Dot Esports’ LoL Worlds 2023 power rankings

Worlds season is upon us, League of Legends fans. And that means only one thing: It’s time for power rankings. 

This year’s edition of Worlds might just be the most stacked League tournament ever. With a whopping 23 teams competing, everyone has a claim to the throne. This season, there are more teams than ever with a real shot at hoisting the Summoner’s Cup. If last year’s tournament proved anything, it’s that anyone can win this thing, and no underdog can be counted out. From top-end favorites like JD Gaming and LNG Esports to former Worlds winners like Dplus KIA and T1, everyone is on the same warpath.

This year, Worlds will be a grueling marathon, with the tournament lasting nearly six weeks and best-of series being implemented from the jump. With this in mind, fans should expect to get an honest look at teams, with the tournament’s new format set to separate the contenders from the pretenders. 

Here’s how our team of League writers ranked the 23 teams participating in Worlds 2023. 

LoL Worlds 2023 teams, ranked

23) CTBC Flying Oyster

Although Flying Oyster came one game away from winning the PCS, we don’t see the longshots making much of a run at Worlds this year, considering how stacked the field is even in the play-in stage. 

22) Movistar R7

The LLA has historically underperformed at Worlds, with its representatives posting a combined record of 3-11 at the tournament dating back to 2020. But this Movistar R7 team did win a series against GAM Esports back at MSI, so although they don’t have as much on-paper talent as some of the other play-in teams, their presence as a potential spoiler can’t be ignored. 

21) Team Whales

Team Whales, the first Vietnamese League team not named GAM Esports or Saigon Buffalo to reach an international event since Lowkey Esports in 2019, are a longshot to contend at Worlds. The team had to claw through an improbable VCS losers bracket run just to get to the tournament, and it’s equally improbable that they’ll make much noise there. 

20) DetonatioN FocusMe

The perennial Japanese juggernaut DFM is back at Worlds, and this year, the team looks like an amalgamation of its former selves. One-time breakout star Aria returned to hold down the mid lane for DFM this season after a brief stint in Korea, while the monitor-attentive veteran Yutapon made a midseason swap from ADC to top lane. Still, the regular season result was the same as DFM emerged from Japan on top. To make it out of the play-ins, though, they’ll have to upset a major region team, which we consider less than likely. 

19) Team BDS

For those who don’t regularly keep up with the LEC, or those who only tune into competitive League during Worlds season, it may be a bit of a surprise to see Team BDS in this year’s event—but they sure as heck earned it. Following a near-complete restructuring of its roster from last year’s debut in the LEC accompanied by the rejuvenation of ADC Crownie’s career, Team BDS have become a new powerhouse of the region, quickly adapting to the new segmented format.

Yet, they will need to compete in the first Worlds qualifying series to even make it to the play-in stage, facing the LCS’ fourth seed, Golden Guardians—which is bound to be a challenge for a squad with minimal international experience.

18) GAM Esports

Hailing from Vietnam, GAM Esports have always been one of the most exciting teams at top-tier events due to their tendency for experimental picks and exhilarating plays against anyone they face. At last year’s Worlds, for example, they managed to pull off a miraculous upset against China’s Top Esports to win their only game of the event, sending the New York crowd into a frenzy and earning their flowers from the League community.

Although they are a far cry from a true championship contender at Worlds, they do have plenty of international experience across the roster. Because of their unpredictability, teams need to study up on possible off-meta picks and other strategies these wildcards could pull out at a moment’s notice.

17) LOUD

Seventeenth is the highest we’ve ranked a Brazilian team in any edition of our Worlds power rankings over the years, but this season’s LOUD squad are deserving of the praise. After a 0-3 start to the second half of the year, LOUD never crumbled, winning 22 of their next 26 games en route to a dominant CBLOL title.

The team is bringing back a core of seasoned players, all but one of whom have seen Worlds action before. Although the play-ins are always a dice roll, we expect this experienced LOUD team to have a good fighting chance among all of the minor region teams at the tournament. 

16) Golden Guardians

Earlier this year, Golden Guardians were turning heads in the LCS with a surprising run to the 2023 Spring Split finals and a Summer Split regular season that saw the team capture the most wins in the org’s history. But since then, the hype around Golden Guardians has considerably cooled. They captured a second-place finish in the Summer Split regular season but couldn’t emulate the same success after falling to Team Liquid in the playoffs.

Although they might not have as much firepower as other teams at the tournament, Golden Guardians have shown that at any given moment, they are more than the sum of their parts. Gori, Stixxay, Huhi, and River have all had shining moments throughout their campaign, while Licorice has had a resurgent year as their rock in the top lane. They will be longshot contenders, but no team should underestimate what they can do under the bright lights.

15) Team Liquid

For a team that has represented the LCS at the World Championship on numerous occasions, it’s been a rather strange ride for Team Liquid throughout the 2023 season. Despite having a roster featuring LCS veterans, former MVPs, up-and-coming talent, and a reigning world champion, Liquid failed to find their footing in the Spring Split before turning their luck around in the summer thanks in part to the addition of APA in the mid lane.

This momentum shift halfway through the year made Liquid a strong force in the LCS Championship—going as far as to eliminate Golden Guardians—and is likely to propel the squad into becoming one of North America’s best chances on the international stage this year.

14) PSG Talon

After losing to major region opponents in Golden Guardians and G2 at MSI, PSG Talon bounced back stronger than ever imaginable, going 25-6 through the domestic portion of the schedule in the summer, easily establishing themselves as the strongest team out of the most competitive minor region. While this PSG squad isn’t close to the one that took top teams to task back in 2021, they can’t be counted out as a contender to make it out of the play-ins and maybe even make some noise in the Swiss stage, too. 

13) NRG Esports

Even though NRG won the 2023 LCS Championship, Worlds represents a whole new beast of a challenge that they must take on, with two players making their first career appearance at the event.

During that run to the organization’s first LCS trophy, NRG reached a new peak in form. Although they did have relatively lackluster early-game numbers throughout the postseason, their mid-to-late game teamfighting and decision-making made them a menace to deal with past the 20-minute mark.

The only issue that they could run into at Worlds is when they face off against destructive teams that know how to close out with early leads. If they can’t clean up their act soon, they could get absolutely run over by top teams that take the advantage and keep it.

12) MAD Lions

It took a while for most LEC competitors to get used to the new three-split format this year, but for MAD Lions, just emerging from another strong season in 2022, this offered further opportunities to prove why they’ve done well in the region since their debut. The team of professional League veterans adapted to the changes almost immediately, making their way to the Winter Playoff finals, then returning for its spring equivalent, where they tasted victory once more.

Instead of momentum propelling the team forward, the taste of success—accompanied by a trip to MSI—appeared to take a mental toll on the team. Fortunately, MAD stood their ground in the Season Finals, though the abrupt shakiness of the team’s performance, coupled with the shorter preparation time for Worlds compared to other regions, has us questioning whether or not they’re truly ready to step onto the international stage once more.

11) Cloud9

One of the most important teams in the history of the LCS is making its way back to the Worlds stage—though this time, not as the region’s first seed. Although it seemed like Cloud9 could not be stopped throughout the 2023 season, the team faltered in the grand finals of the LCS Championship, appearing to misplace their win condition into new mid laner Emenes rather than Spring Split MVP Berserker—who, once more, boasted the highest KDA in the region of those who competed in all games, according to Leaguepedia.

Emenes admitted to feeling the pressure of the stage during the grand finals, ultimately affecting his performance, but that tournament was simply a taste of what they’ll encounter at Worlds. The key components to victory are certainly within C9’s clutches, but they will need Emenes to return to the form he showcased in the Spring Split if they want to have a chance to hoist the Summoner’s Cup.

10) Fnatic

It might not have been a pretty road for Fnatic over the last year, but the orange and black has found its way back to the big dance after all. Many were skeptical of their place at Worlds after two disappointing performances through the Winter and Spring Splits, but after shocking fans in the summer, Fnatic battled their way to a second-place finish at the Season Finals.

With a fresh-faced AD carry in Oh “Noah” Hyeon-taek taking over for Rekkles, the team discovered newfound strengths and finally hit their stride with a lineup they could rely on. The only big question that remains is whether or not they will be fielding their full roster in time for Worlds. They were forced to start Wunder in place of Oscarinin due to a hand injury during the Season Finals, and there still isn’t a timeline for the young upstart’s return to play.

9) Weibo Gaming

Although Weibo Gaming showed signs of relative struggles during the LPL regular season, the team shouldn’t be tossed aside at Worlds—not when you look at who’s lining the roster. Even the most casual of fans should look at this team and say “yeah, they got a shot.” 

Weibo is an oldhead’s dream team. The lineup features four starters who have played at Worlds before, two of whom have won the tournament altogether. Top laner TheShy and support Crisp bring Summoner’s Cup-winning experience to a team full of hungry veterans looking to get back on top, while legendary mid laner Xiaohu is still on his quest to add an elusive Worlds title to his trophy case packed with MSI victories. While we’re not comfortable slotting Weibo ahead of teams that had better regular seasons, we’re also not willing to count them out as an outside knockout stage contender. 

8) G2 Esports

There’s a genuine argument to be made that G2 Esports are the hottest team in professional League coming into Worlds. We always talk about having the right amount of momentum coming into the tournament every year, and there are few teams out there right now who have as much of it as G2 does. 

Not only have G2 been the winners of 27 of their last 33 games, but the team gapped all of Europe while doing it. G2 led the LEC in nearly every statistical category this summer while also contending with some of the best squads worldwide in others. For example, G2’s 18.9 kills per game are the highest on the planet ahead of Worlds, and they also led the world in towers per game and gold per minute, according to League stats site Games of Legends. While there might be a significant gap between the quality of play in the East and the West this season, if any Western team is going to pose a threat at Worlds, it’s going to be G2.

7) Dplus KIA

When creating our rankings, we initially considered placing Dplus KIA—whose first-round LCK playoff bounce played a role in them earning their lowest seed at Worlds in franchise history (LCK’s fourth)—lower on this list. But it’s just so hard to vote against Canyon and ShowMaker.

The duo is making their fifth consecutive appearance at Worlds, and every time they’ve gone together, they’ve reached the top eight at the event. We expect a similar placement out of them this year, and you can never bet against another championship run from a team where three-fifths of the roster has won it all before. 

6) KT Rolster

KT are back at Worlds for the first time in five years. Back then, the team was a hard-lined favorite to win the whole thing but ultimately came up short in the quarterfinal round. While the expectations might not be as high this time around, we expect KT—a legacy org that’s finally back in the picture—to be a contender in the later stages of the tournament. Veterans like Bdd and Lehends have both made the top four at Worlds before, while the topside duo of Kiin and Cuzz have enough power between them to warrant faith in an organization that’s had little to believe in for the last five seasons. 

5) Bilibili Gaming

Although Bilibili Gaming definitely could have finished higher than third in the LPL playoffs, they did have the best record in the league this summer, losing just one regular split match to JDG—the same team that prevented them from lifting the trophy at this year’s MSI. Bilibili are quiet, consistent winners, but they struggle to get past the teams that have had their number. Decisive playoff losses to JDG and LNG have created a solid wall between Bilibili and our top four, but we’re not willing to count them out of the title conversation. 

4) LNG Esports

LNG appear to be the team that’s closest to breaking through the ceiling and upsetting one of the perennial title threats in our top three. This team came one game away from beating the mighty JD Gaming in the LPL Summer Finals and even had them on the ropes in that series, up two games to one at one point. LNG have been quietly stellar, and if they didn’t choke away back-to-back games in the LPL finals, we’d be singing a much different tune right now.

Still, we’re confident that LNG—and their unholy trinity of primetime stars in Tarzan, Scout, and GALA—can at least make the top eight, with a solid chance at actually winning this thing should they climb the JD Gaming-sized mountain that’s been in front of them for months. 

3) T1

Another year, another Worlds appearance for Faker and T1. Together, these two legends of League esports have only missed the grand stage three times since season three. But over the last two years, they’ve become woefully familiar with disappointment. They have finished in second place in four out of the last five LCK finals and have fallen just short of glory over the last four international events.

But even then, most teams around the world would kill for results like this. People only focus on the losses but don’t realize that this organization has remained a top-three threat for years. They do feature some of the best players in their roles, but every League fan knows the true common denominator for their success: Faker. As long as T1’s lifeblood remains, they will continue to compete at a high level. And with world-class teammates like Gumayusi, Keria, Zeus, and Oner following Faker’s lead, the sky will always be the limit for one of the most iconic teams in esports.

2) Gen.G

If there’s any time for Chovy to finally start inching his name into the GOAT conversation, it’s at this year’s World Championship with this powerhouse Gen.G roster. Over the last two years since joining the team, Gen.G have always been within striking distance of greatness. But now, they have a real shot to earn their place in history and bring home glory in front of their home crowd.

They are easily a tournament favorite after earning back-to-back LCK championships while only losing nine games over the course of the entire summer. They maintained destructive early-game leads throughout the split while still holding some of the fastest average game times of any team in the league, according to Oracle’s Elixir.

With the ferocious combo of Chovy and Peanut vying for the best mid-jungle duo at the event, and their young 18-year-old phenom Peyz looking to write his name into the League esports history books early, this roster is poised to finally capture that elusive Summoner’s Cup.

1) JD Gaming

JD Gaming enter this year’s World Championship in a unique position. They’ve claimed three titles already in 2023: two in the LPL and one at MSI. And now, they have the chance to complete League’s elusive “grand slam.” No team has ever won two domestic titles and two international titles in the same season, and only one other team—2019 G2 Esports—came into Worlds with a chance to do so. 

We unanimously placed JDG at the top of our rankings because we believe this team has a serious chance at making history. Finishing the slam would immediately catapult this JDG squad—who have put up a remarkable record of 87-25 to this point in 2023—straight into the “greatest team of all time” discussion. We haven’t seen a season this dominant since, arguably, 2015 SKT, and even they stumbled along the way. This year’s JDG put their foot on the gas back in January and they’ve only pushed it down harder as the year has gone on. 

In 2023, JDG have won almost 80 percent of the games they’ve played, with 22 of their last 28 wins wrapped up in 30 minutes or less. JDG have made a habit of getting ahead early and staying ahead—efficiently winning games at a lightning-fast pace due to how they quickly pivot to any of the players on their roster and turn them into a win condition.

Whether it’s their titanic solo laners 369 and Knight, the ever-threatening carry jungler Kanavi, or the arguable GOAT AD carry Ruler, JDG has an answer to every possible question you can throw at them. We fully expect them to be a lock for at least the Worlds top four and we’re unquestionably confident saying they’re the strongest team coming into the event.