League of Legends 2023 World Championships Storylines to Watch

League of Legends Worlds has no shortage of storylines to watch out for. Let’s take a look at five storylines to look for during Worlds.

#1 No Title Defense

The 2022 Worlds winner DRX isn’t in this year’s field. This makes them unable to defend their title resulting in not having the same champion back-to-back. Though there isn’t a shortage of former champions in the field, such as T1, Dplus KIA, and Fnatic.

#2 Last Ride for Faker?

T1 mid laner  Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok has been playing professional League since 2013. Though earlier this year he missed time due to a wrist injury. He did come back in time for T1’s run through the playoffs. Though it is worth wondering will it be time for Faker to hang it up and retire? He has won Worlds three times while winning the MVP at two of them. He’s won MSI and the LCK numerous times. I could very easily see Faker calling it a career, especially if T1 wins it all. Wouldn’t that just be a satisfying ending to the Faker story? Going out on top as the GOAT of winning World titles?

#3 Will the East Continue to Dominate?

The Eastern regions of League of Legends have been owning the Western regions. The World Championships have been won by either an LCK, or LPL every year since Season Three. The only western team to take home top honors was Fnatic in Season One.  The west has had a couple of runner-up finishes in 2018 and 2019, but that’s the closest they have been to a title in the past four to five years. Eastern regions also have consistently gotten out of groups and into the bracket stage. For example, the 2022 World Championship saw seven of eight knockout stage teams come from the LPL or LCK.

#4 New Format

This year the World Championships has a new format. Gone are the groups and we now have a Swiss style bracket. Win three games and you move on to the knockouts, lose three games and you’re eliminated. Will this new format result in an unexpected winner, or will it be an expected favorite to hoist the title? Will the fans react positively, or negatively to the change? Will it be an experimental format for just this tournament, or will it become the established format moving forward? Either way it’s worth keeping an eye on during the tournament.

#5 The Meta

You never know what you’re going to get when it comes to picks and bans at Worlds. Will teams try off-meta things like Garen and Yuumi or stick to tried and true and maybe even boring picks? The most recent new League of Legends champion Briar isn’t available to use, so she won’t be shaking up the meta. It’s worth tuning in just to see if there are any unique picks and bans. It’s also worth watching to see which champions may become the next batch of championship team skins and see if your favorite, or main makes the cut.