It’s been an awful MSI for Team Liquid so far. The North American champions are 0-4 and are two games out of fourth place and a spot in the knockout round. Coming into this event, they expected to at least make it to the semifinals. However, they have looked completely out of sorts and they will need to win both games tomorrow to feel good about their chances.
MSI Betting Odds (Courtesy of BetDSI)
Royal Never Give Up -345
Team Liquid +233
Liquid is totally lacking confidence at the moment. The pressure is building on this team to turn it around, and they are already showing cracks. Olleh surprisingly sat out the team’s first game yesterday, yet it didn’t make a difference as they were routed by Flash Wolves anyways.
The one team that you don’t want to face when one of your bottom lane players is struggling is Royal Never Give Up. RNG can punish teams in the bottom lane like few others, due to Uzi’s mechanical brilliance.
There is just one reason to think twice before backing RNG. Jungler mlxg did not have a good showing against Flash Wolves. He may be the player with the biggest swings in performance from game to game at MSI, and that’s always a cause for pause.
Fnatic -263
EVOS Esports +185
This line does not make much sense to me. Fnatic looked fantastic yesterday after a tough start to MSI. They were great in the early game against both Liquid and tournament favorites Kingzone DragonX, with Caps in particularly looking phenomenal. His play on Yasuo is approaching ban status as he fixed the errors that cost the team on the first day.
EVOS is keen to brawl. Their strategy revolves around making plays in the early game and Fnatic has struggled with that in the past. However, with Bwipo and Caps playing well, it’s hard to see them succumbing to that early aggression.
Kingzone DragonX -333
Flash Wolves +228
The Flash Wolves have showed us that their opening day success was no fluke. They are sitting atop the standings at 4-0 despite not being automatically seeded into the main event.
However, they are a sizable underdog against Kingzone DragonX. Kingzone looked mortal for the first time in a while yesterday, having real trouble in the early game. Top laner Khan struggled in particular, looking vulnerable on Vladimir. His surprise Illaoi performed much better though.
We will see Kingzone flex their muscle in this game. They will find effective counters and control this one from start to finish.
Royal Never Give Up -200
Fnatic +144
The second games of the double round robin format will kick off with this matchup. Things were pretty even between these two sides the first time they met. Fnatic could have easily won it if a couple things had gone differently, and that’s why I’m going to take them here. RNG has had a couple members have bad outings now, with both xiaohu and mlxg dropping the ball. I think it’s right to still consider them the favorites, but they shouldn’t be 1/2.
Flash Wolves -357
EVOS Esports +230
I foolishly backed EVOS in the first meeting between these two teams, but I won’t make that same mistake twice. Flash Wolves has never had trouble with the aggressive teams from the GPL and the VCS. They crushed EVOS when they met two days ago, and it’s hard to make the case that they won’t this time either.
Kingzone DragonX -625
Team Liquid +365
If Liquid loses to RNG early in the day, they could be completely out of it here. Liquid is already teetering and a loss would likely send them into tilt mode.
Kingzone is the one team that you can’t tilt against. They will punish any slight mistake you make to the maximum. Liquid has not shown that it can supply the early game pressure that Kingzone has had problems with, and I don’t see them doing it here.
