NA LCS Summer 2016 Week 9 Tips – Playoff Contenders

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Apex (11/5 with Betway)  vs Team Liquid (30/100 with Betway) 

Apex haven’t had a particularly good split, with a 6-10 record that puts them in 7th place. They aren’t the worst team in the league, but they’re probably not top 6 material. Their major strengths are in the play of Ray and Keane, their solo LANERS.  They’ve picked up some convincing wins off the backs of these two carries.
Against Liquid, though, they’re likely to struggle. TL are tied for 4th place after a massive throw lost them their match against Counter Logic Gaming last week. They’ve had star performances across the board, and will look to play around their jungler, Dardoch. More worryingly for Apex, Lourlo and Fenix have been looking exceptionally strong in the past few weeks.  These two should be more than able to shut down Ray and Keane.

Recommended Bet:

Team Liquid to win with Betway (30/100)

Cloud 9 (7/100 on Betway)  vs Echo Fox (6/1 on Betway) 

It’s hard to say just how strong Cloud 9 are as a team. Their 10-6 record gives them sole control of 3rd place in the NA LCS, and they’ve had solid showings against some of the lower tier teams. They’ve been a bit chaotic throughout the split because of the (now traditional) teething issues with their two supports, Smoothie and BunnyFufuu. Now that they’ve settled, they’ve definitely turned up the heat in the last few weeks of the split.

Even if Cloud 9 were still at their worst, it’s hard to see this Echo Fox lineup beating them out. At an almost catastrophic 1-15 record, the team has looked lost in this split. It hasn’t been a good run for veteran midlaner Froggen, who has had some solid showings (not that they’ve really meant anything). Against Cloud 9, they just seem to be outclassed in every role.

Recommended Bet:

Cloud 9 to win with Betway (6/1)

Team Solomid (7/100 with Betway)  vs NRG eSports (6/1 with Betway) 

Where to start with TSM. Their perfect split was interrupted last week by an upset from Phoenix 1, but this team has been dominating the LCS all season. They’ve started to look a little shaky in recent weeks, but if the team are to be believed they’ve got that patched up for their big match against 1st place contender Immortals. Both teams have already locked in their 1st round byes in the playoffs, but it’ll be up to their match to decide who gets the 1st seed.

What they’re not so worried about is their 2nd opponent of the week, in NRG. This team has floundered their way to 4 wins and 12 Losses, putting them squarely out of the running for playoffs. Much like Echo Fox, most of their hope is in Midlane powerhouse GBM, but put his stats beside those of Bjergsen and the difference is night and day. The other lanes echo the same kinds of gaps. NRG can hope to maybe take 1 game if they can rattle Svenskeren, but Santorin’s not known for his spectacular pressure this split.

Recommended Bet:

Team Solomid to win with Betway (7/100)

Risky bet of the week:

Phoenix1 have had some surprising results in recent weeks.  Given that they managed to unravel TSM last week, a low bet on them to beat Team Envy (who haven’t had the strongest showing lately)  could get decent results.  If you want to take a bit more of a risk than the bets above, try a small wager on Phoenix1 to beat Envy with Betway (6/5).