2022 League of Legends Regional Preview

Esports is booming. There were over 26 million viewers watching at least one Esports event per month in 2021, making the year-to-year growth in this industry substantial. CS:GO, Dota 2, and Call of Duty are all popular franchises with their own fanbases, but the king of Esports for the last half-decade has been League of Legends. This is the only Esport that is truly global with 12 regional leagues around the world. The four major regions grab a lot of the attention though with millions of fans of the LPL (China), LCK (Korea), LEC (Europe), and LCS (North America).

LPL (China) Preview

This has been one of the wildest offseasons in League of Legends history, and two of the three world champions that China has produced have been completely dismantled. Invictus Gaming and FunPlus Phoenix are both shadows of their former selves. Defending world champions Edward Gaming brought back their full roster though save their part-time jungler. Viper and Meiko were the best bottom lane in the world in 2021, and that makes EDG a strong contender in 2022.

Long-time rival Royal Never Give Up and LNG Esports are the biggest threats to EDG. However, the biggest story of the offseason is the return of Uzi. The greatest bottom laner in the history of League of Legends is back after retiring because of medical issues in June 2020. Uzi signed with Bilibili Gaming in mid-December, immediately making them one of the most interesting teams in the LPL.

LCK (Korea) Preview

The winners of the last three LCK titles are the clear favorites to win four in a row this spring. DWG KIA boasts the best two players at their positions in Korea in Canyon and ShowMaker, and they have taken steps to improve the bottom lane by signing Deokdam from Nongshim RedForce. There are questions about the top lane, but this is a common concern for every team in the world year in and year out.

Even if you are unfamiliar with Esports, you might have heard of Faker. The Unkillable Demon King is the greatest player in the history of League of Legends. The talented Mina Kimes wrote a huge feature on the three-time world champion years ago, and he is still playing at a high level. As long as Faker is on the roster, T1 cannot be counted out.

LEC (Europe) Preview

For the first time in years, neither G2 Esports nor Fnatic are favored to win the LEC at the start of the year. There is a new super-team in Europe, and that’s Team Vitality. They brought Perkz and Alphari back from North America and also added Selfmade and Carzzy to the roster. This team has the highest ceiling of any squad in Europe if they can build chemistry quickly.

Fnatic and G2 are among the top contenders though. Fnatic brought in former G2 top laner Wunder and former MAD Lions mid laner Humanoid, and they have an elite bottom lane with Upset and Hylissang. G2 still have Caps in the mid lane, but the rest of the roster leaves something to be desired.

LCS (North America) Preview

These are strange times in the LCS. The greatest player in the history of the region (Bjergsen) is no longer a part of the team he was synonymous with (Team SoloMid) for years. Bjergsen joined Team Liquid in the offseason, leading to one of TSM’s biggest rivals becoming the favorite to win the LCS Lock In Tournament in January.

We are seeing one of the more interesting experiments ever attempted in League of Legends with Cloud9 too. C9 hired popular personality LS to be their head coach, and he is doing full in-house scrimmages instead of practicing against other teams. That has the potential to blow up in C9’s face in a big way.

Follow our Twitter account for the latest sports news and wagering odds, and come to our Instagram for more useful betting info too.