With the regular season coming to a close and the most exciting part of the season right around the corner. I wanted to take some time and give flowers to all of the players that have made an impact in Blue Otter League Diamond with a top 4 per role as well as some reasons behind these rankings. As always with an opinion piece, this is simply my opinion, so take it with a grain of salt. 👑 =mvp candidate
Top:
In a role that often times struggles to find impact, what does it mean to be a good top laner? A good top laner should be able to create opportunities for their team through good trading or wave manipulation. They need to have strong blindable champs to be a good blue side top laner and a large enough champ pool to be a good red side top laner. Knowing when and where to teleport and how each matchup should go are all skills you’ll find in great tops.
#1 Marz Dwom knee:
Overall ranking: 32/100
KDA: 4.35
Most played: Olaf
Strong side grade: A+
Weak side grade: B-
Thoughts: Based off my criteria, no top laner has exemplified them as much as Dwom. Dwom has been one of the hardest carry players all split and is rarely a liability in games. He passes the eye test with strong laning fundamentals and solid wave manipulation. These two aspects of his game open up the heavy roaming style of his team to enable him to become a strong threat in the game. This is further backed up by Dwom being tied for most multi-kills in the league, which shows that he can use his lead better than every top laner in the league. Whether it’s traditional carry champs like Jax, Olaf, or even most recently Aurora, where he scored a game-saving Quadra kill for the comeback win. His red side champ pool proves to be versatile as well, with champions like Pantheon and Wukong in his pocket. Marz and the 4 wards look best when Dwom is able to dominate from the top lane, and I don’t foresee him slowing down anytime soon.
#2 AKM Basting:
Overall Ranking: 61/100
KDA: 3.38
Most played: Urgot
Strong side grade: B+
Weakside grade: B
Thoughts: Basting is a top laner that has been one of the most consistently good players in the m100 elo bracket for multiple splits in a row. Whether it’s his harder carry champs like Darius or Urgot or his facilitating champions like K'sante and Zac or even some unique counter-picks like Xin Zhao and Wukong, he is a rock that Akuma can count on to hold his own in lane and be impactful in teamfights. Where Basting falters is occasionally he will overindex on the 1v1 and fall behind in the laning phase and subsequent teamfights. Basting will often times play for knowledge checks on his signature champions, and if you fail to respond appropriately, he will stomp you. However, against more experienced tops that don’t fall for this, Basting can struggle to get his normal advantages. This being said, once Basting gets rolling, it is very hard to stop him from solo carrying the game. PSA: Ban his Urgot it is a free win for him!
#3 XG Rover:
Overall ranking:50/100
KDA: 2.30
Most played: Ornn
Strong side grade: B
Weakside Grade: A+
Thoughts: If there were an award for the best player elo helled by their team, it would hands down go to Rover. Rover has shown to be a threat in both the draft phase by pulling 3+ bans in most series as well as in game by going toe to toe and even besting some of the premier tops in the league, like Dwom. However, despite his individual success and ability to either stonewall or take over a lane phase XG, this split has been an absolute mess outside of top/jg. While tanking bans and being the most consistent player on the roster, he was still tasked with playing front line and being weaksided. Whatever team Rover ends up on next, I would love to see them unchain him and give him the freedom to be a carry player since it’s clear he has the skills needed to do so.
#4 ELY Susurration:
Overall ranking: 63
KDA: 2.03
Most played: Gragas
Strong side grade: C
Weakside grade: B
Thoughts: As a recent role swap from jg to top lane, Susurration was viewed as a liability to prevent Ely from breaking into the upper echelon of teams in BOL Diamond. As the season has progressed, I am happy to say that Susurration has become a rock in the top lane with his ability to frontline and create more space for his hard-hitting carry’s to operate. While his carry picks tend to be very sus (no pun intended), as long as he sticks to his strengths, he will continue to be a rock that ELY can rely on.
Jungle:
Everyone's favorite role to hate, a great jungle can best be described as smothering. They will keep you on edge wondering where they will strike next, push limits on timers, how the enemy will path, and enable themselves or teammates through methodical pathing. The best junglers can take and deny at the same time, leaving the enemy starved and saying “jungle diff.”
#1 OMG Sourcewalker
Overall ranking: 17/100
KDA: 4.77
Most played: Jarvan IV
KP: 59.26%
Thoughts: Farmwalker… I mean, Sourcewalker has slowly crept up as a favorite for the best jungler in the league title. Once known for his pocket picks of Yi and Jax, he has opened up his champion pool to include the likes of ap champs such as Brand and Udyr, ad skirmishers like Xin Zhao and Wukong, and the best jarvan in the league. Some criticisms towards Source in the past have been his prioritization on farming > ganking or covering lanes but has since become one of the most proactive junglers in league with a prioritization on early game dives and objectives. His playstyle of going for the guaranteed plays, backed by elite-level shotcalling, has turned him into both the engine and the rock that OMG can always depend on. PSA: Ban his Yi or lose!
#2 AKM Coffee
Overall ranking: 36/100
KDA: 4.19
Most played: Nunu
KP: 35.5%
Thoughts: Coffee is the spearhead of Akuma, in charge of their drafting as well as game planning which has thusfar led them to an exceptional season. Coffee places a huge prioritization on objectives and its shown through Akuma being the number 1 tower, inhib, and barons taken. Coffee's champion pool has large versatility with strong ganking junglers like Xin and Vi, heavy farmers like Hecarim and Gwen, and Nunu which he is undefeated on. Coffee feels like he's always in the right place at the right time and the most well rounded jungler in terms of fundamentals on this list.With coffee at the forefront of Akuma they look to bring a back to back chip to the org.
#3 MARZ Pillar of Autumn
Overall Ranking: 6/100
KDA: 6.1
Most played: Ivern
KP: 72%
Thoughts: Pillar of Autumn is the engine of Marz and the 4 Wards; as the highest KP jungler in the league, his ability to link up with his support Kreydawg and consistently find avenues to get his superstar solo laners on the path for success is top tier. Despite his inclination towards utility-centric champs like Ivern and Amumu, Pillar is able to play a large variety of picks with an abundant 15 unique champions, including some pyshco champs like Talon and Ornn. My one caveat, however, is that he is 3-6 on champions picked a single time. This begins the question of whether he is picking these champs for fun or if they are actually well practiced. While on his main champions, he proves to be the go button that Marz and the 4 wards need to get in winning positions.
#4 FBD Xaki
Overall ranking: 25/100
KDA: 3.23
Most played: Viego
KP: 69.16%
Thoughts: Xaki is the premier carry jungler of the league, who I believe is genuinely a very good player that is gatekept by certain teammates (Shaqtus). Even in losses he performs great with the 2nd highest KP of all junglers and 7th in kills per game. Xaki passes the eye test with great target focusing in teamfights and solid early game pathing to build individual leads for himself. If FBD hopes to make it into the semi-finals, it will be on the back of Xaki and his multitude of carry champions.
Mid:
The most stacked position in BoL by far, with only the narrowest of margins seperating each player. Mid-lane, this split has seen some of the most dominant players in the league taking over with a plethora of picks, from classic control mages like Orianna and Hwei to skirmishers like Yone, Sylas, and many more. As the focal point of the map, a great mid laner must be able to build their own lead and use their priority to impact side lanes and ovjectives.
Overall ranking: 19/100
KDA: 5.2
Most played: Azir
Thoughts: Vaeldr’s season has been nothing short of spectacular and is a large factor in Akuma not dropping a single game until week 7. With his strong laning, Vaeldr has been able to make leads for himself through aggressive trading and his knowledge of limits for his champions. In 19 regular season games, Vaeldr has played 13 unique champions picks ranging from marksmen to control mages and even assassins like Zed. This shows his versatility and true understanding of midlane fundamentals to play all of these champions to a very high level. When we begin to discuss a player that fills up the stat sheet, we don’t need to look any further than Vaeldr, as he is
#1 in KPG (7.6)
#4 in GPM (427)
#7 in Gold diff (1269)
#10 in DPM (699)
#10 in least deaths per game (3.0)
It’s clear to see that Vaeldr is a very talented mid laner and absolutely deserving of being the frontrunner in the MVP race.
Overall ranking: 20/100
KDA: 4.11
Most played: Sylas
Thoughts: The glorious king, better known as Marzion, has been on an absolute tear of BoL Diamond since his debut in week 2. You can tell a player is truly great when a team can build their whole identity around one player and show the level of dominance that they have. While a player like Vaeldr plays many champions, Marz prefers quality over quantity by playing multiple games of Syndra, Hwei, Ahri, and Yone. Marz and his team know his strengths and help accentuate them, leading to multiple pop-off performances against even Vaeldr, where in game 3 he was able to solo carry on his signature Sylas pick. The sole thing that keeps Marz from edging out Vaeldr to me is that occasionally he will, for lack of a better term, "sprint it" by over exerting himself or going for a play that his teammates are not ready to follow up on. Nonetheless, Marz's stats speak for themselves by being #3 DPM (820) and #6 KPG (5.8). Once Marz gets a lead, he oftentimes steam rolls the game with great support from his team. Marzion has put on an MVP-caliber season that is truly fitting of the title “glorious king.”
#3 OMG Midnight:
Overall ranking: 27/100
KDA: 4.30
Most played: Hwei
Thoughts: Midnight is a more lowkey player than that of the other midlaners on this list, and while he may not match the flare or eye-popping assassin gameplay of his peers, where he truly shines is his consistency. Midnight averages the 3rd least deaths per game and the 3rd highest cspm and is the definition of stability. On OMG Midnight tends to get the least resources out of all players on the team but somehow manages to pump out the same effectiveness as other mids on this list. Due to this factor, he gives the space for more resource-heavy side lanes to truly shine while showing up to team fights on his signature control mages and controlling spaces immaculately in a position that not many would be able to work with.
#4: ELY TuffDaddy
Overall ranking: 24/100
KDA: 4:30
Most played: Galio
Thoughts: Tuff Daddy, along with midnight, is a player that prides himself on consistency, being able to have a positive impact on the game regardless of matchup or game state. He has a unique champ pool of heavy roaming mid laners, with Galio, Taliyah, and Ryze being his most played champions. His heavy focus on map movement and roaming doesn’t take away from his laning, as he leads the league in cspm at 8.8 cspm. This shows an in-depth understanding of wave manipulation and roam timers, which puts him as the best roaming mid in the league. Despite focusing on map moves, he is able to go toe to toe with the best mids in the league on more lane dominant champs like Syndra or his pocket Gangpkank. Tuff, along with Ozwald (adc), have proven to work together perfectly as a dual carry threat and have been the major factor behind Ely's successful split thus far.
ADC:
Adc is in a weird position currently as the meta has shifted more towards utility or weakside picks such as Ashe and Ziggs. An adc player is gated by their mechanics and truly becomes great once they master spacing and orb walking, which are two of the most demanding micro in the game. Dodging skill shots, not missing any potential autos, and being untouchable while simultaneously knowing when they can flash forward to wipe the fight are all the baseline fundamentals that make a good adc player so frustrating to play against.
Overall Ranking: 12/100
KDA: 4.24
Most played: Kaisa
GPM: 437
Thoughts: Darklord Ozwald has proven himself to be the premier adc in Bol Diamond by doing everything you want an adc to do at a near perfect margin. He leads the league in damage per minute and is tied for most kills as well as being top 10 in cspm with an insane 71% kill participation in a role starved for agency. Ozwald is known for hyper carry picks like Kaisa, Kog, and Jinx, where he was able to net the first penta of the league in a comeback win over OMG. If your criteria for MVP is the most valuable player to a team, then Ozwald is the frontrunner; without him, Elysium would not be in the position they are in.
#2 OMG Jawst
Overall ranking: 9/100
KDA: 4.4
Most played: Kai’sa
GPM: 407
Thoughts: The CEO of poke Kaisa Jawst is making a stunning debut in Bol Diamond after a final appearance in the Aegis Defender League as a support. The best comparison for Jawst is a Swiss Army knife; he’s capable of playing hard Carrys like Kaisa, utility picks like Ashe and Jhin, or even role swapping to support where he has an 80% wr this split. Due to his experience playing both roles, Jawst proves himself to be the most complete bot laner in the league, as he averages 8th highest in kda, 8th highest in KPG, and tied for most triples/quadra’s in the league. For Jawst, knowing what opposing supports and marksmen are looking to do and outplaying them. On top of his great lane phase, the aspect that really sets Jawst apart from the other great bot laners in the league is his superb teamfighting. Jawst expertly navigates teamfights by spacing and timing key abilities, all while maintaining the killer instinct to know when he can flash in or Kaisa ult into the back line and wipe the team fight. His excellent control of the botlane is a large reason for what makes OMG the most dominant early game team in the league.
#3 AKM MattG
Overall ranking: 45/100
KDA: 3.67
Most played: Ashe
GPM: 443
Thoughts: MattG has the highest highs of all marksmen in the league. This has been shown multiple times through many different pop-off games on champs like Lucian or, most recently, last week, where he scored his first penta of the season on the back of a stellar Varus performance (16/4/6) vs. fellow contender Elysium to secure 1st. However, for just as many pop-off games he gets, MattG has just about as many games where he is backpacked by his top side of the map. That, on top of his tendency to play weakside with Ashe and Ziggs, stops me from placing him as number 1. If Mattg is able to find the consistency of the last BoL playoffs, where he was easily the best AD in the league and was eventually crowned champion, then he will become untouchable on this list.
#4 GBC Knightmare
Overall ranking: 44/100
KDA: 2.72
Most played: Jinx
GPM: 398
Thoughts: Knightmare is the ADC from the 6th place GBC and proves to be a large reason behind their current standings. In their wins, he is able to show some great performances, namely on hyper carry picks like Jinx and Kaisa, along with a pocket Hwei. The main thing that keeps him from breaking into the top-tier adc’s on this list are his lower peaks than other adc’s. The other 3 adc’s can solo take over fights or even games, and I simply don’t see Knightmare doing that as well as the other marksman.
Support:
A thankless but vital role for any team aspiring to be great. Often times the in-game leader is tasked with many jobs such as vision control, roaming, peeling, engaging, and so much more. There’s also greater versatility based on how the support likes to play, being either a great roamer or opting for lane dominance. An impactful support is the backbone of any team, and when one support is playing significantly better than the other, the difference is felt more than arguably any other role.
#1 MARZ Kreydawg
Overall ranking: 8/100
KDA: 5.0
Most played: Rakan
Vision score: 2.90
Thoughts: Kreydawg has been by far the best roaming support in the league, often times feeling like a second jungler with how active he is on the map. He focuses heavily on stronger roam champions like Rakan and Rell, where he is able to set up vision traps with lightning-fast engages. This plays heavily into the playstyle of Marz and the 4 wards of overloading parts of the map, making Pillar of Autumn and Kreydawg the best support jg duo in the league by a landslide. The one aspect where Kreydawg can be punished is the lane phase, where I think they have the weakest 2v2 of all the top 4 teams. However, this doesn’t take away from his stats, as he is 3rd in assists (14.1), 2nd in KP (73%), and second in vision per minute (2.90), which shows off just how much of an impact Krey has on the outcome of the game.
#2 AKM Sun and stars:
Overall ranking: 11/100
KDA: 5.74
Most played: Leona
Vision score: 2.97
Thoughts: Sun and Stars (now known as Eclipse) held the #1 spot in the bol rankings for a large part of the season, but much like the rest of AKM, he began to falter in the later half of the season. While Krey has an edge on map movement, Sun and Stars has a much stronger laning phase (partially because of ad diff) and a larger pool of engage, peel, and enchanters. Statistically, he is 3rd in KDA, 2nd in APG (14.9), 1st in VPM, and in the top 10 in least deaths per game (2.9). Despite his recent slump, I have full faith that the defending champion will be able to refind his form and lead Akuma to another final appearance. If he finally does decide to whip out his pocket, Janna, I fear the league will be cooked.
#3 ELY Hooked on Flays
Overall ranking: 10/100
KDA: 6.14
Most played: Rell
Vision score: 2.27
Thoughts: Finally making his debut in week 4, Hooked has been on fire, giving Ozwald much-needed stable support and enabling him to pop off in Ely’s games. Statistically speaking, Hooked looks like the best support, as he leads the league in APG (15.3) and KP (76%). This plus his deep champ pool makes me want to place him higher, but because of his late start in the season, he will remain 3rd for me. Even with that in mind, it is without a doubt that Hooked has had a huge impact on their season. Since he started playing on ELY, they were able to turn their 1-2 start into a 4th place finish in the regular season and look to bring that momentum into the playoffs.
#4 MINT Qixing
Overall rating: 13/100
KDA: 3.11
Most played: Neeko
VPM: 2.80
Thoughts: perhaps the current most hyped support in the league, Qixing came into this league in week 5 on a struggling Ketamint. He had immediate impact by picking up win after win and almost completing the miracle run to make the playoffs. When speaking about comp players, champion pool is always a key aspect of how good a player is; however, the phrase champion pool can’t fit how large Qixing’s champ ocean is. From picks like Trundle to Neeko to Camille, Vex, and more, he can truly not only play them all but pilot them well. In 12 short games, Qixing became the top 10 in Gold diff, APG, and VPM and simultaneously the biggest “what if” of the split. Given more time, I have no doubt that Qixing could have led Ketamint to a top-6 finish.
Team breakdown in Top 4 players
AKM-5
MARZ-4
ELY-4
OMG-3
GBC-1
MINT-1
FBD-1
XG-1
Best of luck to all playoff teams, -Flame