The stage for the LPL 2020 Spring Split has recently concluded, with JD Gaming bringing home first place. The tournament has showcased the talents of China’s top teams for competitive play, with some new developments and adaptations for some players that brought different champions to the limelight.

This begs the question, “What were the champions that expressed the skills and abilities of the LPL’s top-tier teams?” Continuing on our piece regarding the global champion trends for pro play, find out below as we examine the top champion trends for the LPL 2020 Spring Playoffs.

The All-Star Favorites

Two champions managed to garner 100% champion presence for this playoffs: Trundle and Kalista. For those who are unfamiliar, “presence” in this context refers to a champion’s collective pick and ban rate for the entire tournament. For these two champions, it simply meant that in all 310 playoffs games played in the previous week, Kalista and Trundle were either picked or banned.

Why is that so? LPL teams love Trundle with his straightforward but powerful kit that can melt tanks and carries alike depending on the build. He has a viable support-like build that featured Zeke’s Convergence and Knight’s Vow, but can also opt to the usual Press the Attack build with tanky items. Having an ultimate that can melt a percentage of armor and magic resist is powerful for forcing an enemy’s weak spots open.

Kalista has gained traction in the entire world since Invictus Gaming’s theShy popularized Kalista in the toplane. This put Kalista in the spotlight, and LPL teams have collectively agreed that she now has tournament viability once more, and they cannot let any team hold such strong picks.

The Popular Kids

Next up are the champions that ranged from 80% to 99% champion presence, which are those that statistically appeared in 4 out of 5 games during the playoffs. These champions are Varus, Ornn, Syndra, Thresh, and Aphelios.

Varus and Aphelios are undoubtedly powerful marksmen in Season 10. As a newly released champion, Aphelios was subject to nerfs over the course of the season. However the utility and damage he can bring to the team has become sufficient reason for him to still become a staple among this season’s pro marksmen.

Varus returns to the Rift with his old Lethality build that features a damaging long-range Piercing Arrow for those unfortunate to meet its gaze. This build allowed Varus to play like an artillery mage at the backlines with strong burst and his own crowd control to boot. The classic on-hit build also made some appearances for its power is not yet relatively weaker to the Lethality build.

Ornn and Thresh are powerful enablers in their respective roles. Ornn in particular is one of the best toplaners this season because of his innate ability to empower his allies’ late game through item upgrades. Coupled with a powerful AoE knockup through Call of the Forge God, a unique debuff that essentially extends crowd control duration, and his tanky nature, it’s no secret why LPL toplaners never let him out of sight.

Thresh is a staple support pick with the strongest potential for playmaking. A seasoned Thresh player definitely knows that his abilities have more functions than intended, and therefore knows how to maximize his value. The ability to pull allies towards the fray and away from danger, with his anti-engage Flay and his huge slow values with The Wall, makes it clear that Thresh is perfect for coordinated play from his conception.

Syndra is the only mid laner to have a huge spotlight this LPL Spring Split. Top Esports’ Knight has had monstrous numbers on the eve of the Finals purely because of his Syndra, and it’s not hard to see why. Her ultimate is a point-and-click single-target burst, and her bread and butter spell, Dark Sphere, weaves seamlessly with her movement and ability combos. She is one of if not the strongest tournament picks due to her potential, which is coincidentally what her theme revolves around.

The Middle Class

These champions have a champion presence at a range from 55% to 79%.  They’re familiar champions for the majority of the fanbase, but nothing to write home about. They’re more or less featured in particular team because of one or two excellent players, but lack representation in other teams. These champions are: Lee Sin, Nautilus, Miss Fortune, LeBlanc, Galio, Jarvan IV, Sett, and Azir.

Loyal viewers would notice that these picks seem to be reminiscent of a collective pick between FunPlus Phoenix, JD Gaming, and Top Esports.

Lee Sin is one of the common staple jungle picks who, when mastered, can turn the momentum of a game with a well-executed inSec kick. Because of the rewards for mastering and properly executing the champion, he is a definite favorite among many professional junglers.

Nautilus became a common pick after Worlds 2019 because of his hard crowd control and single-target lockdown. Rather than being in the mid lane, however, he found his home at the depths of the bot lane as a support. This enables his bot lane duo to freely dish out damage once Nautilus manages to find a target to pin down, and LPL teams have managed to properly utilize this newfound power.

Miss Fortune is next to Aphelios as the most picked marksman in the playoffs, but only has a 61% champion presence. She is indeed a powerful early game marksman and teamfighter, but unlike Aphelios, her lack of utility and mobility makes her a manageable threat for most teams. When champions like Ornn and Nautilus are common picks, taking Miss Fortune to these games carries an equal amount of risk and reward.

LeBlanc is one of those champions that only a handful of players can use effectively. Her current state brings only a few one-tricks and pro players to use her in both competitive play and solo queue. JDG Yagao and IG RooKie are the only two players that actively used LeBlanc this playoffs, and only Yagao found constant success for this deceitful trickster.

Galio has an outstanding 15 bans to 4 picks, making up to 61% champion presence this playoffs. Teams have mostly banned Galio to prevent mid lane roaming powerhouses like FPX Doinb and WE Teacherma from going to town with their teams.

Jarvan IV was in a similar situation with 18 bans to 1 pick. He has the most bans, being second only to Kalista and having only a 61% champion presence compared to Kalista’s perfect 100% presence. The same idea went for these teams to not let Jarvan loose; otherwise, they will suffer the constant gank threats and dives he can set up with the team that picks him.

Azir and Sett are our last featured champions, with both of them possessing a 55% champion presence. Both champions vastly differ in their skill floor, but they are able to contribute to a team’s victory based on results. Particularly in the LPL, it is surprising to see them picked less when both champions had over 200 games globally.

Sett specifically has been juggled in the LPL either as a toplaner rushing Blade of the Ruined King as a counter to tank matchups, or as an off-meta aggressive melee support like Tahm Kench without the protective factors.

Azir has been only played 6 times, two times each by JDG Yagao, iG RooKie, and EDG Scout. Only Scout won a single game against RNG Xiaohu. In the West where mid laners love their mechanical outplays, players in the East have shown restraint in exchange for focusing on macro and team coordination, which is why a simple champion like Syndra has seen more play than Azir.

Concluding Thoughts

When you look at the big picture of the LPL playoffs, two things are certain: their teams love champions who can dominate the early game, and champions who can easily fit in most team compositions.

JD Gaming is a perfect example that embodies both principles. By picking champions that can manage to teamfight and stand alone well, they are able to establish independence while maintaining their power when together. Champions that fit these criteria were shown by the team in their final series against Top Esports, such as Zoom’s Gangplank and Ornn, Yagao’s LeBlanc and Azir.

Let’s see in the Summer Season if there could be a change in trend after the planned mid and bot lane changes.

Data utilized in this piece comes from gol.gg.

Note: Due to limited data access, only the LPL 2020 Spring Playoffs had verifiable data, therefore representing only the top 8 teams of the region’s Spring season, and not all of the LPL teams.