Who will represent North America at MSI 2022

As the LCS Spring Playoffs are inching toward their end on April 24, Team Liquid will face 100 Thieves for yet another clash in their local championship. Round 2 will see the two teams compete against each other in a best-of-five match for the chance to proceed to the finals and potentially secure the qualification for the MSI 2022.

Liquid and the Thieves Are Both in Solid Shape

With this format, the first team to prevail in three out of five games qualifies for the next stage of the playoffs. So who will it be – Team Liquid or 100 Thieves? The former have been consistently demonstrating excellent form as of late, having achieved eight victories in their last ten matches.

One of their most recent triumphs occurred earlier in April when they took down the Evil Geniuses with a score of 3:2 in a best-of-five game from the first round of the playoffs. Liquid played excellently that day, but it was not until the later stages of the clash that the team truly took off. Bwipo, Hans Sama and Co collectively recorded 73 kills, taking 29 towers, 10 dragons, and 6 barons.

Their opponents 100 Thieves also tasted victory in the Round 1 Winner’s Bracket when they defeated Cloud9 with a score of 3:0. Abbedagge and his mates registered 52 kills against C9’s 27 kills, securing 5 barons, 28 towers, and 9 dragons.

Main Betting Markets for Team Liquid vs. 100 Thieves

The recent performances of both teams were on point but we would argue Team Liquid is a more solid contender for making it to the finals. Looking at the prices GG.Bet quotes for this match, Team Liquid is the clear favorite to win, with lines starting at -162 against the Thieves whose odds stand at +123.

Betting on total map overs is another solid option judging by the bookie’s odds. Backing the over 3.5 maps outcome appears to be the wisest decision, with pricing of -278 and implied probability of 73.5%. The GG.Bet oddsmakers also consider Team Liquid the favorite to win the first, second, and third maps at odds of -139, while the odds for 100 Thieves are estimated at +106.

Team Liquid More Likely to Make the First Kill

Given Team Liquid’s solid play in recent games, backing them to make the first kill in the upcoming game against 100 Thieves seems like the reasonable thing to do. Team Liquid holds a slight advantage over its opponents on the First Blood markets quoted for maps one, two, and three.

GG.Bet estimates that Bwipo and his mates are more likely to claim a victim first at odds of -134. This gives them a small edge over the Thieves, whose pricing of +102 makes them the less smart option for punters looking to experiment with this market.

Dragons, or Drakes as they are also known, are a vital resource in League of Legends as they empower players and enable them to gain a considerable edge over the enemy. Securing these neutral creatures comes with various advantages as they can restore players’ health, burn enemies, and execute their champions, among other buffs.

Judging by the GG.Bet odds, Team Liquid stands a better chance to slay the first dragon in the upcoming match with odds of -127 for all three maps. This could ensure a strong start against 100 Thieves whose probability of taking the first dragon is lower at 51% and odds of -104.

Team Liquid dominates the other proposition markets at GG.Bet as well. Taking Barons calls for a good deal of team coordination, but this is something Hans Sama, Bwipo, Santorin, and the rest are certainly good at. Backing them to secure a Baron first seems like a good bet considering the pricing assigned to them for this market.

Team Liquid will most likely be the first to destroy a tower, too. This would give them a nice edge early on, enable them to advance further into their opponents’ territory and perhaps, establish control over their jungle.

Cloud9 Main Contender to Face Team Liquid at the Finals

By the looks of it, Cloud9 are the main contenders to compete against Team Liquid at this year’s LCS Spring Playoffs Finals. Blaber, Fudge, and their teammates are scheduled to compete against the Evil Geniuses in a best-of-five match during the second round of the playoffs. Winning this stage is crucial for the team as it would enable them to proceed to the Round 3 continue in the race for qualification for the 2022 Mid-Season Invitational.

C9 Conceded Defeat to 100T, Redeemed Themselves against GG

When Cloud9 placed second at the 2022 LCS Spring Split, their fans expected a smooth kick-off of this year’s playoffs only to have their hopes shattered in early April. During the Winners’ Bracket of the first round, their favorite team suffered a defeat at the hands of 100 Thieves, who demolished C9 with a clean 3:0 victory and proceeded to the Upper Bracket of the second round of the playoffs.

As a result of this defeat, Cloud9 ended up in the Losers’ Bracket where they competed against Golden Guardians who joined as the sixth seed. Cloud9 gave their fans a reason to rejoice after this match and redeemed themselves for their previous loss. Blaber and Co dismantled their opponents from the Golden Guardians with a 3:0 score.

Blaber and Fudge significantly contributed to their team’s win, boasting the highest kill totals. Game 3 of the clash saw Cloud9 earn over 58k in gold as opposed to GG who only generated 45k. The sweeping victory enabled Cloud9 to move on to the next stage of the playoffs where they will try to take down the Evil Geniuses for the ultimate chance to make it to the LCS 2022 Spring Playoff Finals.

Main Betting Markets for Cloud9 vs. Evil Geniuses

Cloud9 are heading into the match against the Evil Geniuses with an all-time win rate of 64%. The team bounced back from its losing streak with its most recent win against Golden Guardians. It seems this victory has restored the bookies’ confidence in Blaber and co. According to GG.Bet, Cloud9 are favorites to win against the Evil Geniuses at odds of -218 and a 68.6% winning probability. Lines for the opponents start at +163 for an implied probability of 38%.

The lines are on the side of Cloud9 when it comes to winning the first, second, and third maps in the upcoming match as well. Oddsmakers are confident Blaber’s team will crush the enemies in each map, quoting prices of -167 for this outcome. Their “evil geniuses” are assigned lower prices at +127, so backing C9 to win any of the three maps is a solid bet from our perspective. Another good idea would be to bet the over 3.5 or under 4.5 markets, both of which offer lines of -251.

Blaber and Co Favorites for First Kill and First Dragon

Blaber and his team proved themselves relentless in the last match against the Golden Guardians. The jungler of Cloud9 alone boasted a record of 16 kills during the game. The team collectively slew 10 dragons, took 28 towers, and secured 4 barons. Given these results, we find it unsurprising that Cloud9 leads the race in terms of proposition bets as well.

GG.Bet considers them the favorites to make the first kill in the match against Evil Geniuses. Backing Cloud9 on this market is a viable option at odds of -118. Their opponents stand slightly lower winning chances of getting the first blood at -110, which makes them the less desirable team to back on this market.

Oddsmakers show confidence in Cloud9 in other proposition markets as well. The team stands a better chance of destroying the first tower with lines of -173 against EG whose pricing starts at +131. Cloud9 also leads the race odds-wise when it comes to taking the first baron at -167 and slaying the first dragon at -176. The opponents from EG are assigned slightly shorter odds for the first baron (+127) and the first dragon (+134), which results in less value for punters who back them.

LCS Spring 2022 Grand Final

We expect that the two bookmakers’ favourites will make it to the final, which will be a repeat of LCS’ previous Spring Playoffs edition in 2021. A year ago we saw Team Liquid and Cloud9 competing for the North America’s League of Legends title and it was Blaber & Co. who triumphed in a hard-fought five map battle. Now the path in front of them looks tougher, but C9 have already shown us that they perform best with their backs against the wall, which was the case in their latest clash with the Golden Guardeans, with Cloud 9 registering a big 3:0 victory a few days ago. Our verdict is that Cloud 9 will represent the North American region at MSI later in May. They were shown how to win after coming from the lower bracket just a few days ago by their colleagues from G2 who managed prevail in LEC 2022 by going the long way. Spring 2022 will be the lower bracket season in LoL!