The annual Demacia Cup recently kicked off with 24 teams total competing for the title and the honor that comes with it. The teams participating feature a great mix of well-known LPL teams and smaller squads who are ready to show what they got against some of the best teams in the world.

With the Demacia Cup always comes a lot of new players and teams that fans should be keeping an eye on. Some players are already known among fans but have recently swapped teams in the offseason. Other players are completely unknown and might be the next big stars of Chinese League of Legends.

Can RNG defend the Demacia Cup trophy?

After winning the 2019 Demacia Cup, all eyes will naturally be on RNG. Even though the team is looking a bit different from last year, the former champions will likely have a shot at repeating the success.

For the 2021 season, RNG has added top laner Yang “Xiaobai” Zhong-He, jungler Yan “Wei” Yang-Wei, and support Dang “Lele” Bo-Lin to the roster. All three players will be available for play at the Demacia Cup and it will therefore be a true test to see how strong RNG should be considered moving into the 2021 season.

With a lot of strong teams already qualified for the playoffs, it will likely be harder for RNG to win compared to last year. They will have to get momentum from the start of the group stage and carry it on into the playoffs stage.

RNG will start its group stage on December 22.

The four LPL Worlds teams look scary

It wouldn’t be a Demacia Cup without looking at some of the biggest organizations in the LPL. All four Chinese representatives at the 2020 World Championship have qualified directly to the quarterfinals, where they will each meet a winner from the group stage.

Going into the matches, TOP Esports, Suning, JD Gaming, and LGD Gaming will likely be the favorites for each of their respective quarterfinal. After playing at Worlds, all teams will be more warmed up, but the question is how great their motivation is.

The four top seeds have also made changes to their rosters, but most of them look strong enough to make a deep run. JDG especially could be the big tournament favorite as they are fielding the exact same roster as they did at Worlds. They were knocked out early at Worlds, so they could be hungry for revenge. To make the team even more versatile, JDG has added mid laner Su “Xiye” Han-Wei to the roster, who will be available for play if needed.

All four teams will enter the tournament from December 24.

Can a non-LPL team make an upset at Demacia Cup?

While the Demacia Cup hosts teams outside of the LPL, no one has ever managed to make the big upset. For 2020, a total of eight non-LPL teams are participating, but they will all have a rough time making it out of the group stage.

With that said, anything can happen in League of Legends and there might be room for upsets in one specific group. The group that fans should be looking at is group C, where no big name from the LPL is present. This means that the three non-LPL participants in Young Miracles, TT, and LYA might have a slight chance.

Only having two LPL teams in the group is a blessing, but when the two teams are eStar Gaming and Victory Five, who are known to be inconsistent and unpredictable, it’s even better. Even though the chance for an upset is still unlikely, this is where to look for one.

Group C starts on December 22.

What is the Demacia Cup?

The Demacia Cup is an annual tournament held in China. The tournament contains teams from the Chinese LPL and some smaller teams that play in the leagues below. The tournament isn’t a part of the franchised leagues but is instead a tournament in the offseason where teams can try out new players or take their best shot at a trophy. The Demacia Cup in 2019 was won by none other than RNG.

Who has won the Demacia Cup?

The first Demacia Cup took place in 2013, where Invictus Gaming ran away with the trophy. Since then, 10 other Cups have taken place but only a few organizations have managed to win. In fact, only Invictus Gaming, EDward Gaming, and RNG have won the Cup. EDG is the team to win it the most times, with a total of six Demacia Cup trophies to the organization's name. Five of those trophies were won back-to-back.