The road to the 2023 League of Legends World Championship has been laid ahead of the North American competitive scene, with the best players in the region preparing for an arduous battle through the LCS Championship. Before the eight remaining teams continue on their journey, however, the best players of the regular season will be rewarded after rising above their peers as the kings of their respective roles.
The 2023 LCS first team All-Pro awards were announced today, consisting of veteran top laner Eric “Licorice” Ritchie, jungler Robert “Blaber” Huang, mid lane phenom Joseph “jojopyun” Pyun, AD superstar Kim “Berserker” Min-cheol, and support Choi “huhi” Jae-hyun.
In the public voting sheet, Jojopyun received all but four votes for the first team and dominated the competition with a whopping 106 points. The young star had an incredible bounce-back split after a disappointing spring campaign, helping lead an underdog Evil Geniuses roster to an impressive 12-6 record.
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Not many people expected EG to place nearly as high in the standings, especially after losing stars like Ssumday, Inspired, FBI, and Vulcan. Along with guiding his teammates, the 18-year-old had the sixth-most kills in the league, along with 75.6 percent kill participation, a 30.3 percent total team kill share, and some of the best early-game stats in the league, according to stats site Oracle’s Elixir.
Licorice, on the other hand, received the least amount of voting points among the first team with 70 points, with a majority of his votes coming from members of the media. He was, however, given first-team votes from fellow pro players like Team Liquid’s Jo “CoreJJ” Yong-in and Dignitas’ Nicolai Jensen. The 25-year-old veteran has finally returned to form alongside Huhi, showing off incredible poise and patience on picks like Jax and K’Sante as he side lanes and teamfights with confidence.
Blaber shouldn’t be a surprising face to see on the All-Pro selection list. The perpetual superstar has collected his fifth top All-Pro nomination over the eight seasons he’s been a full-time starter for C9, further solidifying his place as one of the best junglers in the region’s history.
Berserker, on the other hand, continues to skyrocket in stock value with back-to-back first team All-Pro awards through 2023. The 20-year-old firecracker has been the most dominant marksman in the league, and it hasn’t been close—he had a league-leading 8.2 KDA with 67 kills and has shown perfect restraint and timing throughout his team’s run to the postseason.
All five players will collide tomorrow when the 2023 LCS Championship begins at 4pm CT with TSM taking on EG in the first best-of-five of the season.
