Dignitas vs Immortals
On paper, Dignitas and Immortals are two of the worst teams in the LCS and while that might hold true for Dignitas, Immortals have improved significantly ever since they decided to field their academy roster.
Looking back at Immortals’ last two fixtures against Team Liquid and Evil Genuises, it would be fair to say Immortals deserved to defeat Liquid, which they would have had they not lost the base race by a split second. As for their loss to Evil Geniuses, the ending was not as dramatic, but again, it would be fair to say Immortals were a bit unlucky not to finish the game. Either way, Immortals have improved by a lot and we can only guess where they would be sitting had they decided to field this roster from the start of the split.
Dignitas, on the other side, have also seen some level of improvement, but they’re still a team that fails to deliver when it matters. From the looks of it, Dignitas have started to play a bit more aggressively, which is evident in their strong early-game, but when the mid-late game rolls around they tend to fall flat.
Last week, they lost to 100 Thieves and Cloud 9, but managed to take down the first turret in both games and even picked up the first two drakes and the Rift Herald against Cloud9. What’s more, Dignitas managed 10 kills against Cloud9, which is quite an achievement.
Despite Dignitas’ improvement, this game looks like it’s Immortals’ to lose. They have shown a lot of quality and if they can continue playing at this pace, a playoffs ticket should be more than achievable for this team. Having said that, we have to consider Dignitas have started to play with the “all-or-nothing” mentality, which can be dangerous since they have nothing to lose anymore.
Dignitas have picked up 10 kills against Cloud9, and if they can continue playing with the same level of confidence, picking up nine kills against Immortals should be a piece of cake.
Prediction: Dignitas over 8.5 kills – 1.840
100 Thieves vs FlyQuest
After a phenomenal performance in LCS Spring, 100 Thieves fell flat on their back and are now only one win clear of ninth place in the league. Their performances this split were nothing short of disastrous. Ssumday is the only solid player on this team, but even he can have his off-days and when those days happen, 100 Thieves look like one of the worst teams in the league.
Ryoma is still as inconsistent as he was last split while bringing in Poome and Contractz has yet to result in any positive performances. All in all, I don’t have high expectations for this team and I would not be shocked if they end up losing Ssumday soon, as he deserves much better than what he receives here.
FlyQuest, on the other side, looked solid, but unfortunately nothing more than that. Last week, they crushed Evil Genuises and somehow managed to lose against Team Liquid. By that I mean FlyQuest should have won, yet still found a way to drop the ball at the end.
It was a demoralizing defeat, but at least FlyQuest look somewhat consistent with their performances. Even solo is holding on well on the weak side, while Santorin has just recently found his stride and is now the best performing player on his team.
Putting these two teams side by side, I don’t see how 100 Thieves can win. Their only solid player is Ssumday, but in the current meta, he won’t be able to have enough of an impact on the game. Ryoma will likely struggle against PowerOfEvil, while Mash and Ignar won’t struggle to compete with Cody Sun and Poome, who have yet to impress.
This should be a completely one-sided affair and considering FlyQuest can’t afford to lose games like that if they want to finish amongst the top six, we can expect a bit more from them this Saturday.
Prediction: FlyQuest – 7.5 kills – 1.925 – Best Bet
Golden Guardians vs Evil Geniuses
Golden Guardians are entering this bout as massive underdogs which is fair since EG have far better individual quality, but that rarely shows, especially if we look at their recent bouts. Jiizuke and Svenskeren have seemingly returned to their old inconsistent ways, and something similar can be said about Kumo as well.
Last week, EG lost to FlyQuest in a humiliating fashion and while they managed to take down Immortals, it was a rather scrappy win which did not inspire much confidence.
Golden Guardians, on the other side, are not a team I would say I’m confident can contest a solid regular-season finish, but they can have their flashes of greatness. They managed to take down FlyQuest and 100 Thieves but lost to Immortals and TSM across the last two weeks.
More times than not, Golden Guardians seem like a hit or miss team, which is not exactly what we are looking for in a team. Having said that, we know Golden Guardians can pressure their opponents, which sometimes works and other times it doesn’t. Their win condition is still FBI, who can be phenomenal if he can receive the support from the mid lane and jungle.
Evil Genuises are still the team I feel like are the most likely winners, but based on what they have shown lately, this won’t be a straightforward win for them. As seen in recent weeks, EG tend to make a few too many mistakes and give up unnecessary deaths, which gives us a great opportunity to side with Golden Guardians to pick up at least eight kills.
Prediction: Golden Guardians over 7.5 kills – 1.840
