The MSI 2023 is considered a rather special event in the League of Legends (LoL) scene. This year, Riot made several changes to the competition format. At the same time, the publisher increased the number of participating teams from major regions. This significantly contributed to the first-ever “Expanded LPL” final in MSI history as well as international tournaments in the League of Legends scene.
Notably, for the first time having two representatives at MSI, teams from LPL continued to show that they truly have no rivals in this arena. Both JD Gaming (JDG) and Bilibili Gaming (BLG) performed impressively. In fact, BLG single-handedly “sent” both representatives of LCK home. Meanwhile, JDG’s championship was simply a foregone conclusion after what the reigning LPL Spring 2023 champions displayed.
Recently, the portal Express announced the KDA statistics (kills/deaths/assists) of players at the recent MSI. The list from Express features the 10 players with the highest KDA throughout the tournament. At the top is none other than JDG’s AD Carry, Ruler. This is entirely understandable as Ruler performed exceptionally well alongside his teammates supporting him wholeheartedly.
Notably, both supports from the two LPL teams competing in the MSI 2023 final made it onto this list, even ranking very high (Missing at 4th place, ON at 5th). In fact, Missing and ON were ranked higher than Elk and 369. Many evaluations suggest that this is due to two factors: Both supports excelled in contributing damage, and they maintained their positions well in team fights.
However, this list is completely devoid of any players from T1. Ignoring the uneven number of matches played by the players on the list, the absence of T1 stars surprised many. However, this absence is also understandable. T1 players secured many kills but also went down frequently in their losses. Furthermore, in some games like the 1st and 2nd matches against JDG in the Knockout Stage, T1 ended the games swiftly after just one major team fight, resulting in not many kills.
Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that T1 had a disappointing MSI season. Looking at the bigger picture, LCK was completely outperformed by LPL in this first international tournament of the League of Legends scene. They will soon have opportunities to face each other again at ASIAD and the World Championship (Worlds). These will also be chances for T1 in particular and LCK in general to seek revenge for the recent MSI 2023.