LOL: What does it mean to torture players?

"Icon, clear it out with Sand Soldiers!" Tarzan shouted anxiously in the voice chat.

"I can't!" Icon's voice was trembling with tears. "That Iron Man is staring at me! I feel like if I dare to send any Sand Soldiers forward, his claws will pull me over in the next second!"

As Icon said, Su Mo's Iron Man didn't even attack the tower. Instead, he strode around the LNG tower with an air of nonchalance, his eyes fixed on the enemy's carry.

That posture seemed to say: "Try moving if any of you dare to do it."
"boom!"

As expected, the Rift Herald crashed headfirst into LNG's mid-lane turret, instantly evaporating its health.

"Let's go, let's hit the road."

After taking down the middle tower, Su Mo immediately issued new instructions via voice chat.

The entire EDG team retreated like a receding tide, leaving behind a broken mid-lane tower.

"They're going up! They're going up!" M1kuya's Ornn had just reached the mid lane to help defend when he saw EDG's main force moving towards the top lane. He quickly signaled on the map.

Su Mo and Jiejie took the lead and headed straight for LNG's top lane tower. The tower had already been damaged by minions during the laning phase, and now it only had half its health left.

Poor M1kuya could only watch from afar as he rushed over, not even daring to think of guarding the tower.

After easily taking down the top lane tower, the entire EDG team recalled to base to replenish their supplies.

At this point, the game had just reached the 15-minute mark, and EDG's economic lead had already expanded to 8,000 gold.

Su Mo's Iron Man is level 12, equipped with [Rift Maker], [Sorcerer's Shoes], and also has a [Demon Codex].

M1kuya's Ornn was only level 9, with only Bambi's Cinder and Mercury's Treads.

“Now we’ll split push in the bottom lane,” Su Mo glanced at the map and made the final decision. “Jiejie, you and I will stay one screen apart and stay in the mid and bottom jungles. Scout and the bottom duo will group up in the top lane and put pressure on them, making it look like they’re going to push the top second tower.”

This is a classic variation of the 1-3-1 split-step.

Scout, Viper, and Meiko began to gather in the top lane, and the minion wave slowly pushed towards LNG's second top lane tower.

Meanwhile, Su Mo's Iron Man appeared alone in the bottom lane.

He led the minion wave and swaggered to the LNG bottom lane tower, easily destroying the low-health tower. Then, he continued towards the enemy's bottom lane second tower with the minions.

In LNG's team voice chat, everyone began to analyze the situation.

"Iron Man is in the bot lane! Is he alone?!" Iwandy, the support player, was the first to shout.

"He's too arrogant! What makes him think he can take down our bottom lane second tower all by himself?" Top laner M1kuya, who had been suppressed the entire game, was now excited. "This is our chance! Brothers!"

"What do you mean, Tarzan?" mid laner Icon asked immediately.

Tarzan stared intently at the lone Iron Man icon on the minimap.

On the top lane, three members of EDG have appeared.

The enemy jungler, Graves, is nowhere to be found, but he's probably in the mid or bottom lane.

Logically speaking, it should be advantageous to have a large number of people arresting a small number of people.

but……

Tarzan glanced at the equipment and levels of his three teammates, then at the terrifying growth of the Iron Man.

I have a feeling that something is dangerous.

Iron Man, in particular, has a special move that makes anyone who gets locked up in it miserable.

To gamble or not to gamble?
After thinking it over, he finally made up his mind.

"Everyone!" Tarzan's voice was resolute, filled with the last madness of a gambler. "Icon, M1kuya, you guys come with me! The three of us will go to the bottom lane and gank Mordekaiser. If we can kill him, the farmiest player, we feel like we can still win!"

"it is good!"

"Done!"

"kill him!"

M1kuya and Icon spoke in unison, their anger and resentment, which had been suppressed for a full fifteen minutes, finally erupted at this moment!
This is their last desperate measure!

The operation unfolded in an instant!

M1kuya's Ornn, who was originally defending the bottom lane tower and was the closest, initiated the attack!

He activated his ultimate ability, "Summoning of the God of Molten Steel," and a massive lava behemoth surged forth from afar, heading straight for Mordekaiser in front of the main tower!

At the same time, Tarzan's Lillia activated her E skill, and a spiral-shaped seed rolled rapidly toward Mordekaiser!
Icon's yellow chickens also poured out from behind the high ground tower, and the sand soldiers' formation had already been deployed!

A seemingly foolproof encirclement, consisting of three people, is tightening its grip on the figure who is acting recklessly in front of the bottom lane's second tower!

"They've made their move!" Miller's voice suddenly rose in the commentary booth. "LNG's mid, top, and jungle are teaming up! Their target is Mozi! This is a desperate gank! Jiejie's Graves is nearby, can he get there in time?!"

Faced with the roaring lava behemoth and spiral seed, Su Mo's Mordekaiser simply took two steps back and easily twisted to dodge Lillia's E skill.

Immediately afterward, just as Ornn's second ultimate was about to crash into him, he pressed the R key.

【The Cycle of Despair】!
His target wasn't the tankiest Ornn, nor the squishiest Azir, but the jungler Tarzan who had just flanked from the side and thought he had found the perfect position to deal damage!

"You are mine now!"

A sinister announcement echoed through the canyon, and a ghastly green iron fist suddenly stretched out, grabbing Lillia just as she was about to unleash her Q skill!
"Xiba!!!"

As the surrounding scenery instantly turned gray and white, Tarzan's expression changed from confident to tense.

Only one thought was echoing wildly in his mind:

Why am I always the one who gets hurt?!

I brought two brothers to fight three against one, and you just pulled me into a VIP room for a one-on-one battle?

Before he could finish his rich inner monologue, Su Mo's Iron Man had already charged forward in the simplest and most brutal way.

Because Lillia was relatively close, once she was pulled in, Iron Man was right in front of her and immediately used a basic attack.

Then, he used EQ to trigger his passive and chased after Lillia, who still had half health left, and unleashed a barrage of auto-attacks.

Lillia couldn't withstand the damage, so she had to use her ultimate, QR, to put Mordekaiser to sleep. However, Mordekaiser's ultimate lasted too long, and the sleeping Mordekaiser came out and continued to chase and attack.

Finally, Lilia, who was two levels lower, let out a wail and collapsed helplessly in this desolate realm.

Upon closer inspection, Tarzan discovered that Iron Man was still almost at full health!
This……

Outside of the cycle of despair, M1kuya and Icon are bored.

They watched helplessly as Mordekaiser, along with their jungler, vanished from the spot just before Ornn's ultimate was about to hit them.

The two stood there, stunned, looking at each other in an extremely awkward situation.

M1kuya: "...Where are the others?"

Icon: "...He went in."

M1kuya: "So what do we do now?" Icon: "...Wait for him to come out?"

Just moments after their conversation ended, the effect of Iron Man's R skill also ended.

Su Mo's Iron Man reappeared, still carrying the attributes he stole after killing Lilya, and his health bar was almost full.

They were stunned when they saw this.

Meanwhile, Jiejie's male gunner, with a cigar in his mouth and a shotgun on his shoulder, had already arrived with an arrogant stride.

The moment M1kuya saw Graves, he and Icon exchanged a glance, and without saying a word, they turned and ran!
One retreated into the jungle, while the other retreated to the high ground tower; their will to survive reached its peak at that moment.

But how could a clumsy Ornn and a squishy Azir who had just used his dash ability possibly outrun a Graves with a red buff?

Jiejie charged forward with an E, and Huangji tried to push him away with his R, but Jiejie dodged the R with a Flash and flashed right in front of him. He then used WQAA to take down more than two-thirds of Huangji's health.

Huang Ji used Flash, but Jiejie used his ultimate to send him to his death.

Although Graves' development wasn't the strongest in the game, it wasn't much worse than Su Mo's Mordekaiser. After all, Graves had taken a lot of the enemy jungle monsters in this game and also got assists and minion experience in the top lane.

This damage is too much for the crispy yellow chicken to withstand.

The remaining Ornn hurriedly used his E to dash under the turret, trying to escape.

Unfortunately, Su Mo's Iron Man also arrived.

Su Mo didn't hold back his skills this time, immediately using a Q-Flash to smash Ornn in the face, while simultaneously tanking the tower and chasing down Ornn.

Because of his high level and good equipment, the turrets didn't hurt him much, and the two of them focused on the turrets and managed to kill Ornn behind them.

"This scene is too cruel!" Wawa exclaimed from the commentary booth. "LNG's mid and top laners are like two random passersby who wandered onto the wrong set, being relentlessly chased down by the two main characters! This is a 'Three Heroes vs. Lu Bu' situation, but Lu Bu first single-handedly killed the strongest Zhang Fei, and then Liu Bei and Guan Yu were so scared that they abandoned the city and fled! The worst part is that they didn't even get away!"

This dramatic siege ended perfectly with EDG achieving a 3-for-0 exchange.

The team voice chat with LNG fell into an even more complete silence than in the previous game.

Tarzan took his hands off the keyboard, slumped back in his chair, and stared blankly at the countdown to his resurrection.

He began to ponder philosophical questions: Who am I? Where am I? Why am I playing professionally? Is this Mordekaiser even human? Why not just scoff at him?

"The match can be declared over early." Miller looked at the screen and concluded helplessly, "All of LNG's hopes have ended after this counter-kill. Not only did they fail to seize any opportunities, they also gave away their last chance to turn the game around. Next, it's just EDG's resource plunder and garbage time."

As Miller said, after securing three kills, EDG no longer needed to devise any complex tactical plans.

Their tactics can now be summed up in two words: crushing.

After taking down the bottom lane's second turret, Su Mo's Mordekaiser and Jiejie's Graves didn't even recall. Instead, they turned around and went straight into LNG's bottom jungle to start looting.

Jiejie's Graves was like a landlord collecting rent, while Su Mo's Mordekaiser was like the landlord's most ruthless henchman. The two swept LNG's jungle clean, leaving nothing but desolation in their wake.

After Tarzan respawned, he looked at his empty jungle and almost spat blood onto the screen.

“This is no longer an invasion, this is colonization!” Wawa used a very vivid metaphor. “EDG has now divided the map into two parts, one called EDG, and the other called ‘the one that will soon become EDG.’ LNG’s area of ​​operation has been compressed to just the high ground and two turrets.”

At the 20-minute mark, Baron Nashor spawned.

EDG's five players didn't even bother with vision control; they just walked openly into the Baron pit.

Su Mo's Iron Man stood alone at the entrance of the river above the Dragon Pit, blocking the entrance.

What can LNG do? They can only watch helplessly.

They couldn't even send anyone to provide vision, because any hero who dared to approach the Dragon Pit could become Mordekaiser's next "black room" guest.

"EDG took Baron Nashor without firing a shot!" Miller's voice was calm, as if it were all perfectly natural. "With the Baron buff, EDG is ready to launch their final assault. For LNG, these last few minutes will be the longest and most painful of their season."

The enhanced minions, adorned with purple halos, surged towards LNG's three high ground towers like a tidal wave.

Instead of rushing into a decisive victory, EDG demonstrated the composure and strategic planning of a championship team.

Using the Baron buff, they split up and pushed down three lanes, constantly stretching LNG's defenses and chipping away at their last defensive structures.

In the bottom lane, Su Mo's Mordekaiser single-handedly held off Ornn and Tahm Kench.

In the mid lane, Jiejie's Graves and Scout's Syndra were constantly chipping away at the health of the mid lane inhibitor turret.

In the top lane, Viper's Aphelios, protected by Meiko's Thresh, had already taken down half the health of the top lane inhibitor turret.

The LNG team members were like firefighters, running back and forth on the high ground, exhausted.

But every defensive maneuver they made seemed so weak and ineffective.

Finally, at the 23-minute mark, with a deafening roar, LNG's top lane inhibitor crystal shattered.

Next up is the middle lane.

"EDG is about to make a decisive push!" Wawa seized the opportunity. "After destroying two lanes of high ground, they stopped stalling and gathered all five players, preparing to launch a final attack from the middle lane!"

With nowhere to retreat, LNG had no choice but to brace themselves and prepare for this final team fight in front of their high ground.

This is their last battle for dignity.

"Protect the center! Protect Icon and Light!" Tarzan roared in the voice chat, trying to boost morale in the final moments.

Icon's Azir also mustered his courage and released Sand Soldiers under the high ground tower, trying to clear out the endless stream of super minions.

However, just as he moved forward, that nightmarish figure moved.

Su Mo's Iron Man ignored the two thick "walls" of Ornn and Tahm Kench in front of him; he had only one target!
R skill!
"Your Majesty!"

The domineering announcement rang out once again, and the ghastly green claw precisely locked onto LNG's last hope—the mid-laner Azir!

Icon felt a sudden darkness before his eyes, as he was once again pulled into that familiar yet despairing gray-white world.

Miller shouted, "Mozi's goal is too clear! He knows who LNG's only chance to turn the tide is! As long as Azir is dealt with, LNG will completely lose its ability to clear lanes and deal damage!"

In the cycle of despair, facing a Mordekaiser who completely outclasses him in terms of equipment, level, and attributes, Azir is like a plucked chicken, utterly powerless to resist.

Su Mo immediately followed up with QAAA, a very simple combo, which sent Icon back to the fountain.

When Mordekaiser emerged from the cycle of death, the outcome of the team fight outside was already decided.

Without Azir, LNG's front collapsed instantly.

Viper's Aphelios activated his ultimate, unleashing a deluge of moonlight that dealt tons of AoE damage, while Jiejie's Graves charged into the fray like a god of war, reaping the remaining enemies.

Ultimately, this high ground team fight ended with EDG achieving a perfect 1-for-5 exchange.

As the enemy base crystal exploded, the huge word "VICTORY" appeared on the screens of the five EDG players.

"Let's congratulate EDG again!" Wawa's voice echoed in the arena, full of power. "They achieved a clean and decisive 2-0 victory in the opening match of the S11 Spring Split with a brutal dominance!"

The stage lights shone on Su Mo again. He slowly removed his headphones, his face still bearing that calm and collected expression. (End of Chapter)