This MSI 2022 features a host of powerful names from 4 Major regions. Aside from Evil Geniuses, the other 3 teams, T1, Royal Never Give Up, and G2 Esports, have all at least once claimed the championship in this international tournament. Notably, RNG is the reigning MSI 2021 champion while T1 is the “undisputed champion” of the League of Legends world. And we cannot overlook G2, which always holds the potential to cause surprises as they did back in 2019.
As soon as they arrived in Busan, the players almost immediately dove into rank matches. Besides maintaining their competitive rhythm and familiar practice, ranked games provide a good environment to gradually adapt to the changes in meta. Of course, at this moment, the Korean rank environment can be quite toxic with players who focus solely on ruining the game or the elo boosting issue. However, for practice, the Korean rank remains the top choice for many players, especially those competing in MSI this time.
Looking at the rank climbing situation, currently, the top 3 players who reached Grandmaster are all members of EG. Among them, player Danny ranks 1st with 343 LP and has an impressive win rate of nearly 75%. The other two members, Jojopyun and Kaori, rank 2nd and 3rd respectively, both boasting high win rates of 62.5% and 56.2%.
In the top 5, there are two other names: Serin from Istanbul Wildcats and Taki from Saigon Buffalo. The Support player from the “Buffalo Herd” even ranks higher than well-known players like CaPs and Inspired. Along with Shogun (ranked 8th), these are the only two VCS players that made it into the top 10. Notably, among the 10 names in the top 10, only Taki and Jojo (from RED Canids) are Supports, but the player from RED is all the way down at rank 9.
Interestingly, all T1 players are absent from this rank leaderboard. Perhaps because they are too familiar with the Korean rank situation during similar times, T1 members do not actively climb ranks like their rival counterparts. However, despite not participating in rank climbing, T1 is still regarded as the top contender, and avoiding ranked games might be a way for Faker and his teammates to maintain a relaxed mindset before the crucial matches at MSI 2022.
