Chapter 812
Chapter 812
"T1 held on! They've once again defended their base from the brink of defeat!" Guan Zeyuan shouted excitedly. "The suspense of this match will continue!"
32 minutes.
EDG retreated to resupply, and both sides entered the final preparation period for the decisive battle.
At this point, both sides' equipment was at its absolute peak, and any small mistake could lead to the collapse of the entire game.
34 minutes 00 seconds.
The ancient dragon has respawned.
This time, neither side has any way out.
Down in the riverbed, the air was thick with the smell of gunpowder.
T1 grouped together and cautiously took control of the river. They knew that if Cassiopeia got the Elder Dragon's execute buff, the game would be over.
"Find an opportunity to engage Cassiopeia, ignore everyone else," Faker gave his final, do-or-die order.
EDG, on the other hand, appeared more cautious. Su Mo's Cassiopeia, heavily protected by his teammates, constantly used her Q skill to probe T1's formation.
34 minutes 45 seconds.
A team fight broke out without any warning!
Oner's tree suddenly activated its ultimate ability, "Nature's Grip," and simultaneously flashed and used its W ability, "Twisted Thrust," targeting Su Mo's Cassiopeia!
Zeus's Quesant also activated [Full Charge Mode], using his E skill to dash in, preparing to follow up with further crowd control!
In this aggressive engagement, T1 poured almost all their skills and hopes into it!
Faced with this devastating first strike, a sharp, extremely calm glint flashed in Su Mo's eyes.
He didn't use Flash or Zhonya's Hourglass.
The instant he was bound by the tree, he activated his W skill, [Poisonous Mist]!
The poisonous fog precisely spread beneath his feet, trapping the charging Quesanti within the binding zone!
"Mozi has been opened! But he used the Ground Binding technique to restrict Quesanti's entry!" Miller shouted.
The tree's control duration was very short, and Su Mo immediately used Flash to create distance the moment the control was lifted.
But Faker's Azir had been waiting for a long time. He drifted in with WEQ, unleashing his ultimate [Imperial Wall], attempting to push Cassiopeia back into T1's encirclement!
This teamwork was absolutely flawless!
However, at the very moment the Tsar pushed the wall down.
Su Mo's snake woman made a move that left everyone speechless.
Instead of dodging backward, he took a small step to the side and then unleashed his ultimate move, [Stone Shattering Strike]!
It wasn't aimed at the Tsar, but at Varus and Lena, who were unleashing their fury from the side and rear!
"A reverse ultimate move?! Brother Mozi actually used his ultimate move in the opposite direction at this moment?!" Wawa exclaimed.
An unbelievable scene has unfolded!
The Tsar's wall of imperial guards conveniently pushed the snake woman towards Varus and Lenata!
While being pushed into the air, Cassiopeia's ultimate skill, "Stone Shattering Strike," precisely swept across T1's bottom lane duo!
"Double petrification!! Mozi used Tsar's ultimate ability to teleport and completed an incredibly incredible double petrification!!" Zita jumped up from his chair and frantically pounded on the commentary table.
The moment he landed, Su Mo didn't even bother with the Azir beside him. His E skill, Twin Fangs, rained down on the petrified Varus.
Combined with the shockwave from Orianna, T1's core damage dealer Varus was instantly melted!
"EDG.Mo has killed T1.Gumayusi!"
Without their ADC, T1 instantly lost the ability to fight head-on. Faker's Azir tried his best to deal damage, but he quickly fell to the ground under the siege of Kai'Sa and Vi.
Zeus's Quesanti and Treant Protector, though physically strong, are merely slightly tougher blood packs in the face of the Cassiopeia, who possesses a large mask and a magic wand.
In a team fight that can only be described as miraculous, EDG achieved a perfect team wipe with a 0-for-5 exchange!
35 minutes 20 seconds.
"Ace (team wipe)!"
A cold yet powerful female voice from the system resounded throughout the Accor Arena.
"It's over! It's all over!" Miller exclaimed, tears welling in his eyes. "EDG pulled off a perfect team wipe in front of the Elder Dragon pit! They're going to win this game!"
Su Mo led four EDG players, along with super minions in the mid lane, and relentlessly pushed down T1's base.
"boom--!"
The blue crystal nexus shattered completely amidst a dazzling display of light.
The time was frozen at 35 minutes and 45 seconds.
"Let's congratulate EDG! They defeated the mighty T1 in their first match of the group stage and got off to a winning start!!" Wawa's roar echoed in the arena, and the LPL fans in the audience erupted in thunderous cheers.
Su Mo took off his headphones, picked up his black thermos, and took a sip of warm water.
He turned his head and looked at his teammates who were excitedly hugging each other. A faint smile flashed in his deep eyes.
The deafening cheers seemed to lift the dome of the Yago Arena. Amidst the waving support signs and dazzling spotlights, the EDG players rose from their seats and walked to the center of the stage to bow in greeting.
Su Mo walked at the very edge of the group, still wearing his dark gray team uniform jacket, carrying the black thermos he seemed never to be without. Facing the frenzied shouts of tens of thousands of spectators, his expression was as calm as a bottomless lake. There was no excited fist-waving, no exaggerated facial expressions; he simply bowed slightly to the audience, his movements swift and composed.
Afterwards, the entire EDG team walked to T1's booth for a post-match handshake.
When Su Mo walked up to Zeus, the young LCK prodigy top laner was pale, his eyes filled with resentment and an undisguised exhaustion. The 35-minute-long game of enduring pressure and maneuvering had drained all his energy.
“Your control over distance remains unsolved,” Zeus said in a low voice in broken English.
Su Mo gently shook hands with him, her gentle voice like a spring breeze: "You played very tenaciously on defense. But defense alone will never win a game. I look forward to your adjustments."
As they approached Faker, the two legendary players' eyes met in mid-air. Faker adjusted his glasses, a wry smile playing on his lips: "That reverse petrification using my ultimate was brilliant calculation."
"You flatter me. Your drifting is still deadly." Su Mo nodded slightly.
After shaking hands, the entire EDG team posed for a brief photo session with the media at the entrance of the tunnel before quickly heading into the backstage lounge. The moment the heavy soundproof door closed, most of the outside noise was shut out.
"Great job! You guys played so well!" Abu rushed up excitedly and gave Chen, who was walking in front, a bear hug.
Mingkai, beaming, walked over to Su Mo with a tactical board in hand: "Mozi, that Cassiopeia pick was absolutely amazing. She completely melted T1's once-proud ironclad defense."
Su Mo walked to his single sofa and sat down, placing the thermos on the small round table, and gently moved his right wrist.
"They have a thorough understanding of the version. Quesant and Maokai's tankiness really exceeded my expectations." Su Mo's voice was calm, without a trace of pride. "If it weren't for Faker's mistake in that Elder Dragon fight, the game might have dragged on forty minutes or more."
"That wasn't Faker's mistake at all, it was Mo Ge's brilliant planning!" Xiao Yue excitedly interjected from the side. "A reverse ultimate move, using the opponent's force against them, I can brag about that for a year!"
The door to the lounge opened, and Yu Shuang walked in, dressed in a well-fitting business suit, carrying a thermos. As the official host, she always went backstage as soon as she finished her work on stage.
"Thank you for your hard work, everyone." Yu Shuang smiled gently and placed the thermos on the coffee table. "I asked a local Chinese restaurant to make some white fungus and pear soup for everyone to soothe their throats."
The team members cheered and surrounded him, but Su Mo remained quietly sitting on the sofa.
Yu Shuang filled a small bowl, walked to Su Mo's side, and naturally sat on the armrest of the sofa, handing him the bowl: "Have some, it was so hot in the competition venue just now, I saw you sweated a lot."
Su Mo took the bowl; the soup was at just the right temperature. He took a sip, and the sweet taste spread through his mouth.
"Thank you," he said softly, his eyes revealing a gentleness he only showed when he was with her.
Yu Shuang reached out and gently wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead with her fingertips: "Does your wrist hurt? I saw that your APM (actions per minute) in that last team fight was definitely maxed out."
"It's alright, just normal muscle strain." Su Mo put down the bowl, took Yu Shuang's hand in his, and gently stroked her palm with his fingers. "Aren't you tired from hosting on stage?"
"I'm not tired. Watching you win the game gives me so much energy," Yu Shuang said with a smile that curved her eyes.
At this moment, the TV screen on the wall of the lounge is playing the post-match recap segment from the LPL official commentary team.
Wawa, Miller, and Guan Zeyuan all had rosy complexions, clearly still immersed in the thrilling match they had just played.
"Welcome back, everyone! That opening match was absolutely epic!" Wawa's voice was still high-pitched. "Despite the official patch nerfs and T1's relentless targeting, EDG managed to tear apart T1's defenses with Mozi's godlike top lane Cassiopeia!"
Miller nodded repeatedly, his eyes full of admiration: "That's right! We were worried before that in this tank-dominant meta, EDG might be put at a disadvantage because Mozi's champion pool was limited. But as it turns out, we were overthinking it. A god is called a god because he is never bound by the meta!"
Guan Zeyuan adjusted his glasses and began his professional data analysis: "Let's look at the replay of the last Elder Dragon fight. Pay attention to Mozi's operational detail. At the moment Azir drifted and pushed the wall, Cassiopeia didn't panic. Instead, she calmly moved to the side and released her ultimate in the opposite direction. The angle of this ultimate perfectly covered the direction that Azir pushed towards, which was the T1's two carries!"
The slow-motion replay on the screen showed that breathtaking second, and Guan Zeyuan's speech became faster and faster: "This is not just a matter of reaction speed, it is the ultimate calculation of all the skill mechanics, displacement distance and psychological game between the two sides! He was petrified in mid-air after being pushed away. This is simply playing e-sports as a dual art of geometry and psychology!"
The live stream chat was already densely packed with comments, covering the entire screen, making it almost impossible to see the broadcast footage clearly.
This is outrageous! This reverse ultimate move is practically inhuman!
[Faker must be dumbfounded. I pushed you, and you used my push to petrify my teammate?]
What's a version trap? This is it! You think buffing tanks will stop him? He'll just pull out a magic machine gun and teach you a lesson!
[This snake woman's skill level is so high, I don't believe she hasn't practiced at least a thousand times in private.]
[T1's coaching staff is probably scratching their heads in the backstage right now. How the hell are they going to draft like this? They banned warriors and he played some kind of snake, are they going to ban mages too next game?]
While the entire internet was celebrating, the atmosphere in the lounge of T1 next door was as oppressive as if it had frozen.
Coach Kkoma stood in front of the tactics board, the marker in his hand making a cracking sound.
"Can anyone tell me why we still lost the game even though we had the perfect lineup and a huge advantage in the early game?" Kkoma's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a chilling severity.
Zeus lowered his head, his hands tightly clasped together: "I'm sorry, coach, I didn't handle the laning phase well. His poke rhythm was too unpredictable, I couldn't find any opportunities to counterattack. And... that reverse ultimate was too sudden."
Faker leaned back on the sofa with his eyes closed, taking a deep breath: "It's not entirely Zeus's fault. In that Elder Dragon fight, I was too hasty initiating. I didn't anticipate that he would use my ultimate as a mobility tool."
Kkoma sighed. He knew it wasn't entirely the player's fault. Facing a monster who seemed emotionless, calculating every pixel like a precision instrument, any tiny mistake would be magnified infinitely.
"We must get back into form for the next match against C9." Kkoma tapped the tactical board. "Remember, no matter how strong the opponent, we T1 cannot lose our resilience. Forget about this loss and focus on the next match."
Let's switch our focus back to EDG's rest area.
After a brief moment of relaxation, Mingkai clapped his hands to signal everyone to refocus.
"Alright guys, winning the opening match is great, but the group stage has only just begun." Mingkai said seriously, "Our next opponent is C9 from the LCS region. Although they are not as strong as T1, they often come up with some strange strategies. We need to be vigilant."
Abu chimed in, "That's right. And the schedule for this World Championship is very tight. After playing C9, we only have half a day to rest before facing other groups in the crossover matches. Everyone should take advantage of this time to rest a little longer."
Su Mo listened to the coach's instructions and simply nodded slightly. He placed the empty soup bowl on the table and picked up the thermos again.
"C9's top laner Fudge has recently been practicing a Pyke top lane pick in EU server ranked games," Su Mo casually stated. "Although the strategy is unconventional, its early-game kill potential is extremely strong when combined with the jungler. Chen, if they pick Pyke, try to avoid fights in the jungle in the early game."
Ah Chen was stunned for a moment, somewhat surprised: "Brother Mo, you even checked the ranked game records of North American top laners?"
"Know yourself and know your enemy, and you can leave work on time." Su Mo took a sip of warm water, his deep gaze falling on the schedule on the wall. "I don't need to seek excitement on the field, I just need the safest way to win."
The atmosphere in the lounge became vibrant again because of Su Mo's extremely calm yet absolutely confident words.
Time passed by, second by second.
As the countdown on the wall clock ended, the live broadcast announcement came over the loudspeaker in the lounge.
"EDG and C9 teams, please proceed to the player tunnel. The second group stage draft is about to begin."
Su Mo stood up and tightened the lid of his thermos. Yu Shuang stepped forward and naturally straightened the collar of his team uniform.
“Go ahead, I’ll be watching you from the audience,” Yu Shuang said softly, her eyes filled with pride.
Su Mo didn't say much, only gave her a gentle look, then turned and, leading the EDG team, strode steadily towards his battlefield once more. (End of Chapter)