One of the biggest surprises at the World Championship (Worlds) 2022 so far is GAM Esports’ (GAM) victory over TOP Esports (TES). The surprise comes from the fact that TES was seen as the number one contender for the Worlds 2022 championship while GAM was just a team from the small VCS region. Additionally, it was a dramatic victory as TES had already taken down GAM’s nexus turret. Furthermore, the controversies and attention from the international League of Legends (LoL) community added even more meaning to the match.
Notably, in the recent match against TES in the second round of the Group Stage, Levi – the jungler for GAM – used the champion Karthus. This was a rather surprising choice, especially since Karthus does not often appear in professional matches. Karthus is a powerful champion, particularly due to his ultimate ability that can hit the entire enemy team. However, Karthus also requires a lot of resources, and that is one of the reasons why this champion has nearly disappeared from professional matches.
However, in an interview after the Group Stage of Worlds 2022 concluded, 100 Thieves (100T) coach Reapered revealed an interesting story behind Levi’s choice. He stated: “We practiced against Levi’s Karthus. They used Karthus in two games and won both. In the first game, we banned all AP champions and they used Karthus. In the following game, they proactively picked Karthus first. Levi’s Karthus destroyed us.”
Additionally, Coach Reapered also believes that Karthus is the “ace card” of GAM as he asserted that if Levi could get Karthus, the VCS representative could have won their first game of the second round against RGE. In that match, RGE surprisingly banned Karthus, leaving many viewers and commentators astonished.
From Coach Reapered’s revelations, it can be seen that Levi’s choice of Karthus was a well-prepared decision that truly paid off. Both GAM and TES have been eliminated from Worlds 2022, but the confrontation between these two teams in the recent second round of the Group Stage will surely go down in history as one of the most impressive matches in Worlds history.