With the group stage for the 2017 League of Legends World Championship's main event nearly upon us, theScore esports' Gabriel Zoltan-Johan, Josh Bury and Sean Wetselaar took some time to predict how the event will play out. From which team will win it all, to which Champion will most often grace Summoner's Rift, we're certain at least some of these predictions will turn out to be true... probably.

Who will win Worlds?

Bury — SK Telecom T1 (LCK)

Betting against SKT at Worlds feels wrong and I refuse to do it. When the chips are down and the pressure is at its height, my money has to be with Faker. Beyond that, I have a hunch that the team’s gamble in bringing top laner Huni will pay off, as he should excel against most of his opponents or, at the very least, draw enemy resources away from Faker or the bottom lane.

Wetselaar — SK Telecom T1 (LCK)

I know all of the reasons analysts are predicting Longzhu to take it all. I understand that they defeated SKT in a clean, best-of-five series in the summer finals. And I understand the troubles SKT has had in making the Huni/ Peanut lineup specifically work in the summer the way it did earlier this year. But despite all these obstacles, I will not bet against SKT this year. Their ability to adapt, to fix their problems when they need to be fixed and always, always show up when the stakes are at their highest is inarguable. I’m happy to be pleasantly surprised by an end to the SKT dynasty. But I would still consider it a surprise.

Zoltan-Johan — Longzhu Gaming (LCK)

Longzhu Gaming are in a unique position, being favorites to dethrone the SK Telecom T1 dynasty given that they did so in the LCK. Though SKT came out swinging in the later stages, Longzhu’s gameplan seemed impenetrable. I can definitely see them continuing this effort, especially on a big stage. They have an easy group and a likely cakewalk into the quarterfinals. Beyond that will be the tough games, but Longzhu boast a solid veteran core in the best bottom lane in the world in a bottom lane-centric meta, while their jungler’s deficiencies can be shielded by the other strong laners.

Who is the tournament's dark horse?

Bury — Team SoloMid (NA)

This team has a clear path to quarterfinals because of Group D and may even avoid Korea there depending on how everything shakes out. There’s some chatter that TSM is doing well in their scrims, and this team does have the talent and experience on the international stage to excel. The current meta favors Doublelift and he is fully capable of putting on the performance that this team will need to go deep into the bracket.

Wetselaar — Royal Never Give Up (LPL)

I won’t write about Longzhu here — it feels disingenuous to call them a dark horse. Royal looks, for all intents and purposes, like the strongest non-Korean team coming into the event. Their legendary AD carry Uzi might have struggled in the finals against EDG, but has otherwise had the kind of landmark split that colored his early successes in League. This team, firing on all cylinders, is one of the most explosive and dangerous ones at the tournament. And while Chinese teams have historically always fallen at the final hurdle against Korean foes, this might be their best chance in a while.

Zoltan-Johan — Team WE (LPL)

Royal Never Give Up is China’s brightest hope, but Team WE have higher highs than any other non-Korean team in this tournament, and that may just give them the edge if they can reach 100 percent of their potential throughout the entirety of the tournament. Though the Play-In stages of the tournament have not demonstrated that possibility, it’s still possible if they have taken this downtime to improve their early game. The late game prowess and innovation of WE could actually pull them through into the very deep stages of the tournament.

What will be the biggest group stage upset?

Bury — Cloud9 takes a game from SK Telecom T1 in their first meeting

This is like the setback that the protagonist suffers before they achieve true power and set things right: Faker somehow loses lane to Jensen in the group stage. If this happens it’s probably because Cloud9 is focusing resources on shutting down mid, and SKT’s side lanes aren’t able to do enough damage with the opening. Jensen achieves his goal of becoming the clapper and not the clappee in this matchup, but he unleashes a power he cannot contain. In the end, Faker gets his revenge as his team rolls through to a 5-1 first seed finish in Group A.

Wetselaar — Cloud9 take out EDG

EDward Gaming look like a strong contender heading into Group A. Many people (including myself) expect them to make it out as the second seed under SKT. But Cloud9 have one of the better chances at securing an upset here, especially if EDG’s bottom lane is unable to perform as well as it did in the LPL finals. One of C9’s greatest strengths is in the bottom lane, and if Smoothie and Sneaky can out-duel Meiko and iBoy, and if their other major point of strength in Jensen is able to assert his considerable influence against Scout, C9 do have a good chance to surprise, and earn a spot in the Top 8.

Zoltan-Johan — Immortals take a game off Longzhu

Immortals will take one game from Longzhu. The Immortals bot lane will likely play a utility role to supplement the rest of the team and survive lane against what will be their toughest opponents of the whole tournament. Xmithie will find a way to adapt against Cuzz and will probably have strong enough lane phases from his colleagues to give Cuzz a lot of trouble. With that level of control established and an ability to find confident mid-game skirmishes through Olleh, I can see Immortals earning a scrappy victory against the Korean first seed. This isn’t outlandish either, as we don’t have to look very far to see first seed Korean teams falter in best-of-ones, as the Tigers emerged from groups with a 5-2 record in 2016.

Who will be the tournament's MVP?

Bury — Faker

I picked SKT to win, and this roster needs Faker if they want to beat their closest competition. If they do end up winning, it will be because the Unkillable Demon King steps up to put his opponents down. While the team does have paths to victory in other lanes, Faker demands a response.

Wetselaar — Faker

There are plenty of powerful players headed into this tournament, chief among them Longzhu's PraY, who could be instrumental to his team's success in a world where LZ clinch the title. But since I cannot bet against SKT, I cannot bet against the best player to play the game. Faker overcame some questions last year to win the tournament and claim tournament MVP, and if anyone can make the same thing happen again for SKT this year, it's definitely their star mid laner.

Zoltan-Johan — GorillA

League of Legends' best support in the world, GorillA, will likely take home the accolade of Tournament MVP as a player who not only transcended his colleagues at this tournament, but his peers in his stacked position. The former NaJin and Tigers player has always been a source of innovative roaming, warding and champion selection and I expect all of those things to emerge once more this year. Both holistically and in the finals, GorillA will show up in any capacity that is asked of him and will create difficult strategic choices for opponents in the bottom lane.

What will be the tournament's biggest disappointment?

Bury — Han "Peanut" Wang-ho

SKT made the right choice in bringing both junglers. When Peanut is good, he’s great. But what felt like routinely strong performances in 2016 with the ROX Tigers have slowed, and Peanut’s performance in Summer 2017 was nowhere near what we saw from him a year prior. Bringing him to Worlds gives him another shot at brilliance but, given the meta at his position, consistency is the order of the day. We haven’t seen that from Peanut recently.

Though it’s possible that Peanut could get some games under his belt in groups and earn primary jungle responsibilities in what would be a great redemption story, it just doesn’t seem likely. And for a jungler whose team took SKT to five games at Worlds in 2016, it will be a disappointment to ride the bench. I hope I’m wrong about this prediction.

Wetselaar — Fnatic

Fnatic looked dismal in their showing in the Play-In stage, dropping a completely unnecessary game to Young Generation off some macro play that will be punished even more aggressively by the stronger teams in the main event. The Fnatic roster came into Worlds with some questions about their strength, and so far the answers have not been promising. It will be up to Europe's third seed to turn it around later this week.

Zoltan-Johan — No European teams in the bracket stage

Let’s face it, Europe got a tough draw by most metrics. Their third seed became fodder for the team I believe will be the tournament champions, while their first seed got drawn into a group of death. All things considered, this Worlds has not started off kindly to the EU LCS representatives. I think this will compound to an ultimately disappointing result of seeing teams in third place or second-place tiebreakers that end up not panning out for the region. People will be in up in arms about this for so long that they’ll forget about all the European format changes. But only for a short while…

Who will be the most played Champion?

Bury — Gragas

Gragas, like beer, is versatile. You can get beers for all occasions and most people have one that they can tolerate.

Gragas was played a lot in all of the major regions in Summer and he remains a solid pick in the jungle. While he is rare in the top lane or as a support, it could happen depending on draft priority. He also normally escapes ban priority (side note: when Gragas is banned, I call it "enacting prohibition").

Based on the champion’s solid footing in the meta and low ban priority, I’m guessing we’ll see a bunch of the Rabble Rouser at Worlds.

Wetselaar — Gragas

Kalista is a candidate here for sure, but with her astronomical ban rate so far in the tournament (87.2 percent in the Play-In Stage), she and Jarvan IV (61.5 percent) are both likely to avoid the distinction as most picked. Gragas is a safe and solid jungler who has enjoyed a position in the meta for most of the year, and who often makes it through the pick and ban phase. Many teams headed to the Group Stage have shown an affinity for Gragas, and I think regardless of how the meta develops throughout the rest of the event, we’ll see him remain as a steady and stable presence right up until the winning team hoists the Summoner’s Cup.

Zoltan-Johan — Xayah

Xayah, Riot’s latest AD carry and one part to a deadly, feathery duo, will probably be the most played champion in the tournament by virtue of the expected bans throughout the rest of the event. With Kalista unlikely to see play due to being perma-banned, Xayah and Tristana seem like obvious candidates for the AD Carry position in the pick phase. My suspicion is that Xayah becomes either perma-banned very quickly or has first pick status by virtue of the threat of grabbing Rakan alongside her. Her utility with feathers, alongside great scaling, great wave clear and a self-peeling invulnerable ultimate will make her a really solid pick regardless of the team composition.

Worlds Finals prediction

Bury — SKT vs. Longzhu (3-1)

This may be Worlds, but Summoner’s Rift still belongs to Korea. And for Western fans, the situation will be akin to the Alien vs. Predator movie slogan: whoever wins, we lose. Assuming these two titans aren’t forced to play earlier in the bracket, I predict an all-Korea final between SK Telecom T1 and Longzhu Gaming. Having settled on Blank as primary jungler, SKT will try get out to an early lead and, though Longzhu will claw back a game, SKT will win their fourth world championship, and third in a row.

Wetselaar — SKT vs. Longzhu (3-2)

There’s no more likely ending to this tournament than what seems like the clear two best teams meeting each other in the grand finals. Of course, depending on seeding in the knockout stage, it is also possible Longzhu and SKT face each other in semifinals, but it’s unlikely either team will lose to anyone other than each other. They are head-and-shoulders above the rest of the field in terms of both macro teamplay and individual mechanics, and I expect to see them duke it out for the Summoner’s Cup with (as previously stated) SKT coming out on top.

Zoltan-Johan — Longzhu vs. Samsung (3-2)

The two best teams won’t always be the teams that will meet in the finals. I suspect the same thing will happen this year as well, as it did in 2014 and 2016 in particular. Luck of the draw could put SKT on the Longzhu side of the bracket, giving us a repeat of the LCK final in semis. Samsung will still be a formidable opponent, with CuVee being a better top laner than Khan, and an expected return to form for Crown and CoreJJ. As games go later and later, the late game teamfighting in which Samsung is more experienced will allow them to keep the series close. Ultimately, the final game of the series will feature adaptations that allow Longzhu to build up an unfortunate snowballed stomp and stamp their place as the best team in the world, at least for this year.

Josh "Gauntlet" Bury is a news editor for theScore esports. You can follow him on Twitter.

Sean Wetselaar is a news editor for theScore esports. You can follow him on Twitter.

Gabriel Zoltan-Johan is a news editor at theScore esports and the head analyst for the University of Toronto League of Legends team. His (public) musings can be found on his Twitter.