League of Legends Worlds 2022: What you need to know about the teams in the Knockout Stage

The League of Legends World Championship 2022 is now heading into the last stages of competition as its Knockout Stage kicks off on Friday (21 October).

T1, EDward Gaming (EDG), JD Gaming (JDG), DAMWON KIA, DRX, Rogue, Gen.G, and Royal Never Give Up (RNG) will once again compete on the Worlds stage and fight for a spot in the semifinals.

From what all eight teams have shown throughout the competition, which one will rise to the occasion to claim the Summoner's Cup?

JD Gaming

JD Gaming (JDG), the League of Legends Pro League (LPL) Summer Champions, are one of the most dominant teams at Worlds.

JDG came out of Group B as the first seed after defeating South Korean third seed DWG KIA in a tiebreaker after finishing 5-1.

According to LoL stats tracker Oracle’s Elixir, JDG were the only team in Worlds to average more than one kill per minute during the group stage, with a total of 125 kills across their seven games.

The team’s bot laner, Wang "Hope" Jie, has been showing up strong and carrying teamfights. Along with jungler Seo “Kanavi” Jin-hyeok expertly moving around the map and Zeng “Yagao” Qi dominating in the mid lane, we think JDG has a strong chance to make it to the finals and raise the Summoner’s Cup.

T1

Three-time LoL world champions T1 entered Worlds as the League of Legends Korea Championship (LCK) second seed and their players have been in great form since the tournament began.

Coming out of Group A, named the Group of Death by many fans and analysts, T1 earned the first seed after finishing 5-1, with their only loss coming at the hands of European team Fnatic.

T1's bot lane duo, Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyeong and Ryu “Keria” Min-seok, may have received a ton of criticism over the Summer, but their performance at Worlds has been strong so far.

They even became part of the list of players with the highest KDA in the Group Stage.

With League of Legends GOAT Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok engaging in teamfights and setting up his team to succeed, T1 have a good chance to win it all once again this year.

They just need to make sure they review their drafts well, keep a healthy mental state, and don’t let the pressure get to them.

Royal Never Give Up

Reigning MSI champions RNG was the LPL’s fourth seed, but that didn’t stop them from performing and becoming stronger at each stage of the competition.

RNG dominated the Play-ins and destroyed their competition in the Group Stage, only falling to Gen.G in a tiebreaker.

RNG have shown intelligence in their drafts, strong teamfighting skills, and cross-map trading.

This Chinese team may have already snagged three consecutive Mid-Season Invitational titles, but they haven’t made it to the Grand Finals since 2014 and are hungry for that win.

With how they’ve been consistently performing, who knows? This might be the year that RNG finally claim that elusive world championship title.

Gen.G

This is the first time that Gen.G have stepped into Worlds as LCK’s first seed, and the first time that the team members have joined the competition as their region’s champions.

Gen.G are strong tournament favourites, and rightfully so, since they finished Group D 5-1, beating RNG in a tiebreaker match to become their group’s first seed.

Han “Peanut” Wang-ho, Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon, Son “Lehends” Si-woo, and Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk also ended the Groups as part of the list of Top 10 players with the highest KDA.

Gen.G are the sort to keep on practising, experimenting, and analysing, and we think if they keep their momentum, they might even be able to win their first-ever title as a team.

We just hope they don’t blind-pick anything based on scrims as they did in their first game at groups, so the chance doesn’t slip away from their fingers.

Rogue

Rogue, the last hope of the West, made it out of Group C as the second seed after getting defeated by DRX in a tiebreaker.

People weren’t expecting Rogue to do as well as they did at Worlds, but it’s undeniable that this specific roster has a shot.

The team demonstrated their skill and discipline in the first round of groups, sweeping DRX, Top Esports and GAM Esports. One of the factors to their success, according to jungler, Kim "Malrang" Geun-seong, is that they trust each other.

However, the team lost two consecutive times in the second round of the Group Stage, with seemingly experimental picks like the Nasus pick for Adrian “Trymbi” Trybus that cost them a game against DRX.

Rogue have shown that they have what it takes to defeat giants like G2 Esports and Top Esports.

But to ensure they stay in the competition for a shot at raising the Summoner’s Cup, they must not let their guard down, especially because their next opponent will be one more giant in JDG.

EDward Gaming

Defending LoL world champions EDG have fielded the same roster as last year when they won Worlds 2021.

While they didn’t finish with a regional championship title this year, they're still a very formidable team.

Having survived the onslaught of teams from Group A, EDG finished as its second seed, trying but failing to defeat T1 on both occasions.

However, none of those games were stomps, and their other matches against Fnatic and Cloud9 prove that the team still has what it takes to win the competition.

Remember, EDG came out as a dark horse last year and defeated DWG KIA in an upset at the Grand Finals. While they aren’t the frontrunners, the tides can still turn in their favour if they play their cards right.

DWG KIA

2020 World Champions and LCK third seed DWG KIA are still absolute juggernauts in the competition. The team ended Groups 5-1 and lost the tiebreaker against JDG, thus ending up as Group D’s second seed.

The team’s mid laner, Heo “Showmaker” Su, has been making all the difference in the team, even ranking as the 5th player at Worlds with the highest KDA.

With Jang “Nuguri” Ha-gwon and Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu, one of the best and most consistent junglers in the LCK, DWG KIA has the potential to reclaim their old mantle as LoL world champions.

DRX

DRX may only be LCK’s fourth seed, but they have shown they're stronger than most other teams at Worlds.

The team’s mid laner, Kim "Deft" Hyuk-kyu, has been searching for his first World title for 12 years now, and winning this year would mean he can finish his LoL career at an all-time high.

DRX continued to surprise fans, and even themselves, with how they’ve been defeating teams on their way to the Knockout Stage.

They were the first team to survive the Play-ins after sweeping the Play-ins Group B, 5-0, even defeating MSI Champions RNG. They then took the first seed in Group C at the Group Stage, finishing 4-2 and defeating Rogue in the tiebreaker.

And with how strong their performance has been, DRX are looking like the dark horse that will win against all expectations, much like how EDG did so last year.

Which team would you like to make it to the semifinals? Worlds 2022 will resume on Friday (21 November) at 5:00 A.M., Singapore Time. You can catch the action in Worlds 2022 on the official LoL YouTube and Twitch channels and the LoL esports page.

Anna is a freelance writer and photographer. She is a gamer who loves RPGs and platformers, and is a League of Legends geek. She's also a food enthusiast who loves a good cup of black coffee.

For more esports news updates, visit https://yhoo.it/YahooEsportsSEA and check out Yahoo Esports Southeast Asia’s Facebook page and Twitter, as well as our Gaming channel on YouTube.