The long-awaited knockout stage of the LoL Worlds play-in stage took off on Monday, October 7 at 13:00 CEST with a match between young and talented DAMWON Gaming and promising VCS representatives LowKey Esports.
Not many expected this fixture to be anything more than DAMWON’s complete dominance, however, LowKey had different plans.
The Vietnamese champions proved just how fearless, and maybe a bit reckless they can be, by starting the game with a lane swap, sending Bùi Nguy?n “Venus” Qu?c Hoàng and Nguy?n Ph??c “Celebrity” Long Hi?p to top lane, where they pressured Jang “Nuguri” Ha-gwon to give up first blood under his tower barely three minutes in.
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DAMWON tried to counter the lane swap by moving Nuguri to bottom lane, however, Venus and Celebrity took notice of that and followed, which resulted in Celebrity securing his second kill before the seventh-minute mark.
From that point, the match started to evolve in a highly exciting fixture where it’s safe to say LowKey impressed everyone. They managed to stand firm against the Korean giants, who had their moments of greatness but ultimately had to subdue to LowKey who shocked the world by blowing up DAMWON’s Nexus in just over 33 minutes.
LowKey looked exceptionally strong in game one, where they showed even the giants can bleed, but the fixtures that followed showed the true balance of power, seeing how DAMWON steamrolled to their ticket for Worlds with minimal resistance.
Player of the match was no other than Heo “ShowMaker” Su, who showed immense individual quality and decision-making ability, which earned him an impressive 8.2 KDA and +12.3 CSD at 15 throughout the series.
Compared to the first fixture of the day, the clash between Clutch Gaming and Royal Youth was much different, in a way that it was much more of what was expected.
There were a lot of question marks surrounding the CG v Royal Youth match, considering the form CG have shown throughout the group stage. That being said, the incredible display from Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon on, Nam “Lira” Tae-yoo and Sun “Cody” “Cody Sun” Li-Yu proved to be enough for CG to produce a dominant win.
Having won game one, CG needed only two more to end the series, and they did not hesitate to win both match two and three to end the Worlds play-in knockout stage with a clean sweep.
PROUD! A clean 3-0 sweep of @RoyalYouthGG puts @ClutchGaming in the #Worlds2019 Group Stage!
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GG! #CGWIN #DIGWIN! pic.twitter.com/uQyaP8R6zO
— DIG (@dignitas) October 7, 2019
The third and final collapse of Royal Youth’s Nexus marked the end of day one of LoL Worlds play-in stage which revealed DAMWON and Clutch Gaming as the first two teams who will advance into the main event and join the world’s elite.
The final two play-in matches will take place on Tuesday, with Hong Kong Attitude taking on Isurus and Splyce tackling the unpredictable Unicorns of Love.
]]>As two teams who failed to impress in the spring, both rose from the ashes and outperformed all expectations this summer. The fact that CG and CLG finished top five in the regular season was impressive to begin with, yet they further impressed by reaching the semi-finals.
Out of the two, it was CG who took the spotlight by defeating TSM (3-1) and producing a tough fight against TL (2-3) in the semis, yet there is one last hurdle they will need to jump over in order to claim their first-ever top-three finish.
Counter Logic Gaming odds
$1.53 at GG Bet
Formerly known as one of the strongest teams in North America, CLG are back in business after a lean patch in recent times.
Counter Logic booked a playoff spot with a 12-6 record and went on to decimate OpTic Gaming 3-0 in the quarter-finals, although they went down 1-3 to Cloud9 in the semis.
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While CLG are a very strong team that deserved to reach the top four, there are some concerns about how well they are prepared for the upcoming fixture.
Their lack of matches against top teams in the last few weeks of the split took a toll on their match-readiness, which was highlighted in the loss to C9.
What that will mean for their fixture against CG is yet to be seen.
Clutch Gaming odds
$2.37 at GG Bet
As a team who did not look too promising in the spring split, CG lifted their game over the summer to secure a fifth-place finish and a ticket to the playoffs.
All of their achievements this split can be credited to the improvement of each individual player on the roster.
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Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon started performing like his former self, Nam “Lira” Tae-yoo found his own identity in the jungle, Tanner “Damonte” Damonte emerged as one of the best NA mid-laners, Cody “Cody Sun” Sun showed incredible growth as a player, and Philippe “Vulcan” Laflamme has been phenomenal in his support role.
This is a strong team, as showcased in the win over TSM and the narrow loss to Team Liquid, and now CG will look to take one last scalp when they face CLG this weekend.
Counter Logic vs Clutch betting predictions
CLG enter the fixture as $1.53 favourites, which overrates them a bit.
Although they defeated CG twice during the regular season, the form of both sides in the playoffs suggests this will not be a one-sided affair.
Clutch Gaming legitimately impressed in their semi-final clash against Team Liquid, which leads us to believe they have more than enough quality to stand up against any NA team.
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The two teams seem equally matched in all lanes, meaning this fixture can go either way; however, if there is one lane which could tip the match in one direction or the other, it is the top lane.
Huni will have to be on top of his game to stop Kim “Ruin” Hyeong-min, who has proven to be the biggest win condition for CLG due to his incredible potential to snowball if he gets ahead.
If, however, Huni proves to be up to the task and stops Ruin, we believe CG have a very solid shot at earning a bronze medal here.
With $2.37 offered on CG to do so, we will take our chances and trust the 2017 LoL Worlds runner-up to deliver.
Prediction: Clutch Gaming to win – Best odds at GG Bet
]]>While the CLG vs Cloud9 fixture on Saturday promises to be a close-fought one, the other semi is expected to be anything but.
Team Liquid have established themselves as the frontrunners of the NA League of Legends esports scene and are well backed to advance to the final.
But if there is one thing we have learned from Clutch Gaming this season, it is that anything is possible.
Team Liquid LCS semi-final odds
$1.08 at GG Bet
Team Liquid entered the LCS Summer Split as favourites to go all the way for the fourth season in a row, and they have not disappointed.
The NA powerhouse secured a playoffs spot only seven weeks in when they achieved an 11-3 record, which they further improved to 14-4 by the time the regular season ended.
Despite finishing well above the rest of the competition, Team Liquid have not always looked on top of their game this split – a fact that underlines just how good this team is.
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TL boast top-class players in each position, so it is hard to pinpoint exactly who is their star man.
Perhaps the most important cog in the machines in Jake “Xmithie” Puchero, who is the most experienced player in the league and a true backbone of the team.
All in all, it is hard to find any flaw in Team Liquid, and while they still have a lot of work left to be done to compete with EU and Korean teams, they remain the alpha dogs in NA.
Clutch Gaming LCS semi-final odds
$7.00 at GG Bet
CG are huge underdogs for their clash with Team Liquid, which should not come as a shock to anyone.
They have endured a mediocre campaign, but a 3-0 run in the last two weeks of the regular season was enough to push them into top six and playoffs.
Entering the quarter-finals with high ambitions and slim chances, CG sprung a massive upset as they took down Team SoloMid in a 3-1 bloodbath of a series.
The way CG managed to achieve that feat was by simply playing like themselves.
Their unorthodox, aggressive and sometimes questionable drafts are what define Clutch Gaming and consequently what wins them games, as it’s almost impossible to prepare for them.
But the question remains, will that approach be enough to derail Team Liquid on Sunday?
Team Liquid vs Clutch Gaming predictions
This series is Team Liquid’s to lose as they face what is arguably the easier opponent of the two who came out of the quarter-finals.
While we can praise Clutch Gaming for their improvement throughout the season, their fairytale will come to an end this Sunday when they find themselves outmatched in all lanes and in all positions.
Their unorthodox drafts and aggressive playstyle might win them one map, but even then Team Liquid will have to drop the ball for that to happen.
Expect TL to defeat CG for the third time this split as they look towards a fourth LCS title and a ticket to the LoL World Championships.
Team Liquid -1.5 – $1.28 at GG Bet
]]>It will go down as a poor split for TSM, who struggled to keep up with the expectations put on them. Finishing outside top two was always going to be a disappointing result, and while Tony “Zikz” Gray and his man disappointed in that regard, they still managed to climb their way to the playoffs by finishing fourth with a 10-8 record.
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A fourth-place finish meant TSM had to go through the quarter-finals. There they got paired with Clutch Gaming, who impressed everyone when they finished fifth in the standings with a 9-9 record.
Still, CG entered the playoffs as heavy underdogs, as they finished the summer split with an underwhelming 0-8 record against top-four teams throughout the nine weeks. Yet they showed a completely new face in the quarters and came out the other side as alpha dogs.
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Throughout the whole series TSM struggled with bad decision-making, poor timing and too many mistakes, which disrupted the flow of their game and put them on the back foot in both macro play and team fights.
Clutch, on the other hand, looked like a proper playoff team with a very clean and organized approach. Each player knew what his job was and executed accordingly. That translated into exceptional team fighting, which served as CG’s most efficient tool and exposed TSM’s communication problems.
Sun “Cody Sun” Li-Yu emerged as the MVP of the quarter-finals series with 24 kills and only two deaths throughout the whole series. On the other side, Nam “Lira” Tae-yoo failed to live up to expectations in his first LCS playoffs appearance, seemingly succumbing to the pressure of the quarter-finals.
Saturday’s match, however, was not the first time Clutch Gaming dismantled TSM in the quarter-finals, as they won by the same margin back at the 2018 LCS Spring Split playoffs.
While Counter Logic Gaming have all but secured a spot in the 2019 LCS Summer Split playoffs, it’s do-or-die for Clutch Gaming when the two sides meet this weekend.
It has been an uphill battle for Clutch in the last couple of weeks. Following a slow start to the split, they have sought out a recipe for success that still eludes them after seven weeks.
CG were never considered a team that would fight for the top spots, and they have done nothing to suggest otherwise. With the exception of a perfect week two, they have failed to impress and now sit in a three-way tie for sixth place with 100 Thieves and Golden Guardians.
While Clutch are still a chance to reach the playoffs, they need to wake up and start winning matches – starting with Saturday’s clash against CLG.
Week seven did not give us a clear read on CG’s form. While they completely outclassed Echo Fox, who are in a terrible spot and look destined to finish bottom, they were also well beaten by a world-class Team Liquid outfit that has already qualified for the playoffs.
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Nonetheless, we can give some credit to Clutch for their innovative team compositions, which could surprise their opponents and grab them an upset win.
Counter Logic, meanwhile, are fresh of their third perfect week of the split. Impressive wins over FlyQuest and Cloud9 took their record to 9-5, meaning they only a need a couple more wins to book a playoff spot.
While the whole team is playing well, it is Kim “Ruin” Hyeong-min who deserves a lot of credit. CLG’s coordination, macro play and proactivity has improved drastically since he arrived in mid-May, which is clearly seen in the team’s performances and overall record from that time on.
Not only is Ruin the best player in the CLG squad, he is also widely considered to be one of the best top laners in the LCS. A wide champion pool and impressive performances across the board make him a player who should not be ignored by his opponents.
CLG vs Clutch Gaming betting predictions
The last time CLG met Clutch, we saw a close match that was decided in the 38th minute when Counter Logic took the Baron and made one last push to seal the deal. While another close match is something the fans would like to see, there is little to suggest CG have enough firepower to withstand CLG’s aggression and overall quality.
The fight between Ruin and Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon will be under the spotlight on Saturday, as both teams rely heavily on their top laners. That is especially the case for CG, as their only win condition is for Huni to get up and extend his pressure to the other lanes. Ruin will have to do his best to prevent that from happening.
Clutch’s reliance on Huni means Nam “Lira” Tae-yoo will have to focus on helping his teammate, leaving the other lanes to carry their own weight in the early game. That, combined with CLG’s known early aggression, can only mean one thing.
Expect Counter Logic to establish a big early lead before Huni and Lira can takedown Ruin and turn the game in CG’s favour.
Prediction: Counter Logic Gaming to win – $1.61 at GG Bet
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Betting Predictions for Sunday June 17
Team SoloMid vs FlyQuest
Match 1 – 12pm PST / 3pm EST
The most famous NA team, Team SoloMid, will be sparring against the newly reorganized FlyQuest in our first match of the day. Trying to finish off the second day as strongly as possible, it is very likely that FQ will pull off some shenanigans to gain the lead early.
On paper, TSM’s botlane is a direct upgrade to FLY’s botlane. That being said, this meta has destroyed the foundation of the ADC/Support roles and puts Zven and Wildturtle at a lower priority than most other lanes. The combination of Keane, Flame and Santorin still have yet to solidify their playmaking when compared to the time Bjergsen, Hauntzer and MikeYeung have received. Unfortunately for the players in green, the advantage still goes to TSM for the simple sheer strength of the midlane and botlane synergy between the two.
Betting prediction: Team SoloMid to win, paying $1.25 at GG Bet.
Team Liquid vs Golden Guardians
Match 2 – 1pm PST / 4pm EST
The Golden State basketball team may have won in a landslide during the NBA Finals, but the opposite story may hold true in this match versus the 1st place finisher during Spring. Team Liquid are probably not considering this to be a terribly difficult match, but should they fall into complacency, the GG’s will absolutely attempt to usurp them.
Roster wise, the GGs removed Hai for Mickey. Although this brings some needed stability in the laning phase for midlane, it is unclear whether or not Mickey can communicate effectively enough to take over Hai’s shotcalling. And against TL whose playstyle is flexible and headstrong enough to do what they effectively want, the lack of coherent shotcalling puts the GGs in a heavy disadvantage. A roster change was definitely needed but it stands to reason that the GGs will have to put much more into practice, scrimming and team cohesion before challenging for the top spots.
Betting prediction: Team Liquid to win, paying $1.20 at GG Bet.
CounterLogic Gaming vs 100 Thieves
Match 3 – 2pm PST / 5pm EST
The ever faithful fans of CLG will be cheering their boys on against the second place team of last split, 100 Thieves. Aphromoo will take the stage against his former team of three years, a team that he helped to build a lasting legacy and reputation for.
The question becomes whether or not CLG gains momentum at the beginning of the split. With Reignover’s lack of jungle pressure compared to his former self on Immortals or Fnatic, the pressure heavily lies on Huhi and Stixxay to win the early game. Even Darshan has been struggling employing his aggressive laning, split pushing style he is known for. 100T on the other hand have a silver lining in this ADC-less meta in Aphromoo, who can and will exert pressure across the map from his bottom lane territory. Lane by lane matchups in top, mid and ADC are favored to 100T but not by much. As mentioned before, this will be a jungle pressure battle and Meteos is the clear favorite to win.
Betting prediction: 100 Thieves to win, paying $1.66 at GG Bet.
Clutch Gaming vs Echo Fox
Match 4 – 3pm PST / 6pm EST
Perhaps one of the more interesting matches of the day, Clutch Gaming and Echo Fox will begin their skirmish as the fourth match of the day and each hope to end the day with a victory. When it comes down to skill matchups, these two teams may be the most similar but for different reasons.
As always, Huni and Dardoch will aim to steal the show by going full throttle right out of the gate. Unfortunately for CG, Solo has been the weakest link on the team as of the latter half of last split. This effectively creates a power sink for FOX on the upper half of the map, which can also arguably be seen as the more powerful half of the map. Febiven matching up against Fenix is not the worst matchup, while Altec/Adrian versus Apollo/Hakuho should actually tilt a bit in favor of CG. But as reality sets in, when deciding to further a top laner versus and ADC on patch 8.11, the former is a safer option for victory.
Betting prediction: Echo Fox to win, paying $1.57 at GG Bet.
Cloud9 vs Optic Gaming
Match 5 – 4pm PST / 7pm EST
Closing out the first week of the NA LCS will be a match between C9 and OPT. This match will most likely be OPT’s largest chance to show the world their mettle as their matchup with C9 is not horrible by any means.
Dhokla versus Licorice is a battle of the rookies, but is in Licorice’s favor due to Licorice being able to display his stellar abilities last split. Akaadian and Svenskeren will be at each others’ throats in the jungle as their playstyles are quite similar, utilizing mainly CC heavy junglers with the occasional Kha’zix throw in. The sparks will fly in midlane with PowerOfEvil, arguably one of the best EU midlaners, facing off against Jensen who is known to hold lane quite soundly. All in all, this match will be decided by jungle pressure and Dhoklas ability to hold Licorice in the top lane. Don’t be surprised however if a third win condition pops up in the form of Mordekaiser midgame powerspike or a protect the Darius composition though.
Betting prediction: Cloud9 to win, paying $1.57 at GG Bet.
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In terms of roster changes, some teams decided to swap one player on their roster while others went more drastic changes. A summary can be seen below:
FlyQuest
Jungle: Anda -> Santorin
Support: Stunt -> Konkwon
Golden Guardians
Mid: Hai -> Mickey
Optic Gaming
Top: zig -> Dhokla
Support: LemonNation -> Big
The bottom three teams from last split were the only teams to make changes to their main roster, whereas all the other seven teams seem to be sticking to their former roster in the spring.
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Betting Predictions for Saturday June 16
100 Thieves vs Team Liquid
Match 1 – 2pm PST / 5pm EST
Starting off the day with the two largest titans of the Spring Split, Riot Games is not playing any games. 100 Thieves will seek revenge on the team that had stolen first place from the thieves themselves, Team Liquid. Team Liquid, after making a comeback during MSI but falling short, still seem to be the most interesting team when it comes to inconsistencies despite their past glory.
The largest deciding factor about this match will be the patch this game is being played on, which would be patch 8.11. This patch has effectively gutted critical chance attack damage carries (ADC) and is toying around with the Rageblade ADCs to the point where ADCs have very, very late power spikes in a short game environment. Although this hurts Cody Sun plenty, this will hurt Doublelift even more as the main MVP ADC in NA. The question becomes if the ADC does not perform well, which team can pick up the slack. Although top lane and mid lane may be evenly matched, Meteos came flying out of the gate last season with surprising aggressive moves to push his laners ahead. And despite Olleh’s consistent performance, he will be matched against the MVP of Spring Split, Aphromoo.
Betting prediction: 100 Thieves to win, paying $2.25 at GG Bet.
Team SoloMid vs CounterLogic Gaming
Match 2 – 3pm PST / 6pm EST
Two of the most famous names in the NA LCS are to play after the aforementioned match of 100T vs TL. Neither team has made significant roster changes as of yet and despite any doubt from the fans, both have managed to secure safe-ish standings last season.
It was apparent that CLG had struggled finding their rhythm starting off last split, with every lane on CLG forfeiting pressure or just simply dying from a majority of ganks. TSM had a similar problem, mainly with incorporating Zven and Mithy into their team composition as well as MikeYeung hitting his stride. Taking both points into account, CLG has still failed to meet its fans’ expectations by finishing 7th place and missing playoffs while TSM had actually secured themselves 3rd place going into playoffs. Across the board, TSM looks stronger if it is an average day for both teams. Even on weak days, TSM still has the heralded Bjergsen and the Zven/Mithy combination for consistent gameplay.
Betting prediction: Team SoloMid to win, paying $1.50 at GG Bet.
Clutch Gaming vs Cloud9
Match 3 – 4pm PST / 7pm EST
Going down the list of power teams, the newly formed Clutch Gaming takes on the titan of Cloud9 in the third match of the day. Cloud9 had first place contested for the longest time before succumbing to their poor habits of being lax during the latter half of the season. Clutch Gaming however sparked massive interest after their 3-1 victory over TSM, cementing them as a team to be taken seriously.
Again, with both teams not making roster changes, the power rankings will look curiously similar to last season. With the current patch, Apollo and Sneaky from both teams will probably find it difficult to snowball. In the midlane, Febiven had a great showing last season but Jensen also had an immaculate KDA and KP%. Solo and Licorice in the toplane are both double edged swords, so it stems from the ability for one top laner to get ahead to decide the game in a more absolute fashion. Svenskeren is the epitome of standard, by the book jungling while LirA has been known to be more eccentric. Under the same idea of 100T vs TL, this game might very well be decided as which team will be able to cover for an ADC’s weakness.
Betting prediction: Cloud9 to win, paying $1.57 at GG Bet.
FlyQuest vs Echo Fox
Match 4 – 5pm PST / 8pm EST
At first, the power ranking of this match seems obvious – 2nd place Echo Fox vs 8th place FlyQuest in the regular season. With the roster changes, FLY may fare a bit better than last season, although it is still a herculean task to bring down the FOXs.
FLY has swapped two of their members, Anda and Stunt, for Santorin and KonKwon. When it comes to experience, the substitutions make sense as both the newcomers possess years in the competitive scene. In full respect for the players’ skill, the newcomers may not necessarily be an upgrade in terms of mechanics but FLY is aiming for the veteran experience to solidify their playstyle. In the meanwhile, FOX is staying with their star studded roster that, on the back of Dardoch and Huni, aim to spiral the game out of control as soon as possible. Still possessing a stellar roster than earned them third place in the playoffs, FOX is still looking strong with FLY being the severe underdogs.
Betting prediction: Echo Fox to win, paying $1.33 at GG Bet.
Golden Guardians vs Optic Gaming
Match 5 – 6pm PST / 9pm EST
Although being branded initially as the bottom of the barrel, these two teams did pull off surprising upsets in the regular season last split. Both possessing a slightly different roster, correctly assessing each team’s power is not as simple as it sounds.
With Hai’s replacement in Mickey, GGs aim to replace their expert shotcaller with an experienced player that relies on mechanical outplays and overall better laning and teamfighting plays. OPT on the other hand has replaced their top laner zig, who has had poor matchups last season, with Dhokla, a player relatively new to the professional scene. OPT has also replaced LemonNation with Big, a change similar to GG’s in terms of age versus experience and mechanics. This patch will once again play a large part in deciding the stronger team, as the focus will be on the top-jungle-mid combination. PowerOfEvil may secure OPT the midlane, but the combination of GG Lourlo and Contractz have a clear advantage over Dhokla and Akaadian due to the time they have had to synergize. In addition, the Korean import Mickey may not necessarily lose to POE in the midlane, creating quite a threatening composition in favor of GG,
Betting prediction: Golden Guardians to win, paying $1.83 at GG Bet.
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Our two teams jousting for the position of third will be Clutch Gaming, paying ($1.77) and Echo Fox, paying ($1.91) with GG Bet.
Echo Fox, formerly the second place team in the regular split, has had its rough patches in the latter half that were displayed quite prominently in their match against Team Liquid last Saturday.
Their strategy of putting the most versatile and aggressive top-laner on tanky champions completely backfired in their games. Despite taking game 2, FOX was actually down in kills and the gold difference was manageable. Unfortunately for FOX, Fenix probably had his worst playoff series in his career, going a total of 3-14-9 as his KDA, which in turn prompted a plethora of question marks from analysts and Twitch chat.
Clutch Gaming on the other hand has been looking stellar not only from the end of the split but also through their matches between TSM and 100T. Taking 100T to a full 5 game series, CG looking amazing by capitalizing on Hakuho’s threats in picks and bans, LirA’s jungling routes and most surprisingly of all, Solo’s stellar performance once resources are thrown into his lane.
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Echo Fox vs Clutch Gaming
Saturday April 7th – 1PM PST / 4PM EST
Echo Fox and Clutch Gaming have had great seasons despite the result of this match. Coming from Rick Fox and his sons’ dream of creating a professional esports team, Echo Fox has made its footprint as a respectable if not dynamic organization. Clutch Gaming, an organization hailing its support from the Houston Rockets, is in its infancy stage for esports and has managed to place top four with a roster riddled with doubt. Both these teams have proved their worth in the NA LCS and now they have to prove that their team deserves the bronze medal.
Echo Fox: Priorities, Top Players, Weaknesses
Priorities – Last week, FOX prioritized Huni in the wrong way by giving him a bunch of tanks. In addition, Altec was the main win condition of the match with Fenix severely underperforming. FOX should take a serious though as to subbing in Damonte for Fenix should the same situation occur as Damonte has had a few games of LCS experience beforehand. The same goes with Adrian and Papa Chau; Adrian’s week has been absolutely horrid on paper. Other than that, Dardoch absolutely has to make plays in the early game instead of being docile and half dedicated to a gank.
Top Players – Once again, Huni should be the lane to play around as his mechanics and game sense have earned him the top spot among top laners. With most of the team in disarray, Altec and Huni have shown more than enough nerve to withstand public sentiment. Fenix is still a great mid laner as history has shown but needs to reset his mentality coming into this week.
Weaknesses – There may be too many weaknesses to count for FOX. Early game laning, early game jungle pressure, objective control, early game rotations. The only thing that FOX did well was matching rotations in the mid game but the snowball had already turned into an avalanche. The main culprits of FOX’s weak points were Dardoch, Fenix and Adrian; if FOX can successfully remedy two of the three players, FOX will already become a tougher team to face.
Clutch Gaming: Priorities, Top Players, Weaknesses
Priorities – This week, CG has shown they can play through literally any lane and have it shine. However, most of this is due to LirA’s jungle resources being donated where it counts. As such, securing Olaf, Skarner or another early game jungler for him will allow CG to make mapwide plays. Hakuho is a second priority in the sense of his specialties; if FOX leave a Thresh or Morgana up, Hakuho will have a field day.
Top Players – LirA, Solo and Febiven were all standouts last week. LirA with his jungle pressure allowed Solo to dominate lane and in turn, Solo had priority on any teleport or mapwide plays over his lane opponent. Febiven still remains a great anchor for CG in the midlane, demonstrating a large champion pool that cannot be banned out as well as absorbing and surviving enemy ganks.
Weaknesses – CG honestly does not have any apparent weaknesses that can be exploited easily. However CG has had faults when it comes to snowballing situations. Should a lane in CG get repeatedly put behind, the outcome is a long and drawn out bleeding wound that CG cannot mend. Most of CG’s games are low kill games which means that although they may be able to prolong their suffering, they also have trouble pushing the snowball in the other direction as well.
The Betting: Predictions and free tip
When all is said and done, CG are the extremely heavy favorites this weekend to emerge victorious. FOX have too many questions that still need answering regarding strategy and playstyle while CG has done more than most people would have imagined. That being said, FOX is still an unexpected team that will manage to pull at least one win away from the newcomers.
My best bet: Clutch Gaming to defeat Echo Fox 3-2 in the maps betting which is paying $4.50 with GG Bet.
]]>Off the back of last week’s upset, Clutch Gaming looks incredibly strong with every person understanding their role. CG easiliy adapted and overcame challenges between games and pulled off a 3-1 victory. On the flipside, 100 Thieves managed to oust FOX in their last minute run to the top of the standings. Backed by Aphromoo’s shotcalling, Cody Sun’s stellar performance and an overall powerful string of all stars, 100T will be fighting with the benefit of a fortnight’s preparation.
100 Thieves: The low down
Priorities: Cody Sun and crisp rotations are the name of the game for 100T. They boast an ADC heavy play style that is focused on allowing Cody Sun to pop off in the game. That is heavily supplemented by the team rotational play, allowing for objectives to be taken in a quick an efficient manner while whittling away at their opponents’ ability to secure neutral objectives like baron or vision control.
Top Players: The standout would have to obviously be Cody Sun, but he has been the recipient of a lot of attention throughout the split. Aphromoo is still widely talked about but has not been praised enough for his behind the scene shotcalling that has made him a force to be reckoned with on former team CLG. Ssumday also deserves some credit here, showing a great improvement to his ability to soak and disperse jungle pressure from the top lane and not allowing too large of a snowball to occur.
Weaknesses: In most of 100T’s losses, the main factor that was repetitive was Meteos’ inability to influence lanes. Through sufficient ward control and tracking of Meteos, 100T will be forced into a lane by lane matchup. This would not be a problem toplane, but midlane and botlane if left to their own devices could suffer, as Hakuho is coming off a fantastic week and Febiven continues to flaunt his mechanics.
Clutch Gaming: The low down
Priorities: Perhaps the most important thing for CG right now is their mindset coming into this week. They just upset TSM, the most prolific NA team in the history of the NA LCS. Hakuho, Apollo and LirA played out of their minds. If they can retain this momentum and replicate picks and bans as they did versus TSM, CG will be incredibly dangerous to face.
Top Players – A standout performance would have to be from the duo botlane of Hakuho and Apollo. Apollo had a total of 2 deaths versus TSM and put up a crazy amount of damage, making him the main carry in the series. Hakuho was left unchecked for three games. Not once did TSM think to themselves to switch up picks and bans to prevent Hakuho from going to town on Thresh. Granted, LirA and Febiven still played their top level gameplay, but the bottom lane definitely deserves recognition for their stellar play.
Weaknesses: CG has also shown they are not invincible – game 1 in their TSM matchup went heavily towards TSM. The main source of this was rotational play through champion skills. CG is not necessarily better or worse than other pro teams when it comes to rotations, but when it comes to controlling tempo, their team comps tend to veer away from global pressure such as Shen, Taliyah and Tahm Kench.
Prediction, odds and best bet
Both of these teams are new organizations who aim to make a name for themselves, and cementing their name in the rafters of the Riot Battle Arena would be a great way to start off their legacy. Both teams have specific lanes they want to influence, with most of the pressure being placed on Meteos and LirA to make plays happen. All things considered, 100T is still a vastly stronger team on paper, being the 1st seed versing the 6th seed. Clutch Gaming truly needs a clutch series to pull off this upset.
Head to head: 100 Thieves ($1.53) vs Clutch Gaming ($237.00)
Correct maps score best bet: 3-1 win to 100T paying $3.75 – Bet365 (for those outside the USA) and BetOnline.ag both have this option available.
Team SoloMid is the bookies’ favourite to win, paying $1.33 with GG Bet, but there is also some love for Clutch Gaming, who are $2.05.
Our League of Legends expert Spare has previewed all the betting and important points below.
SATURDAY TIPS: LCS NA LEAGUE OF LEGENDS PLAYOFF
BETTING GUIDE: LEAGUE OF LEGENDS
STREAM GAME: HOW TO WATCH LOL ONLINE
Team SoloMid vs Clutch Gaming
Sunday, March 25th – 12PM PST/ 3PM EST
People would expect a pretty one sided match from a game consisting of the third place versus the sixth place team, but that will most likely not be the case here. Although TSM has had a significantly powerful resurgence as of late, CG held a top four spot for the majority of the regular season. In addition, CG actually had an advantage over TSM in the regular season as well, having a 2-0 head to head record against TSM. Neither team can be discounted as an easy win for the other, but there is one team that has a clear advantage when it comes to playoff situations.
Team SoloMid
Priorities – MikeYeung and Hauntzer do not have a large enough champion pool to be considered ‘unbannable’. Hauntzer primarily has a target on his back for his 6-0 Gangplank record, while MikeYeung has primarily played the triumvirate of meta jungle picks of Sejuani, Zac and Skarner. Hauntzer has also had a very good showing on Sion, performing the role of a counter split pusher and a team-fight powerhouse, sporting good kill participation whenever he takes up the undead juggernaut. The jungle pick will most likely come within the first round of picks/bans, but securing Hauntzer a champion that will have both lane and map-wide presence may come at a price.
Top Players – Bjergsen easily takes this role for the team, performing consistently well throughout the regular split and being a solid anchor in the mid-lane for TSM. His champion pool is also daunting, possessing standard powerhouses like Galio and Syndra with the sprinkling of pocket picks like Orianna and Taliyah. MikeYeung’s synergy with the team has grown exponentially since the beginning of the split as well, now showing the propensity to confidently engage with his team, invade enemy jungles intelligently and utilizing strengths in his individual lanes to pull off successful ganks.
Weaknesses – TSM has become a well rounded, aggressive team with MikeYeung finding his way and Zven and Mithy holding the line down in bot lane. The main weakness in TSM play-style would be the top lane exploitation of Hauntzer and MikeYeung’s early game. Hauntzer has trouble participating in team-fights unless he feels confident of making a significant impact once his teleport finishes channeling. MikeYeung has definitely shored up his early game play-style, dying less frequently when he invades and mapping out his jungle route accordingly. However, his greenness may show in his first best of five series in his career, being forced to adapt to his opponent’s meta each and every game.
Clutch Gaming
Priorities – Febiven and Apollo. Super standard priorities on each of the carries of CG. Febiven has, arguably, performed as one of the best if not the best in the midlane position, so securing Febiven a champion that is not only lane dominant but also roam dominant is a heavy must. Apollo has displayed his ability to play multiple ADCs but none of which stand out as his go-to champion. As a result, depending on the flow of picks and bans, Apollo cannot afford to be severely counter-picked or lane at a disadvantage, especially with Zven being such a consistent laner.
Top Players – Febiven and Hakuho are big names when it comes to CG. Febiven boasts a high 7+ KDA in the mid-lane while his kill participation is incredibly high. He is basically ousted by only one mid laner in the league – the one he is playing against. Hakuho, albeit a shadow of a player, definitely supports his team from the bot-lane as his shot-calling, engages and champion picks are solely to assist in team composition. Similarly, he boasts one of the highest KDA and KP in the league among support picks, his only competition being Olleh.
Weaknesses – Solo is easily the target for most teams. Even when Solo tries to pick a safe farming champion, he ends up as the recipient of a lot of ganks. His KP and KDA do not look astounding on paper, and as such he has shifted his focus for carry top laners to more tanky and maneuverable ones due to the attention sent top lane. LirA has sometimes tried to assist Solo in such games but eventually also falls behind in pressure and farming, creating a mini snowball effect that puts two positions at a disadvantage.
TSM are favorites in this match-up because of three main reasons: TSM’s North American legacy, their stellar record as of late and the international/best of five experience for four of their members. In addition, TSM actually took down CG in their tiebreaker match on Sunday. Clutch Gaming has made great strides considering their age in the league, and placing in the top six is no small feat. However, against the long standing champions of NA, CG may have too much of a mountain to climb.
Best bet: Team SoloMid to win $1.33 with GG Bet