At every single League of Legends tournament there are a handful of champions that dominate the meta. This holds true for MSI 2023 as well with one champion holding onto two devastating reasons in his hands.
No matter how much Riot tweaks the meta before a major tournament, some champions still dominate. That's also the case at the 2023 Mid-Season Invitational. If he's not picked, he's banned. And for good reason.
K'Sante, the Pride of Nazumah, has become the focal point of conention at MSI 2023. His pick/ban rate is incredibly high, as well as his win rate. However, he quickly runs out of steam in Solo Queue, which begs the question: Is K'Sante another champion that's just too complicated?
LoL MSI 2023: K'Sante, The Top Performer
First, let's take a look at the hard facts. K'Sante is by far one of the most popular champions at the tournament. That's evident from his 85% pick/ban rate. This value means that in 86% of all games played at the Mid-Season Invitational – as of writing this article – K'Sante was either picked or banned.
- Hey, maybe you can find some personalized K'Sante key caps on amazon!
It's not just his presence that's insane, but he has an impressive win rate as well. K'Sante currently sits at 60%, with 15 wins and 10 losses. Need we say more? Only Vi has a higher pick/ban rate in the jungle, so K'Sante is undoubtedly the most popular top laner at MSI 2023.
Although... a certain Faker did show us that K'Sante also has potential in the mid lane... see for yourself:
We are all Caedrel....
Is K'Sante Impossible To Balance?
There is no denying that K'Sante is a champion with highlight potential. It's fun to watch him fight, especially when he uses his ultimate. This often opens up completely new gameplay situations.
He is a powerful duelist who combines the best of the tank and bruiser classes. But there is unfortunately one problem. K'Sante is an extremely difficult champion. His abilities are quite complicated, and it takes some time to master them effectively.
Using his abilities is one thing; after all, you have to combine them effectively, which is where the difficulties lie. What professional players like Faker, 369, or Licorice seem to master effortlessly is incredibly difficult for the average SoloQ player – remember the majority of players are in Gold and Silver.
K'Sante's win rate is significantly below 45% in almost every elo. Nevertheless, he is popular among professionals. This immediately raises a concern. Is K'Sante a champion that only works in pro play? Looking at the current data... we would have to say yes.
This isn't the first time we've seen this before. Take Azir for example, in solo queue, his win rate is in the gutter, but in pro play, he has always been a go-to pick for most mid laners.
Champions like K'Sante, Azir, or Aphelios are incredibly difficult to balance. Either they are trash in solo queue and good in pro play, or good in solo queue and absolutely OP in pro play. If Riot sees this as a problem, the only solution could be a mid-scope update.