Which League of Legends Team Would You Bet Your Money On?
Betting has been around as long as we've had organized sports. Even the ancient Romans used to bet on chariot races. As eSports continues to climb into mainstream culture, it's only natural that betting on eSports climbs along with it. And no game is climbing faster than League of Legends.
Many sites have started to focus on League of Legends betting, like Pinnacle Sports and Ebettle. They run just like any sports betting venture. Your payoff is based on how risky your bet is. Teams that everyone thinks will win are low risk, but that also makes them low reward because the potential payoff is smaller. However, you could place your money on a less likely team for a riskier bet that has a greater possible reward.
As one of our friendly neighborhood League nerds here at Gamers Decide, this is my inside scoop on five of the teams I’d be willing to bet my money on to win Worlds 2016. To make the rankings simple, we'll pretend we're going in with $1,000 of betting money. I'll rate each team according to that amount.
SK-Telecom1 (SKT)
SKT look as strong as ever moments after taking first place in the LCK
Team Introduction
SK-Telecom1 (SKT) are the Chicago Bulls of the Michael Jordan era, and mid-laner Faker is the modern day Michael Jordan of esports. Faker is the single most dominant player, not just in League but in all of eSports. He has oceans of fans and plenty of doubters every time he enters an international tournament. By the time the tournament is over, his fan base has grown and the doubters are silenced.
For years, SKT has been the most successful team in the most competitive League of Legends region, the LCK of South Korea. They’ve already won Worlds twice, including last year when they only lost one game throughout the whole competition.
Roster
- Top - Duke
- Jungle - Blank
- Mid - Faker
- ADC - Bang
- Support - Wolf
- Sub/Jungle - Bengi
Analysis
As I write this, we’re halfway through the Mid Season Invitational. SKT went in as the unanimous favorite to take first place, but the team quickly fell into a slump and dropped to the bottom half of the rankings.
Even so, SKT is still my number 1 safest pick to win Worlds 2016. There’s a reason SKT has been at the top of the most dominant region for years. They have the champion’s combination of raw talent and supreme work ethic. These guys practice like hell.
The problems they ran into at MSI had nothing to do with technical skill. Their downfall was facing teams using new strategies which they hadn’t seen in their home region. I guarantee that SKT will leave MSI and figure out the exact problems that plagued them. They will then spam practice games to shore up those problems. You can fool SKT once, but it won’t happen again.
There may even be a benefit here for us. If SKT continue to perform poorly at MSI, people may foolishly see SKT as a riskier pick, giving the possibility for a higher reward when SKT inevitably win worlds. Score!
Rating: With $1000 of betting money, I'd go all in. I'd be shocked if SKT didn't win.
ROX Tigers
All five members of the ROX Tigers received the highest KDA reward for their role.
Team Introduction
The ROX Tigers were the second place team from Worlds in 2015, when they were going by the name Koo Tigers. They were the only team able to take a game off the champions, SKT. Since then, SKT has arguably gotten slightly weaker with Marin, their star top laner, moving to China and with the meta shifting away from the comfort zone of their original Bengi, their original starting Jungler.
On the other hand, ROX has unarguably become stronger. Their new jungler, Peanut, exploded onto the scene and thrives in the current jungler carry meta. Meanwhile, most believe ROX’s Smeb to be the strongest top laner in the world.
Roster
- Top - Smeb
- Jungle - Peanut
- Mid - KurO
- ADC - PraY
- Support - GorillA
Analysis
ROX decimated everyone in the LCK regular season, almost as savagely as SKT did last year. The only reason they came up second place in the season overall is because SKT found their stride during the playoffs. It’s unclear if this was a temporary slip from ROX or if it was the sign of a permanent shift in power from ROX to SKT for the remainder of the 2016 season.
Still unconvinced that ROX is a Worlds contender? Remember this: Korea does something unique in their league. They reward a bonus to the player with the highest KDA from each role. This year, every role’s KDA award went to a member from ROX Tigers. This team is for real.
Rating: With $1000 of betting money, I'd bet $750. Keep some in the bank, but this is a good bet.
Royal Never Give Up (RNG)
RNG take to the stage moments after securing first place in the LPL
Team Introduction
Chinese League teams have always been the only ones with potential to rival the Koreans. They underperformed in Worlds 2015, but this was most likely a fluke. From day 1, it was clear that something in the 2015 meta slipped by the Chinese teams coaches. They went in unprepared.
RNG’s performance at MSI is a loud and clear sign that they’re not missing anything this time. As I write this, RNG sits in a solid #1 slot with a record of 8-2. And those two losses were to a hard fought game against second placed CLG and to none other than SKT.
Roster
- Top - Looper
- Jungle - mlxg
- Mid - Xiaohu
- ADC - Wuxx
- Support - Mata
Analysis
The Chinese league, LPL, is unique in their playstyle. The region consistently produces teams that play high tempo games. They’re aggressive and they favor action over caution. This playstyle occasionally makes them lose in embarrassing fashion, but I believe it’s also the quality that makes them most likely to take down the Korean giants.
Korean teams play highly technical games which usually focus on map control and end with a low kill count. The Koreans go into a match expecting to play a game of chess, but RNG's aggression might smash their chess board with a ten ton hammer.
Rating: With $1000 of betting money, I'd bet $500. The Korean teams are still ranked higher, but that just means a bigger cash out if they succeed.
Flash Wolves
The Flash Wolves and supporting staff on the LMS stage
Team Introduction
The Flash Wolves hail from Taiwan and play in the LMS. The LMS is often overlooked, but this may be a strength for the region as it consistently puts out world tier teams that fly under coach’s radars. And all indications point towards the region growing in strength.
The members of the Flash Wolves have also stuck together for years, which is something I always like to see in League. Competitive League is still in its early stages and teams are still figuring out how to craft a strong roster.
We’ve seen teams pull in talent from all over the world, only to realize the potential skill is blocked behind language barriers and personality conflicts. I suspect that soon we’re going to see a shift towards teams crafting one roster over years as we begin to realize team synergy wins more than raw talent.
That’s the greatest strength of the Flash Wolves. This pack always run together.
Roster
- Top - MMD
- Jungle - Karsa
- Mid - Maple
- ADC - NL
- Support - SwordArt
Analysis
The Flash Wolves, like CLG, surprised everyone at MSI. People expected them to be strong, but not as strong as they actually are. They currently sit at third place, but they’ve never given up an easy game. Even top tier RNG struggled to pull a win out of them, clearly showing that the Flash Wolves are Worlds contenders.
Many have criticized NL’s poor performance as ADC during the regular season, but whatever faults there were before have clearly been fixed because he’s a rocking it at MSI. Meanwhile, all-star mid-laner Maple is flying high as ever. Every game at MSI has been a highlight reel for Maple.
Rating: With $1000 of betting money, I'd bet $300. There's a wide gap between this team and the top three contenders, but if the Flash Wolves win then your cash out from that $300 will be huge.
Immortals (IMT)
Immortals may be the toughest team to ever come out of the NA LCS
Team Introduction
Immortals were one of the two super teams that came into the NA LCS Spring Split with high expectations. The other was the new TSM roster. TSM fell on its face right out of the gates and IMT soared to the top. Why?
TSM pulled in unconnected players just because they were at the top of their roles. But IMT pulled in players who were near the top but also featured strong synergy both on and off the Rift. We can clearly see the fruit of this decision from IMT’s games. The whole team plays with a shared consciousness. When one player hits the "go" button, the rest are already there.
This synergy led IMT to a dominant Spring Split regular season, one of the most dominant in LCS history. Every individual on this team is a major threat, and when they come together they’re a game winning force of the gods.
Roster
- Top - Huni
- Jungle - Reignover
- Mid - Pobelter
- ADC - WildTurtle
- Support - Adrian
Analysis
This is probably my most controversial pick on the list, but I’ll defend it to the end. It’s controversial because IMT weren’t first place from their region. They weren’t even second place. IMT went into the NA playoffs with the #1 seed, placing them again #6 seeded TSM in the semi-finals. IMT lost. However, we need to look at why that loss happened.
There were a couple weeks between IMT’s last regular season game and their semi-finals series against TSM. In that time, a major League of Legends patch came through and shifted the meta from top lane carries to top lane tanks. IMT seemed to miss this memo as they ran Lucian, Gangplank, and Graves top. They went in with a poor strategy and came out with poor results.
Then, a week later they played for third place against Team Liquid. For this series, IMT had clearly done their homework and adjusted to the new meta. They destroyed Team Liquid in the same fashion they had destroyed every team during the regular season.
Furthermore, right now CLG is over performing at MSI. They sit at second place, which no one expected. It’s possible that CLG is the stronger team, but CLG didn’t dominate an entire split in the NA LCS. Immortals did.
The more likely theory is that CLG had to adjust to the higher level of play that IMT introduced to the NA LCS, which forced every NA team to reevaluate and become stronger. What we saw all season is that IMT is more technically talented, more coordinated, and has a wider variety of strategies. CLG won the split, but IMT has the higher chance to win Worlds.
Rating: With $1000 of betting money, I'd bet $200. It's been a long time since a North American team could be a World contender, which makes Immortals a long shot even if they do look stellar. Don't go for broke, but $200 will see a great return if they win.
In Short
My money is on SKT to win Worlds yet again. But if there was ever a season that the international competition can step up and challenge the Korean titans, it’s this season. Who do you think will win Worlds 2016? Let us know with a comment below.
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