The World Championship is the pinnacle of the League of Legends calendar, and after a hard-fought Group Stage, the initial field of 24 teams has been whittled down to eight ahead of the knock-out stages, with the destination of the Summoner’s Cup to be decided on Finals day.
DWG KIA were the favorites going into the tournament and they remain in that position at GG.BET, one of the most popular esports bookmakers according to esportsbettingtop.com. Heading into the semifinals, they rate DWG as the 2.0 leading contender.
The favorites are in that position for a reason. The reigning champions are clearly out to establish a LOL dynasty and have been in determined mood throughout the tournament so far. They have the most complete roster in the world of LOL and they crushed their opponents in the Group stage, with a 6-0 win-loss record. They will be up against the sole European representative, MAD Lions in the last eight, but MAD just sneaked through their Group with a 4-4 record and will struggle to match their rivals.
If the bookmakers are correct and DWG progress from that tie, they will be up against the winners of the T1 versus HLE quarter final. T1 will be big favorites to win that game, after their impressive 5-1 record in their Group. Hanwha finished in second place in their section after losing a tiebreaker with EDG, but recent history favors T1, who beat Hanwha 3-2 in the LCK Regional Finals last month. It’s also worth noting that T1 split their league series with DWG this season so will be confident if they come up against the favorites in the Finals.
The other side of the draw looks more open. RNG came out of Group C with a solid 4-2 record and victory in the tie-breaker against Hanwha, and they have the potential to go all the way in this competition, but they will be up against the resilient EDG, a team that has shown the ability to adapt to each new challenge and come through adversity, thanks partly to their stacked roster. They also went into the last eight with a 4-2 record and will be tough opponents to get past.
The final bracket features the tournament’s only remaining North American team, Cloud9, who scraped into the last eight after Group A ended in a three-way tie for second place. Their 2-4 record didn’t suggest they are in the form to go far in this competition and against Gen G, they face a tough task in the quarters.
Gen G emerged from the crazy Group D, which finished with all four teams holding a 3-3 record and showed their composure in winning both tiebreaker games. Although they are rated as fifth favorites in the tournament betting at 19.0, they have the consistency to spring a surprise.
The best-of-five quarter finals will be played from October 22 to October 25, with the semi-finals on October 30 and 31 and the finals on November 6.
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