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Support players have risen to prominence in recent years, and this season is no exception. This year’s meta of roaming and engage-heavy support champions has led to the prominence of this current crop of talent. The field of players should be familiar to most fans, each of these support players has made at least one international appearance before MSI 2021. With so much tape to reflect on, and the success of each team regionally, the support play at the Mid-Season Invitational should be some of the most high-level play seen at the event so far.

Here is our list of the top players at the support position heading into MSI 2021.

1. Shi “Ming” Sen-Ming (RNG)

Ming at the 2018 World Championship Group Stage at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center in Busan, South Korea, on 14 October 2018.
Ming smiles at the 2018 World Championship Group Stage at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center in Busan, South Korea, on 14 October 2018. | Image provided by Riot Games

This will be Ming’s fifth international event with Royal Never Give Up as a starter. The veteran has been with the team since 2016 and supported the legendary Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao for a good chunk of his career. Ming led RNG through a dominant regular season and high stakes playoff stage, as the most tenured support player at the tournament. For his service, he earned a spot on the League of Legends Pro League All Pro Team for the 2021 Spring Split and the top rank in our rankings. He dominated the LPL this season on meta picks like Rell and Alistar, racking up engages and catching out enemy players with their crowd control capabilities. He led the league on assists according to Oracle’s Elixir and put up a 83% win rate over 18 games on Alister.

2. Cho “BeryL” Geon-hee (DWG KIA)

BeryL typing in his chair at the 2020 World Championship semi finals
BeryL types on his keyboard at the 2020 World Championship semi finals. | Image provided by Yicun Liu/Riot Games

Part of the 2020 World Championship roster, BeryL brings the most prestige to the position as the only player with an international title to his name. BeryL was the Jack-of-all-trades for DWG KIA this season. He played 15 different champions in the regular and post-season. The world champion put time into the meta pick, but also experimented with recently buffed champions or innovative champions like Chogath and Heimerdinger along with Senna AD carry. The bot lane was DWG KIA’s only weak link in the previous seasons, but that has changed. BeryL led the league in assists and had the highest wards cleared per minute at 0.47.

3. Norman “Kaiser” Kaiser (MAD Lions)

Kaiser playing in the 2021 LEC Spring Split Finals, before MSI 2021
Kaiser on stage during the 2021 League of Legends European Championship Series Spring Final at the LEC Studio. | Image provided by Michal Konkol/Riot Games

Kaiser and the MAD Lions lineup took a beating at their last international outing in 2020. Thankfully, there is no group stage for the young team to bow out in this time. All jokes aside, Kaiser is the driving force of this team outside of their new jungler. He is not only the team’s main engage, but also their shot-caller. Compared to last Spring, Kaiser has upped his play significantly. The German support’s Kill/Death/Assist ratio has gone up to 3.8 and his kill participation percentage is up to 73%. The League of Legends European Championship is stacked with support talent, but he did manage to stand out in kill percentage, second in the league, and wards placed per minute at 1.68, tied for first.

4. Philippe “Vulcan” Laflamme (Cloud9)

Vulcan setting up his keyboard at the LCS Mid-Season Showdown grand finals
Vulcan setting up his keyboard at the LCS Mid-Season Showdown grand finals. | Image provided by Riot Games

Vulcan is another all-around player that put his time into the meta picks, putting up almost 30 games and the top five support players picked this season. But, he hasn’t shied from off meta picks like Bard, Blitzcrank and Karma. The Canadian may not be as integral to the squad as he once was, thanks to Luka “Perkz” Perković drawing pressure towards the mid lane, but still holds his own as a top support in this tournament. He did not lead in any important statistical categories, except for tying for most assists and topping the league in his share of his team’s deaths. Vulcan may not top the statistical leaderboards, but he is always consistent with the plays that he makes for his team in fights, or in the laning phase.

5. Ling “Kaiwing” Kai Wing (PSG Talon)

Kaiwing and his PSG teammates shake hands with their opponents at the 2020 World Championships
Kaiwing and his teammate bump first with their opponents at the 2020 World Championships. | Image provided by Riot Games

The stars of the Pacific Championship Series, PSG Talon and Kaiwing, are coming into MSI 2021 with some of the best support player numbers out of the field of teams. He and his team have only lost once so far in the Spring Split and dominated their opposition. Kaiwing has the highest K/D/A of the support position at 8.2, with a 15 K/D/A in one Alister game. He led the league in assists with 212 and has put time into mainly the meta champions in his few games on the rift. If Kaiwing and PSG came out of any of the top regions with these numbers, he would top this list without a doubt.