After four days of fast and furious action, eight teams are left to fight for the final four spots at the League of Legends World Championship Main Event next week. The chalk held up during the Play-In Group Stage, as the teams from the four major regions all finished first in their group and got a preferential match-up with a second place team from another group. Some of those favorites looked a little shaky though, so getting into the main event might be a little tricky.
League of Legends World Championship Knockout Rounds Betting Odds (Courtesy of BetDSI)
Cloud9 -667
Gambit +395
Cloud9 went 4-0 during the group stage, but if you watched their games you’d know that it wasn’t easy. They had a difficult time in both of their matches against Detonation FocusMe, and they could have lost both of those games.
It looked like some members of Cloud9 simply lost their focus at times. Mid-laner Jensen was caught out of position multiple times in different matches, and jungler Blaber had some issues too. Fortunately, top laner Licorice and AD Carry Sneaky both played fantastic throughout, and their play led C9 to wins.
Gambit was unable to beat G-Rex in either of their matches, but they did knock off Kaos Latin Gamers twice to finish second in the group. This team looked impressive in the Mid-Season Invitational, yet their play at Worlds has left something to be desired. Mid-laner Kira was bullied by G-Rex’s Candy, and Jensen will be keen to do the same thing.
The coaching will be the real difference in this match though. Cloud9’s coach Reapered is one of the best in League of Legends, and he has been incredibly innovative. C9’s team compositions have been great, and they will outclass a Gambit team that largely seems unsure of what it wants to do in the draft.
EDward Gaming -5000
DetonatioN FocusMe +2217
Once again, EDward Gaming had a major letdown at Worlds. Fortunately, this time it didn’t cost them anything but their pride. EDG were a massive favorite to win their group and they did just that, but they blew a 7k gold lead at the 25-minute mark and lost to Infinity eSports to finish 3-1. There’s little doubt this team is the most individually talented of any team in this stage, yet the mind-boggling mistakes keep people from fully trusting them.
DetonatioN FocusMe became the first Japanese team to make it out of the Play-In Group Stage, and their playstyle caught a few off guard. Japan is known as a region that plays very slow and conservatively, but DFM is a team that thrives off of early-game aggression. They would have had a decent chance of advancing against a team like G2, but it’s really hard to see them getting past an EDG squad that has thrived in the early games.
G2 -833
Infinity eSports +467
This is my upset special. G2 did not look great in the group stage, even though they finished first in their group. The team was far too reliant on Perkz to carry in the mid-lane, and although Hjarnan has an incredible KDA, his numbers are misleading. He continues to make small mistakes and can be punished by an aggressive team like Infinity.
Infinity proved their mettle on Thursday. The Latin American team went through the ringer to get to Korea, only obtaining their visas late last week, and they arrived just a couple days before their first set of games. Infinity understandably played poorly in those matches, yet they rebounded with some incredible performances to make it to this point. Cotopaco has the talent to keep Perkz from getting ahead.
G-Rex -286
SuperMassive +202
This line is too low. I’m sold on G-Rex after their dominant performance in the group stage. They were picked as the team most likely to be upset prior to the start of Worlds, yet they have had the least concerns through four games. G-Rex closed out their opponents quickly, and mid-laner Candy has looked incredibly sharp.
That gives them a major advantage over SuperMassive. The Turkish squad has a very good bottom lane and an experienced jungler, yet GBM has not looked great in the mid-lane. G-Rex can hold the other two lanes in check and push mid to put the pressure on GBM.
