LPL Spring Split 2026: From Favorites to Dark Horses

The LPL Spring split, officially LPL 2026 Split 1 is about to kick off, and it already feels bigger than a regular regional league. It is the start of the new season, a test bed for Riot’s evolving formats and Fearless Draft rules, and the first hard look at all the rebuilt Chinese superteams. For fans, it is pure entertainment. For bettors, it is one of the most interesting markets of the year.

LPL 2026 Split 1 starts on January 14th, 2026 and runs through February 6th, played offline in China with 14 teams in the league. This year’s structure is built around three groups and a Fearless Draft environment, where teams cannot reuse champions within a series. That rule alone puts a premium on deep champion pools and flexible carries.

Teams are seeded into three tiers based on their 2025 results:

• Group Ascend with the six top seeds
• Group Perseverance with four mid table teams
• Group Nirvana with four teams expected to fight for survival rather than trophies

Each group plays a double round robin, best of three regular season. In Group Ascend, the top four go straight to the main playoff bracket, while the bottom two fall into a play in style stage called Knights Rivals. From Group Perseverance and Group Nirvana, different finishing positions feed into earlier or later rounds of Knights Rivals, and the very worst teams in Nirvana are simply eliminated and do not see the playoff stage at all. Knights Rivals’ itself is best of five, producing four winners who join the four auto qualified Ascend teams in an eight team double elimination playoff bracket. All playoff series are BO5 and all use Fearless Draft. The two finalists do not just fight for the domestic trophy; they also claim China’s spots at the new “First Stand” international event later in the year.

For people looking to place bets by using an exclusive esports betting guide, this means two things in practice:

• The format is punishing. A strong start in Group Ascend is worth a lot because it lets you skip the chaos of Knights Rivals.
• Stamina and focus will be crucial more than ever. Teams that only function around one or two comfort picks are going to be exposed across long BO5 series with Fearless Draft.

Big Teams Outlook

The 2025 LPL season was split into three segments, and three different champions ended up lifting trophies: Top Esports in Split 1, Anyone’s Legend in Split 2, and Bilibili Gaming in Split 3, meaning that several teams come into 2026 feeling like they have a real claim to being “the best” in China.

Bilibili Gaming-the team to beat

Bilibili Gaming arrived as the most recent LPL champions after winning Split 3 in 2025 and securing China’s first seed for Worlds. They are not a Cinderella story anymore, but rather the team everyone else is trying to dethrone.

The scary part is that they did not stand still in the offseason. BLG added Viper, a world class Korean ADC who already owns a world championship title and a previous LPL crown with EDward Gaming, and he joins a lineup that still includes Bin, Knight, Xun and ON. At almost every position, BLG have either the best or second best player in the league on paper.

From a performance angle, their 2025 story was one of consistency at the highest level: long runs internationally, strong regular seasons, and the ability to win five game thrillers when it mattered most. They are very good at playing from ahead but, importantly for fans who bet on LPL Spring split, they are also one of the few teams that can stall out a game they are losing and find comeback angles through smart teamfighting.

Anyone’s Legend-synergy as a weapon

Anyone’s Legend were one of the big revelations of 2025, making the finals of Split 1 and then winning Split 2. Even if they were overshadowed later in the year by BLG’s title run, AL proved they could go toe to toe with giants over long series.

Heading into Split 1 2026, AL’s main strength is consistency. They are one of the only top teams to keep their entire roster together while others have rebuilt with imported stars and a new coaching staff.

In a format that starts immediately with Fearless Draft, that kind of long term synergy carries strength and unity, which ranks high at Stake.com, where fans are already giving AL a great chance of repeating last year’s success. Players already know each other’s champion pools, communication patterns and preferred playstyles. That usually translates into cleaner early season games, fewer unforced errors and better execution of set plays around dragons and barons.

JD Gaming-a rebuilt powerhouse

JD Gaming had a quieter 2025 by their own standards after being one of the most feared teams globally in earlier years. They missed some of their usual highs but still remained a constant presence near the top of the table.

For 2026, JDG opted for a big refresh. Coach Tabe joins them from Anyone’s Legend, and the org brought in Gala as their new star ADC alongside imports from the Pacific region. This gives them a strong late game identity built around Gala’s teamfighting. The question for bettors is how fast this roster gels. If they hit the ground running, they are absolutely a title threat. If the early weeks are messy, market confidence may drop and create better value later in the split.

Weibo Gaming and Invictus Gaming-dangerous dark horses

Weibo Gaming went hard in the offseason too. Elk, formerly BLG’s ADC, now wears WBG colors, and he is joined by Jiejie in the jungle with Xiaohu still the experienced brain in mid. That mix of proven carry talent and veteran shot calling is ideal for a Fearless Draft world, where teams need to win games on different champions and in different styles.

Invictus Gaming feel like a volatile stock. TheShy is gone, but Rookie returns to mid and the bot lane is rebuilt around the Photic/Jwei duo. IG’s ceiling is very high: when their side lanes work and Rookie is in form, they can absolutely beat anyone in China. The floor is just as low, with potential for draft experiments to go wrong and aggressive plays to blow up in their face.

For outright betting, that volatility can be appealing at the right price. For match to match wagers, it means you need to pay close attention to their recent form before trusting them with serious stakes.

LPL betting markets

Stake.com online betting platform has become one of the go to books for esports fans, offering markets on every major League of Legends competition, including the LPL. For Split 1 2026, you’ll find:

• Outright winner markets for the entire split
• Match winner lines for each best of three
• Map handicaps, totals and sometimes more specific props depending on the matchup

On top of that, Stake also supports in play betting and live streaming across many LoL events, which lets you watch the game and react to momentum swings in real time. Odds are usually referring to the same core prices that appear across several serious eSports books. Stake always comes as the most recommended operator that gives a clear snapshot of how the market is currently priced.

Current odds and tournament favorites

Based on early January 2026 prices, the outright winner market for LPL 2026 Split 1 is shaped roughly like this:

• Bilibili Gaming at 2.75
• Anyone’s Legend at 4.50
• JD Gaming at 5.50
• Weibo Gaming at 7.00
• Invictus Gaming at 9.00
• Top Esports at 15.00
• EDward Gaming at 21.00
• Team WE at 26.00
• LNG Esports at 29.00
• Ninjas in Pyjamas at 34.00
• LGD Gaming at 51.00
• Ultra Prime at 81.00
• Oh My God at 101.00
• ThunderTalk Gaming at 201.00

These numbers will move as lineups are confirmed, scrims leak and early season matches are played, but they give you a good starting picture of how fans view each team.

A few quick takeaways

Bilibili Gaming as the clear favorite

At 2.75, BLG are priced like a team that is expected to win this split more often than not. In decimal odds, 2.75 corresponds to an implied probability of around 36 percent before bookmaker margin. That might not sound huge, but for a 14 team league in a volatile game like League of Legends, it is a heavy endorsement.

Anyone’s Legend and JDG in the chasing pack

The 4.50 and 5.50 prices on AL and JDG tell you that the market sees them as realistic champions, not longshots. Their pedigree and recent results, plus their roster moves, justify that. AL’s synergy and JDG’s star power put them in the “if BLG slip, these are the teams who punish them” bracket.

Weibo and IG as attractive mid-range bets

Weibo at 7.00 and IG at 9.00 land in that interesting zone where you are clearly not backing a favorite, but you are not deep in miracle run territory either. For many bettors this is where the conversation about “value” really starts. If you believe in Elk’s impact on Weibo, or in Rookie dragging IG back into title contention, those prices are tempting.

The longshots

Anything from TES at 15.00 down to ThunderTalk at 201.00 reflects teams that either underperformed in 2025, lost key pieces, or are unproven against the league’s heavyweights. Upsets can happen in a single series; winning an entire split with Fearless Draft and a brutal playoff gauntlet is a different story.

Turning odds into winning tickets

Odds are only useful if you turn them into clear ideas about what you expect to happen. For LPL 2026 Split 1, you can split your thinking into three categories: safe picks, medium risk plays, and speculative stabs.

The “sensible” pick-Bilibili Gaming

If you just want to align your bet with the most likely outcome, BLG at the shortest price is the straightforward option. They are defending champions from Split 3, they added Viper on top of an already stacked roster, and the format favors deep champion pools and strong adaptation.

The downside is simple: low price, limited upside. A 2.75 outright only becomes truly attractive if you are very confident they will win.

The medium risk, medium reward band: AL, JDG, WBG, IG

• Anyone’s Legend at 4.50

AL’s price is built on their 2025 success and their decision to keep the roster together. If you think other teams might need more time to adapt to new patches and Fearless Draft, AL could dominate the early part of the split and secure a strong seeding into the playoffs. That path makes their 4.50 quote feel fair, maybe even slightly generous.

• JD Gaming at 5.50

JDG’s number reflects both upside and uncertainty. A super talented bot lane, a respected coach and solid imports give them a huge ceiling. The risk is that they start the season slowly as new pieces try to mesh. One strategy here is to wait: if JDG drop a couple of early series, their outright price might drift to more appealing levels before they stabilize.

• Weibo Gaming at 7.00

Weibo are a classic “believer’s team”. If you trust Elk and Xiaohu to work together as a stable one two punch in late game scenarios, 7.00 is an interesting number. If you worry about consistency and internal pressure when things go wrong, the same price starts to look thin.

• Invictus Gaming at 9.00

IG are probably the purest “ride the volatility” play in the top half of the table. At 9.00 you are backing the idea that Rookie plus a refreshed bot lane can find the right formula over a long split, not just spike a few highlight reel series. If they hit, you look very smart. If they implode in the draft or tilt after a bad week, your ticket can die early.

Longshot angles-when, if ever, to touch the outsiders

Down in the double digit and triple digit odds, you are not really betting on raw power. You are betting on chaos: massive meta shifts, roster overperformances, and favorites failing at the same time.

These bets make more sense if you have a strong read on a particular team’s hidden potential, if a rookie mid laner who looked incredible in LDL or a coaching staff with a history of squeezing value out of cheap rosters. Without that kind of edge, prices like 81.00 or 201.00 are mostly for fun, not serious bankroll growth.