League of Legends: LEC Week 8 Day 1 predictions
G2 Esports (12 – 2) vs. Rogue (5 – 9)
Commenting on G2 Esports has become boring. Don’t pick Garen and they win the game.
Rogue’s chances of reaching playoffs are slim, but it’s still possible. Games against Schalke 04, Origen, and Fnatic present the only realistic opportunities to pick up wins in the final two weeks however.
Prediction – G2 Esports Win
Excel Esports (4 – 10) vs. Fnatic (10 – 4)
All the hard work and improvement Excel Esports have put into the LEC in the last five weeks may all be for nothing as their chances of reaching playoffs are at an all-time low. Four wins in their last four games might be enough, but even then they have to take down the likes of Fnatic and G2 to make it.
Fnatic are in an intense battle for second place with Splyce and will be desperate to secure a bye straight through to the playoff finals in their final four matches. Earlier losses against Rogue and Misfits may come back to haunt them, but a generous schedule in the last two weeks means it is in Fnatic’s hands and four wins will see them secure second place.
This clash between Excel and Fnatic could go either way, which is surprising considering the large gap between the two teams in the LEC standings. It boils down to whether Excel can weather the early Fnatic storm and stop Broxah’s incessant ganks and Hylissang’s untraceable roams from the bottom lane. The onus is on Caedrel to maintain a stable map state for the first fifteen minutes of the game, scraping small advantages in top and mid, before an interesting teamfight v teamfight battle in the later stages.
Ultimately, the pressure is on Fnatic right now. Finishing third in the regular season makes their job much tougher than it needs to be, and with the final four games of the season being winnable ones, you can’t see Fnatic slipping up now… Surely?
Prediction – Fnatic Win
Splyce (10 – 4) vs. Origen (6 – 8)
Week 8’s LEC Match of the Week is a heated battle between second-place Splyce and sixth-place Origen. Fnatic’s clash with Team Vitality on Day 2 is probably more deserving of the Match of the Week title but seeing as Fnatic were part of the highlighted match-up last week, all can be forgiven.
As the Spring Split concluded and the Summer Split started, it seemed that Splyce absorbed the talents of Origen’s line-up and began forging their own legacy in the newly rebranded European division. Spring’s playoff runners-up were a meticulous, focused, patient squad that often won games through a single teamfight.
Now, Splyce have taken over that mantle and have become the LEC’s most intelligent line-up when it comes to slowly building a lead and patiently progressing into the late game. The only difference between the two is that Splyce take slightly longer to see out victories than their predecessors (32:22 vs. 35:19 average game time).
Maybe if there was a way to pitch Splyce’s current roster against Origen’s incredible Spring Split team it’d be a fair fight, but on current form this game should be no contest. Xerxe is eons ahead of Kold as it stands, Humanoid may finally have the better of Nukeduck, the bottom lane is neck-and-neck, and what can you expect from the top lane in the current meta?
Overall, Splyce should win this and will win this. Xerxe will control the game from minute one, linking up with Norskeren to rule the Rift throughout the early game, stopping any Kold movements in their tracks and building small, incremental gold leads from plays around dragons and towers. From there, Splyce’s ability to control key objectives in the late game through vision control and wave management is unmatched in the LEC at the moment, and Origen will experience that first-hand today.
Splyce’s game plan is what Origen set out to do, just ten times better.
Prediction – Splyce Win
Next. LEC Week 8 Power Rankings. dark
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