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Worlds 2023 Play-ins have just ended. BDS and GAM join the rest of the squads to complete the 16 team group for the new Swiss Stage. For the past four years, the Summoner’s Cup has been bouncing back and forth between China and South Korea each year. If expectations are met and the writers stick to the script, it’s LPL’s year to take it. And, after what happened at MSI 2023, the region is likely entering the tournament as the favorite to win it all, regardless of what the scriptwriters do. But what do the experts think?  

Worlds 2023's new format

  The new Group Stage format is indubitably an advantageous change for both the LPL and the LCK, but the Chinese region might be benefitting even more this change than their South Korean counterpart. Since 2019 an LPL team has been eliminated in the Group Stage every single year. In 2021, even though Edward Gaming took the Summoner's Cup home, both FPX and LNG dropped out of the tournament before reaching Playoffs. Although the BO1s are still present in this brand new Swiss Stage, all elimination and qualification games with be BO3.  

Image via Riot Games

The format is not perfect and many believe that BO1s should be eliminated entirely, but allowing teams who do not practice BO1s in any scenario outside of International Tournaments is a decent compromise. The days of seeing an LPL seed exiting Worlds while exclusively playing BO1s are over.  

The voices of the LPL weigh-in

  Esportsheaven got a hold of four LPL casters and a returning guest-expert/LPL Superfan. We asked them all the same questions: 1- JD Gaming, Bilibili Gaming, LNG Esports and Weibo Gaming. Is this the most stacked group of teams China has ever sent to Worlds? 2- Who do you think will be the biggest surprise out of the four LPL seeds for people who don’t follow the region? 3- What team(s) from other regions (major or minor) are you most excited to watch? 4- Who’s winning Worlds 2023? Here is what they had to say.  

Jake "Hysterics" Osypenko

  Jake, better known as "Hysterics" has been casting the LPL for four years now. The play-by-play caster has finally gotten his chance to cast at a World Championship, so do not miss him on the broadcast! 1- It's definitely the most stacked rosters we've ever seen in name value alone. In skill I've never been so convinced about LPL's chances as even our 4th seed could have a crazy run at the title, in my honest opinion. I feel like we have vastly different styles, but also have the individual skill that at different Worlds was never to this level.  

Image via LPL

  2- I think LNG, who have been massively underrated, will surprise everyone. They're our most LCK style team with a slower pace and a much more patient style of play. They have a lot of champion flexibility as well with international rookie Zika who plays it all Top. 3- It's a boring answer but I think G2 are always full of surprises, I'm a big fan of the rookie Yike and how G2 drafts; with this meta we could literally see anything from this team. 4- Easy to say; JDG for the slam dunk - one of the most powerful rosters to ever grace the game.  

Adrian "Jamada" Wharlton-Thorne

  Jamada joined the LPL broadcast team at the beginning of 2023 and has been killing it in the broadcast ever since. You might've also seen him as a guest on the LEC. You can catch him on Twitch. 1- Not a doubt in my mind. JDG are currently the best team in the world, BLG have been closely trailing them all year and LNG has had a sharp rise and almost stole the Summer title from JDG. WBG are the dark horse team. They’re the only team from the LPL going to Worlds that has taken a series off of JDG. 2- This one is a no brainer, it’s gotta be LNG. JDG have cruised most of this year with [the exception of a] few series from BLG/WBG. But in Summer Playoffs just gone I don’t think it’d be an unfair judgment to say LNG deserved to take either of those series they took JDG to 5 games in. Considering they missed MSI, if they’re going to perform like they did during Playoffs, they will shock audiences and unprepared teams alike.  

Image via LPL

  3- The years spent as an EU fan draw me to look at G2. They greatly underperformed during MSI and I think throughout Summer they’ve gone from strength to strength. Whilst I think the LPL is looking the most threatening it’s ever looked and the LCK will no doubt have as least 2 consistently strong teams, G2 in my mind are the ONLY western team that can *at times* currently hold a candle to the [Asian regions]. Also shoutout to MAD, sometimes they hit this flow state that really does make them look unbeatable. Whether they finally decide to show up in that state at an international event is yet to be seen. 4- If it isn’t JDG I’ll be mildly surprised. Hottest take ever I know but I believe they truly are the front runners. If GEN don’t choke they can certainly do it, T1 at international play is always a different beast and of course LNG pushing JDG so hard domestically in Playoffs should keep their names hot on our mind. I’m very reserved about BLG, we’ll simply have to see how the meta affects their play style.  

Linda Pro League

  The LPL Twitter (X) expert/superfan is back with another batch of thorough answers to our pressing questions! You can keep up with her hot-takes and with all things LPL (and more) on her X page. 1- Although I do agree all four teams are incredibly stacked, I don’t know if I’d call it the most stacked group in LPL history. I think it’s easy to conflate JDG’s overall success and BLG’s insane run at MSI with everyone else (sorry LNG and WBG, I still love you guys!), while also forgetting how previous teams sent by China have had at least two heavy hitters in their squad. I mean, just last year people thought TES would be one of the front-runners before they had that nightmare performance in Groups, so it’s really hard to tell how these four teams will do once Worlds actually comes around. All in all, I wouldn’t say I believe this is the most stacked group ever sent by China, but I do think JDG is one of the most holistic and strongest team sent by China! 2- I think LNG will be the biggest surprise. WBG’s star-studded roster is, in a way, both detrimental and beneficial to them. For example, TheShy and Xiaohu are all names that will turn heads, but at the same time, it comes with a set of expectations that could hamper their play on the international stage. LNG, on the other hand, is relatively ”forgotten” and I say this with the biggest quotation marks but if I have to see another person forget to mention Scout when talking about the best midlaners at Worlds, I might lose it! But this ”obscurity” does allow LNG to have a bit more leeway because there just won’t be the same set of expectations on new guys like Zika and Hang like there is on Crisp or Light. And while Tarzan, Scout and GALA are to a certain extent household names, they’re never really let into the house unless they get their daily pentakill/ace, so I expect some surprising plays from LNG.  

Image via LPL

3- I gotta be honest, I’m very excited to see what the LCK teams will bring to the stage. As an LPL fan, it’s always fun to have that fierce rivalry with teams like GENG and T1. I’m also so happy to see Deft back again after the tumultuous year he’s had, and though she may be dying, my not entirely dead KT Rolster heart wants to see if it’s possible for KT to rebrand themselves and do, perhaps, well? (hint: most likely not). Other than those teams, I’m interested in seeing NRG and Team Liquid. NRG, because they had a very up-and-down season yet still managed to pull off such a huge upset by winning it all. I’d like to see the magic continue at Worlds. And TL because they’ll always have a special place in my heart (shoutout to CoreJJ), and it’s fun to have at least two defending champions back with Deft and Pyosik! 4- I don’t want to jinx it and I don’t want to curse anything, but my bet’s gonna be on JDG.  

Joe "Munchables" Fenny

  Munchables has been casting the LPL since Spring 2023 and is casting Worlds for the first time. If you've been watching the Play-ins, you'll have seen and heard a lot of him by now. 1- Quite possibly, I wouldn't be expecting all 4 in semis or anything like that but I'll be disappointed if the teams don't make quarters at least. 2- LNG are a lot better than people realise, they managed to take JDG to 10 games across playoffs and almost won the finals. Scout is in insane form and you really should expect the unexpected. 3- I think GEN is a team that will be really fun to watch because of how stacked that roster is - I feel like when they play against the top LPL teams the mechanics on show are going to be unbelievable. 4-  BLG definitely :Copium:  

Alex ‘Nymaera’ Hapgood

  Although he became known as the LJL expert, the man has honestly been doing it all. He's been casting the LPL since the beginning of the year, but you'll have seen him on the LEC, Summoning Insight, his streams or wherever else. 1- I think it's hard to call most stacked LPL years because pre-worlds teams are looked at very differently before the meta evolves. I think this group of teams is certainly the most versatile set of LPL teams that have been sent - none of these teams are 1-style dependent outside of maybe BLG who can struggle to adapt in some cases, like against JDG in their 6 losses to them this year. 2- I think the biggest surprise will be from LNG since they haven't been seen Internationally since 2021 and people have short memories for LPL teams. Scout and Tarzan are the best mid-jungle duo in the world and took JDG to 5 games twice in playoffs - outdoing even BLG's close spring rivalry with them - and they found some styles of play that really unsettled JDG in the finals by playing like an LCK team in the LPL with a chokehold on sidelanes before objectives which I think will transfer very well to the world stage. 3- I think I'm really excited to see how PSG do, they're incredible at looking for flank engages and Junjia is on incredible form, and the rest of the team are on the same page as him when he engages. They draft plenty of engage top and mid laners too which not all teams do, so they have some individual flavour they bring to the draft. [When this interview was conducted, PSG were still in contention. They've since been eliminated by BDS in a 5 game series.]  

Image via LPL

4- JDG are winning Worlds 2023, though I think LNG may well meet them in the finals, if the meta works out for them.  

LNG and JDG- The LPL's deadliest weapons

  Despite all interviews being conducted separately, the answers were quite similar. There is some disagreement regarding the first question, but LNG as the LPL surprise and JDG as the favorites to win Worlds 2023 is the de facto consensus from our five interviewees. BLG and WBG deserved the honorable mentions, though, and should truly be feared. Don't forget, the winner of Worlds 2022 was LCK's 4th seed. Let's see if JDG reach the ridiculous expectations that come along with their roster, or if Worlds 2023 will be another edition filled with surprises.

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Featured image via LPL. If you enjoyed this article, check out the author @Mushwrites on X. We will be following Worlds 2023 closely, keep an eye on our LoL directory for more content like this.