Worlds 2023: Evaluating the first-round main event matchups

October 17, 2023

by Brian Bencomo

The 2023 League of Legends World Championship is underway. The play-in stage is over, and now the big boys are finally going to take the stage for the main event. We’ve seen one major region team in Team BDS in the play-in stage, but now we’ll finally get to see the rest of the major region teams from Korea, China, Europe and North America starting Wednesday night/Thursday morning, depending on your time zone.

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This year, instead of the traditional double round robin group stage, the main event will play out as a Swiss stage. The opening matchups are set, with winners of the eight single-game matchups set to play each other in the second round, and losers taking on losers as well. Here’s a breakdown of what to expect and who should win among the eight opening-round matchups in the main event of Worlds 2023.

T1 vs. Team Liquid

Wednesday, Oct. 18, 10 p.m. PT

Photo credit: Christian Betancourt / Riot Games

Reason to watch

Former world champions Jo "CoreJJ" Yong-in and Hong "Pyosik" Chang-hyeon have returned to their native Korea with North America’s Team Liquid and will face former LCK rival Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok and T1. CoreJJ won Worlds with Samsung Galaxy in 2017 over Faker, and Pyosik beat Faker in the Worlds final just last year with DRX. This surely won’t be the last time we see the Unkillable Demon King Faker at Worlds, but it might be the last time we see this iteration of this T1 roster together, according to comments made by some of the players. This also will be the Worlds debut for two promising NA rookies on Team Liquid in Eain "APA" Stearns and Sean "Yeon" Sung.

Favorite

Upset potential

Slim to none. T1 is the heavy favorite here, and should win this one.

Cloud9 vs. MAD Lions

Wednesday, Oct. 18, 11 p.m. PT

Photo credit: Christian Betancourt / Riot Games

Reason to watch

NA vs. EU. It’s the classic North America vs. Europe matchup. Although European and North American teams have struggled against Korean and Chinese teams in recent years, NA and EU teams have been relatively evenly matched. Last year, Evil Geniuses beat MAD Lions 3-0 in the play-in stage, Cloud9 and Fnatic went 1-1 vs. each other, and G2 and Evil Geniuses went 1-1 against each other. So far this year, Team BDS outclassed Golden Guardians 3-0 in the Worlds Qualifying Series just before the Worlds play-in stage.

Favorite

Cloud9 (slight edge)

Upset potential

This matchup is pretty much a toss-up, but the fact MAD Lions have lost nine of their last 10 matchups going into Worlds and Cloud9 generally perform well at Worlds (by NA standards), means Cloud9 have a slight edge here.

Gen.G vs. GAM Esports

Thursday, Oct. 19, 12 a.m. PT

Photo credit: Christian Betancourt / Riot Games

Reason to watch

Can GAM Esports pull off an upset? This appears to be the most lopsided matchup. GAM are the only non-Major region team in the main event, and Gen.G are the LCK champions. On paper, this should be a blowout, but upsets can and do happen -- especially in a single game matchup -- and that’s the intrigue behind this matchup. If Gen.G don’t take GAM seriously, then watch out.

Favorite

Gen.G

Upset potential

1 in a million. OK, GAM has a better chance than that, but Gen.G should win this one easily.

JD Gaming vs. Team BDS

Thursday, Oct. 19, 1 a.m. PT

Photo credit: Christian Betancourt / Riot Games

Reason to watch

There are two things to look for here. How sharp does Worlds favorite JDG look in their opening matchup and how good is Team BDS after making it through a play-in stage filled with teams that aren’t Worlds contenders. This is the first step in JDG’s quest to become the first team to win both domestic splits and both international events in a year in League of Legends. Meanwhile, BDS will be looking to prove that they belong despite being the only Major region team to start the tournament in the play-ins.

Favorite

JD Gaming

Upset potential

There’s a chance. JD Gaming should win, but the play-ins gave Team BDS a chance to warm up and play some official matches. Top laner Adam “Adam” Maanane plays with a lot of confidence, and BDS have shown a lot of potential and the ability to make comebacks. They don’t need to win a series here, just a game.

G2 Esports vs. Dplus KIA

Thursday, Oct. 19, 2 a.m. PT

Photo credit: Christian Betancourt / Riot Games

Reason to watch

For the fourth consecutive time they’ve been at Worlds, G2 will face the organization formerly known as DAMWON Gaming and DWG KIA. In 2019, G2 beat DAMWON 3-1 in the Worlds quarterfinals en route to the final. In 2020, DAMWON got revenge with their own 3-1 semifinal win en route to winning Worlds. Last year, DWG KIA beat G2 twice in the group stage. Opposing mid lakers Heo "ShowMaker" Su and Rasmus "Caps" Borregaard Winther have been on opposing sides for all of these matchups and are two of the best mid laners at this tournament. Oh, and according to JDG AD carry Ruler, both teams have looked good, so this should be a banger.

Favorite

Dplus KIA (slight edge)

Upset potential

This matchup should be fairly even. It’s been a while since we’ve seen a Western team beat a Korean team in a best-of series at Worlds, but winning a single game is not unheard of. Last year, Fnatic won a game against T1 in the group stage, and Rogue did the same against DRX. Ironically, G2 did not win one of their two games against DWG KIA, but with G2 being the No. 1 EU seed this year and Dplus KIA being the No. 4 Korean seed, G2 have a decent chance to win this one.

NRG vs. Weibo Gaming

Thursday, Oct. 19, 3 a.m. PT

Photo credit: Christian Betancourt / Riot Games

Reason to watch

Both of these organizations are making their Worlds debuts, but not all the players; there’s a good mix of Worlds veterans and newcomers in this matchup. It’s the North American No. 1 seed vs. the Chinese No. 4 seed, so it should be a relatively competitive matchup. There’s a lot of excitement on the North American side to see the Worlds debuts of Niship "Dhokla" Doshi and Cristian "Palafox" Palafox, and the return of Juan Arturo "Contractz" Garcia to the world championship for the first time since his rookie year in 2017. On the Chinese side, 2018 world champion Kang "TheShy" Seung-lok is returning to Worlds for the first time since 2019, and Li "Xiaohu" Yuan-Hao, whom fans are used to seeing with Royal Never Give Up, will be making his first international appearance with his new org, LNG.

Favorite

Weibo Gaming

Upset potential

There’s a chance NRG wins this one. Just like the G2 vs. Dplus KIA matchup, here’s another Western No. 1 seed vs. an Eastern No. 4 seed. Unlike G2, NRG doesn’t have the kind of pedigree or international experience that inspired confidence in this matchup. NRG did play better against better teams in the LCS, so perhaps they’ll rise to the occasion here.

Fnatic vs. LNG Esports

Thursday, Oct. 19, 4 a.m. PT

Photo credit: Christian Betancourt / Riot Games

Reason to watch

Both teams enter the tournament hot. For most of the year, it looked as though Fnatic wouldn’t qualify for Worlds for the first time since 2016. But they pulled everything together at the very end of the European domestic season to finish as the second seed from Europe and are once again in the world championship where they tend to perform well historically. Similarly, LNG performed better in the summer where they made it all the way to the LPL summer final with only losses to JDG since the middle of the summer split.

Favorite

LNG Esports

Upset potential

Make no mistake, the Chinese team is the favorite here, but there’s a chance Fnatic pull off an upset. Here’s something to keep in mind. Despite Chinese teams generally being among the best at international competitions, the LPL No. 2 seed has been eliminated during the Worlds group stage each of the past two years. If the trend of LPL second seeds disappointing continues, then perhaps Fnatic will be the beneficiary here.

Bilibili Gaming vs. KT Rolster

Thursday, Oct. 19, 5 a.m. PT

Photo credit: Christian Betancourt / Riot Games

Reason to watch

This is the only first-round clash between teams from the two best regions in League of Legends. It might not be T1 vs. JDG or Gen.G vs. LNG, but the No. 3 LPL seed vs. the No. 3 LCK team should still be a banger and a good test of regional strength between China and Korea. Both teams have a lot to prove too. BLG finished second at MSI and enter Worlds as China’s No. 2 seed. They’ve been overshadowed by LPL rival JDG all year. Despite having the best record in the LPL this summer, they lost to JDG and LNG in the playoffs and finished third. KT Rolster were the best LCK team this summer, but that was arguably because of a weakened T1 who were without Faker for part of the summer. They tempted fate in the playoffs and chose to play T1 with Faker and lost. Despite being the third seed from Korea, a lot of analysts are rating them below fourth seed Dplus KIA.

Favorite

Bilibili Gaming (slight edge)

Upset potential

Like Cloud9 vs. MAD Lions, this also is very much a toss-up. BLG should have a slight edge given how well they did at MSI this year where they beat Korean powerhouses Gen.G and T1, but this matchup could go either way.

Lead photo credit: Colin Young-Wolff / Riot Games