Betting-Previews.com returns with another set of League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) 2021 Summer betting tips and predictions. Today, we focus on five games played in the second round of LCS 2021 Summer Week 8.
LCS Summer Week 8 – Day 2
When: Saturday, July 24 – 14:00 – 18:00 PDT
Number of Games: 5
Evil Geniuses delivered once more yesterday, with a solid performance against TSM, which now sees them tied with Cloud9 in the standings. Golden Guardians, meanwhile, botched their game against Counter Logic Gaming from what seemed like an unlosable position; however, we’ll touch more on that below.
TSM vs Golden Guardians
Saturday, July 24 – 14:00 PDT
It’s very difficult to understand how did Golden Guardians manage to lose against Counter Logic Gaming yesterday. Although I am aware that this is a young squad, prone to making mistakes in the mid-late game, the way in which GG lost was tragic, to say the least.
They played out the early game extremely well and were over 5k gold up at the 25-minute mark, yet they still managed to lose. I can’t defend them for that loss, however, since GG made way too many mistakes with their decision making. I would have liked a video of where that game went south, but it would require you to watch the final 20 minutes of the match.
With that loss, Golden Guardians are now at 12-28, one win short of FlyQuest in eighth, and one win short of securing a spot in the playoffs. Counter Logic Gaming are at 11-29, and with five more rounds left to be played, we can expect these three squads to give their all as they battle for the playoffs ticket.
The motivation to perform will be three for Golden Guardians; however, that alone doesn’t justify a bet on them for this match. GG are very effective in the early game, so there is a world where gain early leads, and then throw it all away in the mid-late game. The betting odds are fair.
Immortals vs Evil Geniuses
Saturday, July 24 – 15:00 PDT
Evil Geniuses delivered against TSM yesterday and further solidified my belief that this is the best team in the LCS currently. EG are now 25-15 on the season, 14-7 on the summer split, and with an outstanding record of 10-1 across their last 11 outings.
Immortals beat Dignitas yesterday, and with that, secured a spot in the playoffs. That could suggest that Immortals won’t try as much anymore since they likely won’t be competing for a higher seed; however, I wouldn’t exactly follow this narrative.
Immortals have been a solid team this season, but they are clearly a class below Evil Geniuses, who are cruising through the league with little to no issues. EG outperform Immortals in all metrics, and the eye test would confirm that they’re a better team here.
Evil Geniuses are priced as 1.581 favourites for this match, which underestimates them a bit. If Immortals show their best side, this could turn out to be a close affair; however, for them to upset the hottest team in the league, EG would need to seriously underperform, and I don’t expect to see that happening.
FlyQuest vs Cloud9
Saturday, July 24 – 16:00 PDT
Cloud9 beat 100 Thieves yesterday and seem to be slowly gaining some traction. That said, I can’t say I’m impressed with what they are showing. Some of it has to do with my high expectations for this team; however, anyone can agree that C9 haven’t been too sharp, even from a neutral perspective.
We have now seen FlyQuest play enough games to know what this team is all about. Their plan to win games is very simple, and it has worked before – claim Herald, ear early leads and snowball.
FlyQuest enter this match as a heavy underdog (3.280 Pinnacle), while Cloud9 are priced at 1.347 (Pinnacle). I can’t argue with these odds since C9 are definitely inconsistent enough to lose 30% of these meetings. We must also factor in the added motivation on the side of FlyQuest, as they look to keep their distance from Golden Guardians and Counter Logic Gaming in the standings.
You could make a case for FlyQuest with a +6.5 kill handicap (1.854 at Pinnacle), but the odds are a bit too low. Knowing that C9 can pop off anytime makes this bet far less appealing, even though C9 haven’t been too solid recently.
Team Liquid vs Dignitas
Saturday, July 24 – 17:00 PDT
Even though Liquid haven’t been playing too well this split, they consistently delivered against weaker teams, and I expect that trend to continue for the remainder of the regular season. It was, however, a completely different story when Liquid faced the LCS top dogs.
If we look back at Team Liquid’s matches against mid and bottom teams, they beat FlyQuest (20-8), CLG (17-8), Dignitas (12-8), and Immortals (16-4). That would suggest Team Liquid will stomp Dignitas today and secure another comfortable victory, but they haven’t managed to do so last time out.
What’s more, we have to touch on the motivation behind winning for both sides. Team Liquid are 24-16 on the season, which more or less guarantees them a top-six finish; however, they’re still two wins short of catching up to TSM in second.
Given their struggles against top teams, it seems highly unlikely that Liquid will close that gap, especially knowing that they’ll face Cloud9 and EG in the final two games of the season. This might be a weird angle to look at this match, but it’s definitely something to consider.
Dignitas aren’t good enough for me to take their side for this match, even at 3.540 (Pinnacle). However, they are resilient enough to keep this match relatively close skill-wise, especially now that we’re in the latter stages of the season, where games are usually low scoring.
Pinnacle offers 1.800 on Dignitas with a +7.5 kill handicap, which is a good number, but the betting odds are a bit too low for my liking; however, you can get this exact same bet at Bet365 with 1.83.
I expect a low scoring match, so you could also look for a bet on Under 25.5 kills (1.83 at Bet365/ 1.800 Pinnacle)).
100 Thieves vs Counter Logic Gaming
Saturday, July 24 – 18:00 PDT
Counter Logic Gaming impressed me with their performance against Golden Guardians – not so much with what they have produced in the early game, but more with their ability to claw their way back into the game from a 5k gold deficit. That becomes even more impressive if we consider all the drama that has been going on in this organization.
As impressed as I am with Counter Logic Gaming, it’s hard to make a solid argument in their favour for this match. 100 Thieves are still one of the top-two teams in the league despite showing some regression of late.
100 Thieves should win; the only real question is by how much. You can back CLG with a +8.5 kill handicap at odds as high as 1.83 on Pinnacle, which is a very appealing bet. Although you can confidently say that 100 Thieves come out ahead, the high spread makes it hard to pass on.
Betting Odds are correct as of Saturday, July 24 at 18:40 CEST
