The number of unique champions contested at League of Legends Worlds has reached 100 for the first time in the game’s history in 2022.
DWG KIA top laner Jang “Nuguri” Ha-gwon opted for a Jayce pick in his side’s group stage match against North America’s Evil Geniuses and this became the 100th champion to be either picked or banned so far in the tournament across both the Play-In stage and the Main Event. The centennial pick occurred less than halfway through the group stage. With knockouts still to come, there’s still a chance for the list to grow even further.
Coincidentally, the 99th champion to be contested came within the same draft as EG selected Bard for support Philippe “Vulcan” Laflamme. Casters Max “Atlus” Anderson, Marc Robert “Caedrel” Lamont and Sam “Kobe” Hartman-Kenzler quickly noticed this, though they took longer to realize that the 100th pick/ban had also just taken place. Atlus later announced the milestone in the early stages of the game.
100 marks a new record for featured champions at a Worlds event. It indicates healthy meta diversity at the competitive season finale. This is especially interesting considering that some heroes have been disabled at the event. With plenty of matches to go at Worlds 2022, the number of contested heroes could grow even higher.
A number of champions have featured heavily so far at the tournament, with top laner Aatrox leading the charge with a 96% presence at Play-Ins and 100% so far in the Main Event. The champion is currently seen as a comfortable blind pick on blue side.
Maokai has also emerged as a huge priority for teams, with his presence increasing from the Play-Ins to groups. This is, in part, due to his potential as a flex pick between top, jungle and even support. The last role has only been attempted by Fnatic’s Zdravets “Hylissang” Iliev Galabov so far.
Other popular champions include Sylas, Kalista, Sejuani, Azir, and to the frustration of many fans and players alike, Yummi.
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