Historic game 5 and 2nd highest DPM: wild stats from first day of Worlds Play-in

[u/ZloiAris]

Two quick interesting stats from the first day of Swiss:

• It is hard to believe but yesterday for the first time ever at the international stage we saw game 5 between EU and NA. Interestinghly enough, there was only one 3:1 series before and all the rest NA vs EU series were either 3:0 or 0:3. Wow.
• Chika's yesterday performance on Kog'Maw put him at the second highest DPM in the Worlds history. He hit 1554 DPM. Right above Uzi's Kow'Maw from Worlds-2017 (1521 DPM), but below Sneaky's Caitlyn from the same Worlds-2017 (1781 DPM).

Top 10 DPM in Worlds history (2014–2026, play-ins included)

#	Player	Team	Champion	Event	DPM	Game length
1	Sneaky	Cloud9	Caitlyn (bot)	Worlds 2017 QF vs Team WE	1781.1	54.2 min
2	Chika	MVK Esports	Kog'Maw (mid)	Worlds 2026 Play-In vs FURIA	1553.6	27.0 min
3	Uzi	Royal Never Give Up	Kog'Maw (bot)	Worlds 2017 QF vs Fnatic	1521.3	54.8 min
4	PraY	Longzhu Gaming	Varus (bot)	Worlds 2017 Groups	1506.2	51.0 min
5	Bang	SK Telecom T1	Jhin (bot)	Worlds 2016 Final vs Samsung Galaxy	1471.3	71.3 min
6	Rekkles	Fnatic	Tristana (bot)	Worlds 2017 QF vs RNG	1425.3	54.8 min
7	Sneaky	Cloud9	Heimerdinger (bot)	Worlds 2019 Groups	1411.7	47.0 min
8	Ruler	Samsung Galaxy	Ezreal (bot)	Worlds 2016 Final vs SK Telecom T1	1401.9	71.3 min
9	Padden	Fenerbahçe Esports	Tristana (bot)	Worlds 2017 Groups	1383.9	52.4 min
10	WhiteLotus	Lyon Gaming	Varus (bot)	Worlds 2017 Play-In	1367.3	61.8 min

As you can see, most of DPM records are from 2017 and from way longer games. Which makes Chika absolutely outstanding here.

All NA vs EU best-of-5s:

Date	Event	Stage	Winner	Score	Loser
2017-07-08	Rift Rivals 2017	Final	TSM	3-0	Unicorns of Love
2018-07-07	Rift Rivals 2018	Final (region relay)	EU LCS	3-1	NA LCS
2018-10-28	Worlds 2018	Semifinal	Fnatic	3-0	Cloud9
2019-05-19	MSI 2019	Final	G2 Esports	3-0	Team Liquid
2019-06-29	Rift Rivals 2019	Final (region relay)	LEC	3-1	LCS
2022-10-04	Worlds 2022	Play-In Qualifier	Evil Geniuses	3-0	MAD Lions
2023-10-09	Worlds 2023	Qualifying Series	Team BDS	3-0	Golden Guardians
2024-05-11	MSI 2024	Bracket Round 1	Team Liquid	3-1	Fnatic
2025-07-04	MSI 2025	Bracket Round 1	FlyQuest	3-0	G2 Esports
2026-06-30	MSI 2026	Play-In	Team Liquid	3-0	Karmine Corp
2026-07-10	MSI 2026	Bracket Round 3	LYON	3-0	G2 Esports
2026-10-15	Worlds 2026	Play-In Round 1	Karmine Corp	3-2	Cloud9

[u/Frostbite2806]

6/10 dpm records being from Worlds 2017 wow, ardent meta was something else huh

[u/ZloiAris → u/Frostbite2806]

and the rest 2016, which was not ardent meta but still very meaty 50-60 minutes games

[u/nmaxfieldbruno → u/ZloiAris]

The fact that it’s #2 and a 27 minute game is nuts. Next shortest game on the list is 20 minutes longer. Gold inflation is real

[u/IBarricadeI → u/nmaxfieldbruno]

If gold inflation is real, how come the entire rest of the list is from 9+ years ago? If anything this is an exceptional game and the stats prior to it prove that gold inflation is not impacting dpm numbers.

“Gold inflation is real” would mean the entire list is shorter more recent gsmes.

[u/nmaxfieldbruno → u/IBarricadeI]

Dawg, it was the second series of Worlds. We still have the entire tournament to go.

[u/IBarricadeI → u/nmaxfieldbruno]

So you’re saying gold inflation was flat for 10 years and doubled this year or what? You expecting this whole list to get replaced this year?

[u/nmaxfieldbruno → u/IBarricadeI]

Was it flat? No. But a lot of gold was added to the game this year. I doubt the entire list will be replaced, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we got a few more entries this Worlds.

[u/jeanjeanot → u/nmaxfieldbruno]

There is no powercreep please look somewhere else

[u/hochan17 → u/jeanjeanot]

Deliberately shortening game times doesnt have anything to do with powercreep tbh. They just accelerated the pace of the game but champion relative strengths have been pretty consistent.

[u/ZloiAris → u/hochan17]

And IMO it is a right call. People like me can jerk as long as I can on Worlds 2016-17 with meaty 50-60 minute grinder games. But would I be able to watch it now? Unlikely. World has changed with TikTok and Fortnite and they have to adopt to survive

[u/jeanjeanot → u/ZloiAris]

Worlds 2017 weren't boring because of long games but because of ardent meta

Long games are fun, having them all the time isn't, but having them sometimes is very good

[u/Ereblp → u/jeanjeanot]

If powercreep was the reason we wouldn't have 9/10 records from 7-10 years ago, they would all be from recent years.

[u/ArchmageXin → u/Frostbite2806]

And the famous Misfit "summon Leona" meta.

[u/Naerlyn → u/ArchmageXin]

The famous Misfits "move your Censer user to mid/jungle to free up support" meta

[u/ArchmageXin → u/Naerlyn]

Or the misfit "blizzcrank invite your ADC to have tea with us" meta.

[u/Leyrann_ → u/Naerlyn]

In game 5 of SKT vs MSF, neither team built Ardent Censer anywhere.

[u/ManiKatti → u/Frostbite2806]

Not just Ardent Meta that was before adc got hit by the sledge hammer that was patch 8.11

[u/ReCrunch → u/ManiKatti]

The ardent meta part is important because everyteam was playing for their adc. It's a lot easier to have high dpm if nobody else in your team is dealing real damage

[u/piotrj3 → u/ReCrunch]

Well the most important piece was fact it wasn't just ardent meta. It was gargoyle stoneplate meta too. If assasin/burst mage can't kill any gargoyle/tank user or do significant damage - then they are way less relevant so they are not played. So biggest threat to ADCs are removed from map.

[u/Ereblp]

That DPM in 27 minutes is actually insane, he didn't even get to full stuff, unlike most if not all of the players who share that leaderboard (didn't check but those are long games in comparison).

[u/Whackedjob → u/Ereblp]

Yeah, this is insane. He's at like half the game length of the next shortest game and DPM scales really hard with game time.

[u/ParkDedli → u/Ereblp]

Also only midlaner on the board. No damage buffs through supports. No 2 champions to hit in lane.

This is so different than the other entries on the table

[u/go4ino]

wdym this is onlly the 12th ever bo5 between NA and EU

[u/Sirhaddock98 → u/go4ino]

It's quite rare that both make the bracket stage at a tournament, and usually at worlds if they did make it out of groups they'd often be 2nd seeds who couldn't play each other in quarters. It's only really the new formats that encourage more BO5s that have allowed it to start happening regularly.

[u/Izakryeon → u/Sirhaddock98]

Have there been 5 games in an MSI series for EU vs NA?

[u/veryjerry0 → u/Izakryeon]

OP listed all the EU vs NA Bo5s including MSI series, none of them were 3-2 except KC vs C9.

[u/Sirhaddock98 → u/Izakryeon]

The post includes MSI, so no. Closest was TL vs FNC being 4 games, the other EU vs NA series at MSI were all 3-0.

[u/BlazeX94 → u/Izakryeon]

Never. Not just at MSI, but at any tournament before this including IEMs and Rift Rivals. The overwhelming majority of NA/EU Bo5s were 3-0s with a small handful being 3-1.

[u/ImTheVayne → u/go4ino]

That is crazy. I feel robbed. League has been a thing for so long and there has been only 12 bo5s between NA and EU??

[u/BlazeX94 → u/ImTheVayne]

It makes sense though because NA often didn't get out of groups and when they did, it was as 2nd seed. EU got out of groups more often, but also usually as 2nd seed. So, even though there have been years that both regions sent teams to quarters, they can't be drawn against each other till semis.  Aside from 2018 where we did get FNC C9, the only other year where a matchup was possible was H2K C9 in 2016.

Likewise, under the old MSI format, EU and NA always took 3rd and 4th (when NA didnt fail to get out), so a matchup was not possible till finals.

[u/TripleSmeven → u/go4ino]

IIRC past MSI had group stages which meant less best of 5's in general

[u/Leyrann_ → u/go4ino]

NA usually gets eliminated too early to play bo5s.

[u/Puzzled_Detail7726]

Sneaky holding onto that Caitlyn record for seven years through all the item reworks is craaaazy when you think about it. Kog'Maw into tank frontline makes total sense for pumping numbers, but Caitlyn putting up 1780 in 2017 was wild.

[u/Aziale → u/Puzzled_Detail7726]

Year 2017 was ardent meta right? Makes total sense

[u/Puzzled_Detail7726 → u/Aziale]

Yeah, the Ardent meta was all about funneling everything into your ADC with shields and heals, and Caitlyn's range meant she could just sit back and dish out insane damage forever. That record's survived so many late-game metas.

[u/TheCeramicLlama → u/Aziale]

It was ardent meta but Caitlyn was definitely not close to being the premier adc to be buffing with ardent. Cait was picked to try and break the ardent hyper carry and accelerate the game enough to end without the ardent hyper carry coming online.

[u/ManiKatti → u/Aziale]

And before 8.11 sledgehammer for adc

Also reworked Caitlyn still had the Runaan interaction stacking her headshots

[u/PMMEYOURROCKS → u/Puzzled_Detail7726]

i think also though a 54 minute game means you are 3-6 items on caitlyn for a long ass time, so you are dealing a lot of damage throughout the last 20 minutes of that game (but also maybe less teamfighting within that because how does a game go that long?)

[u/SamiraSimp → u/PMMEYOURROCKS]

it's more like constant fighting - game goes on long because neither team can end, likely because most players (on both teams) are gray screened

but also i haven't watched those games in 9 years so i could just be wrong

[u/thorpie88]

Sneaky on here twice is kinda nuts. He was always a NA highlight but to do it twice compared to more legendary names is sick

[u/Simple-Visual2052 → u/thorpie88]

Most consistent na player internationally by faar

[u/BarbeRose → u/thorpie88]

And with Heimer on the second one !

[u/ZloiAris]

Repost after incorrect title removed

[u/Choice-Slight]

There's more bo5s but I'm assuming you're not counting IEMs which is fair. Counting those would still only add one additional 3-1, the rest were also 3-0s. Really interesting, I wonder why NA vs EU history has been so stompy?

[u/Art_Is_Helpful → u/Choice-Slight]

Really interesting, I wonder why NA vs EU history has been so stompy?

Are they? How does that compare to overall Bo5 stats?

[u/wichels]

Sneaky twice on top 10 damn

[u/Sad-Indication2128]

What is dpm

[u/M002 → u/Sad-Indication2128]

Dicks per man

The ratio is about 0.99

[u/Jealous-Letterhead-9 → u/M002]

The next step is to figure out the MJT, or the mean jerk time.

[u/SamiraSimp → u/Sad-Indication2128]

damage per minute. most dpm records are in long games because early game you don't do much damage and even if you do, enemies don't have enough hp for you to really pump up the value.

so a player getting a dpm record in only 27 minutes is really insane. because a large portion of that was just early laning phase where you literally can't do that much damage (fewer abilities, only hitting 1 person regularly)

[u/Which_Friendship6493]

Crazy to notice that NA vs EU only had 4 BO5 in worlds.

[u/polterere → u/Which_Friendship6493]

Not too crazy when most worlds nowadays 1 western team advances and that's where most BO5 happens. In the past EU and NA teams in playins were on different side of the bracket when more than 1 team advanced and it was full of wild cards so not many matches there either.

[u/MNamer]

G2 hasn't won a single Bo5 game vs NA since 2019... Jesus F. Christ

[u/Serpencio]

no one is more locked in during the worlds October than sneaky