The League of Legends 2017 World Championship semi finals start this weekend | Where to watch and our predictions

Last week, the number of teams remaining in the League of Legends 2017 World Championship was whittled down to just four. Four of the best teams in the world remain in the tournament, taking place in China, with a final prize of over $1.5 million going to the winning team. They're fighting over a spot in the grand final, taking place next week, in the semi finals, taking place this weekend: we've put together an analysis of what we think is going to happen.

SK Telecom T1 v. Royal Never Give Up - Saturday, October 28, 8:30 am BST

When this tournament started, SK Telecom T1 were by far the favourites to win. Three-time world champions, they've always performed exceedingly well, with one player, Lee 'Faker' Sang-hyeok, being one of the most famous esports athletes in history. He's the only League of Legends player to be described as a bonjwa in South Korea, one of the highest accolades, and is, by all accounts, already a legend.

But they almost fell in the quarter finals. Against Misfits Gaming, SK Telecom T1 were brought to the brink of knockout, only overcoming Misfits Gaming in a close 3-2 best of five series. Where SK Telecom T1 were seen as an unstoppable force previously, they, too, can bleed: if a team few expected to do well can get close to knocking them out, what could another favourite do?

Royal Never Give Up, on the other hand, are the other favourites in this tournament. Many expected the grand final to be a SK Telecom T1 v. Royal Never Give Up game, but the way things have been drawn, that's happening in the semi finals. And unlike SK Telecom T1, Royal Never Give Up haven't shown the same level of weakness. SK Telecom T1 are wounded, their weaknesses revealed to every other team in the competition: Royal Never Give Up are not. Despite not being as technically strong on paper as SK Telecom T1, Royal Never Give Up will have the strength of strategy and confidence on their side.

Add on to that that Royal Never Give Up are one of the Chinese teams left in the competition and therefore on home turf, and they've got a lot of reasons to be confident. It all depends if Royal Never Give Up can exploit SK Telecom T1's weaknesses, and if SK Telecom T1 choke. We predict Royal Never Give Up will come out on top, though, as a 3-1 victory in the best of five series - we think the world champions have shown too much.

Result

SK Telecom T1 3 - 2 Royal Never Give Up

It's clear that SK Telecom T1 went back to the drawing board after their series just last week against Misfits Gaming. Many of the weaknesses we saw them show were gone, and they were, clearly, a much more confident team. Despite what was almost a massive upset last week, SK Telecom T1 didn't let it get to them, they proved the mental fortitude that's required to compete at this level.

That's because Royal Never Give Up put up one hell of a fight, never letting up in their push towards victory. It wasn't enough, though: what these games came down to was mechanical prowess, as both teams refused to let the other get their way. 

That's why SK Telecom T1 came out on top, the reigning world champions proving why they have that title. Royal Never Give Up did show that gods can bleed, as did Misfits Gaming before them, but it's looking unlikely that any team can shut SK Telecom T1 down, when they play and act like this. It's astonishing to watch a team dominate so universally.

Samsung Galaxy v. Team WE - Sunday, October 29, 7:30 am GMT

On the other side of the coin, many expected Samsung Galaxy to struggle to get to this point. Drawn against Longzhu Gaming in the quarter finals, most (including us) expected Longzhu to confidently stride out of that series as victors. That was very much not the case. Samsung Galaxy came out on top as a result of two things: Longzhu Gaming fell apart, and Samsung Galaxy went in with confidence and a strength we hadn't seen before.

If they're able to come in that same way, Samsung Galaxy will be a force to be reckoned with, but where the doubt lies is in if they can be relied upon for that. We might see the Samsung Galaxy who took Longzhu apart, or we might see the Samsung Galaxy who seemed to fall at the face of a giant in the group stages. We'll only find out which Samsung Galaxy it is on the day.

Team WE were quite the opposite, but, like SK Telecom T1, barely made it into the semi finals. Cloud9 came desperately close to overcoming Team WE in the quarter finals, in what ended up to be a crushing defeat for the North American team. Team WE clearly struggled, though, seemingly unsure of what they were doing and what their strengths, weaknesses, and strategies were. 

Unless Team WE can pull something out of the bag - which is definitely possible, Samsung Galaxy's change from the groups to their series against Longzhu is evidence it happens - the result on this game will depend on what version of Samsung Galaxy we see this weekend. The confident, strong Samsung Galaxy will wipe the floor with Team WE, but we might see them crumble instead.

Result

Samsung Galaxy 3 - 1 Team WE

So, which Samsung Galaxy did we see? For most of the series, it was the one that dominated Longzhu Gaming. In the first game, Team WE managed to come out on top with a decisive victory, but as one commentator said after game three, "the download is complete." Samsung Galaxy quickly adapted to Team WE, not giving them an inch in the later games.

And Team WE weren't flexible enough to deal with it, Samsung Galaxy had them in a vice and weren't letting up. If we see this same Samsung Galaxy in the finals next week, it's going to be a fascinating series: SK Telecom T1 proved they can come back a week later with their weaknesses gone, while Samsung Galaxy have shown they're incredibly skilled at changing things up between each game.

What wins? The technical brilliance of SK Telecom T1, or the flexible and adaptive Samsung Galaxy? It's going to be great to watch next week.

Where to watch?

All of the games are livestreamed on the League of Legends esports site.