Betting-Previews.com brings you betting previews for the opening round of the third week in the League of Legends European Championship (LEC) 2021 Summer. With two weeks of play already behind us, the top teams are slowly climbing the ladder, however, with six more weeks left to be played, there’s plenty of time for some underperforming teams to step up.
LEC Summer Week 3 – Day 1
When: Friday, June 25 – 18:00 – 22:00 CEST
Number of Games: 5
We haven’t had any bets for LEC 2021 Summer Week 2 – Day 2, and we’re back with another almost empty bag. All five games will feature a strong favorite and an underdog, and while the current state of the game would suggest the underdogs are the play, it’s the stylistic match-ups on Friday that make this option unappealing.
Misfits vs Excel
Friday, June 24 – 18:00 CEST
Anyone who has been following our LEC 2021 Summer betting previews this season should know that we’re big fans of Misfits, who we have tipped to make it into the LEC 2021 Summer playoffs (at 2.75 on Pinnacle) with our pre-season preview. The Bunnies have yet to show anything that would make us doubt their ability to do just that.
They have the talent to compete with LEC top dogs, and while they might be individually outclassed by G2 Esports, Rogue, Fnatic, and MAD Lions, it’s the immense improvement in their approach to the game that makes them easily one of the top-four teams.
Misfits will enter this match priced as favourites (1.444 at Pinnacle), which seems about fair. They’re definitely a much more well-rounded team than Excel and play much cleaner league. That’s not to say Excel haven’t had their flashes of greatness last week, when they beat MAD Lions, but that result hardly means anything.
MAD Lions are known for shooting themselves in the foot and that’s more or less what happened that day. Excel then went on to lose against Fnatic, where they didn’t play particularly poorly, but it wasn’t a very clean performance either.
Although Excel deserve some praise for their improvement relative to their first few games of the split, this is by no means a good team. With the volatility of the meta, you could make a case for Excel to upset Misfits, but there is no value at this price (2.82 at Pinnacle).
SK Gaming vs MAD Lions
Friday, June 24 – 19:00 CEST
After a dismissal start of the split (0-5), SK Gaming opted for more roster changes. Their support Jesse “Jesiz” Le has returned to the coaching position and will get replaced by SK Gaming’s academy support Philipp Samuel “Lilipp” Englert.
Although Lilipp has earned his sport in SK’s LEC roster, it’s not like he will manage to improve his team by much. He is an inexperienced player who was mediocre in the academy team and now has only one week to get ready for his LEC debut.
These changes don’t improve SK Gaming by much, and they’re still one of the main candidates to end the season last. Even if Lilipp proves to be an upgrade to Jesiz, SK Gaming still lack quality in other areas to be competitive.
MAD Lions are the clear favourites (1.192 at Pinnacle), as they’re a class or two above SK in terms of individual quality. MAD Lions are a team that is capable of taking on any LEC side, but they’re equally as capable of botching their games and losing against significantly weaker teams.
Most of it has to do with their volatile bottom lane that can look like one of world’s best one day and go 0/0/5 the next. MAD Lions’ volatility and their mistake-prone playstyle is a big reason why kill handicap bets are not the way to go, as they can easily give up unnecessary kills as they are to completely overrun their opponents.
Due to MAD Lions’ unpredictable playstyle, SK Gaming present us with a solid longshot bet at 4.830 (5.00 at Bet365), but it’s the quality gap that makes this option not as appealing. You either take SK Gaming here, or you pass.
Schalke 04 vs Rogue
Friday, June 24 – 20:00 CEST
It’s no secret that Rogue haven’t been playing as well as last split, however, their stats are still one of the highest in the league. That includes GPM (1853), GD (+50), KD (0.96), and FT (80%). Despite their early slip-ups, Rogue are the same stack of players that made it to the LEC 2021 Summer finals, and it’s only fair to expect them to improve as the split goes on.
Schalke 04 haven’t been doing very well this split, but they’re traditionally a very tough team to defeat. For whatever reason, S04 tend to perform much better against the strongest LEC teams, which they have proven in their win against G2 Esports last week.
Schalke 04 are 2-3 on the split with a win against G2 Esports and SK Gaming and losses to MAD Lions, Excel, and Team Vitality. Although not exactly spectacular results, S04 are not a bad team – they have enough talent to compete for a solid-mid table finish and produce an upset win here and there.
You could definitely make a case for Schalke 04 to defeat Rogue, but that’s one big “IF”. Schalke 04 have only really looked good against G2, and one solid showing alone isn’t enough to back them here.
Fnatic vs Astralis
Friday, June 24 – 21:00 CEST
Fnatic’s improvement this season was nothing short of remarkable and the seven-time LEC champions have yet to show any signs of stopping. Fnatic’s main issues last season were lack of coordination and a very unorganised approach to their games, which made them one of the most unpredictable teams in the league.
Fnatic of LEC 2021 Summer, however, are an entirely different beast. They’re far more organised in their approach and make less questionable plays. The best part? They’re still as aggressive as they were last term.
Fnatic average the third-highest KD (1.28) in the league and boast the second-highest kill/game (18.4), second only to G2 Esports at 19.0.
Astralis have been playing much better than expected, which is largely due to their unique picks that caught their opponents off-guard. They’re 2-3 on the season with wins against SK Gaming and Excel, and losses against MAD Lions, G2 Esports, and Misfits.
Astralis held on well in all three of their losses, but I don’t see this team keeping their form going. Sooner or later, Astralis will get outclassed by most of the league and will eventually land in the bottom part of the standings.
There’s a good reason why Astralis are priced as underdogs for this match (3.62 at Pinnacle), since they are outclassed by Fnatic in all areas of the game. Even though that’s a high number for a game played in the current meta, Fnatic are just way too good, but not worth a bet at 1.296.
Team Vitality vs G2 Esports
Friday, June 24 – 22:00 CEST
There was a lot of hype surrounding Team Vitality, but they have yet to deliver. And it’s not like they lack the talent to impress, but it’s mostly their aggressive and volatile style of play that prevents them from consistently win games.
Vitality are a type of team that will go on winning streaks and losing streaks, which is primarily due to their reckless playstyle that won’t result in any form of long-term consistency. That, however, makes them a dangerous team to face, since sometimes their 50/50 plays will end in their favour.
Vitality are a good team to bet on when they’re priced as an underdog, but there’s no value in doing so at the offered price (2.630 at Pinnacle).
G2 are slowly recovering from their disastrous LEC 2021 Spring split, but they’re not quite there yet. There was some improvement from the eight-time LEC champions, but it seems it will take a bit longer before they can recapture their form from years back.
A bet on G2 Esports to win would make sense at 1.497 (Pinnacle), but their lack of consistency could easily turn around and bit them. And it doesn’t help that the current meta is volatile enough for underdogs to cause upsets. Vitality can win, but they’ll have to be lucky enough for a couple of their 50/50 plays to work out.
