LOL: What does it mean to torture players?

After a brief respite, the entire EDG team once again threw themselves into intense preparations.

The comfort of the hot spring still seemed to linger in our bones, but everyone's eyes had become focused and sharp again.

On the second day of the group stage, EDG will face the number one seed from the LCS region, 100 Thieves (100T).

During the pre-match tactical meeting, Abu was analyzing 100T's tactical characteristics: "100T's style is relatively stable. Their top laner Ssumday is experienced, and their jungler Closer has a good sense of rhythm. Their core players are mid laner Abbedagge and bot laner FBI. Our tactical focus is to put enough pressure on the mid and bot lanes to limit the development of their two carries."

After a detailed tactical arrangement, Abu habitually looked at Su Mo: "Brother Mo, for today's match, do you want to...?"

Before he could finish speaking, Su Mo turned his gaze to Holy Gun Bro, who was sitting upright next to him.

"I won't go up," Su Mo said with a smile. "Since Brother Holy Gun is already here, he can't just sit and watch the water dispenser, can he? Let him go up and stretch his muscles."

This decision did not surprise anyone.

After all, Su Mo was notorious for slacking off.

After hearing Su Mo's words, Saint Gun Bro grinned and said, "Then I'll go!"

“Go ahead,” Su Mo patted him on the shoulder, “Give the LCS champions a little LPL shock.”

Seeing that Su Mo had made up his mind, Abu immediately declared, "Then it's settled! Saint Gun, get ready, you're starting today!"

Shortly after the list was submitted, the competition time arrived.

The other team members then took to the competition stage.

Su Mo, along with the factory manager and Abu, were already seated comfortably in front of the game screen in the lounge.

"FPX must be completely dumbfounded." Clearlove couldn't help but laugh as he looked at the astonished expressions on the faces of the 100T coaching staff on the screen. "They must have studied you hundreds of times and prepared ten thousand tactics to counter you, but you just didn't go in."

Abu snorted: "You're wrong to say that. They must be relieved to see that Mozi is not playing. After all, Mozi's intimidation in the top lane is the best in the world."

Su Mo simply smiled and didn't participate in the topic, calmly focusing his gaze on the BP screen.

A few minutes later, the lineups for both sides were finalized.

EDG picked a very stable team-oriented top laner for Flandre – Ornn, while 100T picked Kennen, attempting to gain an advantage in the laning phase.

"Ornn vs. Kennen," Su Mo said calmly, looking at the screen. "Holy Gun's mission this game is very clear: withstand the pressure, farm, and wait for team fights. Ssumday will definitely play aggressively, trying to get revenge in lane."

Game start.

"Flandre played very steadily," Clearlove nodded in satisfaction as he watched Ornn choose Doran's Shield to start and immediately place defensive wards in the river. "He knows exactly what he's supposed to do this game."

On the screen, Ssumday's Kennen indeed started to exert a crazy pressure from level one, but Flandre remained unmoved, calmly using his Q skill to last-hit ranged minions and occasionally using his W skill's fire breath to clear the wave, keeping his health at a safe level.

“Ssumday got a little impatient,” Su Mo calmly analyzed as he watched Kennen push too far into the lane, giving Jiejie’s Xin Zhao an opportunity to force him to use Flash. “He was too eager to prove that he could suppress EDG’s top laner, which in turn gave Jiejie an opportunity.”

The match proceeded smoothly, just as Su Mo had predicted.

EDG's mid and bot lanes gained a lead in CS and minion wave advantage thanks to their superior laning skills.

EDG controlled the first two dragons, giving them a tight grip on resources.

At the sixteen-minute mark of the game, the two sides engaged in their first large-scale team fight around the third dragon.

100T's formation was exceptionally well-spaced, with Ssumday's Kennen flanking and looking for an opportunity to enter the fray, seemingly about to create a perfect double-team.

Just as Ssumday's Kennen activated his ultimate and charged into EDG's backline like a bolt of lightning, Ornn made his move!

Instead of using his ultimate to counter-engage, Flandre stood in front of him and used his E skill to crash into the wall, knocking up both the 100T jungler and mid laner who were trying to follow up with damage!
Immediately afterwards, the ultimate skill [Summoning of the Forging God] was activated, and W negated the control effects.

A massive lava behemoth roared in from afar, its second R attack precisely striking the 100T backline carries who were dazed by Kennen's electric attack!

Scout's Syndra used her QE combo to stun the ADC, while Viper's Miss Fortune activated her ultimate, "Barrage Time," unleashing a barrage of bullets!

The 100T team fight collapsed instantly, with four players dying and only the jungler managing to escape.

EDG only lost their support, but managed a perfect team fight where they traded 1 for 4, and then secured the dragon.

The rest of the match fell into EDG's most familiar rhythm.

Ornn became a point that 100T couldn't handle.

He doesn't need to deal a lot of damage; just unleashing his devastating ultimate in team fights is enough to secure victory.

At 28 minutes, EDG, with the Baron buff, stepped onto 100T's high ground and easily won the game.

On the third day of the group stage, EDG faced off against DFM from the Japanese LJL region.

Su Mo still did not play, and Saint Gun continued to start.

The match was unremarkable. Facing a DFM team with a significant skill gap, EDG played almost like a tutorial match, establishing a comprehensive advantage from the laning phase.

Saint Gun's Gwent secured a solo kill in the top lane, and Jiejie's rhythm was perfect, gaining a nearly 10,000 gold lead in less than 20 minutes.

Ultimately, the match ended after 23 minutes.

EDG swept through the group stage with a 3-0 record, securing their third consecutive victory and concluding the first round of matches with a perfect 3-0 record.

After a short break, the crucial second round of group stage matches has begun.

According to the competition rules, all matches in Group B will be completed within one day to determine the final two qualifying spots.

The intense schedule is a huge test for every player.

"Today, I went to have some fun and enjoy myself."

During the pre-match preparations against DFM, Su Mo gave some instructions.

His teammates weren't surprised at all; they just smiled knowingly.

They knew that the man who had "slacked off" in the first round of the group stage was coming back to personally secure the top spot in the group.

The first match is between EDG and DFM.

Su Mo picked Camille, and although DFM's top laner Evi brought out his signature Urgot, he was still completely overwhelmed by Su Mo's relentless lane pressure.

Within fifteen minutes, Su Mo's Camille had already solo-killed the opponent three times, and the outcome of the match was no longer in doubt.

In the second match, EDG faced off against 100T.

Su Mo made his appearance again, and facing Ssumday's Gnar, he chose Lucian for the top lane. Using his familiar "long range vs. short range" strategy, he pressured Ssumday under the tower from level one.

In the end, EDG once again secured a victory without much effort, achieving a five-game winning streak in the group stage and locking in their first-place finish in the group to advance to the next round.

In the final match, EDG faced T1 again.

The outcome of this match will not affect EDG's first-place ranking in the group; the only difference is whether they can advance with a perfect record. For this match, which no longer impacts their group ranking, Su Mo once again made a decision that surprised everyone.

"Let's play T1, let Flandre go first," he said, leaning back in his chair.

The meeting room, where everyone had just been enthusiastically discussing the business plan, suddenly fell silent.

Jiejie couldn't hold back any longer: "No way, Mozi? Not again? Even though we qualified, isn't qualifying with a perfect 6-0 record better? This is the World Championship!"

Su Mo smiled dismissively: "The championship trophy won't have an extra 'undefeated' engraved on it. Besides, I can't play all the time. EDG's strength isn't just because of me. Flandre also needs opportunities to play against top teams to maintain his form and confidence. These insignificant matches are the best training ground."

Abu and the factory manager exchanged a glance and both rolled their eyes.

Although Su Mo's statement seemed to be for the long-term benefit of the entire team, those who know him know that he might just be trying to slack off.

That's what he thought, but the factory manager still cooperated and said, "Brother Mozi is right, the strength of a team lies in its overall strength. Brother Holy Gun, are you okay with that?"

Saint Gun took a deep breath, nodded vigorously, and his eyes burned with fierce fighting spirit: "No problem! Mission accomplished!"

When EDG's roster was announced, the live stream chat exploded with excitement.

"Mo isn't playing? He's not playing against T1?!"

"What is EDG doing? Are they openly throwing the game? Who do they think they are?"

"Don't get excited, upstairs. Didn't you see that Mozi played two games in the 100T and DFM matches? That's standard practice, Mozi is just being lazy!"

"Even if you're going to slack off, you can't do it when you're playing T1! That's disrespectful to a legend!"

"Hehe, who can rival Mozi's own legend? You don't actually think Faker has more championships than Mozi, do you?"

"..."

LPL viewers were buzzing with discussion, while on the other side, the atmosphere in T1's rest room was equally subtle.

When the coaching staff informed the players of EDG's final roster, everyone was stunned for a moment.

Canna, especially the top laner, subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief, as if his nerves, which had been tense all day, instantly relaxed.

The thought of no longer having to face that nightmarish Irelia made him feel like his gameplay had become smoother.

"They...really let Mo rest?" Jungler Oner asked incredulously.

"What is this? Are you looking down on us? Do you think we can win without him?" Keria's voice was tinged with resentment.

"No." A calm voice interrupted the discussion.

Faker slowly raised his head, his expression still calm. He glanced at his teammates and said, word by word, "This isn't contempt; it's their confidence. They believe that even without Mo, their system is enough to defeat us. This shows that our performance isn't good enough; we still need to work harder."

He stood up and looked around at everyone: "Now, the pressure isn't on them anymore. The whole world is watching, watching whether T1 can win this match for honor, even with their opponent giving up their strongest ace. We'll show them that we can also tear a piece of flesh from EDG!"

Faker's words struck like a hammer blow to the hearts of every T1 player.

The confusion and wishful thinking in their eyes vanished instantly, replaced by an unprecedented fighting spirit.

A dozen minutes later, the competition officially began.

As Faker said, T1 showed a completely different momentum from the first second of their match.

Canna's Graves played exceptionally aggressively in the top lane, while Oner's Jarvan IV treated the top half of the map like his own home, constantly putting pressure on Flandre's Kennen.

“Holy Gun is in trouble this game,” Abu said, looking at the screen with a slight frown. “T1 seems determined to find a breakthrough in the top lane.”

In the first ten minutes of the game, T1's three lanes were on fire, and with a more proactive offensive pace, they gained a slight economic lead and secured the first Rift Herald and the first dragon.

Flandre's Kennen was ganked twice in the top lane, which greatly affected his development.

However, EDG demonstrated their strength as LPL champions.

They didn't panic. Through steady development and vision control on the middle and lower lanes, they kept a close eye on the economy and prevented the gap from widening further.

The turning point of the match occurred in the Dragon Soul team fight at the 25-minute mark.

T1 took advantage of the favorable terrain in the Dragon Pit and took the initiative to attack the small dragon, attempting to secure the crucial Water Dragon Soul.

EDG was forced to engage in team fight, their formation was disrupted and they were on the verge of losing this decisive team fight.

But what no one expected was that Flandre's Kennen circled around from a blind spot in vision to the very back of the T1 formation!

Just as T1 unleashed all their skills on EDG's front line and were about to secure the Dragon Soul, Flandre flashed in and activated his ultimate, [Thunder Prison]!
Then, using E, he charged into the crowd.

A purple storm of lightning descended like divine punishment, instantly engulfing the five members of T1!
Gumayusi's Aphelios and Faker's Ryze didn't even have time to use Flash before their health bars were instantly evaporated by the combined fire of EDG!
"NICE!!!" In the break room, Abu and the factory manager jumped up from the sofa at the same time, waving their fists excitedly.

Without their two carries, T1 suffered a crushing defeat in team fights.

EDG executed a perfect team fight, resulting in a 2-for-5 exchange. This not only halted T1's Dragon Soul momentum but also erased their early-game economic disadvantage!
However, their advantage wasn't significant, and SKT managed to drag the game into the 35-minute mark.

The two sides have intertwined economies and their equipment is already in place; any small mistake could lead to total defeat.

EDG actively approached Baron Nashor, hoping to use it to their advantage.

However, T1 seized on Meiko's positioning mistake while clearing wards and decisively initiated a team fight. Jarvan IV used EQ flash to land his ultimate, instantly killing Leona!

Four against five! EDG is in crisis!
T1's morale soared, and they pressed their advantage, heading straight for EDG's backline.

At this critical moment, Flandre's Kennen once again charged out from the flank, rushing into the enemy ranks like a flying thunder god!

Scout tossed the ball onto Kennen, a perfect ultimate that pulled back Canna and Oner who were trying to dive in, creating the perfect opportunity for Viper to deal damage!
Viper's Miss Fortune activates her ultimate ability, "Barrage Time," unleashing a rain of golden bullets intertwined with purple lightning, resulting in explosive damage.

Four of SKT's five players were instantly melted, leaving only the support player barely clinging to life before being chased down and killed.

In the end, EDG wiped out T1 with the minor cost of their support player dying!

"We won! We won!" the factory manager shouted excitedly in the break room.

EDG's four players pushed down T1's Nexus with the mid-lane minions, narrowly winning the game!
6-0!

EDG advanced to the quarterfinals with an undefeated record!

The director focused the camera on the faces of the SKT players, and their astonishment and helplessness were evident.

Although their results were good enough to qualify as the second-place team in the group, their consecutive losses to EDG made them feel a bit embarrassed.

So far, the Group B matches have concluded, with EDG advancing as the top seed with a record of 6 wins and 0 losses.

T1 finished second with a record of 4 wins and 2 losses, advancing to the next round.

The draw for the quarterfinals will be held immediately after all group stage matches conclude. (End of Chapter)