MSI 2022! Let’s Get Ready To RUUUUUMBLEEEE!
In our last blog, we analyzed the best picks for the group stage of MSI 2022. With the start of the Rumble Stage, the favorites of the tournament started to play against each other, and the excitement grew more and more!
Similar to the group stage, some champions are still considered OP such as Ahri, Lucian, and Wukong. As we already discussed their stats and strong sides in our last article, we will be focusing on new champions that played much more at the group stage.
Let’s jump in!
TOP | Gangplank
Gwen is still the teams’ favorite champion in the top lane but Ganplank also received some love during the Rumble Stage. His buff in the patch 12.7 was a good improvement to his numbers and we finally saw the effects in the pro arena. His global presence and late-game domination were always threats to the enemy team but with this buff, it seems as he also solved his early game problems.
Furthermore, Gangplank has always been considered a weak blind pick but the current meta allowed the teams to pick him blindly without any consequences. He is also not a bad pick against Gwen and this also makes him an important pick.
His presence was 63.3% in the Rumble Stage, with 10 bans and 9 picks from total games of 30. Winning 6 of the 9 games also proved that he deserves the priority teams are showing to pick him!
JUNGLE | Lee Sin
Wukong is still dominating the Rift but our Blind Monk is also earned an important place for the teams. The meta changes every year, Riot releases new champions, and professional players retire and are replaced with younger ones, but Lee Sin keeps his place in the pro arena as always.
This fact did not change much in this tournament as well. He was banned in 5 games and picked in 14 games. His presence was 63.3% and this makes him the 3rd most picked jungler after Wukong and Viego. He also won half of the games he was picked, which is completely fair.
Considering Viego’s win ratio is only 29.4% (He managed to win 5 games from the 17 games he was picked) we can clearly say that Lee Sin is the 2nd best jungler of MSI 2022 so far!
MID | Le Blanc
As we mentioned Wukong’s domination for the jungler role, we can also mention the same thing for Ahri for mid-lane. She is still ever-present, picked or banned in every game.
On the other hand, LeBlanc is the other go-to pick for the players in the tournament. Her domination at the early game, her roaming potential, and her one-shot threat make her one of the strongest midlaner of the current meta. Although she is a high risk – high reward type of champion, top player of the top teams seems like they don’t want to that risk!(or don’t want to be threatened by LeBlanc)
Her presence was 80% in this stage. She was banned in 19 games, which is the 3rd highest number in the Rumble Stage! In the only 5 games player managed to play with LeBlanc, and she managed to win 2 of these games, with a win ratio of 40%.
BOTTOM | Kalista
For the last 2 years, late-game hyper carries such as Jinx, Aphelios, and Zeri dominated the pro arena. After the nerfs of these champions and the change in the meta; early game push and skirmish strength became much more important.
With these changes, Kalista became one of the best champions of her role. With a good engage support, she can easily dominate the lane and create space for your team to take drakes or dive to take early kills. She also provides a ‘second smite’ to secure objectives with her E.
Teams in the MSI also noticed that she is a solid bot lane champion for the current meta. In the Rumble Stage, her presence was 86.7%. She was banned in 17 games and picked in 9. She had an average win rate of 44.4%, winning 4 of the 9 games.
SUPPORT | Nautilus
If we mentioned the importance of the engage supports for Kalista, we must mention Nautilus as well. After the nerfs of Thresh, if the teams need a clean engage from their support, they only have 3 options right now: Leona, Rakan, and Nautilus.
Although he had a terrible win rate at the Group Stage (5 wins in 15 games), he turned the table around and became the strongest option for his role at the Rumble Stage. His presence was 76.7%, which is the highest rate of the supports! He was banned in 8 games and played in 15 games.
Furthermore, he also has a good win ratio. By winning 10 games, he has a 66.7% win ratio, which is the 2nd highest considering the champions who were picked at least half of the games.
More in depth analysis
If you want to analyze the champions in a more detailed way, we are also sharing the list of top champions of the Rumble Stage. You can see the ratios of all the champions who have at least 50.0% presence below.
| Rank | Champion | Games Banned | Games Played | Games Won | Presence | Win Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ahri | 16 | 14 | 10 | 100,00% | 71,4% |
| 2 | Lucian | 30 | 0 | 0 | 100,00% | 0,0% |
| 3 | Wukong | 24 | 6 | 4 | 100,00% | 66,7% |
| 4 | Gwen | 8 | 20 | 10 | 93,3% | 50,0% |
| 5 | Kalista | 17 | 9 | 4 | 86,7% | 44,4% |
| 6 | Le Blanc | 19 | 5 | 2 | 80,0% | 40,0% |
| 7 | Viego | 7 | 17 | 5 | 80,0% | 29,4% |
| 8 | Nautilus | 8 | 15 | 10 | 76,7% | 66,7% |
| 9 | Gangplank | 10 | 9 | 6 | 63,3% | 66,7% |
| 10 | Lee Sin | 5 | 14 | 7 | 63,3% | 50,0% |
We are almost at the end of the MSI 2022 and only 3 best of 5 series will decide the champion of this year! After the games are complete, we will analyze the semi-finals, finals, and the all-tournament together. Stay tuned!