Eight of the top teams in Chinese League of Legends will take part in the Demacia Cup starting this Thursday. The three best teams in China throughout the course of the year (Invictus Gaming, Royal Never Give Up, and Edward Gaming) will be taking part in the four-day double-elimination competition, and some of the other top teams in the region will be looking to take them down.
For IG, RNG, and EDG, this will be their first real action since the World Championships back in October and November. Most of the other teams taking part in the Demacia Cup played at NEST last month, but those three teams opted to skip the competition in favor of some well-earned rest. We’ll see whether or not the long layoff will hurt them here.
E-Sports Betting at BookMaker.eu
2018 League of Legends Demacia Cup Betting Odds
Invictus Gaming -265
Suning +200
All signs point to Invictus having its full roster available for this game. Starting support Baolan re-signed with IG after flirting with other suitors in free agency and jungler Ning’s contract was extended. Top laner TheShy and AD Carry JackeyLove are under contract for one more year, so they will be taking part, and it looks like Rookie will take his usual spot in the mid lane although it doesn’t appear as if he has signed a new contract yet.
That would make Invictus very tough to beat in this meta. We have seen a lot of patch changes since Worlds, but the prevailing doctrine still seems to be win lane, win game. Invictus proved themselves the best at this style of League of Legends in Korea, and if TheShy and Rookie are both in the lineup, they will certainly have the advantage in their lane.
JackeyLove has taken another big step forward as well. The prodigy made some mistakes that cost IG during the LPL playoffs, particularly against RNG, but he erased those memories with his performance at Worlds. He was outdueling Rekkles in the bottom lane, and he showed no hesitation when it came to putting his foot on the accelerator in order for IG to hit their power spikes at the right time.
Suning have made themselves one of the teams to watch in China next year with the signing of three talented players. They followed in the footsteps of RNG by signing Maple and SwordArT away from Flash Wolves, and they also grabbed Smlz from Rogue Warriors. All three players joined within the last two weeks, so this will be a sport of trial by fire. There’s no denying the trio’s talent though, and H4cker was one of the more underrated junglers last year too.
Royal Never Give Up -150
Edward Gaming +120
The two long-time titans in China can’t be happy that neither one of them was the first LPL team to win Worlds. It’s still been a successful season for RNG though. They won everything else they entered, claiming the Mid-Season Invitational, both LPL Spring and Summer titles, and the Demacia Cup that was held earlier in the year.
Unlike most other teams, RNG does not have to worry about any sort of roster shakeup either. Everyone on the team was signed into 2019 last year, so they will have all hands on deck for this competition. That’s bad news for every team as Uzi and Xiaohu are two of the best players in the world, although top lane is a bit of a concern later on in the tournament.
Its unclear if EDG will have two of their best players for this competition. Mid laner Scout and jungler Clearlove both had their contracts expire last month, and there has been no definitive word as to whether or not they will re-join their team. Clearlove was once one of the best junglers in the world, but he has seen his star fade over the last two years and may be done with the game altogether. Scout is still considered elite, and not having him would be huge.
With this uncertainty, you’d be wise to go with RNG in this meeting even though EDG have historically been their Achilles heel.
E-Sports Betting Odds
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!
