Top: Kim "Kiin" Gi-in (Gen.G)

Kiin totw

No top laner at these Worlds was harder to prepare for than Kiin. He moved between Olaf, Gwen, Camille, Rumble and Ambessa without his output dropping, then brought out Vayne in the final, and he finishes first in his role in KDA at 5.2, more than double the average for top laners, and second in damage per minute (624), for a DPM Rating of 74.3. Teamfights are where he weighs most: he is the player Gen.G send in first, and he usually walks out of them alive. That held even in Brooklyn, on a night when most of his team went missing. His Olaf dived straight onto Viper to open the fights that won game one, and his Vayne put out 721 damage per minute across the 53 minutes of game two.

Jungle: Kim "Canyon" Geon-bu (Gen.G)

Canyon totw

Gen.G's road to the final was built around Canyon. Handed carry junglers from the opening day, Qiyana above all, he converted farm into leads faster than anyone in the field: first among junglers in CS per minute (7.8), gold per minute (424), XP difference at 15 (+459) and KDA (5.8), with a DPM Rating of 76.3. The semi-final against Invictus Gaming was his peak — a 7/1/12 Qiyana to open it, two games rated a perfect 100 and the series MVP. In the final, Bilibili Gaming took first blood in each of the first three games and Xun dictated the early map, leaving Canyon without a kill in games three and four and Gen.G without the player who had set their pace for a month.

Mid: Zhuo "Knight" Ding (Bilibili Gaming)

KNIGHT totw

The LPL has called him the Golden Left Hand for years, and he now has the world title to go with the name. Knight was the best mid laner of Worlds 2026 and, across the whole month, the best player in the tournament at any position. He leads his role in KDA (9.2), gold per minute (441), kill participation (78%), first blood rate (37%) and gold difference at 15 (+391), sits second in damage and CS per minute, and holds a DPM Rating of 76.3. He did it on 11 different champions, from an Orianna that never lost to the Cassiopeia, Viktor and Twisted Fate that beat Jeong "Chovy" Ji-hoon in the final. Finals MVP on a 13/6/41 line, he is the first Chinese mid laner to lift the Summoner's Cup.

AD Carry: Park "Viper" Do-hyeon (Bilibili Gaming)

VIPER totw

Bilibili Gaming's drafts start with what Viper can play, and in a Fearless format that drains the marksman pool as a series goes on, nobody at these Worlds handled mages in the bot lane the way he did: Cassiopeia against Dplus KIA, then Ziggs and Taliyah in the final, three picks for three wins, the last a 6/1/11 that put his team on match point. That range counts for more than his raw numbers, the least flattering of this five — 14th among AD carries in CS per minute, 13th in gold difference at 15, a DPM Rating of 67.2. Put him back on a classic carry and the ceiling is just as high: his Ezreal went 4-0 with a 13.5 KDA, including a deathless 6/0/10 against Hanwha Life Esports. He leaves Brooklyn with a second world title, five years after the first with Edward Gaming.

Support: Ryu "Keria" Min-seok (T1)

KERIA totw

T1 went out in the semi-finals and Keria still holds the highest DPM Rating of this team at 77.5. He plays the role on the move — out of his lane early, first to the skirmish and usually the one who starts it. He was involved in 46% of first bloods, second among supports, reached the 15-minute mark with the biggest gold and XP leads in his role (+258 and +547), and finishes first in KDA at 6.5. The quarter-final against Karmine Corp showed all of it: 50 assists across four games on four different champions, capped by a deathless Neeko in game four whose ultimate stands among the best engages of the tournament. Against Bilibili Gaming, T1's only win came in the game where he was at his best.

Honourable mentions

Lift the two-per-team cap and this list would most likely read as Bilibili Gaming's starting five. Chen "Bin" Ze-bin had his own claim in the top lane, but the rule costs most at jungle and support, where Xun and ON ended the tournament, and above all its final, as the best players in their roles.

ON xun

Luo "ON" Wen-jun grew with every round. His level rose through the knockouts alongside Viper's, and he settled the semi-final against T1 with a three-man Encore on Seraphine in game four. The final was one of the best series of his career: after a chaotic game two on his flex Camille, he started almost every fight of games three and four on Alistar and Neeko, and the Neeko ultimate that caught three Gen.G players at the dragon pit turned the game that won the title.

Peng "Xun" Li-xun beat three LCK junglers in a row. Series MVP against Choi "Lucid" Yong-hyeok in the quarter-finals, he had the better of Mun "Oner" Hyeon-jun a round later, then took the map away from Canyon in Brooklyn. His 8/1/9 Naafiri decided the early game of the 53-minute game two, his Smite won the Elder Dragon in game one and a dragon in game four, and on Jarvan IV, Vi and Nocturne he opened the space Bin and Knight played in. Canyon carried Gen.G to the final; on the day it mattered, the better jungler wore a BLG jersey.