GGRecon predicts, who will be the MVP of the 2020 LoL Worlds finals?
The League of Legends World Championship is coming to a climactic close with the Finals on Saturday, October 31. DAMWON Gaming and Suning will fight it out to raise the Summoner's Cup, but which of the players will be the MVP?
There are plenty of players to choose from the bunch, from cut-throat mid-laners, to superb bot-laners; or even a top lane genius or a talented jungler - it really is anyone's game.
GGRecon's team of League of Legends expert analysts chose their picks for MVP of the LoL Worlds 2020 Finals, and their choices may (or may not) surprise you.
Click to enlargeDeclan McLaughlin - SwordArT (Suning)
Sometimes series MVPs are not chosen for their performance in-game, but for their story and journey to that point. In this group of ten players, there are a lot of great stories to choose from.
For the LPL representative Suning there is arguably the best jungler of the tournament Lê "SofM" Quang Duy. He has not only run circles around some of the best junglers in the world, but he is also coming in as the only Vietnamese player to reach this point in League of Legends history. There is also Xiang "Angel" Tao, who overcame his former team in the Semi-Finals and refused to be overlooked as a top player in this tournament. Then there is the feel-good story of the bot lane. Tang "huanfeng" Huan-Feng has a rags to riches story that is almost fairytale-like and his partner in lane, Hu "SwordArT" Shuo-Chieh, is holding the torch for his former Tawainese team after defeating his former teammate in a bittersweet Semi-Finals matchup.
For DAMWON Gaming, there is the obvious storyline for the whole team redeeming themselves by beating G2 in the same spot that they were defeated in only a year ago. Individually there is Jang "Nuguri" Ha-gwon. Who coming into the tournament, had to have surgery on his lung and has seemed to need no time to recover. Then there is Heo "ShowMaker" Su who has had arguably the best show of form at the event, other than maybe Rasmus "Caps" Borregaard Winther, who he conquered to make it to this point.
So who do I think will get MVP? Based on the current meta and how important junglers and supports are, I have to go with SwordArT. He has one of the best storylines coming into the event, and his skills will be on full display as his team puts him on champions that engage fights. With his visibility on engage champions, coupled with his current form and story going into this final series, I see a world in which SwordArT will not only go home with the Finals MVP, but also the Summoner’s Cup.
Click to enlargeNico Fulford - Canyon (DAMWON Gaming)
As much as I’d love to see the dark horse story of Suning come to fruition, going up against DAMWON Gaming feels like gambling – nine times out of ten, you’re going to lose. This isn’t an exaggeration either; including the LCK Summer Playoffs, DWG has an 87.5% win rate in their last 16 games. Only JDG and G2 have been able to take a game each from DWG, and both have now been knocked out. This Korean outlier has seemed almost unchallenged domestically, and so far at Worlds has shown nothing but overwhelming dominance. Is there any reason to think things will change by Saturday?
If you’re still not convinced, look no further than their last series. DAMWON’s semi-final matchup against G2 was the most-watched of the tournament so far for a reason, as almost three million viewers anticipated an exciting grudge match between two of the world’s premier teams. What they got instead was a one-sided trouncing on the part of DAMWON, booking G2 on the next flight home to Berlin. DWG earned the record for the fastest game at Worlds ever, and against last year’s finalists no less.
Having witnessed that semi-final speedrun, it’s difficult for me to predict anything but a DAMWON victory in the final. The roster’s incredible strength also makes picking an MVP a hard task – when every player has shown incredible performances, it’s painful to pick just one.
If I had to choose, though, it would have to be Canyon. Carrying the torch of Ning and Tian, I expect him to become the third MVP jungler in a row. He has found huge success with champions like Graves, and with the meta’s shift towards farming carry junglers, the timing couldn’t be better. He has the highest KDA of all junglers by far, and while a good KDA is not indicative of a good player, it shows just how much of the weight is put on his shoulders to carry. His 8.1 KDA is thanks to him taking 30.5% of his team’s kills and at the same time dying very little. Compared with his opponent SofM’s 33 deaths at Worlds, Canyon’s 18 deaths make up just 15% of his team’s total. He also takes the lion’s share of the team’s gold, with his 21.9% gold share trumping all other junglers.
With so many resources funnelled into him, Canyon is able to run away with the game, making him the best jungler in the world right now. With Nuguri and ShowMaker as constant sidelane threats, he only becomes scarier, as they constantly draw bans in the draft phase and enemy jungle pressure on the rift. I think it’s more than likely that Canyon will be taking home both the MVP award and the Summoner’s Cup this year.
Click to enlargeTom Hurrell - Angel (Suning)
Never has the position of Worlds MVP felt so hotly contested. I could easily pick any of the eight non-supporting players that are expected to participate in the final, and I’d give both DAMWON and Suning at least a fighting chance of taking home the Summoner’s Cup.
Suning’s top-laner, Bin, has been popping off in the playoffs, averaging a KDA of over six and dying no more than twice in all but his first game against JD Gaming. His opposite number, Nuguri, is in a similar position but more often than not is picking up all the assists he can. The leading player in terms of kills for DAMWON is Canyon, who managed to get 15 against both DRX and G2 Esports on his run to the final.
ShowMaker has been consistently getting small advantages for DAMWON throughout the playoffs, and even when they got shut down by G2 in game two of their semifinal match, he stepped up to the plate and traded his four deaths with four kills. He’s the only player of the eight not to have more deaths than kills in a playoffs match. Angel, Suning’s mid-laner, should make that more difficult though - he has died only three times in games that Suning have won and in their close-fought fourth game against Top Esports, he carried the team with a KDA of 16.
Ghost, who has averaged less than 1.5 deaths per game in the playoffs, barely missed out on sharing ShowMaker’s all positive KD achievement but is very much in the same boat with his 6/0/9 and 8/2/7 games against G2. His storied lane opponent, huanfeng, leads the pack in terms of highest single-game KDA - he went 9/0/12 in game two against JD Gaming and has followed up with several more impressive performances.
I, sadly, am expecting DAMWON Gaming to win the final overall, and if the series is close, I expect Ghost to take the Finals MVP award. His consistent contributions and resilience in the face of adversity make him the perfect candidate, in my opinion. In the case that Suning take home the cup, I think Angel will contribute the most and claim the title of Finals MVP.
Click to enlargeAndré González Rodríguez - Canyon (DAMWON Gaming)
I feel like there are so many players I could choose as my MVP for Worlds Finals. There is a solid staple in the top lane for DAMWON Gaming in Jang “Nuguri” Ha-gwon who has shaped up to be one of the best top laners in the world. There is also his partner in crime in the mid lane in Heo “ShowMaker” Su; this player did not skip a beat. When Zhuo “knight” Ding from Top Esports, Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon from DRX and Rasmus “Caps” Borregaard Winther from Fnatic all got the spotlight, he’s stayed true. One also can’t forget Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu, this guy is a certified monster, the way he makes the opposing jungler bend to his will is just outstanding — also his carry performances are nuts. He’s so good that DWG play around him and he makes sure he takes them to the promised land.
When it comes to Suning, Chen “Bin” Ze-Bin has really elevated himself, same with Xiang “Angel” Tao — both of them have shown what they’re made off as the tournament has gone on. One cannot simply forget about Lê "SofM" Quang Duy, alongside Canyon, he’s the best jungler at Worlds. The way he has been able to dictate the pace in matches is incredible. But for me, the best performing player on Suning has to be Tang “huanfeng” Huan-Feng. This player feels like he’s on another level right now, his quarterfinals performance showed that — that Jhin flank was just amazing.
If I had to predict the MVP for Worlds finals, I think I’d have to go with Canyon. Canyon — like his teammates — from start to finish has been showing up with monster carry performances. This player is just on another level right now, and I think he’s the best jungler in the world, with SofM behind on his tail. I expect Canyon to have yet another monster carry performance this finals, but I see and hope for a sick matchup in the jungle.
So there you have it, our analysts have spoken, and the winner of MVP has been chosen by the majority - Canyon of Suning. But will their predictions become reality? You'll have to find out when the Finals take place on October 31.
Keep up to date with all of our pre-coverage, results, and recommendations at our LoL Worlds Coverage Hub.
