League of Legends World Championship Odds & Betting Preview: FunPlus Phoenix Enters as +350 Favorite

• The League of Legends 2019 World Championship begins with the Play-In Stage on October 3rd
• FunPlus Phoenix emerge as the favorites following the group draw for the Main Event
• Damwon Gaming is the only team competing in the Play-In Stage to be in the top 10 of the odds

The 2019 League of Legends World Championship is finally getting underway on October 3rd, but the main event doesn’t begin until October 12th.

The LoL World Championship odds have once again seen a change now that the groups have been determined for both the Play-Ins and the Main Event. And while FunPlus Phoenix are the top choice among the bookmakers with odds of +350, average outright odds place both them and SK Telecom T1 as co-favorites at +400.

Odds of Winning the League of Legends 2019 World Championship

*All odds taken 09/30/19. 

The Group of Ease

During the Worlds Group draw, only three of the four teams in each group were decided as the final team won’t be known until after the Play-In Stage. Despite that, FunPlus Phoenix are now favorites to win the tournament thanks to their easy group. FPX were placed in Group B alongside J Team and GAM Esports. No matter what teams joins them from the Play-Ins, Fun Plus Phoenix should easily get out of Group B as the first or second seed.

The problem is that getting out of the group stage is the easy part. The real difficulty comes in the matchups that follow. It’s great that they have an easy group but I don’t think that they are the best team at this tournament and I don’t see the value on betting on them as favorites.

The Effects of the Group of Death

Every year there’s a group that is more difficult to advance from than the rest. This year, that’s Group C.

The group currently contains SK Telecom T1, Fnatic and Royal Never Give Up. SKT enter as the top Korean team and are the favorites in a lot of people’s eyes. Fnatic was close to defeating G2 twice and advancing as Europe’s first seed. RNG has consistently been a top Worlds contender that has gotten out of groups in the past three years. Because of their tough group, RNG now find themselves behind their Chinese counterpart in Invictus Gaming.

The biggest hit in the odds comes from the side of Fnatic who went from +1000 to +1600. Historically, RNG has beaten up on Fnatic. In 2017, RNG knocked them out of Worlds in the quarterfinals, and at MSI, it was the same old story in the semis.

Although Fnatic is a very strong team, they’re in a group with the three-time World Champions, and a team that has dominated them over the past two years.

G2 Still Close to the Top

The real hype from Europe comes from G2 Esports and they’ve jumped ahead of SKT in the odds. Now at +400, G2 is the second favorite to win the tournament and have a group that they should be able to escape from.

Griffin is a team known for their ability to excel in best-of-ones, and Cloud9 has advanced from groups every year they’ve been to Worlds, but G2 absolutely dominated Europe all season long and they’re the reigning MSI Champions. Now’s the time for Europe to regain their League of Legends throne.

Pick: G2 Esports (+400)

LOL World Championship Region Winner Odds

It always feels weird to bet against an LCK team. Prior to Invictus Gaming winning last year, the LCK had won five straight World Championships. So was last year an outlier? Or have the other regions finally caught up? It looks like the latter as LEC team G2 Esports took home the Mid-Season Invitational trophy.

The LPL is favored because of FunPlus Phoenix sitting atop the odds at +350. If you share the faith that I have in G2 Esports then it’s worth doubling down on the LEC. Even if G2 were to come up short, there’s a backup plan in Fnatic if they were to get out of Group C.

Pick: LEC (+230)