Bloody Rose (2)
"Alright, Seona. Sera, come over here and watch too. You'll end up doing lane swaps together a lot down the line. Both of you, get this down solid—how to handle the Elementalist with Shadow Assassin. It's not just for Shadow Assassin either; it's the key to countering Elementalists no matter what champion you're on. Burn it into your memory."
I'd been drilling Yuna, Eunjae, and Hayoung through their training, but now I pulled Seona and Sera aside for some special one-on-one coaching.
"First off, what do you two think about the lane matchup between Shadow Assassin and Elementalist?"
"If the skill levels are even, Elementalist wins, obviously."
"Elementalist."
"No way, Shadow Assassin eats it alive."
"That's ridiculous!"
Shadow Assassin was known as a carry champion that could scrape together at least a few CS thanks to its long-range poke with Shadow Daggers, even if laning was tough. Of course, that didn't change the fact that it was inherently weak early game as a carry, so everyone agreed its laning phase was subpar—and took that as gospel.
But my claim that Shadow Assassin could devour the Elementalist flew straight in the face of conventional wisdom. No wonder Seona and Sera weren't buying it right away.
"Why do you think the Elementalist has the edge in lane over Shadow Assassin?"
"Because Elementalist's ranged, duh. You can't dagger all the CS, so you have to step up for auto-attacks—and every time you do, you eat poke. How are you supposed to survive that?"
"Plus, Elementalist's a magic damage dealer. Shadow Assassin's passive is useless in a 1v1, so it just loses."
Not far off from the common perception at the time.
But having mained Elementalist as my most-picked champion during my pro days—and faced off against countless pros on it—I knew that view stemmed from a blind spot.
"Recite the ten Elementalist skills by elemental combo, from top to bottom."
"Fire 3: Flare. Fire 2 Lightning 1: Meteor. Fire 2 Ice 1: Burning Soul. Lightning 3: Plasma. Lightning 2 Fire 1: Firepower Enhancement. Lightning 2 Ice 1: Tornado. Ice 3: Frostbite. Ice 2 Fire 1: Ice Wall. Ice 2 Lightning 1: Mist Step. Fire 1 Lightning 1 Ice 1: Crescent Wave."
"So which of those skills do you think stops Shadow Assassin from beating Elementalist?"
"Which one? Plasma you can sidestep, but Tornado, Meteor, Flare, Crescent Wave... If you try to trade, you eat Frostbite, scream in pain, try to run, and then bam—ice wall."
I corrected Seona's answer.
"First, you know it's impossible for Elementalist to max all those out in the laning phase, right? Mana aside, spreading points evenly across elements is way less efficient than going all-in on one tree. They'll have to drop most of them early. At best, they level one for a combo, but even that's inefficient. From what I've analyzed, Han Areum's Elementalist only puts one point in Lightning early for combos and focuses on Fire and Ice."
"Isn't that the most dangerous? Meteor and Flare are the strongest. To trade, you eat Frostbite and Burning Soul, try to escape, and get blocked by Ice Wall..."
"Are Meteor and Flare instant casts?"
"Well... no, but..."
Meteor telegraphs from the sky. You can predict where it'll land and its roll path based on the cast spot and the Elementalist's position. Sure, the damage is insane, but it's not unavoidable.
And Flare. This one's a global skill with a delay of well over a second after cast before it drops. Pros use it to snipe fleeing enemies from across the map, but its big flaws are the damage spreading out in an area and that long delay.
Even after hearing that, Seona and Sera didn't look convinced.
"Okay, but how do you even trade? Even without those two, if they pop Burning Soul and Frostbite and smack you together, you can't tank it. You won't even be able to run..."
"You know Burning Soul only summons one minion when Fire and Ice levels are low, right? The damage is weak too. It's all in your head—feels scary because you're outnumbered, but it's really not that big a deal. The real issue is the defense shred from it more than the damage itself. And that's why you buy Stout Shield of Agility."
"...You seriously think that's enough to win?"
"One more thing. Shadow Assassin's evasion passive."
Frostbite debuff means you take bonus magic damage and a very brief stun every time you're hit. There's a slight gap between procs, but the mini-stuns keep interrupting your attacks and skills—super annoying. Add in nearby minions and the Elementalist's summoned Burning Soul attacks, and yeah, like Seona said, you get chunked to death.
But Shadow Assassin—this champion alone—could pierce right through it.
A little-known fact, since the early-game weak carry rarely went mid anyway, and no one even thought to lane it against magic dealers.
Seona and Sera, trapped in that fixed mindset, still looked skeptical.
"Guess you have to experience it firsthand. If I pick Shadow Assassin, you'll just complain you can't keep up, so you two pick it. Build the items and skill order I told you. I'll go Elementalist and go easy on you, so don't chicken out."
The custom game started, and Seona went first as the mid main.
Even with Stout Shield of Agility, she hesitated, glancing at me nervously, just poking around the edges and snagging CS from afar with daggers. Fixed ideas are scary like that.
"Be aggressive! Where's the brainless all-in Kim Seona I know?!"
"What'd you say!? Ugh, why do you say my head's empty!"
Seona stormed out in a huff to smack minions. I immediately activated three Fire orbs and whacked her. Her health dipped from my auto-attack, but...
"Huh?"
"Doesn't hurt much, right?"
"You put a point in Ice at level 1?"
"You see these fire orbs swirling around me?"
"Three Fires and it only chunks this much?"
Elementalist's elemental orbs don't just combo into skills—they have minor passive effects too. Fire boosts auto damage, Lightning boosts attack speed, Ice boosts health regen.
I'd hit her with the strongest auto setup—three Fires—but her health barely budged.
"That's the Stout Shield of Agility effect. Melee champs with it take way less damage than you'd think. It flat-out reduces champion autos, and blocks minion damage 50% of the time. You know how scary minions are over the champ in low-level trades, right?"
"Yeah, yeah, I've died to it once or twice."
"For melee champs, it cuts 30 damage. More mitigation than minion attack power. 50% chance, but means zero minion damage sometimes. And level 1 three-Fire Elementalist autos don't even hit 60. That's over half reduction guaranteed. See why I said you can lane with just this, no health pots?"
"Still, you can't play forever just eating hits."
"True. So farm up safely early, then first back buy a Flask. Shadow Assassin barely uses mana, so you can stick to lane through all three charges.
"And one more. Depending on whether they level Fire or Ice first, adjust your response. Fire first means more damage but low regen. Ice first is the opposite. At level 3, check their champ info. If damage feels higher, they went Fire. Once they do, stop using daggers for CS—spam it on the Elementalist. Ice first? Same deal."
Seona tilted her head, and so did Sera watching from the side.
"CS only on autos?"
"Yep. Fire-first Elementalist regens slow. You hit 3, start spamming level 2 daggers, and they drop below half health fast. Ice lasts a bit longer, but you still out-trade. One caveat: don't level your skill at 2. Hold it."
"Why?"
"Gotta see if they go Fire or Ice at 3 and match it. Fire 2 at 3? Take Shadow Strike. Level 4, Evasion Master. Ice 2? Reverse it."
"Then what do we do after?"
"That's what I'm teaching you step by step from now on. Memorize it cold—we're drilling this from here out."
Seona and Sera probably had no idea their training dummy was the world's strongest Elementalist.
A few days passed, and the ECK Division 3 schedule resumed.
By coincidence, our first match back was against Bloody Rose.
The players shed their long coats onto the waiting room chairs and gathered for my final pep talk.
"They've got Hollow Spirit and Earth Spirit, so they'll almost certainly pick Silent Magician. Hayoung, Sera—watch for silences. Especially you, Sera. You're the carry; you can't die. If it gets dicey, Hayoung, throw yourself in to save Sera. Eunjae, back them up right away if it's risky."
"Got it, don't worry."
"Guess I'll have to stick to lane more this time."
"I'll trust you sisters."
"Yuna, if you pull Mightback, expect them to grab something ranged like Tidal or Moon Priestess. If so, CS with Thorn Burst focus. Stack management for dives—take at least one with you. And remember to turn your back when eating hits."
"I know all that without you telling me!"
"Seona. Remember everything we drilled? No one knows Shadow Assassin eats Elementalist. They'll get cocky if you show mid. Adapt per situation like I taught. Don't brain-off play and eat skills—dodge smart."
"Hmph, it's me, Kim Seona."
After days of nonstop drilling on the Shadow Assassin vs. Elementalist mid matchup, Seona brimmed with confidence—her face lit up.
"Players, time to prep for the match!"
Staff call.
"Winning this won't make us number one overnight, but stacking wins like this is how we get there. Let's carve a big scar into the top team's record. Shining Star!"
"Fighting!"
The journey to conquer Division 3's greatest mountain had begun.