Rogue vs Vitality
After their upset win over G2 Esports, Vitality have become an overnight sensation, and while they played well on that day, they still need to show much more before we can start talking about a possible post-season appearance for Vitality. In all fairness, Vitality did not show too much in Week 1. They got stomped by Fnatic and narrowly defeated Schalke, who are currently the worst or second-worst team in the league behind Excel, while the managed to defeat G2 during one of their worst weeks to date.
Rogue, on the other side, showed a lot of quality in the opening week. All five members have been playing on top of their game and are rightfully entering week 2 with a perfect record. The only thing working against them is that their wins came against weaker sides including Excel, the shaky Misfits and Schalke. Week 2 will be a much bigger challenge for Rogue as they face the high-flying Vitality and G2, however, a challenge they can take on with confidence.
This will be a true test for Vitality and their strength, but it’s hard to believe they can overcome Rogue. Nji, while a solid jungler is nowhere near at the level of Inspired, while Rogue’s bottom lane should have no real issues tearing apart Comp-Labrov. We expect Vitality to enter this match with the same aggressive playstyle which they showed in Week 1, and that won’t do them any favours. Rogue have very strong lanes and their team fighting is far cleaner than Vitality’s.
If Vitality can avoid suffering a complete stomp here I’ll be impressed, but I’m not counting on it. Rogue are the clear winners here and should have no difficulties coming out ahead. Vitality will likely put up some resistance so we can expect a slightly longer game, which should give Rogue a chance to rack in at least 14 kills.
Prediction: Rogue over 13.5 kills – 1.79
Misfits vs SK Gaming
Misfits entered the LEC Summer as a team that held a lot of promise, but looking at their performance in Week 1, they still have a lot more work to do. This team is very shaky and it’s clear they need to fix their synergy before we can start talking about a possible playoff appearance. The talent is clearly there, but some more time will be needed before Misfits gel together. There was some improvement towards the end of Week 1, however, so perhaps they will manage to go at least 1-1 this week.
SK Gaming are a team no one believed they can cause any serious damage in the LEC, but they got off to a flying start of their LEC Summer campaign with wins over OG and Schalke. MAD Lions proved to be too much for them to handle, however, we would not criticize SK too much for that loss.
SK Gaming looked much more organized compared to Misfits, which is not all too surprising since they have Jesse “Jesiz” Le as their head coach, who is a very underrated strategist. Although he has less experience coaching teams in the European top-flight compared to some other LEC coaches, Jesiz has seen success in every team he has been a part of, which tells a lot about how well he can prepare his players. What’s more, he has previously coached Misfits in 2019, so he should have a trick up his sleeve to make Misfits sweat.
The main match up here will be between Crownshot and Kobbe, who are both the main carries of their rosters. Kobbe is without a doubt more established ADC out of the two, but many people seem to sleep on Crownshot. He is improving at a drastic pace and considering Kobbe is still building his synergy with Doss and getting a grip of LEC after spending last split at TSM, this matchup will not be as one-sided as it may seem.
Misfits have on average seen 21.7 kills in their matches, while SK saw 19. Both teams also tend to play games that go well over the 30-minute mark, which suggests we are in for an exciting and bloody match. Misfits are rightfully the favorites, but before we see more stability in this team, we have to trust SK to make Misfits bleed and work hard for a W.
Prediction: SK Gaming over 9.5 kills – 1.89
OG vs Excel
OG looked a bit iffy in the opening week with their loss against SK and Misfits, however, this is still an extremely strong team with some of the best individual talent in the LEC. OG were regarded as one of the teams that can potentially stack up with G2 and Fnatic and compete for the title and despite their 1-2 start of the split, OG can still fulfill those expectations.
In week one we also saw OG go for more late-game oriented compositions, which are not optimal in the current meta. They likely learned from their mistake, meaning we can expect more aggressive early-mid lane compositions which would allow OG to close out this game fast and prevent suffering a shock defeat.
Excel, on the other side, are in our book the weakest team in the league and they deserve to be tagged as such. That, however, is nothing surprising, since Excel will need quite some time before Special and Kryze start playing at the level required for Excel to succeed.
This match has all the elements to be a complete stomp and while Excel are still a well-coached team that has one of the best macro plays in the league, the individual quality is well below that of OG.
Prediction: Origen -7.5 kills – 1.925
Fnatic vs MAD Lions
Fnatic are currently looking like the strongest LEC team and if they can keep up the pace and continue performing at this level, they just might be able to (finally) dethrone G2. It’s still too early to call them the new LEC champions, but this team is very solid. Some of that is due to the current meta that favors good ADCs and there are not many ADC mains in Europe and the world who can compare to Rekkles. The only issue with Fnatic is that they seem to a bit inflexible which could bite them in the ass down the line.
MAD Lions suffered a complete stomp against G2 on day one, but they were somewhat unfortunate to face G2 at their best. Nevertheless, MAD Lions bounced back with two commanding wins over Excel and SK Gaming to regain some confidence heading into week 2.
Last split, these two sides met twice and split the two matches. Things, however, changed in the playoffs, where Fnatic swept the floor with MAD Lions in the semi-finals, thus cemented themselves as the stronger team in these bouts.
What works in MAD Lions’ favor here is their flexibility in the draft, which could give them an edge over Fnatic. Having said that, we are not ready to say MAD Lions are the better side here. Fnatic are a much better team when it comes to macro play and they’re entering this match in great form. As long as Hylissang and Selfmade can continue playing at the level he has shown in Week 1, Fnatic should have no issues winning this one.
Prediction: Fnatic – 5.5 kills – 1.751
