We can’t deny that 2022 was a difficult year for all the European fans around the world. Out of 4 best-of-5 series they got to play on the international stage, the European representatives only managed to win one, and it was against a play-in team (Saigon Buffalo). For a region that has always been considered to be many steps ahead of North America, 2022 demonstrated otherwise.
No, I’m not saying that NA put up a better show or anything like that, in fact, it was basically the same level of performance from both regions. The biggest difference was that Evil Geniuses took Mad Lions down 3-0 at the Worlds Play-in stage. That was the first time in history where a team from a major region didn’t make it into the main stage.
For Europe, 2023 is going to be all about overcoming challenges. Especially if we consider that the European region has undergone major changes to their calendar. Some LEC teams have decided to revamp their rosters in an effort to show a better face on the international stage, while some other teams have decided to keep most of their players because they believe in their project.
We are going to talk about these changes and also we’ll take a look at which teams have the highest chance of winning the 2023 Winter Season, so without further ado, let’s jump right into it!
Favorites To Win
We’ll start with KOI (+200), the team formerly known as Rogue, who are the current LEC champions. Odoamne parted ways with the Rogue after a fairly successful season. Now we’ll get to see Szygenda play in the top lane. The biggest difference between these two top laners is their way of playing the game as it’s virtually the opposite. While Odo loved playing as the weak side, Szygenda excels on carry top laners, which leaves a big question mark on how this team will adapt to his play style.
The next team on the list is Fnatic (+250), who made one of the biggest off-season roster moves during the off-season. They brought back Rekkles, the prodigal son, who is definitely going to be a great addition to the team. On top of that, Rhuckz has been promoted to the main team after Hylissang had a somewhat questionable 2022 season. For me, the biggest reason why Fnatic is a strong contender for the title is that Wunder, Razork, and Humanoid all stayed, and we all know how strong this top trident is.
After having one of the most disappointing finals appearances last split, G2 Esports (+300) decided to try a different formula for this upcoming season. Jankos, one of their G2’s franchise players, went on to look for greener pastures after a 5-year run with the org. For the 2023 season, 22-year-old Yike will be taking his place. Last but not least, Hans Sama and Mikyx will form G2’s new bot lane, which, in my opinion, might end up being the strongest bot lane in the whole league.
Sleeper Picks
Team Vitality (+650) had one of the most disappointing seasons in the history of European League of Legends after bragging about building Europe’s strongest super team, and what did they achieve? A 5th place finish in the spring split, and failing to make playoffs in the summer. They made quite a few changes to their lineup, but the one we have to emphasize is their new jungler,
Zhou “Bo” Yang-Bo, a 20-year-old Chinese player that has been completely destroying EUW SoloQ and has received so many compliments from junglers all around the world will be replacing Selfmade for this upcoming season. In 2021, he played 10 games during the LPL spring split. Want to guess his win rate? 100%. This kid is a beast, and it’s not crazy to say that he might be the best LEC jungler in 2023.
Excel (+1600) is another team that might end up taking the competition by storm. While Mad Lions (+1000) have the better odds, I really think that Excel is the better team out of these two. They managed to put together a roster that makes so much sense on paper. Odoamne and Xerxe is an extremely solid top/jg duo, while Vetheo and Patrik will have all the freedom they need to play the game as they want, and who knows, that might be enough to produce a good playoff run.
LEC 2023 Winter Season Winner Prediction
This is definitely a tough one to predict, considering that the potential of the top-3 team is so similar. While the KOI lineup completely dominated during the summer split, Odoamne was a determining factor. I don’t think that they’ll be able to have a similar performance with Szygenda, at least not in the Winter split.
On the other hand, Fnatic and G2 are coming in with a fresh look that might be enough to start rolling from the get-go. In the end, it’s going to be a battle between these two teams, and I think that G2 has the upper hand in this matchup. While both bot lanes look stronger now, Hans Sama with Mikyx is an extremely scary combination. G2’s top side never had any issues against Fnatic’s, and if Yike ends up performing even better than Jankos, they should be able to take the title.
As the League of Legends competitive season gets closer, we’ll be talking about every single major league in the world. Also, in the next few days we’ll be releasing our LCS, LCK, LEC, LPL, and LLA power rankings as well as sharing our esports picks with you!
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