Betting-Previews.com brings you coverage of the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) 2021 Summer Week 8- Day 1 matches, featuring five games between NA’s top LoL teams.
LCS Summer Week 8 – Day 1
When: Friday, July 23 – 15:00 – 19:00 PDT
Number of Games: 5
Golden Guardians and Evil Geniuses both delivered last week to earn us another positive day with our LCS betting picks. We have two more bets for you to look at today, so without further ado, let’s jump right in!
100 Thieves vs Cloud9
Friday, July 23 – 15:00 PDT
100 Thieves are right up there with Evil Geniuses as a solid candidate to win the LCS. 100T might have had a rough run in LCS 2021 Summer Week 6; however, it was revealed that the whole 100 Thieves organization took a week off prior to that, so I wouldn’t overreact iffy run.
After their shaky run, 100T looked much better last week. They needed one loss against Dignitas to get their wheels spinning but then took down Team Liquid and FlyQuest to get back on track.
100 Thieves enter this match as a 1.808 favorite (Pinnacle), which may seem a bit high considering how unconvincing Cloud9 have been over the summer season. The reigning LCS champions are 11-10 this split and are on a two-game winning streak; however, their only two wins last week came against Golden Guardians and Counter Logic Gaming, who are a complete mess now.
Even though I was not convinced by Cloud9, this is still a team that is just waiting to pop off. Their star players haven’t been showing up, but you can’t deny that if at least half find their form, Cloud9 will be a force to be reckoned with.
Luka “Perkz” Perković is having a very unusually poor season, which is very weird to see from a player that has been long considered as the best LoL esports pro in the west. What exactly is holding him back is anyone’s guess; however, over the years of watching him play, I have learned one thing – Perkz is an entirely different beast once the league playoffs come around, and I fully expect him to start showing that sometime soon.
Considering the current form of the teams, I would consider 100 Thieves as a better side, however, I see no value in backing them at 1.808. They are better, but not good enough for me tu jusfity a bet on them at this price.
Another thing that makes me very sceptical about picking either side is the teams’ style. Given how C9 and 100T have been playing, this match has a high potential to be a stomp – one way or the other. 100T have looked exceptional in wins, but when they lose, 100T completely fall apart.
While the same doesn’t exactly hold true for Cloud9, it’s more than fair to say that they’ll get stomped by 100T if the latter win. This suggests that we’re in for a very low-scoring and fast game.
TSM vs Evil Geniuses
Friday, July 23 – 16:00 PDT
I’m not sure what the bookmakers are thinking, pricing Evil Geniuses as an underdog here. Don’t get me wrong, TSM are a solid team and clearly one of the top-three in the LCS, but you can’t argue that they’re at the level of Evil Geniuses or 100 Thieves.
Evil Geniuses are legitimately a good team, and I don’t want to hear about how they only look good because they play in the LCS. While it might help their stats a bit, EG’s metrics on the season have been some of the highest not only in the LCS but across all four major regions.
Does that mean that Evil Geniuses are legitimate LoL World Championship contenders? Well, no, but they’re arguably serious candidates to win the league if Team Liquid and Cloud9 don’t wake up from their slumber in time.
I don’t want to sound like a EG fanboy, so let’s talk numbers. Evil Geniuses metrics on the LCS 2021 Summer show +1540GD@15, 64.9 EGR (Early-Game Rating), 5.3% Gold Spend Percentage Rating (GSPD), 1.01 Gold Percentage Rating (GPR), 1.24 KD (Kill/Death), 67% First Turret Rate (FT%), 76% First-To-Three Turrets Rate (FT3%), as well as 56% Drake Control (DRG%).
In comparison, TSM hold: +263GD@15, 50.1 EGR (Early-Game Rating), 3.6% Gold Spend Percentage Rating (GSPD), 0.41 Gold Percentage Rating (GPR), 1.09 KD (Kill/Death), 57% First Turret Rate (FT%), 57% First-To-Three Turrets Rate (FT3%), as well as 55% Drake Control (DRG%).
Numbers obviously don’t tell the whole story, yet TSM are behind EG in almost all important metrics. The other thing worth considering is the eye test, and even there, you should make a case for EG as the better team. EG are in some ways like Fnatic in the LEC – they might look chaotic at times, but there’s genius behind all that chaos, and they always find a way to come out of in a better spot.
I’m not saying TSM area terrible team and that they have no chance of winning. There are definitely some positives in TSM and they are clearly one of the top teams in the LCS; but with the way EG have been playing, they shouldn’t be priced as an underdog for this match – this is an obvious bet.
FlyQuest vs Team Liquid
Friday, July 23 – 17:00 PDT
FlyQuest are priced as 2.81 (Pinnacle) underdogs for this match, while Liquid are at 1.444 as the betting favourites. The odds make a lot of sense, and I can say straight off the bat that I’m not taking a position for this match.
The FlyQuest vs Team Liquid is probably the least exciting match of the day and one I am not looking forward to. Many people seem to be high on FlyQuest following their 3-0 run two weeks back, but I have been saying before- this is not a good team.
They got away with a few steals and have beaten teams that just happened to be struggling. It’s very easy to overreact to short flashes of greatness, but I’m not sold on FlyQuest.
On the other side, we have Team Liquid, who are a good team, but they aren’t great. You could argue that they’re a top-four team in the league, which they probably are, but there is a huge gap between them and TSM and an even bigger gap separating the two to 100 Thieves and Evil Geniuses.
The thing with Team Liquid is that this is a squad with a very high ceiling. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean much if they’re unable to hit it. Watching them play, Liquid seem very static and seem to struggle to play with a bit more tempo, which is something they need to work on ASAP if they want to come even close to emulating their success from the LCS 2021 Spring playoffs.
I would not bet on FlyQuest for this match – and likely won’t work for the rest of the regular season – but I wouldn’t bet on Team Liquid either. Team Liquid should win since they’re simply a much better team individually; however, there’s no way I’m taking their side at the offered odds.
Golden Guardians vs Counter Logic Gaming
Friday, July 23 – 18:00 PDT
We sided with Golden Guardians last week, and looking at their opponents for Friday, we have to run it back. It’s not so much that Golden Guardians are that much stronger than Counter Logic Gaming, but it mostly has to do with CLG being that much worse than GG, and possibly all other teams in the league.
And it’s not only the performances CLG have been showing on the Summoner’s Rift but also the behind-the-scenes drama that is unfolding. What exactly is happening in this organisation is anyone+s guess, but it’s very obvious that the players aren’t happy, some of whom are probably ecstatic that their contracts end this November.
I could compare these teams’ metrics, but there’s no point in doing that. The eye test alone is enough for anyone to see Golden Guardians as the better team.
I still don’t believe GG are a good team, nor do I expect them to achieve great things, but they’re clearly in better shape than CLG and could easily be considered as one of the top-six teams (based on recent form, they might be even fifth-best).
Easy bet on Golden Guardians.
Immortals vs Dignitas
Friday, July 23 – 19:00 PDT
If we look at the season as a whole, Immortals have been playing better, but they weren’t that great of late. I still view them as a better team than Dignitas (2.27 Pinnacle), but it mostly has to do with how low I am on this Dignitas roster.
Last week, Dignitas caused an upset against 100 Thieves and then lost to Evil Geniuses and Golden Guardians. Immortals won their week opener against Cloud9, lost against TSM, and bounced back with a shock victory against Counter Logic Gaming, who basically handed them a free win.
I don’t want to go too deep into this match. Immortals are a more well-rounded team and should win purely of the individual quality edge they have. They have had a few iffy showings, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Dignitas come out ahead; however, I wouldn’t count on that happening either.
The betting odds seem fair. No Bet.
Betting Odds are correct as of Friday, July 23 at 17:10 CEST
