The breakout stars of the Mid-Season Invitational

Everyone knows how good Sanghyuk "Faker" Lee, Shu Wei “westdoor” Liu, Won-seok "Pawn" Heo, and Bora "YellOwStaR" Kim are. We expected them to perform at the Mid-Season Invitational. And perform they did. But what about those guys who were either not so well known outside of their own region, or simply untested on the international stage? Who would be the new stars of professional League of Legends? It was these breakout stars -- many who weren't well known outside of their own region before MSI -- who showed up huge and made sure everyone knew their name by the end of the week. These are the stars of the Mid-Season Invitational.

Fnatic Huni

Coming off of a dominant split in a region that many considered to be behind the rest of the world, no one could be sure how the Seung-Hoon "Huni" Heo would perform on the international stage. At MSI, however, he showed up. His Hecarim trampled over anyone in his path and deleted AD carries wherever it went, while his Rumble outright won teamfights and turned around tower dives with relative ease. He even played a pair of games using Cassiopeia in the top lane, tearing TSM to shreds in one of them. In short, Huni proved himself to be a premier top lane carry in a meta where damage dealers out of the lane are becoming increasingly important. His near-perfect Teleports to the bottom lane regularly resulted in multiple kills, creating pressure all around the Rift. Teams at MSI had to constantly be aware of Huni's imminent presence, and he gave them good reason to be afraid.

Edward Gaming Koro1

Speaking of top lane carries, Tong "Koro1" Yang was also tearing it up all over the northern side of the Rift. He was one of the few top laners at MSI to really take it to Huni in lane, proving that his mastery of Gnar is unparalleled around the world. He was a threat in all stages of the game, often stomping through the laning phase before transitioning into a team fighting monstrosity. Followers of the LPL may have known how good Koro1 is, but he hasn't been in the global conversation until MSI. His 1 vs. 1 laning is incredibly strong, and he's a master at the 2 vs. 1 laning phase. Much like Huni, he's more than capable of surviving ganks and picking up a kill in the process, and then snowballing from there. Harkening back to an era in which Chinese top laners were dominant, Koro1 is doing his best to bring the title of Best Top Lane Region back to the LPL. And at MSI, he certainly laid out his case.

ahq Ziv

Not every top laner was trying to carry at MSI, though. Well, not in the "blowing people the hell up" sense, at least. Arguably the best tank player at MSI, Yi "Ziv" Chen team's wins came when he was on Maokai and Gnar. In lane, he played relatively safely, trying to not to set himself far behind. But once the brawls started -- and with ahq on the map, they did start -- he became an absolute menace. His peeling prowess was shown off as he kept both Westdoor and Chun An "AN" Chou safe to deal huge amounts of damage. Do you think all those kills on ahq's carries came from their positioning alone? Take a look at Ziv for who really kept their health bars above zero. We didn't see much in the way of his carry champion pool at MSI, but ahq didn't need him to pull out a carry top laner. Acting as an initiator and a peeler, Ziv is much more of an enabler than a solo carry himself. He was a wall through which most could not pass.

SKTelecom T1 Bang

Dear world, meet Junsik "Bang" Bae. Followers of the LCK know exactly what Bang is capable of, especially after his performance in Game 4 of the Spring Split Semifinals against CJ Entus. One of the best Lucian players in the world, he's become the backup hard carry to the SKT lineup, bringing in victories when even his teammate Faker can't. He's become known for hard carrying even on champions, like Lucian, who are considered more powerful during the mid game. SKT even has a composition based entirely around shielding him and giving him movement speed buffs. That way, he can dash and sprint around the Rift, showing of his impeccable mechanical play and team fight prowess. At MSI, Bang's Lucian snuck SKT out of more than a couple sticky situations, including a comeback victory by way of a pentakill against Fnatic during the Group Stage. That's not the only mobile AD carry he's found mastery of, either. His huge champion pool at MSI included his top-tier Kalista, Corki, Ezreal, Sivir, and a quality bot lane Urgot, as well. Expect to know him as an up-and-coming superstar in the coming months.

SKTelecom T1 Easyhoon

How do you make a name for yourself when you're constantly overshadowed by Faker? By doing stuff even the God of the Mid Lane can't do at MSI, of course. While Faker is renowned for his assassin play, Jihoon “EasyHoon” Lee takes on the role of the caster for SKTelecom T1. Easyhoon only played a handful of games while at the Mid-Season Invitational, but he was able to show that he's a worthy option for SKT to slot in when they need a safer, scaling mid laner. His Cassiopeia was a force to be reckoned with against EDG in Game 1 of the Finals, and his Vladimir will likely be giving PawN nightmares in the future. Yet it was his Azir play against ahq that really made the world take notice. He's arguably one of the best in the world at the Emperor of the Sands, and Easyhoon showed why Azir is increasingly finding himself in the mid lane as of late. With huge, curving Shifting Sands dashes over walls and inSec-style Emperor's Divides, he was instrumental in SKT's comeback victory over the representative from the LMS. If there's one player who can stand in the shoes of Faker on SKT, Easyhoon might be the one.

Edward Gaming Meiko

If there was an MVP award for support play at MSI, Tian "Meiko" Ye would be one of the top contenders. Not terribly well-known outside of the LPL, the Mid-Season Invitational is the first time he's competed on the international stage. And boy, what a performance it was. When he started landing Death Sentence after Death Sentence as Thresh against Fnatic and Team SoloMid, the MSI viewers began to take notice. But it was his Alistar and Annie in the Finals against SKT that really showed what he was capable of. Meiko excels at initiations, finding opportune Headbutt/Pulverize combos or Tibbers drops for his team to follow up on. He can peel competently, but why bother when his team is just going to try to kill everyone anyway? He's become a maestro of the art of the tower dive, juggling aggro well enough to grab his team kills in the classic LPL style. Few teams are as aggressive as EDG, and Meiko is almost always leading the charge.

Fnatic Reignover

No player exemplifies Fnatic's aggressive play style quite like Yeu Jin “Reignover” Kim. Seemingly everywhere at all times, he's the epitome of an early game jungler who has successfully transferred his style over to the Cinderhulk meta. Whether he was on Rek'Sai, Sejuani, or Gragas, he continuously made plays around the map, snowballing lanes and forcing disadvantageous skirmishes on his opponents. He is the primary reason why Fnatic is able to play the way that they do, and is often the first into the fray as they look for those early advantages. In team fights, he's just as impactful as he is during the laning phase. His Gragas and Sejuani ultimates were on point throughout the tournament, and his Rek'Sai knockups regularly landed on two, three, or four members of the opposing team. Always looking for a fight, Reignover has cemented himself as one of the best in the world at the aggressive jungling style. Who did you think were the breakout stars of the Mid-Season Invitational? Let us know in the comments below, and make sure to check out the spoiler-free VODs page if you missed any of these MSI performances.

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