The two favorites from major regions that are most at-risk of missing out on the main event of the League of Legends World Championship will play for their spot in the field of 16 on Sunday. Europe’s G2 were simply outplayed by SuperMassive on the first day of action. They rallied and beat SuperMassive in a tiebreaker to win the group, but it’s still a little hard to be impressed with their performances. Meanwhile, Taiwan’s G-Rex only got here after catching fire in the regional final, and no one seems to have much faith in them. They are out to make the chalk hold when they enter Summoner’s Rift on Sunday.
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2018 League of Legends World Championships Play-In Knockout Rounds Betting Odds
G2 Esports -858
Infinity eSports +565
If you need an example of why KDA isn’t everything, take a look at G2’s bot laner Hjarnan. Hjarnan’s 22.5 KDA was tops during the play-in group stage, but his play surely wasn’t. He did not look sharp on Tristana, and he has yet to prove he can really carry the day for his team when push comes to shove.
Instead, G2 relied once again on Perkz to be the playmaker they need in the mid lane. He was constantly getting ahead of his opponents with nice outplays, and he showed his utility by jumping on a variety of champions and even split-pushing with Orianna. Veterans Wunder and Jankos performed well in their respective roles too, but G2’s bottom lane continues to be a concern.
Infinity are the most intriguing team at this stage. You can write off their performance on their first day, as they didn’t get into Korea until a couple days before their matches started due to visa issues, but they really shined the second day. They erased a 7k gold deficit to pick up a win on Edward Gaming in the upset of the tournament thus far, and consistently outfought their opponent in team fights to do it. They followed that up by crushing Dire Wolves in the early game to make it to this stage.
Infinity’s bottom lane can beat G2’s bottom lane, and Cotopaco has the talent to hold his own against Perkz. That makes the Latin America North representatives a very live dog heading into this one. I think G2 will eventually pull through thanks to some sharp play from Wunder and Jankos, but they will get a run for their money.
G-Rex -285
BAU SuperMassive +235
Although they were considered the weakest of the four major teams coming into the play-in group stage, G-Rex were the most impressive. G-Rex put on an incredible performance with their wins over Gambit and Kaos Latin Gamers. Their average gametime was just a little bit over 30 minutes, and they had some interesting selections that caught their opponents off-guard like Maokai and jungle Gragas.
Candy has looked great in the mid lane. He was bullying his opponents in all four of his games, and he even took the risk of blind-picking Yasuo and made it work. G-Rex’s bottom lane of Stitch and Koala has played very well too, and Stitch’s damage numbers have been incredible.
There’s no question that SuperMassive are the strongest of the second-place teams, so G-Rex got an unlucky draw. They have a great bottom lane in their own with Zeitnot and SnowFlower making a huge difference in team fights, and the rest of the team has played well too.
Because of their performance earlier this week, I’m going to lay the chalk with G-Rex. I think Candy can get the upper hand on GBM in the mid lane, and G-Rex can play around that to put pressure elsewhere on the map.
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!
