The top 12 best players at MSI 2026

Wasif Ahmed Published 28/06/2026

The 2026 Mid-Season Invitational is mere days away, and it will see the best players in the world face off. The reward is a prize pool of $2,000,000 and extra slots at the upcoming World Championship. So, who are the top 12 best players at MSI 2026?

The top 12 best players at MSI 2026

Rank	Player	Role	Team
12	Kacper “Inspired” Słoma	Jungle	LYON
11	Yu “JackeyLove” Wen-Bo	ADC	Top Esports
10	Rudy “SkewMond” Semaan	Jungle	G2 Esports
9	Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyung	ADC	Hanwha Life Esports
8	Gao “Tian” Tian-Liang	Jungle	Top Esports
7	Chen “Bin” Ze-Bin	Top lane	Bilibili Gaming
6	Rasmus “Caps” Winther	Mid lane	G2 Esports
5	Mun “Oner” Hyeon-jun	Jungle	T1
4	Luo “ON” Wen-Jun	Support	Bilibili Gaming
3	Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok	Mid lane	T1
2	Ryu “Keria” Min-seok	Support	T1
1	Zhuo “Knight” Ding	Mid lane	Bilibili Gaming

12. Kacper “Inspired” Słoma

As the most decorated player in recent NA history, Inspired is LYON’s star player. In one word, this jungler is smart. Inspired’s signature move is to always slightly modify his clear to remain unpredictable, allowing him to gank, counter-gank, and invade at a place or timing that he isn’t expected.

Clear aside, he is also the team’s shotcaller. Inspired handles most of LYON’s communication, and is also vital out-of-game to drive the team’s feedback sessions.

11. Yu “JackeyLove” Wen-Bo

JackeyLove is a marksman of legend for both good and bad reasons. At his peak, he’s one of the ADCs reminding what the C in the role stands for. This is how he earned the Summoner’s Cup in 2018.

At the same time, he’s also one of the reasons why Top Esports always falls short at internationals. JackeyLove and the rest of TES seem to never be able to make it across the finish line.

10. Rudy “SkewMond” Semaan

One of the fastest-growing Western players, SkewMond truly earned the world’s respect at First Stand 2026. G2 plays one of the most action-packed early games in the world, and he’s at the center of it. The team can play around any player, and he’s always the one to enable them.

Worlds Final MVP Gumayusi is one of the best players at MSI 2026. Image credit: Colin Young-Wolff / Riot Games

9. Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyung

As a three-time World champion, Gumayusi left his first and only team T1 to join HLE. There, he became the only stable player in a team of crazy playmakers.

Gumayusi is consistency incarnate, and he’s at his best on champions with a clear gameplan. Utility picks, bullies like Caitlyn, lethality Varus focused on poke: when he has one specific goal, he’s a master at executing it.

8. Gao “Tian” Tian-Liang

Joining his teammate JackeyLove, Tian is a jungler with highs and lows. Except with an even higher ceiling.

When he’s on a high, Tian is one of the best players in the world and will negate the enemy jungler’s existence. TES will happily follow in his footsteps and take the game from there. However, he too struggles to find that form.

7. Chen “Bin” Ze-Bin

Perhaps the most legendary top laner in recent history, Bin is unmatched on carry picks. Beyond his signature Jax, his other bruisers are just as good.

Bin’s attitude holds him back, though, as it earned him fines as well as getting benched. Accompanying it is inconsistency in game, as he has had numerous questionable performances that his mid laner bailed him out of. That said, he remains the strongest top lane carry of his league, and probably the world.

Caps goes to MSI as the best player from Europe. Image credit: Bruno Alvares / Riot Games

6. Rasmus “Caps” Winther

The prodigy of the West for eight years, G2’s mid laner is the most decorated Western player ever. Caps has gone to two World finals, and has won one MSI. At the top of his form, he can easily rival any player in the world.

However, what sets him apart from the legends of the East is that one can never tell whether the coin will land on Claps or Craps. Each tournament, sometimes each match, he’ll show a different face. Caps will either confidently remove peak Gen.G from existence, or be a dead weight that the rest of G2 will try (and usually fail) to carry.

5. Mun “Oner” Hyeon-jun

Another one of T1’s three-time champions, Oner is the best in the world at playing bruiser junglers. His Xin Zhao, Lee Sin, and Nocturne have been stellar, and they just happen to keep being the meta.

That being said, there’s a chance for tank and AP junglers to rise in priority again. Should that happen, Oner will go down in the rankings. Thankfully for him, MSI teams will likely stick to comfort picks over the course of the tournament.

4. Luo “ON” Wen-Jun

Bilibili Gaming’s support embodies the team’s will to always push the game forward, which is exactly how they’re comfortable playing. ON has a wide array of his own picks, being a pioneer on Anivia, Camille, or Shen. Some of them have since been adopted by other teams, but he’s not afraid to innovate and he will do it again.

ON is no worse on any regular pick either. No matter what champion he goes for, he will turn it into a playmaker and allow BLG to be the most aggressive team in the world.

3. Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok

As the face of League of Legends, Faker will remain around the top of every tier list even after 13 years. T1’s mid laner never enters a tournament as the best player anymore, but he consistently subverts expectations during it.

Today’s Faker has clear weaknesses. His laning phase can leave something to be desired, and his Aurora and Yone unfortunately speak for themselves. However, his Orianna, Ryze, and Azir are unbeatable. On top of it, he’s the only player to always overperform at internationals, and will be one of the best players at MSI.

2. Ryu “Keria” Min-seok

It’s hard to find room to shine when playing with Faker, but Keria did it. Ryu Min-seok has established himself as the world’s best support without contest.

Keria is the best ranged support player as LoL Esports is in an enchanter meta, and he shines just as well on the other ranged picks such as Neeko or Lux. Keria also has his own niche picks like Pyke, Morgana, or Camille.

T1’s support was probably the best player at MSI 2025, and he’s looking to repeat that feat on his fifth consecutive MSI appearance.

Knight has been the best player in the world in 2026. Image credit: Bruno Alvares / Riot Games

1. Zhuo “Knight” Ding

Hovering around the top for the entirety of his career, Knight has become the best player in the world in 2026. In the LPL, he’s consistently putting up insane carry performances on every champion. This is even more impressive as the group system of that league makes him exclusively face the best opponents China has to offer.

Knight’s scorelines are absurd. In a team where everyone wants to play fast and every other player is inconsistent; he’s the force to drive them forward no matter what. BLG has had such a dominant record in 2026 because he almost never has a bad game.

Knight is the best player at MSI 2026.

Featured image credit: Christina Oh / Riot Games

Wasif Ahmed

About Wasif Ahmed

Wasif Ahmed is the Lead Esports Editor for WIN.gg. He has been covering esports for nearly eight years, although his gaming journey started much earlier, when he was just four years old and was introduced to Road Rash on a dusty PC. Hit him up on X to talk about esports, why partnership models are the best fit for esports games, or if Halo 7 has finally been announced.

View full profile