LOL: What does it mean to torture players?

Diana's Moon Scythe, like the Grim Reaper's scythe, is reaping RNG's last hope.

Xiaohu's Lucian, caught in the center of Luna's Descent and bound by Ryze's runes, was completely unable to make any effective moves. Before the bullets of the Holy Lance could even be fired, they were instantly melted by the terrifying magical damage.

Immediately afterwards, the cards, now unprotected, could not escape their fate and ultimately fell to Diana's blade.

【ACE!】

The crisp, chilling notification sound of a team wipe echoed throughout Summoner's Rift, tolling the death knell for RNG's first game.

"That was a brilliant play!" Miller's voice was hoarse but filled with barely suppressed passion. "EDG executed a perfect maneuver and counter-attack! EDG withstood RNG's strongest offensive on the front lines, and their sharpest weapon—Mo—flanked from behind and shattered RNG's lifeline! RNG's tactics were completely crushed!"

The team's in-game voice chat was filled with jubilation.

"Nice guys!" Meiko shouted excitedly, "That team fight was a great start! Scout, your counter-engage W was crucial!"

Scout simply grunted in response, then commanded, "Take Baron Nashor, don't rush. Viper, go back to base and replenish your health and mana. We'll wait for you."

"Brother Mozi," Jiejie's voice was full of admiration, "your flanking maneuver was amazing. I didn't even see when you got there during the fight, and GALA was already gone."

Su Mo yawned lazily: "His Flash position is too tight, we might as well kill him. Push him, don't be reckless, let's get off work early."

In RNG's match booth, the five players stared helplessly at their grayed-out screens, and the rest room was deathly silent.

Xiao Hu took off his headphones, rubbed his temples hard, and looked utterly defeated.

“My bad,” Wei said in a low voice, “I shouldn’t have gotten so carried away driving the Viper; the formation was broken.”

“It’s not your fault,” Ming, the team captain, took a deep breath, trying to calm the team down. “It was our overall decision-making that went wrong. We were too eager to seize the opportunity, and we ended up being led by the nose by them. Especially when Scissors Girl flanked us. But it’s okay, we still have a chance to win this game. Hold the high ground and wait to respawn.”

However, with the Baron Nashor buff, EDG would not give them any chance to breathe.

After the five players returned to base to replenish their supplies, the enhanced minions, adorned with purple halos, split into three groups, like three invincible swords, heading straight for RNG's high ground.

RNG's players have just been resurrected, and now they have to face this devastating minion wave pressure.

They were frantically clearing the minion waves pouring into the high ground from all three lanes, but the towers' health was still being eroded rapidly.

At 28 minutes, EDG gathered in the mid lane, preparing to launch their final all-out attack.

"EDG is about to make a big push!" Wawa said. "RNG can only defend passively now; they have no chance to counterattack!"

"GALA! GALA's location!"

Just then, Ming found a fleeting opportunity!

He saw that Viper's Aphelios was positioned slightly forward in order to attack the tower, so he decisively used Flash and his E skill [Zenith Blade] to target him!
"Ming doesn't want to give up! He's still looking for an opportunity!"

However, Viper always had that most reliable man by her side.

Meiko's Thresh reaction was incredibly fast. Just as Leona took flight, he used his E skill, Doom Pendulum, to forcefully knock Ming down from mid-air, interrupting his entry!

Meanwhile, Su Mo's Gwen completely ignored the head-on tug-of-war.

After he destroyed the bottom lane inhibitor turret, he directly rammed into the enemy backline from the high ground!

RNG was only focused on the head-on team fight, and by the time they saw Gwen approaching, it was too late to escape.

Su Mo's Gwent moved with unparalleled ease, unleashing her ultimate in three stages simultaneously, combined with the true damage of her Q skill, once again bringing down RNG's two carries.

Gwen is already a numerical monster, not to mention Su Mo's Gwen has the highest economy in the entire game. His lane pushing and the resources in RNG's jungle have fed him into becoming a boss.

On the front lines, RNG, having lost their backline, suffered a crushing defeat.

Finally, with the resounding explosion of RNG's base crystal, the first game of this highly anticipated "e-sports Spring Festival Gala" came to a close with EDG's resounding and overwhelming victory.

……

During the short break, the atmosphere in the rest areas of the two teams was worlds apart.

On EDG's side, the team members were chatting and laughing. Jiejie was even imitating Su Mo's last move of blocking the fountain, which made everyone burst into laughter.

"Well played," the factory manager and Abu walked in with satisfied smiles on their faces. "You showed great momentum in the first set. But don't let your guard down."

Abu walked to the tactics board and analyzed, "Although RNG's tactics failed in the first game, it just proved their determination. I guess they will play more extreme in the next game. They may give up the laning phase and pick a global lineup, such as Shen, Galio, and Nocturne, to disrupt our rhythm through early and mid-game support."

He looked at Su Mo: "Brother Mo, in the next game, they might try to avoid going head-to-head with you online. You need to be prepared to be left to your own devices and be ready to provide support at any time."

Su Mo nodded, indicating that he understood.

In RNG's rest room, the atmosphere was so oppressive it felt like water could drip from it.

Head coach Tabe did not immediately reprimand the players; he simply waited quietly for them to recover slightly from the shadow of defeat.

"Everyone," Tabe's voice broke the silence, "losing one game isn't the end of the world! We are RNG, when have we ever been afraid of a challenge?"

The team members slowly raised their heads, their eyes still filled with confusion and resentment.

“I know we were perfectly countered in the first game.” Tabe’s gaze swept over everyone. “This proves one thing: it’s impossible to beat Mo through pure laning and ganking. His game understanding and reaction are beyond the norm.”

He paused, then changed the subject, his eyes sharpening: "In that case, let's try a different approach! We're not going to lane against him anymore!"

He picked up a pen and wrote down the names of several heroes heavily on the tactics board: Twisted Treant, Eternal Nightmare, and Gale Yasuo.

"In the next game, we're completely giving up on the top lane!" Tabe's voice became resolute. "Xiaohu, you're taking Maokai. Your only task is to stay in lane, farm minions whenever you can, and if you can't, use your abilities to last hit. Then, push towers relentlessly and use 'Demolish' to whittle down the tower's health. Keep him pinned down in the top lane!"

“Wei, you take Nightmare!” He looked at the jungler. “Abandon all your ganking ideas. There’s only one thing in your world—farm! Reach level six as quickly as possible, and then look for opportunities to gank other lanes!”

"Cryin, you pick Yasuo!" This choice surprised everyone.

Tabe explained, "EDG will definitely think we'll continue to use Twisted Fate or Galio for support, so we'll do the opposite! Yasuo's entry with Nocturne is key to our ability to burst down their backline! Moreover, Yasuo's Wind Wall perfectly counters their two carries!"

"Our tactics are simple," Tabe concluded. "In the early game, avoid all fights! Xiaohu will hold off Mo in the top lane while the rest of us farm like crazy. Once we reach level six, Wei's Nightmare will turn off the lights, and our mid, jungle, support, and even GALA, all five of us, will fly straight to the bottom lane! We're going to use the most unreasonable, vision-ignoring multi-man tower dive to completely destroy their bottom lane in one fell swoop! Then we'll control the dragon, take the towers, and snowball!"

This is an almost insane tactic that takes "gambling" to its extreme.

After hearing the coach's instructions, the RNG players had various expressions.

The main issue is that picking Yasuo is a bit too abstract.

"Let's do it!" Xiao Hu was the first to volunteer. "It's just being a punching bag, right? That's my specialty!"

"It's settled then!" Tabe placed his hands together. "Forget the last game! Let them see just how fierce RNG's fighting spirit really is!" ...

Soon, the second game began.

When the two teams' draft picks were displayed on the big screen, everyone was surprised.

RNG, on the blue side, banned Thresh, Diana, and Ryze right away, clearly targeting EDG's mid, jungle, and support.

EDG, on the other hand, continued with their usual banning strategy.

RNG's subsequent player selection shocked the entire audience.

The first floor, instantly locked in an eternal nightmare!

The second and third floors are locked up with Twisted Treant and Gale Yasuo!
"My God!" Miller exclaimed, "What kind of lineup is RNG? Top lane Maokai, jungle Nocturne, mid lane Yasuo? What are they trying to do?!"

Wawa was also incredulous: "This lineup has almost zero laning strength! But their mid-game engagement ability is off the charts! Nightmare turns off the lights, Maokai binds, Yasuo follows up with his ultimate! This is going to be a combo-based strategy!"

EDG was clearly caught off guard by RNG's "swinging" move.

After a brief discussion, they chose the weapon master Jax for Su Mo to deal with the tree.

The final lineup is confirmed:
Blue side RNG:
Top Lane: Twisted Treant (Xiaohu)
Jungler: Eternal Nightmare (Wei)
Mid Lane: Yasuo (Cryin)
Marksman: Kai'Sa, the Daughter of the Void (GALA)
Support: Deepsea Titan (Ming)
Red team EDG:
Top Lane: Jax, the Grandmaster at Arms
Jungle: The Ruined King - Fryego
Mid Lane: Syndra, the Dark Sovereign
Archer: Aphelios, the Sorcerer of the Crescent Moon

Support: Braum, the Heart of Freljord

"RNG's lineup is too extreme!" Rita analyzed. "They gave up all early-game tempo and staked everything on that one push after level six! EDG's lineup, on the other hand, is very solid, with advantages in all three lanes. This match depends on whether EDG can establish a significant enough advantage before RNG reaches level six!"

The game officially begins!
Once the game started, the situation on the field unfolded exactly as the commentators had predicted.

In the top lane, Su Mo's Jax relentlessly suppressed Xiao Hu's Maokai from level one.

Xiaohu didn't dare to go forward to last-hit minions. He could only stay under the tower and barely manage to kill a few minions with his skills. He watched helplessly as many minions slipped through his fingers but dared not go to last-hit them.

Xiaohu wouldn't be afraid if someone else was playing Jax, but there's nothing he can do; the opposing IG player is named Mo.

He dared not take any risks.

In the mid lane, Scout's Syndra was also relentlessly pressuring Cryin's Yasuo.

In the bottom lane, EDG's Aphelios and Braum duo also pushed RNG's Kai'Sa and Nautilus under their tower.

Jiejie's Foyago, on the other hand, invaded Wei's jungle as if he were strolling in his own backyard, stealing one jungle monster after another.

EDG as a whole has an advantage in all three lanes and a lead in the jungle.

The situation is excellent.

The chat room was filled with an optimistic atmosphere.

What kind of lineup is RNG using? They got completely dominated by EDG.

[Poor Xiaohu, he was completely overwhelmed by Mo Shen and couldn't even finish off the opponent.]

[EDG has it in the bag this time; the game should be over in about twenty minutes.]

However, just when everyone thought EDG would once again deliver a crushing victory, RNG's team voice chat was unusually calm.

"Don't rush, let them pressure us." Wei's voice was calm and steady. "I only need one more jungle camp to reach level six. Bottom lane, get ready."

“OK,” Ming and GALA responded in unison.

The time has reached six minutes and five seconds.

Wei's nightmare was that after defeating the last group of Sharpbeak Birds, his level jumped from 5 to 6!

It's now!

"Turn off the lights!" He immediately pressed R [Ghostly Appearance]!
"what--"

A piercing scream echoed through the canyon!

The entire Summoner's Rift was instantly plunged into complete darkness!

The screens of all EDG players instantly went black, their vision was cut off, and they could not see the positions of any teammates or enemies on the minimap!
"Nightmare has unleashed its ultimate!" Miller's voice suddenly rose. "RNG's counterattack has begun!"

The moment their vision was taken away, Ming's Titan moved in the bottom lane!
Without the slightest hesitation, he flashed forward and used his Q skill, Clear the Channel, to precisely hook Viper, who was last-hitting under the tower!

Wei's nightmare, like the Grim Reaper in the darkness, flew to Viper's side!
Faced with such a gank, even though Viper used Flash, he couldn't escape the clutches and was taken down by Nightmare and Kai'Sa with Flash.

First Blood!

First blood, taken by GALA's Kai'Sa!
After killing Viper, RNG immediately began attacking the bottom lane turret.

"A perfect coordinated attack!" Wawa exclaimed. "RNG launched the most unreasonable attack with an unbelievable lineup! They sacrificed all their laning and jungle time in the first six minutes just for this fatal blow! Now, GALA's Kai'Sa has secured First Blood, and his development has instantly taken the lead!"

EDG's team voice chat fell into a brief silence.

“Mine,” Meiko’s voice was tinged with frustration, “I didn’t expect them to come so resolutely, I couldn’t save it.”

“It’s not your fault,” Scout calmly analyzed. “It’s their tactics that are too well-designed. We have to adjust our thinking and can’t give them that kind of opportunity again. Jiejie, protect me while I play. I, Syndra, have lane priority and can provide support.”

Meanwhile, Su Mo, who was in the top lane, was not surprised at all by the bad news coming from the bottom lane.

RNG has already drafted such an extreme lineup; it would be a real mistake if they didn't make a difference.

RNG's perfect timing made the situation of the game instantly unpredictable.

The dramatic battle has only just begun.

RNG's stunning successful gank with the lights off was like a shot of adrenaline, instantly boosting the morale of the team and its fans.

The previously subdued team voice chat finally came alive.

"Beautiful!" Xiaohu shouted in the voice chat. Although he was being completely dominated online, this perfect team execution gave him hope of turning the tide. "GALA, you're our core now. We'll protect you!"

"Stay calm," Wei's voice remained steady, but with a hint of confidence. "My ultimate still has 120 seconds left. We can look for more opportunities next time. Their bot lane AD is easier to gank since they don't have Flash." (End of Chapter)