Chapter 60: Suffocating Tempo, Terrifying Gold Difference from Matchup!

The match is over?

The EDG players were all stunned. Were they getting ahead of themselves just because of two kills?

Chen Yan didn't bother to explain.

Were two kills important?
Yes, they were important, but not crucial.

In Chen Yan's eyes, the most critical part of that skirmish was forcing out the Flashes of both Kog'Maw and Lulu.
Flash, as a Summoner Spell, has a cooldown as long as five minutes.
And within those five minutes, how could a WE team lacking in proactive tempo protect a bot lane duo without Flash?

This was the very reason why Chen Yan wasn't flustered at all when he saw Xiye lock in Karma.
While mid-lane Karma could certainly provide the team with powerful utility, the problem was that Karma as a hero was neither reliable nor capable of effective synergy with the jungler.
Once picked, the early-to-mid game tempo dropped essentially to zero.

Yet EDG had drafted the ultimate aggressive early-to-mid game composition.
Using the sharpest spear to pierce the most fragile shield—this was the meticulous thought Chen Yan had put into the draft phase.

...

Back at the spawning pool.
Chen Yan looked at the gold in his inventory, feeling immensely pleased.
Heading down to the bottom lane had yielded a double kill, one of which was First Blood.
The kill gold alone amounted to 700 gold, and factoring in the minion wave, he easily purchased a Zeal.

Upon returning to the middle lane, Yasuo's wave-clearing capability was no longer in the same tier as Karma's.
At the same time, Xiye could sense the high risk of being killed, so he kept his positioning safely in front of his defensive tower.

Seeing this, Chen Yan didn't forcefully pressure Xiye.
Instead, he concealed his vision every time he cleared a wave.
Doing so would lead the opponents to mistakenly believe he was roaming to the side lanes, thereby increasing the pressure on WE's side lanes.

At this point, someone might ask: wouldn't Xiye call out "missing"?
In professional play, however, missing calls weren't always that useful, nor could they be casually tossed out.
If Xiye called missing, the bottom lane duo would have to back off, sacrificing experience and gold.
If they successfully avoided a Yasuo gank, that would be fine, but what if Yasuo was only pretending to roam to the side lane and hadn't actually gone?
How many waves of lost farm could the WE bot lane duo afford to absorb?

Leveraging this exact point, Chen Yan pushed the pressure on WE to its absolute limit.

After about a minute of this psychological warfare, Yasuo's ultimate ability was nearly cooled down.
This was another advantage of Yasuo; compared to other champions, his ultimate had a much shorter cooldown.

"Come on, let's go bot."
After shoving out the wave, Chen Yan directly called for the jungler, Jarvan IV, to head toward the bottom lane.

Previously, it had been a fake gank on the bot lane; this time, it was the real deal.
When Xiye realized something was amiss, Yasuo and Jarvan IV had already appeared right behind WE's bottom lane duo.

The expressions of Mystic and Ben turned unsightly.
With no one to come to their rescue, the two of them were dead to rights.

"Again! EDG has tasted sweetness in the bottom lane."
"They are targeting them way too hard."

Up on the caster desk, WaWa and Miller silently offered a few seconds of mourning for WE's bottom lane duo.
They were having a miserable time.

Miller asked, "Is there anyone who can bail them out?"

Just as he spoke, a pillar of blue light suddenly materialized.
Teleport!

"Nautilus! It's Nautilus's Teleport!"

Seeing Nautilus commit his TP, Chen Yan decisively commanded his teammates to pull back.
The WE composition completely lacked the means to lock anyone down, and EDG easily distanced themselves.

Nautilus landed.
Meanwhile, Rumble was happily farming away in the top lane.
Having descended, 957 dared not linger and hurriedly hurried back to the top lane.

WaWa couldn't help but remark, "Nautilus T'd down and didn't accomplish anything. That's a bit of a loss."

"There's no help for it," Miller said, staring at the screen. "If Nautilus didn't T, the bottom lane duo would be doomed. Nautilus had no choice but to sacrifice his own farm to salvage the bottom lane's growth."

"So touching."
"Brother Legs is truly too team-oriented."
"The bot lane duo should kowtow to Brother Legs; that's only fair."

The chat stream scrolled endlessly.

At that moment, WaWa suddenly posed a rather tricky question to Miller.
"With Nautilus gone, what happens if EDG comes to dive the bot lane again?"

"This..." Miller was momentarily stumped, before laughing, "Don't ask me, go ask the players."

Everyone burst into laughter.

Yet, EDG did precisely that.
The moment Nautilus showed his vision back in the top lane, Yasuo and Jarvan IV reappeared in the bottom lane.

Without Nautilus to protect them this time, Kog'Maw and Lulu had zero room for counterplay.
Jarvan IV directly knocked up Kog'Maw with his EQ combo.

Last Breath!

Yasuo followed up with his ultimate, and after a few swift sword strikes, Kog'Maw's health plummeted.
Combined with the damage from Kalista and Thresh, Kog'Maw was killed the moment he landed.
Shortly after, Lulu followed him to the grave.

"Double kill."

Chen Yan claimed another two kills.

"Another double kill!" WaWa exclaimed in disbelief. "Yasuo is 4/0 already. Wait, he actually knows how to play this champion?!"

Miller gently drew in a breath.
Yasuo had been far too active this game, possessing an overwhelming presence.
In stark contrast, Xiye looked as though he had turned invisible.

Already, viewers in the chat were flaming Xiye for playing like a bound-earth spirit.

Yet, Xiye harbored his own bitter struggles.
Just playing the matchup against Yasuo was difficult enough, and with Yasuo continuously picking up kills, the pressure in lane was immense—one minor slip-up and he risked being solo-killed by Yasuo.

To put it bluntly, Xiye could barely manage his own lane; how could he possibly care about the fate of his teammates?

...

"Bang!"

After securing the bottom lane kills, the four members of EDG combined their efforts to demolish WE's tier-one bottom tower.

"Not even ten minutes in, WE's tier-one tower falls. Would you believe it?" WaWa looked at the screen, feeling somewhat surreal.
Was this still the EDG team notorious for failing to win from ahead and faltering out of hesitation?

"If we covered up the team names, I'd think this was..."

Mid-sentence, WaWa suddenly realized something was amiss; mentioning any other team at this juncture seemed inappropriate.
Yet Miller, ever eager to watch the spectacle unfold, wore a teasing smile and pressed on, "Think this was who?"
WaWa turned to Miller, "I'm saying you've gotten mischievous now, trying to disrupt the unity of LPL teams. Who taught you that?"
Miller smiled, "I learned it from watching Brother Yan's stream. I always watch his stream when I have free time."

Puff!

This reply instantly cracked up everyone present.
"Hahaha, Miller is a verified Yan fan too."
"There's an imposter among us, abort the trade."
"Brother Yan's army holds immense clout."
"Even Miller calls him Brother Yan?"
"Laughing. Brother Yan said that even his own dad would have to call him Brother Yan if he showed up."

The chat went wild.
WaWa couldn't quite keep a straight face either.

Amidst their banter, Yasuo secured a few more minion waves and chose to recall.
"Let's see what Yasuo is buying upon return..."

As he spoke, Yasuo directly pulled out Statikk Shiv.

"???"
The chat was flooded with question marks.

"Huh?!"
WaWa was dumbfounded as well. "Yasuo has this much gold?!"

Although Statikk Shiv was relatively inexpensive, it was barely past the ten-minute mark, yet Yasuo had already completed Berserker's Greaves and Statikk Shiv...

Comparing that to Karma, who still held a Doran's Ring + Health Potion + Dark Seal + Faerie Charm + Boots of Speed...
It was the absolute difference between a tycoon and a refugee.

Miller fell silent for a moment before remarking, "The middle lane is completely crushed this game. To be honest, Yasuo's performance is simply exaggerated—at ten minutes, his positional gold lead is approaching 2,000."

And it wasn't just Yasuo leading in his matchup; the entire EDG roster was ahead, with the team gold difference exceeding 3,000.

This outcome completely defied expectations.
Prior to the match, they had both favored WE's composition, only for WE to suffer such a massive early-game deficit.

"However, WE's composition still has a chance for a comeback. As long as they stall, stall until Kog'Maw reaches his item spikes..."

Listening to the casters' analysis, everyone's gaze drifted back to the gold differential between the two teams.

Could WE really manage to stall this out?