Chapter 722
The BLG That's Stuck in the Mud
Rita chuckled, covering her mouth, "This shows that Bin was really traumatized by the last game. But this gives EDG a lot more options for the other positions."
As expected, EDG easily secured the initiation support champion, Riel, on the fourth floor.
BLG's fourth and fifth picks were the Aphelios and Thresh bot lane duo.
Now, all the suspense rests on the fifth-floor counter position for the red team, EDG.
The camera zoomed in on Su Mo in the battle arena.
Despite facing five targeted bans and the opposing team's Jax, who was known as the king of 1v1, his face remained completely expressionless, devoid of any anxiety or distress. He even had the leisure to unscrew his thermos and slowly take a sip of water.
"Mozi, their five bans are too ruthless." Mingkai stood behind him, his brows furrowed. "Jax has a huge advantage against regular fighters because of his E skill, Counter Strike. There aren't many fighters left outside. Should we pick Olaf? Or Kennen for kiting?"
Su Mo put down the cup and gently stroked the mouse with his fingers.
If you choose a melee fighter to play against Jax, you'll inevitably have to engage in a complex and detailed battle of wits with him in the minion wave.
He didn't want to work overtime today, and he certainly didn't want to undergo that kind of drawn-out, messy process of blood transfusion.
"Don't choose melee combat."
Su Mo's voice rang out calmly in the voice chat, exuding a suffocating coldness on the other end.
"Doesn't he like to jump? Then let him jump in mid-air and never come down."
He glanced at the hero list and immediately locked his mouse on the portrait of a female archer whose body was covered in eerie green spears and who exuded an aura of vengeance.
"Offer their souls as a sacrifice to the Shadow Isles!"
The Spear of Vengeance—Kalista's Skateboard Shoes!!!
The moment the avatar lit up and locked, the entire Mercedes-Benz Arena seemed to be put on pause, followed by a terrifying scream loud enough to blow the roof off!
"Holy crap!!! Kalista?!!"
Guan Zeyuan's voice cracked, his hands gripping the edge of the commentary booth tightly: "Kalista top lane?! Mozi picked an ADC to play top lane against Bin's Jax on the finals stage?!"
"My God!" Miller was also shocked and incredulous. "What kind of bizarre understanding is this?! Kalista may have strong lane dominance, but she's a pure ADC with no mobility or anti-gank skills and a body as fragile as paper! Once she gets ganked and killed by Lee Sin or Wukong, the top lane becomes an automatic ATM!"
After a brief moment of surprise, Rita burst into laughter, her eyes overflowing with undisguised admiration: "That's insane! Absolutely insane! Didn't you guys ban five warriors? Then Mo Shen simply stopped playing warriors altogether! He just picked an ADC and went top lane to harass people! If Bin gets kited by Kalista this game, he probably won't even be able to touch the minion wave!"
On the battle table.
When Bin saw the eerie green avatar, his tense expression instantly turned ashen.
Using Kalista's skate shoes to fight Jax is one of the most annoying and annoying strategies in ranked games. Kalista uses her passive martial arts stance to constantly jump and kite Jax. If Jax jumps in, he will be slowed down by the spear; if he doesn't jump, he will be turned into a pincushion.
This is no longer a tactical game; it's a condescending and undisguised contempt!
"Xun! You don't need to help mid or bot this game, you're just going to stay in top lane!" Bin roared through gritted teeth in the voice chat, "If Kalista dares to cross the river, I'll kill her!"
Welcome to Summoner's Rift!
As the lights flashed, the second game of the finals officially began.
The director was very considerate; from the very beginning, he kept the camera focused on the top lane.
Su Mo's Kalista bought a Doran's Blade and walked straight to the top lane with ghostly steps.
Upon reaching level one, Su Mo completely ignored the minion wave, bypassing his own minions and getting stuck at the edge of the bush in front of BLG's top lane tower.
Bin's Jax had just cautiously walked to the base of the first tower when a spear pierced his body with a whooshing sound!
"Shh!"
Su Mo lightly clicked the floor with the mouse, and Kalista let out a low, delicate cry. The moment she drew a spear, she gracefully glided backward a step.
Immediately afterwards, a second and a third spear flew out in quick succession!
"That's too fierce! The minion waves haven't even met yet, and Brother Mozi is already poking people right in front of the first tower!" Guan Zeyuan shouted.
Bin wanted to retreat behind the tower, but Kalista's basic attack range was perfectly controlled. Each basic attack was accompanied by a nimble leap, always maintaining a safe yet still attackable distance from Jax.
Jax hadn't even last-hit his first minion yet, and he already had four green spears stuck in his body.
Su Mo pressed his E skill, [Tear]!
"laugh--"
The spear was violently pulled out of Jax's body, spraying blood and inflicting a significant slowing effect!
In the first encounter at level one, Jax lost a third of his health!
"How are you supposed to play this?" Miller felt frustrated for Bin. "Kalista's auto-attack mechanic is too overpowered. As long as Mozi's mouse clicks fast and accurately enough, Jax can't even touch the hem of her clothes!"
Bin was forced to give up his only health potion and cower under the turret, watching helplessly as Kalista controlled the first wave of minions in the middle of the river.
Two and a half minutes later, both sides reached the second level.
Bin finally couldn't hold back any longer. Seeing a low-health cannon minion, he activated his E skill [Counterattack Storm], swung his lamppost, and unleashed his Q skill [Leap Slash] towards Kalista!
"Bin couldn't hold back anymore! Jax jumped in!"
Just as Jax took to the air, Su Mo's eyes remained as still as a stagnant pool.
He didn't back down at all.
Instead, the moment Jax landed, he landed a basic attack on a nearby minion, using his passive to slide to the side, narrowly avoiding the center of Jax's Counter Strike stun!
"It's empty!! Jax's E stun missed!!"
In the moment of dizziness, Bin was terrified and wanted to turn back.
But how could Su Mo possibly let him go?
Kalista unleashes her Q skill, Pierce! A thick spear pierces through a minion and embeds itself in Jax's back. Kalista uses the displacement from her Q skill to leap forward, instantly closing the distance.
Basic attack, jump, basic attack, jump!
Kalista moved through the minion wave with the grace and cold-bloodedness of a dancer. Every auto-attack she landed left a fatal mark on Jax.
He chased them all the way down the river to the edge of BLG's first tower's range.
Jax was already riddled with seven or eight spears.
"Tear!"
Su Mo pressed the E skill without hesitation.
Health bar instantly emptied!
"EDG.Mo solo-killed BLG.Bin!"
"First Blood!"
A deathly silence fell over the entire arena, followed by a deafening roar of cheers! "Level two!! Two minutes and forty-five seconds!!" Guan Zeyuan clutched his head, completely losing control of his expression. "Brother Mozi, with an ADC who has no defensive skills, chased a full-health Jax all the way to the tower and solo-killed him at level two!! The distance control, the smoothness of his sliding steps, it's like he's using cheats!!"
"This is what happens when you ban five of my warriors!" Rita laughed heartily on the commentary stage. "Mo Shen is showing everyone with his actions that when faced with absolute individual skill, the counter-position can not only pick warriors, but also marksmen to teach you a lesson!"
On the battle table, Bin stared at the gray screen, his breathing becoming heavy. His prized skills seemed so clumsy and laughable in the face of this ghostly skateboarder.
Having secured the first blood, Su Mo calmly pushed the minion wave into the tower, then retreated back to the bushes and recalled.
"Chen, go control the bottom half of the map. You don't need to come to the top lane this game." Su Mo picked up his thermos and took a sip of water, his tone calm. "He's no longer qualified to lane."
This is not arrogance, but a declaration of absolute confidence.
Five minutes later, Jax, who had respawned, was completely reduced to an easy experience point against Kalista, who was equipped with attack speed boots and a longsword.
Su Mo not only crossed the minion wave to suppress the enemy, but even stood in the gap between BLG's first and second towers and cut off the minion wave!
"My God! The minion wave is cut off! Kalista cut off the minion wave in front of the top lane second turret at five minutes!" Miller exclaimed. "She's completely disregarding Xun's monkey!"
How could BLG possibly tolerate such provocation?
At six minutes, Xun's Monkey King abandoned the jungle camps in the bottom half of the map and circled around to the top lane Krugs, preparing to gank Jax under the tower.
"Xun is here! This monkey has the red buff slow, and Kalista is too far back with no way out!"
Despite being surrounded from both sides, Su Mo's eyes remained calm and composed.
"Here to deliver double buffs?"
He casually uttered a sentence in the voice message.
Just as the monkey activated its W skill, "True or False Monkey King," to stealthily dash forward, Su Mo immediately placed a ward in the bushes to the side, instantly revealing the monkey's true form.
Instead of running down the tower, he charged towards the monkeys in the opposite direction!
The monkey attacks with a basic attack, then slides to the side and backward!
Xun's monkey unleashed its E skill, "Soaring Assault," at Kalista. But Su Mo's reaction was lightning fast. The instant Xun's E skill landed, Su Mo used his Q skill, "Piercing Strike," to instantly create distance, causing Xun's Q skill, "Crushing Strike," to hit nothing but air!
Once the distance is created, it becomes a one-sided massacre.
Kalista, like a kite in flight, glided towards the river while simultaneously performing basic attacks.
The monkey was slowed down by the spear and couldn't even touch Kalista's clothes, causing its health to drop rapidly.
At this moment, Bin's Jax finally emerged from under the tower and activated his Q skill to jump towards Su Mo.
Su Mo used a healing spell to accelerate his movement and then slid away to create more distance.
At this point, both the monkey and Jax were covered in spears.
"die."
Su Mo uttered a single word and pressed his E skill, [Tear]!
"laugh--"
The monkey, with low health, died instantly! Jax was also significantly slowed down!
Su Mo turned around and continued chasing Jax, auto-attacking him!
One, two, three!
"Double Kill!"
"Double kill!!! One against two, double kill!!!" Guan Zeyuan roared until his voice was hoarse, "What kind of monster is this?! Without any front-line protection, Brother Mozi used his ultimate micro-management to kite Monkey and Jax to death like dogs!!"
The entire venue erupted in cheers, the EDG fans' shouts forming a tsunami that completely overwhelmed BLG's morale.
"Double Kill!"
The system's loud kill notification sound echoed throughout the Mercedes-Benz Arena.
The camera panned to the match booth. Su Mo, who had secured a double kill in a 1v2 situation, remained completely calm. With a light click of his mouse, Kalista left two corpses behind, then gracefully turned and pushed the minion wave carrying the siege minion to BLG's top lane tower.
He then positioned himself in the bushes at the edge of the turret's vision range and smoothly pressed the recall button.
In the commentary booth, Guan Zeyuan took a deep breath, trying to calm his excited heartbeat: "Six and a half minutes! Three kills, and he still has the red and blue buffs that Xun just got. In this game, Bin's Jax can be considered disconnected."
Miller looked at the economic panel displayed by the director and shook his head repeatedly: "Mozi recalled to base this time and immediately bought Berserker's Greaves, Berserker's Greaves, Vampiric Scepter, and a Longsword. It's only been less than seven minutes! With Berserker's Greaves, Kalista's sliding frequency and kiting ability will undergo a qualitative change. This top lane is unplayable."
Meanwhile, the atmosphere at BLG's booth plummeted to freezing point.
Bin stared intently at the dim screen in front of him, his knuckles white as he gripped the mouse, his palms drenched in cold sweat. As one of the top offensive top laners in the country, he had never suffered such humiliation. He couldn't even touch the minion wave, and was being treated like a dog and slaughtered by a marksman right in front of his own tower.
“My…” Xun swallowed hard in the voice chat, his voice noticeably dry, “I didn’t expect the damage to be so high. His slide blocked the auto-attack animation of my Q skill.”
"It's not your fault, don't come up here." Bin took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his frustration. "You go control the bottom half of the map, protect Aphelios's farm, I'll AFK under the tower."
The game time smoothly reached eight minutes.
The first Rift Herald opened its purple eyes precisely on time in the river.
At this moment, Su Mo displayed breathtaking control over the minion wave. Instead of pushing the minion wave quickly into the tower, he forcefully blocked it between his own tower and the river.
This is a perfect example of "absolute control of the line".
Bin's Jax stood at the edge of the experience zone. If he took one step forward, a ghostly green spear with a red buff slow effect would accurately pierce him. He could only watch helplessly as his minions fell one by one, turning into nothingness, without getting a single bit of experience.
For two whole minutes, Jax's CS (creep score) remained stuck at a paltry fourteen, and his level was two levels lower than Kalista's.
This kind of slow, agonizing pain is more psychologically damaging than a direct, one-on-one kill.
"Ah Chen, move the vanguard. Their jungler is in the bottom lane." Su Mo glanced at the minimap. The enemy mid laner Sylas had disappeared from the lane, while Wukong had appeared in vision in the bottom lane.
BLG made a decisive decision. Since the upper half of the map had been completely lost, Xun had no choice but to cooperate with the duo to forcefully take the first dragon as a way to exchange resources.
At eight and a half minutes, Ah Chen's Sejuani easily secured the Rift Herald and very sensibly moved to the top lane.
"Just drop it and take down the first tower."
Su Mo issued the order.
With a charge from the vanguard, BLG's top lane turret, already reduced to half health, collapsed with a roar. The substantial gold from the first turret fell into Kalista's pocket, and Su Mo's gold snowballed exponentially. (End of Chapter)