League of Legends Worlds 2022 has already had more than its fair share of off-meta spice in the draft department, and Isurus toplaner Kang ‘ADD’ Geon-mo – who has already re-introduced the world to Zilean top – has now summoned to the Rift a technology so dark it has hitherto been locked away in David ‘Phreak’ Turley’s basement: Teemo.
That’s right, The Swift Scout has made his way out of your LoL ranked nightmares, and onto the biggest stage the MOBA game has to offer. Fortunately for you – less fortunately for ADD – Isurus was brutally defeated by reigning Mid-Season Invitational champion Royal Never Give Up in its Play-Ins Stage matchup. ADD ended the game with a paltry 1/9/3 KDA.
Surprisingly, this isn’t the first time Teemo has been locked in at Worlds. The wizened fans among us may be able to cast their minds back to Worlds 2013, when Team SoloMid CEO (then CEO and midlaner) Andy ‘Reginald’ Dinh piloted him against GamingGear.eu. As ADD fell to RNG today, so too did Reginald to GG.
Teemo isn’t the only surprise pick showcased in the game between Isurus and RNG. Isurus midlaner Édgar ‘Seiya’ Munguía locked in Sion, while Li ‘Xiaohu’ Yuan-Hao opted for a Syndra pick which had completely fallen out of favour among the world’s top leagues during the Summer Split.
While the match was certainly entertaining, and many will revel in the demise of League’s most-loved and most-hated rodent, it’s great to see that teams are getting creative in how they try and problem solve some of the meta’s most dominant picks – we’re looking at you, Aatrox.
