Can you feel the excitement? The League of Legends World Championships are nearly upon us. Next week, the five-week tournament starts in Korea, with 12 teams aiming to make it out of the play-in stage and into the main event. Those 12 teams are fighting for just four spots, so the competition will be intense. In this half of the Play-In Preview, I will look at Groups A and B. The second part of the preview will cover Groups C and D.
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2018 League of Legends World Championships Play-In Group C Betting
Cloud9 -1600
KaBuM! eSports +1000
DetonatioN FocusMe +2500
Cloud9 are aiming to make the run through the play-in stage to the main event for the second straight season. Last year, they didn’t drop a game on the way to the main event and ended up beating out ahq e-Sports Club and Edward Gaming for a spot in the knockout rounds and pushed Team World Elite to the brink in the quarterfinals.
This season’s Cloud9 may be more dangerous than last year’s edition. They are peaking at just the right time, and head coach Reapered has had the Midas touch. Cloud9 will need Jensen to play well throughout the competition though, as roster limitations meant they couldn’t bring Goldenglue. He has been fantastic on pocket picks, and look for him to have one or two surprises in store.
Some analysts are high on KaBuM and believe they have a decent chance of knocking off Cloud9 for the top spot in the group. Most of this team has been together for a while now, and they have some good chemistry. Mid laner dyNquedo has looked very strong on Zoe this year, and AD Carry Titan is a youngster to watch.
Japan has long trailed behind other regions when it comes to competitive play as there really is no eSports support in the country. Japanese teams have never fared well at international tournaments, and it’s unlikely for DetonatioN to change that this year. The one thing this team has going for it is stability as mid laner Ceros and bot laner Yutapon have been with the team since its inception in April 2013.
Group D Betting
G-Rex -250
Gambit Esports +275
Kaos Latin Gamers +1000
Just like last year, the favorite with the lowest chance of getting through is G-Rex. It was surprising to see G-Rex grab Taiwan’s last spot at Worlds after the team went 6-8 during the Summer Split. However, they were able to upset Hong Kong Attitude and J Team, and now they are playing for the pride of the LMS.
Mid laner Candy is someone you have to keep an eye on. He loves to play aggressively and jumps on champions that can constantly push and snowball their lane. His two top picks are Talon and Irelia, and both of those picks are ones that can be countered.
Gambit is looking to turn heads once again. At the Mid-Season Invitational, most people were picking Rainbow7 to make it through their group, but instead it was Gambit that finished first with a 5-1 mark. Two members of the team, PvPStejos and Kira, were on the legendary Albus NoX Luna team that made it to the 2016 Worlds Quarterfinals. They are out to rekindle that magic.
Finally, there is Kaos Latin Gamers. They are easily the strongest of all the Pool 3 teams, but they lost both of their games to Gambit at the Mid-Season Invitational. Tierwulf is a dangerous jungler that likes to invade, and he could turn the tide and help pull off an upset or two.
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!
