League of Legends 2020 World Championship Opening Odds: FunPlus Phoenix & SK Telecom Open as Co-Favorites

• SK Telecom and FunPlus Phoenix are very early favorites to win the 2020 League of Legends World Championship
• The LPL will have home stadium advantage as Worlds 2020 will be held in China
• FunPlus Phoenix just defeated G2 Esports in the finals to win the 2019 World Championship

We’re just a couple of weeks removed from FunPlus Phoenix being named the 2019 World Champions, and already we’re looking towards 2020 LoL World Championship odds. The LPL has won the past two World Championships, and now the tournament will take place in China. Teams such as FPX will look to become the first team to win Worlds in front of their home crowd.

This is the most difficult time to predict what teams will be in contention to win the 2020 World Championship. Free agency opens today and over the coming weeks, there will be an endless supply of roster changes. The odds will no doubt shuffle a lot as players settle into new teams. As it stands, there are a couple of teams that could be worth an early bet before all the free agency mayhem begins.

League of Legends 2020 World Championship Odds

All odds taken Nov. 18

Faker Looking for Four

SK Telecom T1 is virtually always a Worlds contender. They’re three-time World Champions, and aside from 2019, they made it to the finals of every Worlds they’ve attended. It’s also been rumored that their star mid laner Faker has re-signed with the team through 2021.

The GOAT is not going anywhere:

Faker extends contract with @T1LoL until 2021https://t.co/4AX59tTY2p

— VPESPORTS (@VPesports) November 18, 2019

Aside from that, the roster could look much different after a disappointing ending to the year.

With Faker as a focal point, SKT should be looking to surround him with more star players. Of course, that formula didn’t work in 2019 so it’s very uncertain as to what this team might look like. There’s also rumors of some strong teams forming in the LCK such as DragonX, which could make SKT’s road that much more difficult. I’d stay away from SKT at the moment.

Retirement Could Hinder FPX

Even the defending World Champions have question marks. At the beginning of the year, Doinb was contemplating retirement. Of course, he elected to stick with FPX and the rest is history.

This year is a very similar situation. We may have just seen him play his final professional game. Without Doinb, there’s still a lot of talent on the roster. Their jungler, Tian, was just named MVP of the tournament and he’s still only 19 years old.

Anytime a team replaces their mid laner, there’s a lot of communication changes that need to take place. Of course, if Doinb stays on with FPX, they should be early favorites. But with his future in doubt, I’d back off of FPX as well.

G2 in Year 2

The safest bet is probably G2 Esports. They were one best-of-five away from winning Worlds and although it was an upsetting finish for them, it was still only their first year together as a team. They dominated the rest of Europe and this roster should only grow as they enter their second year.

The LEC might piece together some stiffer competition around them, however, G2 should be a heavy threat as the end of 2020 rolls around. Keep in mind that the favorite could be a team that’s not even listed in the current odds, as a new powerhouse could be formed in the wake of free agency. If you’re feeling like betting in the face of the unknown, take a shot at G2 as their roster should be unchanged.

Pick: G2 Esports (+600)

Region of Winner Odds

A hometown team has never won a World Championship in their own backyard. With 2020 heading to Shanghai, if you believe in patterns, then that would rule out the LPL despite them being looked at as favorites. I’d ignore the hometown curse and instead look at a different pattern. After years of LCK domination, the LPL has now won consecutive World Championships. That streak alone should warrant favoring the LPL over any other region.

Pick: LPL (+125)