Worlds 2020: Rating and Ranking the Best Support at Worlds
By Josh Tyler
We break down the best support players that you will see at Worlds 2020.
20. Vincent “Biofrost” Wang (TSM) – 75 OVR
Although his play picked up during the playoffs after he was brought off the bench in favor of Treatz, Biofrost was exceptionally weak at the beginning of the Summer Split and merely going from “bad” to “mediocre” isn’t encouraging for TSM’s bot lane.
The substitution was largely made due to synergy in playstyle with ADC Doublelift, but for my money Treatz was the far better support all season (he was rated a 79, FYI). Biofrost is among the worst laning supports at Worlds (averaging gold and experience deficits over 100 in both the regular season and playoffs when his performance “improved”).
His champion pool is fairly limited to enchanters like Rakan and Bard and he really doesn’t provide a ton to TSM over Treatz other than superior vision control. His real value for Worlds 2020 will be how much he enables Doublelift as well as his veteran presence.
19. Lin “Koala” Chih-Chiang (Machi Esports) – 75 OVR
Out of the PCS, Koala has been a middling support all year, who just barely ranks ahead of Biofrost. He does have the Worlds experience, having been a member of J-Team at Worlds 2019, but beyond that there are a lot of glaring holes in his game.
His vision control (2.84 VSPM) is quite good, but he also doesn’t tend to drive play for Machi despite often being on a lot of high-impact supports like Leona and Nautilus. His kill participation hovers around 65%, which is slightly below average but it’s not as though he’s dying so often that he’s getting picked before fights start. That’s not to say that he’s always mispositioning and away from the fight, but rather that he just isn’t making as many big-time plays as you’d like to see.
18. Lee “Ignar” Dong-geun (FlyQuest) – 77 OVR
One of the best roaming supports in the world, let alone the LCS, Ignar has proven to be one of the biggest acquisitions that helped FlyQuest to their first World Championship appearance. Known for his Rakan and Thresh engages, as well as his immaculate roaming, Ignar is one of the top supports at Worlds 2020 in terms of vision score (2.86 VSPM for the regular season and playoffs).
With all that praise, we do have to remember that Ignar in the LCS playoffs looked a lot weaker than he did in the regular season, with his deaths going up and assists dropping compared to the regular season. He’s maybe the best support in the world (certainly in NA) at getting an advantage via roaming, but he seems to have gotten a bit sloppier with his roams. If that trend continues, FlyQuest could be grounded early.
17. Facundo “Shadow” Cuello (Rainbow7) – 77 OVR
Although he’s playing against worse talent than Biofrost and Ignar, Shadow has bested them all across almost every statistical category, in particular the two that matter most for a support: limiting deaths and controlling vision. His 1.7 deaths per game is among the lowest for his role, but he still manages to have a solid kill participation in the high 60-low 70% range. He also averaged a 2.83 VSPM during the LLA’s regular season before it dipped during the playoffs.
These numbers indicate that Shadow is getting work done for his teammates but still not dying, which is exactly what you want out of a support. At his first Worlds, I’ll be excited to see if his solid team play and good laning (he averages a 300 XP lead over opponents in the LLA) will measure up against stronger competition.
16. Ling “Kaiwing” Kai Wing (PSG Talon) – 77 OVR
Back at Worlds for the second-straight year and third time in his career, Kaiwing has always impressed me for his ability to rack up assists (he averaged over 11 assists during the PCS regular season!) and limit his deaths. With over an 80% kill participation during the regular season, Kaiwing shows how to properly play those engage supports like Thresh, Bard, and Nautilus.
Unfortunately, after those three champions his pool is a bit limited. While he’s always had a fondness for the defensive supports like Braum and Tahm Kench, those have largely fallen out of the meta. He has played some Yuumi with success, but other enchanters like Karma and Rakan have only come out in limited spots.