Just a few days remain until the League of Legends (LoL) community welcomes the World Championship (Worlds) 2023 – the largest annual international tournament in the League of LoL. As always, the Worlds 2023 tournament is highly anticipated for its extreme professionalism, as well as determining which team deserves the number one spot in the League of Legends scene at that time. Moreover, the championship title at Worlds is a longing for any LoL player, including those currently dominating the tournament like Faker with 3 championships.
Since 2018, teams from the LPL have only truly touched the glory of Worlds, starting with the championship cup of Invictus Gaming. However, even when the LCK has severely weakened, the LPL has only managed to defend the title for two consecutive years (2018 – 2019) with different teams. After Damwon Gaming (DWG) reclaimed the championship cup at Worlds 2020 for the LCK, the LPL only had one more title in 2021 with Edward Gaming, and that was it. At Worlds 2022, the representatives from the LPL fell one by one, especially the embarrassing defeat of Top Esports against GAM Esports, forcing them to head home right from the group stage.
However, at Worlds 2023, even if JD Gaming (the team considered the top contender for the championship) wins, the LCK still asserts its absolute dominant position at the prestigious tournament in the League of Legends scene. This is not only due to the number of cups that the LCK currently holds, or the presence of Faker but also because evidence has recently emerged: there are 10 past Worlds champions participating in Worlds 2023. Among these 10, the only player not from Korea is Crisp – the Support who won the championship with FunPlus Phoenix in 2019.
Specifically, these 10 names include: Faker (T1), Ruler (JDG), CoreJJ (Team Liquid), TheShy and Crisp (Weibo Gaming), Canyon and ShowMaker (DK), Deft and Pyosik (DRX), Scout (LNG Esports). Among them, Faker is the only player from SKT T1 who won the championship in 2016 and is still competing and attending Worlds. Similarly, Scout is in a situation where his former teammates at EDG who dominated Worlds 2021 have to stay home. CoreJJ, although he has moved to TL, will reunite with his junior Ruler from Samsung Galaxy 2017 at the upcoming tournament in Korea.
Notably, if JDG can win Worlds 2023, then within this team, 2 key members who are also currently performing at the highest levels, Ruler and Kanavi, also hail from the LCK. It is worth mentioning that Ruler has a great opportunity to win his second Worlds championship in his career.
The names mentioned above, regardless of their playing time and current performance, still maintain a certain prestige. Among these, the most notable is of course Faker. However, it is certain that the other superstars are also very eager to touch the championship title at Worlds once again and step onto the pinnacle of glory in the League of Legends scene.