The 2020 League of Legends World Championship is just about halfway in the books with the play-in and group stages completely wrapped up. Now, with just eight teams left in the field of contenders, the focus of the tournament shifts to the knockout round, where the top-placing teams from the group stage will compete in the final leg of the tournament.
Each team represented among the top eight was carried to its current standing by exceptional performances from some of the most talented players in the world. With 80 players altogether competing at the tournament’s main event, it’s only natural for some to stand out above others.
Top Lane: Nuguri, DAMWON Gaming
Coming into this year’s World Championship, there was absolutely no doubt that Nuguri had the potential to lead DWG to new heights. And after a near-perfect run to the quarterfinals, the All-LCK top laner and summer playoffs MVP did exactly that, dominating each and every one of his opponents at every stage of a given game.
Jungle: Selfmade, Fnatic
Selfmade, the breakout star of the 2020 group stage, stepped up when Fnatic needed him the most. After kicking off his tournament run with a dominant performance over TSM on his widely-acclaimed Evelynn, Selfmade continued to impress with a slew of diverse picks including Hecarim and Graves, the latter of which he played a total of four times throughout the group stage.
Selfmade’s CS/M of 7.6 put him solely on top of all qualified junglers at Worlds when it came to farming. His ability to take jungle camps across the map and build a foundation for Fnatic was a major reason why the team won four games and secured a berth in the quarterfinals. Additionally, Fnatic built most of their leads on Selfmade’s success; the jungler was ahead in gold, experience, and CS at 15 minutes in five out of Fnatic’s six contests.
Mid Lane: ShowMaker, DAMWON Gaming
The LCK summer split MVP has yet to disappoint at Worlds. ShowMaker’s performance during the group stage was leaps and bounds above not only the entirety of Group B, but the field of his mid lane contemporaries at the tournament. No other mid laner compared to ShowMaker in a statistical sense over the last two weeks, as the DWG centerpiece racked up strong showing after strong showing, tearing a path through all of Group B.
AD carry: JackeyLove, Top Esports
If there was one certain factor in Top Esports’ run to the quarterfinals, it was JackeyLove. The former world champion carried the LPL’s first seed to a 5-1 record in the group stage—enough to secure the top spot in Group D.
Support: Lvmao, JD Gaming
Despite not finishing atop Group B, Lvmao performed exceptionally well in JDG’s effort to reach the quarterfinals. Across the six games it took JDG to secure a berth in the tournament’s bracket stage, Lvmao played five different champions, showcasing strong depth and diversity. His Bard play in particular allowed JDG to secure two big wins against Rogue and DWG, in which he was able to post a combined KDA of 1/6/35.
