Two League of Legends champions made their presence felt by appearing in every single game in some capacity at this year’s MSI—even if it was by banning them from play. Each team in the tournament recognized the sheer power of these champions and their ability to completely turn the outcome of any game, very rarely letting them step onto the Rift.
In all 77 games of MSI, both Ahri and Lucian appeared in the pick/ban phase 100-percent of the time. Combined, they were picked by players a total of 33 times, while they were banned from play in the other 44 games.
Ahri’s popularity has risen drastically in both solo queue and professional play around the world following slight tweaks to her kit as part of the mid-scope update she received earlier this year. On top of healing for a large amount when defeating enemy champions, her ultimate also receives near-unlimited resets for achieving the same feat, boosting her mobility to new heights. She has a 52.22-percent win rate in Diamond and above, according to OP.GG, and remains one of the most dominant mid lane picks even after the recent durability changes.
Lucian, on the other hand, has historically not been confined to any one role. Yet at MSI, his prowess as an ADC posed an even bigger threat than Ahri, only being played a total of three times with a 100-percent win rate in those games. Lucian’s mobility and burst damage potential when paired with a proper support allows him to take down multiple enemies at a time with ease—as seen with GALA’s pentakill on the third day of the group stage.
MSI was played in its entirety on League Patch 12.8, two patches behind the current live state of the game. In that time, Ahri received slight nerfs to her W and R, while Lucian remains untouched. The durability changes were introduced in Patch 12.10 and aimed to reduce the amount of burst damage, healing, and shielding in the game. The new patch hasn’t yet seen professional play, nor have the win rates of either of these champions been greatly affected by the changes.
League Patch 12.11 will release in two weeks and is expected to further address discrepancies related to the durability patch and beyond. Using the data from MSI, it is possible that both Ahri and Lucian will receive some type of balancing update to elements in their kit.
