View our current LoL Worlds Power Rankings.
This year’s League of Legends Power Rankings for the 2021 World Championship features some of the most fearsome teams of recent history. The 2021 Worlds Power Rankings list is still dominated by the Chinese and Korean teams, although Europe have shown they have strong potential to fight with the very best.
The League of Legends World Championship is scheduled to start on the 5th of October, and for this edition of LoL Worlds 2021 Power Rankings, we’ll take a look at the LoL worlds best teams coming into this tournament.
We’ll be talking about the strengths and potentials of each team, as well as analyzing their chances of success at Worlds 2021.
LoL Worlds 2021 Power Rankings
| #Ranks | Team | Key Player(s) | Region |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FunPlusPhoenix | Doinb | China |
| 2 | DAMWON Kia | Canyon, ShowMaker | Korea |
| 3 | EDG | Viper, Meiko | China |
| 4 | RNG | Xiaohu, Wei | China |
| 5 | MAD Lions | Humanoid, Kaiser, Elyoya | Europe |
| 6 | T1 | Keria, Faker, Canna | Korea |
| 7 | LNG Esports | Tarzan | China |
| 8 | PSG Talon | Unified, Kaiwang | PCS |
| 9 | Fnatic | Hylissang, Nisqy | Europe |
| 10 | Hanwha Life Esports | Chovy, Deft | Korea |
LoL Worlds Betting Sites:
Which top esports bookmakers are offering the most advantageous LoL Worlds betting odds this year?
10. Hanwha Life Esports (Korea)
Key player(s): Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon, Kim “Deft” Hyuk-kyu
After a very disappointing summer, Hanwha Life Esports were able to snatch a seed to Worlds with a miracle run. Starting from Round 1, HLE seemed unstoppable, and they dominated the first two rounds, and lost to T1 in a 5-game series.
The big difference maker in HLE’s recent run was the change of the player in the jungle position. The addition of Kim “Willer” Jeong-hyeon fixed some of the consistency issues and gave more stability on the top side of the map. Not only him, but top laner Park “Morgan” Gi-tae was also performing better, making the top side of the map less “vulnerable”.
Nonetheless, the team’s main protagonist is still the godlike mid laner Chovy. Despite leaving DRX at the end of 2020, Chovy found himself yet again in a team which he had to carry on his back: 1v9 is what he excels at most.
Not only him, but also Deft recently improved his level of play, showing glimpses of the OG ADC that terrorized Summoners’ Rift.
Despite being in play-ins, HLE is a must-watch team: their high potential and the individual talent they have is what allowed them to be in this Worlds Power Rankings.
9. Fnatic (Europe)
Key Player(s): Zdravets Iliev “Hylissang” Galabov, Yasin “Nisqy” Dinçer
In 9th position in our Worlds 2021 Power Rankings is Fnatic, another team that had an excellent playoff run and building momentum in the last few weeks.
Defying all odds, Fnatic made it all the way to the finals, eventually dropping to champions MAD Lions 3-1. Regardless of the result, fans were convinced by the team’s performance, hoping that they can do better than last year.
Fnatic has quite an insane roster, especially in terms of playstyle and personality. Despite contrasting visions, the team was able to gel together very well and that was what made Fnatic’s year so special. The addition of top laner Adam “Adam” Maanane, with Gabriël “Bwipo” Rau swapping to the jungle role worked wonderfully.
What allowed this to happen, however, was the presence of Nisqy and Hylissang. The first matched exactly the identity that Fnatic was looking for: a mid laner who can help his side lanes in the early-mid game, and willing to sacrifice his own advantage for the benefit of the team. Hylissang, instead, continues to be the play-making support that can single-handedly carry fights on his back.
Fnatic will be sharing a group with Royal Never Give Up and PSG Talon. While it won’t be an easy group, the Knockout Stage are an achievable goal. There are still issues on the team’s consistency, but that’s what makes Fnatic so thrilling and fun to watch.
8. PSG Talon (PCS)
Key player(s): Wong “Unified” Chun Kit, Ling “Kaiwang” Kai Wing
Speaking of PSG Talon, the next on our LoL Worlds standings are the PCS representatives.
Following a strong showing at the Mid-Season Invitational, PSG Talon told the world that the team must not be overlooked.
PSG have been dominating the domestic league, only dropping one series throughout the whole year. The shining point of this roster is the bot lane: Unified is responsible for the team’s damage output while Kaiwing roams around the map to help and cover the other lanes.
Last year PSG couldn’t show their full potential due to the Covid-19 situation, which saw the starting players join later than expected. This year, they have all the tools to show the world how strong PCS really is.
7. LNG Esports (China)
Key Player(s): Lee “Tarzan” Seung-yong
Despite not winning Worlds last year, China is still regarded by most as the strongest region in the world. As a result, it is only reasonable to put all the LPL teams in our Worlds 2021 Power Rankings, including the 4th seed LNG Esports.
The team made a name for itself during the start of the Summer Split, when they won the first 7 series and were first in the standings.
While their overall results dropped a little towards the end, LNG Esports earned themselves the last seed available at Worlds thanks to the Regional Finals, beating 3-1 WE.
Out of all the LNG players, Tarzan is surely the one standing out. Not only is he the best player of the roster, but he’s also the best jungler in China. No one can exploit the jungle matchups as much as he does: in-game knowledge, pathing, mechanics, Tarzan has everything.
LNG, just like HLE, will compete in the play-ins stage. They are the other big favorite to get to the groups stage, but compared to the Korean team, LNG Esports have a much bigger chance to advance to the Knockout stage. They are the dark horse of this 2021.
6. T1 (Korea)
Key Player(s): Ryu “Keria” Min-seok, Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, Kim “Canna” Chang-dong
Worlds and Faker. You will always associate these two words together. After missing out on last year’s Worlds, Faker will be returning back to where he belongs.
Throughout the whole year, T1 had always been top 4, but what the team lacked was the “X factor” that would make them take the leap.
That X factor was finally discovered towards the end of summer. With Faker’s leadership, as well as Keria and Canna’s strong performances, T1 found their groove and fought their way to finals. In particular, Canna was able to hold his own against all top laners, which didn’t happen in Spring.
Despite losing to the champions, T1 will be going to Iceland with strong momentum, as Faker is going to do anything in his power to earn himself, and his team, a 4th Worlds Championship.
5. MAD Lions (Europe)
Key Player(s): Marek “Humanoid” Brázda, Norman “Kaiser” Kaiser, Javier “Elyoya” Pardes Batalla
If fans want to see a Western team win Worlds, then MAD Lions are probably the best shot possible for this year.
They were the team to go to MSI and held their own against the top teams from other regions. Apart from that, they were also a top team domestically the whole year, and when they things got serious in playoffs, they were always present.
Winning two championships is not an easy feat, considering how Europe’s competitive level was raised. The mid-jungle-support synergy is extremely important with how the meta has shifted, and MAD has a top-tier trio.
The most notable revelation for this year is Humanoid: always regarded a tier below the best mid laners, he’s now the player to look up to. He doesn’t get punished as much during the laning phase, but he’s still the aggressive player that wants to push his leads.
Being the number one seed from Europe, and 5th in our Worlds Power Rankings, expectations for MAD Lions will be very high. While reaching the Knockout Stage is almost a must, fans are expecting MAD to get at least to semi-finals.
4. RNG (China)
Key Player(s): Li “Xiaohu” Yuan-Hao, Yan “Wei” Yang-Wei
Royal Never Give Up was the best team in the world after the Mid-Season Invitational, but their form dropped a little during Summer. The bad start in Summer comprised their whole split, as they had to go through the Regional Finals to lock their 3rd seed.
Contrary to most teams in this Worlds 2021, RNG’s strength relies in their top side of the map. Xiaohu is one of, if not, the best top laner in the tournament and Wei a top-notch jungler that can easily adapt to any playstyle. This is an advantage other teams don’t have, and RNG must capitalize on that if they want a chance at the title.
Facing PSG Talon and Fnatic in the Groups Stage will put RNG to the test. If they are able to steamroll their group, then we might be looking at a potential contender for the championship.
3. EDG (China)
Key player(s): Park “Viper” Do-hyeon, Tian “Meiko” Ye
EDG shocked most people during the Summer Playoffs Finals, when they beat FunPlusPhoenix to become the Summer Split champions.
Their performance convinced us to move them further up in our Worlds Power Rankings, entering the elite tier of potential championship winners.
It is so exciting how this edition of Worlds has so many different teams, each bringing their own identity to the table, While RNG had an insane strong top side of the map, EDG’s strength relies on the opposite side.
Viper is unquestionably the best ADC in the world right now. The way he dominates the laning phase and leads his team to victory is extremely rare in this era of League. Of course, there are always games where ADC can indeed snowball out of control, but Viper’s consistency in making it happen is definitely something else.
Of course, a bot lane cannot work without the support. Meiko, despite not having the same impact as his teammate, is still responsible for a lot of the roaming and play making. The two paired together create such a cracked bot lane that only one or two other teams at Worlds can match.
Now that EDG has found the results and the confidence, the goal of winning Worlds is not a dream anymore. Will they be the 3rd different LPL organization to bring the trophy back to China? The potential is there…
2. DAMWON Kia (Korea)
Key Player(s): Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu, Heo “ShowMaker” Su
DAMWON Kia had a rollercoaster of season. Everything started off great in spring when they were uncontested in Korea. Then, MSI came, and DK couldn’t get their second international trophy, losing to RNG in the finals.
While that wasn’t such a bad achievement, the team’s overall performance took a strong dip at the beginning of summer. DK’s bot lane was hard underperforming, to the point where Ghost was benched. Despite fixing the issues partially, the bot lane still remains the weak link and that’s why they are 2nd in our Worlds Power Rankings.
Results came later into the season, and by the time the Summer Playoffs came by, it looked like the old DK was finally back. Showmaker and Canyon are still the core of the team, and their overall performance will directly influence DK as a whole. If both will show up, then Korea still has a chance to become champions for the second year in a row.
1. FunPlusPhoenix (China)
Key Player(s): Kim “Doinb” Tae-sang
At the top of our League of Legends Power Rankings for Worlds 2020, we have FunPlusPhoenix. The 2019 Worlds Champions are also back at the biggest tournament of the year, and they are coming as the big favorites once again.
Yes, they did lose against EDG in the Finals, but the general sentiment is that FPX just had an off day. If we’re speaking of peak performance and consistency, this team is still the one to look up to.
Doinb has been the best player this second half of the season, and you could always feel how his presence gave FPX an edge in almost every game. From champion pool, to mechanics, to leadership: Doinb is one of the most complete players League has seen in a very long time.
If League of Legends has Faker in the godlike status, then this might be the year Doinb reaches that elite tier. What he needs now is the trophy to testify it.
