Trent Reinsmith
- What: League of Legends 2023 LEC Winter Season
- Date: January 21 – February 6, 2023
- Location: LEC Studio in Berlin, Germany
- How to watch: Twitch
The 2023 Winter season of the League of Legends EMEA Championship or LEC, begins on January 21, 2023, and runs through February 6. The event features 10 League of Legends teams from Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Those teams are: KOI, Fnatic, G2 Esports, Team Vitality, Mad Lions, Excel, Heretics, SK Gaming, Team BDS and Astralis. The winner of the 2023 LEC Winter Split is eligible to compete in the mid-season League Of Legends invitational. In 2022, Rogue was the winning team in the LEC Spring event and Fnatic came in second.
The big news ahead of the 2023 LEC Winter Split came in October when KOI revealed a merger with Rogue, who, in addition to winning the Spring 2022 Split, came in third in the Summer 2022 Split and finished 5-8 in the 2022 Worlds.
Before we look at the favorites to win the 2022 LEC Winter Split, check out the best betting sites for League of Legends and our picks for the LCK Spring Split.
League of Legends LEC Winter Split 2023 picks
| To Win 2023 LEC Winter |  |  |
| KOI | +200 | +225 |
| Fnatic | +250 | +275 |
| G2 Esports | +300 | +225 |
| Team Vitality | +650 | +650 |
| Mad Lions | +1000 | +1000 |
| Excel | +1600 | +1200 |
| Heretics | +2000 | +3300 |
| SK Gaming | +6600 | +6600 |
| Team BDS | +10000 | +10000 |
| Astralis | +15000 | +15000 |
KOI
Again, KOI is the team formerly known as Rogue and with that team’s results in 2022, it’s not a surprise to see them as one of the favorites to capture the 2023 Winter Split title. When the merger between KOI and Rogue took place, Blumigan, SeeL and Odoamne left the squad, while Malrang, Larssen, Comp, Trymbi and fredy122 joined KOI.
This is an important tournament for KOI. With Rogue winning this event in 2022, the pressure will be on for the merged team to perform up to those expectations in 2023. Last year, Rogue went 14-4 in the 18 games they played in the Spring session and 11-7 during the Summer.
G2
G2 did not have the best Spring last year. The team went 11-7 in their 18 games, finishing in fourth place. However, they bounced back in the Summer 2022 session, going 12-6 and taking the first spot. G2 did not have a great performance in the 2022 Worlds, ending up with an 11-14 finish, which was their worst finish of the past four years.
G2 has a chance to redeem themselves in the Winter 2023 Season after losing to Rogue in a clean sweep in the LEC 2022 Summer Playoffs, which came after they defeated that same club to win the 2022 LEC Spring Playoffs.
It must be noted that Jankos, who had been with the team for five years, left G2. In his place will be Yike. Also new to G2 are Hans sama and Mikyx.
Fnatic
Fnatic had a mixed showing in 2022. The team finished as the runner-up in the Spring with a 13-5 record in games and then dropped to 10-8 and finished in fifth in the Summer. Fnatic finished both the Spring and Summer LEC Playoffs in third place and ended up in 9-10 in the 2022 Worlds.
Fnatic made some noise in the off-season when they signed Rekkles, who last played with the team between 2015 and 2020. Also news to the club for the 2023 Winter session is Rhuckz.
Our pick
There are a lot of unknowns about the top League of Legends LEC teams heading into the 2023 Winter Split, but I think KOI will live up to expectations and come out on top here.
Pick: KOI to win the 2023 LEC Winter Session.
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