The 2020 League of Legends World Championship begins its Main Event this weekend, with the play-in stage completely wrapped. Team Liquid, PSG Talon, Unicorns of Love and LGD will continue onto the main stage, while all other teams return home. This year’s play-in stage was an exciting one, with several contested matches and upsets. Before the main portion of the event begins, here is an MVP of each play-in stage team.
Team Liquid – CoreJJ
Liquid had an overall strong showing in the play-in stage of the tournament, winning four of five games in their group. Each player had their moment to shine, but CoreJJ stood out as the defining playmaker for TL. He and Kaiwing defined the meta with excellent Rakan performances. CoreJJ played a large role in their key wins over MAD Lions and Legacy Esports. TL’s support averaged 12 assists (third highest overall) and only one death per game (second lowest overall).
Legacy Esports – Babip
While all of Legacy’s players had their ups and downs during the play-in stage, Babip stood out as the key player in their victories. In their worst losses versus Team Liquid and LGD, Babip was unable to get rolling on Jarvan IV, Kindred or Lillia. He looked most comfortable on Nidalee, with even the loss looking okay on the champ. Babip’s 81.6 percent kill participation topped the tournament. He had the best general stats of all of Legacy’s players.
SuperMassive – KaKAO
Although a long-time player, this is only KaKAO’s second World Championship (the last was in 2015). However, his veteran experience clearly showed on the Rift. KaKAO’s 25 percent counter-pick rate was sixth lowest overall, but he still managed to start games with the fourth highest overall gold difference and second highest XP difference at 10 minutes. SuperMassive was responsible for seven of Lillia’s 16 games in the play-in stage. Unfortunately, the champion ended with a 31.3 percent win rate overall.
MAD Lions – Humanoid
MAD Lions had an overall underwhelming performance at Worlds play-ins, but Humanoid definitely showcased a high skill level. He was the only Lion to win lane, farm and deal damage consistently. Humanoid showed a certain grace, even in losses. He came away with the third highest damage per minute and damage share of all Play-In players, despite MAD’s 40 percent win rate. Unfortunately, LEC’s fourth seed did not qualify to the Main Event.
INTZ – micaO
Along similar lines, micaO takes MVP for INTZ. Although the CBLoL representatives only won once in the round robin, micaO played most consistently. He had their highest damage share (26.2 percent) and the third highest kill participation of play-ins (79.2 percent). Some INTZ members had higher highs, but micaO played much better across all games on different style picks, including Senna, Ashe and Ezreal.
PSG Talon – Uniboy
It’s a shame that Kongyue and Uniboy cannot continue Worlds 2020 with PSG Talon. They absolutely took the tournament by storm, locking in first seed to auto-qualify into the Main Event. Uniboy, in particular, clocked a 24.0 KDA and 76.6 percent kill participation across five games. The man’s Orianna never died, his Syndra was monstrous, and his Sett was a force to reckon with. Kogyue had an amazing tournament too, but keep in mind that Uniboy was counter-picked in only one of five games.
Unicorns of Love – Nomanz
Another mid laner that truly showed up in play-ins, Nomanz carried Unicorns of Love to their first Worlds Main Event through pocket picks and strong early games. He came out every game ahead in CS, and then posted the highest damage per minute in the tournament. Nomanz’s Kassadin may be pick or ban moving forward, and his Vayne worked well against SuperMassive to close out the 3-0.
Rainbow7 – Shadow
Fans were singing Josedeodo’s praises during the play-in stage, but Shadow feel like the true MVP across all games. He had the second lowest death share of all supports and a middling KDA, despite Rainbow7’s 29 percent win rate. The team looked pretty messy in their losses, but Shadow was instrumental in their wins over LGD and UOL. The hard engage/peel champs Nautilus and Alistar looked like his bread and butter.
LGD – Kramer
In LGD’s best-of-five series, Peanut’s Kindred was popping off, but in play-ins overall, Kramer was the most consistent. He had a 7.4 KDA and the second lowest death share of any player. With decent laning stats and high damage, Kramer has played solid League of Legends so far, while his teammates have been inconsistent. He has definitely showcased the best Jhin so far.
V3 – Archer
When checking the stats, Archer stands out as V3’s MVP in the play-ins. He showed the best KDA, damage and laning on the team. His 15 percent death share was the fourth lowest in the tournament, while his damage per minute was somehow second highest overall. This bodes well for Archer, as he is a Korean rookie surrounded by teammates with at least two years experience.
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