League of Legends’ annual and most prestigious tournament kicks off once again on Thursday, September 29, and this year teams will compete for the Summoner’s Cup in the host region of North America.
The last time the tournament was held in North America was back in 2016 which saw a thrilling all-Korean grand final between SK Telecom T1 and Samsung Galaxy. The series went the full length and saw SK Telecom T1 and Faker claim victory over their opponents.
Worlds 2022 welcomes 24 teams from its 11 regional leagues with the exception of CIS’ LCL, which was canceled earlier in the year due to the political problems between Russia and Ukraine.
As a result, the LCL’s spot was awarded to Europe who were considered to be the best performing region at international events over the past two years without already having 4 slots (which China and Korea already had).
Subsequently, the competition for this year’s tournament is looking more stacked than ever before and these are some of the best players you should want to keep your eyes on at Worlds 2022.
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Top Lane
- Bai “369” Jia-Hao – JD Gaming (LPL)
2. Huang “Wayward” Ren-Xing – Top Esports (LPL)
3. Choi “Zeus” Woo-je – T1 (LCK)
It should come as no surprise that JD Gaming’s tyrant in the top lane comes, you guessed it, top of this list. He has arguably been one of the most consistent players in the Chinese league and has outshone the rest of the world’s top laners to conquer the LPL, as 369 and his team are entering Worlds as China’s Summer Split champions and first seed.
Both Zeus and Wayward have also been phenomenal players for their teams this year and being rookies, it is fair to say that they have exceeded expectations. Zeus has been the rock for T1 and arguably their best player, whilst Wayward on his signature Gnar pick is shaping up to be a force to be reckoned with at Worlds this year.
Jungle
- Gao “Tian” Tian-Liang – Top Esports (LPL)
2. Seo “Kanavi” Jin-hyeok – JD Gaming (LPL)
3. Han “Peanut” Wang-ho – Gen.G (LCK)
Whilst Top Esports fell short of China’s LPL title for the summer to JD Gaming, Tian is surely the best jungler coming into the tournament this year. Tian already has a Worlds title under his belt with FunPlus Phoenix in 2019 and is hungry to prove his dominance on the international stage once again.
Some could posit the argument that Kanavi has an equal right to be at the top of this list; he has been immense on the domestic stage for the past few years with JD Gaming and has attained two titles in this time. However, Tian outclassed Kanavi in the Summer Split finals in almost every match despite the fact that Kanavi and JD Gaming claimed the title.
Underwhelming performances from Kanavi and his team on the international stage have stopped him from getting the worldwide recognition he deserves; the talent is there for this player but now he must translate his domestic success into Worlds and if so, they could win the entire thing.
Peanut is no stranger to the international stage and has made multiple appearances with different rosters during his career. Gen.G triumphed over T1 to claim the LCK’s title for summer and are entering the tournament as one of its favorites. They only dropped a single game in the entire split but whilst Peanut is a solid jungler for the team, he is not one of the star players which is why he is out of the top two for this list.
Mid lane
1. Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon – Gen.G (LCK)
2. Li “Xiaohu” Yuan-Hao – Royal Never Give Up (LPL)
3. Zhuo “knight” Ding – Top Esports (LPL)
It is sad to say but unfortunately, whilst we would all love to see Faker on this list, he does not make the top three for mid lane. The top spot goes to arguably the best mid laner in the world right now and he is also a familiar face: Gen.G’s superstar Chovy.
In essence, Chovy is the perfect mid lane player. He has all the attributes you need to be a world-class mid laner in abundance, he can do it all. He has proved himself over the last four years to be one of the world’s most consistent players full stop. He is notorious for being one of the best farmers the game has ever seen but his kryptonite was that he had never won a championship title; that was until this year.
After Faker, the most experienced mid laner at Worlds this year is RNG’s Xiaohu. The veteran player has an impressive record with three MSI titles in two different roles in his cabinet. After his detour to the top lane Xiaohu is back in the center of the map and has been as deadly as ever.
Knight has, in many ways, been the face of Top Esports for the past two years and was dubbed the best player in the world in 2020. However, Knight and his team failed to make a top three finish despite being named as one of the tournament’s favorites and after missing out on last year’s Worlds, he is back for vengeance.
ADC
1. Park “Viper” Do-hyeon – EDward Gaming (LPL)
2. Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk – Gen.G (LCK)
3. Chen “GALA” Wei – Royal Never Give Up (LPL)
There are heaps of talent in the bot lane at Worlds 2022 but there is not an ADC that compares to EDG’s Viper. As the current champions, Viper and EDG are returning to this year’s tournament to see if they can claim back-to-back titles and if Viper plays as well as he did in last year’s tournament, then it is definitely achievable.
It is close between Viper and Ruler but the Korean superstar playing in China is considered to be the best ADC in the world at the minute, and he might even be the best LoL player in the world. He has had an incredible season and is known for putting his entire team on his back and carrying single-handedly.
Another player to watch is Gen.G’s Ruler and this player is no stranger to the international stage. This summer Ruler and Gen.G had a higher winning percentage in individual games than any other team in LCK history and Ruler was one of the main factors.
He is in outstanding form and is entering Worlds this year with a confident Gen.G roster. In the LCK grand final against T1, Ruler boasted a KDA of 26/2/5, and with numbers like these, how can you not be confident?
Widley considered to be a pentakill demon, RNG’s Gala already has three this year and is similar to Viper in that he is the core of his team. Whenever they can, the team will funnel as much gold and resources into Gala and depend on him to push them over the finish line.
Gala sported incredible stats over the summer split and is considered to be one of, if not the best Kai’Sa player at the tournament. With the Champion holding a good place in the current meta, Gala and RNG have the potential to run riot at Worlds this year.
Support
1. Son “Lehends” Si-woo – Gen.G (LCK)
2. Ryu “Keria” Min-seok – T1 (LCK)
3. Tian “Meiko” Ye – EDward Gaming (LPL)
Combined with Ruler, Lehends completed one of League’s most threatening bot lane duos in the world and at this year’s tournament. Known for his off-meta picks and diverse champion pool, Lehends is one of the best at roaming and synergizing with his jungler to impact other areas of the map in the early game. He also sets up his ADC excellently to ensure Ruler is always ahead of opponents.
Keria has been an anchor for T1 this year and has solidified himself as one of the best supports in the world. T1 haven’t had the greatest year in terms of performance but Keria has remained a constant and shining star for his team.
As the defending champion support, Meiko almost has to make this list by default as he and Viper make up one of the strongest duos in the bot lane at the tournament. Meiko is a veteran superstar and has been with EDG since 2014, he is the team’s shotcaller and captain, and is the second player to reach 500 LPL games, after legendary ADC Uzi.
That concludes our list of the best players at each role you will want to keep your eyes on at Worlds 2022. It is observable that all of these players are from the regions of the LPL and the LCK respectively as China and Korea continue to dominate the international stage year in and year out.
As a whole, this year’s tournament is shaping up to be one of the best and the competition is fiercer than ever. There are a ton of magical players and solid rosters across the board. Worlds 2022 begins on Thursday September 29 and can be watched on live on Twitch and YouTube streams.
