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The League of Legends World Champions is the pinnacle of LoL esports and the main event in the yearly calendar. It brings together the top sides from around the world to compete in a month-long tournament to find out who is the greatest.
This year’s iteration is being held in South Korea, spread between Seoul and Busan for different stages of the tournament. Beginning October 10, Worlds 2023 will conclude on Sunday, Nov. 19 with the grand final being held at Seoul’s Gocheok Sky Dome.
Updates
Nov 13. – Then there were two
22 teams down to two, the grand final is set and the 2023 world champion is ready to be crowned. Weibo Gaming, whose lineup is stacked on paper but has stuttered during the season, finally looks to be fulfilling its potential as the team upset LPL rivals Bilibili Gaming in the semis.
Their opponents in the final are none other than three-time winners T1, who boast the legendary Faker in the mid lane. They also provided a semi-finals upset, ending the Golden Road hopes of China’s JD Gaming and its rumoured $16m roster. Faker now looks for his fourth Worlds title and his side will enter the final as the firm favourites, especially with the Unkillable Demon King finally looking back to his best in the JDG victory.
Read more on Weibo vs T1:
- Weibo vs T1 Prediction & Odds: Analysis
- T1 Faker Faces Final Hurdle to Cement Legacy at LoL Worlds
- TheShy and Weibo Dreaming of an Upset in LoL Worlds Final
- LoL Worlds MVP Odds in the Final Match
Nov 10. – Down to the final four, LPL dominating
The eight Worlds 2023 knockout teams have now been whittled down to a final four. Tournament favourite JD Gaming is still in with a shot, up against Korea’s final representative and three-time Worlds winners T1.
On the other side of the bracket, an all-LPL series will see MSI runner-up Bilibili Gaming facing off with Weibo Gaming. The lane matchup of BLG Bin and WBG TheShy is one of the most highly anticipated of the tournament.
Other tournament favourites Gen.G and LNG Esports crashed out of the tournament at the hands of BLG and T1 respectively, leaving the door wide open for JDG to complete their Golden Road.
Oct. 30 – Final Eight Teams Confirmed
With the Swiss stage completed, we now know which final eight teams will compete in the knockout stage. Seven of the nine from our original Worlds-winning discussion have made it, the casualties being Dplus KIA who were knocked out by KT Rolster and G2 Esports who were eliminated by Bilibili Gaming.
The outlier of the knockouts lineup is North America’s NRG. They’ve continued to cause upsets after winning the LCS against all odds this summer and have now made it to the final eight by beating G2. They’ve had an arguably favourable run so far, though going up against Weibo Gaming next should almost certainly see them crash out – leaving the seven stronger sides to duke it out for the title.
Oct. 18 – Main Event Begins
With the Main Event around the corner, updated odds have seen JD Gaming become the new favorites to with the tournament at 2.1, followed by previous favorites Gen.G at 5.0 and LPL Regional Finals winners LNG Esports at 6.0. Each of them have fairly comfortable opening matches in the Swiss Stage and will hope to avoid each other until later on in the Knockout Bracket.
LoL Worlds 2023 Predictions: Which Team will win Worlds?
Trying to predict who will win LoL Worlds gets more difficult each season. Changes to qualification spots over the years mean that the LCK and LPL each have four teams attending, with the overall winner almost guaranteed to come from one of these regions.
Still, there can be unexpected champions within that restricted pool. Nobody saw DRX as LoL Worlds favorites last year, and the underdogs had a difficult path against EDG, Gen.G and T1 in the knockouts, yet Deft and co. defied the LoL Worlds betting odds to win the tournament against all expectations.
Worlds 2023 Favorites
Gen.G
Of all of those LoL Worlds qualified teams, Korea’s Gen.G currently sits top as Worlds 2023 favorites with odds of 2.39. They’ve won the last three LCK splits consecutively, been in their league’s top three for the last eight splits and boast a stacked roster with a nice blend of veteran and rookie talent. The biggest question mark coming into the season was 17-year-old rookie bot laner Peyz, who was promoted to replace the legendary Ruler, but the youngster has looked at home playing at the highest level.
The team’s Achilles has been international competition. Despite dominating domestically, they’ve so far been unable to translate this into an international title but are still expected by many to do so on this occasion. For a player like Chovy, a name who often crops up in best-mid-in-the-world debates, the one thing he’s lacked is that international performance that many of his peers have shown. If he’s to make a realistic claim at Faker’s GOAT tag then a Worlds title this year would be the ideal start.
JD Gaming
When asked who will win LoL Worlds 2023, another likely name is JD Gaming. They come in as China’s first seed and have swept the season so far, winning both LPL splits and the Mid–Season Invitational earlier this year. Should they win Worlds, they will become the first side to complete a calendar grand slam. Their roster is even more stacked than Gen.G’s, including veteran talent like Ruler and knight as well as those that have emerged in more recent years like Kanavi and 369.
T1
Looking at other names in the mix and Korea’s T1 are hard to ignore. They’re a team that has struggled to turn domestic success into international titles in recent years, but it’s hard to count them out given their history – in particular Faker’s early record with the org. That said, their record in grand finals over the last few years doesn’t make for good viewing. Should they make a deep run, they’ll need to find a fix for their finals crux.
Bilibili Gaming
MSI 2023 runners-up Bilibili Gaming is another LPL side looking to challenge for the title and will hope to gain revenge on JDG in the process after being beaten by the side in two finals already this year. Top laner Bin instilled fear in opponents during MSI and will likely do the same again during this tournament.
LNG, Weibo, and KT Rolster enter as the other LPL/LCK sides and will all also fancy their chances at a deep run.
A Grand Slam Champion
So, which team will win Worlds this year? In my eyes, the LoL Worlds favorites have got to be JDG. There’s a reason that they’ve won everything so far in 2023, and their domination of China itself is reason enough to make them favorites given the fierce level of competition in the region.
The roster is pretty much as strong as possible, there’s no weakness and it’s difficult to imagine where they could possibly improve.
The biggest obstacle is pressure. There was immense expectation on this side before the season even began, and so far they’ve lived up to the hype. But becoming the game’s first grand slam champion is a burden that no team has survived before. G2 came close in 2019 before crumbling to FPX in the final – JDG is arguably stronger than that G2 side on paper and has had a tougher season so far by comparison.
