LoL Worlds Predictions: Top Esports Have Returned to the Worlds Stage

• JD Gaming should be too strong even for the might of G2 Esports
• DWG Kia’s defense far too compact for many teams in this competition
• Play-in qualifiers RNG looking up and up after strong start to Worlds

The group stage biggest League of Legends event of the year is finally underway. Four teams have made it through the intense, cut-throat play-ins, Korea’s DRX and UK-based Fnatic after seeding first in their groups, and North America’s Evil Geniuses and China’s Royal Never Give Up through the knockouts.

This October’s going to be action-packed as the world’s best fight for the biggest title, and there are several exciting contests lined up this Saturday. Let’s have a look at how six of those teams shape up.

JD Gaming vs G2 Esports Pick

JD Gaming

JD Gaming vs G2 Esports Prediction

JD are the stronger of these two sides on paper, and will most likely be able to come out on top in this game. G2 on the other hand can’t be written off so easily either. This Group B contest kicks off Saturday’s round of games, and should be a tight contest between the star-studded LPL winner and the LEC runner-up.

JD Gaming Dominant at the LPL This Year

JD have had an excellent year so far. They were impressive throughout the LPL summer, finishing second in the round-robin and qualifying directly for round four of the playoffs. JD and Top Esports were caught in a deadlock for the entire three-month duration of the split, in a ceaseless battle for the top spot.

Top finally seeded first in the round-robin, but the rivalry would resume in the playoffs. JD were able to get past LNG 3-0, no problem, and then came up against Top in the semifinals.

A fierce back-and-forth battle ensued that JD were finally able to clinch in the decider to book their spot in the grand final. The grand final was another slugfest, but in the end JD were able to claim their first LPL title since 2020.

G2 Esports Easily the Strongest Team in Europe

G2 have been the most dominant team in the European circuit this year. They won the spring split, finished 3rd-4th at the MSI, then ended as runners-up in the LEC summer. After topping the round-robin, they had a smooth ride to the final beating MIsfits Gaming and Rogue Esports 3-1 and 3-0 without breaking a sweat.

No one could’ve predicted Rogue’s unbelievable reverse sweep at the LEC grand final, however, where they returned to flatten the team that had just slammed them 3-0 in the semi-finals. G2 were left reeling as Rogue denied them a second split title in a row.

Recovering from that defeat after three months of domination couldn’t have been easy, but G2 now have a fresh start and an opportunity to prove themselves once more at the biggest stage.

DWG KIA vs Evil Geniuses Pick

DWG Kia

DWG KIA vs Evil Geniuses Prediction

All four teams from Group B make an appearance on Saturday. They’re somewhat the underdogs of their group. DWG had to scramble through the LCK Regionals to book their seed at the Worlds Main Event, while Evil Geniuses had to enter through the play-ins. DWG have a lot more experience playing at the global circuit than EG does, and are generally favored to come out on top.

DWG with a Drop in Form from Last Year

DWG had a decent summer at the LCK, though it was nothing compared to their dominance last year where they won two titles in a row. This year they seeded fourth in the LCK summer round-robin with a 10-8 record.

Of course, this time around the tournament was dominated by Gen.G and T1, and there was simply no room for other teams to make their mark as the two favorites topped the group stage and then met each other in the final. DWG, after seeding fourth, could only get as far as the semi-final.

They beat KT in the quarterfinals, but then came up against super team T1. Though DWG put up a hell of a fight right down to the final match, T1 came through in the end. Their Worlds hopes weren’t over though, because they got past Liiv Sandbox and DRX without too much fuss to close in their seed.

Evil Geniuses Have a Disappointing End to Brilliant Summer

EG finished third at the LCS. This still feels a little strange to think about, given how they dominated the LCS summer after winning their maiden title this past spring. EG topped the round-robin with an excellent 15-3 record, but at the playoffs everything started to go wrong. They lost their opening game to eventual champions Cloud9.

The alarm bells started to go off when they struggled to beat TSM, finally winning 3-2, and then scraped past Team Liquid with the same result. At last 100 Thieves put an end to their misery in the penultimate round, and EG crashed out of the LCS anticlimactic at third place.

The Worlds play-ins weren’t smooth sailing either, as they had to battle LOUD and Detonation FocusMe to secure the second-place tie-breaker. But at least they’re here, though still clearly adjusting to their bot laner Danny’s absence from the squad.

100 Thieves vs Royal Never Give Up Pick

Royal Never Give Up

100 Thieves vs Royal Never Give Up Prediction

RNG are the overwhelming favorites to win this one according to the betting market. They qualified to the play-ins through the LPL Regional Finals after a so-so split, but that shouldn’t be an indicator of how they’re expected to perform now. 100 Thieves were the runners-up of the LCS for the second time in a row, and will be in for a tough fight on Saturday.

100 Thieves Become Lcs Runners-Up, Again

For the second time this year, 100 Thieves were denied the LCS title by an underdog who snatched it right from under their nose. Last spring it was Evil Geniuses, this time around Cloud9 had the honor.

The perpetual bridesmaids must be sorely tired of coming out second-best after putting in round after round of hard work, but somehow the killer instinct they exude during the regular seasons never seems to extend to the fina+

100 Thieves are in a pretty tough group alongside Gen.G, RNG, and CTBC Flying Oyster, and they’ll need to kick things up a notch to be able to compete.

Royal Never Give Up Looking up for Worlds After Average LPL

RNG had a middling summer at the LPL, finishing at the 5th-6th place after getting knocked out after just one match by Edward Gaming. Still, they managed to confirm their Worlds play-in spot through the LPL Regionals.

Despite losing the qualification match 2-3 to, once again, EDG, they were able to beat LNG in round two and scrape through. They did pretty well at the play-ins, finishing second in their group with a 4-1 record and then beating Detonation FocusMe quite easily in the knockouts.

While this LPL summer didn’t go according to plan, RNG have been around the block quite a few times and are used to competing at the world stage. They should make quick work of their opponents in Saturday’s contest.

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