG's lounge was opened, enthusiastic applause erupted inside.

"Great! You played so well!" Mingkai greeted them with a big smile, giving each team member a high-five.

"Brother Mo's steal of the bottom lane inhibitor was absolutely amazing!" JackeyLove plopped down on the sofa, grabbed a bottle of mineral water and gulped it down. "I was watching those T1 guys frantically trying to stay afloat, and I almost burst out laughing."

Xiao Yue chimed in, "Exactly! Faker got completely wiped out this game. In Mo Ge's hands, Evelynn is practically a nuclear weapon."

Su Mo walked to the corner sofa and sat down, placing his peripheral bag aside. He didn't join their celebration. He took out his phone, glanced at the few WeChat messages that popped up on the screen, casually replied with two words, then closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair to rest.

Mingkai noticed the young players' impetuousness, immediately suppressed his smile, and clapped his hands.

"Quiet down, everyone!" Mingkai's voice rose eight octaves. "A 2-0 lead doesn't mean we've already won the championship! There have been instances of teams coming back from 0-2 down to win 3-2 on this stage before! T1 is a four-time champion, and their resilience is the best in the entire league. When they're on the brink of elimination, they will definitely pull out all the stops in the third game and fight us to the death."

Ah Chen and Xiao Yue immediately sat up straight and stopped grinning.

“The coach is right.” Su Mo’s calm voice echoed in the lounge with his eyes closed. “In the first two games, we outmaneuvered them in the draft. In the third game, when we reach match point, Bengi will definitely abandon those fancy lineups and return to the traditional Korean-style macro play that T1 excels at. This game will be the real battle.”

The T1 lounge is separated by a wall.

The air was so heavy it felt like it was about to freeze.

Bengi stood in front of the tactics board, looked at the five silent players, and took a deep breath.

“My problem,” Bengi spoke first. “In the first game, we underestimated Tryndamere’s split-pushing ability, and in the second game, our aggressive lineup was completely countered by Evelynn. We fell completely into EDG’s trap in the draft.”

He walked up to Zeus and placed his hands on the young top laner's shoulders: "Zeus, lift your head. Don't let the first two games affect you. You are still the best top laner in LCK. In the third game, we won't play defensively or aggressively."

Bengi turned around, his gaze sweeping over everyone: "We're going back to our most familiar system. We'll take lane control, play macro-games, and manage resources. We'll drag the game into our rhythm. As long as we win one game, the pressure will be back on EDG."

Faker raised his head, his eyes gleaming with renewed fighting spirit: "The coach is right. We haven't lost yet. In the third game, I'll take control of the pace."

The brief halftime break passed in the blink of an eye. (End of Chapter)