E-SPORTS E-SPORTS ARTICLES

All of the top teams in the world are currently preparing for the League of Legends World Championship in Iceland in a few weeks, but there is still some action available for those looking to bet on League of Legends. The EU Masters just finished up its Group Stage and eight teams have advanced to the knockout stages. Karmine Corp is out to defend its title from the spring, but the French organization is no longer the unstoppable juggernaut we saw a few months ago.... 

China’s last two spots in the League of Legends World Championship will be decided this weekend. FunPlus Phoenix and Edward Gaming have both already qualified for Worlds as a result of facing off in the LPL Summer Split Finals. Four teams are fighting for the last two spots in this weekend’s LPL Regional Finals, but the two teams squaring off first will have a better chance of making it to Worlds.... 

Where were you when Fnatic eliminated G2 Esports to claim Europe’s last spot at the World Championship? Fnatic and G2 played an epic five-game series last Sunday for the right to qualify for Worlds, and Fnatic emerged victorious thanks to a surprise Darius pick from top laner Adam. The rookie had seven kills and seven assists compared to just two deaths on the champion in a Fnatic romp. Now, G2 Esports must face a very uncertain offseason. G2 was a heavy favorite to win the LEC once again in 202... 

It’s a new era in the LEC. After years of Fnatic and G2 Esports dominating Europe, Rogue and MAD Lions are the new titans. Rogue and MAD Lions have already locked up their spots in the World Championship, leaving Fnatic, G2 Esports, and Misfits Gaming to fight for the final LEC spot at Worlds. Fnatic and Misfits Gaming will square off in a winner-take-all series on Friday, and the winner will face G2 for the final Worlds spot on Sunday.... 

Six teams are vying for the LEC Summer Split Championship and one of three spots at the League of Legends World Championships. However, it will be a tough road to hoe for two of those squads. Fnatic and Team Vitality are in the Losers’ Bracket, and the winner of their match will need to defeat two teams from the Winners’ Bracket in order to make it to Worlds. It will be a much easier path for the other four teams, as winning their first-round series will automatically send them to the semifinals... 

The first round of the LCS Championship will take place this weekend. Eight of the ten LCS teams are participating in the LCS Championship, and the top three teams from the league will represent North America at the 2021 League of Legends World Championship. The top two teams and the bottom two teams in the LCS Championship won’t be taking part in the action this weekend. Team SoloMid and 100 Thieves will play the winners of the two matches next week, and all four of those teams will be able to ... 

It’s win or go home time in the LEC. This is the last week of the LEC Summer Split, and it will be jampacked with action as teams play on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to determine the final standings for 2021. FC Schalke 04 are the only team eliminated from postseason contention, but Team Vitality, SK Gaming, Excel Esports, and Astralis are fighting for just one additional playoff spot. That will make Week 8 exciting from start to finish.... 

We are entering the penultimate week of the LEC Summer Split. Fnatic and Rogue have clinched playoff spots with 10-3 records, but nothing else has been determined yet. Although they have lost five straight matches, FC Schalke 04 can still rally and make the playoffs just like they did last summer, as a 5-8 record is currently good enough to grab one of the final playoff spots. ... 

We’re now halfway through the LEC Summer Split. There have been a few different surprising developments, but the biggest development to this point is the issues with G2 Esports. The eight-time champions have carried their struggles from spring into the Summer Split, and they have now lost four straight matches. G2 is currently 4-5, and if the season ended today, the biggest team in Europe would miss out on the playoffs entirely.... 

After months of rumors regarding the loss of FC Schalke 04 Esports from the LEC, news broke that their spot in the league was bought by Team BDS for over $30 million earlier this week. Schalke will play out the rest of the Summer Split, and Team BDS will take over in earnest in 2022. It will be interesting to see how Schalke’s players respond over the coming weeks. ... 

Some normalcy was restored to the LEC last week as G2 Esports and Fnatic were the best teams in Week 2. The two most successful organizations in the history of European League of Legends have each now won three straight games, and their match at the end of Week 3 could be for first place in the LEC Summer Split. That will be the most hyped match of the week as both sides have a trip to Worlds on their minds.... 

Who would have thought that the only unbeaten team through the first week of the 2021 LEC Summer Split would be Misfits Gaming? Misfits failed to make the playoffs in the Spring Split with a losing record, but they are 3-0 after Week 1 of the Summer Split. They upset Fnatic and knocked off SK Gaming and Team Vitality, but they are still a sizable underdog to Rogue in their first game per the League of Legends betting odds.... 

The other three major regions for League of Legends are already in action, and the LEC will kick off its Summer Split this Friday. All ten teams will play their first match on June 11, and there have been a lot of changes. There is a new meta with new players and there are new analysts too. It will officially kick off with the best team from the Spring Split (MAD Lions) taking on the most successful team in the history of Europe (G2 Esports).... 

In a relatively quick turnaround, the LCS Summer Split will kick off just two weeks after the Mid-Season Invitational. Every other major region will wait at least another week before starting back up, but North American teams are ready to get back on Summoner’s Rift. North America was clearly the worst of the major regions all through the Spring Split, and that played out at MSI too. Cloud9 was the only team to lose to the OPL representative in the Rumble Stage, and C9 missed out on the semifina... 

One of the biggest events on the CS:GO calendar will take place next week. Intel Extreme Masters Season XVI will kick off on June 3, 2021 and run until June 13, 2021. It will pit 16 teams against one another with the winner earning $100,000 and a precious victory in Intel Grand Slam Season 3. This event will be held online, but the hope is that we return to LAN formats with fans in the stands soon. ... 

A new Mid-Season Invitational champion will be crowned in Reykjavik on Sunday. DWG KIA and Royal Never Give Up have been the favorites to win this tournament from the outset, and they are heavily favored in their semifinal matches against the MAD Lions and PSG Talon. However, DWG KIA and Royal Never Give Up have both looked vulnerable at times during MSI, so it’s not a given either team will go through to the final that so many observers are expecting.... 

All the champions from major regions made it out of the Mid-Season Invitational Group Stage. Royal Never Give Up was not tested, but overall favorite DWG KIA looked more vulnerable than most experts believed coming into this tournament. They were defeated by Cloud9 (who had their own struggles) and could have lost to Detonation FocusMe. MAD Lions had a few hiccups, but they largely took care of business too. That should make for a fun Rumble Stage although many are already looking past PSG Talon... 

The League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational will kick off on Thursday, May 6. The Group Stage will last six days from May 6-11 with the top two teams from each group advancing to the Rumble. There is a clear gap between the teams from the major regions and everyone else, but we usually see a few surprises.

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League of Legends’ 2021 Mid-Season Invitational will kick off in Reykjavik, Iceland next Thursday on May 6. While there are 11 teams that are vying for the title, only two teams are considered real contenders to win it. LCK champions DWG Kia (formerly DAMWON Gaming) and LPL champions Royal Never Give Up look to be the cream of the crop. They are enormous favorites to win their groups. ... 

There will only be 11 teams at the 2021 League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational in Iceland. We were supposed to see 12 teams represented at this tournament, but COVID restrictions meant that VCS champions GAM Esports were unable to travel to Reykjavik for the event. They will be missed as teams from Vietnam have made a name for themselves at this competition. ... 

The last Pool 1 spot for the Mid-Season Invitational will be determined on Sunday when FunPlus Phoenix and Royal Never Give Up meet to determine the LPL Spring Split winner. This is RNG’s eighth trip to the finals, while FPX is making just its second trip to the finals. RNG haven’t won an LPL title since the 2018 Summer Split though, while FPX won the 2019 Summer Split on their way to winning the World Championships.... 

MAD Lions await the winner of Saturday’s semifinal between G2 Esports and Rogue. It’s only fair that the 2021 LEC Spring Split will be one of these three teams since they have been the top European teams throughout the season. However, while G2 Esports and Rogue finished the regular season at 14-4, MAD Lions was well behind and only caught fire on Patch 11.6.
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The first round of the LEC Spring Split Playoffs delivered in a big way. Fnatic beat SK Gaming 3-1 in the elimination series, but the real action was to be found in the two Winners’ Bracket series. G2 Esports looked set to cruise past FC Schalke 04 until they dropped the third and fourth games in the series to move to a decisive fifth game. In the other series, MAD Lions upset Rogue as a moderate underdog, setting up a rematch with G2 Esports for a spot in the LEC Spring Split Finals on April 11... 

The first weekend of the 2021 LEC Spring Split Playoffs is going to have a lot of action. Fnatic and SK Gaming will face off in an elimination series on Friday before the two Winners’ Bracket series on Saturday and Sunday. Fnatic’s 0-3 performance in the last week of the regular season led to the organization falling into the lower bracket for the playoffs, and they must now avoid an upset in order to avoid a very disappointing finish this season.... 

The last weekend of the 2021 LCS Spring Split was somewhat lackluster. Evil Geniuses’ win over Team SoloMid coupled with Immortals’ loss to 100 Thieves on Friday assured that the six playoff teams were decided before the final two matchdays of the split. Only playoff positioning was on the line, and we saw Dignitas stumble to fall out of the top four and into the losers’ bracket....