There will always be fan-favorite champions in League of Legends, regardless of whether they’re in the meta. But what happens when two of the most-popular ADCs make it to the international stage at the 2023 Mid-Season Invitational and fail miserably?
Losses. And a lot of them.
That’s the unfortunate position Jinx and Zeri face at MSI 2023. With eight losses a piece and below-average win rates—46.7 percent and 33.3 percent respectively, according to pro League stats tracking site Gol.gg—these two ADCs aren’t quite living up to their expectations, despite being piloted by some of the best AD carries in the world, including Yutapon from DFM and Hans sama from G2 Esports.
Instead, these champions are losing to the MSI ADC meta, which Aphelios, the Weapon of the Faithful, tops. Aphelios currently has 12 wins at the 2023 MSI, with a win rate of 66.7 percent.
For many players, Aphelios is a challenging champion to pilot due to the different weapons he wields and the fact you have to know his kit inside and out to play him easily. And this is precisely Gumayusi from T1 and Tsou “Wako” Wei-Yang from PSG Talon was able to do to help their teams win.
But with such a challenging kit, he isn’t often seen in ranked League games and currently has a play rate of 8.2 percent. This doesn’t even compare to Jinx, who is picked in nearly one-quarter of ranked League matches.
Even though these two are popular on the Rift, the same can no longer be said about Zeri. Unfortunately, she’s no longer the “must-have” champion she once was. And no matter her build, she isn’t performing on and off the international stage. However, this may be due to the many nerfs she received in League Patch 13.7, which has made her unviable against these meta-picks.
As the bracket stage continues on May 12, we can expect to see Jinx and Zeri on the Rift. But whether they’ll help either team win may come down to team composition… and whether there’s an Aphelios on the enemy team.
