100 Thieves vs Golden Guardians
I didn’t view 100 Thieves as one of the strongest teams in the LCS, but seeing how low they have fallen it’s quite shocking. Last week, they somehow dropped a must-win game against CLG and even though they put up a solid fight against TSM, that game also did not go as planned for them.
The poor performances ushered some big roster changes, with Stunt leaving the team and Meteos finding himself benched in favour of two academy players in Poome and Contractz respectively. How muhc of an upgrade those two players are is up to debate not only because they are coming from the academy roster, but also because I don’t believe Meteos was a problem.
As for Golden Guardians, they have managed two wins this split against Dignitas in Week 1 and FlyQuest last Sunday. Considering Golden Guardians managed to take down FlyQuest instantly makes them a favourite to win this match which is fair, although this team is still miles from where they need to be.
The problem 100T will face in this game is lack of synergy between the core members and two new arrivals. Since Poome is a support, I don’t expect too much from 100T bottom lane, especially considering how shaky Cody Sun performed last week. He can be good at times but overall he left a lot to be desired. That is an issue, since he will be facing FBI, who I have praised before and seeing how Golden Guardians learned to play around him, I have to give GG an edge in the bottom part of the map.
I’m not too big on Ryoma and while I would not like to bash him, he has his moments when he just doesn’t perform and seeing how he will face Damonte, who will 100% out-roam him, GG should, in theory, have a much greater impact across the map.
All things considered, GG look far stronger heading into this match and unless if Pooma and Contractz somehow manage to shock with their performances, I don’t see how 100T will manage to walk away with a win.
Prediction: Golden Guardians to win – 1.81
Counter Logic Gaming vs Cloud9
I won’t beat around the bush here and say what is undoubtedly the truth – Cloud9 are a far superior team than Counter Logic Gaming and until we see some massive shift of the current meta or a slump in form of C9, they will remain the strongest team in the LCS. Having said that, Counter Logic Gaming are not as bad as they are portrayed to be.
This squad went above and beyond everyone’s expectations this split and while they have yet to take down any top-tier team, CLG have shown they can hold their own. Wiggly is doing god’s work in the jungle and Stixxay impressed with his performances. Ahead of the split I was a bit concerned CLG don’t have “the carry” in the team, but Stixxay proved me wrong. I’m not trying to say he is at the level of Zven or Doublelift, but he can easily be compared to Crownshot at SK Gaming in LEC.
Looking back, CLG played well against FlyQuest and 100 Thieves last week and would Pobelter perform even slightly better against FlyQuest, CLG would be a 5-1 team right now (crazy right?).
Overall I like what I’m seeing from CLG and while I need to see a bit more before we can start talking postseason appearance, this team is shaping up nicely. The biggest issue, however, is their poor early game. So far this split, CLG on average trailed by over 1.6k gold @15 minutes and that is without facing TSM and Cloud9, so that number is bound to increase after this week.
Poor early game is not exactly what you want to have against Cloud9, who are notoriously very aggressive in the early game. The kill line may seem a bit high, but Cloud9 should be more than capable of finishing this game with a massive kill lead. CLG simply lack the quality to compete with C9, who have much stronger top lane, far more active mid lane and without a doubt a far superior bottom lane.
Prediction: Cloud9 -8.5 kills – 1.90 – Best Bet
