2021 World Championship Team Break Down

Unicorns of Love
League of Legends Continental League (LCL)
12-2 (1st Overall)

The Unicorns of Love have always been an exciting team to watch. Originally in the LEC, this team has founded their identity in aggressive playstyles with unique pocket picks to keep the enemy team off balance. In the LCL playoffs alone we saw off-meta picks like Cassiopea, Kassadin, and Yasuo picked by this team and many of the picks work to decent success. While they do not look like the strongest team in the competition, they definitely look like they could make a strong run within their play-in group which only has Cloud9 from the major regions. We saw UOL bow out of MSI (their last international event) with a 2-6 record against RNG and PNG, which many thought was a disappointment for this organization. In response we saw a change at the ADC role, which will be tested in this tournament. 

TOP: BOSS: For most of these players it will be a comparison of what they did domestically versus how MSI went for them. BOSS domestically was one of the most dominant top laners in the Summer Split. He had a 6+ KDA and 14% team first blood participation rate. He was electric to watch and played play-making champions like Camille, Gwen, and even Urgot. In international play though he became more reserved and I would argue that is what contributed to the falling of that KDA to 1.4. Yes, RNG is a good team but they kept the same scared mentality when they played PNG and it resulted in their eventual bowing out of MSI. BOSS will have opportunities in play-ins but he needs to play with more agency in his lane for this tournament to go better for him. 

JUNGLE: AHaHaCiK: I saw a lot of potential out of AHaHaCiK when he played at MSI but into Xiaohu it is hard to look good consistently. Instead I want to look more domestically to get a sense of how well he and UOL will perform in the play-in stage. AHK has some of the lower KDA and kill stats among all junglers in both the regular season and playoffs but where he shines is in assists. He participates in what his team is trying to do and he also knows that those kills need to find their way onto his mid lane and ADC. He was first among junglers in playoffs (111 in 14 games) and 2nd in the Summer Split (107 in 14 games). I think he will still fit this mold of contributing to his team’s success which means if he is cheap and UOL are into weaker teams, he could be worth picking up.  

MID: Nomanz: During the Summer Split there wasn’t a more dominant mid laner in the LCL than Nomanz. He had an 8.1 KDA and a league leading 92 kills. He plays consistent champions like Orianna and Ryze but also leans into wild picks like Vayne, Kassadin, and Yone as well. I think that UOL will put a lot of pressure on opposing teams when it comes to game planning against them with such a versatile player in the mid lane. I think he will win slates on his own and I expect him to even play well into the likes of Perkz and Cloud9 who are in his play-in group. 

ADC: Argonvat: This is a very young player. He has been playing professionally since June of 2020 and he is now about to take on some of the highest skilled players in the entire world. He will have to see Zven in the play-in groups and then hypothetically either Light or Deft in the BO5 series to make it to the group stage. He had champ KDAs of 4+ (Even a 10.33 on Sivir) but also a KDA of 2.3 on Kai’Sa. He will be really hot or cold and I suspect it will be hard to find good slates to confidently pick him up on. I don’t have low expectations for him but I do suspect we will see some of his youth exposed by better teams in this tournament.  

SUPPORT: SaNTaS: Call me a sucker for Christmas but I really like watching SaNTaS play. While he has some of the lowest team kill participation, he works hard to help get his ADC ahead in lane and then transition it into more of a teamfight facilitator in the mid to late game. I think one of the most commendable things about SaNTaS is how smart he is while playing. I see players across all regions play with a reckless abandon and many times sacrifice their lives for questionable engages. SaNTaS doesn’t really play like that. Instead we see a more controlled play and the ability to impact the outcome of fights while staying alive. He will be a safe bet in terms of possibly having lower deaths but you do run a risk of him not having the same production from game to game. 

I think if you are playing DFS for the World Championships, playing UOL early and then fading them as they get to the BO5 is the move to make. I can see them struggling against Cloud9 and even possibly DFM, but then having huge success against the other lower teams on their side of the play-in stage. I want to see how well Nomanz can take over a game while playing a unique champion and put pressure on other teams to come up with responses. UOL will be a fun team to watch but I think that will most likely be the end of that run for them. 

Cann’s Final Prediction: Play-In Stage Participant