One of LoL’s first champions finally picked in mid lane in historic LCK debut

And they even won a game.
Lux, Annie, Ekko, Kayn, and Lucian charge towards the left of the image.
Image via Riot Games

One League of Legends champion received some significant buffs in Patch 13.3, and now it was picked for the first time in LCK’s history in the mid lane role.

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During the 2023 LCK Spring Split series between Kwangdong Freecs and Gen.G on Feb. 16, the mid laner of the former, Lee “BuLLdoG” Tae-young chose Annie in the first and second games. It was the first time that the champion has been ever picked in the mid lane in the LCK.

And BuLLDoG did considerably well on the champion. In the first game, he had the most kills out of his team (three) and posed a significant threat alongside his jungler for the enemy solo lanes, which made himthea main target for the opponents in team fights. Still, due to poor showing from their bottom lane, Kwangdong Freecs lost the game, but BuLLDoG picked Annie again in the second game.

Related: Annie support makes regrettable return to LCK after 7-year wait

There, Kwangdong Freecs dominated throughout all 35 minutes, with BuLLDoG once again one of the main threats and crowd control sources for his team. It’s likely that he would probably have chosen Annie for the third game, however, it was banned by Gen.G. Fortunately for the latter, it secured them the series with a 2-1 score.

This wasn’t the first time we’ve seen Annie in the fifth week of the 2023 LCK Spring Split. The champion also returned to the support role after more than seven years yesterday, when it was picked by DRX’s Cho “BeryL” Geon-hee. Although due to the complete macro domination from their opponents, it didn’t fruit in a victory.

The sudden surge in Annie’s pick is happening due to her buffs in Patch 13.3, where she had her passive, E, and ultimate strengthened. The developers were quick to react to her monstrous win rate with a hotfix, yet, she still continues to reign supreme in both mid lane and support roles in the solo queue.


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Author
Mateusz Miter
Polish Staff Writer. Mateusz previously worked for numerous outlets and gaming-adjacent companies, including ESL. League of Legends or CS:GO? He loves them both. In fact, he wonders which game he loves more every day. He wanted to go pro years ago, but somewhere along the way decided journalism was the more sensible option—and he was right.