In less than a week, Worlds 2022 will begin, bringing with it some of the best League of Legends action of the year.
A total of 24 teams will compete for the Summoner’s Cup, and both seasoned players and up-and-comers will be looking to impress. The top laners will be even more crucial than ever for the team’s success because the Worlds patch’s meta is probably going to move to the top half of the map. The importance of each player’s contribution to their teams will also be taken into consideration when compiling this ranking of the top individual players.
Contents
The top 5 top laners for Worlds 2022
- Bai “369” Jia-Hao
- Choi “Zeus” Woo-je
- Huang “Wayward” Ren-Xing
- Chen ”Breathe” Chen
- Choi “Doran” Hyeon-joon
5. Choi “Doran” Hyeon-joon
Doran probably doesn’t stand out all that much if we’re evaluating his performance over the course of the year, especially given that he has been competing on the Gen.G superteam alongside elite players like Chovy and Ruler. Doran, however, has done an excellent job of playing the part and stepping up when it counts.
Doran had the ability to stay current and avoid lagging behind whether he was playing Ornn, Gnar, or any other champion. He has the lowest average summer death rate (1.9), the highest CS per minute, and the highest KDA of any top laner from the LCK (4.3, per gol.gg) (8.6). He is one of the top weakside players in the world, to put it another way.
However, his greatest asset could also be his greatest weakness. A weak side player finds it challenging to be equally effective when strong siding and receiving the resources, which could result in a slight shortcoming for the team over time. He is ranked fifth for this reason among all others because all of the players above him have considerably higher carry potential.
4. Chen ”Breathe” Chen
Following an odd arrangement with BibiBili Gaming that saw him and Bin change teams after the Mid-Season Invitational in June, Breathe joined RNG.
Breathe is one of the best duelist top laners in the world, for those who may not be familiar with him.
He is great at managing the resources and gold despite not getting much attention from his team. Breathe is renowned for working like a mechanical god with Fiora and being particularly effective with champions who perform well in solitary or one-on-one encounters. He is the expert when it comes to split-pushing.
Although he may not have been widely regarded as a top player prior to Worlds, we anticipate that he will benefit greatly from the top-centric meta. His team fighting skills are his sole real weakness in comparison to other leaders because of the champion pool of duelists he has. Nevertheless, Breathe should be kept an eye on at this year’s Worlds.
3. Huang “Wayward” Ren-Xing
Simply put, Wayward is a more effective version of Doran. Wayward, arguably the best Gnar in the world, excels most against heroes with excellent late-game scaling.
During the early game, he essentially holds his own until he has the correct spikes on his champions, at which point he starts to become a threat in team fights. Wayward continually finds advantageous angles to start winning battles, even if he falls behind.
If they hadn’t chosen to make him miss game one of that series, Wayward and Top Esports might have prevailed based on how important he was in the LPL finals. Other than that, he and TES may be the future world champions if they can each cut down on their individual errors.
2. Choi “Zeus” Woo-je
Given how T1 fared in the Summer Split as a whole, it was difficult to rank Zeus. Although the majority of people would rank him lower than second, he was an important factor in why T1 maintained its second-place finish in the LCK.
Zeus was possibly the only T1 player who was a constant on the lineup. Oner occasionally appeared bewildered, and the bot lane plummeted after coming back from MSI. According to gol.gg, Zeus had slightly better KP percent than Doran and was second only to him in terms of gold and damage output per minute during the Summer Split. Zeus’ influence on the team is clear, and it’s even more impressive that he produced these results with a club that wasn’t doing well.
Zeus, who will be a crucial pawn for the team’s success, may become more relevant given the meta of the competition. If they can effectively empower him, T1 might have a voice at Worlds.
1. Bai “369” Jia-Hao
Coming into Worlds 2022, 369 is the top laner who offers the most versatility. Right now, nobody even comes close to matching him. Like the majority of top laners on this list, he has little trouble playing both weakside and strongside. But what distinguishes him from other players is his ability to seize advantageous situations even when he is playing from behind.
With a flank or a pick, 369 can take advantage of even the smallest errors made by the opposition. This is an uncommon and special quality because it calls for precise mechanical execution and deep comprehension of how team fights should always be played.
This is probably the biggest revenge tale for 369—from being chastised at the end of last year to becoming the best top laner in the world—and he’ll go to whatever lengths to ensure that he’s standing at the top of the world when this tournament is over.