If someone had told you last month that there’d be Vladimir and Yasuo bot lanes, Mordekaiser mid, Aatrox, and Mundo in actual, real life professional League of Legends games, you’d probably punch them in the face for lying so egregiously.
And yet, as absolutely bat-shit crazy as that sounds, all of those things, and more, were present during the first week of the LPL Summer Split, which started today. Buckle up, because it only gets weirder from here on out.
Let’s dissect what you just read. Yes, there was a Yasuo bot lane, a Mordekaiser mid, a Vlad bot lane, and more insanity in today’s games, and no, they weren’t trolling. These are 100 percent serious picks that LPL teams have deemed meta-worthy, and for the most part, they worked out.
Aatrox was picked a couple of times—and both times he was picked on Invictus Gaming, he won. Not only that, but he won convincingly. Invictus also went all-in on the current high elo solo queue strategy of taking a high-damage melee champion over a traditional ADC in the bot lane. They picked Yasuo, and it worked really well.
Dr. Mundo was picked by JD Gaming, and that won, too. JD Gaming’s other weird picks, namely the mid lane Mordekaiser, bot lane Vladimir, and the debut of Pyke on the LPL’s stage didn’t work out quite as well, but just the fact that they were picked is significant enough.
All of these picks point toward one undeniable truth—the current League meta is up in flames. Solo queue players and professional teams alike can lock in previously unheard of and wild picks in pretty much any lane, and it’ll work. It doesn’t just work; it’s actually good. This is a good indication of how the other regions will perform, too.
Don’t be surprised if you’re watching the EU or NA LCS this weekend and more oddball picks crawl out of the woodwork, because that’s exactly where we’re at right now. Welcome to the second half of season eight.
