In the final game of the first best-of-five series in the play-in knockout stage between Galatasaray Esports and Beyond Gaming, the last champion at 100% presence made its way through a draft. The 2021 League of Legends World Championship is the third Worlds in the last four years without any champions staying at that 100% rate.
No more Worlds 2021 picks set in stone
The way teams play around these common picks is to either ban them or choose them in most games. Zed, Alistar, Gangplank, Nidalee, Kalista and Pantheon are the previous offenders.
This year, the tournament started out looking similar, with Miss Fortune being picked in every single game on the first day of the event. Other champions that are popular, when available, are Irelia, Lee Sin and Lucian.
As the days went on, each of them remained at that 100% presence rate until the last few games of Group B, where Miss Fortune, Lucian and Lee Sin missed a game. Going into the first knockout series, Irelia remained as the final champ at 100%, but she didn’t quite make it through the whole series.
Irelia wasn’t chosen on the fifth and final map of the series between Galatasaray Esports and Beyond Gaming. This means that, as of now, there are no more 100% pick champs at Worlds 2021. Beyond Gaming ended up winning the series, finishing the reverse sweep.
THE REVERSE SWEEP IS REAL!
Beyond Gaming eliminate @GSEsports! #Worlds2021 pic.twitter.com/eEyBaWTzwj
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) October 8, 2021
When it comes to world championships, this moment always sparks conversations about which champs work best. But now, without instant picks available, it opens up the competition. Players get to play more of a variety of champions to counter the picks people choose over the standard.
The bubble has burst. Now, it’s on the teams at Worlds 2021 to continue to choose different champs on their path to the top.
