Former DWG KIA top laner Kim ‘Khan’ Dong has revealed that he wanted to play Ornn during the Worlds Grand Final as a promise to a friend.
Khan, the 27-year-old veteran top laner whose career has taken him to some of the biggest teams in Korea and China, was unable to end his career with a Worlds title as DWG KIA fell to EDward Gaming in a 3-2 thriller.
However, he had one last surprise after the loss.
At the post-game press conference, Khan was asked whether he was tempted to play Riven, the champion he is most associated with. However, Khan revealed that the champion he had wanted to play was Ornn, because he had promised a friend he would do so.
Khan wanted an Ornn game
“I wanted to play Ornn,” Khan said, “I had promised someone before I joined DAMWON KIA this year that I would play him once, so sorry I couldn’t make it happen.”
Ornn was the go-to top laner for Worlds 2020, being picked 29 times and banned 40 times. It made the horned blacksmith the most picked and second-most banned top laner, and the fifth-most picked and banned champion overall. Khan was not in attendance at Worlds 2020 as his team, defending champions FunPlus Phoenix, failed to qualify.
The introduction of mythic items for Season 11, and a meta shift towards more mobile champions like Jayce and Kennen, meant that Ornn fell out of favor, not being picked at all at Worlds 2021.
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Khan made the promise to Korean streamer ‘Garybro’, a noted Ornn main on the Korean servers. Khan specifically promised Garybro that if he won Worlds with DWG KIA, he would pick Ornn as his Worlds victory skin.
For a champion to be eligible to earn a Worlds victory skin, they must be played at least once by the championship-winning team, hence Khan’s desire to play an Ornn game.
Khan announced in February 2021 that he would retire at season’s end to complete his mandatory 18-month military service, making Worlds the final tournament of his career.
While Khan played Ornn eight times during the LCK regular season, earning an 87.5% win rate on the champion, the incredibly competitive Grand Final meant there was no room for such a risky, off-meta pick.
- Read More: Worlds 2021 final placements & recap
In the 3-2 series loss, Khan played Yasuo, Graves (twice), Gragas, and Gwen.
Hopefully, Khan’s friend can forgive him for breaking the promise, as the beloved veteran ended his professional career with a smile, if not a title.
