Guns blazing: The 5 best AD carries at MSI 2023

Over the history of competitive League of Legends, different roles have taken priority within the game’s meta. But throughout these last few seasons, the bottom lane has become one of the important aspects to build towards a team’s success, especially with how many top teams have their marksmen leading the way in damage numbers and total kill share.

A talented AD carry can truly separate a good roster from the greats, providing a lineup with a backline threat that has the potential to pop off in almost any team fight. They must also provide enough pressure to pull jungle attention away from other lanes in the early game, all while holding the ability to find their own angles and timing to strike in the final, game-deciding skirmishes.

At the 2023 Mid-Season Invitational, some of the greatest marksmen in the world will collide at the Copper Box Arena as London plays host to an international League event for the first time in the esports’ history. From legendary stars to rising up-and-comers, fans should keep their eyes glued to the matchups headed their way when the tournament begins on Tuesday, May 2.

Here are the five best AD carries competing at MSI 2023.

Ruler

He might be in another region for the first time in his career, but Ruler is still dominating and winning championships, no matter the competition. The 24-year-old veteran just helped JD Gaming capture another LPL trophy, and now that he’s paired with Kanavi and Knight—two of the most dominant players in the league—the potential is limitless for one of the strongest rosters in the world.

In a region where fiestas and bloodbaths are the norm, Ruler had the highest KDA in both the regular season and playoffs, sporting the least amount of deaths of any player who participated in at least 30 games this spring, according to League stats aggregate Oracle’s Elixir.

One of the biggest differences with this roster compared to Ruler’s previous teams is the amount of reliance JDG has on their bottom lane. Compared to past lineups, JDG’s powerful solo laners take precedence, unlike other teams where Ruler was plan A, B, and C. Here, Ruler simply adds another massive carry threat to this three-headed monster as they aim to continue the LPL’s rule over MSI this year.

Berserker

North American League supporters are all too familiar with Cloud9’s sophomore gunner Berserker, who recently established himself as the best AD carry in the region after bringing C9 to another LCS championship with 40.5 percent of his team’s total kills during the postseason, according to Oracle’s Elixir.

During the regular season, he was already a force to be reckoned with, but this 19-year-old truly shined in the playoffs. With MSI’s new format made up of several best-of-three series, Berserker can truly run amuck as he tests his mettle against the other world-class stars in his role.

There’s something to be said about the 19-year-old posting up higher average damage than most of the other playoff AD carries in the LCK and LPL. And with his main champion pool of Varus, Lucian, Aphelios, and Caitlyn most likely staying in meta for the tournament, he’ll be right at home when he heads to London.

Gumayusi

Arguably the best AD carry in the LCK, the 21-year-old is T1’s bread and butter when it comes to scaling up and winning games. During the postseason, the team averaged the longest games of any playoff roster with their matches lasting around 37 minutes, according to Oracle’s Elixir. With so much time given, Gumayusi can get to his full strength with six items and take over the final team fights.

Gumayusi played a majority of his games on Lucian, but since teams will most likely pinch his champion pool during the draft, we could probably see him on great scaling options like Aphelios, Jinx, Xayah, Caitlyn, and Varus. His early-game play is also stellar, as he leads all players in average gold difference and CS difference at 10 minutes.

He has a deep bag he can reach into, racking up the second-most kills in the league in both the regular season and playoffs, while only lagging behind the next person on this list—and supposedly the next coming of Ruler, Peyz.

Peyz 

If you aren’t familiar with Peyz, you might want to get acquainted with this 17-year-old wunderkind from Gen.G. As the youngest player in the tournament, there will be plenty of nerves heading into MSI, but this rookie sensation has already impressed LCK fans and analysts alike with his composure and raw mechanical abilities.

He isn’t a lane-dominant star like Gumayusi, but he makes up for it with transcendent team-fighting capabilities and fearless plays that have already captured the hearts of Korean fans. His efforts during the finals against T1 were enough to already earn him a Finals MVP honor, and he even broke a league record for most kills by a rookie player in his opening split.

With all eyes pointed firmly in his direction, Peyz will have the perfect stage to continue his trajectory toward the stars as Gen.G hope their trust in the young phenom pays off with the organization’s first MSI trophy.

Elk

After coming one series away from his first LPL championship, Elk has risen up as a quiet strength for Bilibili Gaming in the bottom lane. The 21-year-old has been stuck on multiple different rosters with World Elite and Ultra Prime since 2020, but this year, he has found a proper home alongside superstar veterans like Yagao and Bin.

He brought in a league-leading 216 kills during the regular season, and during an outrageous run in the playoffs, racked up a whopping 140 kills over his 26-game postseason, according to Oracle’s Elixir. Although BLG plays more towards their solo laners, Elk provides the team with a great backline threat that understands when and where to jump into the action most of the time.

He just needs to ensure he isn’t caught out of position, especially in the final moments of the matches where he’ll probably be a major force that BLG needs to win a game-winning team fight.

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