We’re only a couple of weeks into the 2022 League of Legends season, but it’s never too early to take a look at how the teams have been performing and which squads deserve the most attention as we get closer to the LoL World Championship.
Admittedly, figuring out which LoL teams are the strongest in the world and have the best chance to win the World Championship in autumn isn’t as easy as it would be checking out the NFL stats and trying to narrow down which team has the best chance to win the Super Bowl.
But that hasn’t stopped us from picking out our top three teams to watch out for in the first half of the 2022 season.
Gen.G – LCK
The Korean League of Legends powerhouse, Gen.G, has and always will be in the conversation for one of the top teams in the world, and this season is no exception. Even though the organization has not achieved much international success since its formation in 2018, there are reasons to believe this might be Gen. G’s year.
After reaching the 2021 LoL World Championship semi-finals, Gen.G opted to rebuild its LoL division by adding four new players. That included former Griffin trio in top laner Choi “Doran” Hyeon-joon, mid-laner Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon, and support Son “Lehends” Si-woo, who teamed up with ADC Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk and the returning jungler Han “Peanut” Wang-ho.
With the signing of the quartet, Gen.G has gotten its hands on some of the best LoL players in the region, thus forming the new LCK superteam. And while many superteams of the past have fallen apart early, Gen.G has been showing excellent form early into the 2022 season.
Two weeks into the new season, Gen.G have suffered only one defeat in their domestic league and are going strong with a 5-1 record. Of course, it is still very early, and we don’t know whether Gen.G will manage to keep playing at the same pace throughout the year.
But as it stands now, they’re definitely one of the strongest LoL teams in the world.
DWG KIA – LCK
DWG KIA has already lost to Gen.G, so it’s fair to rank them below their regional rivals. But one result from a match that has happened two weeks into the new season doesn’t tell the whole story, and it definitely doesn’t show how good a team can be long-term.
Admittedly, DWG KIA hasn’t been too convincing this season and are 3-2 after five rounds of play in their domestic league. But this is still a highly stacked team with tremendous upside.
Like many other LoL teams, DWG KIA has made roster changes during the offseason, bringing in a new top laner in Noh “Burdol” Tae-yoon, ADC Seo “deokdam” Dae-gil, and support Kim “Kellin” Hyeong-gyu. And while impactful changes, the Korean esports organization kept its core duo in mid-laner Heo “ShowMaker” Su and jungler Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu.
ShowMaker and Canyon were the driving force behind DWG KIA’s run to the 2020 LoL World Championship and were the main reason why DWG KIA reached the finals of the 2021 Worlds. Furthermore, both are in their peak form and can easily be in the conversation of the best players in their roles.
Obviously, the players on the team still need to polish their strategy and learn how to play with the new teammates. Still, if things fall into place for the former world champions, DWG KIA could easily compete for the organizations’ second Worlds title in autumn.
T1 – LCK
This is not the top 3 best LCK teams, but we have to put T1 as the third-best team in the world since it just so happens that the top three Korean LoL teams are currently playing the best LoL globally. Admittedly, there is a world where one of the Chinese teams sweeps in and emerges as the best team later in the year – as it had happened in 2021 – but we’ll have to wait and see whether that will be the case.
You could argue that T1 should be on the top of the list since they already won against DWG KIA, but if you look long-term, you can’t put T1 above either Gen.G or DWG KIA because their ceiling does not seem to be as high as that of Gen.G or DWG KIA.
Unlike most other teams, T1 has kept its roster intact and only parted ways with some of its players during the offseason. That is rarely something you’ll see teams do if they don’t win the LoL World Championship title, but there are good reasons why T1 decided not to make any changes.
With players such as Choi “Zeus” Woo-je, Moon “Oner” Hyeon-joon, Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyeong, and Ryu “Keria” Min-seok, T1 has more than enough talent to compete for the LoL Worlds title. This roster already proved that when T1 made the semi-finals last year and came only one map short of beating DWG KIA.
And they have achieved that despite making constant roster changes throughout the year. Now, with a more stable roster and more time to gel together, T1 should be able to show off their full potential, and with so much talent and veteran players on the roster – T1 has everything they need to win the organization’s fourth Summoner’s Cup.
