Deserving more than they got: The All-Underrated team of 2022 LCS Spring

 

For years now, the LCS All-Pro team voting gives fans and players a snapshot of how competition is viewed by player's peers, coaches, the media, and broadcast talent, and the votes are often subject to extensive discussion: who should be pushed up, who should be left out, with votes and fans arguing on behalf of the players.

 

But the All-Pro ballots are interesting not just for revealing which players are collectively considered to be the best at their position, but for helping us understand how the voters groups players and what do they value.

 

With the voting fully out and it being easy to calculate just how the voters rated all the LCS players this split, it would be a good exercise to see which players were ranked lower than they deserved. This is Inven Global's LCS All-Underrated team for 2022 Spring.

Top: Bwipo, TL

The voters got the three best top laners — Summit, Ssumday and Bwipo — correct but the order is wrong. Bwipo was far and away superior to Ssumday, beating him out in key stats like GPM, DPM, and the laning stats. This one is probably the closest case and the two’s stats are very comparable so I don’t really have a huge problem with Ssumday being number two. I would just have liked to see a bit more parity in the voting between the two.

Jungle: Pridestalker, GG

Milo "Pridestalker" Wehnes was a player I was extremely excited to see come to the LCS because of his uber-aggressive play and his unique picks. That hasn’t disappointed in the LCS, as Pridestalker has been one of the the best carry junglers in the league. He is second in the league in terms of gold per minute, damage per minute, and has the best gold and XP differentials in the early game. The guy is an absolute monster for GGS this year, which is why it’s unconscionable to me that he was only only four ballots. He is a top-three player by most metrics, easily.

Mid: Blue, DIG

A pickup that got absolutely roasted by most fans, Ersin "Blue" Gören has been exceptional for Dignitas this year. He’s not exceptional by any means, playing a lot of Viktor and Corki during the split, but he has been consistently solid. Often overshadowed by flashier players like EG’s Joseph "jojopyun" Joon Pyun or 100 Thieves’ Felix "Abbedagge" Braun, Blue has put up similar production in terms of gold per minute, damage per minute, and KDA. I’m not saying he’s better than those two, but the gap between him and them is not as significant as the voting makes it appear.

Bot lane: Danny, EG

In just about every position, I wholeheartedly agreed with the top player chosen, except for this one. Hans Sama has been exceptional for TL this split, performing like the Worlds-caliber player that he is. What he has not been, though, is better than Kyle "Danny" Sakamaki. The only significant statistic that Hans Sama outpaced Danny in this spring was KDA. In terms of kills per game, GPM, DPM, GD@15, and XPD@15, Danny has been not only better than Hans, but significantly better. He also had five solo kills as an ADC which is just ridiculous. The fact that Danny was not only not rated the best ADC for the spring, but finished fourth is a miscarriage of justice.

Support: Biofrost, DIG

Vincent "Biofrost" Wang finished just one vote apart behind Aphromoo, yet Biofrost ranked ahead of aphromoo in the majority of laning stats. Between these two, Biofrost was absolutely the better player. In fact, he was also slightly better than the third-team All-Pro Philippe "Vulcan" Laflamme. Biofrost finishing fifth in the voting when the stats show he’s definitely top three is ridiculous.

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