“League of Legends Worlds:” Ultimate Fantasy Team
A Look at the Best “League of Legends: Worlds” Players, Building Our Own Fantasy Team
League of Legends Worlds is the best place to see the best talent from all regions, with South Korea, China, Europe and North America sending three teams, alongside two teams from South-East Asia and two more seeds from Wildcard regions; this year from Brazil and Turkey.
Not everyone has impressed, as there have been a few notable slip-ups on the "Worlds" stage, including Edward Gaming's NaMeI, Fnatic's SoAZ, the whole of SK Gaming, OMG's Dade777 and Alliance's slip up against Kabum eSports - costing them a shot at the Quarter Finals.
Now we'll take a look at the best players in each role at "Worlds" and building our own fantasy team.
Top: Gao "GoGoing" Diping
Last year, OMG lost in the quarter-finals to Royal Club, and it might have affected GoGoing the most in a good way. He returned to "Worlds" with a vengeance, wanting to get further than he did last year, making some incredible plays in the quarter-finals against Najin White Shield to secure OMG's semi-finals spot.
GoGoing has an adaptable champion pool that works around being the secondary carry for OMG. He plays a near perfect Ryze and has had excellent games on Irelia, Maokai, and Rumble at "Worlds." He is the main shot-caller of the team, rarely dies to ganks or early trades, and manages to always make something happen in the late-game for OMG.
Jungler: In-kyu "Dandy" Choi
Dandy is the best Jungler at "Worlds" by some distance, there isn't another role with as big a disparity between first and second place. Dandy does everything right as a Jungler: provides early pressure, early vision, he can carry when needed and acts as initiator for his team alongside Support Mata.
Watching the games Samsung White played at "Worlds," most of the wins come from Dandy's hyper-aggression in the early game. Three buff starts, early ganks, and understanding the exact path the enemy Jungler is taking are all parts of what make him the superstar Jungler at "Worlds."
Not much is known about the early game of Samsung White in terms of communication, but Dandy must play a crucial part in the decision making and shot-calling, even if Mata is known as the voice of authority on the team. His intuition on where the enemy Jungler will be, alongside having solid lanes that can always perform, allows him to take control of enemy jungle and never let go.
Mid: Won-seok "Pawn" Heo
On OGN Champions, Pawn was labelled the third-best Mid behind Faker and Dade for most of the year. Faker might still be the best Mid laner in the world, but Pawn showed he is the best at Worlds this year, outclassing Dade in their best-of-five.
Pawn does have the best Jungler and Support at his side, but unlike Samsung White's Top laner, Pawn has shown individual performances and has changed his style-of-play from passive to counter-aggressive; making plays off the enemies mistakes.
Pawn has shown he can play a laundry list of champions, including pocket-picks like Fizz and Jayce. He rarely dies in lane, and is capable of coming back from early disadvantages, utilising the power of his Jungler Dandy to stay ahead of his opponent.
AD Carry: Jian "Uzi" Zihao
Uzi is the King of Worlds. Twice he has taken an average group of players to Worlds' finals and twice he has lost to Koreans. At only 17, it is only a matter of time before Uzi manages to claim the title for his own, if he continues to play professionally.
Star Horn Royal Club were not the first seed out of China, they were the third. For most of the Chinese LPL, Star Horn Royal Club sat at fourth, but once Worlds was mentioned Uzi & Co started shining in playoffs.
When people tell you how great Uzi is at League of Legends, it might be hard to understand just how good one player can be, especially since the AD Carry position has been dumped from its reign in Season 2. Watch a video in slow-motion of Uzi at Worlds - not only does he understand the maximum amount of damage his champion can output, but he is a god at dodging skill-shots and utilising his teams shields and defensive summoners, while keeping a hold of his own.
He might be overaggressive, but the team is built around Uzi's success. Corn and Cola are simply meat-shields for the AD Carry, using their shields and tankiness to allow him a few more auto-attacks. Uzi is the only super-carry at Worlds this year that actually achieved something beyond quarter-finals.
Support: Se-hyoung "Mata" Cho
The biggest skill disparity between first and second is still in the Jungle, but Support comes at a close second. This time it is not because the Support talent pool is small, but because Samsung White's Support Mata is miles ahead of other Supports.
Unlike a lot of Supports, Mata doesn't just have one skill in the role. He is mechanically one of the best Supports on the planet, both on an individual level and when it comes to the duo-lane, understanding when to engage and how to utilise the champions abilities.
This is only part of what makes Mata potentially the best League of Legends player. His understanding of ward coverage and deep investment in wards makes the life of his Mid, Jungle and AD Carry much easier.
Mata controls the pace of the game, along with Jungler Dandy. He regularly buys early Mobility Boots, simply to get to places on the map quicker and provide support to other lanes.
Even though Mata has already left the Samsung organization, it would be a terrible shame to see him leave the League of Legends scene. He is the best Support in the World and no matter what team he lands on in Season 5, he is going to make it much better.
Source: LOLeSports Inven.kr
League of Legends
Release: 10/27/2009 [NA]
ESRB Rating: Teen
Publisher: Riot Games
Platforms: PC, Mac