The play-in stage has concluded and Friday marks the beginning of the main event at this year's League of Legends World Championship in the USA.
The 16 best League of Legends teams in the world have been seeded and divided across four groups with the top two from each section set to advance to the tournament's knockout phase.
It is considered the pinnacle of the League of Legends season and has an expected prize pool of $2,225,000.
Edward Gaming won the event last year and the defending champions are 17/2 to make it back-to-back titles and the outright betting is dominated by teams from China and South Korea.
But there are also some competitive heats when it comes to betting on which teams will make it out of or win their respective groups.
With the opening batch of matches only a day away, here is a look at some of the best group bets ahead of Worlds 2022.
What | League of Legends World Championship 2022 |
| Where | USA |
| 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 +300, T1 +750, Edward Gaming +800 |
Defending Worlds champions could be worth taking on in Group A
In the first group at Worlds 2022, the odds suggest it will be a toss-up between T1 of South Korea's LCK and defending Worlds champions Edward Gaming of China's LPL for top spot.
T1 are -125 to come out on top while Edward Gaming can be backed at +125 but both have been off the pace recently.
EG picked up five defeats in the LPL Summer regular season before crashing out of the playoffs in the fourth round of the upper-bracket and then the semi-finals.
T1, meanwhile, had a strong LCK Summer regular season, winning 15 of their 18 matches, but lost to rivals Gen.G 3-0 in the final of the playoffs.
Of the two, though, T1 look more likely to stabilise at the Worlds with top talent Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok leading the way and the fact they were runners-up at this year's Mid-Season Invitational shows they can hold their own on the international stage.
They are worth a bet to win the group at -125 and those after a more ambitious bet might consider Cloud9 at +700 to qualify.
EG may well rediscover their mojo but if not there could be an opening in Group A and Cloud9 could be the team to capitalise.
They often represent North America's best hope at these events and could be buoyed by playing on their own patch.
Last year they got out of their group ahead of Rogue and FunPlus Phoenix and with the experience of Nicolaj "Jensen" Jensen in their ranks, they should not be ruled out.
G2 Esports could cause a stir in Group B
In Group B, JD Gaming are the standout team and are -10000 to qualify and -300 to top the section.
That seems fair given how authoritative the team were in the LPL Summer this year and they should handle the versatile Worlds meta better than most.
DWG KIA are fancied to join them in the knockout stage but they were unconvincing in the LCK Summer, losing eight games in the regular season, and their reputation as an Asian outfit and former Worlds winners could be playing a part.
Instead, G2 Esports could be worth chancing at +250 to qualify, having made the final of the LEC Summer playoffs and winning the LEC Spring earlier in the year.
They also made it through the group stage and rumble stage of the Mid-Season Invitational, losing to a star-studded T1 in the semi-finals, and they can put up a fight.
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Groups C and D unlikely to throw up many shocks
The remaining two groups appear to be foregone conclusions as far as the betting is concerned.
Top Esports and DRX are -50000 and -225 respectively to make it out of Group C and, although Rogue have enjoyed a decent domestic season, their Asian counterparts could be too strong.
As for Group D, tournament outright favourites Gen.G are -25000 to progress to the quarter-finals with Royal Never Give Up priced at -10000 in the same market.
It is hard to dispute either of them slipping up, although there are worse bets than Royal Never Give Up at +200 to top the group.
Royal Never Give Up were seriously impressive at the Mid-Season Invitational earlier in the year, posting eight wins in ten matches in the rumble stage and beating T1 3-2 in the final.
They will be up for the challenge at Worlds and are worth keeping an eye on.
