LOL: What does it mean to torture players?

As the match time approached, the entire EDG team tidied their uniforms and peripherals, and, guided by staff, left the rest room.

The contestant passage leading to the main stage was dimly lit, with only a row of ground lights illuminating the floor, and at the end was the stage entrance, as dazzling as the sun.

A slight chill filled the air, and in the distance came cheers and an exciting theme song, each drumbeat seeming to strike the heart.

"Damn, I'm getting a little nervous." Jiejie rubbed her hands together as she walked. "The atmosphere is so lively."

“Relax,” Meiko patted his shoulder, her voice as steady as ever, “Just treat it as a practice match, the opponent is Scout’s idol.”

Scout's lips twitched upon hearing this: "Don't talk nonsense, my idol is Brother Mozi!"

Su Mo walked at the back of the group, looking calm and composed.

He looked up at the bright exit ahead, and the deafening sound seemed to him as nothing more than pleasant background music.

When the five figures appeared at the stage entrance, the atmosphere at the scene was instantly pushed to its peak!

"EDG! EDG! EDG!"

The shouts from countless domestic viewers created an overwhelming momentum.

A giant AR dragon soared and roared above the stage, while the lights focused, projecting the figures of the five contestants onto a huge screen.

They walked onto the stage one by one, sat down in their respective positions, and began to adjust the equipment.

Su Mo skillfully plugged in the keyboard and mouse, put on his headphones, and the whole world instantly fell silent, leaving only the clear game sound effects and the breathing of his teammates.

At the same time, the big screen switched to footage of pre-match interviews.

The host was Sjokz, a beautiful European presenter, who wore an elegant dress and had a professional smile on her face.

"First, we interviewed Mo, the top laner from the LPL's number one seed, EDG!"

The image shows Su Mo's calm and handsome face.

“Hello, Mo,” Sjokz asked in fluent English. “As the biggest favorite to win this World Championship, and about to face the legendary team T1 in the opening match, how are you feeling right now? Are you feeling any pressure?”

Although Su Mo could understand, he still let the translator next to him translate it again.

Facing the camera, Su Mo thought for a moment and said in Chinese, "I feel very calm, like I'm here for a regular training match. As for the pressure, I think my opponent will be more pressured than I am."

This seemingly joking reply instantly caused an uproar in the live stream chat.

[As expected of Mozi! Classic pre-match trash talk!]

[Translation: Playing T1? Anyone can do that.]

[Haha, the pressure is on Brother Li now!]

Sjokz was clearly surprised by the answer, but she quickly recovered and continued, "So what do you want to say about Canna, your potential opponent in the top lane, and Faker, your teammate Scout, who will be facing off in the mid lane?"

Su Mo thought for a moment, then slowly said, "Canna is a very strong player, and I will take him seriously. As for Faker, he is a role model and legend for many League of Legends professional players, and I respect him greatly. But..."

He paused, a barely perceptible smile playing at the corners of his lips. "I suppose I'm a legend too..."

The host couldn't help but laugh after hearing the translation.

The interview ended quickly, and the camera cut back to the commentator's booth.

For this opening match, Riot Games fielded its most luxurious commentary lineup – Miller and Wawa from the LPL region, and Caedrel, a well-known commentator from the LEC region.

"Welcome back!" Miller's voice was full of passion. "I just finished listening to Mo's interview, and all I can say is, he's incredibly confident!"

Wawa nodded and said, "That's right! But T1, as a team with three S-series championship trophies, their foundation and strength should not be underestimated. With Faker anchoring the mid lane, they will always be T1's pillar of strength."

On the other hand, Caedrel's commentary took a different approach: "The key points of this match are very clear. In the top lane, what champion will Mo choose to maintain his dominance? How will T1 limit him through the draft? In the mid lane, can Scout shine against his idol Faker? In the jungle, who will create the momentum for their team in the clash between Jiejie and Oner? This will be a battle of wits from the very beginning, starting in the draft phase!"

Amidst the passionate analysis of the commentators, both players finished setting up their equipment, and the match officially entered the draft phase!

Blue side EDG vs Red side T1
"The match begins! Let's take a look at the draft picks and bans!" Miller spoke very quickly.

EDG's first three bans were very targeted.

They banned Ryze, LeBlanc, and Lee Sin respectively.

"It's all aimed at Faker and Oner's champion pool!" Wawa immediately saw the clue. "EDG's intention is very clear: to limit T1's mid-jungle rhythm!"

T1 seemed hesitant in their first three picks, ultimately choosing to ban Draven, Gwent, and the Great Inventor – Heimerdinger.

"Haha!" Miller laughed when he saw the last ban. "It seems that Mozi's unreasonable Heimerdinger in the LPL finals has left a deep psychological scar on teams all over the world!"

Banning players ends, player selection begins.

EDG, on the blue side, made the first move and, without hesitation, locked in the T0 ADC of the current version – Bounty Hunter!
"Miss Fortune! EDG has directly taken the meta!"

When it was T1's turn to choose, they quickly locked in the jungler Jarvan IV and the support Rakan on the first and second floors.

A jungler and support duo with extremely strong teamfight initiation capabilities.

EDG, positioned on the second and third floors, selected support Leona and jungle Xin Zhao.

Aphelios was locked up on the third floor of SKT again.

"A clash of titans!" Caedrel exclaimed excitedly. "Both sides have picked incredibly strong junglers and supports! Leona against Rakan, Xin Zhao against Jarvan IV! The early game clashes are sure to be fierce!"

In the second round of the draft, EDG banned Kennen and Akali, continuing to target T1's top and mid flex picks.

T1, on the other hand, banned Syndra and Vigus, limiting Scout's champion pool.

Final selection.

T1 is on the fourth floor, lock the card.

The pressure is on EDG.

It was Scout's turn to choose between mid laner and Sumo top laner.

After a moment's thought, Scout locked in Clockwerk, a classic and reliable teamfight mage.

Now, the world's attention is focused on EDG's fifth floor, the spot that belongs to Mo.

SKT still has one top laner counter pick left, so SuMo is under some pressure in choosing a laner.

Should you choose a tank to withstand the pressure, or a soldier to fight back?

Amidst the intense attention of the crowd, the hero's image flashed rapidly before finally freezing in time!

"My God!!" Miller's voice suddenly rose, "Blade Dancer—Irelia!!!"

As soon as he finished speaking, SKT immediately picked Jayce.

It's clear that SKT is very confident.

With the final lineups for both sides confirmed, the atmosphere at the scene was completely ignited!

Blue side EDG:

Top Lane: Irelia, the Blade Dancer
Jungle: Xin Zhao (Jiejie) Mid: Orianna (Scout)

Marksman: Miss Fortune (Viper)

Support: Leona, the Dawn Goddess (Meiko)

Red Team T1:

Top Lane: Jayce, the Future Defender (Canna)

Jungler: Jarvan IV, the Prince of Demacia (Oner)

Mid Lane: Twisted Fate (Faker)

Archer: Aphelios, the Recluse of the Crescent Moon (Gumayusi)

Support: Keria

"The lineups are finalized!" Wawa gave the final summary. "EDG has brought out a three-core engage composition: Irelia, Xin Zhao, and Leona, all three capable of initiating attacks! T1, on the other hand, has opted for a classic global support composition, with Twisted Fate and Jarvan IV ready to harass the side lanes at any time! The key to this match lies in whether Mo's Irelia can completely dominate the top lane before Faker's Twisted Fate takes off!"

Welcome to Summoner's Rift!

The system's female voice sounded, and the highly anticipated opening match of the S11 World Championship officially began!

"The match has begun!" Miller's voice suddenly rose. "We can see that EDG's five players have once again chosen to take the initiative! Instead of using the usual lane positioning, they grouped up as a team and directly invaded T1's red side top jungle!"

In EDG's team voice chat, Meiko said, "Let's go, go straight for them at level one. Jiejie, you take the scanner and go first, watch out for the bushes. We have Leona, she's strong in level one team fights, let's put some pressure on them."

Zhao Xin took the lead, followed closely by Leona. The five EDG players, like a well-trained army, charged aggressively towards T1's Red Buff area.

However, as the most experienced team in League of Legends history, T1's response was equally flawless, even textbook-worthy.

"T1's sense of smell is too sharp!" Wawa exclaimed. "Keria's Rakan placed a ward with a trinket at the entrance of the river bush after leaving the base, and then immediately retreated! EDG's invasion intentions were clearly seen!"

In T1's team voice chat, Faker's voice was calm and composed, as if everything was under control: "They're here, five of them. Oner, don't go over there, go straight to their red buff area. We'll switch jungle areas, don't engage them at level one."

"Understood!" Oner's prince immediately changed direction and headed straight for EDG's empty lower jungle.

Meanwhile, the rest of T1 responded perfectly.

"T1's discipline is too strong!" Miller exclaimed. "They immediately chose to exchange resources and spread out their formation, not giving EDG's Leona a chance to engage! Although EDG's invasion disrupted T1's jungle clearing strategy, they did not gain any substantial advantage."

Just as the five EDG players were about to step into the Red Buff area, Faker's Q skill, Wild Card, flew out from the fog of war and accurately hit Jiejie and Meiko, who were walking at the front.

Almost at the same time, Canna's Q came hurtling in, but it missed.

Although EDG players dodged the attack, this long-range poke already showed T1's attitude.

The jungle is yours, but if you want to fight, I won't fight you.

"Alright, let's retreat." Seeing this, Meiko decisively ordered, "Take a ward and leave, don't chase after us."

The initial team fight ended peacefully with both sides exchanging jungle camps.

But the psychological battles and tactical maneuvering within that short minute had already made all the viewers feel the suffocating pressure between top teams.

When the two top laners officially meet online, the real showdown has only just begun.

Canna's Jayce, taking advantage of his long range, relentlessly suppressed his opponent from level one.

He constantly used his ranged basic attacks in cannon form to whittle down Irelia's health, while keeping the minion wave firmly within the range of his own turret.

“Canna played very smartly!” Miller analyzed. “He knows that the core of Irelia is her passive. As long as Mo doesn’t easily stack her passive, Irelia’s combat power will be greatly reduced. So he kept harassing Mo with auto-attacks and skills, not giving Mo a comfortable chance to last hit.”

Su Mo's face remained expressionless.

He remained calm and collected, using his Q skill to finish off every low-health ranged minion, even if it meant taking a couple of auto-attacks from Jayce.

After all, once the enemy picks Jayce, his Irelia is destined to be at a disadvantage in the early game.

Three minutes had passed, and under Canna's control, the minion wave finally slowly pushed towards EDG's tower.

The opportunity is here!
Just as the minion wave was pushing into the tower, Canna instinctively stepped forward, preparing to use her Q skill in cannon form to harass Su Mo under the tower, when Su Mo moved!
Q! Q! Q!

He used the melee minions under the turret as a springboard, unleashing three consecutive Qs to instantly stack his passive to the maximum, and then went straight in to auto-attack Jayce.

"Irelia has made her move!" Miller's voice instantly rose to his throat.

Canna was startled and immediately switched to hammer form, preparing to use her E skill [Thunder Strike] to knock away the charging Irelia.

He did knock Irelia away, but the moment Irelia was knocked back, he immediately used two consecutive E skills, and the two blades crossed each other at a speed that was difficult to detect with the naked eye!

Jayce tried to move away but was still stunned.

"I'm stunned! My God! The speed at which that E skill is cast!"

Without pausing, Su Mo landed another Q on Jayce's face, his fully stacked passive auto-attacks raining down like a storm, each attack dealing fatal magic damage!
At this moment, Su Mo's QQ account is still active.

Canna's health instantly evaporated by nearly half!
Although Irelia only had half health left, Jayce definitely couldn't beat her because he knew Irelia's Q was still active.

So Canna didn't hesitate to use her Flash and fled back to the tower in a sorry state.

"That play by Irelia was amazing! She found an opportunity and forced Jayce to flash!" Wawa exclaimed excitedly. "Canna was too careless. He underestimated Mo's determination and skill in fighting back under the tower!"

During this exchange of blows, although Su Mo also withstood two attacks from the turret, his health remained healthy thanks to the lifesteal from Doran's Blade and the healing from Biscuits.

Canna not only lost half her health, but also had to use her Flash to save her life.

Now, even with his long reach, he doesn't dare to easily suppress Irelia anymore, because without Flash, she's in danger once she crosses the river.

At this moment, the balance of power in the top lane shifted slightly.

Meanwhile, in the FPX team's rest room in China, Nuguri, who was watching the game, sighed with empathy upon seeing this scene: "It's over. Canna's top lane is over."

He knew that feeling all too well.

When a player named Mo gains an advantage in lane and forces you to use Flash, what awaits you is endless torment.

The course of the match perfectly validated Nuguri's prediction.

After using Flash, Su Mo's playstyle became extremely aggressive.

He started controlling the lane and began to hinder Jayce's last-hitting.

Canna didn't have Flash, making last-hitting minions a nerve-wracking experience.

He was terrified that the Irelia would stack her passive and rush in to kill him, and he was even more afraid that the enemy jungler would come and gank him.

After all, with the two junglers swapping jungle areas, EDG's jungler is likely to stay in the top half of the map.

In EDG's team voice chat, Jiejie's voice was full of excitement: "Mozi is awesome! He doesn't have Flash now, so he can dive the top lane! I'm coming right now! You can farm some minions."

“No rush,” Su Mo nodded. “You should control the river crab first and establish vision in the top half of the map. The enemy jungler Oner might come too.”

Just as Su Mo had predicted, T1's jungler Oner, seeing his top laner in dire straits, immediately abandoned farming and headed straight for the top lane. (End of Chapter)