On Day 4, EDward gaming secured itself a tie for second place in Group C at the League of Legends World Championship. Against Europe’s H2K, it snowballed a bottom lane advantage while ensuring top stayed even with assistance from the mid lane. Colin “CD Mangaka” Nimer spoke with Chen “Mouse” Yu-Hao about the top lane meta, the EDG and RNG rivalry, and a little of his backstory.

Colin Nimer: I’m talking with EDward Gaming’s top laner, Chen “Mouse” Yu-Hao, after a decisive win over H2K. I know there was a lot of doubt from the community after EDG lost to INTZ on the first day, but this win seems to silence it. How do you feel now that you’ve looked as good as people thought?

Chen Yu-Hao: Actually, it wasn’t the success that helped rebuild our confidence. After the first game, we had an internal meeting and looked to solve our problem. We think that our training and other things we did before the game helped get our confidence back.

CN: You picked Irelia in this game. You’ve played it before in LPL, but we haven’t seen it at worlds until now. What made you go back to that?

CY: I’ve played this champion a lot, but in the game the coach told me to pick it. I’m pretty confident about it.

CN: What strengths do you think Irelia has in the current meta?

CY: I think there’s more influence in the meta from the mid and jungler to help out other lanes to build those strengths. I was helped by them.

CN: Royal Never Give Up is currently doing well in its group. There were questions about how well they would do here because of how easily you guys defeated them in the summer final. What do you think of RNG? Are you worried about meeting them in bracket or do you think you can beat them just as easily again?

CY: Actually, we think that from the last game RNG are not in a good state. Currently, in this Worlds they’ve already adjusted to a very good condition. So now, we’re fully focused on ourselves, but not the other side. It should be a very fierce fight, though.

CN: I wanted to ask a bit about your backstory. You’ve been playing for EDward gaming for a few years now. How did you get into League of Legends and what made you want to go pro?

CY: Well, it’s a long story. At the beginning… it was quite a burden for my family to support me to go to school, so I relieved my stress playing games. I contacted EDG by myself and got enrolled at that time.

CN: Have you been able to go back and help your family then, or have you focused on supporting yourself?

CY: I’m definitely supporting my family. I have a lot of siblings.

CN: What is it like to go overseas as a professional gamer? Do you ever expect to do that when you started?

CY: I think traveling is just what I have to do as a player. If there are games and sponsorships, then I must go because it’s the path I chose.

(Image courtesy of LoL Esports Flickr)