With the 2016 League of Legends World Championship just around the corner, we asked our LoL experts to break down who they see as the strongest players ahead of the biggest tournament of the year. This year, we have commentary from Kelsey Moser, Emily Rand and Tim Sevenhuysen.

The Criteria

Kelseys' criteria: This year's player rankings were far from simple. Reconciling players who have traditionally been dominating with their current form is never easy. That's a big part of why, this time around, I decided to heavily devalue longevity. We've done several rankings of great players in history and the past, but at Worlds it's important to understand which players will heavily influence the outcome of the game. While players like Mata are incredible, they haven't been this summer, and they aren't expected to be at Worlds.

I also chose to take this summer split more holistically. This lead to removing players who I expect to perform very well at Worlds like FORG1VEN. By not playing most of the split, it's difficult to praise FORG1VEN for consistency throughout Summer, a quality I find important, as it will give some indication of whether a player will perform well under pressure at Worlds.

Emily's criteria: My criteria hasn’t changed from when I ranked players at the past 2016 Mid-Season Invitational. I value flexibility and adaptability very highly. For me, the ability to play at a consistently high level across multiple iterations of an ever-changing game is something that separates the very best from simply being good. Recent performances are weighted a bit higher than the player’s full career since this is a list of the best players at the World Championship, but their entire body of work is also considered. This is likely where my list will stand out against Tim and Kelsey’s picks. The road that each team took to qualify and players’ importance to the team’s success is also considered as a deciding factor.

Tim's criteria: As I wrote when ranking players for the Mid-Season Invitational, when I’m ranking players, I tend to look at each player’s ability to be game-breaking, consistent, and versatile. By “game-breaking,” I mean playmaking and carry potential. I want to see a player go out and individually create wins, either through their own strength or by enabling their teammates in notable ways. By “consistent,” I mean the player’s ability to maintain their level of play without mixing in too many big mistakes or throwing away advantages. By “versatile,” I mean both the ability to fill different roles (supporting or carrying, damage or tank, engage or disengage, etc.) and the ability to adapt to changing metas and quickly pick up new champions and play styles.

Top 15

Photo: 一村

Rank Kelsey Emily Tim 15 mithy Doublelift Ziv 14 Impact Karsa Mata 13 Uzi Zven Zven 12 SwordArt Uzi Uzi 11 Trick Maple Impact

Kelsey: After winning Europe two splits in a row primarily off executing a high degree of talent, G2 players deserved representation on a list. This time around, G2 have adapted to a new style of side lane pressure, and mithy's high level of consistency as a roamer begged mention, as did Trick's efficiency and malleability playing multiple styles in the jungle.

Between them, I included Impact, not just for his gauntlet showing, but impressive performances throughout the split. Cloud9 struggled to provide resources for him in lane swaps, and he still delivered. Uzi may be a surprise, but he's been the most individually consistent member of Royal Never Give Up despite drastic peaks and troughs in form for the other members. Any judgements of his impact on the dynamic can't deny his individual skill level. SwordArt is ranked 12th for his importance in double-timing Flash Wolves' side lanes while his team's jungle and mid get ahead.

Emily: This is where things are the muddiest, and I can easily see the argument for moving any of these players a few spots up or down on the list. Basically, here’s where this is more of a suggested strong players to watch for, rather than a definitive ranking of the top 15 best. Maple and Karsa have helped keep the Flash Wolves at the top of the LMS, even as SwordArt slumped a bit this season, and deserve your attention. Uzi now attends his third World Championship in the past four years, but RNG has been in complete disarray this split despite their incredible assembly of talent. Doublelift had a career-best showing for TSM in NA LCS Summer, as did Zven over in Europe for G2.

Some honorable mentions (in no certain order) include: Impact, Crown, Duke, Ziv, PraY, Mithy.

Tim: Impact’s eye-catching postseason was enough to land him a spot on my list. I was an Impact appreciator before that, having voted for him as first-team NA LCS top laner, and his continued growth has been fun to watch. Right behind him are a pair of AD carries, Uzi and Zven. RNG set up many parts of their play to enable Uzi. The payoff is huge: his performances can reach some of the highest highs in the world. The amount of resources he requires is a downside, though. Zven, for his part, is a really good damage dealer and laner, but is sometimes vulnerable to getting picked off. He relies on Mithy to keep him safe, a function Mithy fills very well. The gap between Zven and Uzi is small, but I give the Chinese player the edge.

At 14, Mata’s placement may seem surprising, but his play has dipped while working with Uzi. There have been more mistakes and less coordination with the rest of the team. Still, this is Mata: at any given moment, he can take over a game. Finally, Ziv gets my last nod for his role in carrying AHQ so consistently from the top lane.

As honorable mentions, I’d include GorillA, Crown, Duke, mithy, and Road. There’s so much talent at this tournament that many different laners could justifiably deserve a spot, but every list has a cut-off somewhere!

Top 10

Rank Kelsey Emily Tim 10 Crown Bang Bang 9 Peanut Deft meiko 8 Maple GorillA Peanut 7 GorillA meiko Trick 6 meiko Trick Maple

Kelsey: Some have dared to refer to Crown as the second-best mid laner in the world, and while I've ranked others more highly, his individual form has been a highlight. He hasn't been as consistent as some others on the list, but he's a major reason for Samsung's success. He's beaten out in part by Maple who has continued to refine with age and make his team an international contender.

Peanut's place will hardly be contested. Aside from not seeming to know the location of his opponent as intimately as the top-rated jungler on this list, the Tigers are a team of strong players, and Peanut rounds out its top three.

The most contentious placing here may be meiko over GorillA. Both supports are fundamental to their teams' successes, but meiko's form has been more consistent, especially with some of GorillA's misplays earlier in the season. meiko's warding and roaming technique also makes clearlove's style of jungling possible.

Emily: Trick is the backbone of G2 Esports, and it’s safe to say that they wouldn’t be the team that they are without him. The best jungler in Europe, Trick has had a fantastic split and led G2 to a second EU LCS title — alongside the team’s new bot lane of Zven and mithy — despite inconsistent performances from mid laner Perkz and top laner Expect. This is why Trick is higher than other key players in this bracket including the two best supports at this tournament, meiko and GorillA. GorillA has a longer history and larger career, but meiko has been the star support of the LPL, overtaking Mata, who slumped significantly this past summer.

Throughout SKT’s struggles this split, Bang was a constant alongside Faker. While he hasn’t had the dazzling outplays that characterised his spring performances — and are currently a hallmark of the Deft and meiko bot lane — he plays at a consistently high level that his team has come to rely on, even when their lack of jungle pressure allows opponents to push SKT back.

Tim: I’m not the biggest fan of the Flash Wolves’ chances as a whole, but I love me some Maple. He does so many things so well, and he’ll need to be at his best to give his team a chance to progress in the tournament. Trick and Peanut are both great players, but I ranked Trick slightly ahead because he is more crucial to his team’s success. Peanut has rounded into a somewhat more complete player than he was in the spring, but he still lets some recklessness and inconsistency creep in now and then.

My highest-ranked support is meiko because of how well he knows his role and executes on it. He does a great job of enabling Deft, tending to play tanky supports that allow him to defend his carry and be a disruptive presence. At 10, I have Bang. He’s a great laner and a powerful carry — he led the LCK in DPM this summer — but he hasn’t been getting enough consistency from his teammates in top and jungle. With a bootcamp under SKT’s belt, I expect Bang to again show up as one of the world’s best ADCs.

Top 5

Rank Kelsey Emily Tim 5 Bjergsen clearlove Bjergsen 4 clearlove Bjergsen deft 3 deft Peanut clearlove 2 Faker Faker Smeb 1 Smeb Smeb Faker

Kelsey: If ever a Western player deserved to make Top 5, it's Bjergsen. He's been flexible, consistent, and has used intelligent trades in lane that should make him contend with Eastern giants at this event. Though TSM's style has diversified, he's still the soul of a team that is projected to perform incredibly well this year.

Both clearlove and deft making Top 5 may raise eyebrows, but these are two incredibly gifted players who have never had a better split. clearlove has been able to combine both the more reckless play from last spring and his calculated emphasis on farming with the aid of meiko's warding. deft is entering a World Championship in a meta that should favor him with a support that complements him well after a summer in which he demolished his LPL competitors.

Faker and Smeb top the list for obvious reasons, though given my criteria of consistency and recent performance, Smeb has to take the top. Though Faker is the greatest player of all time and has, despite hiccups, still performed well this summer, Smeb's ruthlessness and fundamental importance to Tigers can easily make him Worlds' MVP. He's the player of the entire summer split and the player I think will perform best at Worlds.

Emily: This may come as a shock to some — and by no means does it take away Faker’s title as the best League of Legends player in the history of the game — but for this past split, Smeb was the best top laner in the world, and also the best player. The rise of Smeb has run parallel to the rise of the Tigers, with their top laner surpassing the one and only Faker as the best player in the world going into Worlds.

Also likely to be contentious are Peanut and Bjergsen’s placements at three and four. Yes, Peanut did not perform to the top-tier level he is capable of in the recent LCK Summer 2016 Finals against Score and KT Rolster. But Score isn’t here, and Peanut’s jungling was the missing piece that the Tigers needed to become the best team in the world — that’s how integral he has been across both splits for this team.

Similarly, despite Doublelift’s phenomenal bot lane performances, I’m not sure if Team SoloMid would be at the World Championship without Bjergsen — that’s how important he is to his team’s success. This past year, his adaptability, stunning teamfighting. and constant pressure in and out of lane have allowed TSM breathing room on multiple occasions, even as their team was struggling to adapt. More recently, he’s taken a backseat to Doublelift in hard carry potential, but still controls TSM’s teamfights and provides Svenskeren significant pressure from the mid lane, allowing the TSM jungler to go where he pleases.

Smeb and Peanut make the Tigers who they are today, Faker is SKT, Bjergsen is TSM and lastly, EDG is clearlove.

Tim: Faker’s trademark aggression and proactivity haven’t waned — he still treats every champion like an assassin, and finds much more individual success than failure. The problem is that he hasn’t had enough help in the playmaking department to buy him time and space, but that’s a team issue, not a Faker issue. In my opinion, he is still the best player in the world.

That said, Smeb is hotter on Faker’s heels than anyone has been for a very long time. He wins his lane, moves smoothly around the map, and is effective on both carries and tanks. There’s no debate that Smeb is the world’s best top laner by a wide margin. I rank clearlove number three because of his central importance to EDward Gaming. He’s arguably the best jungler in the world, based on how effective he is at both carrying games himself and creating snowballs for his laners, particularly deft. If we’re lucky, we’ll get to see clearlove on his signature Evelynn.

Speaking of deft, he’s in world class form, and is thriving in a team environment where he gets help from meiko and clearlove to enable his high-pressure laning. He rewards those resources beautifully, with some of the best AD carry team fighting in the world. To round out my top five, I’m looking to Bjergsen. He’s less flashy than Faker, but it’s very impressive how well Bjergsen can suck up pressure in the mid lane while still influencing the entire map and making all of his teammates look good.

Aggregate exercise

As a final exercise, we've combined all three lists to create an aggregate Top 15. Players were awarded points based on how highly they ranked in each list. The only tie occurred between Zven and Crown, and the 14th place was awarded to Zven as he appeared on two lists (Emily and Tim's), while Crown appeared only on Kelsey's.