With the 2022 League of Legends World Championship just around the corner, Upcomer isn’t just bringing fans in-depth looks at every single team, but also a look at the best players in every role. Through a panel of Upcomer’s League experts, the team has compiled a Top 5 ranking of all of the bot laners at this year’s Worlds 2022 tournament.
5. Chen “GALA” Wei (Royal Never Give Up)
GALA and Pentakills, name a more iconic duo #LPL pic.twitter.com/Fe8nTtum6U
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) July 15, 2022
The international pentakill king has had a rather quiet summer split after winning his second consecutive Mid-Season Invitational. Despite RNG having an even better record in summer, GALA was absent from All-LPL selection. His support “Ming” was the first team support though showcasing that in the bot lane dynamic, Ming is the true carry. However, don’t get it twisted, GALA is a gifted team fighter.
According to Oracle’s Elixir, GALA still led the entire league in kills while still boasting a top 10 KDA among all players and second best in the bot laner position. He also placed in the top four among bot laners in Damage Per Minute too.
GALA isn’t entering Worlds 2022 at his absolute peak but as we have seen in past international events, it’s wrong to count him out.
-Warren Younger
4. Kim “Berserker” Min-cheol (Cloud9)
BERSERKER GETS THE PENTA!!!@C9Berserker| #LCS | #C9WIN pic.twitter.com/6iEezzR2VL
— LCS (@LCSOfficial) July 30, 2022
While ADC as a role possesses the shallowest champion pool, it is nonetheless extremely difficult to find players that can play all of them at a world-class level. Berserker is one of the few ADC players alongside Park “Viper” Do-hyeon that can pilot champions like Draven and Kalista with immense prowess. This trait will prove invaluable for Cloud 9 as the meta will continue to revolve around the bot lane for Worlds.
Berserker made it evidently clear throughout the 2022 LCS Spring Split Playoff run that he is a whole level above his North American competitors. With the level of competition being significantly lower in North America versus the likes of China and Korea, it is difficult to put Berserker any higher in the rankings. However, this super-star rookie from T1’s Challengers Korea team continued to shock the LCS fans with his phenomenal performance for the entire year, and he’s ready to prove himself at Worlds.
-Miko
3. Yu “JackeyLove” Wen-Bo (Top Esports)
JackeyLove is AB-SO-LUTE-LY insane! 🤯 #LPL pic.twitter.com/QaQEyFAQZi
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) August 26, 2022
Yu “JackeyLove” Wen-Bo being on this list should be no surprise to anyone after the season he’s had. He’s thrived in the bot-centric meta we’ve seen throughout summer, making the first all-pro team and getting four MVP awards in the LPL playoffs, just one below Viper. Despite his incredible performances throughout the season, fans will remember that one moment where he dashed into JD Gaming’s team in the finals. Then again, it’s just JackeyLove things; His explosive and extremely aggressive playstyle remains a razor sharp double-edged sword to this day.
One moment does not dictate how good of a bot laner he’s been this season and words alone don’t do justice to it. According to Oracle’s Elixir, JackeyLove has been the most consistent damage dealer in the LPL, not just among bot laners, but all players. Highest Damage Per Minute in the regular season at 723 and second higher in Playoffs at 772, not to mention having the highest and second highest Damage Share as well. He is terrifying on just about any champion you put him on, like Zeri, and his Draven still draws bans from opponents.
Love him or hate him, none can deny his skill as he enters Worlds again looking to win his second title.
-E.G Kant
2. Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk (Gen.G)
THE RULER ENDING~ 📏 #LCK pic.twitter.com/hinHP4s3Y0
— LCK (@LCK) August 20, 2022
After several years of coming second and waiting, Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk finally lifted an LCK trophy and did it in style. The former World Champion received the triple crown with the Player of the split award, regular season MVP and All-LCK first team placement.
Ruler had an impressive split and remained a consistent source of damage and assurance for Gen.G. His Zeri is also one of the most feared champions in the LCK. According to Game of Legends, he finished the regular split with a 10.3 KDA on the champion despite picking her eight times.
He also has a vast pool of champions with 12 unique champions played during the regular split. With no major changes to the meta for Worlds 2022 bot laners, it is hard to see anything but success and dominance from Ruler.
-Rashidat
1. Park “Viper” Do-hyeon (Edward Gaming)
When the going gets tough, Viper gets going as he stamps their ticket to Worlds! #LPL pic.twitter.com/s8RO85RW6b
— LPL (@lplenglish) September 3, 2022
Although Ruler won MVP in the LCK and although Viper didn’t outplace Jackeylove on the all-pro team selection, it would be disingenuous to say that Viper is not one of the best bot laners heading into Worlds 2022.
As the reigning world champion, Viper has the benefit of the doubt that he can still hit his peaks during Worlds 2022 but he actually doesn’t even need to prove that he can because right now, he is playing like it.
In the 2022 LPL summer playoffs, Viper led all players in player of the game awards. And even in the regular season he still led all bot laners in KDA and kill participation while still being top three in damage per minute. To put it frankly, Viper got snubbed when it came time to select the All-LPL bot laner.
And when looking at the most recent series that qualified EDG to Worlds 2022, Viper went deathless in the three wins against GALA and RNG going 17/0/13 in the reverse sweep. Good luck other bot lanes.
-Younger
Published: Sep 22, 2022 03:36 pm