Chapter 630
Invincible
The two-day rest period passed in the blink of an eye.
On May 13th, the second round of the MSI group stage began.
EDG vs Gen.G.
LPL's number one seed faces off against a strong LCK team.
Although Ruler went to JDG, the new AD Peyz promoted by Gen.G is quite strong, and with the strong combination of mid and jungle Chovy and Peanut, this team is still dominant in the LCK.
The Copperbox Stadium was packed with people at the competition.
In the commentary booth, Guan Zeyuan specially changed into a smart suit today.
"Alright, everyone, the highly anticipated China-Korea showdown is about to begin!" Guan Zeyuan's voice was high-pitched. "Gen.G is fielding their full strength lineup: Doran, Peanut, Chovy, Peyz, and Delight! And EDG is starting Mozi! They're not using any rotations like they did in the last match!"
"It seems that Brother Mozi still values Gen.G quite a bit," Miller said with a smile.
At this point, both players had taken their seats.
The camera pans to the top lane. Doran's expression is noticeably stiff; he drinks water frequently, his eyes darting around. Sitting opposite him is the man who made Zeus practically withdrawn.
BP begins.
first round.
Gen.G, on the blue side, immediately locked in the meta jungler, Maokai, with their first pick.
EDG countered by securing the mid-jungle duo of Vi and Ahri, focusing on a strong initiation strategy.
It's time to go on the road and choose your teammates.
After much hesitation, Doran locked in Gnar. It's a relatively versatile pick, allowing him to sustain in lane against almost any opponent.
"Nar?"
Su Mo looked at the screen, his fingers lightly tapping the table.
"Since you want to stay in lane, then I'll make sure you can't even get a turn."
On the fifth floor of EDG, Su Mo instantly locked in Irelia, the Blade Dancer!
"Irelia!!"
The scene instantly erupted in cheers.
"Another amazing skill!" Rita exclaimed. "Mozi's Irelia, those who know, know! He treats the minion wave like a skateboard!"
Games start.
In this match, Su Mo demonstrated what it means to have "extreme lane pressure".
At level 1, Su Mo didn't rush to push the lane, but instead blocked the vision in the bushes.
Wait until the three melee soldiers are low on health.
Q! Q! Q!
Three soldiers were instantly wiped out, and the passive stacks were maxed out!
Before Doran's Gnar could react, he was hit in the face by Irelia's Q with her full passive, followed by auto-attacks!
Irelia's blades fell like a storm.
Doran was forced to use Flash at level 1 and could only stay under the tower to gain experience.
3 minutes.
Jiejie's Wei is very sensible; she immediately promoted him to level three.
“Yue!” Su Mo said succinctly.
Vi uses her Q-Flash combo to lock down Gnar under the turret.
Su Mo followed up with his E skill, "Double Blades," and precisely stunned the target!
Q [Sharp Blade Impact] Shuttle!
First Blood!
Doran fell beneath the tower, not even having accumulated enough rage to grow larger.
"This is terrible." Guan Zeyuan covered his face. "Doran is going to be wearing the Mask of Pain again this game. But that's not all, the main thing is that Chovy is still farming in the mid lane..."
Indeed, when a kill occurred in the top lane, Chovy's Akali was focused on farming under the tower in the mid lane, without even intending to teleport to support.
6 minutes.
Su Mo reached level six.
He ignored the newly spawned Gnar, pushed the minion wave directly to the tower, and then disappeared into the river.
"Missing!" Gen.G's mid laner Chovy signaled, but he didn't retreat because there was a wave of cannon minions in front of him.
As a "god of finishing off enemies," how could he tolerate missing a car?
However, in the instant he became greedy for that one cannon.
A figure emerged from behind the wall of F6 using the E skill!
It's not Jiejie, it's Su Mo's Dao Mei!
R [Vanguard Blade]!
Countless sharp blades spread out, forming a sword array that directly blocked Akali's retreat!
Chovy was shocked and used her W-shaped mist formation to try and avoid it.
But Su Mo's prediction was extremely accurate. He used his E skill to pull the shadow in the Xia formation and then directly Q'd in!
Basic Attack! Q! Basic Attack!
With Scout's help, the two of them managed to kill Chovy under the tower!
"Got him!!" Miller shouted, "Mozi gave up a wave of minions to gank mid! That's the difference between him and Chovy! One is willing to sacrifice farming for a win, while the other is willing to sacrifice his teammates for farming!"
This gank on Chovy completely disrupted Gen.G's rhythm.
In the ensuing team fight, Su Mo's Irelia was like a god of war descending to earth.
18-minute dragon fight.
Gen.G wants to join the group.
Doran's Gnar wants to enter the arena to take a shot.
Su Mo's eyes narrowed, he used Q to dash to a minion and instantly appeared behind Gnar, then used W [Dance of the Distance] to block Gnar's ultimate control!
He used his E to grab Peyz and Delight in the back row!
Q! Q! Q!
The Irelia danced through the crowd, each blade strike taking away a significant amount of health.
Triple Kill!
Su Mo secured a triple kill!
Gen.G was utterly defeated.
In the first game, EDG took the lead in 22 minutes.
……
In the lounge.
Looking at the screen, 369 couldn't help but exclaim, "Brother Mo's Irelia is much more skilled than mine. The timing of that Q skill release is simply art."
Saint Gun Bro, munching on sunflower seeds, said, "Stop bragging and start learning. The enemy team will probably ban Irelia next game."
Sure enough, in the second game.
Gen.G immediately banned Irelia, Jayce, and Fiora.
"Targeting me?" Su Mo laughed. "Fine, then I'll play something big."
EDG's top laner pick is Ornn, the Mountain King.
"Ornn?" Guan Zeyuan was taken aback. "Brother Mozi is going to play with flesh? This... this is a sudden change in style!"
However, after entering the game, everyone discovered that Su Mo's Ornn was different from everyone else's Ornn.
Other people's Ornn is resilient to pressure.
His Ornn was solo killed.
He was facing off against Doran's Kennen.
At level 6, Su Mo used his Q skill to slow down Kennen, predicted the location of Kennen's E skill, and directly used E [Blazing Charge] to smash into the wall and knock him up!
W [Bellbox Flame Breath] breathes fire, followed by a normal attack to knock out Fragile!
R [Sheep Comes]!
Two-stage R collision sends you flying!
One combo was enough to kill Kennen, who was at full health!
"Holy crap? What kind of damage did Ornn do?!" Rita exclaimed in shock. "He used all his Fragile Strike! Doran got solo-killed again!"
In this match, Su Mo transformed into "that man".
During a team fight, his shout of "Hey sheep!" sent four Gen.G players flying.
Viper's Zephyr was unleashing a barrage of attacks from behind, it was so satisfying it made my scalp tingle.
2 is better than 0!
EDG has secured match point.
……
The third round.
Gen.G's mentality completely collapsed.
Doran had stopped talking in the voice chat. Although Chovy still had the best CS in the game, he looked somewhat lost as he looked at the 0-2 score.
"One wave."
Su Mo said calmly in the voice message, "I want to leave work early and go back to sleep."
In this game, Su Mo chose his signature champion – Kennen, the Heart of the Tempest.
With his way, he also gave his body.
In the last game, Doran played Kennen and got completely destroyed. This time, Su Mo will teach him how to play Kennen.
26 minutes.
Gen.G made a final, desperate attempt at the Dragon Pit.
Su Mo went around to the back.
He has no field of vision; he relies solely on his awareness to stay in the blind spot.
At the very moment Gen.G moved the dragon.
E [Ultimate Technique! Lightning Armor] Activated!
flash!
Push stick!
R [Secret Technique! Thunderous Prison Summoning]!
Thunder roared! Su Mo's Kennen was like a golden lightning bolt, instantly melting Gen.G's backline!
Peyz was instantly killed before he could even use either of his summoner spells.
Chovy was electrocuted and turned into charcoal the moment her golden form ended.
"Heavenly Thunder!!!"
With Miller's hoarse roar, EDG executed a perfect team fight, achieving a 0-for-5 exchange.
3 is better than 0!
EDG swept Gen.G, advancing to the winners' bracket final with an invincible performance!
……
The moment the crystal exploded.
Su Mo took off his headphones, his face showing little excitement, as if all of this was expected.
He stood up and, as he passed Doran, saw the Korean top laner slumped over the table, his shoulders trembling slightly.
Su Mo did not linger and walked straight to the center of the stage.
There, his teammates were cheering.
Meanwhile, Rita, Yu Shuang, and hope Ran were waving support signs and smiling more brightly than flowers.
Post-match interview.
This time, the host is from LCK, and this female host is a familiar face – Ms. Ji-sun.
She held the microphone, looking at the handsome Chinese athlete in front of her with a hint of awe in her eyes.
"Congratulations to EDG on their victory. Mo, today you played a fighter, a tank, and a mage top laner, and delivered a dominant performance in each. Your Irelia in the first game was particularly memorable. What are your thoughts on today's opponent, Gen.G?"
Su Mo took the microphone from the translator, thought for a moment, and then said:
"Gen.G is a very disciplined team. Especially Chovy, I really admire his last-hitting skills."
Hearing this, the Korean audience breathed a slight sigh of relief, thinking that Su Mo was about to start some mutual flattery.
However, Su Mo changed the subject:
"However, esports isn't about who farms the most minions. If you only focus on the minions in front of you, you'll lose the whole game. Hopefully, next time we face each other, they can be more... like warriors."
"Wow—"
There was an uproar.
These words completely ripped off Chovy's fig leaf.
Zhixuan gave an awkward laugh and quickly changed the subject:
"So, EDG will face the winner of the T1 vs. JDG match in the upper bracket finals. Who would you prefer to face?"
Su Mo smiled.
He looked at the camera, a familiar flame igniting in his eyes.
"We've played against JDG many times in the LPL, so we all know each other very well."
"So, I'd prefer JDG. After all, I'm from the LPL."
"If JDG suffers a regrettable defeat, then I can only say that they will not lose the championship."
……
This interview instantly ignited global esports forums.
That's insane! But I love it!
[Chovy: Just give me my ID number!]
[The farmer's three punches hurt a bit!]
[Faker: Kid, don't rush, I'm coming!]
Back to the hotel.
A celebratory banquet was, of course, indispensable.
However, everyone was very restrained this time because their next opponent was most likely T1, which had the "Great Demon King" Faker.
……
Having just finished their massacre of Gen.G, the entire EDG team returned to the Langham Hotel where they were staying.
Although Su Mo was incredibly arrogant in the post-match interview, referring to Chovy as "the farmer," the moment he entered his hotel room, this "Great Demon King" immediately revealed his true colors, collapsing onto the sofa.
"I'm exhausted... Pretending to be cool is hard work too."
Su Mo ripped off his tie and unceremoniously propped his feet up on the coffee table.
Almost simultaneously, there was a knock on the door.
It was obvious without even guessing that those "accompanying family members" had arrived.
As soon as the door opened, there it was, the familiar "LPL Five Golden Flowers" lineup.
However, what they were carrying wasn't flowers and champagne, but... a large bag of barbecue and milk tea that they had brought back from Chinatown.
“I knew you’d be hungry.” Yu Shuang walked in with a smile, spreading out the takeout as if she were in her own home. “You’re not used to the Western food here. Judging from the way you were doing in the interview, I guessed you hadn’t eaten enough.”
"Sister Shuang understands me so well." Su Mo was so moved that she almost cried, and reached out to grab the skewers.
"Snapped."
A slender hand knocked his claw away.
Rita crossed her arms and looked down at him, her eyes filled with scrutiny and teasing: "Don't rush to eat. Mozi, you were pretty arrogant in that interview, weren't you? What 'I hope they're like warriors'? Now the Korean online forums have you on the front page and there are three thousand posts criticizing you."
"Let him curse, it's not like he'll lose anything." Su Mo took the opportunity to steal a skewer of lamb and stuff it into his mouth, saying indistinctly, "Besides, did I say something wrong? Was Chovy finishing off someone? He was mowing the lawn, he's a hopeless OCD patient."
"Your mouth, really..." Xi Ran shook her head helplessly, walked over and helped him straighten his messy hair, "But to be honest, when I heard you say that at the scene, it was really satisfying. You didn't see the faces of those people in the LCK commentary booth, they were as black as the bottom of a pot. Yeah, just like last year."
"Hehe, this is the prestige of our LPL's number one top laner!" Luo Xin happily sipped her milk tea. "Hey, Mozi, it's a rest day tomorrow, where should we go? I saw in a guide that there's a really interesting retro market nearby!"
Su Mo paused, chewing on his meat, a wary look on his face. "Shopping? Can we do something else? Like playing cards at the hotel?"
"No way!" the five girls said in unison.
Xiaoyu waved her phone: "We're already here, how can we just stay in the hotel? Besides, I need to film a vlog! I need footage! You have to be my male lead!"
Looking at those five pairs of eyes that left no room for refusal, Su Mo sighed and resignedly raised his hands: "Fine, fine, I'll go. But let me make this clear first, I won't carry your bag, that's a matter of principle."
"cut--"
……
The following day, Portobello Road Market in London.
Although Su Mo made a promise yesterday not to carry bags, reality is often cruel.
At this moment, Su Mo was wearing sunglasses and a mask, with Luo Xin's camera hanging around his neck, carrying the antique tea set that Yu Shuang had just bought in his left hand, and several retro coats that Rita had picked out in his right hand, while a bunch of vinyl records that hope Ran had bought were tucked under his arm.
"Is this what they call principles?"
As Su Mo watched the five women walking ahead of her, flitting between the stalls like butterflies, tears of regret welled up in her heart.
"Brother Mozi! Come look at this!" Xiaoyu waved in front of a stall selling second-hand jewelry. "This ring is so unique, doesn't it look like the S11 championship ring?"
Su Mo shuffled over with heavy steps, glanced at the copper ring inlaid with blue glass, and twitched at the corner of his mouth: "It doesn't look like it, it looks like something from a street stall."
"How unromantic." Xiaoyu rolled her eyes at him, but still happily put it on her finger, then raised her hand to the sunlight, "Since it doesn't look like a championship ring, let's just consider it... a love token..."
Before he could finish speaking, a hand suddenly reached out from the side, holding a huge hot dog and offering it to Su Mo's mouth.
"Mozi! Try this! The hot dogs here are amazing!"
Without thinking twice, Rita shoved the hot dog into Su Mo's mouth, silencing him before he could even complain, and also interrupting Xiao Yu's little scheme.
Xiaoyu glared at Rita angrily, while Rita returned a smug wink.
Su Mo had long since mastered the art of "feigning deafness and dumbness" in this kind of clandestine battlefield.
While chewing on his hot dog, he mumbled a compliment: "Mmm, delicious, delicious."
Just then, a commotion arose not far away.
"Brother Mozi!"
Su Mo turned his head and saw several figures in red team uniforms walking towards him through his sunglasses.
They are the JDG players.
Holding an ice cream cone, 369 was taken aback when she saw Su Mo's "super dad" look, and then burst into a loud, booming laugh.
"Holy crap! Brother Mo! What are you doing? Going to get supplies?" 369 laughed so hard his ice cream almost fell off. "Is this the FMVP's London training? Weighted cross-country running?"
Knight and Ruler, standing nearby, were also trying not to laugh.
Su Mo calmly adjusted the bag in his hand, his tone even: "What do you know? This is life. What, you guys are out for a stroll too? Aren't you preparing for T1?"
When T1 was mentioned, 369's smile faded a bit, and he sighed, "I came out to get some fresh air. The pressure was too much. We're playing Zeus tomorrow, and I was even dreaming about laning against him last night."
JDG will face T1 tomorrow, and the winner will face EDG in the winners' bracket final.
Looking at 369's face, which was filled with "anxiety," Su Mo thought for a moment and decided to give this old acquaintance some pointers.
“Don’t be afraid,” Su Mo said. “I know Zeus well. He’s good at the game, but he has a problem: he gets easily carried away. If you’re more steady than him, or… more reckless than him, he’ll be completely confused.”
"Even crazier?" 369 scratched his head. "You mean you want me to play offensively? How about Jayce?"
"If you dare to play Jayce in front of Faker, I'll respect you as a man." Su Mo smiled. "Play Gragas, trust your main. If you can't beat him..."
Su Mo paused, his eyes sharpening:
"If you really can't beat them, then wait for me to avenge you."
369 was stunned for a moment, then her eyes welled up with tears of emotion: "Brother Mo! It's always you! Now I can go and deliver... oh no, go and face the pressure with peace of mind!"
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the two groups parted ways.
Watching the JDG team leave, Yu Shuang asked with some concern, "Do you think JDG can beat T1?"
Su Mo lifted the bag in her hand higher and shook her head.
"Difficult." (End of Chapter)