Opening Odds for LoL 2021 World Championships – DAMWON Gaming +200 Favorites to Repeat

• It’s a full year away, but there’s already odds available for the 2021 League of Legends World Championships
• Fresh off their first Worlds title, DAMWON Gaming are favored to repeat in 2021
• Read below for very early odds and analysis of the 2021 LoL World Championships

We’re only a few days removed from the 2020 League of Legends World Championship Finals, and we’re not wasting any time looking ahead to next year. DAMWON Gaming is fresh off an exciting 3-1 win over Suning  in the finals, giving Korea their first Worlds win since 2017.

2021 LoL World Championship odds are already available, and predictably, the teams who were favored in 2020 are the early favorites to hoist the Summoner’s Cup next year.

Odds to Win 2021 League of Legends World Championships

Odds taken Nov. 3

Going Back-to-Back

DAMWON Gaming is officially the defending League of Legends World Championships. All tournament long, DAMWON Gaming was the most dominant team, and their only real challenge was Suning in the finals. If this team were to stay together for another full year, then DAMWON should easily be the favorites looking ahead to Worlds 2021.

The difficulty in betting on next year’s World Championship so early is that there will be some teams that look completely different. Even for DAMWON, they could be without a couple of players who were key in their dominant championship run.

On top of the possibility of player turnaround, League of Legends changes drastically year in and year out. It’s part of the reason that there’s only ever been one team to win back-to-back World titles. Whichever team best adapts to new champions and gameplay changes will be a force in 2021.

It certainly could be DAMWON, but at +200 there’s no chance I’d bet on them winning a second straight World Championship.

China’s Top Teams

There’s all kinds of teams in China that could be a threat going into 2021. FunPlus Phoenix won Worlds in 2019 and didn’t even qualify for the World Championship in 2020. That’s how much the League of Legends scene can change in a year. Top Esports is a more intriguing option than DAMWON purely because they have their entire starting roster under contract through 2021.

They also now have some much needed international experience under their belt. DAMWON won Worlds a year after they got bounced from the tournament in the quarterfinals. 2021 could be a similar experience for Top Esports.

Outside of Top Esports… Suning, JD Gaming, and Invictus Gaming all present decent value. Even though a Korean team is back on top of the League of Legends scene, a team from China won the previous two years. Not only has China won a couple of times, but they’ve also had more teams make deep runs into the tournament. Over the past three years, China has had five teams make it into the semifinals while Korea has only managed two.

Best Bet: Top Esports (+400)

Dark Horses

Although I’d put my early money on a Chinese team winning Worlds 2021, there are a couple of teams to gamble on. The first is T1 who is no stranger to winning World Championships. Led by Faker, T1 fell just short of the 2020 World Championship. Despite a 13-5 finish in the LCK summer split regular season, T1 lost to Gen. G in the regional finals, costing them a spot at Worlds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTiZyvt_CG0

Europe is also worth a longshot bet as they’ve now had teams make deep runs at Worlds two years in a row. G2 would be the most obvious team to bet on, but for those feeling a little crazy, there’s MAD Lions.

The most improved team in Europe was MAD Lions, and even though they failed to qualify for the Main Event, it was a great experience for a team with a lot of young players. If they continue to build on their promising year, don’t be surprised to see the MAD Lions in the 2021 World Finals.

Longshot Bet: Mad Lions (+5000)