Meet your 2016 All-Stars!
Edit: This article has been updated to accurately reflect the correct Team Fire and Team Ice rosters. Team Fire is LCK, NA LCS, and IWC. Team Ice is EU LCS, LMS, and LPL
All-Stars voting has wrapped up thanks to the millions of people who turned out to throw their support behind their favorite players. These are the regions and players which will attend the 2016 All-Stars Event in Barcelona, Spain which begins on December 8th!
It’s a clash between Team Fire and Team Ice as the elements battle to determine whether it’s hot or it’s cold. This is the exact kind of scenario Katy Perry wrote her song for! Let’s meet the players and see what each region’s representatives brings to the table.
Team Ice
EU LCS
Top: sOAZ (23.3%)*
Jungle: Jankos (38.3%)
Mid: xPeke (35.2%)
ADC: Rekkles (43.1%)
Support: Mithy** (18.1%)
At a glance:
- First off, xPeke being in the mid lane is going to raise some eyebrows. But this event is about stars and there aren’t many stars bigger than xPeke. Few players have a play named after them. That ASE 2016 takes place in his native Spain is just the cherry on top.
- In addition to Rekkles and sOAZ, this is a sort of reunion for the three (with xPeke) old Fnatic teammates. The two legends in the EU scene are no strangers to the big stage. Whether they still have the chops to shine through the crazy picks at All-Stars, though, is to be seen.
- Jankos helped H2K reach the Worlds Semifinals this year. With the shackles of Worlds off, the first blood king may be even more aggressive. I'm hoping we get some next-level cheese ganks. Maybe even a level 1 bush camp!
- Mithy, Europe’s All-Star support, is the only player from G2 to make an appearance this year. While the rest of his team is on vacation, he’ll have a chance to show off why he was so well regarded prior to Worlds.
- As the hometown team, they’re sure to receive some of the loudest cheers. Team Fire looks strong, though, so it’ll be on Europe to be a key lynchpin if Team Ice hopes to come out of this event as the cool kids on the block.
*This is the percentage of votes the player received.
**Mithy replaces Yellowstar (34.7%), who declined to participate.
LMS
Top: Ziv (66.1%)
Jungle: Karsa (49%)
Mid: Maple (48.6%)
ADC: Bebe (56.1%)
Support: Albis (43.4%)
At a glance:
- It seems like forever ago, but the Taipei Assassins won the 2012 World Championship thanks in large part to Bebe. But more importantly, he helped popularize the Blue Ezreal build, which is super fun if you play Ezreal. And if you don’t, well, what are you waiting for?
- Maple and Karsa are part of the Flash Wolves family. Outside of the game, Maple may be clumsy, but inside of it, he’s more like maple syrup, a crucial ingredient to holding his team together in LMS victories, not to mention pancakes and waffles.
- Ziv gained international renown for his play in the top lane, and his ability to take over games will be on full display. Alongside teammate Albis, the two help round out a sort of dream team for the region -- one that meshes the older talents with the new.
- The LMS has been the kryptonite to the Korean region in the past. Perhaps they can leverage that for team Ice.
LPL
Top: Mouse (24.3%)
Jungle: Clearlove (49.6%)
Mid: We1less (27.4%)
ADC: Uzi (51%)
Support: Mata (34.5%)
At a glance:
- Another year, another Quarterfinals appearance for Clearlove at Worlds. If nothing else, he’s very consistent. The All-Star jungler is a perennial face at international events -- adding a win for China here will help round out his list of accomplishments.
- Joining him from EDG is top laner Mouse, who had to withdraw from Worlds due to a personal family tragedy. The former support player’s flexibility may let him shine in odd scenarios.
- RNG’s bot lane, Uzi and Mata, was billed as a dream team from the get-go. And they’ve been a nightmare for most opponents. Look no further than these two if you’re into playmakers.
- And in the mid lane for China is We1less, formerly known as GODV. An aggressive and confident player -- you’d have to be to call yourself god -- he’ll try to summon the same kind of talent that got him here in the first place.
- China is well known for their love of team fighting. All-Stars is well known for its mayhem. When you combine the two, you get a major cluster of what-was-that?! I am so ready.
Team Fire
LCK
Top: Smeb (56.5%)
Jungle: Bengi (46.3%)
Mid: Faker (82.6%)
ADC: PraY (51.9%)
Support: Madlife (47.4%)
At a glance:
- Features 3x World Champions Faker and Bengi. They could loan the rest of their team old Champions jackets and still have one to spare.
- Between Smeb and PraY, they’ll have plenty of style points, which should prove crucial towards producing mayhem. Here’s to hoping PraY can replicate something like this arrow.
- Rounding out the team is Madlife, one of Korea’s most tenured pros. Will we see his Blitzcrank or Thresh? And if we don’t, what wrong did we do to the world!? Who banned him out?
- Let’s make no mistake about Korea’s strength. After four consecutive World Championship wins, I can safely predict that at the All-Star Event, they’ll be at the very least, without a shadow of a doubt, decent... We’re all about the
chaosmayhem meta this year -- and you can’t strategize against that! Maybe we’ll see them break into special oddball picks.
NA LCS
Top: Impact (41.7%)
Jungle: Reignover (36%)
Mid: Bjergsen (66%)
ADC: Doublelift (35%)
Support: Aphromoo (55.3%)
At a glance:
- Well, top dies so long as Impact is there. If you can’t get past the meme (and it’s okay if you can’t), you might forget he’s a former World Champion.
- TSM’s shotcalling duo, Bjergsen and Doublelift, will play their last matches together for at least half a year, as Doublelift plans to take a break. Doublelift’s whims can lead to a 1v5 pentakill or a farm simulator split push -- either way is a treat. I’m hoping he tries the Tristana initiate-style again.
- Joining Doublelift in the bot lane is his old partner, Aphromoo. Do they still have synergy? Are they friends? Can they still finish each other’s sentences? Are they still Rush Hour or are they Rush Hour 3?
- Reignover has consistently been one of the best junglers in his region for two years now. He may pull out his pocket pick or something even crazier. Jungle changes are in the air, after all!
- NA is the butt of many memes, but they actually had the second highest win percentage at Worlds 2016 -- after Korea. So, if they do well in Barcelona, don’t call it a comeback!
IWC
The International Wildcard regions will determine their participants at the International Wildcard All-Star Event, which takes place from December 1 to December 4. Those five players will round out Team Fire.
Be sure to keep an eye out for the profiles and content we’ll be releasing ahead of All-Stars, including the 1v1 tournament bracket. Let us know if your vote helped your favorite players win!
Remember to tune in to the 2016 All-Star Event on December 8 to follow all of the action live from Barcelona.
(fill in 3rd champion with SKT bengi skin here)
