It all comes down to this. The last two teams remaining at the League of Legends World Championship will meet at Incheon Munhak Stadium on Saturday to determine who will lift the Summoner’s Cup. Invictus Gaming are looking to become the first Chinese team to be crowned League of Legends World Champions, while Fnatic are out to win their second title after winning the inaugural competition back in 2011. Over a hundred million people around the world will tune in for the final, making this the most watched sporting event this weekend.
League of Legends World Championship Finals Betting Odds (Courtesy of BetDSI)
Invictus Gaming -149 Fnatic +114
The opening eSports betting odds had Invictus Gaming as high as -200, but money has started to come in on Fnatic over the last few days, pushing the line down to where it currently sits.
Invictus Gaming has the more talented roster coming into the series. For Invictus, it all starts in the mid lane with Rookie. Rookie has to be considered the best player in the world right now, considering what he has done over the course of the year. He thoroughly thrashed Perkz in the mid lane against G2 last series, showing that he could take Jayce into the mid lane and winning hard in the early game with LeBlanc. He posted a 7.0 KDA against G2, and his 17 kills were the most on the team.
TheShy is the other major carry for Invictus. He has alternated top lane duties with the veteran Duke at Worlds, but when he is in the lineup, he usually wins his lane hard. In the spring, he was considered the best top laner in the World for what he was doing in the LPL, and he was superb on Akali, Jayce, and Aatrox against G2. He is likely to start in the series, but if the team opts for a more team fighting strategy and a more passive early game, Duke will probably sub in.
For Fnatic, the key will be Caps. He was the best player in Europe over the course of the season, and the team put their faith in him time and time again. However, he has been more utility oriented at Worlds. He did take LeBlanc into the mid lane in Game 1 against Cloud9, but his next two selections were Azir and Aatrox, and he used those champions to set things up for his teammates. When Fnatic and Invictus Gaming met in the Group Stage, he went the utility route and that was the spark to Fnatic winning two of three.
Rekkles will be the other player Fnatic puts their trust in. Rekkles has been the best AD Carry in the West for the last few years, but he took a little bit of a backseat earlier this year. He has stepped up in a big way at Worlds though, and posted an incredible 21.0 KDA on Sivir and Xayah against Cloud9 last week. Rekkles is far more experienced than IG’s wunderkid AD Carry JackeyLove, and he is less prone to making the small mistakes that are the difference between winning and losing.
In this meta, I give the edge to Invictus. So far, teams that can push and win their lane in the early game have the advantage at Worlds, and Invictus should have the advantage in two of the three lanes.
