The second match of the MSI 2024 Knockout Stage between Gen.G and Fnatic recently concluded with a dominant 3-0 victory for the LCK representatives. This outcome was anticipated as Gen.G clearly outperformed Fnatic in both individual talent and team fight coordination. This can be seen as a favorable start for Gen.G as they aim to conquer the MSI 2024 title.
However, Gen.G’s overwhelming victory has drawn attention in a rather “unbelievable” way. While watching the match, both the audience and analysts felt that something was “very wrong” with Chovy’s Aurelion Sol in game 2. As a result, many called upon the “bug god” Vandiril to analyze and investigate the situation.
According to insights from “bug god” Vandiril, he initially thought this was just a common display bug during the match replay. However, upon closer inspection of the other champions, he reached a different conclusion. Specifically, Chovy’s ultimate still knocked up Millio and Orianna and slowed Xin Zhao from Fnatic. However, Lucian was completely immune to all effects from Chovy’s ultimate, receiving neither damage nor slow.
It should be noted that Aurelion’s enhanced ultimate not only has knock-up effects but also deals damage and slows over a large area. In fact, minions in the Mid Lane can also be slowed by this ultimate. This means that Lucian and Aurelion Sol have a very severe interaction bug where the AD Carry champion can be immune to damage and effects from the opponent’s enhanced ultimate.
Indeed, Chovy seems to be quite “unlucky” to encounter this bug, as Aurelion Sol had been operating extremely smoothly in previous matches. If Chovy’s ultimate had not encountered this bug, Lucian from Fnatic could have lost more health or even been taken down afterward. Moreover, if Chovy’s execution had succeeded, it could have been the highlight of the match.
For Gen.G, it is fortunate that this bug did not affect the match result. They completely dominated their opponent in this game, so even if Chovy’s ultimate did not hit Lucian from Fnatic, Gen.G would still have won. However, in a different scenario against a stronger opponent, this bug could have caused Gen.G to regret it as the opposing AD Carry would have been able to play far too comfortably.
Remember at the 2022 World Championship, Orianna also faced a display bug with her ultimate Command: Shockwave and was locked out of the tournament. More recently, we saw Azir temporarily locked from all tournaments and only returned with the patch 14.5 update. Therefore, with the serious bug encountered, it is possible that Lucian and Aurelion Sol could be locked out of MSI 2024.
It is worth noting that both Aurelion Sol and Lucian are quite “hot” champions at MSI 2024. In the first two matches of the Knockout Stage, Aurelion Sol was picked in 4 games with a 50% win rate. Lucian is even more favored with a ban/pick rate of 58.6% at MSI 2024. If these two champions are indeed locked at this year’s MSI, it will negatively affect the drafting plans of the teams.
It should be noted that this is not the first time a game bug has appeared at MSI 2024. Previously in the match between GAM and Fnatic, Kiaya also accidentally triggered a bug that allowed the use of Zhonya’s Hourglass while being knocked up. Hopefully, Riot Games will soon fix these issues or find ways to minimize their occurrence in the near future. It would be truly unfortunate if such serious bugs appear again in the highlight matches of MSI this year.