Meet the 2020 World Finalists
This is it! Only two teams are left in the tournament, and only one will hoist the Summoner’s Cup in front of an audience of over 6,000 in Shanghai’s Pudong Football Stadium. These two teams have shown their maturity within this tournament and, without a doubt, have brought us the highlight moments of Worlds 2020. It’s time to find out who will “Take Over” and be the 10th World Champion.
DAMWON Gaming
“For the first time in 3 years, the LCK will advance to Worlds Final”
-Drakos-
Top: Ha-gwon “Nuguri” Jang
Jungle: Geon-bu “Canyon” Kim
Mid: Su “Showmaker” Heo
ADC: Yong-jun “Ghost” Jang
Support: Geon-hee “BeryL” Cho
Representing Korea, a region that has not appeared in World Finals since 2017, is Damwon Gaming. Without a doubt, they are the best team for this meta, and have had the strongest performance so far in the tournament. They only lost two games so far at Worlds, the first against JDG in Group Stage, and again against G2 in Semifinal’s Game 2. Additionally, they’re fairly young players who are already performing at the highest level, similar to the Worlds 2013 Champions SK Telecom.
Let’s talk about the players: I mentioned they’re all fantastic players from top to bot in my previous Semifinal article. Their toplaner “Nuguri”, despite Riot nerf inghim by removing his beloved and well-known Kleptomancy, this man still rocks in his lane and has huge mechanical talent. This year, we have seen the more supportive side of Nuguri with picks like Lulu, Ornn, as well as his ability to carry with Renekton and Camille. Their jungler “Canyon” is the best jungler for playing meta picks when the team needs a Graves or Nidalee … He can be the difference-maker for Damwon’s side lanes, and currently holds the highest K/DA. “Showmaker” is their midlaner. Despite not carrying much of the games like we usually expect, he’s still a mechanically talented player and will show up when the team needs it. Although he’s seen as the weakest member on Damwon, their ADC “Ghost” shows his true potential in damage output whenthe team wants to play around him. Pairing up with him is “BeryL,” an amazing, engaging support player, who he can be all around the map, often in places that no one expects.
In general, they’re all wonderful players, and I don’t think there are many ways to stop them from winning this tournament. People can say that they have an easier path to Finals, but these opponents are powerful, but Damwon Gaming did show us how convincingly they can win these games. My perspective on Damwon Gaming is that they are a team that will not create opportunities: once they have leads and should not expect them to make small mistakes and play safe. The strategy to beat this team is to create as much as an impact as you can in the early game, and surprise them with strong macro play. If Damwon Gaming wins this Finals, the LCK spotlight will finally returned, and prove that they’re still the best region.
Suning
“I got the heart of a Lion. I know the higher you climb, the harder you fall”
-MV “Take Over”-
Top: Ze-bin “Bin” Chen
Jungle: Duy “SofM” Lê
Mid: Tao “Angel” Xiang
ADC: Huan-Feng “Huanfeng” Tang
Support: Shuo-Chieh “SwordArt” Hu
After beating all of the top Chinese teams, Suning will represent their home region China in the Finals. A roster of rookies, four players have never been to Worlds, and three players are 20 years old or younger. They also have two imports from Wild Card regions, and one veteran who leads the whole team. This team has climbed from 11th in Spring to 3rd in Summer, and is now one series away from taking home the Worlds Championship title. Their playstyle changes has been an interesting story to see develop within these last few years.
Let’s start talking about these players. The youngest is the 18-year-old toplaner, “Bin,” who just played his first professional split and is already dominating even veteran players in both the regional and international stage. He loves having carry champions such as Irelia (his main), Gankplank, and Jax. In the jungle is “SofM,” the timing god of the jungle. This guy loves farming and timing exactly when camps will spawn. His creativity in his champion pool and his awareness around the map is a huge help for the team. Their midlaner “Angel” has recently proven that he’s not just a random player who only play tank or support champions by showing his carry potential on Akali and Zoe. Suning’s ADC “Huanfeng” has the most interesting story of them all, and has shown his potential after so many highlight real moments on his Jhin. His aggressive and decisive playstyles are there, similar to his past mentor whom he recently won against, TES’s Jackeylove. The leader and shot-caller of the team is their veteran support player “SwordArt.” When the draft gives him an engaging champion that allows him to attack the team like Leona or Rakan, he makes the team’s victory almost guaranteed, and has lead them to the championship.
Despite not having exciting mechanically talented players like Damwon Gaming, Suning has shown that they’re the best teamfight team in the whole tournament. It comes down to the decisive fights and teamwork because they beat the two favorite teams for Worlds Champion (JDG and TES). If Suning wins the Worlds 2020 Championship, it will break many firsts that we haven’t seen for a while in the past 10 years of Worlds. The first Chinese toplaner and midlaner, the first Vietnamese player, and the first Taiwanese player since season 2 can win Worlds. It is an interesting team to cheer on, and I, personally, support them in the World’s final.
Did you know there’s a Worlds Viewing Party at RIT?
We are collaborating with League of RIT to host a World’s Viewing Party on October 31th, at 5 AM EST. There will be free food provided by RIT Esports, raffles, mini-games, and a costume contest! Information on venue locations can be found in the image below. If you do not wish to watch in person, they will also be live streaming a watch-along through their discord server. It will be a fun experience exclusively for RIT students, and I hope to see you there!
