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The League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational 2023 is coming to a close in a few days. Only a couple of teams remain in the competition as they compete fiercely to lift the first international League of Legends title of the 2023 League of Legends esports season. This has resulted in fans seeing impressive plays from highly talented players and outplays, which have shocked the League of Legends world.
This article will list out the top five plays that have happened at the League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational 2023 so far.
League of Legends MSI 2023 has had some impressive plays so far from Faker, Ruler, and more players
5) The Unkillable Demon King lives up to his name
Lee "Faker" Sang-Hyeok has been a constant presence and a leader for T1 throughout MSI 2023 so far. The greatest player of all time in League of Legends history has taken a step back from being a carry, enabling his young superstars Mun "Oner" Hyeon-Jun and Lee "Gumayusi" Min-Hyeong to be world-class players and carry T1 to victories.
Despite this, Faker has had his individual highlights and moments at MSI 2023. One of his best plays was on one of the newest champions in League of Legends, K'Sante, against Gen.G in Game 5.
Faker beautifully used All Out, K'sante's ultimate, to isolate Gen.G's jungler Han "Peanut" Wang-Ho. He dished out great damage to Peanut before Gen.G's mid laner Jeong "Chovy" Ji-Hoon joined the fray to kill off Faker.
The Unkillable Demon King outplayed the Gen.G duo with a fantastic Pathmaker, followed by a flash. He then used the empowered version of Footwork to cross over the wall to get out of the situation cleanly without giving up a kill. Faker showcased every aspect of K'Sante's kit in this brilliant escape as T1 eventually went on to win the game and the series.
4) Ruler secures match point for JD Gaming
Park "Ruler" Jae-Hyuk has looked like the best AD carry at League of Legends MSI 2023 so far. With exceptional positioning during teamfights and dishing out incredible amounts of damage, Ruler has given the viewers a show to witness as he looks to claim his first League of Legends MSI title.
Ruler had multiple plays at MSI 2023 where he showcased his mechanical prowess. An important play by Ruler on the champion Jinx was against JD Gaming's regional rivals, Bilibili Gaming.
The gold lead between the two teams was minimal, and it was a nail-biting game. JD Gaming looked to secure the tier two top laner turret, but Bilibili Gaming found the initial pick onto JD Gaming's jungler Seo "Kanavi" Jin-Hyeok. However, Bilibili Gaming's jungler Peng "XUN" Li-Xun gave up a kill in return which allowed Ruler's Jinx to proc his passive. Ruler decimated the teamfight as he fearlessly moved forward, eventually netting him a triple kill.
Ruler showcased brilliant spacing and awareness of the teamfight, ensuring Bilibili Gaming never had a chance to capitalize on their initial pick. JD Gaming secured the match point off this play and swept Bilibili Gaming in a clean 3-0 scoreline thanks to Ruler's consistent carry performances.
3) Zeus solo kills Doran
Choi "Zeus" Woo-Je has been a world-class top laner, widely regarded as one of the best top laners in League of Legends since 2022. He is known for his mechanical talents on skill-intensive champions such as Irelia and Jayce. However, Zeus has been on tank duty for T1 at MSI 2023 so far.
The top laner showcased that he is mechanically proficient and impactful on tanks as well. One of his best plays in the international League of Legends tournament was his solo kill versus regional rival Choi "Doran" Hyeon-joon of Gen.G.
Zeus piloted Ornn while Doran played Gragas. The former utilized every ability that Ornn's kit provides to absolute perfection to completely outplay Doran in the 1v1.
A beautiful Volcanic Rupture, followed by his ultimate Call of the Forge God, made sure Doran was slow enough for Zeus to knock him up with a Searing Charge onto the fissure that Volcanic Rupture created. He followed this crowd-control combo by landing the second half of Call of the Forge God to knock up Doran once again.
Zeus also avoided Doran's ultimate Explosive Cask, as he used Bellow's Breath to become unstoppable, applying Brittle onto Doran. Zeus flashed on top of Doran to secure the solo kill and cap off a brilliant sequence of play and showcasing his deep understanding of various types of champions in the game.
2) Keria's instant Mikael's saves Gumayusi to complete the comeback
Ryu "Keria" Min-Seok has been regarded as the best support in the world and one of the best players League of Legends has right now. Keria has continued his impressive feats in the support role for T1 as they look to claim their first international title since 2017.
Keria performed incredibly in the first game of T1's best of 5 against EMEA's Spring Split champions, MAD Lions. One particular play in this game from Keria on the champion Lulu was absolutely mind-blowing, and it helped T1 complete their impressive comeback after being down thousands of gold behind.
MAD's mid laner Yasin "Nisqy" Dinçer flashed over the wall to stun Gumayusi with his ultimate, Summon Tibbers. However, Keria reacted instantly with a picture-perfect Mikael's Blessing active to cleanse Gumayusi of the stun, which allowed him to clean up the fight.
Keria also flashes to polymorph MAD's AD Carry Matyáš "Carzzy" Orság to prevent him from doing damage in the teamfight. This play helped T1 secure the Baron Nashor. They eventually went to close out the game and dominated the rest of the series, sending MAD Lions to the League of Legends MSI 2023 lower bracket with a 3-0 victory.
1) Chovy's 300IQ stopwatch almost wins Gen.G the series
Chovy is a world-class mid laner regarded as one of the most mechanically gifted League of Legends players. His laning and ability to farm and create gold leads are exceptional for even professional League of Legends standards. This has made him stand out in the eyes of many. Chovy looks to claim his first-ever international League of Legends title, and he has already had highlight moments at MSI 2023.
While Chovy may have been outplayed by Faker in Game 5 in their series vs. T1, Gen.G would not have been in Game 5 if not for Chovy's heroic play in Game 3 on the champion Rumble.
While T1 did get overconfident in chasing Chovy, it was understandable as Chovy had a chance to reset and clear out the wave preventing T1 from winning the game.
Chovy bought a stopwatch just as Oner and Zeus tried to kill him, which resulted in Oner dying as he was tanking the Nexus turret. Zeus couldn't finish off the kill as Chovy reached his fountain, which resulted in Zeus' death. This play gave Gen.G a second chance and eventually snowballed into a Gen.G win.
Gen.G went on to win Game 4 before Game 5 in an incredibly competitive League of Legends series. This play will be remembered for ages as a single press of a button almost resulted in Gen.G completing the reverse sweep and sending T1 to the lower bracket of League of Legends MSI 2023.
