This weekend, four North American teams will compete for the region’s last spot at the League of Legends World Championships in October. Echo Fox, Clutch Gaming, Team SoloMid, and Cloud9 are looking to join league rivals Team Liquid and 100 Thieves in Korea, but only one of these teams can grab the spot and earn a chance at glory. A mini-gauntlet will decide the winner and the first series will be between Echo Fox and Clutch Gaming.
At BookMaker Sportsbook, our team of writers breaks down every betting matchup on the wagering board. eSports are exploding in popularity and we at BookMaker have you covered for all of your betting needs. From League of Legends to CS:GO, BookMaker has all of the eSports betting lines you can hope for.
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2018 League of Legends NA LCS Regional Finals Betting Lines
Echo Fox -350 Clutch Gaming +280
Clutch Gaming completely fell apart during the Summer Split, and that has made them a pretty sizeable underdog coming into this series. Clutch went 11-7 in the regular season during the Spring Split, and they knocked off Team SoloMid in their first round series in the Spring Split Playoffs and nearly knocked out 100 Thieves in the semifinals.
However, Clutch finished with the second-worst record in the regular season of the Summer Split. They managed to go just 6-12, although they did single-handedly manage to keep Optic Gaming out of the postseason by beating them in both games. They lost both of their games with Echo Fox in the regular season too.
As for Echo Fox, they had their moments in both splits. They went 12-6 in the Spring Split regular season, but then Echo Fox ran into a red-hot Team Liquid and fell in the semifinals. However, they were the lone team to take a game off of the eventual champions and swept Clutch Gaming 3-0 in the third-place match.
They went 10-8 during the Summer Split regular season and made the postseason once more, but they failed to get out of the first round of the playoffs. Echo Fox played an instant classic five-game series with TSM, but they came up just short.
Player to Watch
Clutch Gaming’s struggles this split can be tied to those of mid laner Febiven. Febiven had a phenomenal Spring Split, and he was a serious MVP candidate as a result of his play. He posted a 5.8 KDA according to tracking website Games of Legends, and he more than held his own against Bjergsen in the playoffs.
However, neither he nor Clutch Gaming could get much going this season in this meta. Febiven looked lost on the mid lane champions that dominated much of the season, struggling on picks like Swain and Akali. He defaulted to champions that just didn’t have a place in this meta, grabbing comfort picks that weren’t enough to turn the tide in team fights. He has the potential to outplay Echo Fox’s Damonte though, and Clutch will need that.
Prediction
Call me crazy, but I think Clutch Gaming are worth a play at these odds. Although they have been consistent over two splits and ran into two very good teams in the playoffs, I’m still not too impressed with Echo Fox. The numbers just haven’t been there, and they did swoon late in the season in both splits.
Echo Fox likes to tinker a lot, but a lot of the moves have ended up falling flat lately. Just take a look at the champions that Dardoch has taken into the jungle this split. Virtually everything besides Kindred, Graves, and Trundle didn’t work out, and that’s a major issue. It’s hard to lay this much juice with those concerns.
At BookMaker Sportsbook, our team of writers breaks down every betting matchup on the wagering board. eSports are exploding in popularity and we at BookMaker have you covered for all of your betting needs. From League of Legends to CS:GO, BookMaker has all of the eSports betting lines you can hope for. Open an account and get in on the action today!
