100 Thieves vs Team SoloMid
Saturday, February 22 – 14:00 PST
Team SoloMid have set themselves to either end the week 2-0 or 0-2 and four weeks in, they have had two of each, sitting at the fourth place in the LCS with a 4-4 record to their name. Entering their next game, TSM will look to hand 100 Thieves their sixth loss of the season and looking at the betting odds, TSM are weighed to do just that.
Priced at 1.512 on Pinnacle, TSM are heavy favorites to win the opening game of LCS Spring Split Week 5, which is a fair assessment. Last week, was a tough one for TSM, who lost to both Cloud9 and FlyQuest. The main problem for TSM was Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg’s poor performance, as he failed to deliver to the expectations put on him. Nonetheless, we can expect the veteran mid laner to step up for his team here and put Tommy “Ryoma” Le in his place.
While there are some things to be said about other lanes, this game will be most likely decided in the mid lane and it’s hard to side with the Australian import over the established and experienced Bjergsen, who still has a lot to prove and the drive to do so.
Despite their poor display last week, TSM are a far superior team to 100 Thieves and it’s hard to expect anything less than a clean win from them.
Prediction: Team SoloMid -5.5 kills – 1.869 at Pinnacle
Counter Logic Gaming vs Cloud9
Saturday, February 22 – 15:00 PST
Cloud9 are entering this bout as massive favorites, priced at 1.088 on Pinnacle, which clearly shows how the balance of power will be distributed. Counter Logic gaming have had a disastrous season so far, which ushered a massive change, that saw the arrival of Team Liquid coach Eugene “Pobelter” Park to their mid lane.
This move alone makes CLG a much stronger team, as they not only get a solid mid laner but also a highly experienced leader. While they might not have the needed tools to stop Cloud9 here, considering C9 are currently a level above all other LCS teams, with Pobelter on the team, CLG are more than capable of putting up a solid fight and keeping this match relatively close.
The kills handicap is set at 10.5, which is way too high and the same can be said for the total kills line (20.5). This seems like a mistake from bookmakers, who failed to take into consideration the quality and leadership Pobelter brings with him. At 1.84 for CLG to keep this one within 10 kills and 1.934 for this match to end with over 20 kills, those are two bets that seem very generous and two bets we can’t pass on.
Prediction: Counter Logic Gaming +10.5 – 1.84 at Pinnacle
Prediction: Over 20.5 kills – 1.934 at Pinnacle
Dignitas vs Immortals
Saturday, February 22 – 16:00 PST
This match can easily go both ways and while esports bookmakers have Dignitas as favorites, Immortals should not be completely ignored.
Immortals are priced at 2.30 to walk away with the win, while Dignitas sit at 1.628, which seems like Dignitas are a bit overrated. Both sides have had their ups and downs this season, with Immortals pocketing five and Dignitas four wins in the first eight matches played.
Both sides can be very volatile with their performances, meaning you can never know what version of Immortals and Dignitas you might get. Being a 50/50 match, it’s hard to not side with Immortals to upset their adversaries, while the incredibly low total kills line also looks very appealing to bet on.
At 1.97 offered for this match to end with 20 kills or more, this is another bet we can’t pass on, given that both sides tend to make a lot of mistakes, which more times than not lead to unnecessary deaths and with the aggressive playstyle of Dignitas, this is bound to be a bloody fight.
Prediction: Over 19.5 kills – 1.97 at Pinnacle
Prediction: Immortals +3.5 kills – 1.98 at Pinnacle
Golden Guardians vs FlyQuest
Saturday, February 22 – 14:00 PST
Another match that can easily go both ways, yet it’s FlyQuest who are priced as heavy favorites (1.473) to claim the spoils. Last week, FlyQuest bested TSM and 100 Thieves, which was a nice change of pace following their 0-2 record in Week 3. Golden Guardians, on the other side, ended Week 4 with 1-1, following a win against CLG and loss to Dignitas.
The problem with Golden Guardians, however, is that they can either look decent or completely underperform, which does bring some doubt when backing them to win. If they can perform to the best of their abilities, they might even defeat FlyQuest, but only if they manage to get a headstart in the early game. Considering both teams tend to have unstable performances and sometimes overaggressive approach to their games, an over 21.5 kills prediction seems like the safest bet. Both teams are not afraid to fight, which should spell out a match with plenty of kills on the board.
Prediction: Over 21.5 kills – 1.83 at Bet365 (1.793 on Pinnacle)
Best bet: Team SoloMid -5.5 kills – 1.869 at Pinnacle
