Riot Games’ League of Legends is one of the world’s biggest video games, and still the biggest Esports title. The game boasts a player base of well over 250 players, with Asia coming in as the epicentre of its popularity, and still houses arguably the biggest spectacle in all of Esports with its World Championships. The 2020 edition averaged an average viewership of just under 4 million at any one time, which peaked at over double that number for the Grand Final.
Damwon Gaming – South Korea
LCK Summer Champions heading into the 2020 World Championships, Damwon Gaming are a South Korean organisation who have had a 2020 their wildest dreams couldn’t have prepared themselves for. Winning their first ever LCK Championship in September, they suddenly found themselves heading into the 2020 Worlds in Shanghai just a month later amongst the favourites in most leading LoL betting odds.
Damwon topped a group containing JD Gaming, PSG Talon and European side Rogue with a 5-1 record, before beating DRX 3-0, G2 Esports 1-3 and Suning 1-3 in the Grand Final to take top spot in the world rankings.
According to the latest earnings charts, Damwon took their overall winnings within the game to $865,928. For a roster that was only formed back in May 2017, the culmination of the 2020 competitive season really has seen Damwon crowned as not only the number one team in the world, but also its most surprising.
Top Esports – China
Top Esports were formed back in December 2017 and have established themselves as arguably the best team in China throughout this year. Competing in the top level of Chinese LoL in LPL, the side won the tournament for the first time in September and entered the 2020 Worlds as one of the most feared sides on home soil.
Like Damwon, they topped their group containing DRX, North American side FlyQuest and Russian team Unicorns of Love. In the knockout rounds, they produced arguably the most thrilling match of the whole tournament by staging a brilliant comeback from 2-0 down against European giants Fnatic to win 2-3.
They lost a Chinese derby against Suning in the semi finals to close out their World Championship aspirations, but their LPL triumph earlier in the year is still enough to see them close out the year as China’s top ranked team.
China has notoriously the most saturated and hyper-competitive scene in all of League of Legends, with the likes of FunPlus Phoenix, Suning Gaming and JD Gaming all boasting hordes of followers in their own right. Top Esports’ total earnings of $1,024,830 make them only the second side in the world to pass the six digit threshold, and adds another string to the bow of why Top Esports beats out all the other competition.
DRX – South Korea
Only officially rebranded as DRX in October 2019, the South Korean org have been competing in League of Legends through a variety of names ever since 2012. They compete in LCK as one of South Korea’s top tier teams, and have won the tournament twice over their history, in Summer 2017 and Spring 2018, and finished as runners up behind Damwon in Summer 2020.
They have 40 wins and 14 losses to their name, coming in with a 74% winning record that is only bettered by AGO Gaming in the top ten world rankings.
They finished second in their 2020 Worlds group behind Chinese side Top Esports, but ahead of FlyQuest and Unicorns of Love with their 4-2 record. They were soundly beaten 3-0 by Damwon in the first knockout round to end their Worlds run, but still seeing their total earnings rise up to $224,561 since their latest rebranding.
The rivalry between DRX and Damwon Gaming, two of South Korea’s newest and most powerful rosters active in League of Legends, is quickly becoming one of the most interesting to see and follow for fans of the game.
