Who would Worlds 2021 players pick for their Squid Game alliances?

By now, we’ve all surely heard of this show. That’s right, with the cards and the giant doll. The show that’s made it nearly impossible for you to understand anything people are saying over social media the past few weeks. We just wrote about it. Ye, you know the one: Squid Game.

Squid Game is a hit Netflix Original series, by South Korean Film Director Hwang Dong-hyuk, in which people at the end of their rope are offered a second chance at life by participating in a cash-loaded death game with hundreds of participants. Mess up once and it could mean the end of your life.

The 2021 League of Legends World Championship is, in fact, not a death game. To be clear: players at Worlds 2021 aren’t harmed in any way during competition. But wouldn’t it be interesting if the two were merged together?

Think about it. Imagine that some of the world’s sharpest strategists and real-time problem solvers, with physical dexterity to boot, were duking it out in real life for millions rather than on Summoner’s Rift. Who would win? Who wouldn’t stand a chance? Who would never ever consider putting themselves in such a dangerous situation?

We’re hot on the show and have been thinking about that a lot these days, so we took it upon ourselves to get to the bottom of it. Throughout the Worlds 2021 group stage, Upcomer asked players who they thought would do the best in a Squid Game-like contest, as well as who they’d want to pair up with to ensure their safety. Here are each players’ picks:

Norman “Kaiser” Kaiser (MAD Lions)

Kaiser takes his choices very seriously. | Provided by Riot Games

Picks: Barney “Alphari” Morris (Team Liquid), Luka “Perkz” Perković (Cloud9)

Logic: It’s important to pick strong teammates to get through more rounds, but not TOO strong in case you need to face off against them near the end.