2021 League of Legends World Championships Odds, Full Preview, Schedule and Best Bets

• The month long 2021 League of Legends World Championship begins on October 5th, 2021
• The tournament will be hosted in Reykjavik, Iceland and will feature 22 of the best teams from around the World
• The second seed out of the LPL, FunPlus Phoenix, are the current favorites to win Worlds 2021

On November 6th, a new League of Legends World Champion will be crowned. Before that, 22 teams will compete in multiple stages in an attempt to be the last team standing. It all gets underway on October 5th with Play-Ins Round 1, and the highly anticipated group stage beginning on October 11th.

The League of Legends World Championship odds have fluctuated quite a bit leading up to the event, but FunPlus Phoenix remains favored at +200.

2021 League of Legends World Championship Odds

Odds as of Oct 02 at Betway

The LPL

Even though DWG Kia are the defending World Champions, they are surrounded in the odds by a trio of teams from the LPL. From 2013-2017, Worlds was dominated by teams from the LCK until Invictus Gaming and FunPlus Phoenix changed that in the LPL’s favor in 2018 and 2019. Then, of course, DWG Kia brought the crown back to Korea a year ago.

This time around, the LPL is poised to re-stake their claim as the strongest region in the World. However, it’s difficult to determine who the best bet of EDward Gaming, FunPlus Phoenix, and Royal Never Give Up is. Despite being the LPL’s first seed, EDG actually has lower odds of winning than FPX. For FunPlus Phoenix, a lot of that can be attributed to their vast experience at Worlds, as well as world-class players at multiple positions. As far as EDG goes, sure they have some concerns in the solo lanes, but they were able to defeat FPX 3-1 in the LPL Summer Finals.

The LPL is wildly competitive, and it feels like the top teams are all capable of beating each other. FPX may well have the most talent, but they don’t offer much return. EDG recently saw their odds move from +350 to +375, while RNG went from +800 to +600. In a long tournament like Worlds where one bad series can cause an early exit, I’d gladly take the value of EDG over FPX.

European Hopefuls

There’s no denying that Europe has improved over the past few years. Teams like G2 Esports and Fnatic have challenged the LCK and LPL, with G2 even making it to the Finals in 2019. In 2021, there is no G2 at Worlds as Europe is seeing a shift in power. This year the top team is the MAD Lions, and although they crashed out of the Play-In Stage last year, they’ve only improved since then.

Realistically, MAD Lions may have the firepower to compete with the best of the LPL and LCK, but they simply haven’t had the same level of competition to test them. I’d expect them to make it to the final 8 and potentially the final four, but anything outside of that would be shocking. As for the rest of Europe, Rogue and Fnatic are quality teams but shouldn’t be viewed as true contenders. Fnatic’s odds are also surprising as they’re more likely to win over Gen.G. Stay away from Fnatic at +1400. If anything, keep an eye on Gen.G from the LCK at +1800 odds. Their spots should likely be swapped.

Not NA’s Year

As you scroll through the odds, you may have noticed that it took a while to find the North American teams. In fact, all three of them share the same odds of winning at +5000. NA has historically struggled at Worlds, and yet every year there seems to be a new sense of hope. Even this year, North America has a new number 1 seed in the form of 100 Thieves, who have shaken up the makeup of the LCS.

If you’re looking for a dark horse this year, it’s not coming from North America. If any team was to make a true dark horse run it’d likely be PSG Talon, but even then, there are just too many strong teams contending to be the World Champions.

Pick: EDward Gaming (+375)