EU Summer split is behind us and it gave us top 6 teams in Europe. Those teams will now face each other in the Playoffs. The Playoffs begin this Sunday, when Giants take on Unicorns of Love, followed by a massive clash between H2K and last year’s world semi-finalists Fnatic. The stakes are high for all the teams, whoever takes the top prize will have a guaranteed spot in World. In addition, the teams will want to accumulated as many championship points, which determine who earns Europe’s second spot at Worlds.
In the first match, we will have a chance to see 3rd placed Giants battle it out against 6th placed Unicorns of Love on Summoner’s Rift. Neither of the teams has had a great start, as they were both sitting at the bottom of the table, only to massively improve in the upcoming weeks. In that regard, Giants stood out, as their improvement was huge, thanks to their new mid-laner Gun-woo “NighT” Na. Who will surely be a strong candidate for Rookie of the Split award. His performances are outstanding, 75.85% kill participation is the highest amongst EU LCS mids. He is constantly in top 5 mid laners, regardless of his team performance. NighT is without a doubt a very crucial player for Giants. Another player to watch out for is Lennart “SmittyJ” Warkus, Giants’ top laner. Former Dignitas top-laner has had a big impact on his team performance, pushing them to play-offs. With highest KDA, second highest kill-share and 4th highest kill participation of EU LCS top-laners he is surely a player that should not be underestimated.
Unicorns of Love have reached the playoff stage for the 4th time in a row, despite needing to rebuild it’s roster. This team has yet to miss the playoffs since joining the LCS, this is not something to be taken lightly, as they still managed to do it, despite constantly changing players and completely reinvent its roster. A lot of it is down to the team veteran players, who represent a “backbone”: Tamas “Vizicsacsi” Kiss (Top Laner) and Zdravets “Hylissang” Galabov (Support).
In the last 3 weeks, Vizicsacsi reached the top of DPM meters of any top-laners in the league. His performances on Gangplank, Illaoi and Irelia were outstanding, and surely contributed to his DPM rank. He is known to be less of a “flashy” player and more reliable, which could mean his performance in playoffs could improve. The fact that more experienced players such as Vizicsachi and Hylissang can keep a cool head in high-pressure situations, can help them a lot. Of course, reaching the finals is a longshot, but experience of veteran players with raw talent of players such as Fabian “Exileh” Schubert should be crucial in reaching their goal.
VERDICT
Giants are a better team, the practise they have put in is seen. They play really god as a team and have strong individuals amongst them, that’s why I predict Giants will go trough UOL without any big problems
Prediction: Giants -1.5
Odds: 2.00
