Over the course of the past weekend at the Mid-Season Invitational, League’s newest champion, Sylas, has seen a drastic increase in competitive pick rate. Throughout the course of the tournament, Sylas has been picked a total of 13 times and banned another 11, increasing his personal presence at the tournament to 100%, a mark higher than any of his previous pick/ban rates on any patch.

Since the very beginning of the tournament, it was clear that Sylas was going to be a major player in the MSI meta, as he is currently sitting as one of only three champions to post a perfect pick/ban rate up to this point. Alongside Jayce and Akali, Sylas is proving to be a clear force at MSI.

Over the course of the past 3 months, Sylas has been one of the most prominent characters in the entire game. Throughout the course of his tenure in professional play, Sylas has posted a worldwide pick/ban rate of 41.3% with a winrate of 54.1%.

And it’s not like he can necessarily be kept down. Any time Riot tries to hit Sylas with a set of nerfs or setbacks, he comes back stronger almost immediately. After posting a pick/ban rate of 98.1% with 215 bans on Patch 9.6, Sylas’ presence numbers dropped through the floor, as a drastic decrease in impact left him with a mark of 12.2% on Patch 9.7. However, just one patch later, Sylas has gone back to his old ways, as he was involved in 73% of champion selects at the MSI Play-in Event, while the Main Event has seen a consistent presence from Sylas, whether it be in the pick or ban column.

Sylas hasn’t necessarily posed an empty threat, either. When he’s left on the board, it usually spells trouble for the opposing team. Throughout the span of 13 games where Sylas has been involved, he’s been on the winning side in 7 of them, while the world’s best Sylas players have put on an absolute clinic with the champion. Namely, Rasmus “Caps” Winther of G2 Esports has looked like the best Sylas player at the tournament, while Kim “Khan” Dong-ha of SK Telecom has also put up some serious numbers on the champion.

So far, Caps has won both of his Sylas games with an accompanying KDA of 11.0, a CSM of 10.0, a DPM of 640.4, and a KP of 66.7%. Additionally, Khan’s Sylas gameplay has been incredibly prominent at the tournament, as SKT’s opponents seem to have no problem at all handing the champion over to them. With four games on Sylas, by far the most of any player at MSI, Khan has put up a record of 2-2, while a KDA of 4.8, a KP of 65%, and a DMG% of 26% have led his team to wins over Team Liquid and Flash Wolves, while the losses to Invictus Gaming and G2 on the champion still yielded respectable results for Khan.

And now, with some of the world’s best talent proving that Sylas is still one of the strongest characters in the game, it’s no secret that the champion is seriously dangerous here at MSI. And although the group stage is coming to a close soon, there’s still plenty of games to be played at the tournament, allowing Sylas to stay atop of the board and truly prove that he might just be the best option in all of competitive play.

Photo Credit: Riot Games, League of Legends