Riot Gaming, the developer of League of Legends, said while crowds are returning for LEC it would be in a limited capacity and precautions would be taken to limit the spread of covid-19.

The esports company said there would no restrictions surrounding stage games, with teams now all allowed to play from the arena, with safety concerns around social-distancing allayed for now.

“We’re thrilled to announce that the LEC is opening its doors for a limited number of fans to watch the Spring 2022 Finals,” Riot Games said.

“While we are closely monitoring the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we are finally confident that we can ensure a safe environment for our fans to celebrate the Spring 2022 Finals in a one-off event.

“In order to ensure the highest safety, we are limiting the number of attendees, and fans will be required to adhere to regulations in place at the venue, which can be found in the event information on the ticketing platform.”

The only covid rule that is likely to impact attendance, is one that requires everyone to wear a mask while they are not consuming food.

Tickets for the most anticipated league event in Europe go on sale on Friday, June 10 at 9am CT on the main Eventbrite website. Fans can buy up to four tickets for 12 euros each, including costs. There will be no full weekend tickets available, so you will have to buy entry for each day individually.

G2 Esports will defend their title against the rest of the squad in this split, while eager, motivated teams like Fnatic, Team Vitality, MAD Lions, and others strive to seize the crown in an intense battle for a spot at the 2022 LoL World Championship.
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For Summoner’s Rift supporters in Berlin and players on Summoner’s Rift, the summer is just getting started, and you can be there to see it all when the season opens on June 17.

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?Rogue enter the LEC 2021 Summer playoffs as one of the favourites to go all the way and hoist the organisation’s first LEC trophy. They’re priced as low as $2.80 for the title with the top LoL betting sites, tying them with G2 Esports.

Rogue finished the regular season first with a 13-5 record after registering five wins and two losses across the last three weeks of play. Although Rogue have had a few slip-ups, they have been by far the most consistent team in the league, largely thanks to their controlled style of play.

Kacper “Inspired” S?oma and co. are 2-0 up in the head-to-head against Misfits Gaming and are expected to win on Friday, but the $1.28 is a little short for our liking. As good as Rogue have been over the season, they historically underperform in the playoffs, although we don’t expect that to show until they meet some trickier opponents in the latter stages.

Misfits Gaming aren’t quite at the level of Rogue, but they have quietly put together an impressive season. The Bunnies also ended the regular season with the highest Mid-Late Game Rating (18.5 MLR) in the league, although they are well behind Rogue in all other performance metrics.

We expect Rogue to win, but it won’t be a clean sweep. A small wager on the game ending in a 3-1 victory for Rogue is worth a go.

?Schalke 04 Esports enter this match with a 3-12 record on the season and a seven-game losing streak, which began at the start of the month. Their only three wins of the summer season came against G2 Esports, SK Gaming, and Fnatic – two of which were complete flukes.

It’s an unfortunate situation for a team that has some solid pieces, but they simply couldn’t make it work this time out. Their next opponents, Team Vitality, are 5-10 on the summer season, which isn’t great, but it’s a fair product of their inconsistency.

Individually, the Bees are better than Schalke 04 and should win on Friday; however, they’re way too unstable for us to expect a clean game from them. The number of individual mistakes Vitality players have been making of late is unreal and is a big reason why the Bees’ last seven outings all reached at least 25 kills – expect something similar on Friday.

?Astralis and SK Gaming are two of the weakest teams in the league, but out of the two, we like Astralis slightly better. Even though it wouldn’t be fair to say that Astralis’ players are better than SK’s, you have to acknowledge how efficient Nikolay “Zanzarah” Akatov and co. are in gaining draft edges.

Astralis like to draft comfort picks, which is arguably the right approach for a roster that lacks quality. This style has helped Astralis force close series against significantly better teams and made them very competitive even against LEC top dogs.

SK Gaming have had their moments, but that doesn’t explain the latest LoL betting odds. The only reason why SK are priced close to even money here is their fluke win against Fnatic last week, which doesn’t prove anything. Astralis have been more consistent over the season and should win here.

?G2 Esports and MAD Lions last met in the opening round of LEC 2021 Summer, when G2 won with relative ease. The eight-time LEC champions have since managed only eight wins from the remaining 14 outings (9-6), whereas MAD Lions produced a slightly better 10-5 record.

This match seems like a complete coin toss, and it looks like the esports bookmakers have no idea how this one will end either. Whichever way you think it will go, the moneyline odds are no good.

This match will be decided based on how well MAD Lions’ bottom lane performs. If they show up, MAD Lions will come out ahead; in any other scenario, the game will end in G2 Esports’ favour.

The best bet to take here is over 27.5 kills. These two teams seem evenly matched, and with the style of play they’ve been showing of late, it’s likely that we’re in for a long and bloody affair.

?Schalke 04 Esports enter this match with a 23% win rate (3-10) on the summer season and a five-game losing streak. That run includes defeats against Astralis, SK Gaming, MAD Lions, Rogue, and Misfits Gaming.

Excel Esports have managed a slightly better 31% win rate (4-9) this term; however, they’re without a win across the last two round robins, with losses against MAD Lions, Fnatic, Misfits and SK Gaming.

The esports bookmakers have this match at close to even money, which makes sense if you consider only the teams’ form, but there’s more to it. Unlike Schalke 04, who got completely obliterated in their losses, Excel have looked at least somewhat decent and kept their last four outings relatively close.

Excel are a fairly young and inexperienced team, which shows in their lacklustre mid-late game and struggles in closing out games. Regardless, Schalke 04 seem like they’ve mentally bombed and look like a complete mess in all areas of the game. Excel Esports might have their issues, but they’re a much more stable team than S04.

?Team Vitality are priced as $2.13 underdogs for Friday’s match, which seems a bit high in our book. Vitality might be 5-8 on the season and 1-3 across their last four outings; however, the Bees had to face Fnatic, G2 Esports and MAD Lions across the last two round robins.

Misfits Gaming are 9-4 and on a two-game losing streak, although they’re 3-3 in their last six outings with wins against G2 Esports, Excel, and Schalke 04. Misfits Gaming’s record is better, but it’s also slightly inflated due to their early-season success when they secured six wins from the opening seven rounds.

These two LEC teams seem fairly evenly matched, and while Vitality might look much worse in their losses, they also show a lot more in their wins – which has to do with their all-or-nothing playstyle. This match is very close to a 50/50, so we don’t have to think twice before siding with Team Vitality.

?Astralis managed only one win in their last four outings; however, they had to face four of the top-five teams in the league in G2 Esports, Fnatic, Rogue, and Misfits Gaming, who they beat during LEC 2021 Summer Week 5.

MAD Lions are 3-1 in their last four, which looks good on paper; however, their opponents were Schalke 04, SK Gaming, Excel Esports, and Team Vitality – the bottom four teams in the LEC.

Form-wise, MAD Lions are in a better spot than Astralis, and you could argue that they field better players, but the gap between these two teams is not nearly as high as the latest LoL betting odds would suggest. Astralis have done well against top teams before, and even in their losses, they’ve managed to keep the score tight.

Astralis might have lost most of their games on the season, but they’re a very resilient squad, so we have to take their side with an 8.5 kill head-start.

?Misfits Gaming enter this match following their first 0-2 week of the summer season when the Bunnies lost to Rogue and Astralis. Misfits are now 7-4 on the season, which is still good, but you have to feel slightly worried about Misfits’ regression.

Misfits were a force to be reckoned with early into the split, and while they are still playing relatively well, it feels like Misfits have stagnated while other LEC playoffs contenders are improving. One of those teams are Excel Esports, who have found an entirely new identity with the introduction of jungler Mark “Markoon” van Woensel and support Henk “Advienne” Reijenga.

The two rookies are playing exceptionally well, and as a result, the team looks far more organised and efficient. Excel have gone 0-2 last week, but they had to face MAD Lions and Rogue, so it doesn’t make much sense to overreact to those losses.

You could argue that Excel are experiencing a honeymoon phase with the new arrivals, which usually leads to regression. However, the eye test would prove that Excel are fundamentally much stronger. We like the outsiders with a kill handicap, but you can’t go wrong with a smaller position on the moneyline market either.

?SK Gaming are 2-9 on the season, which should make it very clear where this roster is relative to the rest of the league. They won against Schalke 04 last week, but it was more Schalke underperforming rather than SK Gaming showing anything remarkable.

What’s more, SK Gaming hold some of the lowest numbers in almost all metrics. That includes Average Gold Spent Percentage Difference (-8.1% GSPD), Mid-Late Game Rating (-28.3 MLR), and Gold Difference at 15 (-1123 GD15).

MAD Lions aren’t the same powerhouse they were during the spring season, but they are a class above SK. They have better individual players in all positions, particularly in the bottom lane, and are far more efficient in the mid-late game. Expect an easy win for the reigning LEC champions.

?Like the SK Gaming vs MAD Lions clash, this one is a fixture featuring one of the best and worst teams in the league. While Schalke 04 have enough talent to compete for a playoffs spot, the amount of errors this team is making is just shocking.

And it’s not only poor decision making, but primarily individual mistakes, questionable engages and poor laning performance. Those were most notable in S04’s loss to SK Gaming last week.

Rogue are an entirely different team in the sense that they rarely make mistakes. Rogue might lose a few games, but it is never because they made a poor call or because one of their players threw the game. With Rogue, you always know what you’re going to get.

Schalke 04 are priced as $3.97 underdogs, which is fair. They should have no business winning this game unless they make roster changes, and even then, it’s unlikely that S04 will manage to achieve much. Expect a low-scoring match with Rogue slowly choking S04 out with superior macro play.

?MAD Lions are 5-4 on the season and 2-2 in their last four outings. They took down SK Gaming and Misfits but fell flat against Team Vitality and Rogue. Excel Esports are 4-5 after four weeks of play and enter LEC 2021 Summer Week 5 on a two-game winning streak.

Last week, Excel brought in two academy players in support Henk “Advienne” Reijenga and jungler Mark “Markoon” van Woensel, who impressed in Excel’s wins against G2 Esports and Vitality.

MAD Lions are obviously much stronger, but they aren’t exactly a consistent team, for which they got punished several times this season. The esports bookies are offering very generous LoL betting odds on Excel, who have been showing excellent form of late and shouldn’t be priced nearly as high as they are – especially against a team known for shooting themselves in the foot against weaker LEC squads.

?Team Vitality have had some good showings, but those are quickly overshadowed by the Bees’ defeats against Astralis and Excel Esports last week. Similarly, Fnatic suffered an upset loss to Schalke 04 on Friday but bounced back with a complete stomp of SK Gaming a day later.

On those performances, Team Vitality are priced as $2.34 outsiders to defeat Fnatic, who enter this bout priced as low as $1.56. The latest LoL betting odds seem fair since Fnatic have been a more consistent team throughout the season, whereas Vitality continue to show their volatile side.

As mentioned in our previous LoL betting previews, Vitality can be a very hit-or-miss team that will work off momentum. If they can get ahead, they’ll snowball to a commanding victory, but they are just as likely to fall apart if things don’t go their way in the early game.

Unfortunately for Vitality, Fnatic are one of the best early-game teams in the league. There is a world where Vitality stun Fnatic, but we like the boys in orange to win with at least five kills to spare at $1.89.

?The esports bookmakers continue to overvalue G2 Esports even though they’re obviously struggling. Last week G2 lost to Excel Esports and Misfits Gaming, and while they should have won their bout with the Bunnies, G2 choked and made a rookie error, allowing Misfits to steal the win.

Seeing teams make mistakes isn’t that uncommon, but it’s the way G2 lost that match that makes you wonder what’s going on. You could argue that it was only a moment of weakness, but giving up the priority on Elder Drake and taking a fight while the enemy team has the Elder buff isn’t the decision making you would expect from a professional team, let alone an eight-time LEC champion.

Astralis are holding on well and continue to show that they’re more than just LEC bottom feeders. We expected some regression from Astralis, but they continue to stand firm, so perhaps it’s time to start believing that Astralis are actually a solid team and potential LEC playoffs candidates.

Talent-wise, G2 are a class above Astralis, however, the latter are in much better form and seem far more stable. This is an underdog or nothing type of match, and at $3.38, you can’t pass on Astralis to upset the stumbling European giants.

?Team Vitality did well last round, but they are persisting with their overly aggressive playstyle that isn’t going to work in the long run. However, with the way they’ve been playing, it seems like this team will work off momentum, which is a positive heading into this match since they are on a 2-0 streak.

Astralis have been performing much better than expected this split, but they have started to show some minor signs of regression. That’s not too surprising since this team lacks the top-tier talent to compete for high marks; however, they’re adaptable enough to gain edges in the draft and be somewhat competitive.

As good as Vitality have been, they are too volatile to be backed with any confidence as $1.30 favourites. Instead, pick Astralis with a 7.5 kill handicap.

?We don’t have a problem with the esports bookmakers pricing SK Gaming as heavy underdogs. They’re the weakest team in the league and one of the main LEC 2021 Summer wooden spoon candidates. However, the kill line of +8.5 seems a bit high when you consider that Rogue are not the type of team that will chase big numbers in that department.

Last week, Rogue beat Astralis (14-6) and Schalke 04 (19-4), yet they averaged 15.4 kills and 12.6 deaths per game. The only games in which Rogue accumulate large kill leads are those where their opponents throw themselves at them, and they tend to be close enough for Rogue to win a couple of late-game teamfights.

Rogue are a significantly better team than SK, and we don’t expect them to risk too much but instead slowly choke out SK by accumulating neutral objectives. This game can easily end with a low kill score, so it makes sense to take the outsiders with a kill handicap.

?This is a match that will prove whether Misfits are the real deal or whether their 6-1 run this term has been nothing more than a fluke. The Bunnies have so far lost only against Rogue, albeit they haven’t faced any other top team outside of Fnatic at the start of June.

MAD Lions enter this match after suffering a devastating loss to Team Vitality on Saturday. It’s not like MAD played poorly, but they simply weren’t prepared for the aggressive style of play Vitality brought with them on the day.

With that loss, the reigning LEC champions are now 4-3 on the season, which includes defeats against G2 Esports and Excel Esports. While MAD are individually better than Misfits, they’re also far more volatile, especially in their bottom lane.

If MAD Lions can play out this game without their bottom lane flipping the laning phase, they should win. However, considering how 50/50 Norman “Kaiser” Kaiser and Matyá? “Carzzy” Orság have been this split, we have to take Misfits.

?G2 Esports are undeniably a more stacked LEC team than Excel Esports. However, with poorly they’ve been performing this split, G2 shouldn’t be priced as such short favourites against anyone.

To put it into perspective how iffy G2 have been so far, their top laner Martin “Wunder” Nordahl Hansen is averaging the lowest kill/death/assist ratio (KDA) in his position at 1.9, their star mid laner Rasmus “Caps” Borregaard Wintheris is averaging the second-lowest KDA in his role (2.3), while Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski ranks sixth amongst junglers (3.7).

Martin “Rekkles” Larsson has been known for having some of the best KDA figures across all major regions, yet he ranks only third among ADCs in the LEC with a 6.5 ratio. On the other hand, Mihael “Mikyx” Mehle’s 3.3 KDA isn’t as important since a support’s KDA heavily depends on which champion he plays and who he is paired with in the bottom lane.

G2 Esports have not been playing well, and while they are still one of the most stacked teams in the league, you can’t make a strong case to side with them. Excel won against MAD Lions two weeks back, so they should have the tools to take advantage of G2’s iffy form on Friday.

?Misfits’ only loss of the split happened last week when Kacper “Inspired” S?oma’s heroic Fiddlesticks ultimate saved Rogue from a sure defeat. It was an unfortunate ending of the match for the Bunnies, who got punished for being unaware of their surroundings for a split second.

Excel Esports, on the other side, are polar opposite to Misfits. Although a promising project with a roster comprised of young players and experienced veterans, Excel have not looked very good so far this season. They showed some improvement last week with an excellent performance against MAD Lions, only to get smacked by Fnatic the next day.

Excel’s main issue is their weak early game, for which they got punished by Fnatic as one of the most explosive early-game teams in the league. Misfits aren’t as efficient as Fnatic pre-15 minutes (-733 Goal Difference), which should allow Excel to be at least somewhat competitive and secure a couple of kills.

?SK Gaming enter this match with a new support in rookie Philipp Samuel “Lilipp” Englert as a replacement for Jesse “Jesiz” Le, who has returned to the coaching position. Although you can understand SK Gaming’s latest roster change, it’s not like it will improve the team by much, considering Lilipp has only a week to gel with his new teammates before his LEC debut.

MAD Lions are a much stronger team, and while you should feel a bit concerned about their overly aggressive playstyle and tendency to give up unnecessary deaths, the kill handicap still seems a bit low given the quality gap between these two sides.

?Rogue might be 3-2 on the split, but we aren’t convinced. They’re not nearly as consistent as they were last split and hardly deserve to be considered as one of the top three LEC teams.

Although Rogue deserve some praise for producing two incredible comebacks against Team Vitality and Misfits, the reality is that Rogue shouldn’t have won either of those games, meaning that their record could easily sit at 1-4.

It’s hard to be overly excited about Schalke 04 and their showings after two weeks of play, however, they usually perform much better when faced with a strong opponent. That, in combination with Rogue’s degression, makes S04 a very appealing value bet at $3.10.

?Although we weren’t too confident in Astralis heading into the LEC 2021 Summer, the perpetual underdogs did not need long to prove that they’re much more than LEC whipping boys. Much of Astralis’ success has to do with their unique picks (Khartus ADC, Trundle jungle,…) that often caught their opponents off guard.

As one of the most unpredictable teams of LEC 2021 Spring, Fnatic now use a far more structured approach to their games, which effectively improved the critical area that prevented them from succeeding last split. Fnatic are now one of the most composed and organised teams in Europe while keeping their LEC 2021 Spring aggression.

This is a tough match to predict, mainly due to Astralis’ improvement. Although we don’t believe Astralis are good enough to defeat Fnatic, they’re stubborn and crazy enough to run into their opponents time and time again until something breaks. This one should be a bloody and chaotic affair.

?The online bookmakers have got this one wrong. You could argue that Team Vitality field more talent, but their implied probability to win shouldn’t be as high as 72.5%.

The Bees’ playstyle isn’t very stable and it seems like the players aren’t on the same page just yet. SK Gaming have had a couple of humiliating performances, but they were a bit unlucky not to win at least one match last week.

This fixture will be much closer than what the LoL betting odds suggest. As such, we are taking the outsiders to cover the kill line.

?If their showings last week are any indication, Misfits Gaming will finish the split inside the top six. However, this is not a squad you should trust to justify their tag as betting favourites.

As good as Misfits can be, they tend to play better against top teams and underperform against bottom sides. That was obvious in their clash with SK Gaming on Saturday.

Astralis are priced as high as $1.95 to keep this match within five kills, which underestimates them a bit. They did well enough against MAD Lions for us to trust them to keep this match close.

?G2 Esports historically do well against Rogue, so it doesn’t make much sense to see them priced as high as $1.91 for this bout. G2’s 1-3 loss in the LEC 2021 Spring playoffs was their first defeat to Rogue after a streak of 11 consecutive wins.

The bookmakers seem to overvalue that result and don’t consider Rogue’s shaky performances this split. Regarded as one of the most consistent teams in the world, Rogue have yet to show that side of them this month.

G2 Esports might not be as good as they were back in 2019, but they shouldn’t be priced as underdogs.

?MAD Lions dethroned G2 Esports as the best European LoL team in April, becoming the first team outside of Fnatic and G2 to win the LEC title since Alliance in 2014. While it wouldn’t be fair to undervalue MAD Lions’ success, you can’t deny that G2 severely underperformed.

The big question ahead of the final split of the season is whether the eight-time champions will get back on track, or are we in for another two months of G2 scrambling around, trying to get a grasp of the meta. You can’t really know what will happen, but what we can be sure of is that this is likely the only time of the season that you will see G2 priced as an underdog.

The betting odds seem to be exaggerated based on last split’s events when everything fell into place for MAD Lions to hoist the trophy. They will likely remain competitive, but we don’t expect another miracle run from the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational semi-finalists.

?Betting on the outsiders early into the split is usually the optimal approach, as teams are still stumbling as they try to get back into the competitive rhythm. That said, we won’t be betting on SK here or anytime soon.

The offseason went as bad as it could have gone for SK Gaming, who have not only failed to acquire any big signings but somehow also managed to downgrade their roster. After the benching of Kristian “TynX” ?stergaard Hansen in May, SK failed to find a suitable replacement and instead selected their support Erik “Treatz” Wessé as the team’s new jungler.

Filling in the void left behind by Treatz in the bottom lane is SK Gaming’s former coach Jesse “Jesiz” Le, who hasn’t played in competitive LoL in over three years. To make matters worse, Treatz was SK Gaming’s key player last split and is now forced to play a role he has zero experience in.

Astralis are not exactly LEC title contenders, but they at least have a functional team.

?Misfits finished last season in seventh, which isn’t great, but they should look better heading into the LEC 2021 Summer. The Bunnies have enough talent to be competitive, the only big question is whether they have managed to improve their synergy during the offseason.

Fnatic moved their star top laner Gabri?l “Bwipo” Rau to the jungle and replaced him with a rookie Adam “Adam” Maanane. We don’t know how well will Bwipo fare in the new role, nor can we predict how Adam will do against Europe’s elite top laners, which makes them a massive enigma heading into the LEC Summer.

Fnatic comes off as a side with very high highs and very low lows – essentially an even more unpredictable version from the LEC Spring. That alone makes Misfits a good value bet at the offered price.