As we know, every year before Worlds takes place, the Riot Games team selects the TOP 20 outstanding players to participate in the World Championship. The rankings are arranged based on professional skill, individual – team achievements, and performance in the Summer Split, thus ranking each player. However, there is an interesting fact that few people know is that the rankings arranged by Riot are always a “bad luck” for gamers. When Knight from LPL, Smeb from LCK, Mid lane “Dade”, and other players all topped Riot’s voting, they faced unfortunate fates in the tournaments they participated in.
There is still about a month until the 11th World Championship officially kicks off, and as of now, Riot has not made any moves to announce the official TOP 20 selection. In the meantime, Korean netizens have organized a poll for the best players based on personal opinions. So which players will the community “summon,” and can the Korean community help break the bad luck curse from Riot? Let’s follow the shortlist of the top 10 players on this ranking!
The top 10 is evenly distributed between the two main regions with 5 spots for LCK and 5 for LPL. With consistent performance throughout the season, along with the recent LCK Summer championship, it’s no surprise that the reigning Worlds champion ShowMaker is placed at the top of the list by fans. Following closely is Doinb, the leader of the strong FPX team, which is gearing up to bounce back after the unfortunate defeat against rival EDG in the LPL Summer Finals.
Chovy, who carried the entire HLE team to Worlds, did not perform well in this year’s tournament and was ranked 4th, causing much debate as many believe this ranking is unreasonable. Right after HLE’s mid laner is Canyon, the “God of the Jungle” from Korea, who had a very successful season with DWG KIA. The young talent born in 2001 deserves a higher position as he and his senior ShowMaker form the current top MID – JUG duo in the world. With an outstanding performance throughout the season, especially in the 3-1 victory over FPX, the 3rd position is completely justified for EDG’s “Cannon” Viper.
Clearly, this ranking is based on the opinions and preferences of Korean fans, so the professionalism and evaluation are not very high. Therefore, there will inevitably be some unwarranted controversies. Particularly if we look closely, we will notice that in the top 10, only Xiaohu from RNG is the only Chinese player, while the rest are of Korean descent. It must be said that the player voting by Korean netizens also makes many Chinese or international fans feel “unreasonable.”
However, there is one name in the top 10 that if discussed from a professional standpoint, his presence will definitely spark much debate, but from a purely admiration perspective of the community, it is completely understandable, that is Faker.
The 6th and 7th positions on the list belong to Scout and Tarzan, respectively, and we cannot deny the significant contributions of these two players to their teams. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Scout and Tarzan are the “conductors” of EDG and LNG, helping these two teams reach the 2021 World Championship.
The 9th position on the ranking is claimed by the community as the “Immortal Demon King” Faker, who had a poor performance in the finals against DWG KIA, causing T1 to miss out on the LCK trophy after many years of waiting. But on the other hand, everything Faker has sacrificed and contributed to T1 until now, especially helping this young team reach the LCK Summer Finals and become the 3rd seed representing LCK in Worlds 2021, has been an unexpected success. Additionally, with a vast fanbase in Asia, it’s not surprising that the Demon King is favored by the community to be included in this list.
The last position in the Top 10 belongs to Khan, who is seen as the Top Lane Legend of Korea. With what he has achieved and is currently achieving with DWG KIA, Khan shows that if there is an “immortal” Faker in the mid lane, then the current “immortal” top laner is none other than him.
Although the ranking voted by Korean netizens is purely for entertainment, it shows that this is a Worlds to look forward to. Not only with the participation of famous teams but also particularly with the presence of veteran players, top players in the League of Legends scene gathering for this year’s tournament. From 2019 champion Doinb, 2020 champion ShowMaker, and even the three-time champion Faker, which has made this year’s finals even more exciting.