TOP ESPORTS vs ANYONE’S LEGEND LoL BETTING & MATCH DETAILS

The League of Legends Pro League (LPL) 2024 Summer Playoffs will serve us with a clash between the aggressive Top Esports and resilient yet unreliable Anyone’s Legend, who will face off in a best-of-five series on Friday, August 16.

The two Chinese teams last faced off in the fourth week of the regular season, when Top Esports won in two maps. According to LoL betting sites, the rematch should play out similarly.

Anyone’s Legend enter this clash off a convincing 3-1 victory against FunPlus Phoenix on Tuesday. That was only their fourth victory of the split, however, and none of them have come against the top squads.

Still, Anyone’s Legend are very good at keeping their games close, with a 99.1 gold difference per minute. Unfortunately, they tend to struggle in the early game, with a -601 gold difference at 15 minutes, and that will be a huge problem on Friday.

Top Esports have been smoking everyone for most of the LPL 2024 Summer split, only struggling in games where their opponents have managed to slow down Yu “JackeyLove” Wen-Bo very early. This will be a tough ask for Anyone’s Legend, who are in for a stylistic nightmare against the most explosive early-game team in the league (+1121 GD@15).

The last meeting between Anyone’s Legend and Top Esports wasn’t too bloody, ending 4-12 and 15-9 in kills. The upcoming series likely won’t see many kills either, but unless TES shoot themselves in the foot, it should be just as one-sided.

Esports betting tips

Ninjas in Pyjamas showed signs of life last week against Top Esports and Bilibili Gaming, and that is reflected in the odds. Although they remain winless this split, the top LoL betting sites have NiP priced at $1.58 to beat LGD Gaming.

On Friday, Ninjas in Pyjamas took a bite out of Bilibili Gaming, only to fall apart on the final two maps. LGD Gaming also took a map from a superior opponent last round, but LNG Esports ran over them after that.

LGD Gaming and Ninjas in Pyjamas are the bottom teams in Group Ascend, and there are not many reasons to favour one over the other. NiP look stronger and field better players, but the eye test suggests this series is closer to a 50-50.

Bilibili Gaming kept their winning streak alive on Friday when they stomped Ninjas in Pyjamas 2-1 after losing the opening map. It was a convincing victory, but like in the previous two, Bilibili dropped a map.

Anyone’s Legend continue posting shaky results. They have now lost four in a row, going down to JD Gaming, Weibo Gaming, Top Esports, and LNG Esports. However, Anyone’s Legend produced a quality performance on map one against LNG on Sunday, which isn’t to be ignored.

A few close games against top LPL contenders should not make Anyone’s Legend a serious threat to Bilibili Gaming. But knowing that the defending champions have not been the most convincing in their past games, it is fair to expect AL to take one map off them.

Esports betting tips

Oh My God reverse-swept Ultra Prime on Wednesday to keep their winning streak alive. But according to the LPL betting odds, their run should end on Friday.

ThunderTalk Gaming lost against EDward Gaming at the start of the week in a bizarre series where the team that played offside performed better. It was a bit off-script, but nothing unusual for Group Nirvana.

Results-wise Oh My God are the better team, but ThunderTalk have the side choice and are more stable of the two. They also tend to play more scaling, which should work well against Oh My God, who aren’t particularly effective in the early game.

Top Esports would have lost to Ninjas in Pyjamas on Tuesday if the latter team was not so poor at macro play. Anyone’s Legend have not played a single game since last Thursday, when they were crushed by Weibo Gaming.

Anyone’s Legend are 3-2 in LPL 2024 Summer. That is not terrible, especially considering AL have some impressive performance metrics and are extremely good at closing games when they are in the lead.

Top Esports are one of the scariest teams in the LPL, but esports betting sites should not be pricing them as short as $1.35. Anyone’s Legend’s win condition is to prevent Top Esports from getting too far ahead early, which is entirely possible considering their past showings.

Ninjas in Pyjamas could have taken the first map off Top Esports on Tuesday, but they found a way to throw the lead away with questionable decision-making. The second map was much more one-sided and played out exactly how the series was expected to go.

Seeing Ninjas in Pyjamas struggle against Top Esports does not sound concerning. But they have looked just as bad against any other team in the league, so they will unlikely do any better against the LPL’s strongest squad.

Despite getting absolutely smoked by Weibo Gaming on map one last round, Bilibili Gaming returned the favour on the final two maps, proving they are still a force to be reckoned with. Unless BLG slow down significantly, this will be a bloodbath.

Esports betting tips

Ultra Prime started LPL 2024 Summer with a 0-2 defeat against Invictus Gaming, whereas Rare Atom swept ThunderTalk Gaming. Neither result was surprising.

Rare Atom performed relatively well in LPL 2024 Summer Placements, and while they’re nowhere near the elite teams, Rare Atom look poised to emerge as the top squad in Group Nirvana.

Ultra Prime managed a respectable 3-5 record in the previous stage, but most of those wins came as a result of opponents’ mistakes. Since Rare Atom aren’t the most reliable team, we can expect Ultra Prime to pocket a map, but anything more seems unlikely.

Despite their success in LPL 2024 Summer Placements, Anyone’s Legend are still underappreciated. Even though their combined record of 9-1 includes mostly victories against weaker teams, they also defeated Ninjas in Pyjamas twice in June.

Ninjas in Pyjamas will have side choice for this series, which gives them a slight advantage. They are also stacked with elite-tier players, but while many things work in NiP’s favour, they’re still an unreliable team.

This could be a very competitive series, but Anyone’s Legend won against NiP last month and proved to be the better team. A 2-0 sweep is a realistic possibility and worth a smaller wager.

Esports betting tips

Ultra Prime defeated Invictus Gaming in the first week of LPL 2024 Summer Placements, and they’re expected to win again. UP have managed three wins in six outings this split, whereas IG have just one.

Invictus Gaming have given us very little to feel excited about, but the same can be said about Ultra Prime. Besides beating Invictus, their only other victories came against the inconsistent Weibo Gaming.

On Sunday, Ultra Prime lost to Anyone’s Legend in one of the worst-quality series of the split. They took one map, but that means very little based on what they showed on the day.

Despite what the teams’ records suggest, Invictus Gaming and Ultra Prime are relatively equal quality-wise. And considering UP are offside for this match, Invictus are a very inviting bet at $2.39 with the best esports betting sites.

Anyone’s Legend have been up and down throughout LPL 2024 Summer Placements. They have beaten Ultra Prime (twice), Ninjas in Pyjamas (twice) and Invictus Gaming, but they’ve also had concerning showings against Weibo Gaming and Ultra Prime.

Even though Anyone’s Legend seem to be in a good position, they looked very questionable in two of their last three series, so perhaps they don’t deserve to be given a 64.5% implied probability of winning this series.

On the other hand, Weibo Gaming are unbelievably inconsistent despite having a high ceiling. Their transition from early to mid game is atrocious, and their decision-making is even worse.

Despite Weibo Gaming’s issues, there is nothing about the form of Anyone’s Legend that justifies their price. Take the generous odds for the outsiders to win.

Esports betting tips

Anyone’s Legend managed to produce a few flashy upsets in League of Legends Pro League (LPL) 2024 Spring, but their overall performances were very poor, resulting in a disappointing 11th-place finish. For the final split of the season, Anyone’s Legend addressed one weak spot with the addition of top laner Hu “Ale” Jia-Le, but there are still some macro problems they’ll have to improve on in order to accomplish anything.

There’s some upside to this team, and if Anyone’s Legend can work on their approach in the mid-late game, they’ll remain feisty underdogs. However, all that is a big ‘what if’.

Ultra Prime have already played their first match of LPL 2024 Summer Placements, winning against Invictus Gaming 2-1. This doesn’t prove much, as Invictus Gaming are one of the weaker rosters in the league, and the eye test suggests Ultra Prime aren’t much better than last split.

It is anything but surprising, as Ultra Prime didn’t replace some of their weaker players during the offseason. At the very least, things can’t get much worse for them, but there aren’t many reasons to feel optimistic about this lineup.

We’re taking a leap and trusting Anyone’s Legend to sweep.

ThunderTalk Gaming retained their roster for the LPL 2024 Summer season but made some changes to the coaching personnel, adding Xiao “Vlone” Chu-Yu as a new analyst. But with Chou “AFei” Cheng-Ting staying put and no new player arrivals, those changes don’t move the needle too much.

Last split, ThunderTalk had their moments. However, even though they didn’t have any critical weaknesses, they also struggled in some areas of the game — mainly in the transition from early to mid.

FunPlus Phoenix have kept all their players from last split and made just one change with the arrival of top laner Zhao “TheNiu” Yong-Zhuo, who might not even start. Keeping the roster together is a reasonable move, as FPX had a very strong run though the first split before they fell apart in the playoffs.

FunPlus Phoenix looked a bit raw in the spring, but this is an excellent squad with huge upside. This squad will surprise many by the end of the season, but they’ll likely need some time to get going, so we’ll tame our expectations for their LPL 2024 Summer Placements opener.

Esports betting tips

Anyone’s Legend looked very competitive throughout the first five weeks of the LPL 2024 Spring, but they’ve lost four straight games since the sixth week of the split. That includes defeats against Rare Atom, Invictus Gaming, Royal Never Give Up, and JD Gaming on Saturday.

Anyone’s Legend took a map from JD Gaming, which sounds promising, but they’ve also lost against Rare Atom and Royal Never Give Up, which isn’t a good look for them.

LNG Esports are 4-1 over their last five games; however, they’ve had a very easy schedule to fight through. Over their last five, LNG has beaten EDward Gaming, Invictus Gaming, Ultra Prime, and Royal Never Give Up but lost against LGD Gaming.

LNG have the talent to do well, but they’ve yet to show the high-level gameplay everyone expected of them. So even though it’s more than fair to question Anyone’s Legend’s quality, it’s even harder to believe that LNG Esports can justify their tag as $1.40 favourites.

Bilibili Gaming sits atop the LPL 2024 Spring standings with a 13-1 record and an equally impressive +22 map difference. They’re on an eight-game winning streak, with seven games ending in 2-0 sweeps.

Bilibili Gaming looks like the best team in the league; however, they’ve reached a point where they’ve started to test their limits. This can and will backfire; the only question is which team will catch Bilibili Gaming off-guard.

Oh My God won their seventh series of the split on Sunday when they swept Ultra Prime, improving the impression they left on Friday when Oh My God lost to Royal Never Give Up. This team has been decent when faced with weaker opponents, and they showed some fight when paired with the LPL’s top teams, but qualitatively, they’re not up there with the best.

Oh My God’s success against stronger opponents came down mainly to them praying for mistakes. However, while Bilibili Gaming is not known for making errors, their careless approach to the games makes backing Oh My God with a kill handicap on their map pick an appealing choice.

Esports betting tips

Anyone’s Legend have been holding on well this split and enter their final match of LPL 2024 Spring Week 6 with a 7-4 record. Last week, Anyone’s Legend defeated Weibo Gaming and Ninjas in Pyjamas; however, they spoiled their streak with a humiliating defeat against Rare Atom on Thursday.

Invictus Gaming have also been outperforming expectations in hte League of Legends esports world, winning seven of their last 10 series. And like Anyone’s Legend, Invictus Gaming have produced both great and some questionable results over the last few weeks.

Form-wise, the two sides look fairly even, but we have to give Anyone’s Legend a nod as the more consistent team. Invictus Gaming tend to rely too much on top laner Chau “YSKM” Shu Tak, and against Anyone’s Legend solid top side; this might not be the optimal approach.

ThunderTalk Gaming and EDward Gaming have been struggling this split, and although they’ve shown some improvement lately, esports betting sites cannot seperate them. EDward Gaming took a map from Oh My God and defeated Rare Atom last week, to which they added a solid performance against Invictus Gaming on Tuesday.

ThunderTalk Gaming are 2-2 from their last four, with defeats against BIlibili Gaming and JD Gaming and two wins against Ultra Prime and Royal Never Give Up. Not the flashiest results, but they’ve only struggled against two LPL top dogs.

EDward Gaming have had their moments, but overall, they’ve not looked great, which makes it very difficult to stay optimistic about them and their chances to do well. ThunderTalk Gaming have a lot of work to do as well, but they’re slowly finding some traction and are easily the stronger team of the two.

Royal Never Give Up are in a very tough spot ahead of this match. They’re 2-8 and on a seven-game losing streak, meaning they’ve not won a game since the start of LPL 2024 Spring Week 2. Over that stretch, Royal Never Give Up haven’t shown anything noteworthy and seeing them lose to ThunderTalk Gaming at the start of this week only confirms that RNG have serious problems.

JD Gaming are not nearly as good as they were in 2023, but they’re still one of the strongest teams in the LPL. While their 8-1 record is a bit misleading, JD Gaming have been very efficient in crushing weaker teams.

With their explosive early game and strong macro, JD Gaming should run over Royal Never Give Up. Expect two quick, low-scoring maps.

Esports betting picks

FunPlus Phoenix made a huge statement on Monday when they broke Top Esports’ five-game winning streak, proving that they can compete with strongest squads in the LPL. That said, over the last eight series they’ve also produced some questionable games against weaker opponents.

Ninjas in Pyjamas claimed their seventh victory of the split on Sunday when they edged past LNG Esports. It was a good effort, but like in most of their games so far this season, NiP made it very clear that they’re a passive team. Waiting on their opponents to make mistakes might work against lower-rated opponents, but it won’t be a very efficient approach when faced with LPL’s top squads.

Knowing that FunPlus Phoenix are prone to making mistakes, Ninjas in Pyjamas should do fine on Thursday. But FPX can also perform at a very high level, so at the odds on offer with the top LoL betting sites, we prefer the underdogs on the map handicap market.

EDward Gaming won their first match of the season on Sunday against Anyone’s Legend. For that series, they fielded jungler Wang “Monki” Meng-Qi and Hu “Ale” Jia-Le, who played a significant role in EDward Gaming’s success and will likely keep their spots as starters.

OMG defeated Weibo Gaming on Sunday, which only serves to highlight their inconsistency. They defeated Team WE in week one, then lost to FunPlus Phoenix, beat ThunderTalk Gaming, and lost to Anyone’s Legend.

Although potent underdogs, Oh My God are a team you’d want to fade when priced as heavy favourites. And seeing them face an improved EDward Gaming is a perfect chance to do that.

Weibo Gaming are priced as $1.40 favourites with GG Bet to defeat Anyone’s Legend, which is short considering how inconsistent they’ve been this split. Weibo have looked a bit rough to start the season, and even last weekend they failed to impress with their three-map defeat against Oh My God.

The talent is there, and Weibo Gaming have decent performance stats, but in most of their games against stronger teams, they have looked mediocre. Still, considering the talent on this roster, it is fair to believe WBG will ultimately be a much better team.

Anyone’s Legend are not a very good team, and their recent two defeats against EDward Gaming and ThunderTalk Gaming prove it. So even though it’s tough to trust Weibo Gaming, this is one of the games they shouldn’t be losing.

Esports betting tips

ThunderTalk Gaming have been pretty inconsistent this split. They are 1-4 after three weeks of play with a 4-9 map record, but to make matters worse, they’re the only team so far to lose to Rare Atom.

Anyone’s Legend are 4-2 with defeats against Bilibili Gaming and Team WE and wins over LGD Gaming, FunPlus Phoenix, Ultra Prime, and Oh My God. Even though AL have yet to defeat a good team, they’ve shown good performances and look like a solid mid-table team.

Their true test will come after this week when they face tougher squads. But even if AL fall apart against LPL’s top dogs, they have proved to be a tier above the bottom teams.

ThunderTalk have had their moments, but that is not a good reason to take their side against Anyone’s Legend, who are one of the most consistent performers of LPL 2024 Spring.

Rare Atom have been a complete disaster this split and are one of the prime candidates to collect the LPL’s wooden spoon. The pre-season expectations weren’t high, and they have yet to prove anyone wrong; however, Rare Atom managed to defeat ThunderTalk Gaming on Sunday, which has bumped them up a bit in the public eye.

One victory against another bottom-tier team doesn’t prove much, however. Rare Atom are still fundamentally flawed, with some of the worst performance metrics in early, mid, and late game.

Oh My God have looked far from excellent over the first three weeks of the split but have been playing better than the initial low expectations. They lost a close three-map series against Anyone’s Legend on Sunday and haven’t found much success against stronger teams.

Still, OMG, unlike Rare Atom, have a mid-table team pulse. The favourites should win this one comfortably.

Ninjas in Pyjamas are fresh off a worrying 2-1 victory against Ultra Prime, but that match happened after the Lunar New Year break, which played a role in UP finding the right strategy to do some damage.

One shaky game isn’t a reason for concern, especially with Ninjas in Pyjamas, who are the type of team that will run over any squad that can’t match their strong laners. One such example is EDward Gaming.

Three weeks into LPL 2024 Spring, EDward Gaming have yet to win a series, and unless they figure something out, they won’t see much success this season. Losing support Tian “Meiko” Ye has now proven to be a catalyst of this team’s downfall, although EDward Gaming have far more issues than just a lack of solid leadership.

The kill handicap for this match is set pretty high at 9.5, and even though NiP may run EDG over and close out the maps with double-digit leads, under 25.5 kills for both maps is a more reasonable choice.

Esports betting tips