The League of Legends World Championship is the final event of the LoL esports calendar in 2021. The best teams in the world will gather and compete for the title of World Champions. Read on to find out more about Worlds 2021.
League of Legends World Championship 2021 analysis
The best LoL teams from around the world will converge in Reykjavik, Iceland for the annual League of Legends World Championship. Worlds 2021 is set to be one of the most competitive in recent years, with teams from South Korea and China all viable candidates to win the Summoner’s Cup and challengers from Europe and North America also looking to make an impact on the international stage.
The odds below represent the outright market for the League of Legends World Championship. For a full list of the markets available for League of Legends, we have a dedicated page for League of Legends Worlds 2021 odds.
The League of Legends World Championship is split into three stages: play-in stage, group stage and knockout stage.
Depending on their seed and region, the play-in stage will feature 10 teams in total, split into two groups of five teams. Teams in each group will play a best-of-one (Bo1), single round-robin with the top team from each group earning a qualification spot into the group stage, while the teams in last place are eliminated from the competition. The third- and fourth- placed teams in each group will play in a best-of-five (Bo5) match against each other, with the winner moving forward to face the second-placed team in the opposite group, again playing a best-of-five, to determine who will progress to the main event’s group stage.
Joining the four teams that earn a spot in the group stage through the play-in stage are 12 teams who have received direct invites into the group stage based on their seeding in their regions. The teams are split into four groups of four teams and will play a best-of-one (Bo1), double round-robin. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the knockout stage which will be played as best-of-five (Bo5), single-elimination bracket.
Worlds 2021 Finals - A new dynasty versus a new challenger
The League of Legends World Championship 2021 heads towards its final match between DAMWON KIA (DK) and EDward Gaming (EDG). South Korean juggernauts DK will be looking to defend their throne and become back-to-back world champions, while the rising challengers from China, EDG, will be making their first appearance in a championship final match.
DK (4.010*) entered the tournament as the second favourite team in Pinnacle’s ‘To Win Outright’ market behind FunPlus Phoenix (3.180*), who were eliminated in the group stage, and in front of EDG who were priced as the third favourites at 5.010*.
In the Money Line market, DK are favoured by Pinnacle’s traders who have priced them at 1.300* (77%), while EDG have been priced at 3.550* (23%) to triumph over their opponents. Despite the Money Line being quite heavily in favour of DK, the ‘Total - Match’ market expects the best-of-five match to be quite exciting for fans to watch with the odds for ‘Over 3.5’ at 1.430* and ‘Over 4.5’ at 3.140* implying that the expected scoreline sits at 3-1 in favour of DK winning.
History would agree with the odds for the ‘Total - Match’ market given that the last time a League of Legends World Championship final went to all five games was back in 2016 when SK Telecom T1 (SKT) beat Samsung Galaxy (SSG) 3-2.
Looking at DAMWON KIA’s statistics leading into the match, the South Koreans have been the most dominant team at the League of Legends World Championship from start to finish, topping the leaderboard in multiple statistical categories. The most notable categories that DK have led throughout Worlds 2021 so far are Gold Difference at 15 minutes (GD@15) which is +1767, Dragon Control rate (DRG) which is 70%, and Kill-to-Death (KD) ratio which is 1.72.
One of the players at the forefront of DK’s dominance has been their star Mid-laner Heo “ShowMaker” Su who has been touted to win MVP for the tournament and more notably is seen as the successor to the ‘Unkillable Demon King’, Lee “Faker” Sang-Hyeok, whom he trumped in DK’s previous match in the semi-finals.
As a first-time participant in a World Championship final, EDward Gaming will have an uphill battle against DK, with intangibles such as stress being potential influencers on the team’s performance in the match. That being said, the Chinese team have put in a solid performance thus far in the tournament, achieving a +619 GD@15 (third-best of all competitors), a 57% DRG (third-best) and 1.22 KD ratio (third-best).
Whilst EDG’s statistics are eclipsed by their upcoming opponent, the team have definitely earned their spot in the final by beating the likes of Royal Never Give Up (RNG) and Gen.G (GEN). Whilst many think that EDG will be relying on their Top-laner Li “Flandre” Xuan-Jun and Mid-laner Lee “Scout” Ye-chan, the possible difference-maker for the team could be their Jungler Zhao “Jiejie” Li-Jie who has a 76.7% Kill Participation rate (KP%) and and Experience Differential at 10 minutes (XPD@10) of +245 XP. His influence is expected to be felt in the early parts of the game.
