T1 vs TEAM LIQUID LoL BETTING & MATCH DETAILS

Team Liquid and T1 will clash on Wednesday in the lower section of the Mid-Season Invitational 2024 bracket stage. It will be their first meeting since the 2023 League of Legends World Championship, and despite all the roster changes on Liquid’s side, the rematch is expected to end with another T1 victory.

Team Liquid have already exceeded expectations in this tournament by beating Fnatic 3-1, but that result indicates the other side’s lack of stability more than anything. Even though Liquid played relatively well on the day, they have shown nothing over the journey to suggest they can go all the way.

T1 started the tournament with a deserved victory against G2 Esports, only to be humiliated by Bilibili Gaming last Sunday. T1 played poorly on the day, but it’s not like they were very clean against G2 Esports either, suggesting they aren’t as sturdy as they were portrayed to be.

The question is not so much about whether T1 will win, but about what Team Liquid can do. The favourites are the superior team by all metrics, and despite their iffy showings, T1 are still serious MSI 2024 title contenders.

This is T1’s game to lose; however, considering they are a bit inconsistent and Team Liquid have momentum on their side, there is value in backing the North American champions to take a map at $3.00 with the top LoL betting sites.

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TOP ESPORTS vs G2 ESPORTS LoL BETTING & MATCH DETAILS

Top Esports and G2 Esports will face off on Tuesday, May 14, in the second round of the losers’ bracket at Mid-Season Invitational 2024. Both squads dropped down to the lower bracket following close five-map defeats against Korean LoL esports teams, yet while their results look similar, Top Esports are priced as firm favourites for this match.

Top enter this fixture off a painful 2-3 defeat against Gen.G. While the result was fair, it also proved that the tournament’s top teams are much closer than the League of Legends betting markets are suggesting.

The question here is whether G2 Esports belong in that category. They performed well against T1 last Friday, and while they came up short on the day, they were close enough to indicate their head-to-head price of $5.62 was completely off.

T1 didn’t look good in their next series against Bilibili Gaming on Sunday, which also affects how people will see G2 Esports — as a team that nearly defeated a struggling side. But the eye test proves G2 are no slouches and more than capable of holding their own against elite opposition.

Top Esports have side choice for this match — a notable advantage, considering the blue side has a 54.5% win rate this tournament. But we saw G2 Esports defeat T1 on the red side, and across all series between top contenders, the side selection hasn’t seemed to affect performances too much.

Even though Top Esports are a very stacked team, they’re also somewhat inconsistent. So even though they performed well against Gen.G, having them priced as $1.40 favourites seems a bit optimistic. The outsiders are good enough to keep this series close, if not win it.

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Team Liquid lost to Top Esports in the first round of Stage 2 in MSI 2024 in a series of three very one-sided maps. Top Esports were the clear better team on the day, showing better teamwork and stronger laning.

Fnatic, meanwhile, showed some fight in their loss to Gen.G on Wednesday and were in an excellent spot to take at least one map. However, while Fnatic put themselves in advantageous positions throughout the series, they consistently blundered their chances.

That’s nothing new with Fnatic. They like to brawn, and they’re good at it, but they also often get too far ahead of themselves and give up leads. This can be a considerable weakness even when faced with weaker teams, and it makes backing them to sweep Team Liquid a far less appealing option.

Even though there’s a good chance Fnatic shoot themselves in the foot at least once on Saturday, Team Liquid have shown nothing this split to make us believe they’re capable of winning this. And with side choice, Fnatic should get it done with a couple of maps to spare.

Gen.G defeated Fnatic on Wednesday in what was a much closer game than expected. On the other side, Top Esports ran over Team Liquid without any issues, but that tells more about Liquid than Top.

Korea’s top seeds are priced as firm favourites for this match, which makes sense — mainly because of how Top Esports like to play. While boasting an extremely stacked team, they are also very reliant on their early game.

Throughout the LPL 2024 Spring, Top Esports produced many dominant victories, but they all started with gaining a strong lead pre-15 minutes. Their ability to snowball is admirable, but it is also their main win condition, which can easily be denied by teams that are capable of a more controlled style of play — such as Gen.G.

Individually, Top Esports can compare to Gen.G or any other LoL esports team in the world. But stylistically, this match favours Gen.G far more.

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GEN.G vs CLOUD9 LoL BETTING & MATCH DETAILS

Cloud9 and Gen.G will clash on Wednesday, May 17, in the second round of the Mid-Season Invitational 2023 losers’ bracket, marking their first meeting since the LoL World Championship. And according to the latest odds, we might see another quick 3-0 win for the LoL Champions Korea (LCK) representatives.

Gen.G started their MSI 2023 campaign with a convincing 3-1 victory against G2 Esports in the first round of the bracket stage. But they were no match for T1, losing 2-3 against their regional rivals on Saturday.

On the other side, Cloud9 lost their round one fixture against Bilibili Gaming (0-3) but then bounced back with a 3-1 victory against Golden Guardians. That means North America’s LoL Championship Series (LCS) is still a chance to claim its first MSI title, although it won’t come easy.

The latest League of Legends betting odds paint a clear picture of how this match should go. Cloud9, while a capable team, are no match for Gen.G’s individual talent, and they haven’t looked outstanding in their last two outings either.

Cloud9 were terrible against a very beatable Bilibili Gaming side, and they’re here only because Golden Guardians underperformed on Sunday. Still, Gen.G didn’t look great in their last two outings either, and while the Koreans should win this series, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that they drop a map.

LoL betting sites are offering $2.62 on Cloud9 to win at least one map, which is worth a bet. Gen.G have shown cracks, and if Cloud9 play as well as we know they can, they should sneak in a map.

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?Group A of the 2023 Mid-Season Invitational play-in stage kicks off with a one-sided meeting between LoL Pro League (LPL) runners-up Bilibili Gaming and Liga Latinoamérica (LLA) champions Movistar R7.

Movistar R7 are priced ($15.00) as the least-likely team to qualify for the main stage, whereas Bilibili Gaming are the clear favourites ($1.05) to reach the next stage. The odds alone should be enough to show how this match will go.

LLA teams have never performed well on the international stage, and very rarely have they won against a team from a major region. One exception happened at the 2020 LoL World Championship, when Movistar R7 (as Rainbow7) won a series against LGD Gaming.

This is a David-and-Goliath type of match where the question is not whether Bilibili will win, but how they’ll do it. Esports betting sites have set the kill line at 13.5, which is a high number, but knowing that lesser teams often opt for a more aggressive composition as their only win condition, we expect a bloody affair.

?While the first match of Group A might not be interesting for those hoping for close series, this one might. Golden Guardians and GAM Esports look evenly matched talent-wise; however, even though GAM are priced shorter to win the tournament, they enter this series as underdogs.

This doesn’t mean much in the bigger picture, but it shows that people have more faith in GAM to produce a deeper run in the tournament. That’s not so shocking since Golden Guardians are a one-dimensional team and shouldn’t be priced as $1.57 favourites with LoL betting sites.

The only scenario where those odds would be somewhat fair is if Golden Guardians get to start on the blue side. But since we don’t know which team will start where, this seems more like a 50/50 series than anything else.

At plus money, there’s value in backing GAM Esports to come out on top. They hail from a strong region, and their early-game aggression could be the key to shutting down Golden Guardians, who rely way too much on gaining early leads.

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PSG Talon and DetonatioN FocusMe will clash in the first match of the Mid-Season Invitational 2023 play-in stage, which will feature a revamped format. And the most important change is no more best-of-one series, which could suggest that we’ll see fewer upsets.

However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that PSG Talon are guaranteed to win. Even though PSG Talon hail from a stronger region, DetonatioN FocusMe are by far the strongest Japanese LoL team and, overall, a very solid squad.

They have the players to compete on the international stage, and with the return of mid laner Lee “Aria” Ga-eul, DFM look better than ever. The offered LoL betting odds seem to be based more on the idea of how strong the Pacific Championship Series (PCS) is – and even though PCS is strong, the gap between the Pacific region and other minor leagues isn’t as large as it seems.

That, on top of the fact that the blue side is too strong in the current meta suggests that this could be a much closer series than the LoL betting odds suggest. Take over 2.5 maps at even money or better.

G2 Esports are arguably the strongest team from the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC). Even though they’ve not won the LEC Spring title, they’ve shown a lot of good qualities over the season with good meta-read, strong team cohesion, and excellent individual talent.

G2 Esports slipped against MAD Lions in the LEC 2023 Spring Playoffs, but that doesn’t necessarily mean much. Their next opponents, LOUD, are a familiar name from other esports titles, but this will be the first time the Brazilian squad attends the MSI.

LOUD made their international debut at LoL World Championship 2022, where they finished 19th-20th; however, the CBLOL champions have since improved the roster, so their lack of success in October should be taken with a grain of salt. But can the new and improved LOUD stand up to G2?

This looks like a one-sided series on paper, but the blue-side advantage and LOUD’s aggression could make it a bit more interesting. The only way G2 Esports can lose is if they shoot themselves in the foot, but it’s not too crazy to believe that LOUD can win one map.

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?The second seed out of Group B, PSG Talon, take on the second seed from Group A, Saigon Buffalo in what will be both teams first match of the Rumble Stage at MSI.

PSG Talon were picked my many good judges as the fourth best team at MSI being the best of the second seed teams to progress to the Rumble Stage. Although PSG Talon are the best ranked second seed team to make the Rumble Stage they did only go 3-3 in the Group Stage, losing two matches to Royal Never Give Up, which was expected, but they also slipped up against RED Canids in the first match of Group B. The PCS Spring champions will be on a mission to continue their dominance of the second tier teams at MSI and Saigon Buffalo will have their hands full in this game.

Saigon Buffalo punched their ticket into the Rumble Stage by being the clear second best team in Group A behind tournament favourites T1, going 4-2 through their Group Stage matches. They took care of DetonatioN FocusMe and Team Aze in all four of their matches and lost their two matches against T1. The VCS Spring champions finished sixth in 2019 at MSI and this year Saigon Buffalo will be looking to equal or better that at this year’s MSI.

We like the odds we are getting at GG Bet for PSG Talon to take out this match, so we will be siding with the PCS champions to get the win over the VCS champions here.

?The winners of Group C, G2 Esports, take on the winners of Group B, Royal Never Give Up, in what sets up to be one of the best matches of the Rumble Stage.

G2 Esports, Evil Geniuses and ORDER played eight games in their Group Stage matches due to the LCL not sending a representative after the LCL Spring split was cancelled. G2 Esports finished undefeated with an 8-0 record to win Group C. The pre-tournament third favourite and European champions, G2, have been dominate so far in all of their eight matches, but they are yet to play any team with the talent that this Royal Never Give Up roster possesses.

Royal Never Give Up were also dominant in their six Group Stage matches topping the group after beating PSG Talon, RED Canids and Istanbul Wildcats twice on their way to a 6-0 record. The Chinese and reigning MSI champions are looking just as ominous coming out of the Group Stage as they did coming into MSI. RNG will face their toughest match up to date as they come up against the 2019 MSI champions, G2 Esports.

This will be a great match and even though there is a big margin between G2 and RNG in the betting we don’t believe the margin should be that big. Therefore we will be taking RNG at the -7.5 kill handicap.

?The second seed from Group A, Saigon Buffalo, take on the second seed from Group C, Evil Geniuses, in what could be a vital match between two teams looking to take fourth place at the end of the Rumble Stage.

As we said in our earlier preview of Saigon Buffalo’s first game against PSG Talon, the VCS Spring champions will be on a mission to equal or better their sixth place finish at the 2019 MSI. Saigon Buffalo were the best performing second seed team through the Group Stage after they only lost two matches to the pre-tournament favourites, T1. Evil Geniuses represent a very good opportunity for Saigon Buffalo to secure a much needed win to further help their chances of making the Knockout Stage.

Evil Geniuses finished with a 4-4 record after they lost all four of their games against G2 Esports and they won all four of their games against ORDER. The NA Spring champions are competing in their first ever MSI and considering that only two NA teams have ever made the Knockout Stage in the six MSI tournaments, Evil Geniuses are definitely up against it here in the Rumble Stage. However, as for Saigon Buffalo, this game does represent as an opportunity for Evil Geniuses to secure a much needed win.

Saigon Buffalo were by far the best second seed coming into the Rumble Stage, so we are siding with the $2.00 underdogs in this series.

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They finished top in the Group C standings, winning all seven games they featured in.

Group C had only three teams, and so they had to play a quadruple round-robin format as opposed to the double round-robin for Groups A and B.

The group also had North America Evil Geniuses and ORDER from Australia.

With Group C played to a conclusion, EG has secured the second spot in the group with a 4-4 record.

ORDER failed to win a single game throughout the group stage and has thereby been eliminated.

The European esports organization has started its campaign spectacularly, thus far looking like one of the strongest teams in the tournament.

They have the most kills with 143, followed closely by Chinese Royal Never Give up, who have 131 kills in six games.

Everybody in G2 has pulled their weight so far. Rasmus “caPs” Winther and Victor “Flakked” Lirola deserve honorable mentions for their roles in their victories so far.

However, it is worth noting that RNG’s first three games were wiped as there was the issue of ping discrepancy.

Riot Games rescheduled replays for the LPL’s representatives, also stating that the problem has been rectified.

Recall that RNG is playing remotely due to COVID-19 travel restrictions in their home country while other teams are present for the LAN event in Busan, South Korea.

Navigating an offline event because of the global pandemic has not been easy.

There were reports that Riot wanted participants to wear face masks on stage, but they have since reversed the decision.

By May 15, the group stage will come to an end, and all the six teams participating in the rumble stage will be revealed.

In Group A, T1 looks like they will continue their impressive form and secure their berth in the rumble stage.

The Korean team has won their first three games, while the second spot will likely be filled with either Saigon Buffalo or DetonatioN FocusMe.

Despite the cancellations, RNG has kept its heads up and continued to dominate Group B.

They also had a perfect run in the group stage, proving that their first three victories were not flukes.

The rumble stage will commence on May 20, with six teams competing for one of the top four spots.

They will compete in another double round-robin, with all matches being best-of-1.

Whoever finishes top in the rumble stage will have the privilege to choose who they would like to face in the semifinals between the third and fourth-placed teams.

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Riot put out a statement that the tournament will operate with a 35-millisecond ping between China and Korea to maintain competitive integrity, but those at the live location have complained about the connectivity.

Complaints came from several participants at the event, with the most consistent complaint centered around the stability of the ping. The same latency tool was used in the LPL vs LCK Showdown during the 2020 Mid-Season Cup, but no issues were reported.

After data evaluations by Riot’s technical team, they discovered discrepancies in the ping. Apparently, the data on the logs were different from what was observed in the live arena.

“Following extensive technical evaluation of the competitive and training environments during the first three days of the 2022 Mid-Season Invitational, we discovered the following Day 3 that there was a discrepancy in the latency being reported in game logs for all matches versus what was being experienced in the Busan venue.”

Due to recent developments, Riot opted to cancel RNG’s first three games. All three have been rescheduled and will be played within the stipulated date for group stage matches.

With the issue reportedly fixed, RNG will have to replicate their previous performances to finish first in the group. The group stage, which started on May 10, will run until May 15.

Their first three games were against Group B counterparts Istanbul Wildcats, PSG Talon, and RED Canids. They won the best-0f-1 series against all teams comfortably, but those victories have been dismissed by the organizers.

Riot Never Give Up has asserted its dominance in the 2022 MSI

With their initial three wins canceled, RNG’s slate was wiped clean with the team having to replay all three initial group stage matches. However, the LPL representatives were not fazed as they won all three games originally scheduled for today, becoming the third team yet to lose a game in the tournament.

The team’s first match was against the Wildcats, and they got back on the board. Even with a two-hour gap between all three matches, RNG was able to secure victories in all three games.

It is great to see that the team did not drop their heads after receiving the news that their first three games were canceled. They came out and took care of business, looking to reassert their dominance in the tournament.

As the group stage follows a double round-robin format, RNG will play against all three teams in their group once again on May 14. A top-two finish will see them advance to the next round, and they currently top the Group B standings with a 3-0 record. as they look to retain their title.

The MSI is currently being held at the Busan Exhibition & Convention Center in South Korea. Eleven teams from the individual Riot Leagues are competing for a piece of the $250,000 prize fund.
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Evil Geniuses might be one of the most exciting teams LoL Championship Series (LCS) has sent to an international tournament in years. They were phenomenal in the playoffs, and who could forget Kyle “Danny” Sakamaki’s individual performances?

But while Danny is the shining star of the team, EG biggest strength is their teamwork. They will take scrappy fights and almost always come out on top, and they’re excellent in getting objectives, but most of all, EG excel in funnelling resources into Danny to do his magic.

As an Oceanic team, ORDER are very easy to underestimate, knowing that they’re from a wildcard league that further dissolved into an even minor region in 2020. However, Oceanic LoL esports teams never fail to put up a fight and make their region proud, so with some luck and a lot of grit; they might surprise.

Still, ORDER are individually outmatched by Evil Geniuses and unless they cook up a unique strategy or an unconventional draft that will catch EG off guard, which should be a fairly straightforward win for the North American representatives.

Saigon Buffalo shouldn’t even be travelling to Korea because they did not initially qualify for the event. But because GAM Esports are participating in SEA Games instead, the Vietnam Championship Series (VCS) sent Buffalo to carry the region’s flag in Busan.

Buffalo might be the second-best team from the VCS, but they’re a steep drop from GAM Esports. Admittedly, Vietnamese teams are always scary in international events, but we would tame our expectations about Saigon Buffalo.

DetonatioN FocusMe made a splash at the 2021 LoL World Championship, where they won Group B Play-In, and even though they ended up going 0-6 in the group stage, they proved that they could compete with the best. Since these two teams have never met before, it’s tough to say how this match will go, but if we go purely off what we’ve seen from them during the regular season, DetonatioN FocusMe are rightly priced as the favourites with the top betting sites.

Turkish Championship League (TCL) is viewed as a powerful region, but Turkish LoL esports teams have failed to achieve much in international events over the last few years. However, on a more positive note, Istanbul Wildcats dominated their playoffs this year and enter the 2022 MSI as the best team from their region.

Wildcats averaged 100% First Blood rate, win rate, and Baron control. Moreover, they averaged a 2.9 K/D and held a + 3.2k gold advantage at 15 minutes. With such numbers, it’s tough to ignore the Turkish champions, even though their chances of winning the trophy are slim.

RED Canids made it to Korea, but they had to drag themselves through the Campeonato Brasileiro de League of Legends (CBLoL) 2022 Spring playoffs. Moreover, Brazil has not shown much in international events for years.

They have a very low damage per minute (1889 DPM), a horrendous gold difference at 15 minutes (-455) and a fairly concerning first turret percentage (38.1%). We don’t have a problem with esports betting sites pricing RED Canids as underdogs, but we would argue that $2.10 is too low.

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