LoL Worlds Second Group Stage Betting Preview
It’s time for the second week of the League of Legends Worlds groups stage, which is turning out to be its most exciting edition yet. Fiercely competitive and packed with action, Worlds is nearly halfway through and has been a real humdinger so far. The group stage will be conducted across two round robins, with each team playing three matches each. The last of these wound up on Tuesday, and while results went as predicted, for the most part, there were certainly some surprises.
Here’s our LoL Worlds betting preview of the second round of the group stage, which should help you understand what to expect from teams, and what’s at stake for the playoffs.
What happens in the Worlds group stage?
Just like the previous years, this year’s Worlds tournament’s structure is also formed of two stages. Firstly, wildcard regions and third and fourth-seeded major region teams competed against each other to qualify for the main event. Four of them, DRX, Royal Never Give Up, Fnatic, and Evil Geniuses, have filled the remaining group stage spots to take on the competition.
The real challenge starts now.
League of Legends Worlds 2022 groups
| Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloud9 | DWG KIA | DRX | 100 Thieves |
| EDward Gaming | Evil Geniuses | GAM Esports | CTBC Flying Oyster |
| Fnatic | G2 Esports | Rogue | Gen.G |
| T1 | JD Gaming | Top Esports | Royal Never Give Up |
Here’s an overview of the group stage’s mechanics:
- The best teams in every group will compete against each other to make it out of the groups and qualify for playoffs.
- 16 teams have been drawn into four different groups.
- Teams will compete in a double round-robin system to try to top each other, and each match will be best-of-one.
- Two teams from each group will move on to the playoffs, and the last two will bid farewell.
Now that we’re one week in, the playoff favorites are starting to emerge. There have been 24 games completed and another 24 lined up over the weekend and the start of next week. Let’s have a look at how the groups look heading into the final round-robin stage.
Check out the best bookmakers for LoL Worlds
Which teams are group favorites?
Group A sees three teams Edward Gaming, Fnatic and T1 deadlocked at 2-1. Before the start of the group stage, most would’ve thought that EDG and T1 would be lock-ins for the top two seeds, but Fnatic has exceeded everyone’s expectations and livened up the contest. Their victory over T1 on Sunday will probably go down as one of the most remarkable games of the tournament.
That result completely knocked over most people’s predictions of the Group A finalists, and the stage is set for a thriller week. We’ll know soon enough whether Fnatic’s victory over T1 was a fluke when the two teams square off again on Friday. Assuming that LCS winners Cloud9 are out of contention after three straight losses and it’s unlikely they’ll manage to beat any of these teams, we can safely assume that the results of these three games – Edward Gaming versus T1, Fnatic versus T1, and Edward versus Fnatic will dictate which will move ahead.
In all likelihood, we could see this resolved through a tie-breaker. If these three teams are on equal scores after Friday, their head-to-head record will determine who progresses. A tie there will also mean that the two teams with the highest Total Game Victory Time play a tiebreaker to see which team will play with the lower Total Game Victory Time team.
Group B seems a little more straightforward. JD Gaming are not only LoL Worlds favorites to top their group but also to win the title, and certainly, seem like the best team in the world right now. They’ve won all three games in their group so far, and it’s hard to imagine any of the other teams mustering up the strength to defeat them in the round robin. The second playoffs spot will be between the LCK’s DWG KIA and the LEC’s G2 Esports, and the former are in the lead with 2-1 while G2 are stuck at third place 1-2. North America’s Evil Geniuses of course don’t have much of a hope, winless at fourth place.
The struggles of LPL runners-up Top Esports have been one of the tournament’s biggest surprises, and they stand third in Group C with their sole win coming against winless GAM Esports. They’ve been outplayed by Rogue Esports, who’ve swept their group 3-0, and the LCK’s fourth seed DRX. No one would’ve given the latter much of a chance in this group, and despite their unlikely LoL Worlds betting odds, are now favorites behind Rogue to qualify for the playoffs.
Royal Never Give Up had a disappointing summer at the LPL, and are clearly determined to put that behind them. They top Group D 3-0. While most predicted that Gen.G would run away with the first seed after their dominance victory at the LCK, RNG have kept them firmly in their place. CTBC Flying Oyster and 100 Thieves aren’t likely to make it against two teams of this caliber, so over the coming week, the LEC fifth seed and LCK victor will battle it out for first place in Group D.
This year’s Worlds tournament will hold one of the toughest competitions in history. Some teams looked very strong during the regional challenges but don’t forget that some are just better on the international stage. Before betting on any matches, always check out the LoL Worlds betting promotions to take advantage of different sites’ offers!
