TES completely crushed IW in their first MSI match, and in everyone's eyes, the next match already felt decided.
But compared to the previous four games, this one was pure domination.
A 29–2 scoreline told you everything—it was a massacre.
Even though there were still matches afterward, the number of domestic viewers who kept watching instantly dropped by half.
TES's match was over. Why stay and watch the rest?
Watch the remaining low-level brawls and insult your own eyes?
Better to switch to Channel Two—at least there were girls there to look at.
Fair skin, long legs. Huya's edging game was strong, pushing the limits just right.
Otherwise, the guests invited to Channel Two wouldn't need to cover themselves.
There were still a small number of people in post-nut clarity mode who wandered over to Weibo.
They chatted a bit, bragged a bit, and praised just how outrageous TES's first-game performance had been.
Of course, the internet wasn't full of TES fans.
With so many domestic teams, jealousy was inevitable.
Some people just loved jumping out to sing a different tune.
"Wasn't it just a Turkish team? What's impressive about beating a small fish pond? If this wasn't a big win, there'd be no point going to MSI at all."
"Oh, the haters are out again? TES didn't even want to go. Didn't you see the earlier announcement? They chose to withdraw—then Riot begged them to come back."
"Are the haters mad? TES was begged back by the organizers. Didn't you see Twitter? Riot was practically groveling, even allowing online play."
"I crack up every time I see those empty seats. But that's all the Korean side's own doing."
"So now we're haters? We're just saying don't be overly optimistic. IW is only a Turkish team—not strong. No need to celebrate so hard."
"That's actually reasonable. The match intensity wasn't high. If they lose later, it'd be embarrassing."
"Didn't you watch the post-game interview? When they won, no one looked excited at all. For TES, it was just expected."
"Only when Auntie Yu Shuang came in did the atmosphere get cold."
"Brother Infinite Borders: JackeyLove is way too flashy!"
"JackeyLove: Brother Infinite Borders trolled me earlier!"
Honestly, the internet really lacked rational discussion.
Different viewpoints instantly turned into arguments.
But once things cooled down a bit, the gunpowder smell faded.
"Before winning the championship, there's no need for big celebrations. RNG also crushed SSG in groups—but that year SSG still won Worlds. Winning groups isn't winning finals."
That was actually very reasonable.
A lot of people celebrating along with it also calmed down.
Winning a match was worth being happy about, but at the end of the day, it was just one group-stage win.
They'd only secured one point.
Beating SKT and winning the championship—that was when celebration would make sense.
So opinions didn't completely swing one-sided after the match.
There were simply too many past examples.
IG once even beat SKT in sixteen minutes—a shocking stomp.
Everyone thought MSI was guaranteed.
Yet the team that laughed last was G2, who'd looked mediocre in groups.
That kind of reversal was truly unexpected.
There was precedent…
In the blink of an eye, it was May 13.
TES had cruised through three straight group-stage wins, now sitting at 3–0.
And according to the schedule, all of Group B's matches would be played today.
That meant TES would play three matches in one day.
For fans, it was great news—a visual feast.
Group stage was just an appetizer; the real fun was in the knockout stage.
Right now, the three major regions were separated.
Simply put, the matches weren't very entertaining—mostly one-sided stomps.
Worth mentioning was that SKT's bot lane got lane-killed again.
They still won, but bot lane definitely lost.
People started seriously questioning LCK bot lane strength.
What was this garbage? Even against wildcard teams they got smashed.
Honestly, it was kind of funny.
People even made compilation videos just to meme it.
But the good mood vanished the moment today's broadcast began.
Wawa and Miller appeared with serious expressions and announced something important.
"Riot Games has compared TES's match footage and found that the latency between online and offline play did not meet standard requirements…"
"So it has been decided that TES's previous matches will be replayed. Their current record is now 0–0."
The moment Wawa finished speaking, the livestream chat exploded.
What did that mean?
What kind of nonsense was this?
Targeted harassment?
At the same time, Riot's official Chinese Weibo quietly released an announcement.
"The 2022 Mid-Season Invitational has been underway for three days. After broader technical evaluation of match and practice environments, we found discrepancies between recorded latency and the experience at the Busan venue…
…
…
We sincerely apologize to players, teams, and fans, and we will continue working with players to monitor match environments and uphold competitive integrity."
In reality, TES had already been notified earlier that day and discussed rematch scheduling.
Riot's attitude was actually quite good.
After all, this really was an online match, ping control was tricky at first, and there was no prior experience.
There had never been an online team at an international event before.
Some oversight was understandable.
The key point was that Riot apologized immediately and sought remedies.
TES had originally chosen to withdraw from the tournament.
If TES had chosen to walk away at this point, things would've been a mess.
Riot's attitude was so sincere that even Lin Song, head of Riot China, personally came to apologize.
You don't hit someone who's smiling at you.
TES felt awful hearing the news, but ultimately accepted it.
They even proposed replaying all three matches on the 13th.
Mainly because they knew Lin Fan would soon be participating in the Teamfight Tactics China qualifiers.
No one wanted Lin Fan to forfeit.
They wanted to see a League pro go wreak havoc in a TFT tournament.
Just thinking about it was fun.
As for playing six matches in one day—honestly, these teams weren't that strong.
If you really counted it, it was like playing six ranked games.
Not much pressure.
Luo Sheng even thought the rematch was a good thing.
That way, Lin Fan could play a few more games…
Proposing to finish everything on the 13th made Riot very happy.
It made scheduling easier and avoided three back-to-back games without rest.
Of course, six matches in one day was intense.
So Riot confirmed multiple times before rescheduling.
But fans didn't know any of this.
So the flaming was fierce.
The comment count under Riot's Weibo shot past fifty thousand.
Going from 3–0 back to 0–0 was psychologically hard to accept.
At that moment, TES's official Weibo also released a statement.
In short, they accepted the rematch.
And since Riot's attitude was good, they urged fans to stay calm.
Of course, it didn't help much.
Riot's Weibo and Twitter were both flooded.
As for the Korean side, they just watched the chaos with glee.
A rematch meant all previous stats were wiped.
That seven-year-old kill record? Gone.
Seventeen kills? As if it never happened.
Dine must be mentally exploding, right?
Could he get seventeen kills again? No way!
Maybe he'd tilt, underperform, and even fail to advance.
That'd be hilarious.
So the Korean fans started cheering for wildcard teams the moment matches began.
You could practically feel their throats giving out through the screen.
"Heh, enjoying others' misfortune."
"Honestly, aren't we kind of the same?"
"Damn it, why do I only meet Korean fanboys online? If I met one in real life, I'd teach him how to behave with my fists!"
"Get lost with your 'neutral take.' Renouncing citizenship costs 250 yuan—I'll pay it for you."
"I hate you traitors the most. I support domestic players unconditionally! When they compete abroad, they shouldn't be bullied!"
At that moment, Chinese chants echoed from the stands.
"TES, let's go!"
"TES, let's go!"
There was no SKT match today, so a small group of international students finally got tickets.
Even though TES was playing online, they still came to the Busan Esports Arena to cheer.
"Charge!"
"Crush them!"
With the chants, the livestream chat went wild.
Wawa and Miller were visibly moved.
It had been a long time since they'd felt something like this.
"TES aren't born kings, but they carry blood that never bows. So do we. Let's go, TES!" Miller said with a deep breath.
With the format adjustment, TES's first rematch was against PSG.
A Southeast Asian team—essentially the old LMS roster from Taiwan.
Nothing special, just a lot of trash talk.
This game, Lin Fan locked in Talon.
The moment the pick appeared, everyone knew TES wasn't here to joke around.
They were bringing the heavy artillery right from game one.
Bay had already experienced Lin Fan's strength before.
So this game, he picked Orianna and decided to farm safely under tower.
No chances, no risks.
Just scale to mid-late game and save the world with one Shockwave…
Many mid laners were obsessed with Orianna.
Whenever they couldn't beat their opponent, they defaulted to her.
Strong laning, hard to kill, and monstrous late-game ult.
Absolute insurance.
Seeing this pick, Tian laughed.
"This guy definitely hasn't seen what happens to Orianna picks before."
He locked in Hecarim.
If Orianna didn't die eight times this game, picking Hecarim would be meaningless.
He reached that goal by twelve minutes.
Eight deaths in twelve minutes—Bay was completely out of it.
As for Lin Fan's Talon, with six kills and a Tiamat completed, his waveclear with W was maxed.
Another ghost-like roaming assassin massacre.
This was even scarier than the Zed game.
PSG was playing League of Legends—but it felt like a horror game.
Especially the ADC.
He stepped out to last-hit a minion.
Didn't even see a shadow.
His HP bar vanished.
He froze in fear.
They'd thought the rematch meant a chance at first place.
Instead, TES's mental wasn't affected at all.
They played even harder.
Had they become a punching bag?
Only TES's cheers remained in the Busan arena.
Some Korean fans couldn't stand it and left early.
TES felt even more ruthless.
Why wasn't their mentality affected at all?
Shouldn't they be furious, protesting nonstop?
They couldn't understand what went wrong.
Wasn't wiping results a huge deal?
At twenty-seven minutes, Talon ulted and picked up two kills.
Nineteen kills total.
"Beautiful! Brother Infinite Borders not only broke the kill record again—he added two more! Nineteen kills in a single game!" Wawa shouted.
So what if it's a rematch?
Raw strength is absolute.
TES pushed down PSG's base at twenty-seven and a half minutes.
"Tu Bro is still Tu Bro. No one's a more 'outstanding' mid than him."
"What's the point? The rematch reset the stats anyway."
"Hahaha, MSI's been going four days, and TES finally got their first win on day four."
When the match ended, the livestream chat exploded.
One word summed it up—satisfying.
TES clearly wasn't affected at all.
There was no need to worry about the remaining matches.
An easy six-win day.
Add that to the previous 9–0—first place out of groups.
The second match against IW ended in eighteen minutes.
The third against RED took a bit longer—twenty-three minutes.
Stats reset back to 3–0…
After the first round, a short break, then the second round.
The start scared everyone a bit.
Mid lane got targeted early—three-man gank, Lin Fan died.
The Korean fans immediately started screaming again.
But their face-turn speed was impressive.
Lin Fan seized an opportunity, solo-killed mid, flipping 0–1 into 1–0.
Momentum slowed slightly, but the outcome didn't change.
They won again at twenty-seven minutes.
IW and RED couldn't make waves at all.
Their tactical depth and individual skill were simply lacking.
To be blunt—spot them five kills and they still couldn't win.
Then people realized something.
Originally, the schedule with three extra matches should've gone until 11 PM.
But everything finished by 9:30.
An hour and a half early…
In the end, TES advanced to the knockout stage with a perfect 6–0 record.
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup