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The League of Legends European & Middle East region is entering its second week of group-stage play, with six teams competing for three playoff spots. Excel pulled off a surprising upset victory against SK last week to secure a playoff spot, meaning some teams that have had strong seasons so far will be sent home packing.
G2 were also victorious in their group, setting themselves up nicely for a strong run at the LEC Finals.
Two spots at the annual Worlds tournament for League of Legends will be on the line, as the winner of the summer season and the top three teams in championship points will earn the chance to compete for Europe’s three slots at the LEC finals in August.
We’ll be breaking down some of our favorite betting picks, including our two favorites to join Excel in the playoff finals as well as a look at upcoming matches.
Group A: BDS’ Group to Lose?
Group A was marked by the dominant victory of G2, with the regular season #1 team defeating KOI and BDS in a convincing 2-0 fashion.
Given the history of the remaining group members, BDS, Heretics, and KOI, You wouldn’t be blamed for considering this a cakewalk for BDS, at least at first glance. BDS has 190 championship points this season, 40 more than KOI and 130 more than Heretics.
Additionally, BDS is coming off a strong 2-1 victory against Heretics, which saw star mid-laner Nuc post a 16/3/15 scoreline across the series. It’s clear BDS has a strong advantage over Heretics, especially when considering the Jayce vs. Tristana mid-matchup.
Heretics are in a better spot than you may think, however. First, the scrappy squad went 5-4 over the regular season, clearly out of their slump from the Winter and Spring splits. Their season included wins over SK, MAD, and of course, BDS.
Secondly, BDS now has a marked history of failing to live up to pressure. You only need to look as far back as their 2-3 loss to MAD at the end of the Spring split, which cost them a spot at the prestigious Mid-Season Invitational tournament.
In fact, you don’t even need to look that far. BDS completely collapsed against G2 last week,, allowing G2’s Yike to post an obnoxious 46 KDA on a 7/1/39 scoreline.
Betting Tip for Group A:
Heretics -149 to win vs. KOI
Heretics to win vs. BDS
Group B: Anyone’s for the Taking
Unlike Group A, there is a strong argument for all three teams remaining in the group. Excel surprised by defeating favorites SK in the winner’s bracket, securing their spot. That leaves SK in a weird limbo. They finished in the middle of the pack in regular season play over the summer, and also recently lost 2-3 to fellow group members MAD to miss out on a spot at the Mid-Season Invitational.
Before SK can get their revenge on MAD, they will need to wait on the results of the Fnatic-MAD series. MAD attended MSI, but struggled heavily on the international stage and disappointing European League fans everywhere. Their 4-5 regular season performance also leaves little to be inspired by.
That would make Fnatic the favorites then, right? Well, not quite. Fnatic lost 0-2 to SK last week, despite their 7-2 regular season mark. They had no answer for SK’s bot lane duo, Exakick (10/0/7) and Doss (0/2/20).
We like SK to win given the poor track records from MAD and Fnatic this season, but it’s anyone’s group for the taking.
Betting Tip for Group B:
MAD +201 to win vs. Fnatic
SK to win vs. MAD