After a week of play-in games, the field is set for the Mid-Season Invitational main event. The chalk held up in the play-in round as EVOS Esports and Flash Wolves have rounded out the six-team field at MSI. Over the next 10 days, these six teams will battle to see which team is the best in the world.
This will be the fourth Mid-Season Invitational. The inaugural MSI was won by the LPL’s Edward Gaming and the last two events have been won by the LCK’s SK Telecom T1. Neither team could finish atop their region this year, meaning that we will crown a new champion next Sunday.
MSI Betting Odds (Courtesy of BetDSI)
Royal Never Give Up -238
Fnatic +170
This MSI is loaded with talent at the AD Carry position. Two of the best will meet in the first game of the main event.
Rekkles has been seen as the best AD Carry in Europe for virtually forever at this point. In a region without good play at the position, he is head and shoulders above the rest. He has been invincible on Tristana this year and posted some of the best numbers we’ve ever seen from an AD Carry.
However, Uzi is the best in the world. Even Rekkles thinks so. That means Fnatic will have to rely on another player to pull off the upset. They haven’t proven they can do that, so I think RNG will open up MSI with a win.
Flash Wolves -294
EVOS Esports +204
EVOS’ strategy revolves around early game aggression. Vietnamese teams are known for their skirmishing style and that has flustered opponents in the past. Rather than have a standard laning phase, EVOS is going to want to create pressure around the map with jungler YiJin.
Flash Wolves are too big of a favorite here. They weren’t particularly impressive in their win over Gambit, and there are still some questions they need to answer. At these odds, EVOS is worth a play.
Kingzone DragonX -588
Team Liquid +350
This is an awful lot of juice, but it’s hard to go against Kingzone. They are more talented than Liquid at every position and have significant advantages in the top lane and jungle. There are only two reasons to go against them. They have not played a competitive game in nearly a month and they only arrived in Europe a couple days ago. That’s not enough for me to go against them though.
Fnatic -167
Flash Wolves +123
The oddsmakers have this match as the closest thing to a toss-up on the first day. Fnatic has typically struggled on the first day or two of international tournaments and it may take some time for them to pick up the meta. I’m not going to back Flash Wolves until they prove it though. They may be the weakest team at MSI and this is too low of a price to go with them.
Team Liquid -238
EVOS Esports +169
Liquid and EVOS are the two teams that are new to international play, but a number of their players have made it to this event with other teams. However, a number of Liquid’s players have not dealt with the early game aggression that EVOS will bring. I think that will lead to EVOS winning at least one of their two games on the first day and will back them in both.
Kingzone DragonX -222
Royal Never Give Up +160
The last match of the day is a potential preview of the final. RNG is the one team that could Kingzone a real run for its money. Uzi can single-handedly win a teamfight and swing a match if he has enough items, so Kingzone will want to close this one out early. If these teams are close around the 30-minute mark though, RNG may be able to pull off the upset.
