League of Legends LEC predictions: Week 8, Day 2

With only three games left in the LEC season, it’s do or die time for the European League of Legends teams if they want to make the playoffs.

Going into yesterdays League of Legends games, six teams were in the playoff hunt, separated by a single game. Now, two teams – Origen and Splyce – have given themselves separation while another – Fnatic – has the inside track on playoffs. With such a low margin for error between the four LEC teams fighting for the last two playoff spots, today’s matches will be all the more critical.

Misfits vs. FC Schalke 04

Both teams are tied with a 7-8 record with three games left in the season. This is a must-win for both teams, as the winner will at least still be in the playoff hunt. The loser, though, will drop to 7-9, at least a game behind Fnatic before they’ve even played.

Now both teams lost yesterday, so they’re both going to be feeling the pressure. Misfits got absolutely smashed by Fnatic, particularly sOAZ who went 0/9/1 on Renekton, so they’re definitely not going to be feeling very confident.

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However, Schalke’s loss yesterday was against the 3-11 ExceL squad in a massive flop. I said in the weekly LEC power rankings that Schalke had an advantage in getting to play one of the bottom-tier teams, which was why I ranked them fifth. Dropping that game is a disaster, so Schalke is definitely going to be playing with a lot of desperation.

The question is, will that desperation result in focus or panic? I’m inclined to think the latter.

Prediction: Misfits

SK Gaming vs. Splyce

Splyce has all but guaranteed themselves a playoff spot after yesterday’s upset of G2. Such a marquee win puts them solidly two games ahead of the rest of the pack, meaning they’d likely have to lose out to not make playoffs. However, now Splyce may be thinking that they have a shot at a first-round bye, as they’re only a game back of Vitality, so they’ll still be pushing hard to get a win.

SK Gaming, on the other hand, would really like a win. Yes, their loss to Origen (the other 9-6 team along with Splyce) was expected, but SK’s remaining games are against Rogue and Vitality. If they lose to Splyce and split those last two (which is the most likely scenario), they’ll end the season 8-10, which will likely not be good enough to make the playoffs. They need to take down Splyce or Vitality to get to 9-9 and have a chance, and today’s match is the one they’ll have better odds in (even though they did beat Vitality earlier in the year).

After yesterday’s win, I could see Splyce riding high overlooking an SK team that needs a win. However, the talent discrepancy between these teams is just so insane, I don’t see a single lane matchup they win.

Prediction: Splyce