LCS 2022 Summer Playoffs Predictions

The LCS Summer is drawing to a close, and it’s 100 Thieves up against Evil Geniuses. If someone had told you a month ago that this meeting would take place in the semi-final and not the final, you’d have laughed in their face. You might recall the words of Cloud9 top laner Ibrahim “Fudge” Allami a week before C9 and EG were set to meet in round two, when he was mocked for stating that C9 wouldn’t just win against EG, but it would be a 3-0 and “the fastest series ever.”

No one was laughing after they actually did manage to pull off a 3-1 result, then produced the same result a week later against 100, booking their spot in the final and the Worlds. The only conclusion one can draw here is to never write off any possible result in the LCS playoffs, no matter how outlandish it might seem.

With just two matches to go in the LCS, the bizarre reality we have to face is that just one between the top two seeds EG and 100 will get to compete for the title. The League of Legends betting market tips 100T to progress to the final, so let’s take a look at why.

Predictions: 100 Thieves to win

Odds: 1.35

Betting Site: Odds provided by GG.Bet

When: Sunday, September 11 – 00:00 CEST

Evil Geniuses

The contrast between EG’s regular and playoff season is almost the exact opposite of the spring split six months ago. Back then they seeded fourth, then clawed their way up from the loser’s bracket to win four in a row and bag their maiden LCS championship. In the summer they were top seed with just three dropped games in the regular season, but the pressure of defending their title seems to have overwhelmed them a little in the playoffs.

After their 1-3 loss to Cloud9, whose trajectory this split is near identical to EG’s last season, they dropped shellshocked to the lower bracket. The following games didn’t give their confidence a world of help either. EG next had to get past TSM, and the nerve-racking series went on for nearly eight hours. A technical glitch in the audio system caused a length disruption.

Not only did EG have to contend with the break in their flow, but also keep their cool as TSM’s head of global social, Dunc, caused a scene on social media with disparaging Tweets trying to blame EG for the disturbance. A series that should’ve been clinched 3-0 went down to the final game. EG next had to get past Team Liquid, which they eventually did, but there was no shortage of nervous moments there either.

This too went down to the nail-biting fifth game. Danny and Jojopyun secured an excellent early advantage, even collecting the Mountain Dragon Soul. But a few blunders saw TL seize the opportunity and run with it; 35 minutes in TL had accumulated a 1k gold lead. Danny went down, and a wild skirmish saw EG fight for their lives, but jojopyun, Inspired and the rest made took the team-fight away from TL.

The playoffs have been far more edgy than EG would’ve liked, and the hard part is far from over. Their unlikely sojourn to the loser’s bracket, and close-fought victories in games that should have been clean sweeps sees the LoL odds favoring 100T.

100 Thieves

100 Thieves were also left stunned by a 3-1 result to Cloud9. The 100T were second seed from the regular season with a 78% win record, and naturally confident of a smooth, obstacle-free course to the final. Their first series was a tense standoff against Team Liquid in round two.

After two comfortable wins in the first couple of games, 100T were all set to demolish TL 3-0 and march ahead to the next round. But TL’s mid laner Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg decided to bring out his best champion Zilean, and they prevented the sweep. With the momentum now in their favor, Bwipo, Bjergsen and Hans Sama went on the heavy offensive to seal game number four, and the series headed into a do-or-die.

100 Thieves’ jungler Can “Closer” Çelik opened up an even game, and finally they were able to close it out. Cloud9 turned out to be an entirely different story. 100T seemed to be taking the game away, but C9 clawed their way back with a reengage from Blaber, and a deep mid lane teleport from Jensen single handedly ended the game. In the next match 100T were able to equal the score, taking the Ocean Soul and wiping all the C9 players off the map.

But that was as close as the contest would get; C9 secured two one-sided victories to seal their place in their first LCS final since spring 2021. EG and 100T have been the two fiercest competitors this split, and their head to head this season is equal. But EG’s troubled performances in the playoffs have resulted in the LoL predictions tipping 100T as the finalists.