Chapter 33: Terrifying Fundamentals, Counter-Pressuring Xiaohu, The Turning Point!

Chen Yan glanced at the bottom lane.

Just as he had anticipated, the Caitlyn and Karma duo had contested for level two and pushed the wave, only to be flanked by Sejuani, who secured First Blood. This scene was a common sight in professional play. The interesting part, however, was that Clearlove seemed to have a knack for pinpointing UZi’s position with uncanny accuracy.

"This..." Even the casters, Wawa and Miller, were at a loss for words, offering only wry smiles.

"Bath Dog!"
"He’s been caught a hundred times and still hasn't learned his lesson."

The live stream chat was viciously flaming UZi. When the camera cut to him, UZi was biting his fingernails, clearly aware that his death had been a bit careless. However, this death did not significantly alter the game’s trajectory. Once UZi respawned and returned to the lane, he remained aggressive, keeping the pressure on Zet and Meiko.

...

Chen Yan retracted his gaze after only a brief look. The First Blood was a pleasant surprise, but whether they could win the game ultimately depended on whether his Kassadin could scale effectively. His task for this match was heavy; he didn't just need to reach his power spike, he needed to reach it ahead of schedule. After all, if the game dragged into the late stages, the opposing Camille and Caitlyn were no pushovers. Even at level sixteen, his Kassadin would struggle to make an impact against them. Fortunately, the EDG team composition offered decent crowd control. As long as the tempo was right, Kassadin had a real opportunity to snowball.

As Chen Yan pondered this, he used the magic shield from Kassadin's Q ability to negate the damage from Ryze’s spell.

"So annoying." Xiaohu frowned slightly.

He had expected that by using the long-range Ryze against a melee champion, he would make the rookie Chen Yan’s life miserable. Yet, the laning phase was not going as he had imagined. Kassadin maintained his spacing too well, leaving him unable to land auto-attacks. Even when Kassadin was forced to step up to secure last hits on low-health minions, he would use his Q to mitigate the damage. Combined with Kassadin’s passive, which provided fifteen percent magic damage reduction, his health bar remained in a relatively healthy state.

"I don't believe it!"

Seeing that he couldn't suppress Chen Yan, Xiaohu’s temper flared. His positioning became increasingly aggressive, and he began casting spells more frequently.

"He's getting desperate."

Sensing the shift in Xiaohu’s playstyle, Chen Yan smiled, feeling no panic. He stuck to his steady approach, consuming his Corrupting Potion whenever his health dipped. Before level six, he had only one goal: to secure every last hit.

The period before and after reaching level six was the first major turning point for Kassadin. A pre-six Kassadin could only take a beating, but once he gained his ultimate, he became a genuine threat to Ryze. Therefore, a Kassadin's ability to withstand pressure before level six was a standard metric for measuring his proficiency.

...

Time passed.

The laning phase across all three lanes remained stagnant, which was the norm for this patch. In the jungle, Mlxg managed to steal a camp of Raptors while Clearlove was ganking. Upon discovering this, Clearlove’s voice grew noticeably colder.

"Don't worry, just wait until I hit level six," Chen Yan reminded him.

Kassadin only became a combatant at level six. Until then, Clearlove just needed to ensure the bottom lane turret didn't lose too much health. Clearlove composed himself and went back to farming silently.

Meanwhile, Chen Yan finished his last charge of the Corrupting Potion and began to push the wave toward Ryze. Seeing this, the chat exploded.

"World turned upside down!"
"What kind of laning is Xiaohu doing? Getting pushed in by a Kassadin?"
"Are you blind? Ryze is out of mana."

Exactly, Ryze was out of mana. Ryze was naturally mana-hungry in the early game, and because Xiaohu had been too eager to harass Kassadin, he had depleted his own mana pool first. Although Kassadin had also used his resources, his Corrupting Potion and W ability allowed him to sustain much longer than Ryze. For a mage, running out of mana meant losing the ability to fight. Ryze was forced to passively clear the wave under his tower and immediately recalled.

"Once I get my mana back, I’ll make sure you can’t function!" Xiaohu gritted his teeth. He had felt incredibly stifled during these last few minutes. Once he returned to base and picked up a Tear of the Goddess and some health crystals, he would show Chen Yan what it meant to be 'Mid-Hu,' the 'Spring Emperor,' and the man who had once solo-killed Faker.

However, just as Ryze’s recall timer was about to finish, Kassadin suddenly emerged from the shadows and began clearing the wave.

"Kassadin didn't recall?" Xiaohu’s eyes narrowed, and he immediately realized he had been tricked. Kassadin had intentionally hidden in the fog of war, feigning a recall. His true intention was to bait Xiaohu into recalling and then sneak an extra wave. This meant that if Xiaohu recalled, he would lose minions. While not a massive loss, for a professional player, losing even one was a deficit.

Logically, Xiaohu should have canceled his recall to continue farming. But he hesitated. His recall timer was already in its final stage; interrupting it would mean staying in the lane with no mana. Weighing the pros and cons, Xiaohu gritted his teeth and completed his recall, thinking that losing a few minions didn't matter—he would make it back later.

...

Ryze recalled. As Kassadin cleared the wave, he reached level six. The ultimate significantly increased his wave-clear speed, forcing Xiaohu to miss another one or two minions. Immediately after, Chen Yan commanded his Kassadin to recall on the spot.

"You have to say, this Kassadin's laning is actually quite impressive." At the caster desk, Wawa looked at the mid-lane stats and couldn't help but feel surprised. He had expected the Kassadin to be crushed in lane, yet Ryze was now trailing by five creep kills. It didn't seem like much, but at this stage of the game, five minions was a significant gap. After all, for a professional player, the primary source of economy was farming.

Miller was also amazed. "Chen Yan’s Kassadin, his proficiency is truly high. And with Kassadin reaching level six and getting his ultimate, it feels like Ryze won't be able to pressure him anymore."

Inside the EDG booth, Clearlove looked at Chen Yan’s CS and couldn't help but ask, "Your CS... how are you getting it?"

"Uh..." Chen Yan found the question strange. "Just normally, how else?"

*Tch.* Clearlove rolled his eyes. He had calculated it; Chen Yan had missed only one or two minions at most during the laning phase. Of course, that wasn't unusual for a pro, but considering Chen Yan had maintained this while being at a laning disadvantage—and even counter-pressuring Xiaohu—it was quite intriguing. However, seeing Chen Yan perform so well, Clearlove secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed they really did have a chance in this game.

...

Chen Yan didn't know the extent of Clearlove’s internal monologue. He bought a Dark Seal and a Refillable Potion and headed straight back to the lane. Upon returning, he no longer feared Ryze. Seeing him, he immediately used his ultimate to jump right into Ryze’s face. After trading blows with Xiaohu, the latter realized a serious problem: he couldn't seem to beat Kassadin anymore.

Realizing this, Xiaohu quickly calmed down. He immediately activated his most routine mode—the "passive" mode.

Seeing this, Chen Yan felt a bit of disdain. However, as long as Ryze didn't play recklessly, there wasn't much Chen Yan could do but trade wave-clears. That was until Mlxg invaded Clearlove’s bottom-side jungle and was spotted by an EDG ward; at that moment, the situation finally began to change.