For all League of Legends players worldwide, the 2019 LoL World Championship is the most exciting time of the year. Attending players have the chance to play their hearts out, and for the fans, it’s a month-long festival where they can watch the most exciting matches of the year. And this is not just limited to people.
The same excitement applies to the in-game champions that we all love as well. Casual players will be picking the same champions that get picked at Worlds in solo queue, and those champions will be loved by many players online. If you also think about the champion skins made for the winning team at Worlds and the Championship Skins to add funds to the prize pool, it’s a good chance for these in-game avatars to earn new clothes for themselves.
The 2019 LoL World Championship will be held around Europe from Oct. 2nd to Nov. 12th. Which champions will be at the center of the Worlds’ meta? Here are some of the champions that will potentially be picked a lot, based on the 9.19 patch.
With repeated buffs, nerfs, and remakes to Ryze, he always showed himself at Worlds. With champions like Aatrox and Akali receiving various nerfs, there’s a higher chance of Ryze being picked up by teams in their drafts. Not only is Ryze able to be flexed either mid or top, he’s a great champion to be picked blind. His ability to scale into mid-late game and carry games is still one of the best in the game, so it’s a really good ‘insurance’ pick.
Regions are divided in their level of preference by regions. In the LCK and the LPL, Ryze was picked 33 and 55 times respectively, with roughly a 55% win rate in both. However, Ryze wasn’t as seen as much in NA and EU, and his win rate in those regions was only around 40%. This year, since LEC and LCS are bootcamping in Europe and LCK and LPL are bootcamping in Korea, there’s less information being shared amongst the regions, so Ryze will serve as a good indicator on which regions will lead in meta.
The most anticipated player that will play Ryze well is SKT T1’s legendary mid laner, Faker. Since his debut, he has played Ryze in 48 games, with roughly a 70% win rate and a 5.1 KDA. FunPlus Phoenix’s Doinb is also a player that's proficient on Ryze, where he picked the champion 7 times in the Summer split, with a whopping 100% win rate and an 8.0 KDA.
▲ SB Dove, 31% Damage distribution with Ryze (2019-09-05)
After going through a remake in the 9.16 patch, he’s become a dominant pick in 9.19. Not only does he a lane-dominant pick, he’s able to make unique plays, depending on the player’s proficiency. Pantheon could be flexed into Top, Mid, Jungle, and if paired right, he’s even able to be picked into bot lane, when paired with Taliyah and Swain. It’s a good champion to snowball the game early, and since the current meta is very fast-paced with many small skirmishes, he fits into the meta perfectly.
Although he’s a strong champion in the current meta, whether or not he will be properly utilized in competitive matches is unknown. After the remake, he has been picked 20 times in competitive, but with a disappointing 30% win rate averaging throughout all regions. This year’s Worlds will determine whether or not the low win rate is because of player proficiency on the champion, or he just simply does not fit the meta.
Players in attendance at Worlds that picked Pantheon in their respective regions are FunPlus Phoenix’s Doinb, Clutch Gaming’s Huni, and the ace of Detonation FocusMe, Evi. However, the only player amongst the aforementioned list of players to grab a victory with Pantheon was Doinb.
There are different types of jungle champions: gank-heavy, teamfight oriented, early game junglers, and scaling junglers. Excluding Sejuani, Riot thought that other scaling junglers needed some buffs, so they continuously gave buffs to those junglers.
Dr. Mundo’s E, Masochism, got buffed in the 9.5 patch, his Q, Infected Cleaver, got buffed in 9.7, and received a buff on his W, Burning Agony, in 9.16. These buffs over time made him a top tier jungler.
Dr. Mundo still needs time to scale. However, the time he needs to scale has been significantly reduced, and he becomes an immovable force after he scales, so he might turn out to be a surprise pick at Worlds. It’s especially a good pick for teams that like to draft mid to late game team comps.
Even after his buffs, he hasn’t been seen much in competitive play. The most recent appearance was in the 2019 LJL playoffs, where CGA’s Hachamecha picked him against V3 in game 2 of the semi finals.
Although Dr. Mundo may seem like he doesn’t have much history with Worlds, he actually has a Worlds skin. Lilballz, the jungler for the Season 2 World Champions, Taipei Assassins, played Dr. Mundo with much success in the finals vs. Azubu Frost.
Kled has become a much contested pick in the top lane. Kled received an indirect buff after the Conqueror rune got reworked in the 9.4 patch, and in 9.14, his Q, Beartrap on a Rope, received an additional effect, where it applied a 60% Grievous Wound. This gave Kled an advantage against champions with a lot of sustain, and it also saved him 800 Gold because he doesn’t need to buy Executioner’s Calling, an item that applies Grievous Wound.
Kled fits the meta perfectly because he can be flexed mid or top in drafts, and can peel very well for the other champions. He can also initiate very well, so he might even become a highly contested pick at Worlds. He has a very high win rate, with 52.7% in top lane, and 54.5% in the mid lane.
In Season 9, he’s been seen in competitive play as a pocket pick. He was picked 14 times in the LCK, 13 in the LEC, 12 in the LCS, and 11 times in the LPL, and has proven himself to be the right pick against certain team comps.
Out of the players attending this year’s Worlds, Wunder from G2 Esports, Licorice from Cloud9, Armut from Royal Youth, Finn from Splyce, Doxy from Unicorns of Love, and Bush from AHQ have all used Kled in their respective regions’ regular split. Out of those players, Wunder has the best record on Kled, where he picked Kled 7 times, and has a 71.4% win rate and a 4.9 KDA.
In patch 9.3, crit items received a buff, which spelt indirect buffs to Jinx. Bruiser champions also received a chain of nerfs, so it meant that Jinx has an easier time to get excited. Jinx is a good counter to Kai’sa, a champion that’s been dominant in the bot lane.
Although Jinx hasn’t received any significant buffs, she has become significantly more popular as changes to other champions indirectly buffed her. Teams pick her when Jinx’s lane opponent has a significantly lower auto attack range, and to a champion with no dashes nor blinks, the fact that champions like Akali and Aatrox, who basically have an easy time to stick to Jinx, received a number of nerfs, is also great news for Jinx.
Out of the players attending this year’s Worlds, Innaxe from Unicorns of Love, MnM from Hong Kong Attitude, Wako from AHQ and LilV from J Team have all used Jinx. She’s a champion that has a fairly simple skillset, so teams will be keen to pick her if there are right cards on the table.
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- Byungho "Haao" Kim
- Email : haao@inven.co.kr
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