With the dust having settled on the play-in stage, it is time for the pinnacle of the League of Legends season and one of the biggest events in the world of Esports - the LoL World Championship 2022.
Over the course of the next month or so, the 16 best League of Legends teams in the world will battle it out to be crowned global champions.
Last year's main event, which took place in Reykjavik, was won by LPL side Edward Gaming and they are again among the frontrunners in the betting, however, Gen.G, JD Gaming and Top Esports are also expected to go well.
The tournament begins with a group stage with the teams divided across four sections based on their seeding and the top two in each group will advance to the Worlds knockout stage, which comprises quarter-finals, semi-finals and the Grand Final.
Here is a look at who could represent value in the outright betting for the League of Legends World Championship 2022.
| What | League of Legends World Championship 2022 |
| Where | United States |
| When | Friday 7th October - Saturday 5th November 2022 |
| How to watch | Riot Games Twitch channel, League of Legends Youtube channel |
| Odds | Gen.G +200, JD Gaming +250, Top Esports +275, T1 +700, Edward Gaming +850 |
JD Gaming the pick of Asia's big guns
In the 2021 edition of the League of Legends World Championship in Iceland, only two of the eight quarter-finalists came from regions outside of Asia and the title betting is once again dominated by sides from China and South Korea.
LCK side Gen.G lead the way as outright favourites and iconic T1 mid laner Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok said only earlier this week that South Korea still have the strongest region in the world.
However, in the Mid-Season Invitational back in May it was Chinese side Royal Never Give Up who rose to the top, beating "Faker" and his T1 side 3-2 in the final.
And it could be another team from China's LPL who represent the best value in the outright betting.
JD Gaming did not qualify for the Mid-Season Invitational earlier this year, having fallen flat in the LPL Spring playoffs, but they were superb in the LPL Summer, winning 14 of their 16 matches in the regular season before storming through the playoffs.
They went on to beat Top Esports 3-2 in the LPL Summer final and are shaping up well ahead of Worlds.
Their diverse team compositions could be effective given the versatility of the Worlds meta - which refers to the most used strategies and most picked champions - this year and the performances of top laner Bai "369" Jia-Hao will be key.
JD Gaming have previously been in the shadows of other LPL giants but this could well be their year and they have a fairly comfortable group with DWG KIA, Evil Geniuses and G2 Esports all beatable opponents.
Their confidence should be sky-high after their dominance in the LPL Summer and at +250 they offer a bit of value in the outright betting.
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T1 and Gen.G should provide competition
In terms of the other sides at the head of the betting, T1 are tough to ignore given their success at the LCK Spring earlier in the year and their run to the final of the Mid-Season Invitational.
As long as there is "Faker", there is hope of course but their drafting is not always up to scratch and they may struggle to handle the versatile Worlds meta as well as other sides around them.
Gen.G, meanwhile, should also come close after making the semi-finals of the 2021 Worlds and building up to this year's main event by winning the LCK Summer playoffs.
They also have a former world champion in their ranks in Park "Ruler" Jae-hyuk but at the prices, JD Gaming still look the slightly better bet.
Royal Never Give Up could go on a run
Royal Never Give Up of China may have struggled with the meta shift but they still finished with a 13-3 record in the regular season before crumbling in the playoffs.
And the fact they managed to win the Mid-Season Invitational for a second season running earlier this year says something about their strength on the international scene.
Although they will face Gen.G in Group D, they have more than enough in their locker to get past CTBC Flying Oyster and 100 Thieves and could even be worth chancing to go on a run to the final at +400.
Europe's G2 Esports, who were in pool two in the seeding, are the highest in the betting outside of Asia at +5000 to win this year's Worlds, while top European seed Rogue are +6600 to come out on top.
North America's greatest prospects are unsurprisingly Cloud9, who can be backed at x/x.
