Top Esports’ mid laner Knight has broken the record for the most solo kills in a regular season split, according to LPL caster Munchables.
He has 32 solo kills in 36 games played throughout the 2021 Summer Split and has one series remaining to increase his mark. The previous record-holder was legendary SKT top laner Marin, who managed to pick up 31 kills during the regular season in 2015, according to an LCK infographic posted by Korizon Esports last year.
The 21-year-old mid laner has been phenomenal throughout the split. Even though his team barely clinched a playoff spot, Knight has consistently dominated his laning opponent, going for constant aggressive trades during the laning phase. His most-played champions in the regular season include Sylas, Viego, LeBlanc, and Lucian, four strong mid laners who want to pick up as many kills as possible during the laning phase to snowball for the rest of the game.
While this aggressive playstyle could come at the cost of dying a lot, Knight is actually ranked toward the bottom of the LPL in terms of average deaths for mid laners (18th out of 21), according to stats website gol.gg. Most of his plays are rewarded with a kill, ranking as the best mid laner in terms of picking up kills in the LPL with an average of 5.6 kills per match. He also has an impressive KDA of 6.0 (third out of 21), an average CS per minute of nine (second out of 21), and a 24.6 percent average share of his team’s total damage to champions (fourth out of 21). Statisically, Knight is having a strong season. But sometimes, his team drags him down in the mid game and they fail to translate his lead into a victory.
Though Knight is definitely one of the best laners you’d want on your team in solo queue games, he has a strong contender from a minor region. Lê “Dia1” Phú Quý from the VCS managed to pick up 39 solo kills during the 2020 Spring Split, according to VCS color caster Mabinogi. With one match left against Team WE on Sunday, Aug. 8, it’s unlikely that Knight will be able to pick up eight solo kills to surpass Dia1 from the VCS.
You can tune in to see the series between Top Esports and Team WE at 4am CT on Aug. 8.
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