Over the past year, Gambit eSports has been the best team in the CIS. They dominated the 2017 LCL Summer Season, posting a 13-1 record. Gambit was able to hold off M19 to win the Summer Playoffs and earn their first ever trip to Worlds. They will look to build off of that experience in their second major international tournament.
Odds to win MSI Group A (Courtesy of BetDSI)
Rainbow7 -160
Gambit eSports +250
Kaos Latin Gamers +650
Ascension Gaming +1250
Backstory
At last year’s World Championships, Gambit were simply outmatched. The team had quickly risen up the ranks of the CIS, but they had yet to play against some of the best teams from around the world.
The draw did them no favors. They were pitted against Team WE, one of the best teams in China, and Lyon Gaming. Gambit failed to win a match and was quickly ousted from the tournament.
Gambit has been even more impressive this year. They rolled through the regular season and then followed that up with a clean sweep of RoX in the LCL Spring Finals.
What to watch for
Two members of this team have experienced major international success before. Both PvPStejos and Kira were on the Albus NoX Luna squad that made it all the way to the Quarterfinals of the 2016 World Championships.
Kira was the starting mid laner on that team. He has been the steadying force in the mid lane for Gambit since joining the team last year. Kira has done very well as a mid laner considering he doesn’t get much help from the jungle.
Take a look at 2 Rift Rivals across both Groups of #MSI2018 ! @GambitEsports & @kirrrra007 open the event while @supmass & @Zeitnotlol hit the Rift on Day 2! Which of these Regional Rivals will win their Groups? @lolesports pic.twitter.com/yLFBkPe224
— LoLEsports Stats (@LoLEsportsStats) May 1, 2018
Meanwhile, PvPStejos has undergone a position change. He was the jungler for Albus Nox Luna during their Cinderella run, but he is the top laner for Gambit. When he first came onto the pro scene he was a top laner, so the change has been relatively smooth. PvPStejos played a lot of carry champions in the top lane, so it will be interesting to see whether or not that trend continues at MSI.
Two of the region’s most well-known players are on this team too. Diamondprox is one of the most veteran junglers you will find on this stage. He grabs a lot of resources, but he is a playmaker and helps his lanes get ahead. He will be constantly looking to set up ganks in the laning phase.
Edward is the team’s support. He is arguably the most aggressive support player at MSI, and he will be trying to initiate constantly. LCL support players top the charts in terms of damage dealers across all regions, and Edward fits this mold. He has an enormous champion pool and Gambit will use that to find picks.
Prediction
Gambit’s aggressive style is going to give certain teams fits. As we saw with GIGABYTE Marines last year, many teams shy away from aggression in the early game. That gives them an area to exploit provided they draft well. If they can upset Rainbow7 and win the group, they could end up knocking off either Flash Wolves or EVOS Esports in the next round.
