The 2023 Mid-Season Invitational is just around the corner. For nearly three weeks, 13 teams from around the world will compete to declare the best team for the spring season. The support role is a position where players must make sacrifices for their teammates and aid the bot laner. But this spring, the support role was quite different due to a marksman support meta. Here are the top 5 supports competing at MSI 2023.

5. MAD Hylissang

After a long tenure at Fnatic, Zdravets "Hylissang" Iliev Galabov joined MAD Lions for the third chapter of his career. This spring, Hylissang and the team had a bad start, but his form started to rise toward the end of the season. While the team barely managed to get to groups, Hylissang gained more stability. Although there were some inting moments, he delivered a consistent performance and supported the team’s miracle championship run.

Hylissang played many different champions during the spring, but the best was Rell, with which he had a 3-0 record. On the other hand, he went 0-2 on Nami and Thresh. There’s always his pocket pick in Pyke, so that’s another champion to watch out for. As one of the most experienced players in the scene, Hylissang is back on the international stage.

4. BLG ON

It was as if Bilibili Gaming’s team style was being inconsistent, going up and down like a roller coaster, and along the team’s ride, there was Luo “ON” Wen-Jun at support. ON went back and forth from heaven and hell throughout the season, as he made big mistakes and super plays. In the playoffs, there were many more super plays than mistakes from ON as the team made it to the finals. Although unstable, ON’s superior mechanics and instincts make fans love him.

This spring, ON played 16 different champions. He played Nami most but only won half of the games. On the other hand, ON’s Rakan had a decent record, as he won seven games out of nine. It will be the first time ON will play on an international stage, and it will be his chance to show the world what he’s made of.

3. GEN Delight

Yoo “Delight” Hwan-joong started off his career in BRION, where he and the team struggled in the LCK. However, after joining Gen.G this season, Delight was like a new person. His synergy with rookie bot laner Kim “Peyz” Soo-hwan was fantastic, and he blended in well with the talents on the top side. Throughout the season, Delight proved those who under-evaluated him wrong, as he played consistently well to win the championship.

Delight also played 16 different champions this spring, and his Thresh was the most notable. He won all four games he played Thresh. His record on Karma was good as well, which had a 6-1 record. Although he wasn’t voted on the All-LCK team, Delight continues to move forward, and his eyes are now locked on the MSI trophy.

2. JDG Missing

Lou “Missing” Yun-Feng was evaluated as one of the “weak links” of the super team in JD Gaming. However, he had a solid performance throughout the season as the team won the championship. As one of the most stable supports in the LPL, he was named as the support for the 2nd All-Pro team for the spring season.

In the spring, Missing played many different champions, and he had an undefeated record with several of them: Ashe, Lulu, and Renata Glasc. Especially whenever he plays Renata Glasc, he shows something different. Missing finished his first international appearance at Worlds last year in the semifinals. In his second international event in MSI 2023, he hopes to reach higher.

1. T1 Keria

Not many people get to be called a genius when they’re a rookie, yet it’s a nickname that followed Ryu “Keria” Min-seok since his debut. Keria is now an experienced player who not only leads but creates the meta. The marksman support meta started from Keria, as he played many different marksmen from the support position. This gave him several awards, from the All-LCK 1st team to regular season MVP and player of the split.

As the leader of the marksman support meta, Keria played 20 different champions this spring, with a very high win rate. 20. Traditional supports like Rakan, Thresh, Tahm Kench, and Braum were picked toward the end of the season or in the playoffs, as the marksman supports became less viable. Everyone who watched the finals at Worlds 2022 will remember Keria sobbing after the loss. He hopes to take one more step this time at MSI 2023.