The 2023 League of Legends World Championships is already almost upon us, with all eyes heading to South Korea for this year’s event.
The esports competition has been one of the biggest since its first edition in 2011 and has continued to go from strength to strength as it is contested in different locations around the world. This year is the turn of South Korea, with cities Busan and Seoul playing host to various rounds.
The 2023 event will be different from many others that have been held in the past, with players having to understand and compete with a new format. Organizers have decided to add numerous stages and more to proceedings, with the implementation of the best of three stages and a Swiss-style stage among them.
This year will also see a new winner be crowned, with last year’s champions, DRX, not one of the 22 teams to be invited to play. As a result, players and enthusiasts will see a new champion at the end of the near-six-week tournament. Play will commence on October 10, and a new champion will be crowned on November 19.
Given DRX’s absence after a poor season by the Korean team, it has left the 2023 League of Legends World Championship wide open for another team to try and capture the title. Of the 22 that are set to be involved – with only 20 confirmed to this point – there is one team that currently stands out.
JD Gaming from China is the country’s number one seed, and as a result, they are also considered to be the clear favorites to win the competition in the betting markets, too. Bookmakers offering esports betting have listed the team at +115, and value them as huge favorites in comparison to the other teams in the tournament. Their next best challenger is thought to be fellow Chinese team LNG Esports (+500) and Korea’s No. 1 seed Gen.G (+600).
Elsewhere, the odds only continue to climb, with Bilibili Gaming (China) priced at +800, T1 (Korea) at +900 and everyone else at +1,000 or more. JD Gaming’s low price clearly suggests that they will be the team to most likely run away with the 2023 championship and it will take something very special from others to try and stop them.
Given their recent form in League of Legends-based competitions, it is not a surprise to see JD Gaming are the front-runner and expected to widely dominate the 2023 World Championships this autumn.
The Chinese team has been able to be consistent in various aspects, including utilizing the same group of players, which has perhaps helped them to continue to be consistent in regard to their tournament placings.
Their team has consisted of 369, Kanavi, Knight, Ruler, MISSING, Homme, and Viod, for each of their five events in 2023 so far, and they have managed to win four of those, generating millions in local currency for the esports team. The one that they did not win, they ended up in second. In those tournaments, they rarely dropped any games, thus highlighting their strength as a contender. In fact, the odds suggest it is theirs to probably lose.
Despite the fact that JD Gaming has dominated League of Legends competitions this year with each appearance they make, there is a beauty about esports in that anything can happen on the day. A player might train for hours each day and look to be prepared as best as possible, but once the game starts, things may not always go the way they want.
While this may not be something that happens too often, there is no denying that it is a possibility, and other teams need to be ready to capitalize on it. If JD Gaming were to have a poor start or find themselves faltering at any stage of the tournament, teams like LNG Esports and Gen.G should look to continue with their own strategies and make sure they are not suffering the same fate.
Of course, there is a lot to play for and a lot can happen throughout the near-six-week competition across October and November this year, but each team involved is there on merit and they will all feel they have a chance of being crowned the 2023 League of Legends World Champion once all is said and done.