With the Asian Games just around the corner, balance anomalies are once again showing up in China’s canyons.

The Chinese League of Legends Pro League (LPL) just wrapped up its official eight-day schedule. In those eight days, we’ve seen a unique trend.

It’s the de-AP phenomenon. The “no AP” phenomenon, where teams that don’t have a single AP champion on their roster are winning despite taking the risk of a combination.

EDG was the first team to try this, based on the multiplayer Summer Season playoffs. EDG tried a Jax-Ivon-Jace-Jaya-Lakhan combination in their first-round, first-set match against WE.

It’s not technically a no AP. Avon supplemented his AP with flowing chemistry Corrupter-Wand of Water, and he focused on keeping his teammates alive with shields (Moonstone-Salvation) instead of dealing.

Nevertheless, EDG still managed to pull off what could be called a no-AP combo – Orin-Rel (tanky build)-Jayce-Jaya-Alista – in the World Championship Quarterfinals against WBG, winning in two sets against WBG.

Technically, Orin and Rell deal magic damage, but they were not the same as Jace and Jaya, who deal explosive damage, and Azir, who is strong in stacking.

In the LPL Playoffs, the No AP (or Minimal AP with no Main Dealer, commonly referred to as No AP) combination appeared in 11 out of 52 sets (21% adoption rate) and won 7 of those sets, a win rate of around 63% in terms of sets played.

It was especially significant in the first round of the LPL playoffs against EDG-WE, where three of the four sets featured No AP compositions, all of which resulted in wins. 스포츠토토

The trend continued in the qualifiers. No AP was used in five of the 13 sets in the qualifiers, resulting in three wins and two losses. That’s a win rate of 60%.

This could be a positive thing, as it allows for a wider variety of combinations to emerge. However, on the flip side, it could lead to a phenomenon where AP champions are increasingly marginalized, and the history of the two-tanker “Doristana-Toise” could be repeated in the Asian Games, just like “Dovana-No Jamton”.

To overcome this, AP Varus, which was introduced by OMG as a build for large tanks, and Jigs, which was considered a card of Jackie Love, appeared, and in the fourth set of the EDG-WBG, AP Kaisa, who has the highest solo ranked win rate (57.87%, based on Challengers, in order of Static, Nasher, and Recruitment), faced off against AP Varus.

It’s not something we’d call a problem. There’s no reason to confuse people with an emergency patch ahead of the Asian Games. Rather, it’s the next problem.

Just as the “assassin meta” dominated the solo ranked and professional scene in the past, leading to the chaotic outcome of the Assassin nerf and durability patch, we hope that League of Legends will continue to feature a variety of champions to keep viewers entertained before and after the Asian Games.