LOL: What does it mean to torture players?

FNC is indeed more proactive than GEN right now, actively stirring up trouble and seeking battle, while GEN has retreated into a shell.

The factory manager looked serious. If GEN really loses to FNC, EDG will be in danger.

They need to win against GEN and FNC to advance.

If they lose to both GEN and FNC, they will be eliminated.

If they beat GEN but lose to FNC, they will need to play a tiebreaker against FNC.

If they lose to GEN but win against FNC, that's still okay; they can advance. Although they have the same score as FNC, they swept FNC twice.

At the 26-minute mark of the match, FNC and GEN clashed in a team fight.

Sure enough, their lineup's disadvantages became apparent. They couldn't break through FNC's front line, but their front line was as fragile as paper in front of FNC.

In the end, FNC won the team fight effortlessly and ended the game in one fell swoop.

"Damn it! What is GEN doing? This is ridiculous!" Aodi cursed angrily.

Hope said, "I don't think they really want to win. Anyway, they have no pressure to advance."

The factory manager interrupted, "Alright, let's not talk about that now. We're playing against FNC and GEN right now, and we have to win one of them. At the very least, we have to beat FNC."

Su Mo finished her workday and went home.

Su Mo deliberately left work early today, mainly to see how EDG performed.

Upon opening his phone, Su Mo saw a news notification.

#FNC upsets GEN
The qualification situation in Group C is complex.

#EDG is in critical condition!
There was also a message from UZI: "Brother Mozi, did you go to the site to give EDG some guidance? EDG's situation isn't very optimistic right now."

Su Mo: "I just got off work and haven't eaten yet."

UZI: "EDG might not qualify now. I didn't expect FNC to be so strong and be able to beat GEN."

Su Mo: "FNC has never been weak, but GEN is not as strong as we imagined."

UZI: "It seems so. GEN and DWG are not in the same league."

Su Mo opened the S-series champion's live stream room, where the players from both sides were taking the stage.

This match is between EDG and FNC.

Suddenly, the number of comments on the screen increased:

"Brother Mozi is here! Brother Mozi is in the live stream!"

"Brother Mozi is personally overseeing the battle! EDG has hope!"

"EDG, you'd better perform well, or Mozi will get angry and you'll be in big trouble!"

"Brother Mozi, do you think EDG can win?"

Su Mo chose not to respond, deciding to wait and see.

Entering the draft phase, Scout picked Zoe, one of his signature champions, to enhance his laning strength.

Top laner Aodi picked Renekton.

Su Mo doesn't have a good impression of the champion Renekton, especially in this version.

However, for most top laners, he doesn't have a better option.

If you don't have Ornn or Volibear, then Renekton is the most versatile top laner. The other top laners are more dependent on team composition and skill level, and are only suitable for players with strong individual abilities.

Aodi is clearly not.

After entering the game, FNC took the lead. They probably learned from their previous match against EDG and knew that Meiko liked to create opportunities in the early game.

Therefore, they chose to target Meiko, ganking the bottom lane twice and killing him.

The third was a kill in the line.

In this match, EDG's bot lane featured a combination of Senna and Nautilus.

Titan needs to last-hit minions. After being ganked twice in a row, the disadvantage is too great, and the laning phase becomes unplayable.

It can only be said that FNC has done a deep study of this playstyle.

The live stream chat was flooded with messages:
"What is Meiko doing? Is she still asleep?"

"When did EDG's bot lane become so weak in lane? They're getting completely dominated."

"This is so frustrating. If Brother Mozi were here, would the other side dare to play like this?"

"When Mozi was playing, the bot lane was often crushed, but the mid, top, and jungle were able to fight back, which is why it was a key point."

Just when everyone was in despair, Scout's Zoe stepped up. Taking advantage of the mid lane, she roamed to support the bottom lane when they were being targeted again, helping her teammates get four kills back and achieving a two-for-four trade.

The disadvantage in the bottom lane has been greatly alleviated.

However, after the bottom lane stabilized, problems arose in the top lane.

The opposing team started targeting the mid lane, with their support roaming to the mid lane to gank.

EDG's rhythm has fallen into chaos, and trouble is brewing on all sides.

Su Mo glanced at the economic data and found that the economic gap wasn't significant and was acceptable.

But the problem remains: the team's strength is insufficient.

Zoe in the mid lane is definitely worse than Orianna in mid-to-late game team fights, and Renekton in the top lane is not as good as the enemy's Volibear.

As expected, after the opposing team secured the Rift Herald and began their frontal push, EDG couldn't withstand it, and their team fight ability deteriorated significantly.

Zoe is good at pushing the enemy with Rift Herald, but she becomes very weak when the enemy pushes her.

In a team fight, EDG achieved a 4-for-0 exchange, losing both their mid-lane first and second towers simultaneously.

The outcome of the match was essentially decided.

"Sigh." Su Mo sighed.

The live stream chat was exploding with comments:
"What are EDG playing? It feels like they're missing a player."

"Top lane crocodile 1-2-0, isn't that one player short?"

"No, Audi plays top lane for everything. Can he even do it? He doesn't have that ability, you know that?"

"Scout tried his best this game, but he burned out and couldn't carry this useless top laner."

In the end, EDG lost the game and were on the brink of elimination!

#EDG suffered a regrettable defeat
#EDG's chances of advancing are in jeopardy

#EDG must beat GEN to advance
#EDG's chances of advancing are no more than 5%
Suddenly, news about EDG exploded in popularity.

After all, EDG was last year's champion, and a three-time champion. Although there have been many internal changes, their popularity is probably only one-tenth of last year's.

Even one-tenth of the popularity is still the popularity of a top-tier team, so many people are concerned about EDG's performance.

Su Mo had finished eating, but he didn't leave. He stayed in the restaurant, wanting to watch the last show.

Just then, a phone call came in; it was Abu calling.

Su Mo answered the phone decisively.

"Hey?"

"Xiao Mo, are you free now? I want to ask you something."

"Have."

"Have you watched our group's matches? Do you know anything about GEN?"

"It's alright, I've seen a few."

"What do you think we need to do to beat GEN right now?"

Su Mo fell silent upon hearing this; this was not a simple question.

With Su Mo's abilities, it wouldn't be difficult for him to come up with a tactic and system to catch GEN off guard and defeat them.

The problem is that he can't play in matches, and he can't even go to the venue to coach the players.

Furthermore, the setup should be based on EDG's current configuration.

Some things are beyond the ability of the players. Even if you ask a player to do them, they still can't do them, so it's meaningless.

"Let me think about it...give me some time," Su Mo replied.

"Ok."

At this moment, in the EDG rest room at the match venue.

The atmosphere was very tense.

Abu was on the phone in the corner, his expression serious.

The factory manager had just finished addressing the players when he glanced at Abu and quickly walked over.

Seeing that Abu hadn't made a move, the factory manager said, "We'll figure something out ourselves."

Abu waved his hand: "Don't come any closer, and don't say anything." The factory manager shook his head slightly and stepped back.

Just then, Su Mo spoke up: "I've thought of a lineup, you can give it a try."

Abu replied, "Okay, go ahead."

Su Mo introduced, "GEN's mid laner is BDD. This guy really likes to play Azir. If you can leave all the mid lane champions open, he will most likely choose Azir. This champion is relatively passive, but his laning ability is not weak."

"It's unlikely that you can beat him in lane. If you get dragged into the mid lane to farm, you definitely won't win in the end. Scout must have been practicing his Twisted Fate a lot."

"We're practicing. LCK has been using a lot of cards lately, so we're practicing them too," Abu replied.

Su Mo continued, "Mid lane can pick Twisted Fate, top lane: Shen."

"Caution?"

"Yes, it's Shen. Audi can't beat the other champions anyway, so he might as well pick Shen. Of course, if he can play Camille, Camille would be the best, but I think it's unlikely."

"Then let's be cautious." Abu was well aware of his players' abilities.

"Jungling, Nidalee, and mid-jungle synergy are EDG's strengths. Nidalee is currently popular in the meta and has strong early-game invasion capabilities. For the bot lane, Jhin or Ashe paired with Pantheon."

"Jhin is better, as he can synergize with Nidalee. If you don't have Jhin, choose Ashe. Never choose Ezreal. This composition requires initiative, and Ashe and Jhin are the best choices."

Abu replied, "No problem, we can play all these heroes. The rest is up to tactical execution."

"Xiao Mo, thank you for your help. I have to go now and will find you later."

"fine."

Abu quickly hung up the phone, while Su Mo continued watching the live stream.

The comments on the live stream were generally pessimistic:
"Sent it, guys, sent it! We can't even beat FNC, how do we expect to beat GEN?"

"GEN is disgusting, they actually lost to FNC, were they deliberately trying to screw over EDG?"

"Do you think you can advance by relying on others? Who can you blame if you lack the ability yourself?"

"Is it possible that a miracle will happen, and Brother Mozi will suddenly appear?"

"You might as well pray that all five members of GEN die suddenly."

Moments later, the match began!

Both teams' players are entering the field!

The five players from EDG were clearly quite nervous.

The five members of GEN were full of confidence.

The director gave EDG a few extra seconds of close-up shots, as if they were looking for someone.

However, Su Mo could not possibly be here.

Then something outrageous happened.

The live stream's popularity suddenly plummeted!

The comments section was flooded with:
"Let's go. Mozi didn't come, so there's nothing to see."

"EDG is going home to fish. They used to be able to make it to the quarterfinals, but now they can't even make it to the quarterfinals."

"It seems like the era of EDG is really over."

"Haha, are there still people dreaming about the EDG era? It ended at the beginning of the year, wake up."

Both teams are in position, and the draft phase begins.

Because of the extremely limited time, Su Mo only analyzed one scenario.

So whether it can proceed as planned is still uncertain.

What if BDD chooses the card himself? It's not impossible.

In the end, fate smiled on EDG for a while, and BDD got Azir in the mid lane!

Furthermore, in order to make the laning phase easier, GENBAN eliminated Syndra and Zoe.

This is thanks to Scout's individual skill. When the opposing team bans the mid lane, it becomes easier for EDG to get the heroes they want in the other lanes.

So EDG started playing according to Su Mo's lineup: Shen top, Nidalee jungle, Twisted Fate mid, Jhin ADC, and Pantheon support.

The moment this lineup was revealed, even the commentators were taken aback:
"This lineup... to be honest, if we can't get a 3,000 gold lead in 20 minutes, we can basically call it quits. It's too early."

"When I saw this lineup, I suddenly thought of someone, Mozi. When he was with EDG, EDG would often pick very extreme heroes, and they would always win."

"Because when he was there, the rhythm was too good, wave after wave, which stunned the opponent. He created an economic advantage of more than 10,000 in 20 minutes, and the opponent could not defend it at all. But now he is not here."

As the game progressed, Su Mo was also a little worried. Tactics are tactics, and systems are systems. Whether the players can execute them well, and whether there will be any unexpected events, are things that no one can guarantee.

When Su Mo was present, he could make up for his teammates' mistakes in various ways, but that's impossible now.

Sure enough, an unexpected incident occurred three and a half minutes into the game.
Originally, Jiejie's Nidalee was going to gank top lane to help Aodi.

However, Audi is outmatched in lane and has a significant health disadvantage.

The opposing bear was in great form and immediately started putting on a 1v2 show.

Scout's Twisted Fate teleported over to support, and GEN's mid and jungle also supported the top lane.

In the end, the fight resulted in a two-for-one trade, and EDG suffered a loss.

Keep in mind that their lineup was designed to gain an advantage, but they were at a disadvantage from the start.

The chat room erupted again:

"Hahaha, brothers, I laughed. What about you guys?"

"EDG is disgustingly bad right now."

“I might have cursed in the past, but now I just want to laugh.”

"Audi was beaten like a maggot, and couldn't even figure out what was going on."

The game continues.

The only good news is that Scout is indeed strong enough to hold his own in the mid lane against an Azir with one kill.

After reaching level six, taking advantage of the enemy top laner not having Flash, used their ultimate to gank the top lane and help Jiejie secure a kill.

The director showed the EDG players an expression; Scout's gaze was determined, he hadn't given up yet.

Ten minutes into the game, Twisted Fate and Pantheon launched a double gank and succeeded once again.

Although we only managed to get one kill and the economy was even without gaining an advantage, at least we didn't lose to the opponent in terms of morale.

Of course, that's not enough to win the game.

EDG accelerated their pace, pushing forward in both the top and bottom lanes.

Jiejie, along with Meiko, invaded the enemy jungle and revealed vision in the jungle.

Generate economic advantage by pushing towers.

Finally, at the 20-minute mark of the match, EDG had rolled their economic advantage to over 3,000.

Although the commentator just mentioned a 3,000 yuan economic gap in 20 minutes, it is a rather vague concept and not a precise calculation.

But that makes sense. This economic gap is quite noticeable within twenty minutes, which is equivalent to having an extra large item.

EDG continued to have Twisted Fate and Shen lead the side lanes, putting pressure on them.

Finally, chaos broke out within the GEN team.

GEN probably felt that being alone was too dangerous, so they chose to group up in threes to provide vision.

However, EDG can send five players to the scene quickly.

Once Twisted Fate activated his ultimate, he flew directly to the backline along with Shen's ultimate, while Pantheon's ultimate descended from the sky.

The Virtuoso unleashed his ultimate from a distance, delivering a perfect finale and followed up with damage. GEN was caught off guard, resulting in a 3-for-0 exchange.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, EDG secured Baron Nashor, further widening their economic lead.

Moreover, with the Baron buff, EDG's split-pushing becomes even more lethal.

The chat messages in the live stream also changed:

"Holy crap, is EDG really going to win?"

"Audi is finally acting like a human being."

"If you can't even figure out how to play Shen, you might as well just die."

"Go EDG! Mozi is watching the live stream too!"

EDG continued to chip away at the opponent's turrets, coordinated pick-offs, invaded the jungle, and continued to snowball their economic advantage, all while waiting for the next Baron.

With 28 minutes of play remaining, the economic gap had already reached 10,000.

The key point is that EDG's top and bottom lanes were constantly pushing lanes, and GEN would be ganked if they split up to defend. In desperation, they chose to take the initiative to fight for Baron.

"They committed suicide." Su Mo could tell at a glance that GEN had no choice but to resort to this tactic. (End of Chapter)