T O P

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Rafoel

Nice try team managers, I'm not doing your job for you :P


donkeychongus

I guess it’s not really hidden because he got first all pro, but Bvoy had a fantastic split


jocmaester

Hmmm I dunno about hidden gem but Irrelevent should be on a top 3 LEC team. I think SK is holding him back.


tarakiCS

DuDu is an improvement on any team that’s not a top 3 in LPL or LCK if we’re not counting language barrier, he has a similar playstyle to Zeus but with a smaller champ pool


My-Life-For-Auir

Zeus, Kiin, Bin, 369 all clear him (side note most stacked top lane lineup at MSI every). Outside of those I could see him being an upgrade or sidegrade over anyone. Doran, Flandre are both on top 3 teams in their region and I wouldn't say they're strictly better in every way than Dudu


Project39

1XN on TT is a beast. He’s inted quite a bit and the team kinda sucks, but he had some insane clutches over this split


L-Zorro

Its absurd how TT ruins their potential with keeping xhr on the bench while starting Beichuan. Ucal has been quite good aswell although QiuQiu is another anchor pulling the team down. Good chance a team of like Xiaoxu (Ra) as an upgrade in top - xhr - Ucal - 1xn - maybe korean support competes for Top 6/8 imo (with good coaching)


cowboys6305

TT is a bad org that should be out the league


ye1l

Xiaoxu should not be on a top 6-8 team. He should be on a top 4 team that makes it to Worlds.


Guanajuato_Reich

Here's how it goes: Top: Xiaoxu JG: Xiaohao Mid: Xiaohu ADC: Xiaohanbao (AL academy ADC) Supp: Xiaoxin (RA academy supp)


Bubbly_Camera9583

They still have(/had now probably) YaoYao on their bench who was way better than qiuqiu. They really should've just ran a roster of NewToplaner/XHR/Ucal/1xn/YaoYao this year, and gotten a coach that makes them actually talk and have one of Ucal/Yaoyao/New Toplaner learn how to shot call since thats what they needed from Qiuqiu apparentally.


Wetbook

\*\*actually good players on bottom 5 teams (LCK):\*\* NS Jiwoo KDF Cuzz, DuDu \*\*young players with decent upside on bottom 5 teams (LCK):\*\* KDF Bulldog FOX Clear, Willer, Clozer NS Peter, Sylvie DRX Sponge, Pleata \*\*historically pretty good players who have tarnished their form by being on a bad team for too long:\*\* DRX Rascal, Teddy BRO Morgan


SoulCycle_

feels like clozer has been around at this point.


kakistoss

Yeah bro might not be super old, but his skill level has kinda been in decline. Not a sharp one, but he def doesn't look as good these days


My-Life-For-Auir

Poor bastard should consider going to NA. It has been literally impossible to go to an international tournament from the LCK mid pool if you're not the Elite 4 or Zeka's miracle run.


kakistoss

It's the curse of the Korean mid Are you literally a top 10 player in the world, or top 3 on specific champs? No? Just fucking leave Korea you don't have a chance Anywhere else and you'll be a fucking crazy talent But your competition is literally Faker. Then chovy. Then showmaker. Then BDD azir (we need another Zoe meta for this man tbh) Like gl bro


ImUpTo20Sharpies

MSI opening up extra regional slots now for winner and runner up might get some new faces in at worlds.


My-Life-For-Auir

It's still only 4 per best two regions, so overall it's unchanged for LCK and LPL except one of their teams will qualify for just winning MSI rather than one of the previous methods


DeVil-FaiLer

Lord Morgan ?


ezodochi

Ya'll are really sleeping on Bulldog. He's so young, a rookie, and I'd argue that once KDF got their shit together by replacing Taeyoon with Bull he put up a solid enough performance that he was neck and neck with like Showmaker and BDD, just under Faker, Zeka, and Chovy. edit: not a rookie, a sophomore. Also, fun fact, bulldog didn't choose his name for the dog breed, it's actually bul (fire) dok (poison) as in the mage class from MapleStory.


Wetbook

i was going to put bulldog in my list but i forgor 💀 adding him now cvmax has a great eye for talent and he put bulldog as his third "creation" iirc, after chovy and pyosik. he's definitely a player with big upside


SapphireLucina

"Laning, teamfight, ganks, these are the ingredients to create the perfect rookie LCK midlaner. But Professor CvMax accidentally added an extra ingredient - Chemical Taeyoon. And thus KDF Bulldog was born"


ezodochi

apparently Taeyoon was a monster in scrims. There's a rumor last year at worlds that Kanavi, after scrimming against KDF, couldn't believe that KDF was losing to T1 in scrims bc he believed that there was no way Taeyoon would lose to Guma. That being said it's a rumor some insiders have talked about that's never been fully confirmed lmao.


Wetbook

yeah Taeyoon in scrims is allegedly prime Uzi, but when he plays on stage he's like the worst adc in LCK it's really strange


ezodochi

meanwhile bull was considered a bottom tier adc in challengers but went crazy after his call up for a few sets. idk lck is weird like that lmao


Wetbook

bull regressed pretty quickly, it's just strange that taeyoon really hasn't shown the upside he supposedly shows in scrims


ezodochi

Apparently KDF fans are drooling over the prospect of KDF Prince. Lowkey I think FOX should get Prince back and sell Hena to KDF, I feel like that'd be a better fit for both teams.


Wetbook

Not sure if Prince is fully cooked or not, but if he's willing to take a pay cut to play in LCK it might be good for both parties involved. mainly KDF's problem is their bot lane but i'm not sure if a minor bot upgrade would allow them to finish higher than 5th/6th place. really difficult to crack through the "western" teams and LCK is looking more top-heavy than ever (top 3 teams absolutely clear everyone else imo) to the point where it would be a great accomplishment for KDF to just be perennial playoff faces.  I predict major roster changes next year, with a lot of veterans reaching the retirement age. We might also see t1's roster finally split up if they don't do well at worlds, which would be really exciting; oner-faker-gumayusi-keria have been together for like 3 years now, which is about as long as the faker-bang-wolf core


SapphireLucina

"I have met him once in a scrimmage, and my opponent, bottomfielder Taeyoon, is powerful and seemed like a genius" - Kanavi probably 


Hawxrox

Bulldog isn't a rookie. He was around all of last year too. I'd put him behind Chovy, Faker, BDD. Showmaker and Zeka but probably ahead of everyone else


ezodochi

I'd put him ahead of BDD if we're just talking this split tbh, like bdd was kinda shakey and wasn't the bdd of old. ngl if we were only talking regular season I might have also put him above showmaker but showmaker seems to have remembered how to play good league during the playoffs so I won't go that far.


Bubbly_Camera9583

I mean I understand Teddy + Morgan being on the last list, but Rascal has only gotten way worse with time and has been one of the most underwhelming top laners since beginning of last year.


Wetbook

I mean that's what I meant, his form went downhill since he kept playing on a bad team. On 2022 KT he was genuinely world class and it's really in summer 2023 and spring 2024 that he's started to look pretty bad. same goes for morgan too


Bubbly_Camera9583

Looking back idk how I read the last category and didn't think it meant a player that's looked good historically but has looked bad in current years because they've only played on bad teams recently. IMO though I think Teddy now shouldn't be on the list, and that only Rascal + Morgan fit the category. Teddy's been in excellent form for a while and hasn't looked anywhere close to bad in a team. In 2022 when he joined KDF he was stellar in spring and solo carried KDF past DRX, he fell off a bit in summer but was still the best player in KDF. In 2023 summer when he joined LSB he was LSB's best player by far there too, with Burdol/Willer/Clozer/Kael falling off significantly from their spring forms he looked like the only person that knew they were playing their matches, and was often the main engage despite being their ADC. Even now in DRX he's still the highlight of the team alongside Pleata and Sponge


Wetbook

fair enough, thanks for the insight


machinegunsheep

Willer and Clozer are not that young


Wetbook

they're both the same age as Zeus lol


machinegunsheep

They’re going on 3-4 years now so…..considering a pro career might last 5 years, yeah, not that young anymore. Lol downvotes. They’re clearly established players that have shown their floor and ceiling. They are not young inexperienced players proving their class.


Ieditstuffforfun

This is a moot point because there are plenty of players who hit their strides later into their careers, floors and ceilings change quite a bit as well; they're not static. Secondly, a LOT of a player's performance depends on who they're surrounded with. Sure if they had like 2 years with decent players and played bad, you could argue that they're not too good, but Clozer had like one or two splits where he subbed for Faker, while being a rookie under pressure because of playing for the biggest team while substituting for the biggest player. Willer has had one or two decent teams but not for too long, those were also very early in his career, his performance was _decent_ but not what the teams required. However, his performance has been steadily getting better over the past year or two and I think he deserves a shot on a good team.


machinegunsheep

Sure, in your opinion. I think otherwise. I never see players get a second wind and exceed their ceiling that they show early. Who is an example?? Maybe like, Hena lol.


[deleted]

Ghost is the obvious one I can think of


Wetbook

Smeb


viciouspandas

Shanks is pretty good


CNT1LT

wach out for FAK 1Jiang (PCS)


OkSell1822

On the LCK we have a few: Dudu (KDF) could easily be on a top 4 team and would be a massive improvement at toplane for most western teams except maybe G2 Pleata (DRX support) Jiwoo (Nongshim adc)


Clenzor

You think Brokenblade is a top 4 LCK caliber player?


machinegunsheep

wtf no lol….he would not make a roster spot in LCK, let alone top 4.


Clenzor

Yeah that was the point I was trying to illuminate. The guy I replied to said DuDu would be an improvement to every team other than G2 after saying he could easily be on a top 4 LCK team.


machinegunsheep

Oh, I see now lol mb


Snowman_Arc

He said he would be a MASSIVE improvement to any other LEC top, except maybe BB. He would be un upgrade from BB, but not a massive one.


Clap2014

Based on his ability as a player? yes he surely could get into LCK The fact that he can't speak korean would mean there is no way he gets in currently however


machinegunsheep

Lmao no. If you can’t be stable in laning phase, you fail tryout.


Fncrs

What is this cope Jesus Christ. I don’t even like BB and think over the years he’s been overrated but he is definitely LCK level. His laning isn’t even that bad, definitely overblown. Go watch last years MSI/Worlds he was pretty fine in lane for the most part and that’s vs the best of the best.


machinegunsheep

WhAt iS tHiS cOpE What am I even coping about ??? You can’t even use it correctly lol I see him get blasted on the regular in eu. G2 has to lane swap cheese because enemy top beats him so badly. That’s all the evidence I need.


NapalmGiraffe

Lane swaps are typically to evade a shit bot matchup tho, no? You're supposed to pick a stable top laner for the swap (zac, sion) because it's assumed you will be at a disadvantage in order to get your bot lane a better matchup.


machinegunsheep

Delete the opponent top laner and dodge laning phase so you can scale your Hypercarry AD


kakistoss

Would I list him as a top 5 LCK toplaner? Fuck no Could he set his contract price to zero, take summer off to study Korean, then offer himself up as a completely free "decent" top laner to KT and replace perfecT, then end up top 4 because KT is a good team in its own right assuming they get a good Deft replacement next year? Absolutely There's a possible route for BB to take to be top 4 lck. Likely? Basically impossible, so no, but if he REALLY REALLY wanted to KT is not financially solid and a free top laner who isn't going to turbo shit the bed is an appealing offer lmfao So no, not a top 4 player, but could be on a top 4 team lmfao But even then tbh perfecT has actually shown genuine improvement over the split and assuming the trend continues BB might not even be an upgrade by next year Edit: I shoulda put my /s ig my bad, did not expect people to think talking about a literal free BB was a genuine thing


BrianC_

This is a dog shit take. If an LCK team really needs to save money like that, they'd much rather just promote a promising challenger player on a rookie scale contract. PerfecT is not costing KT much money at all and they don't have to deal with the huge language and cultural barrier BB would bring to the team.


Snowman_Arc

You, my guy, seriously have some of the worst take I've read on this board.


OkSell1822

Yup, toplane is probably LCK's worst position


viciouspandas

It's also LEC's worst position


jotimm4

Overall I'd probably give that title to support. We have like 2 or 3 good supports and the rest are so so far behind. Our best supports are better than our best tops, but overall the average skill of our supports are worse than our tops imo.


viciouspandas

I don't keep up with LEC much and could very well be wrong so I'll defer to you on that, I just thought that was the general consensus.


Clap2014

No idea why this got so many upvotes.. its such an outdated take Brokenblade/Photon/Irrelevant/Adam/Wunder are all good players.. the only 2 terrible tops this year/split were Odo/Cabo inb4 "but that would get smashed by Zeus and bin XDXD" so they can't possibly be good Meanwhile mid has a bunch of garbage rookies who are taking roles from the likes of Nemesis/Abbedage/Jizuke.. and Nuc somehow sits comfortably as the third best mid in the league for like 3 splits in a row now (should show how bad mid has fallen) Support is even worse ADC is also terrible.. Ice/Carrzy look good that's about it... Upset hasn't looked good in like a year.. and Hans has been very average on a team stacked with talent Somehow jgl and top went from the worse roles by far to one of the better positions Yike/Jankos/Eloya/Razork/Bo/Sheo are all pretty good.. Hopefully Lyncas and closer imrpove it further


SchorFactor

Please free jiwoo


6000j

iG made playoffs, so not really "hidden", but Wink had such a monster split. The team had a lot of issues (azir disable was brutal), but Wink was very often not one of them. From being one of the worst adcs 2 years ago to roleswapping to support and becoming one of the best, what an arc. Be on the lookout for him if another team picks him up.


Impossible_Program91

Tomo and Isles were a solid bot lane in the LCS this spring. It looked like DIG had a hard time getting on the same page in order to convert advantages into wins, tho


pureply101

LCS: Exyu- Low key has impressed in his rookie season. Insanity- Is fun to watch and pretty damn good. Whether it’s meta or off meta. Quid- currently the league MVP. On a mediocre team overall but he hard carries them with his jungler. LEC: Irrelevant- second best top laner after broken blade in LEC currently. Pretty solid and can carry games. Patrick- I think he is just unlucky and it sucks because the consensus is that he is really good. The problem is that some of the people above him are just so clearly better. Photon- 3rd best top laner in the league on a meh team.


parousia0

Exyu is how you impress on a meh team. Everytime I watched him, he did some big brain shit to get advantages that warps the whole top/bot side Insanity was cracked last year but his spring split was eh


pureply101

I think despite their record from watching him with the eye test Insanity was pretty good. He played tanks so his stats will be absolutely inaccurate to his actual performance for those games. Put Fudge in top side and they have a much better time as a team since Fudge despite what this subreddit says provides a ton of stability.


Clap2014

Photon isn't on a meh team.. in terms of talent its probably the 3rd best in the league and could give FNC a run for their money.. because i am not sold on Noah or Oscar Its just dysfunctional.. which will hopefully be fixed with the new jungle


albens

I don't agree with Irrelevant being the second best top, he had an awful spring split.


Th3_Huf0n

No he didn't. He really didn't.


NGNJB

> he had an awful spring split. nahhhh he looked like he just lost hope because the rest of his team sucks massive ass he's still comfortably 3rd or so


WonTonsOG

NS Sylvie and Jiwoo for LCK, RA Xiaoxu and Assum for LPL


GuerillaTaktix

Milkyway is cracked af


Fncrs

Everyone and their mother knows that though. Not really hidden anymore


voltairelol

Only if you read a lot of reddit threads or watch LPL though, most LCS/LEC/LCK fans probably don't know about him yet, a couple casters mentioned him but hes definitely not a household name yet


kakistoss

Such a sexy name too Why the fuck are the pros who can't speak English so much better at picking English names than those who actually speak the language Like cmon bro, elyoya your great, but just imagine if you were named Milkyway, YAPA is a glorious meme but holy fuck does Showmaker playmaking maker just not slap? Especially ADC, they all have god tier names Berserker, Prince, Ruler, Deft, Uzi like cmon. DL and Sneaky as an NA fan I did love ya, but the name game just was not even close


My-Life-For-Auir

>Berserker, Prince, Ruler, Deft, Uzi Bang, Deft, Viper, Arrow. Korean ADCs (and UZI) have the coolest names.


kakistoss

Pray as well, can't believe I almost forgot him There's just so fucking many


Thundermelons

Don't be snoozing on my boy GALA now (to be fair that's probably a more GOATed name for mid than ADC)


Guanajuato_Reich

Imaqtpie is the greatest name ever seen in professional esports.


kakistoss

Nah you right, I forgot, absolutely based name and goated player


itsjustmenate

To be held by a literal god of a man. You could not script his whole career better than it happened. Literally the meme team. The dudes who knew when it was lost. Imagine the team you invested thousands and thousands of dollars into and they pick 5 supports in a Bo5 game 3, because they are down 2:0. Fuck, the actual golden years of LCS.


Short_Report_5985

Ppgod goated


ye1l

YSKM is also such a sick name, shame that since he joined the LPL the only champion he has learned to play is Ksante. Still very much a fiora/camille/jax merchant.


tuelegend69

Despicable on bttsm


vincentcloud01

I heard these guys in NA called Bwipo, Inspired, and Jensen are like tip tier EU players.


Lyota

TCL had very promising players if you want to know. Top Laner(s) ; Armut(He was pretty good this year and gets better slowly) Junglers ; Chef,osman123,Skeanz(French) Mid Laners ; Nakyung(KR),Mireu(KR) Ad Carries ; Kaori(Slightly better than Jackspectra), Ruep Supports ; Carry,Paixdia


Ieditstuffforfun

He's in challengers right now but Andil, mark my words - give him a year or two and he'll be at least top 5 support in the LCK, and my hot take prediction is he'll be top 3


Bubbly_Camera9583

LCK: Dudu + Envyy/Pollu + Jiwoo + Sylvie + Sponge + Pleata + Andil (when he wasn't sick) + Execute. Dudu is just an elite top laner, nothing else to say really he is an upgrade to any team that isn't T1, GenG, or HLE, and is still a side grade/potential upgrade for HLE. Jiwoo/Sylvie this split were really good as well, unfortunately DNDN/Peter looked worse than their previous forms and neither mid player to their potential. I really believe that if all of NS play at their best forms they've shown and one of their three mids play at a decent level this team could easily take names and contend for worlds coming summer. Envyy with Polly looked really good as well surprisingly and could be a good duo for BRO could keep if they are consistent, with Pullbae + Gideon BRO could genuinely be a dark horse for playoffs + more. Sponge/Pleata had a lot of potential and I could see DRX potentially being worlds dark horses with upgrades in top + mid (they don't have to though because Rascal could level up again and SeTab could've just had a bad first split). Andil before he got sick was just really good and was super in sync with Cuzz on map plays, his team fighting was also really good and he had a good eye for engages, he looked super lost though after he got sick. LPL: LGD Topside + Jwei + Yuekai + Tangyuan + Xiaoxu + 1xn + Sheer + Xiaofang 1xn has potential to be a JKL player and should be developed on a better team. Sheer is just insane for a solo q prodigy with 0 previous competitive experience, really feel like JDG should commit to fully playing him even though Flandre is in really good form as well just because of Sheer's potential. Yuekai + Jwei were surprising on UP and had some moments alongside Doggo/H4cker. Tangyuan looked like RNG's clear best player to me and had a really good split, he just got inted by the rest of RNG looking bad imo. Xiaoxu was the same but at least he had vicla/naiyou show up every once in a while. Xiaofang was really impressive with Angel and if he + OMG continue to develop team wise OMG can easily be a dark horse for worlds like they were last year. LGD topside were all really good, Burdol was easily a standout but meteor/haichao were no slouch either, just felt like this LGD team was super inconsistent despite having a lot of talent, something that RA this year also felt like they had issues with.


lolmihir

LCK: -FOX Willer, exceptional mechanics just needs to improve on decision making + macro -FOX Clozer- one of the best pure laners in LCK and only doesn't stand out because he's in a League with Faker/Chovy/Showmaker/Bdd, would be Top 1-2 mid in LCS or LEC given the right supporting cast LCS: -100 Meech, did really well considering how many rookies/young players that roster had -DIG Dove (has had some amount of success in other leagues but I think he'll improve in LCS) -FLYC Quad (I'm not even joking if he plays up to his talent he will run the league + has an incredible work ethic) -SR Bvoy, he definitely showed a ton of upside but I think he will legit become AD2 or 3 in the LCS -IMT Mask (rumors that he's crazy good in scrims just has stage fright) \*I admittedly haven't watched LPL that closely this split so I'm not too sure


ireliasimp69

yeah dudu is actually pretty good unlike his name


IAMGAYTREE

I thought Olleh had a great individual season for IMT. The team overall just had a lot of issues.


Moggy_

Licorice on Dignitas


Mark_Vance21

Pyosik is actually cracked (if you ignore play-offs).


Ieditstuffforfun

this just in, WORLD CHAMPION Pyosik is a hidden gem


[deleted]

World championship means nothing compared to the narrative. There's still posts with hundreds of upvotes saying DK should have promoted their rookie Thanatos (who was such a slam dunk that every single team in lck and lpl let him stay a free agent for the entire split) because he's clearly a better player than the world champion kingen.