Worlds 2020 Peek — LCK Champion Check:

League of Legends Champions Korea, the most winning-est of the major regions. With 5 out of 8 of the Worlds Championship Trophies, the LCK plays home to the only team to win back-to-back Worlds Championships — T1 (formerly SK Telecom T1). While Worlds 2020 will not feature this iconic team, the LCK will continue to send strong contenders hungry to retrieve the trophy from the LPL. In the past, the LCK was considered the strongest of all the regions, often setting trends in the meta, both in draft and on the Rift. Going into Worlds 2020, the LCK doesn’t showcase many major regional differences, but rather, seems to try and perfect the meta pioneered by the LPL. With a slightly different Play-Offs/Regional Finals format, the LCK ran a gauntlet in both the Play-Offs and Regional Finals, which has caused some possible bias in the Champion stats. With 68 unique Champions over a total of 24 games (14 Play-Off games and 10 Regional Finals games), the LCK has had the least post-regular season games of any region.

TL;DR
Top: Renekton, Akali, Ornn, Lucian
Jungle: Lillia, Volibear, Nidalee, Graves
Mid: Twisted Fate, Azir, Orianna
Bot: Caitlyn, Kalista, Ashe, Senna
Support: Sett, Braum, Karma, Nautilus

Top: Renekton, Akali, Ornn, Lucian

And we’re back to the croc in the East (LCK, LPL and PCS) dominating the P/B rate — 100% and 90% respectively in the Play-Offs and Regional Finals. Unlike the LPL and PCS, the LCK was willing to experiment pairing the Butcher of the Sands with other junglers such as Lillia, Volibear and Karthus (to mixed success).

While Renekton seems to succeed best when paired with a strong aggressive jungler to get successful ganks and snowball leads, the LCK isn’t locked in to just that style. Renekton paired with the likes of Karthus or Lillia grants them priority on the top side of the map, protecting from invades while also giving them a lane to easily gank to find kills and assists of their own. While the LCK has a history of being a slower, more methodical region, the 2020 season has seen an average game time of just below 30 minutes, making them actually one of the faster regions. As discussed in the LPL Champion Check, the faster a region, the more impact Renekton has, hence his high presence in the LCK.

While the West (LCS and LEC) haven’t really found much success or liking for the over-sized lizard, they need to at least prepare for it. With 3 of the major regions all sporting 89%+ P/B rate (couldn’t say 90%+ cause of the PCS and their 89.7% rate!), Renekton is going to definitely make a splash at Worlds 2020.

The Rogue Assassin has found a surprisingly high P/B rate in the LCK, and part of it has to do with her flexibility. The only other major region to have a significant P/B rate on Akali is the LEC where Akali is only spotted in the mid lane. In the LCK, Akali shows up in either solo lane, 3 times mid in the Play-Offs, 2 times top in the Play-Offs and 1 time top in the Regional Finals, so a very balanced spread.

In the mid lane, Akali’s strengths are patently obvious — burst down her squishy opponents. In the top lane, things are a little bit different, which makes it interesting that the LCK flexes her top so frequently. The top lane meta has slowly shifted towards carries such as Renekton, Mordekaiser, Gangplank, etc., which is easier for the Rogue Assassin to take down compared to tanks. But still, these carries tend to be more bruisers than squishies, which still isn’t ideal. Instead, it’s her easily renewable Energy resource coupled with the sheer mobility she has which helps her deal with these bruisers. Where she can’t win a fight, she can hide and disengage. She can continuously poke down opponents, trading energy for enemy health or mana. When ganked, she can pop a Twilight Shroud and Shuriken Flip for a quick getaway. And when her opponent is finally low, she can Perfectly Execute them for massive damage. That isn’t to say that she’s going to dominate the opposition, Akali has weaknesses as well, and is not suited to be blind-picked, with tanks largely nullifying her poke, and meta picks like Renekton able to chase her down and cull her even when invisible.

While currently not a lot of regions are favouring Akali, the LCK’s approach to flexing her increases her value and makes it a scarier proposition for opponents in the drafting phase. Combine that with the current preference for squishier top-laners, mid control mages and immobile ADCs, Akali definitely has a place in the current meta, and I do expect to see her pop up at Worlds.

The tank that needs to introduction, Ornn continues to be the MVP meat-shield for the East (LCK, LPL and PCS). As such, I’ll simply refer you to the LPL and PCS articles.

Lucian continues to show up in the solo lanes here in the LOCK, with a total of 3 out of 5 games in the top lane. As a solid counter to Renekton, I feel like his increased presence in the East (LCK, LPL and PCS), is partially due to their preference for Renekton and not solely due to his own strength at times. That said, Lucian IS very strong against lower mobility champions who can’t burst him down 100 to 0 (looking at you, Akali), and though the LCK doesn’t do it, can always be flexed to the bot lane in a (very tight) pinch. His ban rate in this region is pretty high compared to his pick rate, and suggests that teams are being extremely mindful for the sort of influence he can have.

With the mechanical reputation that the LCK enjoys across all roles, Lucian becomes a particularly large threat in that he can be flexed and still be the carry he was meant to be quite easily. I expect the LCK and LPL to be able to utilize him to greater effect in comparison to the PCS where Lucian hasn’t quite seen the same levels of success, the LEC where he is played pretty much exclusively mid, and the LCS where only some teams have really started to pick him up.

Jungle: Lillia, Volibear, Nidalee, Graves

Much like other major regions, Lillia is having a significant impact on the LCK. Appearing exclusively in the jungle, the Bashful Bloom struggled in the Play-Offs, as is common to the other major regions, but seemed to have found her stride as the Regional Finals went on. All 5 of her wins have come off the backs of post-30 minute games which just reinforces the fact that she doesn’t quite fit the early game jungler stereotype that seems to be in meta.

Despite her somewhat atypical need to scale and her somewhat low win rate across all regions, everyone seems to have extremely high hopes for her. If the sharp increase in her win rate as the LCK post-season went on is anything to go by, Lillia should live up to expectations as teams continue to get more comfortable on this champion. Even if she doesn’t live up to her potential, expect to see Lillia continue having a high presence in the early stages of Worlds at the very least.

When thinking of over-powered junglers Volibear doesn’t quite spring to mind quite the same way Nidalee or Graves might. Just a couple of patches ago, the Relentless Storm was a must pick alongside Sett as powerful flexes who were a cut above in all their various roles. However, time rolled on, Riot nerfs came down and Volibear, while strong, was no longer quite legendary. Yet, the LCK never quite gave up hope on this electrifying bear. His extremely low ban rate shows how underestimated he is when juxtaposed with his ridiculous 80% and 66.7% win rates in the jungle. His top lane win rates were pretty decent too, sitting at 50% (4 games) and 100% (2 games).

As is typical of the LCK, they really maximize their use of Volibear with a fairly balanced split between top and jungle Volibear, keeping enemies guessing as to where he goes. While Volibear did get slightly nerfed, his fundamental stats and scaling did not get hit, so the same things that made him incredibly strong are still mostly there.

Considering his low priority in most regions (less than 30% ban rate in all major regions), Volibear is one of those safe early picks which teams can make use of. Given the Sett nerfs as well, Volibear might come to replace Sett as the top choice for a flex early pick. Especially given the LCK’s predilection for flexible champions, Volibear might see some high priority from the Koreans.

Another familiar face, Nidalee continues to enjoy a pretty decent P/B rate in all the major regions except the LEC. A big difference is her ban rate in the LCK though, with lowest ban rate of the LCK, LCS, LPL and PCS at 21.4%/30%. The win rates also reflect the confidence of the LCK when it comes to dealing with Nidalee, averaging less than 50% win rate across the Play-Offs and Regional Finals.

While the Nidalee/Renekton combination is the most famous contemporary usage of Nidalee, the LCK is willing to pick her even when Renekton is banned or picked away by the opponent. Similarly to the LPL, the LCK is confident in their mechanical abilities in the jungle and is willing to put a lot of their chips into the early game strength of the Bestial Huntress.

Rather than saying that the LCK will be one of the keys to bringing Nidalee into the global meta at Worlds, the LCK might actually be the one to take her our of it. With the low ban and win rate of Nidalee in the LCK, it appears that Korea might have found the answer to playing around her. Considering the LCS’ newfound appreciation, along with the LPL’s and PCS’s continued preference for her, the LCK might actually have a leg up when it comes to jungle control at Worlds.

Another nigh ubiquitous pick (except for LEC’s distinct jungle pool), almost everything that can be said has been said in previous articles — LPL, PCS and LCS Champion Checks. One notable thing in the LCK is his comparatively low P/B rate, with Lillia, Nidalee and Volibear all more frequently chosen.

Mid: Twisted Fate, Azir, Orianna

So the mid lane section for the LCK Champion Check looks a little sparse and unoriginal, but don’t be fooled. Quite a few picks which populate the mid lane are flex picks which have a higher presence in other lanes. As such, they’ll be addressed in those sections.

I don’t think anyone is surprised at this point with Twisted Fate being here. He’s especially strong in coordinated play, and the LCK prides itself on great macro, so it’s a match made in Heaven. See previous LPL, PCS and LCS articles for more in-depth information regarding this Champion.

We’ve looked at Azir before, but no other regions tunnels quite as hard on the Emperor of the Sands as the LCK. Averaging an 83.3% P/B rate across the post-regular season, Azir shines in the hands of mechanical mids. While the LCK isn’t the only region to boast of amazing mid-laners, it is the region the tends to prioritize game-winning, team-fighting, macro-oriented mid-late games, and who better than the Emperor himself to dominate fights and objectives come mid-late game. Another difference from other regions is Azir’s high ban rate. Usually used as a safe blind-pick in other regions, Azir does get some bans thrown his way, but certainly not an above 50% ban rate, which just shows the impact the Emperor of Shurima commands.

In a slightly uncharacteristic trend, most of the major regions (LEC, LPL and PCS) value Orianna higher than Azir, while the LCK sees itself aligned with the LCS in their prioritizing Azir. Which side is right will most likely only be proven at Worlds, where I have no doubt that both Azir and Orianna will have a high presence as blind-pick mids. And who knows, maybe it’ll be Zoe who ends up being the best choice.

Even though Azir is greatly favoured in the LCK, it doesn’t mean that the Lady of Clockwork doesn’t have her place in the region. The LCK values flexibility and safety in their picks, as can be seen from their favoured champions. As such, when talking about blind-pick or safe mids, is the queen of the mid-lane, and therefore will show up. Orianna is also the only Champion who shows up in every single Champion Check article while not being overpowered, which just speaks to her understated strengths. Because she’s in all the articles, please looks back to the LPL, PCS and LEC articles to see my thoughts on her.

Bot Carry: Caitlyn, Kalista, Ashe, Senna

Unfortunately, the global ADC champion pool right now is pretty much identical, so please refer to the LPL and PCS articles for details. I will be focusing mostly on any regional differences that stand out.

Just as I say we will look at any regional differences that stand out, the first name on that list literally has nothing special, with the typical high ban rates, meaning that any data we have from games played is so meagre that little to no meaningful information can be extrapolated.

While we have seen Kalista in the LCS, the LCK has used this marksman not only in the bot lane as your typical ADC, but in the top lane as well. The 1st thing to note is that Kalista actually outstrips Ashe and Senna with her P/B rate, looking almost broken with 87.5% average P/B rate. In the post-regular season, she snuck through bans in the majority of the Play-Offs, the Regional Finals saw a ludicrous 80% ban rate across 10 games. With good reason apparently, with a 66.7% win rate during the Play-Offs in the bot lane, as well as a win on the only game she went top lane against the regional favourite Renekton, the Spear of Vengeance went on a tear in the LCK.

Perhaps due to a difference in the support meta and Caitlyn being constantly banned, Kalista seems to be doing pretty well into the remaining ADCs. While she does need some time to ramp up her Rend damage, a lot of the common supports the LCK is using helps out with giving her that space and time. The damage and CC of a Sett or Nautilus can often force bot lanes to peel rather than aggressing onto Kalista, Braum’s Unbreakable also stops damage dead in it’s tracks. Combine that with Kalista’s safety on securing objectives and it just makes sense that the LCK focuses on this particular pick.

Aside from the LCK and LCS, other regions haven’t really prioritized Kalista as highly. She was a popular meta pick not too long ago, so it’s possible that we might see a revival of the Kalista trend at Worlds, but if anything, I expect it to be more of a pocket pick for specific ADCs. The superior range of Ashe, Senna and Jhin along with their burst damage or poke just feels like a bad match up for this shorter ranged Spear of Vengeance.

Much like Caitlyn, nothing special to see here. Yes, Ashe did have a 0% win rate in the Regional Finals, but that was only 3 games which really isn’t a large enough sample.

So Senna isn’t a new face, and there really isn’t much to say about her. Her priority is also fairly low, so her actual game count in the post-regular season isn’t anything to write home about. One thing the LCK did do different is using her as a support in the Regional Finals, which isn’t something we see too often in the current meta. She was used by KT Rolster as Starving Senna alongside a bot-lane Yasuo which unfortunately did not work out.

Support: Sett, Braum, Karma, Nautilus

When it comes to supports, the LCK had fairly diverging opinions, so aside from Sett, who was played in multiple roles, and Nautilus, no other support had a 50% P/B rate across both the Play-Offs and Regional Finals. Instead we will be looking at Supports who had at least 50% P/B rate in either Play-Offs or Regional Finals.

If you were wondering where the Boss was hiding while reading through the Top and Jungle sections, wonder no further! While Sett has seen some play as a support outside of the LCK (in the LPL), he actually saw the most time in the bot lane here, which is definitely a change from other regions. Because of the emphasis on flex that the LCK has, Sett enjoyed a high P/B rate which was further reinforced by this win rates. While his total win rate in the Play-Offs was only 40% across 5 games, it ballooned into a 100% win rate across 5 games in the Regional Finals, and a large part of that success came from the bot lane.

As the post-regular season for the LCK was played mostly (there was a bug in the tournament realm which caused some games to be on Patch 10.17) on Patch 10.16, Sett still had his scaling health damage. While Sett doesn’t have the traditional peel or engage that most tankier supports have, he had damage in spades. As long as his ADC had some means of allowing him to engage, be it CC or Fate’s Call, the Boss just needs to get in range to pull off a Facebreaker and that lane would pretty much be won. His Haymaker also granted him a humongous shield which could bait poor engages, while his Showstopper could stop anyone trying to ignore him to target his ADC dead in their tracks.

The LCK makes a solid case for Sett support, but personally, I think other supports just do the job better, such as Thresh, Braum or Nautilus. Previously, his flexibility makes the slightly less efficient supporting worthwhile, but if his scaling health damage is nerfed, his flexibility goes down significantly as well.

The first Braum we see in this series of articles, the Heart of the Freljord is the pinnacle of defensive supports. With next to no aggressive ability (Winter’s Bite kind of), Braum’s entire kit is built around peeling and protecting his ADC. I was honestly shocked to see Braum banned in any games at all as he currently doesn’t fit the engage/play-making meta for supports currently. Evidently some teams saw the benefits of him since he did actually have an above 50% P/B rate in the Play-Offs and a decent win rate to boot.

Braum is designed as a defensive tanky support, but not in the same way Thresh or Tahm Kench are. He doesn’t offer any repositioning tools for his ADC, but instead offers CC, bonus defensive stats and the ability to physically block projectiles from reaching the ADC. While these tools were meant for defence, Winter’s Bite can be used offensively and even to poke targets. His passive Concussive Blows allows for stunning whether it be defensively or offensively, and his ultimate Glacial Fissure can be used to initiate fights as long as he can somehow wrangle himself into the right position.

While defensive supports are being favoured due to immobile ADCs like Senna and Jhin, their immobility just doesn’t pair as well with Braum. No protection lasts forever under concentrated fire, and immobile ADCs sometimes cannot get to safety quickly enough even with a bodyguard. In comparison, a Dark Passage from Thresh or Devour from Tahm Kench can instantly remove their ADC from dangerous zones. In essence, I doubt Braum will catch on at Worlds and am slightly puzzled why he’s even so popular in the LCK.

Another unusual support to see on the list, Karma is actually a rather strong support who has, for apparently no reason, fallen out of the meta. In the LCK, she sees a decent P/B rate, as well as average results. Interestingly, she wasn’t played at all in the Regional Finals despite seeing 3 bans thrown her way. Although Karma is often seen bot lane, she did enjoy periods of popularity in the top and mid lanes, and it could be possible that the possibility of flexing might also play a role in her slightly elevated presence in the LCK.

The Enlightened One is sometimes criticized as falling off and becoming useless in late games, but I like to see it as more of a change in roles. Without an actual ultimate, Karma is able to empower her basic abilities with Mantra, granting them bonus damage and effects. Early game, a Mantra-empowered Inner Flame hits like a truck, and combined with pokey ADCs like Caitlyn and Ashe can pretty much dominate the bot lane. Come mid-game, Inner Flame continues to provide poke, while Inspire can provide a team-wide speed boost allowing engage or disengage at will. As late game begins to roll around, Inner Flame damage tends to drop off, but the macro advantages of Inspire becomes even more pronounced, while Focused Resolve can help peel for the ADC.

With so much in her kit and her possibility of flexing to other lanes, I am puzzled why Karma isn’t seen more often. She pairs great with meta ADCs, while also providing great poke against the likes of Caitlyn and Ashe. While she currently doesn’t see much play time, I am hopeful that the LCK might enlighten the world on the strength of the Enlightened One.

As much as I enjoyed the unique support champion preferences of the LCK, it is inevitable that there is some overlap. Sometimes some champions are just too good at what they do, and what they do is in fashion. Like before, please take a look at the LPL and PCS Champion Checks for my thoughts on Nautilus.

Special Mentions:

Below Nautilus’ 50% P/B rate in the Play-Offs, I discovered an unusual presence — Support Gragas. Seeing the Rabble Rouser is already rare enough in the current state of the game, but even then, he is seen pretty much exclusively in the jungle (shout-out to Ignar from the LCS as the only other person to play support Gragas post-regular season). Instead, the LCK used Gragas 4 times in the Play-Offs, and even had it banned once, all 4 times as support. In the Regional Finals, Gragas made a solo performance, but even then, it still wasn’t jungle, but mid lane instead!

Gragas has quite a few tank stats, sustain in his passive Happy Hour, a slow on his Barrel Roll, a defensive boost on his Drunken Rage, a knock-up on his Body Slam and a knock-back on his ultimate Explosive Cask. In other words, he’s got CC in spades. Despite having what looks like a great support kit, Gragas doesn’t do enough damage to be a poke mage support, while not being quite as tanky as traditional tank supports like Nautilus, Leona or Alistar. A bit of a jack-of-all-trades, Gragas brings a lot of utility to the table, but often lacks the mana to sustain in extended laning situations.

While I love seeing unusual, unique regional picks which actually do pretty well, I don’t realistically think Gragas is going to go viral at Worlds. Much like the Sett support, Gragas does a decent job as a support, but he just does more in other positions, and just doesn’t stand out enough in any particular area to win out over other options in the same role.