After the end of the play-in stage, there are only two champions left with pick-or-ban status. Let’s see who they are and why.

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Worlds 2023 – 2 champions with 100% presence rate

The 2023 LoL World Championship is already underway, with the top 16 teams being confirmed after an explosive play-in stage. Not only did we witness upsets and reverse sweeps, but there are also some intriguing stats when it comes to the meta and the champion picks.

So far, 58 champions have been picked or banned throughout the tournament, according to stat site gol.gg. Among those 58, 2 champions have been regarded as the highest-priority picks, as they have been picked or banned in every single game of every single series. And most people probably didn’t even expect them to be so high in this department.

Maokai and Xayah have emerged as great picks for teams at the tournament. In particular, Maokai has been picked 9 times so far, making it the second most picked jungler so far. On the other hand, the bottom laner jumped on Summoners’ Rift 19 times, the second-highest in her role.

Read more: Everything you need to know about LoL Worlds 2023 song

Why are they so powerful?

While it was expected to see these picks in our analysis, we didn’t predict them to be so high in priority. Xayah is a great pick and good answer into the typical front-to-back team comps that have been meta at Worlds, as she can dodge hard engages and potential wombo combos.

Maokai, instead, is particularly good given his crowd control. That said, the best thing about Maokai is his ability to check bushes with his saplings: it’s perfect to check unwarded areas and the slow is incredibly annoying to deal with.

We’re likely going to see these picks with pick-or-ban status, but the question now is whether they will keep the 100% presence rate or not. At Worlds 2022, the only champion to get this achievement was Aatrox and in 2021 Lee Sin was close with 99%.

To find out whether the two champions can maintain these numbers, tune in for the Worlds 2023 Swiss stage on Thursday, October 19.

Related: LoL Worlds 2023 Swiss stage – Draw, Format, and more