The 14th edition of League of Legends Worlds, the biggest competition in the esports ecosystem, kicks off this Wednesday in Berlin. As usual, the event begins with the Play-In to determine which teams will advance to the Main Event. For this first day of competition, we have a match between the regulars from PSG Talon, with their four out of a possible five Worlds participations, and the less experienced paIN Gaming, who are qualifying for only the second time in their history. In this Best-Of-Three, we've decided to pick a matchup of the day between two players. We'll be looking at the toplane clash between Huang “Azhi” Shang-Jhih and Choi “Wizer” Eui-seok.

Although both players began their careers in 2018, as in the team head-to-head, the Taiwanese has more international experience than his opponent, as he is making his second appearance at Worlds (having also taken part in three MSIs), whereas the Korean is discovering the international scene this year. On the other hand, the two players are similar in one aspect: in recent years, they have been dominating their respective leagues (PCS and CBLOL), with no finish below second place in the various splits.

Paris vs Achilles ?

As for the champion pool, there are also similarities between the two players. If we saw that teams placed a high priority on Rumble during the Summer Split, this should be even more the case in this matchup. Indeed, the two toplaners both have five Rumble games (their second most played champions respectively) but also 100% winrate on it. Both have also tried their hand at the various Mordekaiser, Skarner, Renekton and the inevitable K'Sante.

The latter is the pick most used by Wizer, with six picks for 83.3% winrate. On the other hand, Azhi's most played pick is Twisted Fate with eight games and 87.5% winrate. This is the point that most differentiates these two players: the use of range tops. Wizer has only played Gnar and Twisted Fate, whereas Azhi has taken the lead in this meta with Kennen, Vayne, Tristana and Lucian in addition to the two characters played by his opponent. This will be a major point to keep an eye on when they clash.

Early Game Masters?

What do the stats show? First and foremost, these two players and their teams dominated their league with a record of 28W - 4L for PSG Talon and 23W-6L for paIN Gaming over the Summer Split. In line with their teams' performance, Azhi and Wizer are two players who tend to be ahead of their opponents at 15min in CS, gold and XP.

Azhi:
-CS Diff @15: +7
-Gold Diff @15: +901
-XP Diff @15: +273

Wizer:
-CS Diff @15: +1
-Gold Diff @15: +405
-XP Diff @15: +270

The first 15 minutes of the game should be very interesting between these two players, especially as they also have 17 and 10 SoloKills on the Split, so we're hoping for a good fight. However, there is one difference in their play style: their proximity to their team. Wizer tends to play closer to his team, which translates into a KP of 61.3%, while Azhi is a little more isolated with a KP of 53.6%.

What's certain is that the Taiwanese and the Korean are two forces on which their teams will be counting during these play-in rounds in order to make their way to the Swiss Stage. Don't miss the clash between Azhi and Wizer this Wednesday, September 25 at 5pm (CEST), during the PSG Talon vs paIN Gaming match for their entry to Worlds 2024.