Betting-Previews.com returns with League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) betting preview for a clash between TSM and Immortals, who will clash in the second round of Championship 2021 lower bracket.
2021 LCS Championship – TSM vs Immortals
When: Saturday, August 20 at 15:00 PDT
Game: Best-of Five (Bo5)
TSM got obliterated by Team Liquid on Sunday and now need to fight their way through the lower bracket for a shot at the LoL World Championship spot and the LCS title. Immortals, meanwhile, showed up in their LCS Championship opener when they swept Dignitas, keeping their dreams of making it to the big stage.
The winner of this match will face off Cloud9 on Sunday, August 22, for a spot in the lower bracket finals and a guaranteed ticket for China.
TSM With A Simple Win Condition
Team Liquid proved to be a much more difficult opponent for TSM what their 5-0 record from the regular season would suggest. Although TSM had a solid plan, getting their mid laner ahead and use the advantage to look for roams, this approach proved inefficient, largely because Liquid managed to predict every move TSM made.
Obviously, Immortals aren’t as strong as Team Liquid; hence TSM should do better, but I wouldn’t completely write off the perpetual underdogs here. A BIG reason you should never write off Immortals is André “Guilhoto” Pereira Guilhoto, arguably one of the best coaches in the LCS.
Previously of OG, Guilhoto has achieved more with immortals this season than anyone expected he would be able to do given the resources he has. And with a coach like him, you can be sure Immortals will have a plan in place to tackle TSM tonight.
The second thing you should look out for in Immortals is their jungler Andrei “Xerxe” Dragomir, who is easily one of the most impactful junglers in the league. Still, you have to acknowledge that TSM are a more stacked team and should be winning this match more times than not – that is, unless they try something fancy and don’t play to their strengths.
The win condition for TSM is straightforward – play slow down the game, don’t settle for risky plays and count on their superior individual quality to do all the talking.
The Numbers
While Immortals certainly have some strengths which could help them force a very competitive series, it’s not only the individual quality that is on the side of TSM, but also performance metrics.
| Team/Stats | GD@15 | EGR | MLR |
| TSM | +113 | 50.3 | 16.3 |
| Immortals | -481 | 44.9 | 3.2 |
The most important number to look at here is TSM‘s strong late game. Throughout the season, they’ve been head and shoulders above any other LCS team, and they continue to show their intent of playing the long game, picking scaling and guaranteeing themselves a favourable position in the latter stages of the games.
You could counter this approach by focusing more on the early game, which has done wonders to other teams. Although Immortals could opt for the same system, they’re far too similar to TSM in their playstyle for me to say that they will make significant changes tonight.
And it’s not like Immortals are a bad team. In fact, they have been very competitive against other LCS top dogs, but if you draw a line, TSM’s individual level is up there with the top teams in the league, while IMT’s isn’t.
| Team/Stat | Drake Control | Herald Control | Baron Control |
| TSM | 58% | 57% | 66% |
| Immortals | 48% | 41% | 44% |
Neutral objective control once more favours TSM by quite a wide margin if we look at only the stats from the last nine outings, the gap further increases across all three but Baron control.
| Team/Stat | Drake Control | Herald Control | Baron Control |
| TSM | 73% | 67% | 64% |
| Immortals | 46% | 33% | 46% |
What Should Happen
TSM are a significantly better team on paper and should win this match with ease. However, TSM are a much better team on paper than most LCS teams, yet they still managed to produce a few very questionable games and even lost against opponents, which they “shouldn’t have”.
What’s more, if we look at only the numbers these two teams have produced over the last few weeks, TSM are better only in neutral, objective control. In some ways these two are the same team (with their style of play), only that TSM are a better version of Immortals.
TSM come off as the most likely victors. Having said that, I wouldn’t be surprised if Immortals can match them with all the preparation they have had.
I’ll pass on this game, but you want to bet on this game; Immortals money line (3.04 Pinnacle) and +1.5 maps (2.02 Pinnacle) is the play.
Betting Odds are correct as of Friday, August 20 at 21:25 CEST
