With the Play-Ins done and dusted and all teams ready for the Swiss Stage, here are our team rankings for Worlds 2023.
Worlds 2023 started a few days ago as the Play-Ins have finally concluded. League of Legends is having its biggest tournament in a calendar year, and things are looking pretty good for teams and fans.
The fan experience has improved with better rewards on the Worlds 2023 Event, Coven skin line, Worlds Unlocked, etc. There is also a BoyBand skin line that will be added to the Worlds 2023 Event.
That said, the main prize is the competitive games. With a new format, the Play-Ins were exciting as GAM Esports and Team BDS climbed up to the Swiss Stage. Since then, the draw has already happened, and we know our first matchups for Round 1 of the Swiss Stage.
Thus, we are ranking all 16 teams based on their performances in the past and projections for the future. Here are our rankings.
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Worlds 2023 Team Rankings for Swiss Stage
With all the 16 teams ready for the tournament, we are doing our Worlds 2023 rankings. Our criteria of evaluation are based on performances the entire year and Summer Split, projecting the team’s trajectory, and so on.
That said, here are all the team rankings and why we rank them as such.
16. Team BDS

While Team BDS went from the Worlds Qualification Series to the Swiss Stage, there are still a few question marks. There is no question that the team has stepped up when it matters and beat the opponents in front of them.
However, without Adam’s pocket picks, the team looks fairly standard. Sheo still has a lot of work to do to shore up his Jungling, while Crownshot and Labrov are the shining lights of this team.
To keep this up, they have to carry that momentum forward, but even then, it is an extremely hard task, especially when they face JDG.
15. GAM Esports

While their first series in the Play-Ins was disappointing, GAM came thundering back to beat Movistar R7 handily, take revenge against LOUD decisively, and beat their compatriots in Team Whales.
Their Play-Ins performance has shown that the team has the playmaking caliber in them but still lacks some organized gameplay at times. Levi is their main spearhead, while Slayder and Kati have really stepped up.
This team has gotten better in the course of the Play-Ins, so it will be interesting to see how they perform in the Swiss Stage. Things do not get easier when your first opponent is Gen.G.
14. Team Liquid

Last of the initial 14 teams in the Swiss Stage, Team Liquid comes in. At the same time, the team has a lot of upsides, with APA coming in and Yeon and CoreJJ making a good performing bot lane. However, the team has a lot of question marks.
Pyosik is a huge wildcard in the jungle, while Summit is not at his peak. While the meta suits Summit, it is still a hard ask to compete at the highest level.
Overall, a lot is unknown about how this team performs at the Swiss Stage, so we will have to see who they draw.
13. MAD Lions

It is extremely hard to trust the MAD Lions. At one point, they can win the LEC, and at the other moment, they can simply lose to T1 in 19 minutes. MAD Lions is a team that is the definition of hit or miss.
While the team has Elyoya as their jungler and Carzzy has upped his game, the rest of the team is a question mark. Chasy is limited in terms of champion pool, Nisqy has not been playing well, and Hylissang is a coinflip player.
To add more to this, Mac, their head coach, will not be in Korea. So, a lot of things are working against this team, and it is hard to say if they will perform at a high level. Let’s see how it all goes.
12. Cloud9

C9 just comes behind NRG after losing that LCS Finals. That does not stop them from being a great team in the LCS. They could easily topple NRG at Worlds 2023 but we will have to see how they perform.
The team has Fudge as a good top laner and a really good bot lane in Berserker and Zven. However, the question marks remain EMENES and Blaber. While Blaber can be very hit or miss, he has shown to perform really well.
How well C9 can perform is yet to be seen and all of this could depend on the draw. We will have to see how all of that goes.
11. NRG

This is the great American story as a team that started with NA talent rose to win the LCS Finals in a shocking turn of events. They built up the team to compete, and now they are at the pinnacle of the NA League of Legends.
Palafox, Contractz, and Dhokla are the big players for this team, while Ignar and FBI have been a solid bot lane. The team rose to heights, and now it’s up to them to prove they can perform at that height consistently.
Going up against bigger and better teams will be harder, but they will channel that underdog mentality to try and get some wins. Whether they make it to the Knockouts Stage is yet to be seen, but it is something that could happen.
10. Fnatic

In a short span of time, Fnatic turned it around to make it to Worlds 2023. However, it is a fairly short sample size, so we will have to see if that was a blip or not. The acquisition of Trymbi and Noah has changed the dynamic of Fnatic.
Rallying around a new team dynamic, the team performed at a high level in Summer 2023. Razork has been the big performer, while Oscarinin has really ascended as a very good top laner. Also, the combination of Noah and Trymbi in the bot lane has done a lot for this team.
There is still a lot of unknown with this team, as we will have to see how they perform. Qualifying for the Worlds Knockouts Stage will be a big achievement, and competing with the best of the best will go a long way. Let’s see how Fnatic does at Worlds 2023.
9. Dplus KIA

It is hard to trust Dplus KIA at Worlds 2023. Their performances have been so up and down that it is hard to judge when that goes. For the qualification, they had to fight through the Regional Qualifiers in order to make their way into Worlds 2023.
The team has relied on Canyon and Deft in order to make it to the tournament. ShowMaker has had a down year according to his standards, and Canna has been up and down at best. There is a lot of uncertainty with this team.
However, if they get it together, this team can compete in the tournament. As to whether it will be good enough to win the trophy is hard to tell. The underdog story has happened before, and we will have to see if they can truly pull it off.
8. G2 Esports

G2 Esports is the best Western team in League of Legends. The team has dominated the LEC for most of the year, showing that they are capable of playing multiple meta and performing at a high level.
This team relies a lot on Mikyx, Caps, and BrokenBlade to make plays. Uncommon to most teams, Mikyx has performed the best on this team, being one of the best laners and roamers in the league.
The rest of the team has performed really well, particularly BrokenBlade. However, the problem with G2 is that they have not really been tested. So, we will have to wait and see how they really perform against the best of the best.
7. KT Rolster

There are two sides to the KT Rolster coin for Summer 2023. On the one hand, we had the undefeated KT Rolster, who beat anyone and everyone during the Split. Then, we had the other KT Rolster, who can’t seem to win games or draft even.
The dichotomy of KT Rolster is strange, but that defines them perfectly. They have one of the most talented solo laners in BDD and Kiin, while their bot lane is pretty stable. However, their record falls in the hands of Cuzz as he has to be the big performer of this team.
So it depends a lot on how the team performs as a whole to have a shot to win the tournament. We will have to see how that goes.
6. Weibo Gaming

You love and hate this team at the same time. Weibo Gaming is one of the biggest wildcards of this tournament. Nobody knows what to expect from this team, to be honest, neither do we. But, given how the rest of the teams stack up, WBG still has what it takes to compete at the top level.
WBG has one of the best performing mid laners in Summer, a consistent bot lane, a solid jungler, and TheShy. Xiaohu and Weiwei have been the big performers of this team while the enemy team is focusing on TheShy.
When it is WBG’s day, they can beat anyone but the task for this team is to remove that fluctuation in form. Become more consistent, and we could see a better WBG going forward.
5. T1

T1 struggled for a good part of Summer Split due to Faker being out due to injury. But his return changed how the team operates. With Faker being in the team, T1 performs way better than people expect.
However, we are at a point where we keep expecting T1 to win something only to fall short. It happened three times this year with the LCK Finals losses and the MSI 2023 loss to BLG. Faker is the talisman of this team, while Gumayusi is their biggest win condition.
For T1 to reach great heights, Zeus, Oner, and Keria will need to step up. Zeus has to prove he can perform under pressure, and Oner cannot disappear during games. Keria needs to just up his game. If all of these happened, T1 could reach the Finals once more and finally win a trophy.
4. Bilibili Gaming

BLG is easily one of the biggest surprises this year. Given how the team ascended to reach the MSI 2023 Finals, everyone has had high expectations for BLG. However, things have not been as smooth as they should be for them.
They came 2nd in the LPL due to Championship Points, with the team being blown out by JDG and LNG taking care of them as well. Bin leads the way for the team, while Elk is one of the best AD Carries in the game. ON has become an excellent Support while the team has really gotten together towards the big goal: A Worlds trophy.
What BLG lacks is going above their level and this is what they need to do. We will have to see how all of that goes when the tournament starts.
3. LNG Esports

With the upswing of LNG’s form and the addition of GALA, LNG rose to great heights. They went to the LPL Summer Finals and pushed JDG to the brink. That is a massive success in a split after acquiring one of the best AD Carries in the game.
The addition of GALA changed the landscape while Scout has been one of the best performing mid laners. Other members of the team rallied around these two and performed the best they ever had as a team.
There is a lot this team could do with them showing up against JDG and showing they can challenge them. However, it is still a relatively short sample size, so they will have to rise to the occasion to win it all. They certainly have the squad for it, so all they need to do is just do it.
2. Gen.G

After winning LCK Summer 2023, Gen.G is back-to-back LCK champions. However, they still have a bitter taste of being defeated at MSI 2023. This is a tournament of redemption for them like it always is. The stigma of being chokers haunts them, and they have to prove they can play on the biggest stage.
They have the best mid-laner in the world, Chovy, in their team that pairs up with one of the smartest junglers of all time, Peanut. Paired up with an ascending AD Carry in Peyz, a Support who has truly found his stride in Delight, and the steady top laner Doran, this team could make a fair bit of noise.
But with Gen.G, their biggest weakness is themselves, and they need to have the mental strength to power through all the disappointments in the past. If they can break free from the curse and rally the home crowd behind them, they have a shot and a very good shot at that to win it all.
1. JD Gaming

JDG are the big favorites to win the whole tournament. Given their performance over the course of the year, this should not come as a surprise. Thus, every fan in the entire world is keen on how JDG will perform.
They have all the components for success, as they arguably have the best players in their individual roles. There is no debate that Kanavi and Ruler are the best Jungler and AD Carry in the World. Also, 369, knight, and Missing can easily be the best players in their positions on any given day.
A star-studded roster that has yet to lose a tournament is what JDG is. They are on the way for a Golden Road, and we could see it happen. If they win Worlds 2023, we could speak of JDG as the best team League of Legends has ever seen. Quite a bit is at stake for JDG, and we are all here to see it.