It’s looking like a close race this year but there’s a few teams that need to be watched closely.
The best League of Legends teams in the world have gathered in Europe for Worlds 2024 and the fight for the Summoner’s Cup is looking to be a close one. Upsets and shake-ups were present in all the major regions, making predicting this Worlds a tough call.
But, we have narrowed things down to five teams that you should pay attention to this Worlds.
Hanwha Life Esports
One of the biggest shake-ups took place in the region of world champions, South Korea. For the first time in the organization’s history, Hanwha Life Esports were able to take their first League of Legends Champions Korea title, denying favorites Gen.G Esports the five-peat.
On paper, this shouldn’t be too surprising as three-fifths of the Hanwha are made up of former Gen.G players. However, until now the team lacked that crucial clutch factor needed to beat top South Korean teams. Now that the team has finally found their stride, this could be the moment where they take Worlds as well.
FlyQuest
Similarly, over in North America, FlyQuest also earned their first League of Legends Championship Series title. And what a victory that was for them as not only are they the last LCS champions before the region’s restructuring next year, but they also won it in spectacular fashion.
Like Hanwha, FlyQuest has been looking better every season and them winning LCS is a culmination of their hard work. However, the few times the team has made it to an international tournament have not been impressive. That might change now that they’re coming in as North America’s champions but we’ll have to wait and see.
Bilibili Gaming
Of all the teams participating in Worlds 2024, Bilibili Gaming has to be considered a favorite to take it all. In the last couple of years, the team has been surging up the ranks in both domestic and international performances. Podium finishes have been constant for Bilibili Gaming but an international trophy still eludes them.
This year, Bilibili Gaming has won both the summer and spring League of Legends Pro League splits in China. Could this be a prelude to them being the ones to lift the Summoner’s Cup?
GAM Esports
As the strongest team coming out of Vietnam, GAM Esports have consistently been the underdogs whenever they make it to international tournaments. This year however they’re looking a little different. GAM had a dominant showing in the play-ins, dropping no games against Fukuoka SoftBank HAWKS and Rainbow7. While I wouldn’t bet on them winning Worlds 2024, other teams would do well to not underestimate them either.
T1
Despite being the reigning world champions, T1’s performance this year has been incredibly shaky. Winning the Esports World Cup has been their only highlight this year as they’ve been struggling massively, so much so that they almost didn’t qualify for Worlds. Whether it’s due to meta changes or burn out, T1 haven’t looked like the favorites to win anything this year.
That’s primarily why they’re on this list as even now they have a reputation to uphold. In all of the Worlds that T1’s participated in they’ve never finished worse than fourth place. They also have a staggering 100% win rate against Chinese teams in Worlds. It’ll be interesting to see if they can maintain those stats despite their struggles.
Banner photo from League of Legends Champions Korea.