While it’s still early in the season, week one in the EU LCS featured some close League of Legends matchups and a few upsets. Two surprise teams, Unicorns of Love and G2 Esports, join powerhouse H2K as the only unbeaten members with a 2-0 record.
We’ll cover some of the headlines from week one followed by our predictions, should you wish to place any eSports bets on this event.
Origen falters in week one
Contents
PowerOfEvil, replacing xPeke this year in the mid lane, was just OK in both his matchups, with the enemy mid laner (LeBlanc in both games) an issue. His Kassadin really lacked the roaming presence you normally see from this champion and just felt like a weak pick with Origen’s team composition.
Of even more concern was top laner sOAZ. He went 2-8 over the course of week one, had the third lowest KDA at 0.8 in the EU LCS, and posted the lowest CS per minute (6.2) of all carries (top lane, mid lane, and ad carry).
It’s not time to write off Origen by any means. They’re still a strong team who just had a rough start. We’re only one week in after all, and Origen was playing some pretty stiff competition (Fnatic and H2K). This is the same Origen team from last year’s Worlds, minus xPeke in the mid lane. Perhaps that’s what seems somewhat disconcerting.
Their experience together should have carried them past a Fnatic team breaking in three new members. Instead, Fnatic started strong and never looked back, going 22-8 in a decisive win. Using the same exact champion select the next day, Fnatic was then exposed against Team Vitality.
G2’s rookie jungler, Trick, shines
What a start to Trick’s pro career. After spending last year as a substitute jungler for CJ Entus in the LCK, Trick took full advantage of his LCS debut. He currently has the number one KDA in the EU LCS (27.0) and is number two in kill participation at 87 percent. The win against Elements isn’t a huge surprise, but the way they came back against ROCCAT was.
In a week where we didn’t see many comebacks, G2 went from a 3,000 gold deficit at 17 minutes against ROCCAT to winning the matchup six minutes later with a 6,000 gold lead. A 9,000 gold swing in six minutes is almost unheard of, and a large part of that was thanks to Trick.
Early concerns of a communication barrier seem to be irrelevant. G2 will be tested this week against H2K, and it will be a good indication of how far along G2 really is.
Unicorns of Love get the job done
Unicorns of Love showed in week one that not only are they a team to be reckoned with, but a versatile one as well. Many predicted a close game against Splyce, and UoL showed they can play a calculated, drawn out siege to their advantage. Then the next day against the Giants, UoL turned the tempo up, snowballing the game after 14 minutes, securing a 10,000 gold lead by 30 minutes.
This was a great start by UoL, but the true test will be this week. Can they take their week one momentum and upset a reeling Origen team and a rebuilt Fnatic squad? Check out our predictions below.
Day 1 predictions for eSports bettors
G2 Esports (1.55) vs. Giants (2.46)
After week one, the Giants just don’t look like a playoff team. They were completely dominated by H2K, going 1-9 in a lopsided defeat. Facing a surging G2 Esports doesn’t look like the answer either. This has the second widest money line spread for a reason, and G2 is a strong favorite here at +1.55.
ROCCAT (1.60) vs. Elements (2.35)
We have two 1-1 teams facing off. ROCCAT looked great against Team Vitality (the same Team Vitality that beat Fnatic) but then really dropped the ball against G2 Esports. Elements also suffered a loss to G2 but bounced back against Splyce in a surprising victory. ROCCAT’s is favored here, but it may be closer than many expect.
Origen (1.52) vs. Unicorns of Love (2.56)
It’s Unicorns of Love’s time to make a statement. Can they beat a power player like Origen? For Origen, starting off 0-3 would be a huge hole. eSports betting odds makers favor Origen here (and so do I), but Unicorns of Love isn’t a bad pick at 2.56.
Team Vitality (1.35) vs. Splyce (3.20)
I really like Team Vitality here. Top 3? Probably not. Playoff team? Yes.
Splyce is a huge underdog (3.2 odds), and they’ll need to bounce back from a poor performance in week one. There’s an outside chance of an upset here, but more than likely Team Vitality should win.
Fnatic (2.11) vs. H2k (1.74)
This is the game I’m most looking forward to on day 1 of week 2. It should be a close matchup, with H2K a slight favorite. Fnatic looked strong against Origen and then no showed against Vitality the next day. Fnatic would love this win, but can they put it all together against a hot H2K team?
At 1.74 odds I really like H2K here.
Day 2 predictions
Origen (1.64) vs. Team Vitality (2.27)
There’s no mercy shown for Origen. After an 0-2 start in week one, they have to take on a surprisingly good UoL squad and a Team Vitality squad that beat Fnatic. 0-4 is not out of the question if Origen doesn’t figure it out quickly.
Team Vitality (2.27) is a great upset pick here, especially if Origen loses to UoL on day 1.
Elements (2.02) vs. Giants (1.80)
High odds for both these teams. This will be a game of two teams still trying to figure out their identity while looking to stay relevant. The loser will more than likely be looking at a 1-3 hole going into week 3 with the winner staying at .500. I like Elements here, with slightly higher odds as well.
Fnatic (1.47) vs. Unicorns of Love (2.70)
It’s still unclear what we have in either of these two teams. We’ve already covered Fnatic’s disparities earlier in the article, and UoL is definitely in play for an upset here. Fnatic may be looking at a 1-3 start if they can’t take care of business.
Another question is, how will the rookies respond to this type of pressure? With pretty high odds for UoL, this is my upset pick of the day.
ROCCAT (1.61) vs. Splyce (2.33)
Splyce just doesn’t look good. Meanwhile, ROCCAT is a 1-1 team that really should have beat G2 but couldn’t figure it out in team fights mid game. I like ROCCAT’s here.
H2K (1.38) vs. G2 (3.07)
This is another game I’m really looking forward to. It’s an early sample size of how good G2 really is and how far along H2K is to contending for the EU crown. I like H2K here, I just don’t know enough about G2 at this point in the season.
