Ask someone who will win Worlds 2026, then ask who they want to win. There's a good chance you'll get two different answers. One means comparing results and judging the competition. The other comes from a favourite player, years of emotional investment and enough hopium to power an arena.
A thread on r/leagueoflegends asked the second question: who are you rooting for, and why?[3] The answers run from regional pride to the wish to see a great player finally lift the trophy. With the Play-In under way since 15 October and the Swiss stage starting on 23 October, here's how the numbers compare with those hopes — and where I'm planting the LuckyQuack flag.
The favourites by the numbers: HLE lead the rankings
Riot's official Global Power Rankings (GPR) are a useful starting point. Here's the top eight in the update of 18 October:[1]
| Rank | Team | Region | Power score | W–L (win rate) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hanwha Life Esports | LCK | 1540 | 28–13 (68.3%) |
| 2 | Gen.G | LCK | 1519 | 33–9 (78.6%) |
| 3 | Bilibili Gaming | LPL | 1513 | 48–11 (81.4%) |
| 4 | G2 Esports | LEC | 1478 | 33–15 (68.8%) |
| 5 | T1 | LCK | 1471 | 29–16 (64.4%) |
| 6 | LYON | LCS | 1424 | 25–11 (69.4%) |
| 7= | Dplus KIA | LCK | 1409 | 27–16 (62.8%) |
| 7= | Anyone's Legend | LPL | 1409 | 32–18 (64.0%) |
HLE top the model as MSI 2026 champions, with Gen.G and BLG — who won First Stand and reached the MSI final — close behind. G2 are the best-ranked Western team, just ahead of three-time defending champions T1, and LYON lead North America after a third-place finish at MSI.[1]
The interesting detail: BLG have the best record of the lot (48–11) and HLE the weakest of the top three (28–13), yet HLE rank first. That's because the GPR is not a win-rate table. Riot's model weighs who you beat, how recently, and how strong your region is — wins on the international stage count for a lot.[2]
A power score is not a percentage chance of winning Worlds. Topping the rankings strengthens a team's case; drafts, patch adaptation and best-of-five series still decide the tournament.
The Reddit favourites: players give fans a reason to believe
The thread asks about support, not predictions, so the most useful thing in it is the reasons people give.[3] What follows is our reading of the discussion — not a count of votes or a survey of all League fans.
Gen.G and Chovy: the chapter fans want to see completed
If the thread had a winner, it would be Gen.G. Comment after comment says the same thing: Chovy without a Worlds title just feels wrong. One fan compared it to a book series left unfinished. Kiin is the other big reason — several fans want to see him win before he leaves for military service.
There's affection mixed with gallows humour too: "Every year it's GenG's time", as one long-suffering fan put it.
G2 and Caps: the European dream still has a face
The second big theme is Caps. Some commenters have backed G2 since the Gamers2 days; others simply can't watch another October of him heartbroken. The support crosses the Atlantic, with plenty of North American fans naming G2 as their fallback once the home teams are out. A G2 title would also be won with an all-European roster, which several fans pointed out with pride.
BLG and Knight: a push for recognition
BLG supporters argue that Knight deserves far more credit from Western fans, and that this roster would be hailed as legends if it played in Korea. Some extend that to the LPL as a whole: they want a Chinese winner to change the conversation. Others singled out ON, who they say is having the best year of his career.
That's those fans' perspective, not a measured finding — but it explains why a BLG title would mean extra to them.
North America: another year, another "NAmen"
The North American replies mix loyalty with self-aware optimism. Team Liquid, Cloud9 and LYON all get love, alongside the yearly declaration that this is finally the year. Some fans just want a deep run against Eastern teams; others went straight to dreaming of an NA vs EU final. The original poster answered the yearly "NA hopium" comment with a single word: "NAmen."
T1: loyalty meets "anyone but T1"
T1 split the room. Loyal fans want the seventh trophy for Faker, Keria or Peyz — one even called T1 "the underdogs" every year, because they keep winning anyway. But "anyone but T1" was one of the most repeated replies, usually without any malice: people simply want a different story after three straight titles.
Elsewhere, HLE draw fans through Zeka, Kanavi and the Zeus–Gumayushi duo proving themselves outside T1, while ShowMaker remains the reason many people follow Dplus KIA. Across the whole thread, fans follow teams through the people in them.
Captain's pick: HLE for the trophy, G2 for my voice
All right, my turn. I can't spend a whole article examining everyone else's choices and then hide behind "let's see how Swiss goes".
My pick to win Worlds 2026 is HLE. They're the MSI champions, they top Riot's rankings, and they've already beaten the best teams in the world this year when it mattered. That's my opening call, and I'm ready to revisit it as the tournament develops.
What would change my mind? Three things I'll be watching in the Swiss stage:
- How teams react when their opening plan fails — the early game going wrong is where contenders and pretenders separate.
- How well they adjust drafts during a series — a Bo5 is a chess match, not five separate games.
- How they handle objectives in close games — dragon and Baron setups decide tight series.
G2 is the team most likely to cost me my voice. Reading the thread, it's easy to understand the appeal of a Caps title. Some stories make you check the schedule straight away because you want to be watching if it happens.
BLG is my dark horse with a story. I want to see whether Knight and his teammates can deliver the moment their fans keep asking for — and First Stand proved they can win against anyone.
As for T1: I'd give them my full attention in any series. Getting distracted by how satisfying it would be to knock out the champions is an excellent way to forget the work it takes to do it.
My card is filled in. Now let's see who makes me change it.
Who's in your Pick'Ems — and who will you actually be shouting for when the games begin?
Thinking about putting money on it? Read our Worlds 2026 betting preview first, check the Worlds 2026 schedule, and set a budget for the whole month. Everything else — format, teams and every past winner — is in our LoL Worlds 2026 guide.
Sources
- Global Power Rankings 2026 (updated 18 October 2026) — LoL Esports (Riot Games) ↩
- Introducing LoL Esports Global Power Rankings, powered by AWS — LoL Esports (Riot Games) ↩
- With Worlds around the corner, who are you rooting for and why? — r/leagueoflegends (Reddit) ↩
- 2026 League of Legends World Championship — Wikipedia
