E-SPORTS E-SPORTS ARTICLES

Misfits Gaming have fallen off a bit in recent weeks, but they are still the favorites to finish with the best record in the EU LCS Summer Split. Misfits are currently sitting at 10-2, and that puts them a game ahead of Fnatic and two games ahead of G2 with three weeks left in the season. They are fully in control of their own destiny having already played Fnatic twice, and they are looking to grab the top spot in the playoffs. Finishing with the No. 1 spot in the regular season would likely mean dodging both G2 and Fnatic in the postseason, and that would be huge to their chances of winning the Summer Split Playoffs and making it to Worlds. ... 

This may be the most competitive season of League of Legends we have ever seen in North America. There are just three games separating first place from last place, and we haven’t seen a dominant team emerge. The action will only heat up as we enter the final month of the regular season as teams vie for position. It’s possible to see the table completely flip on its head with how team is, and that is something to watch for over the next few weeks. ... 

Unlike what we saw in the Spring Split, there is a clear tier list in European League of Legends for the Summer Split. The top tier is what we were expecting in some order back in January. Misfits, G2, and Fnatic have proven that they are the three best teams in the EU, with Misfits ahead of the other two teams by two games. They have the inside track for the overall No. 1 seed for the postseason, and anything other than a first-round bye would be a disappointment at this point. ... 

There’s a logjam at the top of the NA LCS at the midway point of the season. Only two teams, Cloud9 and OpTic Gaming, are out of the mix at 2-6, while four teams are 5-3 and four teams are sitting at 4-4. That means that there is plenty of room for movement during the final five weeks of the regular season. The top two teams at the end of the Summer Split receive an automatic bye into the semifinals, and that means a lot in a season where there is so much parity. ... 

It’s the midway point of the season, and the story of the Summer Split thus far is Misfits. Misfits have wiped the slate clean after a very disappointing Spring Split and are currently 8-0. They are two games in front of G2 and with one more victory will have more wins than they had in spring. AD Carry Hans Sama is currently the frontrunner to be Summer Split MVP with an 11.7 KDA as well. They can essentially punch their ticket to playoffs with two more wins this week. ... 

There is a four-way tie atop the NA LCS after the first three weeks of the Summer Split. The top three teams from spring are all amongst the leaders as well as the team that has won more NA LCS titles than any other in Team SoloMid. There are three other teams that are right behind those four at 3-3, and that should make for an exciting stretch run over the last two-thirds of the season. Even the team that is currently sitting in last place, Cloud9, can’t be considered out of it if they make a few changes, adding to the intrigue. ... 

After a week off for most teams because of Rift Rivals, the EU LCS gets back into action starting this Friday. Europe is feeling pretty good about itself as a region after besting North America to claim the Rift Rivals title, but you could argue that the best European team didn’t even take part in the event. Misfits are sitting at 6-0 and have looked exceptional through the first three weeks of the season. They will get a chance to prove that they are the best team in the EU when they take on 6-0 G2 in a battle of undefeated teams on Friday. ... 

A lot has gone on in League of Legends since the last World Championship update. Korea can no longer be considered far and away the best region for League of Legends in the world. Although Korean teams have won the last five World Championships, the region’s performance at the Mid-Season Invitational and Rift Rivals has left a lot to be desired. That has led to odds falling across the board on Chinese teams, as this region might be ready to stake its claim as the best in the world. Teams from both countries are the overwhelming favorites to win the World Championship, with the nine top favorites hailing from one of those two regions. ... 

If you’ve been in a Twitch chat lately, you’ve probably heard fans from the NA and the EU talking about Rift Rivals Blue. After years of arguments between fans of the two regions, Riot decided to settle scores by creating the Rift Rivals series. The top three North American teams will take on the top three European teams in a round robin format for regional supremacy. We are dead even through the first day of Rift Rivals Blue, but EU fans have a lot to smile about based on the performance of their top two teams. G2 and Fnatic are looking to lead the EU to Rift Rivals glory after NA won the inaugural title last year. ... 

No team has had a definitive answer of how best to play on the two latest patches. We have seen plenty of innovation at this point with 58 different champions selected over the course of 20 matches, making it impossible to predict what each team is looking to do in the draft phase. On the one hand, that’s great. We’re seeing champions that we haven’t seen in years emerge as viable options on the Rift, and it has closed the gap between the good teams and the bad. However, it has also meant that late game comebacks are largely a thing of the past as games end too quickly. ... 

Even with some of the changes made in Patch 8.12, teams have completely different reads on the meta. While some teams think that funnel strategies are the best, others have continued to run heavy bruiser compositions, and still others have decided to use standard drafts in order to best deal with the intricacies of the most recent changes. It’s created some very interesting dynamics as all three have worked to some extent. This week, we will see if anything has changed pretty quickly with some of the major proponents of these different strategies squaring off early in the week. ... 

The big question heading into the second week of the NA LCS Summer Split revolves around Team SoloMid. Is TSM back? It certainly looks like they might be. TSM looked very good after an underwhelming spring, coming back to knock off rivals Counter Logic Gaming before thrashing FlyQuest to finish the week 2-0. They are starting to look like the team we expected at the start of the year, with great performances from the bottom lane of Zven and mithy. Bjergsen and Hauntzer have been solid as ever, so if the bottom lane can keep playing like this, it’s lights out for the rest of North America. ... 

The story of the first week of the EU LCS Summer Split was Misfits. Misfits looked out to prove that their performance in spring was an aberration. They were seen as one of the top teams in Europe at the start of the year, but they missed out on the playoffs after finishing 8-10. ... 

The NA LCS Spring Split finally gave us a new champion. After five years where either Team SoloMid, Cloud9, and Counter Logic Gaming reigned supreme at the end of the season, a new champion emerged in April. For once, Team Liquid followed through on the hype and ended up winning the split and representing North America at the Mid-Season Invitational. Liquid will look to repeat during the Summer Split, while the old guard will look to reclaim their old places.... 

After a couple months away from the rift for all but the regional champions, we are back in action this week. Ten teams are vying for European glory in the Summer Split, and eight of those are looking to win their first titles.... 

Following their dominance during the LCK Spring Split, Kingzone DragonX are favored to win the Summer Split as well. Kingzone have now won two straight LCK titles and will begin their quest for a three-peat in a little over a week. This team has made no changes to its roster, and it should be hungry after a very disappointing performance at the Mid-Season Invitational.... 

Even though, they have won everything there is to win at this point, Royal Never Give Up are not the favorites to win the LPL Summer Split. Instead, that honor goes to Invictus Gaming. Invictus was the most dominant team in China during the Spring Split regular season. They lost just one match during the regular season and were heavy favorites to win in the playoffs.... 

After winning the Spring Split, Fnatic is the team to beat heading into the EU LCS Summer Split. Fnatic was the best team in the regular season and dropped just one game in the playoffs. They were fantastic in the mid and late game, and AD Carry Rekkles had one of the best splits of his career. He only played a handful of champions, but he was fantastic on Tristana and a couple others. Other teams are going to have a hard time getting past them this summer. ... 

Team Liquid might be wondering what it needs to do to get some respect. Liquid won the Spring Split, but they are not the favorites to win the Summer Split according to the oddsmakers. Instead, Team SoloMid are favored to best the rest of the competition in North America this summer. TSM was the favorite coming into the spring, but they were dumped by Clutch Gaming in their first playoff series. They will try to prove that they are an elite team once again later this month. ... 

Royal Never Give Up just proved that they were the best team in the world in Paris. After Uzi finally won an LPL title, RNG earned the right to represent China at the Mid-Season Invitational. RNG started slow, posting a record of 2-3 in their first five games, but then they turned it on. They won 10 of their next 11 games en route to upsetting Kingzone DragonX to win MSI. ... 

Some of the top CS:GO teams in the world are taking a break next week, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a lot going on. The Starseries I-League Season 5 tournament will take place in Kyiv and pit 16 of the top teams in the world against each other. There is a $300,000 prize pool up for grabs and with that kind of dough, we are going to see some good CS:GO. Natus Vincere and SK Gaming are the two favorites coming into the event, but there are many who think that Team Liquid and Mousesports have a good chance too. ... 

Fnatic and Flash Wolves will be looking to make history this week. The Mid-Season Invitational has always been won by teams from China or Korea, while the teams from Europe and Taiwan have fallen short.
Each team is a pretty big underdog heading into its MSI Semifinals match-up. Fnatic is the heavier underdog after going 4-6 in the group stage and needing a tiebreaker over Team Liquid to qualify, and Flash Wolves must face the team that was the odds-on favorite to win before the tournament started. ... 

The last stage of the first season of the Overwatch League is set to start on Wednesday. This first season has been a smashing success with more than 100,000 people consistently tuning in for live matches, and thousands of others watching the VODs afterwards. At the end of this stage, the six teams with the best cumulative record over all four stages will compete in the playoffs for some serious prize money. Most of those spots are still up for grabs heading into these final weeks.... 

Next week, 16 of the best CS:GO teams in the world will converge on Dallas to take part in the ESL Pro League Season 7 Finals. These teams will be playing for a $750,000 prize pool and bragging rights as to who the top team in the world is.

After winning DreamHack Marseille a few weeks ago, Astralis is the favorite coming into this event. However, FaZe is going to be a popular pick as well based on their dominance over the last year or so. ... 

The Mid-Season Invitational main event is set to start this Friday. While 10 teams have been battling it out for the other two spots in the main event, four teams have been ready to get started for some time now. Fnatic and Team Liquid clinched their spots at this tournament over a month ago and Kingzone DragonX had wrapped up the Korean title in mid-April. Of the teams from the four major regions, only Royal Never Give Up has qualified relatively recently. ...