The stakes couldn’t be bigger for Griffin when they face MVP on Thursday. Griffin recently finished up the most impressive season we have ever seen from a team in Challengers Korea. They went undefeated at 14-0 with many heralding them as a potential top six finisher in the LCK.
Yet none of that will matter if they don’t qualify for the LCK 2018 Summer Split. If Griffin fails to qualify, their roster will be scavenged by teams that will be playing in the LCK during summer.
The winner of the best of five series between Griffin and MVP will qualify for the Summer Split. The loser will face Kongdoo Monster in a best of five series for the final spot in the LCK on Sunday.
LCK 2018 Summer Split Promotion Betting Odds (Courtesy of BetDSI)
Griffin -294
MVP +218
This line has moved against MVP since it opened. The opening line had Griffin as a -198 favorite, but the hype surrounding this team has grown in recent days. They might close as the biggest favorite a Challenger team has ever been against an LCK team.
How they got here
MVP was a bit unfortunate to have to play in the Summer Promotion tournament. Typically, six wins is enough to stay afloat in the LCK, but the middle of the table was very crowded this split.
They were able to knock off Ever 8 Winners in order to get to this point. However, MVP did drop Game One of the series. As I said in my recap, that was due to an unconventional draft that came apart in the mid game due to drafting Vel’Koz as the support and not having many tanks in the composition.
Griffin was able to sweep Kongdoo Monster to get into the winner’s bracket, but they were far from convincing in their first game. They were on the back foot for most of the game and only turned things around after some incredible play from Lehends on Alister. Griffin won the second game convincingly.
Analysis
While it’s fun to get excited about Griffin, let’s pump the brakes a little bit. Their victory came against a Kongdoo Monster team that had lost 14 straight matches to end the LCK Spring Split. They have some interesting ideas when it comes to team compositions, but let’s see how they work against a better team.
That being said, two of their players are potential stars. They will be playing in the LCK even if Griffin doesn’t qualify for summer. Tarzan looks to be one of the better junglers in Korea at the moment, and Lehends could win Rookie of the Split in summer. These two have been fantastic and were very good against Kongdoo.
MVP has a very good support of their own in Max. His deep champion pool and unorthodox selections can give his team the edge, and he has plenty of experience playing against the best in the world.
On that note, this entire MVP team has plenty of experience playing in very important matches. Even the team’s new addition this split, Pilot, was a member of Jin Air Green Wings for two and a half years before spending last year playing in Europe. His chemistry with the team has really improved and MVP has gotten better since he replaced MaHa as the starting AD carry.
Prediction
I place a premium on experience and chemistry in matches like these and MVP has both in spades. You can make the case that Griffin has more talent, but they are not used to playing against the best, while all five members of MVP have spent plenty of time in the LCK. Other than Pilot, the members of MVP have been together for some time and that will bode well for them here. I liked MVP as a moderate underdog, and I absolutely love them at this price.
