LCS Week 9 Preview – Is 100T NA’s best team?

NA LCS is back with the final week of the regular season! In Week 8, we saw 100Thieves falter two out of three games, resulting in a tie with TSM coming into the final week. Not only that but we have Cloud9, Evil Geniuses and Team Liquid either tied or a game apart in the standings for  3rd place.

What will happen this week? What good bets can we make? Let’s find out in our LCS Week 9 Preview!

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100T vs TSM

Week 9 will be very important for 100Thieves. The team has been steadily first for the past weeks, but one terrible week puts their #1 Split position in question. They will face two other top teams in the standings in their final week, starting with TSM. While there are some ups and downs, it looks like 100Thieves are fairly consistent.

Head Coach Bok “Reapered” Han-gyu’s input is producing good results, especially in terms of gameplay. The macro execution is clean, especially when the team is able to create a lead. No wonder 100T still have a 100% win rate when they are ahead at @15min. What the team needs to work on, though, is playing from behind. Learning that over time will allow them to have a better preparation for playoffs and most importantly, Worlds 2021.

On the other hand, TSM must use their momentum to make sure they can finish 2nd or even first if they have a clean week. The fight for 1st is looking very feisty, with four theoretical contenders. The question still is how an inconsistent TSM against lower teams, manages to come out ahead in the final week. Apart from 100T they play CLG and DIG, the two candidates likely to cause an upset. If TSM can fix their floppy attitude in the last week we might see a shift in the standings.

For this series specifically, our prediction goes to 100T once again. They already won the first duel and according to GG.BET, their odds of winning are pretty high too: just a 1.67x return. If you want to make more bucks, we have another safe bet: considering both teams’ aggressive playstyle, we can expect them to have a lot of action throughout the game. Over-25.5 kills seems a reasonable bet: it can net you a 2.07x profit.

EG vs C9

We also have our second EG vs C9 series this weekend. While both teams are tied in the standings, EG performs a bit better in Summer than Cloud9. With Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen’s return, we might see C9’s peak potential in the last week of the split. The fact that they lost against TSM last week is indicative of how they are not ready to fight the top 2, but 3rd is not far out of their reach.

The bad thing for C9 is that they have a relatively hard schedule this week. First Evil Geniuses and then Liquid, looks like a 1-1 and the match vs DIG deciding how they look at the end of the week. By winning against either EG/TL and DIG, Cloud9 should be secure in top 3. Their early-game stats are also improving so they should be able to match EG. Consequently, a lot will come down to the draft: you can wait until champ select to make your bet!

Our prediction, as of right now, goes to C9 however. Their last two weeks have been positive (bar the defeat from TSM) and we think they have a lot more to deliver. Their playstyle is less volatile compared to EG: as long as they play the game with order, they will find chances to punish the enemies.

As for the odds, betting on C9 will net you a 1.81x return, which is decent. If you want to risk a little more, we suggest going for a First Tower for EG. The odds are very good: a 1.92x profit on your investment is definitely worth the risk.

100T vs EG

Finally, 100T vs EG is the match that will likely define the standings at the end of the weekend. If the Thieves have a really bad weekend and lose to both TSM and EG, we might see them fall down even further in the standings than expected.

EG has everything they need to beat 100T as well. They are the better team early, and we all know how bad 100T is when playing from behind. This match will be decided in the early game, and if you are a fan of live betting, you should place your bet on EG the moment get ahead early. Actually, bet on the team that gets ahead early either way as both teams are very good at closing out a game if they get an early lead.

LoL odds-wise you can bet on EG getting first tower at x2.03. It is likely they will get it considering they are playing blue side.