Best Team Break-out Team - Best AD Carry - Best AP Carry
Best Top Laner - Best Jungler - Best Support - Community Effort
Most Memorable tournament - Meta Breaker of 2012 - Innovation of 2012 - Story of 2012
Welcome to the first ever GosuAwards for League of Legends that are here to give praise to the best of the best in 2012 and with the year as stacked as it has been, it was an absolute hell (yet an absolute pleasure, too) for our editorial team to pick the winners.
2012 for League of Legends was a year of growth, one that skyrocketed game's popularity in terms of the eSports scene (and not only). The knot of stories tightened as many newborn teams entered the competition; players single-handedly made or broke the meta-game; new records were set, powers shifted, thrones were conquered, stars rose, fell or were rekindled. It was a year most dynamic and no LoL fan can with all honesty say that he/her was bored. That was literally impossible.
To reflect the past 366 in professional League, the GosuAwards nominated more than 90 players, teams, personalities, events and stories and divided them into twelve categories. Today, we give you the twelve winners as elected by the editorial staff as well as those voted by the community.
We spearhead our first GosuAwards for League of Legends with the biggest and most logical opener: the winners of the “Best Team” award as it is presented to the Chinese powerhouse of World Elite.
Led by the master of Twisted Fate Misaya the boys of WE grew into one of the most dreaded rosters of 2012. Whether they competed on home turf or traveled internationally, World Elite showed time and time again they are a force that cannot be easily stopped. When other teams had their ups and downs during the different seasons, WE were awarded medals almost every single month, opening with winning World GameMaster Tour in January and closing the year with the IPL 5 trophy in December. In the time frame of this adventure, World Elite played a plethora of outstanding series, some of them (particularly versus CLG.eu at IPL 5) considered to be the best games in professional League.
Numbers speak as loudly as words when it comes to Misaya and co, who hold the number one spot in the GosuRanking, boasting a 89% win rate with 58-7. This score and their ever-growing ranking points are backed up by eleven first places, one second place and multiple top eight finishes in premier tournaments. At the moment of this article, they’re certainly the scariest team on the planet to play against.
Runner-ups: Taipei Assassins for becoming increasingly good throughout the year, winning the World Championship against all odds, placing third at IPL 5 and establishing themselves as a team that should never, under any circumstances, be taken lightly.
Community poll winners: Moscow 5
No matter how you play around the term, Taipei Assassins are the very emanation of "break-out team". Formed in September 2011 under the name “For the Win” and acquired by Taipei Assassins in March 2012, the team captained by support player Chen "MiSTakE" Hui Chung grew from a crew of no-names to world champions in what seemed to be an overnight makeover.
Placing first here and there (that being mostly Asian tournaments) did not help TPA go out of WE’s shadow but as it would turn out, this was the biggest favor the scene had done to them. In October 2012, the Taiwanese flew to California to play in the World Championship and their arrival raised just one question: “Who are these guys with Lilballz?” TPA were the ultimate underdogs in the ultimate tournament and, thus, winning it was the ultimate break-out.
TPA’s upset over Azubu Frost won them not only money (although that was in bulk), but also recognition. Stanley’s name made its way to the highly stacked echelons of top laners, Toyz’s Anivia and Orianna acquired legendary status and Mistake’s captainship would be appreciated worldwide. A very abrupt but well deserved rise to stardom.
Runner ups: Counter Logic Gaming EU for being among the dominant forces for 2012, competing on par with the strongest of the day, be they Europeans, North Americans or Asians and placing high in pretty much every brand of premier event in existence.
Community poll winners: Taipei Assassins
Although it was a tough decision between a particular two, most knew it was coming. The winner in the AD carry category for the GosuAwards 2012 is none other than Zao 'Weixiao' Xuecheng.
In 2012, WeiXiao showed clear mechanical prowess above and beyond anyone's expectations. Even though the grandmaster of AD Carry once originated from top lane, he showed enormous success in adapting to the role of bottom laner. Weixiao very frequently runs the show for World Elite and is a primary backbone to the unprecedented success of the team in 2012.
Weixiao taking out 3 enemies single-handedly in 'Enter the Dragon'
Though it holds no surprise to those with a constant eye on the Chinese team, Weixiao synergizes expertly with his support to consistently display astounding performance throughout the year. He boasts some of the most ludicrous stats of any player on the pro team and was performing well even before his impressive debut at the Season 2 World Championships. With a 13/4 record in our database with his top five champions, it's no wonder he's fit to be on one of the most successful teams in the game.
To top it all off, Weixiao was the first to momentarily put Doubellift out of the spotlight who beforehand maintained the sole throne in the "Godly mechanics" kingdom. Weixiao was a stunning factor to most of the League of Legends audience and caused people to think twice before believing there was a definitive leader in this field.
Runner-up: CLG.Doublelift for all of the plays and consistent domination he has shown throughout the year, topped with the fact that he's massively respected world-wide for his skill and mechanics.
Community poll winner: Fnatic.Rekkles
Though we had trouble coming to a conclusion between Froggen and Alex Ich with this one, Alexey "Alex_Ich" Ichetovkin has to be the clear subjugator of the field. Most importantly, Alex Ich has showcased that he is a jack of all trades, but certainly not a master of none, rather, a master of all.
Alex_Ich boasts one of the most diverse and varying champion pools out of all players in the League, capable of dominating Summoner’s Rift with all of them but showing a special display of skill in tanky APs that double as solid initiators. On top of his wide array of powerful champions, he’s also innovated the use of many champions in a competitive way that would otherwise be vastly considered troll or sub-optimal picks. These picks include but are not limited to Malphite, Evelynn, Tryndamere, Yi, Mordekaiser, and more.
Master Yi Pentakill at IPL5 against Curse
Even in times where his team underperforms, it’s not uncommon for Alex to put his team on his back and carry the team from its shortcomings. There is no significantly notable weak point in Alex’s career and he has been dominant dating back to the dawn of Moscow 5. To top it all off, he has the responsibility of marriage and still maintains his current strength as a professional gamer.
Runner-up: CLGeu.Froggen for breaking CS records, being the spine of CLG.eu and single-handedly winning games if he's not banned out.
Community poll winner: M5.Alex_Ich
In the stacked world of top laners, the competition for the award was fierce between Shy, Maknoon and Wang "Stanley" June Tsan but ultimately, with the bare minimum of a lead, we give the prize to TPA’s brute force on top.
When we say “bare minimum” we mean it, as no other category required so much discussion, stats comparison and careful examination of tournament performance and playstyle. And when even after that much work we ended up with three equally powerful players, we succumbed to the most basic method: recall who beat who in direct duel.
Fortunately, there were quite a few premier tournaments that came to our aid and we referred to Shy’s dominance over Maknoon at MLG Dallas, elevating the Azubu top laner over the ever-charming NaJin Sword captain. At the same time, the Season 2 World Championship showed us a Stanley who came along and crushed both Koreans on the top lane while being one of the highlight players of his team doing his own thing and split pushing to victory.
Runner-up: AZF.Shy and NJS.MaknooN: The first for the absurdly short amount of time it took him to become the top lane terror he is now and the second for being the primary reason why the permaban list of champions is as it is nowadays.
Community poll winner: M5.Darien
It is safe to set the clear winner of this field to be none other than Daniel "Diamondprox" Reshetnikov. Reshetnikov along with M5 took the monotony of what was the jungle and embellished it into the complex mind game and attrition of the enemy’s territorial advantage. From the newfound aggression to the relentless counter jungling, calling Diamondprox just an “innovator” would do no justice. The magnitude of control and stylistic counter-ganking he commences is revolutionary and was responsible for changing the way everyone played the game competitively.
Like many at the top of their respective role, Diamondprox is extremely flexible, demonstrating an aptitude towards every type of jungler, be it bruiser, carry, or selfless tanking; He’s done well with them all. In conclusion, he really has it all, showcased impressive talent all through the year and is commonly denominated as the strongest jungle Lee Sin player around the globe, to which he concludes himself as a requirement to master the jungle.
Runner-up: AZB.Helios for boasting one of the largest champion pools in the scene and being a very influential jungler within his team, constantly making decisions at the correct times and greatly assissting his laners.
Community poll winner: M5.Diamondprox
Azubu Frost’s fearless support player Hong "MadLife" Min-gi effortlessly earns his first GosuAward. Madlife’s passive-aggressive playstyle is truly something to watch out for as players never know when Madlife might start charging. Unlike normal supports in the pro scene, Madlife’s play is usually just as feared as an AP/AD carry once around late game. He is also one of the few players to actively re-introduce heavy AP based champions into the support role such as Lux, Zyra, Orianna, and Annie. Whenever teams play Azubu Frost, they must also make sure that Madlife is not able to obtain one of his signature Blitzcrank or Alistars for it changes teamfights completely. is rendered impossible.
Madlife’s large champion pool and unorthodox supports give Frost an edge to play what other teams won’t expect. He is given this award solely on how dominating he is in lane and teamfights and for being able to completely change the pace of a game at will.
Runner-up: CLG.Chauster for being the heart and soul of Counter Logic Gaming Prime. With Chauster’s great knowledge of the game and great map awareness, he decides every move that CLG makes, who would not have the success they have today without him.
Community poll winner: M5.GosuPepper
Four lovely Rioters (Phreak, Rivington III, Deman, and Jatt) and Joe Miller have represented the face of League of Legends for all E-Sports fans. Not only do these lovely gentlemen shoutcast games and make already fantastic entertainment more exciting but they also amplify the enjoyment during downtime and sporadically entertain during the less exciting moments.
This perfect blend of talents easily connects and interacts with its fanbase. Each one showcases their very own unique personality traits which keeps things fresh and exciting: Jatt with his indescribably awesome analysis and insight, Rivington with his wackiness and handsome elegance, Deman and his hard-work flavorfully topped with riveting excitement, and Phreak with his electric personality and very authentic passion for the game. With what four these brought to the table, presenting them the award is easily justifiable.
Runner-up: Leaguepedia Crew for being a phenomenal resource for E-Sports, to which even the community can contribute to this massive conglomerate of useful information. Leaguepedia archives one of the most extensive and thorough representations of E-Sports coverage and deserves runner up.
Community poll winner: Casting Dream Team
By the sheer spectrum of stories it provided, the Season 2 World Championship easily qualifies as the most memorable tournament of this year. Ironically, Riot has the series of screw-ups to thank for that as IPL 5 was a very close second in terms of experience and the competition between the two has been fierce.
What made S2WC unique and would carve it in stone never to be forgotten is the way every single day offered something different to behold. From semi-exciting, rich on playstyles group stage, the tournament transitioned to the dramatic playoffs that saw one upset after another, showmanship scalded by brutal manhandling, cheating and monetary fines, disconnects and hour long games (with more disconnects) for which people would later make T-Shirts. The fact that the biggest eSports tournament in history (prize pool-wise) couldn’t even finish on time additionally contributed to the event’s unique vibe.
Days after the drama came the grand finals, a fully reborn Season 2 World Championship. Gold and glitter, swag and style and an entire orchestra defined the last day of the World Championship, finally bringing the wild roller-coaster to its end.
Runner-up: IPL 5 for being very much “S2WC: The Sequel”, matching the winner in quality of games, stardom of line-up and stories that will forever be remembered.
Community poll winner: Season 2 World Championship
When entering the world of E-sports, you can expect professional players to choose the strongest of choices in order to have the highest win rate possible. Unfortunately, for 3 heroes in particular, they were seen bottom 90% of the time for the entire year. Graves, Corki, and Ezreal had a long reign of being the only AD carries considered for competitive play and while the former two weren’t necessarily plaguing the scene for entirely too long, Ezreal became a tremendous issue. Being able to clear waves to contest baron from across the map, have extremely unpunishable positioning, and dish out extreme poke all the while buffing (and formerly debuffing) other players made him an extraordinary pick.
Ezreal has long been king of the show, surpassing every single hero in usage in 2012. Though never quite broken enough for Riot to nerf him to the ground, he’s a safe and versatile enough pick to be a great thorn in the side of the competitive scene. Admittedly, Ezreal has made the bottom lane a bit stale, and hopefully through continual tweaks to him and surrounding influences it will return to a more normalized state.
Runner-up: Rengar for remaining on the top of the perma-banned list despite the numerous nerfs he had to endure.
Community poll winner: The New Black Cleaver
Though many great advancements were responsible for driving the LoL metagame further, none were quite as impactful as M5’s relentlessly aggressive counter-jungling and invasion. When Empire first became recognized as Moscow 5, they exploded on the scene, leaving a massive impression and mark on the LoL world that has yet to be toppled. The constant caution and state of fear opposing teams were left with were nothing less than than amusing. When your enemy owns more of your jungle than you do, you need to adjust and you need to adjust fast. Moscow 5 was single-handedly responsible for this great feat and would shape the game for months, and possibly years to come.
Seeing prior top teams get slaughtered by the early game coordination of Moscow 5 was an enticing yet sore sight for the eyes of fans, as their favorite teams crumbled in hopeless attempts to adjust to a playstyle they had not yet encountered.
Runner-up: Zyra as Support Runner-up goes to the discovery and execution of Zyra support. The intentions of Riot were clear - this champion was supposed to be an AP carry played in the middle lane. However, somewhere along the line, professional teams discovered it would be extremely powerful for its utility alone in the bottom lane. They were correct, of course, and Zyra support can even afford to buy some AP - A very flexible choice indeed!
Community poll winner: Diamond's Counter Jungling
Every sport needs a good drama just like every person or company with blooming confidence needs a reality check. For Riot Games, that was their very own World Cup tournament.
The rumble with which S2WC crashed down was only comparable to the scale of the tournament itself and the perfection of its recovery some days later. It was as abrupt as it was unexpected and everything that could’ve gone wrong happened in a blink of an eye. The connection failed repeatedly. The poor arrangement of the stage caused for multiple cheating incidents which themselves resulted in monetary fines in a weird “We punish you for abusing our own screw ups” sequence of logic. Having a “guest” from a whole other eSports scene in the face of djWHEAT taking the fall for Riot aggravated the audience even further.
The story quickly echoed across all of eSports' press and very soon it was not only the LoL community talking about it. Dota fanboys had their field day (and very rightfully so) while StarCraft 2 remembered MLG Dallas 2011 and wondered will organizers ever learn.
Runner-up: The Toyz/Maknoon Story for being one of the most honest, human and touching displays of respect between a master and apprentice.
Community poll winner: "See hero, kill hero!"
Editors: Nydra, DreXxiN
