The #1 Seed from LPL will be facing off against the #1 Seed from LCK on this second round of Quarterfinals. After incredible performances from these teams during summer season it seems we can expect some cutthroat match with some of the best players in the world. But are these teams the powerhouse that they appear to be?
So far they've been outperformed by every single eastern team during the Swiss stage. It's very interesting to see how they dominated their regions during regular season but now they're unable to beat teams from their respective regions or even lower seed teams from the opposite region.
HLE boasts an incredible roster but even since Summer they seem to struggle against some top level teams. During their games it seems like they can always find a way to win regardless of the state of the game. Behind in gold, carrying a substantial lead or being in an even state they don't struggle maneuvering into a winning position; they do struggle however at finding those key moments to get back into the game when the situation is not in their favor.
There's clear issues to how the LCK approaches competitive play which are mainly centered around how they draft champions and team compositions. If HLE follows these trends they will easily find themselves in very difficult positions from the get-go. If they get a bit more creative than following a strict idea of "meta" they could end up sailing through the whole series.
Whilst BLG have been looking like monsters during both Summer and the Swiss stage, they find themselves in the exact same situation not being able to win against a single LPL or LCK team so far. Regardless, they have a very consistent performance thanks to their approach to the game focusing on a stable game state and pouncing on the enemy team the second a mistake is spotted; this ranges from precise map rotations to decisive team fights that can flip games around.
This playstyle is incredible at making any game winnable but also makes them prone to miscalculations. Seeing an "angle" where there are none and just making a dire situation worse. In a sense these teams have somewhat opposite approaches to the game, perhaps whoever takes a page from the opponent's book might end up finding that edge needed to advance to Semifinals.
Even though Knight is one of the best Midlaners in the world I think this series will be determined by the botlanes. Not whoever carries harder but which team can play around their own and shut down the opponent's side. Unless one of these teams surprises us this is going to be a very tight series which could easily go to 5 games.
Let us know in the comments below who YOU think will be the winner and we will give away 30€ in Riot Store Merch of your choice to one person who guessed correctly!
My money will be on BLG stepping up and advancing to Semi's with a 3-1 victory.