G2 Esports and MAD Lions will clash this Saturday in a rematch of the first round of LEC 2020 Spring, when MAD Lions shook the world and slammed G2 into the dirt with a narrow, yet convincing 3-2 series to eventually finish the split in third place. Now the question for this fixture is not so much whether G2 can win, but can MAD Lions repeat their success from April. And the answer is fairly simple.
There is no denying that MAD Lions were far more consistent throughout this split, but the fact of the matter is that MAD Lions started to slow down significantly towards the end of the season, whereas G2 started to surge. To put it into a perspective MAD Lions ended the split with a 2-4 run, whereas G2 managed a 6-0.
What exactly caused that is up to debate. Perhaps MAD Lions got too comfortable or maybe the other teams adapted to the meta and while it took a while, they eventually caught up to MAD who seemingly had a firm grasp of how to approach games from the get-go.
MAD Lions are by no means a terrible team, but, unfortunately, they will have to face G2 who are slowly but surely finding their old form, at which point they will be unstoppable – at least for any EU team. The biggest concern I have for this match is Marek “Humanoid” Brázda’s very uninspiring performances as of late, which will be a huge problem as he faces Rasmus “Caps” Winther who is not only regarded as the best Western mid laner, but is also in great form ahead of the playoffs.
With all due respect, I’m giving MAD Lions zero to no chances to win here. Not only are they in bad shape, MAD also need to face G2, who are on the rise and are desperate to lock in a Worlds spot. Again, it’s worth mentioning MAD Lions defeated G2 last split, but in all fairness, that result was a complete fluke even back then and was more a byproduct of G2 underestimating MAD Lions rather than MAD Lions’ superior strength. Expect G2 to get their “playoffs buff” and come away with a 3-0 or 3-1 win!
Prediction: G2 Esports -1.5 maps – 1.84 at Pinnacle
