LOL: What does it mean to torture players?

As the female voice announced "Welcome to Summoner's Rift," the opening match of the S12 group stage officially began.

On the big screen, ten heroes descended upon the fountain.

As the red team, Su Mo's Riven has no skins.

This isn't because he doesn't have it, but because it's a belief akin to "Assassin's Creed"—the original Riven skin has the lightest feel and the sharpest broken sword.

In terms of talents, Su Mo uses the Conqueror rune, and his secondary runes are the Enlightenment runes: Magical Footwear and Astral Insight.

For Summoner Spells, he aggressively chose Flash and Ignite.

On the other side, Zeus's Aatrox also had Conqueror, but his summoner spells were the standard Flash + Teleport.

"Ignite Riven!" PDD exclaimed upon seeing the summoner spell. "Brother Mozi is showing his hand! This game, either I'll smash you Zeus to pieces, or I'll collapse myself. There's no way out! That's the fighting spirit of the number one top laner!"

At the start of the game, both sides formed a long, straight line to defend their respective jungle entrances.

The level 1 team fight didn't break out; both sides were very cautious.

T1's vision control was extremely tight, almost completely blocking all possible routes for EDG to invade.

At 1 minute and 30 seconds, the minion waves converged on the top lane.

Su Mo used Riven's Q skill, Broken Wings, to dash early, timed his arrival perfectly, and went straight into the bush near the red team's side in the top lane.

Zeus understood this well. He leveled up his Q skill, Darkin Blade, at level one and cautiously probed the bushes, taking advantage of his long range and the extra distance from his passive skill, Death's Breath.

"Snapped!"

Aatrox's Q1 slams into the bush.

But Su Mo seemed to have activated a X-ray vision cheat. Just before the Sword Demon's greatsword fell, he took a small step backward and precisely positioned himself at the edge of Q1's damage range, escaping unscathed.

"He dodged it!" Miller exclaimed rapidly. "Zeus missed his Q, which is a big blow. It's basic for Riven to use Q at level one. Mozi has three Qs in hand now, he's about to make his move!"

When Zeus saw that Q1 missed, he instinctively wanted to retreat.

But Su Mo moved as swiftly as a rabbit.

Use Q to get close, then follow up with a basic attack (A).

Follow up with a second Q, then a basic attack.

Su Mo's hand speed was incredibly fast. The broken sword in Riven's hand danced, and the motion of canceling the animation was so smooth that it was like watching a fast-forwarded scene.

Zeus countered with Q2, attempting to knock Riven into the air.

Su Mo immediately unleashed his third Q attack, leaping into the air and slamming into Zeus's face!

Knocked away!

Try A again!
In just one exchange at level one, Riven, with her passive-enhanced basic attacks, took down nearly a third of Aatrox's health, while only taking a small amount of damage from Aatrox's basic attacks and minions.

"Wow!! This is a blood exchange!" the doll exclaimed. "Zeus is already at a huge disadvantage at level one! Is this the kind of pressure that Ignite Riven? Zeus doesn't even dare to use Death's Breath to greedily farm that minion!"

Zeus frowned, forced to use a health potion, and retreated behind the minion wave.

He knew that this laning phase might have to wait until later.

His sneaky tactics turned the top lane into Su Mo's personal stage for the next two minutes.

He used Riven's extremely flexible mechanics to control the minion wave very well.

If Zeus dares to go forward to last-hit minions, Riven will use her E shield to shield him, then use her W to stun him and unleash a combo without taking damage before running away.

3 minutes 15 seconds.

The movements of both junglers became the focus.

T1's jungler Oner Foygo started with a quick level 3 run in the bottom half of the map, and after clearing the red buff, he immediately headed to the top lane.

“Oner wants to make a move on top lane!” PDD stared at the minimap. “He knows Riven is pushing very deep into the lane, and she has Ignite but no Teleport. If he manages to kill her once, Riven will be half-dead this game!”

However, Jiejie's powerful backer was not to be underestimated.

As Su Mo's personal bodyguard, Jiejie was willing to give up a group of jungle monsters to come and gank the top lane river bushes in advance.

"Jiejie is counter-ganking! That was such great awareness!"

At this moment, the top lane minions are about to push into the tower.

Zeus's Aatrox was only at half health, but when he saw Oner in position, his positioning became noticeably more aggressive, trying to create an opening to lure Riven into attacking.

Su Mo's lips curled into a cold smile.

"The acting is so poor."

Just as Zeus took a step forward, attempting to use Q1 to wear down Riven...

Su Mo didn't retreat; instead, he used his E skill to charge straight at Su Mo's face!
EW!

Instant dizziness!

This burst was extremely fast; Zeus didn't even have time to use his E skill to create distance.

Light it and hang it up!

"He's in! Brother Mozi is going all out to kill!" Miller roared.

Seeing this, Oner, hiding in the bushes, had no choice but to reveal himself prematurely. Foygo activated his E, and black mist filled the air as he rushed out of the river. He charged up his W, preparing to stun Riven and coordinate with Aatrox for a counterattack.

At this critical moment.

Jiejie's big tree suddenly emerged from the shadows!
He immediately used Flash and W to transform into a tree root, directly binding Foygo who was charging up!

"Interrupted! Jiejie has tied up Oner!"

Su Mo completely ignored Foygo behind him; his eyes were only on the Sword Demon.

Lightspeed QA strikes again.

Zeus, with low health, used Flash to escape towards the tower.

Su Mo and Shan!

The third Q predicted the location of Aatrox's Flash and slammed down hard!
Knocked away!

The final basic attack, accompanied by a passive effect, landed.

"First Blood!"

The system notification sounded throughout Madison Square Garden.

"Solo kill! Another solo kill! Even with the jungler around, that final blow was pure individual skill!" PDD slammed his fist on the table excitedly. "Zeus's down! Ignite Riven gets first blood, top lane is in the bag!"

After killing the person, Su Mo did not greedily continue to attack Foyego next to him, but instead spread out and hid in the bushes to avoid aggro.

Jiejie's large tree stood in front, and her Q skill knocked back Fryegor who was trying to chase her.

Oner, seeing the fallen top laner and the Riven who had already created distance, could only helplessly help Zeus clear the wave of minions that had entered the tower before retreating in frustration.

“This is really frustrating,” Miller analyzed. “Oner’s gank not only failed to kill anyone, but also took away Zeus’s experience. Zeus has to use TP to get back to lane after respawning, otherwise all the minions will be missed, and then we’ll really be in trouble.”

As expected, Zeus could only use his Teleport to farm after respawning.

Su Mo, on the other hand, happily pressed the B key to return to the city.

4 minutes 20 seconds.

When Su Mo logged back in, he had a new weapon and a pair of straw sandals in his inventory.

Riven is wearing a nail penetration build!
Meanwhile, a small-scale conflict broke out in the bottom lane.

T1's Luna combo was indeed very dominant in the early game.

Gumayusi, taking advantage of Nami's E skill, glided up to attack.

Meiko's Thresh attempted to hook, but Keria's Nami dodged it with extremely precise movement and countered with a bubble attack, forcing Viper to use Cleanse.

“The bot lane is having a tough time, they're behind in CS.” Wawa glanced at the stats panel. “But Viper is playing steadily. Aphelios just needs to get experience; the late game is when he really shines.”

Let's turn our attention back to the mid lane. Faker's Lissandra and Scout's Azir are farming peacefully.

As a former teammate, Scout knew Faker's habits very well. Using his long range advantage, Azir always maintained a safe distance, not giving Faker any chance to Flash W to initiate a team fight.

The time came to 5 minutes and 50 seconds.

At this moment, Su Mo's Riven had already reached level 6.

Zeus's Aatrox was only level 5 due to dying once and losing lane minions.

This half-level difference is an insurmountable chasm for Riven.

Su Mo began to control the lane.

He stood in front of the minion wave, the broken sword in his hand gleaming with a chilling light.

Zeus could only cower in front of the tower, barely managing to last-hit minions using his Q skill.

"This pressure is suffocating," PDD exclaimed. "Zeus is walking a tightrope right now. If he dares to greedily farm even one minion, Mozi's Serrated Dagger damage, combined with his level 6 ultimate, is absolutely capable of one-shotting a full-health Aatrox without his ultimate."

Zeus was clearly aware of this as well.

He sounded a little anxious in the voice chat: "Oner, can you help me clear the wave? I'm not taking this wave, the top lane tower is about to fall."

Oner glanced at the newly spawned dragon and gritted his teeth: "I can't go. We have to engage in this dragon fight. Bottom lane has lane priority; this is our chance. Good luck, just don't die."

T1's decision was clear—to temporarily let the top lane go and focus on the bottom half of the map.

But they underestimated Su Mo's ability to snowball.

6 minutes 05 seconds.

Su Mo suddenly launched an attack.

Without any warning, Riven, hiding in the bush, used her third Q, then immediately followed up with an ERQ combo, knocking up the Aatrox who was trying to gain experience at maximum range!

Then WA, chasing A...

The Sword Demon glanced at the experience bar, which was just a hair's breadth away from level six, hesitated for a moment, and then chose to run towards the tower.

However, Riven's Q cooldown is extremely fast, and the second Q refreshes very quickly.

Su Mo immediately went up and used QAQAQAR.

A wave of green sword energy drew a perfect fan shape in the air, delivering a precise strike!

Even the Ignite spell in Su Mo's hand was useless; he was killed instantly.

"Solo kill! Another solo kill!" Miller's voice boomed. "Zeus got solo killed twice in less than six minutes! This is a World Championship finals-level match! Mozi just farmed Zeus like a minion! Aatrox was just a little bit short of experience. If he had reached level six earlier, he wouldn't have died in this wave! Mozi's control of the battlefield is too strong!"

The entire audience erupted in cheers, with shouts of "EDG" and "Mo" echoing through the sky.

The camera focuses on Zeus, the top laner known as a prodigy, whose eyes are filled with confusion.

What he was thinking at that moment was, "Why is it that Mo, that old guy, is still so powerful after all these years?"

When is he finally going to retire?! Damn it!

The game time came to 7 minute and 20 seconds.

With an economic and kill advantage, Su Mo's Riven went home and immediately bought a Tiamat.

"Tiamat?" PDD was somewhat surprised. "This build... is it to use Tiamat to accelerate the push and then cause trouble?"

When Su Mo's Riven went live, Zeus's Aatrox also saw it.

However, the equipment gap before him plunged Zeus into despair once again.

He could only become more despicable.

Instead of cautiously controlling the lane as before, Su Mo directly used Tiamat's AOE damage, combined with his Q skill, to instantly push the minion wave across the river.

Zeus could only watch helplessly as the minion wave surged into his turret before he dared to go forward to last-hit minions.

"Zeus has absolutely no gaming experience in the top lane this game." Miller shook his head and sighed. "A hero like Aatrox needs to farm and replenish his resources the most, and now Mozi has completely locked down both of those aspects."

T1's jungler Oner, due to the disadvantage in the top lane, had to focus his ganking efforts on the bottom half of the map.

He tried to coordinate with Faker's Lissandra to cause trouble in the mid lane, but Scout's Azir was equally skilled, using the push-push combination of Azir's E and R skills to repeatedly thwart T1's attacks.

"Scout's play was absolutely amazing!" PDD couldn't help but give a thumbs up as he watched Azir dodge Crystal Maiden's crowd control in the mid lane. "How strong is Crystal Maiden and Fryegor's ability to find opportunities? But Scout's speed and caution in escaping made T1's momentum miss time and time again!"

However, because T1 had a certain advantage in the mid and bottom lanes, they secured the first dragon, a water dragon, at the 7-minute mark.

Next, both sides farmed peacefully for a while until the Rift Herald spawned at ten minutes.

Without hesitation, the EDG team began to gather in the upper river.

Jiejie's big tree immediately took the lead.

Su Mo's Riven also used Tiamat to quickly push the lane, and then, together with Scout's Azir, they set up vision in the river.

On T1's side, Zeus's Aatrox was still struggling to farm minions in the top lane.

Perhaps because the gap in the top lane was slightly obvious, T1 actually gave up the Herald.

"EDG has secured the Herald!" Wawa exclaimed. "This Herald release could very well lead to them taking down the top lane's first turret!"

The vanguard was given to Su Mo.

Su Mo's Riven was now almost two levels ahead of Zeus, and her equipment was also far superior.

He took the Rift Herald and went straight to the top lane tower.

When Zeus saw Su Mo arrive, he could only cower under the tower, trembling with fear.

Su Mo originally planned to hold onto the Vanguard until a wave of minions or after returning to base to replenish his equipment before releasing it in the mid lane, maximizing his gains.

But at that moment, the situation on the minimap suddenly changed.

T1's Nakano has made a move.

After Faker's Crystal Maiden pushed the lane, she disappeared into the bottom river, and Oner's Fryegger followed closely behind.

With Lucian and Nami already pushing the bottom lane, T1 instantly created a four-man gank on the bottom lane, a sure-kill situation.

"We're in trouble! They're 4v2!" Meiko shouted urgently in the voice chat. "Viper, get out! Just get out! Forget the tower!"

EDG's mid and jungle players rushed over, but it was clearly too late.

Su Mo ignored them and focused on what was in front of him.

Since you want to switch, then I'll show you what it means to lose everything.

"Jiejie, don't go. Go and farm the jungle monsters on the other side." Su Mo's voice was frighteningly calm. "Try to stall in the bottom lane. If you can trade, then trade. If you can't, then keep Viper alive."

After saying that, Su Mo pressed the accessory button with his finger.

Summon the Rift Herald!

A purple Void Eye opened on the ground, and a massive Rift Herald roared as it emerged.

Zeus looked at the Herald that suddenly appeared in front of the tower, then glanced at Riven who was pushing in with a large wave of minions, and his heart skipped a beat.

He originally thought Su Mo just wanted to push the lane and go home, but he didn't expect the other party to be so eager to kill, actually releasing the Herald at this time.

At this point, Aatrox was only level eight. Although he had the ability to fight, he was no match for Riven, who was level ten, had superior equipment, and was ignited. Defending the tower was tantamount to waiting to die.

run!
The thought of escaping immediately popped into his mind.

But Su Mo didn't give him a chance to escape.

Just as the vanguard lowered his head, preparing to charge at the defensive tower, Su Mo moved.

R activated!
The broken sword was reforged, and the runic energy surged, causing the greatsword in Riven's hand to instantly grow larger, radiating a chilling green light.

Use E to dash in.

Zeus reacted extremely quickly, instantly activating his ultimate [Destroyer], which greatly increased his movement speed and size. He then unleashed a follow-up Q [Darkin Blade], attempting to use the turret's damage to force Riven to retreat. Simultaneously, he was creating an opportunity to escape, hoping to save his Flash. (End of Chapter)