Worlds 2021 pick’em guide: groups done, knockouts incoming

The group stage at the 2021 League of Legends World Championships is over and thus, the first section of the Worlds 2021 pick’ems are finished. Eight teams remain in the tournament and head to the knockout stage: T1, Hanwha Life Esports, Royal Never Give Up, Edward Gaming, DWG KIA, MAD Lions, Gen.G and Cloud9.

Worlds 2021 pick’em results so far

Now that pick’ems are open for the knockout stage, that also means there is an updated leaderboard from the group stage. With 64 points, only 48 people among the millions that played are in the Baron Nashor tier with a perfect bracket. The Elder Dragon tier, which has an entry point of 58 points, hosts 353 people.

The Blue Sentinel tier (at least 50 points) has at least 8,200 people in it, while the Red Brambleback tier of 42 points has 111,000. The most populated tier on the Worlds 2021 pick’em leaderboard is currently the Crimson Raptor tier., with 2.9 million participants who scored at least 34 points. From there, the numbers slingshot back down as each tier, more futile than the last, contains fewer people.

Being a total failure at pick’ems is surprisingly even rarer than being perfect. Only 40 people sit in the Poro tier with 0 points.

Pick’ems in the knockout stage

Once the group stage concluded, a new section of the Worlds 2021 pick’em bracket opened up. Players can now select the four teams they think will make it out of the knockout stage. The four match-ups are:

• T1 vs. Hanwha Life Esports
• Royal Never Give Up vs. Edward Gaming
• DWG KIA vs. MAD Lions
• Gen.G vs. Cloud9

The panel of experts Upcomer spoke to about Worlds 2021 on Tuesday were almost unanimous in selecting DWG KIA as a front-runner to win the whole tournament.

Aidan Joseph “5fire” Reckamp picked DWG KIA as the favorite, with T1 as a dark horse. Mo “Revenge” Kaddoura picked DWG KIA and Edward Gaming as his two winning options. Liyu “Cody” “Cody Sun” Sun took it a step further in outright picking DWG KIA as the favorites to win.

According to Joseph “Munchables” Fenny, T1 have an outside shot of making it in but DWG KIA and Edward Gaming will likely be battling it out for first place. But unlike the rest of the panel, Jake “Hysterics” Osypenko isn’t as enamored with DK. Hysterics believes Edward Gaming will take the tournament.

If you’re still looking for help in choosing your Worlds 2021 knockout stage pick’em bracket, the Upcomer staff will be sharing their own brackets later today. If you’re ready to pick, visit the official LoL Esports website to make your selections now.