The League of Legends World Championship is almost here! Jack Stewart takes a look at some of the key players participating at the tournament who will be looking to achieve this year's MVP award.
League of Legends (LoL) may be a team-based game, but the title has always allowed individuals to shine.
The 2023 LoL World Championship (Worlds) is close to getting underway, and we will soon add another name to the illustrious list of legendary players who have been awarded the prestigious Worlds MVP award.
A player from every role has won the award, though only one AD Carry (ADC) and one Support have managed to do so, while Junglers and Mid Laners have earned the award three times each. Whether that affects your personal prediction for this year’s MVP award is up to you, it could go to anybody - as we saw last year with DRX’s Top Laner Hwang "Kingen" Seong-hoon.
We’ve decided to look at the top 10 teams favoured to win the tournament and pick which player on each roster is the most likely MVP candidate (should their team win Worlds).
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JD Gaming (2.150) – “knight”
Any member of JDG could easily become MVP, but it’s hard to choose anyone but Zhuo "knight" Ding. The Mid Laner has been recognised as an elite player for a while now, and finally got his long-awaited international triumph earlier this year at the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI).
He was awarded the MVP award both at MSI and during the LPL Summer Finals. Should he complete the trifecta, we could be witnessing the “knight” era of LoL esports.
LNG Esports (5.020) – “Scout”
Yes, another Mid Lane pick - but for good reason. Despite “knight” being voted as the top LPL Mid Laner in the summer All-Pro team votes, Lee "Scout" Ye-chan was voted MVP for how pivotal he was for LNG.
He was also awarded the Group Stage MVP award and won more individual series MVP awards than any other LPL player, with 14 during groups, and another six during the playoffs. After earning Worlds MVP in 2021, he could become the first to win the individual award twice.
Gen.G (5.330) – “Peyz”
Our first ADC in the list, the first year of Kim "Peyz" Su-hwan’s professional career has been outstanding. He was awarded MVP during the Spring Playoffs Final triumph over T1, and he was remarkably consistent in the Summer Playoffs Final as well, registering an absurd combined KDA of 34/3/16 over three games.
Given his remarkable rise, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him picked for the award should Gen.G lift the Summoner’s Cup.
Bilibili Gaming (8.040) – “Bin”
And now, a Top Laner - Chen "Bin" Ze-Bin is well known by now as a player who can make explosive plays to win his team games. “Bin” has had another solid year, and as a result was understandably voted as the best Top Laner in China during the LPL Summer All-Pro votes.
T1 (8.500) – “Zeus”
Choi "Zeus" Woo-je has impressed in his first full year as T1’s starting Top Laner. Awarded four MVP awards during the LCK Summer Playoffs - more than any other player – “Zeus” has proven himself as one of T1’s biggest threats, alongside Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok.
The team regularly funnels resources into him, and he is more than capable of carrying the burden of playing as one of T1’s major win conditions.
Weibo Gaming (10.300) – “Weiwei”
Finally, a Jungler on this list. Wei "Weiwei" Bo-Han is an absolute monster, and the rest of the world is about to find out.
“Weiwei” has always been an outstanding Jungler, but has sadly missed out on a spot at Worlds until now. He was the driving force behind Weibo’s Regional Finals run, with more MVP awards than any other player in the tournament - two of the three coming in the lower bracket final.
KT Rolster (11.480) – “Lehends”
Our only Support on this list, Son "Lehends" Si-woo has been in extraordinary form this summer.
In fact, he became only the second Support ever to win an LCK Split MVP award this summer with the highest average assists in the league during the regular season, with 10.1 over 40 games.
While the playoffs didn’t go in KT’s favour, the team had an extraordinary regular season run of 17 wins and just one loss. This team has a very high ceiling, and “Lehends” is a big part of that.
Dplus KIA (13.440) – Canyon
Another player who has won the Worlds MVP award previously, we all know how good Kim "Canyon" Geon-bu is. Hence why he and Heo "ShowMaker" Su have qualified for the last five World Championships together.
“Canyon” came second to “Lehends” in the Player of the Split votes in summer, and he was also joint-first in the LCK Summer Player of the Game standings with a total score of 1200. Whenever Dplus are playing well, “Canyon” is almost always the driving force behind it.
G2 Esports (21.490) – “Caps”
Our first Western team. If LEC champions G2 Esports are going to lift the Summoner’s Cup, then they need to get the best out of Rasmus “Caps” Borregaard Winther.
The highly decorated Mid Laner has been rather inconsistent over the last few years, yet he always seems to step up for the big occasions. He did just that against his former team, Fnatic, in the Season Finals this year, with an impressive combined KDA of 30/7/29 over those four games.
However, also keep an eye on Top Laner Sergen "BrokenBlade" Çelik, who has had a tremendous year. He finished the Season Finals with the highest KDA of all players (8.2), and was awarded Player of the Series in two of G2’s three bouts.
Fnatic (36.270) – “Razork”
Fnatic have had a spectacular turnaround this season, going from failing to qualify for Winter Groups to becoming Europe’s second seeds - and no player has had a bigger flip in form than Iván "Razork" Martín Díaz.
An aggressive yet unselfish Jungler, “Razork” was heavily criticised at the start of the year as he and Fnatic struggled. However, fast forward to summer, and he was awarded Player of the Series in both of Fnatic’s 3-2 victories over Team BDS and MAD Lions during the Season Finals for his fantastic performances.
Against MAD in the semifinals, he sported ridiculous scores of 4/1/20 and 9/1/12 in the first two games as he proved to be a vital member of this rejuvenated squad.
