League of Legends’ 2023 Mid-Season Invitational: Wukong Struggles in Play-Ins
The 2023 Mid-Season Invitational in League of Legends has showcased some unique picks in the first two matchdays. While off-meta picks like Nautilus in the mid lane have succeeded, one champion, Wukong, has struggled with the worst win rate in five games.
In the Play-Ins, Wukong has been played by Levi from GAM Esports, Oddie from Movistar R7, Croc from LOUD, and Steal from DFM.
Unfortunately, Wukong has been consistently outperformed by popular jungle champions like Viego, Nidalee, Vi, and Lee Sin, with Oddie recording the lowest Wukong KDA of 0.33 against Bilibili Gaming.
Wukong used to be a solid pick for junglers due to his sustain, damage, and crowd control. However, he was nerfed in Patch 13.7 before the MSI patch, 13.8. His attack damage, Warrior Trickster (W) cooldown, and bonus attack speed from Nimbus Strike (E) were all reduced.
Despite the small drop in win rate between Patch 13.7 and 13.8, it’s surprising to see Wukong start the Mid-Season Invitational with zero wins in a majority of matches.
Even with the standard build of Divine Sunderer, Plated Steelcaps, and Black Cleaver, Wukong’s 57 percent win rate across all regions when played by professionals isn’t translating well in the tournament.
Compared to dominant junglers like Lillia, Viego, and Elise, Wukong falls short after his nerfs.
As the Play-In games continue, it will be interesting to see if teams still choose Wukong over stronger jungle champions.