The Top 8 Plays of the Worlds 2023 Semifinals!
The Semifinals of the 2023 Worlds Championships has concluded! Whether you were on Caedrel's hype train for TheShy and WBG, or incredibly confident in T1's ability to maintain their perfect record against the LPL, some of the best plays this year were performed this past weekend. Here are the top 8 plays of the Worlds 2023 Semifinals.
#8 Pulled Around (WBG vs BLG, Game 3)
Both WeiboGaming FAW AUDI and Bilibili Gaming Pingan Bank pulled all of their members for what would become a pivotal fight for the first Rift Herald. To turn the favor towards WBG, Bohan "Weiwei" Wei used Keeper's Verdict to get rid of one of BLG's members. Unfortunately for him, he hit Wenjun "ON" Luo who is the only member tied to Kalista. Jiahao "Elk" Zhao used Fate's Call during ON's knockback which brought him back into the fight. A great reaction play made by Elk.
#7 Sneakiest Jungler (T1 vs JDG, Game 1)
While the gank itself didn't have much mechanical outplay or playmaking potential, it is worth noting the amount of vision Moon "Oner" Hyeon-Joon traversed around to make this gank possible. With a ward placed in river and Seo "Kanavi" Jin-Hyeok clearing his top-side jungle, Oner was able to sneak past it all to surprise gank Jiahao "369" Bai and secure T1 with first blood advantage.
#6 Over the Summit (WBG vs BLG, Game 5)
Zebin "Bin" Chen successfully solo-killed Seung-Lok "TheShy" Kang with a crazy patient ultimate. Bin was successful not because K'Sante is overpowered (although surely this was a factor) but because he waited for TheShy to use Bellow's Breath which grants him displacement immunity. Once TheShy used this ability, Bin was able to use All Out on Ornn across the major mountain without fear of making the journey by himself. With a few additional dashes and spamming Q, Bin gained himself another kill.
#5 XL Wombo Combo (T1 vs JDG, Game 1)
T1 exploded Beijing JDG Intel Esports Club's members in an all-out 5v5 fight. Each of T1's champions synergized incredibly once JDG was stuck in a choke point in their own jungle. The combination of Lee "Gumayusi" Min-Hyeon utilizing Curtain Call to gain massive team fight pressure, Oner's Magnet Storm, Lee "Faker" Sang-Hyoek's Shockwave, and Choi "Zeus" Woo-je's third Q, they obliterated JDG and won themselves game 1.
#4 China's Number One Hurdler (WBG vs BLG, Game 1)
TheShy found himself in a favorable position early in the game as he gained himself a major CS lead over Bin. To further his lead, TheShy and his team caught BLG in the top side river. TheShy hopped over Qi "Yagao" Zeng's Scatter the Weak using Flash and gained a double kill.
#3 Can't Escape the Baroness (T1 vs JDG, Game 3)
JDG failed to make a clean level 2 dive on T1's botlane. Even though JDG killed Gumayusi at level 1 with 1 cs, Ryu "Keria" Min-Seok was able to even out the disadvantage by killing both Park "Ruler" Jae-Hyuk and Yunfeng "MISSING" Lou. To delve deeper into how he made a bad situation better, Keria was trying his best to get level 2 after killing Ruler so he could use Q on MISSING. This quick thinking led to a better situation for T1's bot lane.
#2 T1's Squeaky Clean Synergy (T1 vs JDG, Game 3)
In a fight for the third drake, T1 cleanly swept Ding "knight" Zhuo and MISSING with Faker's Shurima Shuffle and Keria's Magnet Storm. Once they died, T1 was able to walk straight towards JDG and fight them without much fear of being at a disadvantage. To add insult to injury, Oner slayed the drake.
#1 T1's Squeaky Clean Synergy (again!) (T1 vs JDG, Game 3)
Faker created a major play using his Shurima Shuffle and flash to catch Ruler. Oner quickly followed up with his own combination with flash. This quick thinking and swift action made by the Godlike Mid Laner led to a successful defense against JDG.
With that our top 8 plays of the Worlds 2023 Semifinals conclude!
Do you agree with our list? How would you rank it differently? Let us know in the comments below!
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Featured Image Source: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games