Eight weeks have flashed right by and 10 talented League of Legends teams have battled, but only four remain in the 2023 LCS Spring Split playoffs.
With just over a week left until the Spring Finals weekend in Raleigh, North Carolina, the race for the MVP award is heating up. Multiple different candidates have risen to the top of the league across many teams, with both underdogs and favorites alike getting their time in the spotlight throughout the split.
From explosive superstars, wily veterans, and rising newcomers, Riot Games has revealed the top 11 competitors for the award—and each player has an argument for the crown. In the end, however, only a single player will be victorious among the rest, and over the course of the season, there have been a trio of standouts who are most likely to win the gold.
Here are the three best candidates for the 2023 LCS Spring Split MVP award.
Cloud9’s Kim “Berserker” Min-cheol
Although he was a bit overshadowed during the first half of the Spring Split, Berserker’s outright firepower in the bottom lane has helped C9 win games through sheer teamfighting dominance.
The talented 19-year-old was the only player in the league to rack up a double-digit KDA this split and had the least amount of deaths of anyone in the LCS, according to Oracle’s Elixir. Berserker is one of the most feared carry players in the mid-to-late game thanks to his gutsy positioning, smart decision-making, and superior mechanics.
He only had five total games with four or more deaths and was a menace on a variety of champions like Zeri, Draven, Caitlyn, Lucian, and Varus. Berserker is C9’s definitive X-factor who can always be relied on to carry a game and take over whenever a match gets too close for comfort. Just give him enough resources and get out of his way.
FlyQuest’s Lee “Prince” Chae-hwan
Recency bias might push Prince out of the MVP discussions, but for the first half of the Spring Split, the 22-year-old superstar was the best player in the league. Even after FlyQuest started to cool down following their massive win streak to start the season, Prince was always a top-two player in his role.
Later on, he ended the regular season with the second-most kills in the LCS, while contributing to 37.4 percent of his team’s total eliminations on a squad that finished as the second-best team in the region. The way Prince joined a new region, excelled in such a manner, and won over the fan base in the span of a single split cannot be understated.
He shares a similar champion pool as Berserker, while also dabbling in a bit of Aphelios and Kai’Sa to spice up FlyQuest’s varied team compositions. Ultimately, the heir to the throne has some doubters, but he is still one of the strongest candidates for the crown.
Cloud9’s Robert “Blaber” Huang
As the longest-tenured member on C9, Blaber has constantly been the engine that drives his team’s success from the jungle position. The 23-year-old veteran is gunning for the third MVP trophy of his career and this past Spring Split was another great season that could add on to his portfolio.
Whether C9 needed him on a reliable tank like Maokai, playmaking champions like Wukong, or anything in between, Blaber was willing to play whatever the team needed to succeed. His early-game movement and macro play helped push his laners forward, giving them enough room to spread their wings and fly. He also led his role in average damage to champions per minute, while finding perfect angles to kick off game-winning plays across the spring.
If Berserker is the X-factor that closes out games, Blaber is the engine that C9 runs on. If they want to perform just as well as they did through the regular season, they’ll need the best jungler in the league to elevate his game to new heights before the rest of the playoffs rages on.
Published: Mar 30, 2023 12:05 pm