One of the best and most exciting times of the year is upon us, League of Legends fans. Another competitive season has zoomed past in the blink of an eye, and with every champion crowned and the celebrations finished, everyone’s eyes are now set on the 2022 World Championship.
We’ve seen massive upsets, incredible runs, and highlight moments to fill every montage video for the next few months, but from Thursday, Sept. 29 to Saturday, Nov. 5, the 24 best teams in the world will collide across multiple cities in North America in their ultimate quest for the coveted Summoner’s Cup.
Related: Here’s the full schedule for the 2022 League of Legends World Championship
Ahead of the festivities, three League writers were asked three important questions that will only be answered when the event begins at the end of the month.
Which player/team is going to win this year’s Dade award?
Tyler Esguerra: As China’s second seed, there are plenty of expectations on the shoulders of Top Esports’ talented roster. With a powerful, three-headed monster in Tian, Knight, and Jackeylove, you’d think that this roster would be a perfect storm of young talent and international experience. However, the last time this went to an international tournament was back in 2020 when Fnatic almost swept them in the quarterfinals, and eventually lost in the following round against the same Suning Gaming they swept during the 2020 LPL Summer Playoffs. With back-to-back LPL Finals losses this year, there’s a good chance that this supercharged team could falter a la 2021 FunPlus Phoenix.
Michael Kelly: In the award’s year of inception, Dade had no business underperforming in 2013 because he had played like an MVP all season. If anything, you’re looking for a player who has been riding an exceptional high all year and is destined to lose steam under the bright lights of Worlds. I think Gumayusi may fit that bill. Although he’s been one of T1’s stronger individual pieces this season, he’s shown that he can be easily exploited against other top-tier talents like Ruler and Deokdam. In Group A, I wouldn’t be surprised if Gumayusi is the worst performing ADC in a group that also features Viper and Berserker.
Henrique DaMour: Maybe this isn’t as spicy a take as it could be, but I think Worlds 2022 is where Malrang gets banned out of relevance. In the Summer playoffs, the Rogue jungler went 9-2 on Jarvan IV and Trundle. On any other champion, he was 0-4. The last time he won with a jungler not named J4 or Trundle was in the regular season on Poppy, who, with all due respect, no one should ever lose on. Surely with the jungle pool opening back up some and other teams rediscovering their ability to move their mice over Jarvan’s portrait during ban phases and pressing the left mouse button, Malrang’s inconsistencies will rise to the surface again.
Which will be the group to watch during the Group Stage of the tournament?
Tyler: Group B combines the most aggressive LPL team, Europe’s bloodthirsty second seed, and an iconic Korean trio into one group, and you just know that sparks will turn into fireworks rather quickly. JD Gaming won the LPL through pure bloodshed, racking up nearly a kill a minute during their regular season games, according to Oracle’s Elixir. G2 Esports also had the most kills in the LEC during the summer, with the league’s second-highest average combined kill per minute. Although DWG KIA is quite the opposite regarding unbridled aggression, they still have three of the best players at the tournament from top to mid lane. Keep your eyes peeled because almost every match in this group should be a banger.
Michael: While Gen.G makes things relatively top-heavy in Group D, any of the other three teams there can still sneak out of the group. Beyond Flying Oyster and 100 Thieves, there’s some intrigue to the play-in berth in Group D, especially if RNG continues to limp into Worlds the way they did throughout the LPL Summer Playoffs. If RNG doesn’t come out of the gate scorching hot (or worse, get knocked out in play-ins), there’s going to be some room for chaos in Group D.
Henrique: It has to be Group A, right? Cloud9 defies the odds every year, and 2021 was the latest chapter in the staple North American org’s history of doing just that, taking advantage of an epic capitulation by FunPlus Phoenix. Add in the most successful franchise in esports history and the defending world champions, and you’ve got yourself a banger group. Cloud9 has only failed to make it out of groups twice at Worlds, and this is the first time they’ll enter a World Championship as LCS champions since 2013(!), and the global League of Legends landscape is in many ways unrecognizable compared to how it was back then. Of course, in 2017, Jensen and Cloud9 found themselves in a group with Scout’s EDward Gaming and Faker’s SK Telecom T1. This year, storylines abound as those same three mid laners meet again in what will be a group chock-full of must-watch games.
Which team will win it all?
Tyler: As mentioned before, JD Gaming dominated the most competitive league in the world through ruthless aggression, and at Worlds, it’ll be a tough task for any other team to weather the incoming storm. None of the other regions have experienced a team like this before—only the best will be able to handle this combination of ruthless aggression and mechanical expertise. It also helps that they have arguably the best top laner and jungler at the event, making them a surefire favorite to lift the Summoner’s Cup in November.
Michael: I think JDG is the smart answer here. The team that won a championship in the objectively strongest region will probably be the favorite coming into Worlds each season. Last year, my pick was DWG KIA after they won the LCK just before Worlds, and now that the needle has shifted back to China, picking JDG just feels right.
Henrique: The last three world champions in a row have been the Summer Split champions in either the LPL or LCK. That being said, the community consensus before those tournaments seemed to be G2, Top Esports, and FunPlusPhoenix/DAMWON, respectively. JD Gaming right now is the best team in the world. Let’s not beat around the bush. But tournaments like Worlds tend to reward the teams that best match the tournament’s meta, which will be three patches removed from domestic championships. This year, I believe that will be Top Esports. Tian has been consistent all year, and JackeyLove, for all his faults, has the highest ceiling of any AD carry at this tournament. Top Esports was one game away from a title twice this year, and this team is full of players that face a now-or-never moment to prove a point, which is exactly where they want to be.
