The League of Legends World Championship, known to everyone simply as Worlds, kicks off on October 16 to crown this year's ultimate powerhouse. Looking at global power rankings and related predictive metrics as of October 12, Hanwha Life Esports, Gen.G, and Bilibili Gaming have emerged as the formidable top three. These squads have crossed paths and clashed fiercely across various tournaments all year long.

That being said, every single one of these contenders is lugging around a glaring, fatal flaw. Hanwha Life Esports tends to swing wildly between dizzying highs and dismal lows due to an over-aggressive, breakneck tempo, meaning the roster desperately needs to refine its style to keep performance peaks steady throughout Worlds. Meanwhile, Gen.G has to finally banish the persistent curse of slumping during the knockout stage—a worrying trend that has plagued the organization for years on end.

Finally, Bilibili Gaming sits at the very top of the LPL standings, but behind-the-scenes footage has caught some 내부적으로 internal friction, such as players ignoring head coach Daeny's draft calls or breaking rehearsed plays on stage. Whether the entire roster can shake off the drama and throw themselves fully into Worlds remains the ultimate question mark.

T1, reigning supreme as last year's Worlds champions, currently sits at fifth in the power rankings. While the squad has shown erratic form all season long, the organization notoriously levels up whenever Worlds season rolls around, making it a squad you simply cannot ignore. Beyond them, AL—having dethroned Bilibili Gaming to win LPL Split 3—and Dplus KIA, who snatched the Esports World Cup trophy back in July, are being tipped as dangerous dark horses ready to blow the tournament wide open.

So, who will ultimately claim the crown and lift the Summoner's Cup at this year's Worlds? On top of that, everyone is watching to see if the LCK can pull off a staggering fifth consecutive championship title.