The first round robin of the League of Legends World Championship Group Stage largely proceeded as expected. Teams from the LPL and LCK have dominated the competition, and there is a strong possibility that seven of the eight teams in the quarterfinals are either from China or Korea. The only real surprise has been in Group C where Top Esports are in danger of not making the knockout rounds despite entering the tournament as one of the three overall favorites per the League of Legends betting odds alongside

Gen. G and JD Gaming.https://gol.gg/players/player-stats/3658/season-S12/split-ALL/tournament-World%20Championship%202022/champion-ALL/

2022 League of Legends Worlds Winning Region Betting Odds

LPL (China) -160
LCK (Korea) +140
LEC (Europe) +1500
Any Other Region +10000

Three LPL teams are currently sitting atop their groups ahead of the second round robin. Royal Never Give Up and JD Gaming are both 3-0 and should definitely make the quarterfinals, while defending champions Edward Gaming are in a three-way tie for first place in Group A alongside Fnatic and T1.

JD Gaming are probably the favorites to win the tournament at this point. They were very impressive in their wins over DWG KIA and G2 Esports, and the meta we have seen through the first week matches up very well with their strengths. Kanavi is an elite jungler that can hard carry his team, and he currently has a 7.2 KDA. Hope has proven that he can play the top two bottom laners in this competition in Sivir and Aphelios, and 369 can outperform almost every other top laner in this tournament even if he is on a tank.

Although they had to make their way through Play-Ins, there is a lot to like about Royal Never Give Up too. RNG won the Mid-Season Invitational earlier this year over T1, and they have perhaps the best bottom laner in the world in GALA. He has a 40 KDA through the first three games of Worlds, and he is dishing out an incredible 35.6% of his team’s damage per Games of Legends. Xiaohu is one of the most experienced players in the competition, and Wei can make things happen in the jungle.

Those are China’s two best hopes in this competition. This meta doesn’t seem to suit Edward Gaming, and Top Esports are currently in real trouble in their group. It’s clear that China should be the favorite in terms of the Esports betting odds on the top region at Worlds, as the only other team to feel confident in is Gen. G.

The Korean champions are 2-1 after falling to RNG a few days ago. They should have no trouble getting out of their group considering how much more talent they have than their other two opponents, but they need to get a better read of the meta if they are going to win Worlds for the third time in their history. Top laner Doran is not going to overwhelm his opponents in the laning phase, so it’s up to Chovy and Ruler to put this team on their backs.

T1 slammed Edward Gaming in their first meeting, and the three-time world champions can beat anyone when they are playing at their best. Consistency has been an issue for this team though, as the only players that are continually playing at an elite level are Zeus and Keria. We know what to expect from Faker in the mid lane, so the X-Factor is Gumayusi in the bottom lane. He can play at a very high level, but we have seen him underperform way too often.

You can’t count out DWG KIA even though the 2020 Worlds winners have not been at their best this season, and DRX continues to turn heads at this level. The Korean teams seem a step behind the Chinese teams right now though, so the LPL is the overall play.

If any other region is going to win Worlds, it’s Europe. The teams from North America are a combined 0-9, and it’s highly unlikely that either the PCS winners or VCS winners make it to the knockout rounds. Rogue has been one of the best teams so far after a 3-0 start, and both G2 Esports and Fnatic can still make the knockout rounds and have made it to the finals of Worlds in the recent past.