For a League of Legends fan, the World Championship is the most exciting part of the year. The absolute best teams from each region gather to compete to determine the very best of the best. While each region has familiar faces returning to the World Championships, there are also fresh blood that will capture the hearts of fans around the World. Let’s take a look at who some of those are, and how they’ll lead their team into victory.
DAMWON Gaming first promoted from Challengers Korea into the LCK in 2019, and they’re the very first team to make it to Worlds in the same year that a team has been promoted into the LCK. Known for his hypercarry playstyle, his top 4 picks during the Summer split were Jayce, Camille, Vladimir and Fiora, all of which who're either lane-dominant or hypercarry champions. When he can 1 vs 2 the enemy team, like he has done in the last game of the LCK Regional Finals vs Kingzone, he has shown that he has the potential to become the best in the world.
However, he’s shown that nerves can get the best of him. For example, during the match vs. SKT in the LCK playoffs, he flashed over the wall as Jayce and accidentally auto’d the blasting plant to hop right back into the enemy. Many eyes are on him to see how brightly he'll shine on the grandest stage of them all, but such mistakes will prove to be his downfall.
Griffin first promoted into the LCK in the Summer of 2018, and have been a team that shot themselves up to stardom. They’ve been consistently at the top of the regular seasons in LCK, but failed to capture the trophy by falling to KT Rolster in Summer 2018, and twice to SK Telecom in 2019 Spring and Summer.
Tarzan has shown repeatedly why he's the core win condition for his team. With a 5.6 KDA and 71.8% Kill Participation in just the Summer split alone, Griffin finished 1st in the regular split, and has repeatedly proven himself why he deserves the nickname, “The King of the Jungle”. However, with recent announcement from Griffin that they have parted ways with their head coach, cvMax, many are wondering how Tarzan will perform on his first appearance.
The superstar mid laner from the LPL has shown that not only does he have a vast champion pool to serve the role that his team needs him to be, but he also hyper carries games. In just the Summer Split alone, he has played 21 unique champions, but still had a whopping 5.3 KDA with a 61.5% Kill Participation.
He first joined the LPL scene in 2015, but didn’t get a taste of success until this year, where he joined FunPlus Phoenix to place 3rd in Spring and eventually winning the Summer finals to rightfully earn their ticket to Worlds. There are doubts on whether or not the LPL teams will be able to live up to the hype, so many eyes will be on this superstar mid laner to bring the glory back to their region.
Last year, Fnatic suffered a big loss to their roster when Caps was picked up by their rival organization, G2 Esports. Fnatic then picked up Nemesis, the mid laner from MAD Lions. Although Fnatic got reverse sweeped by G2 on two different occasions in the Summer Split, as a rookie mid laner in the LEC, he has shown that he has potential to become the very best. With SKT and RNG in the same group as Fnatic, many wonder how this newcomer to the Worlds stage will fare in the “Group of Death”.
C9 made history when they became the first NA team to make it to the semifinals at Worlds last year. After the tournament, they’ve lost their mid laner, Jensen, who was picked up by Team Liquid. C9 then acquired Nisqy, a young and promising mid laner hailing from Europe. With the new mid laner in their roster, they’ve shown even further growth throughout the year, and came incredibly close to dethroning the defending LCS champions in the Summer split, Team Liquid, where they were narrowly defeated 2-3 in the Summer Finals.
C9 has always been a team that made it to Worlds. While their road to Worlds this year hasn’t been as turbulent as to previous years, they face immense challenges in their group, where they'll be facing G2 and Griffin. For many C9 fans, many eyes will be on this promising mid laner to see how he’ll fare up against the likes of Caps and Chovy.
Even in a Jin Air Greenwings, a team that’s made history this season for not getting a single win, Teddy was shining like a diamond in the rough. Teddy has proven that even in the worst team in LCK, he has potential to become one of the best in the world. In the offseason of 2019, SKT has gone through massive roster changes, with Teddy being announced as the starting bot laner.
Even when SKT was going through a slump with their 5 game losing streak in the Summer Split, Teddy has been a player to perform consistently at the highest level. With a 7.7 KDA and 10.8 CS per minute, his plays are textbook to all Bot laners around the world: don't miss CS, and deal tons of damage while dodging skillshots. With much hype behind Teddy, how will he fare against two of the greatest bot laners in the world, Uzi and Rekkles, in his very first Worlds appearance?
As the other half of SKT’s bot lane, Effort didn’t really make a name for himself until this year’s Summer split. He has been with SKT for roughly two years, but has been a sub for the entirety of his journey until this Summer. In the team, Effort is known as ‘that reasonable voice in your head’, and according to a recent interview with Clid, he’s “very good at relaying information during teamfights and in making macro decisions.” The Worlds’ stage is a lot different from LCK, so the world will soon find out whether he’s here to stay or a one-hit wonder.
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