Saudi Arabia is about to host the first ever edition of the Esports World Cup and it is sure to be a memorable event.
With a combined prize pool of more than $60 million, the Esports World Cup, taking place in Riyadh, will feature a mammoth 22 competitions across 21 different Esport disciplines from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive to Dota 2.
And one of the most eye-catching events on the cards is the Esports World Cup League of Legends competition.
The League of Legends event specifically has a prize pool of $1m and features some familiar teams from around the globe.
Gen.G Esports, Bilibili Gaming, G2 Esports and Team Liquid are just some of the sides competing in the eight-team event and it will be played in a straight knockout format, beginning with the quarterfinals.
All matches will be played in a best-of-three format with the exception of the final, which will be a best-of-five tussle.
There is no form book for the League of Legends event at the Esports World Cup given it is in the inaugural competition.
That said, international tournaments are pretty frequent in the League of Legends realm and this year's Mid-Season Invitational could give some clues as to which teams might excel.
The obvious pick for most bettors will be Gen.G Esports, who have bossed the South Korean LCK and went on to win the MSI 2024.
They are -150 to lift the trophy but they could face competition from +275 shots Bilibili Gaming, who also made it to the final of the MSI earlier this season.
En route to the final, Bilibili Gaming took down South Korean giants T1 before losing the final 3-1 to Gen.G Esports and there is every chance they could cause a stir again.
Bilibili Gaming begin their Esports World Cup against T1 but are on the opposite half of the draw to Gen.G, which surely only enhances their chances of making the final.
Bettors should also recognise how strong Bilbili Gaming have been in their region this year, posting a 15-1 win-loss record in the regular season of the LPL Spring before going on to win the playoffs.
At +275, they look overpriced to win this competition in Riyadh.
Those fancying Bilibili Gaming to go the distance at the League of Legends World Cup may also look at a bet on China's LPL to be the winning region.
This wager offers slightly worse odds than an outright punt on Bilbili Gaming to win the tournament but has the added insurance of Top Esports, who are the other contenders from the LPL.
It would certainly raise eyebrows if +1400 Top Esports were to win the League of Legends World Cup but they are not a bad back-up selection.
They were in the MSI earlier this year, so have some international experience under their belt, and although they suffered an early exit, they pushed Gen.G Esports close in a 3-2 defeat.
They were also strong in the LPL Spring earlier in 2024, winning 13 of their 16 games and they could be in for a decent tournament.
They begin their tournament against the imperious Gen.G Esports but have given the LCK side a run for their money before and if they were to win, they would be in a great position to make the final.
Coupled with Bilbili Gaming potentially dominating the top half of the draw, that could well set up a Grand Final between two LPL sides, guaranteeing that bet wins.
Of course, there are a lot of ifs, buts and maybes involved, so punters may prefer to stick with Bilbili Gaming at +275 but this could be a noteworthy supplementary bet.
LCK unsurprisingly leads the way in the region of winner market at -225, while the LEC is +1200 to produce the winner and the LCS is +6600.
Gen.G | -150 |
Bilibili Gaming | +275 |
T1 | +600 |
G2 Esports | +1400 |
Top Esports | +1400 |
Fnatic | +6600 |
Team Liquid | +8000 |
FlyQuest | +20000 |
This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.