I see a lot of comments about individual players and regions, and although no-one will read this, and if they do, I'll probably get downvotes, I would like to give my opinion on what I think MSI showed us.
Pawn > Faker is 100% NOT true. Pawn is a great mid laner, and sure, you can argue that Faker kept getting subbed when he had to play against Pawn, and Pawn has a better head to head record, and Pawn beat Faker's LeBlanc. However, that on its own means nothing. I think if there is one truth from that final, it's that Pawn was EDG's worst player over 5 games. Pawn could not handle Easyhoon in the first two games, and self-admittedly played poorly. In the third game, he massively struggled to stay even close to even against Easyhoon, meaning he effectively lost both sides of the Orianna vs. Cassiopoeia match up. Admittedly, EDG won two of these games. When Faker comes in, Pawn is put in a lane where he should really agress upon the Kassadin as Azir pre-6. He didn't. Faker kept winning trades, and Pawn was actually behind (partially due to roams, I suppose) for a while until he started pushing lane, farming wraiths, pushing lane, farming wraiths repeatedly. He ended up with the highest CS in the game, but lost due to EDG not being able to pull off the poke comp (and the weird decision for Corki adc, when they could have had Lucian/Sivir). The last game was where Pawn actually had an impact. He played the lane well, he roamed, his ultimates were very good, and he helped win the teamfights. But, I can't ignore that was the first time that he matched his opponent's laning phase, and he had a straight, clear counter on which he probably would have done much better on if it was anyone else playing LeBlanc. Also, people saying that Faker got solo killed TWICE by a rookie in the same game: Febiven. Now, I am a huge fan of Febiven, not only due to his assassins, but also his Xerath. However, if you watch the game, you will realise that, although it was great technical play from Febiven, Zed counters Azir. Also, if you watch the rest of the game, Faker did ridiculously well on his own Azir mechanics. Pawn, apart from the last game, did poorly when he was tested, so Faker is better. Is he better than Easyhoon? I don't know. You can make your own decisions about that. Easyhoon is amazing, and in MSI, we see that he is able to carry games, and play aggressively more than he used to, and his mechanics are on point. However, so are Faker's. Just watch how well he does in the counter lane from Pawn, and you can tell this guy is good. So, I don't know the best midlaner in the world, but I'm pretty sure that he plays for SKT.
Another thing, now about the regions. What we learned, was EDG>SKT>Fnatic,AHQ>TSM, Besiktas. Yes, AHQ beat Fnatic in group stages, but SKT also beat EDG, so who knows what would have happened in a best of 5? Same thing for TSM and Besiktas. Maybe TSM would have tilted so hard after the group stage that they lose against BJK (Probably not, I would have expected a 3-0 to TSM, although I thought BJK was pretty good). We learned nothing about regions here, maybe C9 could beat Fnatic, maybe GE Tigers would have lost to SKT, we don't know. Remember, at World's, there is more than just one team from major regions + a wildcard.
About China using Koreans to beat Korea, I don't think that's true. Clearlove was MVP for a reason, and deservedly so, he was the best jungler at MSI, and one of the best in the world. Also, Meiko on Annie was God-like. Koro might have had a horrendous game 4, and generally made some greedy plays throughout, but his tp flanks on Maoki won them the tournament. The CN of this team carried. Now for the KR 'carries'. Pawn I've already spoken about; when he was tested, he didn't show up until one game where he had a counter pick. In regards to Deft, I actually thought he played extremely well during the group stage, and then knockouts as well. There is a MASSIVE mark against him, however, that was noticeable throughout: his positioning. I think the Jinx game highlighted this very well. He got extremely fed, 5/1/5 I think he was at one point, accelerating towards the Jinx late game. However, in teamfights, he positioned poorly and kept taking so much damage that he couldn't fight for long. The fight to the side of the dragon pit, he took so much damage from the Lucian (and others) that he couldn't clean up the last kill, or help his team in the rest of the fight. Another time, he flashes the Thresh hook cleverly, but Rumble flashes into the Red buff pit, nearly taking him down. He focuses Thresh, who is forced to flash, but is too low to follow, and gets lucky his team distract Rumble from finishing him; he didn't kite at all. Again, in the Blue buff pit, he micro-manages well, but flashes into the pit where he is surrounded, gets killed, and gets lucky that Pawn's Azir is there to pick up a Quadra kill (I never said he was bad at teamfights). Another time, he positions poorly, and gets blown up before the fight even begins. He also had a tendency of arriving late to the fights. I sound really harsh, but that's only because I know how well he plays. Deft is easily the best Jinx in LPL, and he showed it, and he showed up on the other adc picks, but sometimes the late game decision making and positioning hurts EDG. CN carried the LPL team to victory, not the KR 'carries'.
I'm sorry for this essay, but would like to leave you with my team of the tournament. Unsurprisingly, they all made knockouts:
Top: Huni Jungle: Clearlove (MVP) Mid: Faker ADC: Bang Support: Meiko
(Faker played more than Easyhoon)
我真是吓尿了
