In a volatile season of MSI 2023, it’s no surprise that numerous issues have arisen for the global League of Legends (LoL) community to dissect. Aside from questions about the new format and the achievements of participating teams, one hot topic is the gameplay strategies employed by teams at this year’s MSI. A prime example of this discussion is the champions that frequently appeared during MSI 2023.
According to the specialized site LoL Fandom, two champions, Aphelios and Jinx, are the most favored Marksmen in MSI 2023. Almost in every match, if these two champions are not banned, they are guaranteed to be picked, often in the first round. Aphelios boasts a 75% pick rate, while Jinx has similar stats. Alongside these two, familiar names like Xayah, Annie, Vi, Rakan, K’Sante, and Maokai also appeared.
Many viewers believe this issue stems entirely from Riot. The aforementioned champions have clearly demonstrated superior strength compared to others, even when matched in the same role. A notable case is that of Aphelios and Jinx compared to Xayah. All three are Marksmen, but Xayah does not perform as effectively as her two “colleagues.” Xayah’s pick rate is only 42%, despite being considered a great combo with Rakan.
Riot’s balancing of champions has long been viewed as an issue. Due to the dominance of certain champions and the significant gap with others, League of Legends (LoL) cannot implement a “global ban-pick” for official or high-level matches. Currently, this ban-pick format is only being tested in LDL. For those who don’t know, this is a ban-pick format where each team cannot use champions they previously played in the last match. If a match goes to 5 games, the number of champions used can be very large, avoiding the dullness.
However, this is impractical if the strength of champions varies too greatly. No team would want to use ineffective champions in crucial matches. Moreover, there are many hidden bugs within LoL, even among less popular champions. If these bugs inadvertently appear on a rarely used champion, it can impact the players and the match outcome.
In the future, Riot may find more ways to balance the power of champions in a more reasonable direction. However, it seems the developer needs to implement these changes soon, especially after the recent complaints from the LoL community regarding the gameplay frequently applied at MSI 2023.