The smoke of the civil war has dissipated, and the EDG players got a day of precious rest.
The next day, the sky in Reykjavik was still gloomy, and fine snowflakes fell silently.
· EDG team members did not go out. After breakfast, they spontaneously gathered in the hotel's tactical analysis room.
On the huge electronic screen, what will be broadcast live is another quarterfinal match-DK vs. the European Lion MAD.
"They're all here." Abu walked in with a cup of hot coffee, followed by the factory director, "Just in time, let's just be spectators today and study our potential opponents in the semifinals."
Jiejie was the first to exclaim: "Does this need research? It must be DK! The style of play of MAD artists will probably be smashed into pieces in the face of a watertight operation like DK."
Meiko shook her head: "You can't say that. MAD may not be stable in BO1, but in BO5, they have enough time to adjust their strategy. Techniques, come up with something we didn't expect. Their coaching staff has a lot of clever ideas." Su Mo leaned back leisurely on his chair, holding a cup of yogurt provided by the hotel. Hearing this, he smiled and said, "It's a good thing to have clever ideas, but I'm afraid they won't have the chance to use them."
Everyone was discussing, and on the screen, the game had entered the BP stage.
DK vs. MAD, this collision known as “the ultimate in operations” and “artistic fantasy” has been full of highlights from the beginning.
The first game started on time at two o'clock in the afternoon.
"It's begun!" Jiejie sat up straight in an instant, "Look what work MAD is going to do!"
As expected, MAD was on the blue side, and immediately locked up a top lane hero for its top laner Armut, which is extremely unpopular in the current version - Darkin Sword Demon.
"Sword Demon?" The director touched his chin, "This version of Sword Demon does not have a high priority. It seems that MAD wants to use its early laning intensity to attack Khan's defense."
DK was unmoved and chose an extremely solid lineup: top laner Xin Zhao, jungler Xin Zhao, mid laner Syndra, and bottom lane bomber Jia Lulu.
At the beginning of the game, MAD really implemented their style of "if you don't fight, you will suffer".
The jungler Elyoya's prince came directly to the top lane at level three, and cooperated with Armut's Sword Demon to successfully kill Khan's male gun and get first blood.
"What a fierce fight!" Jiejie's eyes lit up, "MAD is determined to open a breakthrough from the top lane!"
In the next ten minutes, the game completely entered MAD's favorite chaotic rhythm.
· Small-scale team battles broke out frequently between the two sides in the upper half of the river. The number of heads increased alternately, and the economy never expanded.
“This is MAD,” Abu looked at the screen and frowned slightly. “They just want to use constant fighting to disrupt your operational rhythm and make you follow their feelings.”
However, Su Mo shook his head: "It's useless. MAD seemed to be fighting lively, but all their attacks were just point-to-point exchanges without any linkage. Look at the small map, DK's bottom lane duo was not affected in any way from beginning to end. Aker's Syndra kept suppressing the opponent's mid laner. DK just used the first half to deal with them, and the core development points have been growing steadily. "
As Su Mo said, the turning point of the game happened in the 14-minute Canyon Pioneer team battle.
MAD five people gathered together to capture this key map resource.
But the moment they started to attack the vanguard, Canyon's Xin Zhao rushed in from a blind spot with his E skill like a ghost. With a precise punishment, he snatched the Canyon Pioneer in front of the five MAD people!
"I got it! Canyon!" Jiejie couldn't help but exclaimed.
After seizing the vanguard, Aker's Syndra pushed the two of them unconscious with two consecutive QEs, and everyone in DK counterattacked. The perfectly formed DK instantly knocked MAD to pieces.
In the end, DK played a perfect team battle of 1 for 4, completely taking control of the game.
"It's over." Su Mo put down the yogurt cup calmly, "The rhythm is broken, and now it's DK's favorite suffocation time."
As expected, DK, who had the advantage, did not give MAD any chance. They used Rift Herald to push down the middle tower, constantly encroaching on jungle resources, filling half of MAD's field of vision, and the economic gap snowballed.
Twenty-six minutes, DK won the baron without any suspense, pushed forward, and ended the game.
"DK... is still so strong." Jiejie smacked his lips, "Their discipline and control of map resources are really a bit scary."
"The midfielder and jungle combination of Aker and Canyon is still one of the strongest on the planet." Abu concluded with a solemn expression.
The second game started soon.
MAD, who lost the first game, came up with a more "artistic" lineup in BP. They selected the combination of mid laner Yasuo and jungler Jiao Yue, trying to use the strong charge of the middle and jungle to tear open DK's defense.
However, DK's response was textbook level.
They backhandedly selected mid laner Ice Lady and jungler Lee Sin, perfectly restraining the entry of Yasuo and Diana.
The progress of the game was lackluster.
· Every time MAD attacks, it's like hitting an iron plate.
Canyon's blind monk has a high rhythm throughout the game, and Aker's ice lady has achieved the ultimate in roaming support.
· DK almost used a teaching match method to establish a comprehensive advantage from the laning stage.
Twenty minutes, the economic lead has exceeded 10,000.
Finally, the game came to an end at twenty-three minutes.
DK made another victory and got the match point.
The second game can be said to be much easier to win than the first game.
EDG and the others looked a little solemn.
If MAD had some back and forth in the first game, then the second game was a complete crushing.
"Where is their weakness...?" Scout looked at the screen and muttered to himself.
"There are no big weaknesses." Su Mo's voice sounded, attracting everyone's attention. "At least from the current point of view, this DK is approaching perfection in operations and decision-making. If you want to win against them, you can't expect them to make mistakes. You can only be stronger than them and use absolute strength to crush them."
These words made everyone feel shocked.
On the screen, the third game soon started again.
MAD, whose mentality is already unbalanced, has chosen a gambling-style lineup. The top, middle and bottom lanes are all heroes who need to establish an advantage in the early stage.
However, DK is still as stable as Mount Tai.
They chose a lineup with stronger capabilities in the late game. They avoided MAD's early attacks and passed the laning phase smoothly through line changes and resource exchanges.
As the game entered the middle stage, DK began to gradually take control of the situation with its superior lineup strength and impeccable teamfighting.
MAD's team members' mentality completely collapsed after losing team battles again and again.
At twenty-eight minutes, DK seized the opportunity in the jungle and killed two MAD players, easily taking down the baron.
In the end, DK swept MAD with an absolute advantage of 3:0 and advanced to the semi-finals.
At the end of the game, when the words DK victory appeared on the screen, there was silence in EDG's tactical analysis room.
Jiejie no longer shouted, Scout frowned, and even Meiko, who had always been calm, had solemn expressions on her face.
The dominance displayed by DK, that calm, efficient, flawless power, made every spectator feel a chill from the bottom of their hearts.
"Okay, don't be downcast." Abu broke the silence, "The results are as expected. Starting from tomorrow, all our training and tactics will revolve around DK. They are strong, but not invincible. After all, we are not weak, not to mention Brother Mo Zi."
The factory director also nodded and said: "Yes, RN G also reminded us that sometimes, the most extreme offense is the best defense. When playing operations with DK, the odds of winning are slim. We must find our own way to hit the target with a fatal blow. "
The discussion was going on intensely, with everyone throwing out their own understanding of the game and looking for ways to defeat this defending champion in the collision of ideas.
Su Mo, on the other hand, never said another word from beginning to end.
He just watched quietly on the screen as the DK players celebrated their victory, his eyes scanning the faces of Aker and Canyon one by one.
Finally, he stood up, stretched, and walked towards the door amidst everyone's doubtful eyes.
"I'm going to play games and find out how to feel."
He left these words and disappeared at the door.
Everyone looked at each other and saw a trace of speechlessness in each other's eyes.
After all, everyone knows that what Su Mo said about finding the feel is definitely not looking for the feel in LOL, but rather playing other games...
The factory director stood at the door for a while, listening to the still heated discussion in the tactical analysis room, and shook his head helplessly.
He turned around and walked towards the area where the team members were resting, and came to the door of Su Mo's room by a familiar route.
He did not knock on the door, but gently turned the doorknob.
As expected, the familiar sound effects of League of Legends did not come from the room. Instead, there was a burst of rapid, retro electronic music, as well as pixel barrages and monsters flying all over the screen.
Su Mo is wearing headphones, concentrating on controlling a pixel villain, moving crazily in the endless sea of monsters, with various upgrade and treasure chest prompts constantly popping up on the screen.
It is the stand-alone game known as the "Spiritual Time Room" - "Vampire Survivor".
The factory director walked up behind him and looked at the dazzling scene for a while. Finally he couldn't help but say, "Is this what you call feeling?" Su Mo didn't even look back. He just said "hmm" as a matter of course: "Looking for feeling, isn't it just about the feeling of taking the enemy general's head in the midst of thousands of troops? You see, doesn't this sound similar?"
The factory director was so choked by his fallacy that he could not speak for a long time, and the corners of his mouth twitched.
He pointed at the character on the screen who was surrounded by various halos, flying knives, Bibles, and garlic to the point where he could hardly see the human form, and said: "This...does this have anything to do with playing DK for a dime?"
"Why doesn't it matter?" Su Mo paused the game, finally turned around and explained, "Look, DK's operation is like this endless wave of monsters, one after another, making you breathless. And I, like now, will find the most critical equipment in their encirclement, then develop it, and finally clear them all."
He pulled up a chair and sat down, and said, "I won't talk to you about this anymore. Seriously, let's play DK. What do you think, Brother Mo Zi?"
Su Mo quit the game, leaned on the e-sports chair, and put his hands behind his head.
“How can I tell,” he said calmly, “Anyway, I can beat anyone. Their midfielder is very strong, and their operation has no flaws, but in the end, this game still depends on whose punch is stronger. As long as I penetrate Khan on the top lane, Canyon will have to take care of me. Once he comes, Jiejie will be there. Is there a chance? No matter how good Aker is, a mid laner without jungle radiation can't make a difference. "
"If that's not possible, I can just go to the middle, and I don't think aker can beat me!"
This was an understatement, but full of confidence.
The factory director looked at him and smiled.
He knew that Su Mo never spoke big words. If he said he could pierce through, he would definitely be able to pierce through.
This kind of almost unreasonable self-confidence is the sharpest spear of EDG today.
Sometimes, the more he thought about it, the more angry he became. He had even stopped playing in the game. Who could explain to him that Su Mo could still be as good as he was at his peak?
"Okay, I'm relieved with your words." The director stood up, "Then you continue to find your touch, don't play too late."
"I know."
…
In the next few days, EDG entered the most rigorous week of hell preparation since the start of the World Championship.
The entire team's schedule was kept down to the minute, and the lights in the tactical analysis room were on almost all night long.
The coaching staff led by Abramovich and the factory director took all the video of DK’s matches in this world championship and broke them up frame by frame for analysis.
From Canyon's jungle route and ganking habits in the first ten minutes, to Aker's laning details and roaming timing of different heroes, to Khan's hero pool depth and team battle position... every detail has been recorded and summarized into a thick analysis report.
The intensity of the training matches was also mentioned as the highest.
Although everyone is not that worried because of Su Mo's trump card, they still have to do their job well after all.
EDG invited all the top eight teams they could find for high-intensity secret training.
In this depressing and tense atmosphere, time flies, and in a blink of an eye, the drums of the semi-finals are about to beat.
The top four teams for the 2021 League of Legends Global Finals have all been decided.
What is puzzling is that, except for EDG, the other three teams are actually from the LCK.
First half: GEN.G vs T1.
The civil war in the LCK division.
Lower half: EDG vs DK.
The ultimate showdown between the No. 1 seeds of LPL and LCK.
This game is recognized by players all over the world as a preview of the finals of this World Championship.
Before the start of the competition, online forums in major competition areas around the world were already full of excitement.
Humpu, Tieba and Bilibili in China are filled with a complex emotion of both nervousness and extreme confidence.
A video titled "[Preview of the Decisive Battle] Can Brother Mo Zi defeat DK?" 》’s post reached tens of thousands of posts in just a few hours.
"Brothers, I don't dare to breathe anymore! This is definitely the most valuable semi-final in the history of the S game!"
"What are you afraid of? We have Brother Mo Zi! No matter what your operations are, or what linkage between mid and jungle, I, God Mo, will go straight to the road and clear the level, cutting down your crystals all the way!"
“Don’t be too optimistic upstairs, DK is really different, their sense of suffocation is too strong. The last game against MAD was simply a dimensionality reduction attack. The key to this game is whether Jiejie can withstand Canyon’s pressure.”
"Believe in EDG! Believe in Brother Mo Zi! This year is the most promising year for our LPL! We are still the champions!"
On the other side, South Korea's Inven forum was filled with a chilling atmosphere vowing revenge.
"Mo is indeed very strong, but League of Legends is a game of five people. I don't believe that he can defeat our DK alone."
"Aker, Canyon, please! We must win! For the glory of LCK, beat the most arrogant guy to tears!"
"Khan will be under a lot of pressure, and I hope he can withstand it. As long as he is not single-killed online, our team battles and operations have an absolute chance of winning."
"The final must be a civil war in the LCK! We are the number one division in the world!"
In addition to the heated discussions among fans, professional commentators and e-sports bloggers around the world have also given their own analyses.
The game has not started yet, but under the deliberate guidance of the officials, the discussion has already been in full swing. (End of chapter)