LOL: What does it mean to torture players?

"Mozi looks very relaxed today!" Miller breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the broadcast. "Facing such a strong opponent as T1, having a stable mindset as the core player is crucial for the entire team."

Both players took their seats and completed equipment setup. The ban/pick phase officially began.

T1 is on the blue side, and EDG is on the red side.

As expected, T1's coach Kkoma had thoroughly analyzed Su Mo's champion pool. In the first three picks, they directly shut down Fiora, Riven, and Akali, completely blocking the top lane assassins and light fighters who could split push and tear through the enemy lines.

EDG played it safe, banning Azir, Lee Sin, and Ashe.

During the selection phase, T1 immediately secured the incredibly tanky Quesanti, which had been buffed in the current version and was now ridiculously durable!
"Quisanti!" Guan Zeyuan exclaimed loudly, "Zeus has secured a top-tier carry top laner in this patch! With the official armor and magic resistance buffs, Quisanti is now an insurmountable wall! T1's intention is clear: to use the patch's advantages to hold Mozi back in the top lane!"

EDG's counterattack was equally swift, securing Vi and Orianna on the first and second floors to ensure the mid and jungle could initiate team fights and control the game.

The two sides traded blows, and their lineups gradually took shape.

T1's lineup appears unbreakable: top laner Quesant, jungler Maokai, mid laner Orianna and Syndra, bot laner Varus and Natasha. A perfect positional defense and counter-attack composition.

EDG's first four picks were Vi, Orianna, Kai'Sa, and Alistar.

All the suspense remains with EDG's red team on the fifth floor counter position.

"Mozi, their lineup is too solid, all clunky frontliners." Mingkai stood behind Su Mo, looking at the tactics board with a slight frown. "Should we pick Ornn or Sion, and farm peacefully with them to fight in late-game team fights?"

Su Mo picked up his thermos and took a sip of water, a gentle light flashing in his deep eyes.

“Peaceful development is not our style.” He put down his cup, his voice steady and clear. “Coach, get me the Serpent's Embrace.”

"The Serpent's Embrace? Cassiopeia the Serpent Woman?!"

Mingkai was stunned, and even Xiao Yue, who was in charge of locking heroes, stopped clicking his mouse.

"Cassiopeia in the top lane? This champion has no mobility. In this heavily targeted patch, once Maokai or Quesant gets close, she won't even be able to escape!" Mingkai said with some concern.

Su Mo's slender fingers rested lightly on the keyboard, the faint smile on his lips unchanged.

"A bulky body is most afraid not of sharp blades, but of relentless venom." Su Mo's tone was soft, yet carried an undeniable confidence. "Since it's a mage version, let's use the purest magic to melt this wall."

Mingkai looked into his calm, still eyes, took a deep breath, and nodded vigorously.

"take!"

Xiao Yue pressed the mouse.

A banshee icon with a long snake tail and a bewitching yet dangerous face suddenly lit up in the selection box on the fifth floor of EDG.

Do you think I'm pretty?

【Cassiopeia, Embrace of the Serpent】!!!
locking!

At that moment, the entire Accor Arena fell into a brief silence, followed by a roar that could have lifted the dome of the stadium.

"Cassiopeia?! Top lane Cassiopeia?!" Wawa stood up abruptly in the commentary booth. "My God! Facing official patch nerfs and relentless targeting from opponents, Mozi, on the fifth floor of the red team, pulled out a pure AP top lane Cassiopeia!"

"This is so unexpected!" Miller exclaimed in shock. "But on second thought, it's a stroke of genius! The Cassiopeia's sustained damage and percentage-based spell damage are the bane of these heavily armored tanks! As long as you can keep your distance, Quesanti is just a giant mobile health pack in front of the Cassiopeia!"

In the T1 match zone, Zeus stared at the green Banshee's Veil icon, his hand gripping the mouse tightening slightly. All the countless defensive strategies he'd prepared before the match were completely disrupted in that instant. He'd originally planned to comfortably stack armor under the tower, but against the magic damage-dealing Cassiopeia, his starting items and runes seemed incredibly awkward.

"It's okay, stay calm." Faker's voice rang out in the voice channel, as calm as ever. "She has no mobility. Oner, go to the top lane more often in the early game and crush her."

"It's okay, stay calm." Faker's voice rang out in the voice channel, as calm as ever. "She has no mobility. Oner, go to the top lane more often in the early game and crush her."

Hearing his captain's reassurance, the young Zeus took a deep breath, and his heartbeat, which had been slightly jolted by the opponent locking down the Cassiopeia, gradually calmed down.

“I understand, Sang-hyeok.” Zeus gripped the mouse tightly, his eyes fixed on the screen. “I brought Doran’s Shield and Second Wind. As long as I drain her mana, she’ll be a super minion with no combat ability.”

On T1's side of the match, jungler Oner's Maokai had already planned out: "I'll start with red buff and rush to level 3. Zeus, move the minion wave back a bit."

Meanwhile, the atmosphere in EDG's team voice chat was unusually warm and relaxed.

“Chen, the enemy Maokai will most likely start with red buff and will reach the top lane river in about three minutes.” Su Mo pushed up his glasses and spoke in a calm and gentle voice, as if chatting with an old friend. “You start with blue buff, and after clearing the gromp and wolves, come to the top lane bush to counter-gank. We’ll prepare a surprise for them.”

"Alright, Brother Mo! Watch how I smash this old tree with these iron fists!" Ah Chen responded excitedly, controlling Wei to walk towards his own blue buff.

At 1 minute and 30 seconds, the entire army launched an attack.

Accompanied by the rousing bugle call, the minions on the top lane converged.

Zeus's Quesanti cautiously positioned himself near the ranged minions, attempting to use his Q ability, [Spinning Axe], to finish off the three low-health melee minions. Knowing Cassiopeia's poke potential with her level 1 Q, [Plague Explosion], he maintained irregular left-right movements, trying to bait out Su Mo's abilities.

But Su Mo sat calmly in front of the screen, his gaze focused and composed. He didn't blindly unleash skills; he simply controlled Cassiopeia's alluring figure, following the attack rhythm of his own minions, using basic normal attacks to strike the enemy minions one by one.

Just as Zeus couldn't hold back any longer, stepped forward, and raised his hand to unleash his Q skill!

Su Mo clicked the mouse lightly.

"hiss--"

A cloud of dark green venom exploded precisely at Quesanti's feet! The timing was perfect, hitting Quesanti during the spell's cooldown period.

The poison entered her body, triggering Cassiopeia's passive and granting her a brief movement speed boost. Zeus's heart tightened, thinking that Su Mo was going to take the opportunity to use his E skill [Twin Fangs] to harass her relentlessly. He had even prepared to retreat and use a health potion.

However, Su Mo simply glided forward lightly, unleashing a basic attack with additional poison damage, before immediately turning around to create distance, refusing to greedily take any more damage. Zeus watched his health bar, which had dropped but was slowly recovering under the effects of Doran's Shield and Revitalizing Wind, and his brows furrowed even more deeply.

"Such terrifying discipline..." Zeus thought to himself in amazement. If Su Mo had forced a use of his E skill to harass her, although he could have taken down more of her health, Cassiopeia started with Tear of the Goddess, and her mana would definitely have been depleted. Su Mo's kiting technique, using only one Q and an auto-attack, not only ensured the stacking of Tear of the Goddess but also kept his mana consumption to a minimum.

The director switched the camera to the lower middle and lower channels.

In the mid lane, Faker's Azir and Xiaoyue's Orianna showcased the solid fundamentals of world-class mid laners. Both sides steadily controlled the minion waves in the center of the river, testing each other with various skills, but neither was willing to reveal the slightest weakness.

The bottom lane presented a completely different picture. Gumayusi and Keria picked Varus and Natasha, a strong lane-pushing combination, and from level one, they relentlessly pressured Leave's Kai'Sa and Vamp's Alistar under their turrets.

"Keep your health stable in the bottom lane. It's okay to miss a few minions, just don't let them whittle you down to kill level." Su Mo glanced at the bottom lane while last-hitting minions and gently reminded his teammates.

“Received, Brother Mo. We’re hiding under the tower.” Leave replied.

The time has reached 2 minutes and 45 seconds.

Both top laners reached level two. After clearing the three jungle camps in the red buff half of the map, Oner's Maokai, carrying both buffs, quietly sneaked into the bushes in the top lane river.

"Zeus, I'm here. The minion wave is in a good position. You need to fake it out and go up there to create an opening." Oner stared intently at the screen.

At this moment, the top lane minion wave was slowly advancing towards T1's turret. Zeus's Quesant feigned a positioning mistake, moving forward to last-hit a cannon minion, exposing himself to Cassiopeia's attack range.

"Here they come." Su Mo looked at Quesanti's slightly deliberate movements, a faint smile appearing on his lips.

He controlled the Cassiopeia to press forward, accurately hitting Quesanti with his Q skill, followed by two consecutive E skills.

"Attack!" Oner shouted, and the giant tree burst forth from the riverbed grass!

A sapling was thrown into Cassiopeia's retreat path. The tree activated its W skill, Twisted Thrust, transforming into an untargetable mass of roots that bound Cassiopeia directly! Zeus's Quesant also used his E skill, Stride, to dash forward, preparing to follow up with his Q skill's knock-up control.

"T1's jungler has made a move! This gank on top was very sudden! Mozi's positioning was a bit too far forward, it's dangerous!" Wawa couldn't help but shout loudly from the commentary booth.

Just as the twisting spikes of the giant tree were about to lock onto the snake woman at the critical moment!
A pink fist suddenly lit up in the two bushes near the wall on EDG's top lane!

"Want to mess with my brother Mo? You've got to ask my fists first!" Ah Chen's Vi had been lying in ambush in the bushes for a long time. Once her Q skill [Powerful Punch] was fully charged, she burst through the wall!

Oner's massive body slammed into the tree that had just landed with tremendous force, abruptly interrupting Oner's subsequent basic attack slowdown!
"Counter-gank! Vi is counter-ganking in the bush! EDG was prepared!" Miller excitedly slammed his fist on the table.

Faced with this sudden counter-gank, T1's Ueno and Jungle were surprised but did not panic. Zeus's Quesant charged towards Cassiopeia without hesitation, charging up his third Q skill, preparing to knock Cassiopeia back to Maokai.

In that unavoidable moment, Su Mo displayed a breathtaking calmness.

Instead of using Flash, he pressed the W skill [Poisonous Mist] that he had instantly learned when he reached level three!
A fan-shaped pool of deep purple venom was precisely laid at the feet of Quesanti and the big tree!

"Bind to the ground!"

This god-tier mechanism took effect instantly. Quesanti and the tree, standing on the poisonous fog, had all their movement skills turned gray! Zeus's fully charged third Q skill dash was abruptly halted, only managing an awkward slam into the ground without even touching the hem of Cassiopeia's clothes.

"Brother Mozi's W was absolutely brilliant, completely blocking T1's top and jungle's pursuit and escape routes!" Guan Zeyuan exclaimed in admiration.

At this moment, Su Mo countered with a Q skill that hit the tree, triggering the Phase Rush rune. Cassiopeia's movement speed suddenly increased, like a slippery venomous snake, gracefully gliding out of the two's attack range, while continuously using her E skill to unleash venom back at them.

Ah Chen's Vi, in coordination with Cassiopeia's damage output, landed a powerful E skill, "Piercing Force," on the tree.

Oner watched as his health bar dropped to one-third in an instant, and he was also unable to dodge while standing on the ground-binding poison mist. A layer of cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

The moment the poison mist ended, Oner didn't hesitate to use Flash. With a flash of golden light, he awkwardly vaulted over the river wall and escaped back to his own jungle. Seeing this, Zeus could only activate his W skill, Pathfinder, to reduce damage and cover his retreat back to the turret.

"Chen, you've worked hard. Go control the river crab. His Maokai doesn't have Flash, so you can't contest it." Su Mo stopped his pursuit, his tone still gentle, as if the dangerous 2v2 battle just now was just a trivial sparring match.

"Hehe, it's all thanks to Brother Mo's accurate ground binding technique, my punches felt so good!" Ah Chen laughed as he guided Wei towards the river.

At 3 minutes and 30 seconds, the river crabs in the upper and lower river channels refreshed precisely on time.

Because Oner's Maokai was severely damaged and forced to use Flash, he had no choice but to recall. Chen's Vi easily secured the top river crab, ensuring the safety of vision in EDG's top half of the map. After Oner respawned, he took down the bottom river crab under the cover of the bot lane duo's lane priority.

After a period of intense clashes, the situation on the field returned to a stable laning phase.

The game time has reached 4 minutes and 15 seconds.

Both top laners have reached level four. After the previous exchange, Zeus has clearly become more cautious. He keeps the minion wave in front of his own tower, preferring to miss a few dangerous last hits rather than leave the safe zone of his tower.

Su Mo glanced at his mana bar, which was still a third full, and the number of Goddess's Tears stacks that were steadily increasing.

"Good patience," Su Mo murmured to himself.

He began to change his strategy. Instead of solely controlling the lane, Cassiopeia used her Q skill and auto-attacks to quickly clear ranged minions.

Zeus watched as a large wave of minions approached his tower, his mind focused intently. He knew that last-hitting minions under the tower was the most challenging part of the game, and also the easiest time to lose health.

A siege engine soldier was low on health. Zeus, controlling Quesanti, moved forward, preparing to finish him off with a basic attack.

Just as Quesanti raised his hand, Su Mo's Cassiopeia suddenly lunged forward, her Q skill precisely predicting Quesanti's last-hit position.

Zeus reacted extremely quickly, immediately activating his W skill [Pathfinder] and using the damage reduction effect to withstand the poison attack, successfully taking down the siege minion.

"Good defense." Su Mo praised inwardly, but his hands did not stop moving at all.

He didn't give up the pressure just because Zeus activated damage reduction. Instead, he timed his attack during the recovery animation after Quesanti's W skill ended, landing a basic attack followed by his E skill, and then immediately retreated, escaping the turret's attack range. (End of Chapter)