E-SPORTS E-SPORTS ARTICLES

The best League of Legends teams from around the world will descend on Shanghai in two weeks for the start of the World Championships. This will be the first international sporting event in any sense since the coronavirus outbreak as teams from China, Europe, North America, Korea, southeast Asia, Brazil, Russia, Japan, Latin America, Oceania, and Turkey will all be looking to hoist the Summoners’ Cup. Two Chinese teams are favored by the Esports betting odds following the wins of Invictus Gaming... 

The two most successful teams in the history of the LCS will meet in the Summer Split Semifinals this weekend. Team SoloMid have won the LCS six times in their history, while Team Liquid claimed the league four straight times in 2018 and 2019. Both teams are on their way to the League of Legends World Championship later this month, but only one will face FlyQuest for the LCS Summer Split title.
... 

Rogue are looking to make history this season. They were the top team in the LEC Summer Split during the regular season, earning their first trip to the League of Legends World Championships, and now they are hoping to release Europe from the grip of G2 Esports and Fnatic. Rogue were sent to the losers’ bracket by Fnatic, but they have a shot at redemption after beating MAD Lions last week. They will have to defeat G2 and Fnatic in back-to-back series to claim their first regional title, but thi... 

We will know the four LEC teams that qualify for the League of Legends World Championships in Shanghai after this weekend. G2 Esports, Fnatic, and Rogue have all clinched their spots following strong regular seasons and/or performances in the postseason, leaving MAD Lions and FC Schalke 04 to fight for the last playoff spot in Europe. Meanwhile, G2 Esports and Fnatic will meet in the playoffs for what seems like the thousandth time over the last decade, and the winner will earn a spot in the 202... 

We will know which three North American teams have qualified for the League of Legends World Championship this weekend. Team Liquid and FlyQuest secured their spots last week, leaving just one spot available for either Cloud9 or Team SoloMid. Both teams were expected to make it to Worlds, so it will be a massively disappointing season for whichever team misses out on the event. C9 are the big favorites per the LCS betting odds on Saturday, but TSM have made a habit of knocking off their rivals w... 

The LEC Summer Split Playoffs will get underway this week. Six teams are hoping to punch their ticket to the League of Legends World Championships in Shanghai, and they all want to call themselves the best team in Europe on September 6. G2 Esports are the favorites to win it all despite a shaky Summer Split, but they will face a difficult opponent in the first round when they take on the MAD Lions. Rogue and Fnatic square off in the other Winners’ Bracket bout, while Schalke 04 and SK Gaming wil... 

Everyone is expecting to see Cloud9 and Team Liquid meet with a spot in the LCS Summer Split Finals on the line. These two teams have been the best in North America throughout the summer, and they are both substantial favorites per the League of Legends betting odds this week. Golden Guardians have already pulled off one upset with their win over Team SoloMid, so they are hoping to find another this week. Meanwhile, FlyQuest are looking to grab a modicum of revenge after getting blasted by Cloud... 

We are nearing the end of the LCK Summer Split, and there is a clear delineation between the top teams and everyone else in the region. DRX, DAMWON Gaming, Gen. G, and T1 are all at least 12-4, while the only other team above .500 is 8-7 Afreeca Freecs. The Freecs are duking it out with KT Rolster for the last spot in the playoffs, but there is plenty of intrigue the rest of the year given the gauntlet style playoff format you see in the LCK.... 

The LCS Summer Split Playoffs have been set. The field is more crowded than ever as eight of the ten teams qualified for the postseason, but the stakes are higher than they have ever been due to the changes in North America’s qualification for the 2020 World Championship in Shanghai. There are no more championship points or regional qualifiers, so the three teams that will go to Worlds are the teams that finish in the top three in the Summer Split Playoffs. Fortunately, there is a little margin ... 

What has happened to Cloud9? The runaway Spring Split champions have completely fallen apart after a 9-0 start to the Summer Split, and they are no longer the favorites to win consecutive LCS titles. They have lost five of their last seven matches, including three straight games, and they are now in line for the No. 2 seed provided they can hold off Team SoloMid in the last week of the regular season. Team Liquid will lock up the No. 1 seed throughout playoffs with a win in either one of their t... 

Either MAD Lions or Rogue will claim the LEC Summer Split regular season title this week. The two organizations are tied for first place at 11-4 entering the last week of the season, and they have thrived while no other squad is more than one game over .500. The winner of their match on Saturday will have a leg up the next two days, and the Lions would have a nearly insurmountable advantage if they were to win given their earlier victory over Rogue.... 

It turns out that Cloud9 are human after all. Following a 17-1 Spring Split and a 9-0 start to the Summer Split, it appeared that this team was nigh unbeatable. Their League of Legends betting odds every week were reaching dizzying heights, so you made a small fortune if you bet against them these last few weeks. C9 have dropped three of their last five matches with losses to 100 Thieves, Evil Geniuses, and Team Liquid. Still, they are the team to beat in the LCS Summer Split with an 11-3 record... 

It’s going to be a wild last two weeks in the LEC. No one has clinched a playoff spot yet, although MAD Lions and Rogue are close, but every team has at least a chance of making the Summer Split Playoffs after FC Schalke 04’s surprising 2-0 in Week 6. There are seven teams between 7-6 and 5-8 in the standings, including preseason favorites G2 Esports, Fnatic, and Origen, so all games over the last two weeks of the regular season have monumental importance.... 

Suddenly, Cloud9 don’t appear so unbeatable. The Spring Split juggernauts started the Summer Split 8-0, but they have split their matches the last two weekends to fall into a tie for first place with Team Liquid. C9 are still the overall favorites to win the Summer Split, but Liquid are charging with seven consecutive victories. These two organizations will meet in the most hyped match of the week on Sunday. ... 

The big news in the LEC is the complete collapse of G2 Esports. G2 have dominated European League of Legends since the start of the 2019 season, winning the last three domestic titles, but they are struggling in a big way. The Kings of Europe have dropped three consecutive matches, and they are now just barely holding onto a playoff spot at 5-6 entering Week 6 of the Summer Split. They are a heavy favorite per the League of Legends betting odds against 1-10 Schalke, but a loss in that match woul... 

Cloud9’s dreams of an undefeated season came to an end last week. The 2020 LCS Spring Split champions lost to a resurgent 100 Thieves as former jungler Contractz was instrumental in dealing C9 their first defeat. He racked up 10 kills and seven assists compared to just one death on Olaf, and his resurgence has 100 Thieves looking like a team to watch over the last month of the season.
... 

The LEC is ready to resume after taking a week off to recharge. We are now in the halfway point of the season, and there are two teams tied at the top of the table at 7-2. Contrary to all expectations, neither team is G2 Esports or Fnatic, as instead upstarts MAD Lions and Rogue are pacing the field. G2 and Fnatic are instead in the crowded middle of the pack as seven of the ten European teams are either 4-5 or 5-4. ... 

The LCK Summer Split is nearing the halfway point of the regular season. Only five of the ten teams will make the playoffs, and the regular season is extremely important in Korea due to the gauntlet-style format of the playoffs. Since the team that finishes in first place gets an automatic bye into the Summer Split Finals, there will be a lot of people watching the outcome of DRX’s series with DAMWON Gaming on Saturday.... 

We have seen some separation in the LCS standings over the last couple weeks. The teams that were the favorites in the preseason have distanced themselves from their counterparts, but Cloud9 remain in a class of their own. C9 are in the process of putting together the best year for any team in North American League of Legends history, and they will look to go undefeated through the first round robin against the only team that defeated them in the regular season in the spring.... 

There is a logjam behind undefeated Cloud9 in the LCS. Five teams are tied for second place at 4-2, but that mess is sure to be sorted out somewhat with the results of this week’s matches. We’ll see whether or not teams like Counter Logic Gaming are for real in Week 4, and the four teams at the bottom will look to make a move upwards in the standings.
... 

It’s been a crazy start to the LEC Summer Split. No one would have believed that MAD Lions were all alone in first place with Rogue in sole possession of second place a game behind them, while Fnatic was under .500 and currently out of the playoff picture. The seven-time champions have lost four straight games after a 3-0 start in Week 1, and their failure to beat any of the other top teams has set off alarm bells throughout the region.... 

Everyone else is playing for second place in the LCS. Cloud9 is easily the best team once again through the first four games of the Summer Split. They are the only undefeated team with a 4-0 record, and their gold differential per minute of +482 is off the charts. C9 won’t play on Saturday though, giving other teams the opportunity to enjoy the spotlight.
... 

Order has been restored in the LEC after a wild first week. Five of the six playoff teams from the Spring Split have winning records, and Misfits Gaming isn’t far behind at 2-3. In an interesting twist, all six of the teams over .500 will square off against another team with a winning record this Friday, while the four teams with losing records will look to get needed victories against fellow bottom feeders.
... 

We saw some very surprising results in the first week of the LEC Summer Split. Defending champions G2 Esports were stunned by both Origen and Team Vitality, and they were heavy favorites in both of those games. Origen went on to lose to SK Gaming and Misfits Gaming, so there are some real questions about those two teams after the first three games of the season. There are no questions about Fnatic currently after their 3-0 start, but they will have to take on MAD Lions and Origen this week.... 

The chalk largely held up in the first week of the 2020 LCS Summer Split. Cloud9 picked up right where they left off in the spring, and Evil Geniuses and Team Liquid also went unbeaten through their first two games. There is still a chasm between Cloud9 and everyone else, but the latter two teams are looking to close the gap. Team SoloMid was the other team expected to challenge, yet they need to go back to the drawing board after getting blasted by Team Liquid in their first game....