Week 9: Predictions for the EU LCS

The last week of the European LCS is sure to provide a lot of upsets.  While there's a fair bit of predictability to the NA LCS, EU seems to be all across the map.Although first place is secured (assuming that SK Gaming can manage to beat Meet Your Makers today), most everything else is up for grabs.  Who will get the guaranteed semi-finals spot--H2K or Fnatic?  Who will be able to secure 4th place to themselves--Unicorns of Love or Gambit?  Can Copenhagen Wolves secure the 6th place spot and go to the playoffs, or can Elements or ROCCAT take their place?  And who will be relegated back to the Challenger Series--Meet Your Makers or Giants?

Games to Watch:

With so much relying on victories this weekend, we've broken the games down into categories.

Survival.  These two teams need to do whatever they can to stay in the LCS.

1.  Giants vs Elements.  Between the Giants' two games this weekend, this is the one they are slightly more likely to win.  However, Elements are in the running with ROCCAT to possibly secure a 6th place spot in the place of the Copenhagen Wolves (assuming the Wolves have a really bad weekend)--or at least the 7th place safe spot.  Can the Giants save themselves from relegation?

2. Meet Your Makers vs ROCCAT.  After their win over Gambit last week, Meet Your Makers proved that they would do what it took to stay inside the LCS.  Unfortunately for them, they also faced H2K that week, and have now entered a two way tie for 9th place.  Like Elements, though, ROCCAT is in the running for 7th place (and perhaps even 6th).  Will Meet Your Makers prove that a horrible start is not enough to get eliminated?

Playoffs.  This match will effectively decide if the Copenhagen Wolves secure the 6th place spot and compete in the EU Playoffs.

1.  Copenhagen Wolves vs ROCCAT.  The Copenhagen Wolves haven't had an exceptionally strong season, but they've managed to secure a few wins over stronger teams.  Can they fend off ROCCAT for one game to defend their spot, or will we see ourselves in a possible tie for 6th place?

Seed Deciders.  These two sets of teams have a lot riding on these games to determine their placement in the Playoffs.

1.  H2K vs Fnatic.  The winner of this game will most likely secure the second place spot, and ensure they will go to the semi-finals.  H2K has had a meteoric rise over the last few weeks and has proven that they are contenders in EU, while Fnatic has shown that despite roster changes they can still be one of the strongest teams in Europe.  Will H2K be able to oust Fnatic for that second place spot, or will Fnatic take it back?

2.  Unicorns of Love vs Gambit.  Both of these teams have seen ups and downs throughout the season.  Both are known for bringing unique champions to the table.  Both are known for their off games and misplays.  Which team will step up and claim 4th place?

Full Schedule and Predictions:

Thursday:

10:00 AM PST – Copenhagen Wolves (7 – 9) vs ROCCAT (6 – 10)

Last Match: Copenhagen Wolves.  9 - 4 towers, 17 - 7 kills.  Match time: 42:17.  Week 5.

Prediction: Copenhagen Wolves.  The Wolves may have their next match tied up pretty well in their favor, but ROCCAT feels the same way about their next match as well.  A win for ROCCAT means the 6th place spot will fall to a tie breaker.  Despite the intensity that we can expect to see from ROCCAT, the Copenhagen Wolves have a better chance of weathering the storm and securing their 6th place spot.

11:00 AM PST – H2K (11 – 5) vs Fnatic (11 – 5)

Last Match: Fnatic.  3 - 11 towers, 6 - 21 kills.  Match time: 33:38.  Week 2.

Prediction: Fnatic.  H2K has two difficult matches this week: Fnatic and Unicorns of Love.  They'll probably spend much more time preparing for this match, since it is the tie-breaker for second place--but Fnatic really only has Elements to worry about after this, and will have no doubt put in a lot of extra preparation for this match.  Elements also managed to take down H2K last week, which doesn't bode well for the 2nd place contender.  When all is said and done, Fnatic is the stronger team, and will most likely take the match.

12:00 PM PST – SK Gaming (13 – 3) vs Meet Your Makers (4 – 12)

Last Match: SK Gaming.  8 - 4 towers, 10 - 9 kills.  Match time: 37:40.  Week 2.

Prediction: SK Gaming.  Although Meet Your Makers are fighting to stave off relegation, pulling off a win over SK Gaming at this point would be nothing short of a miracle.

1:00 PM PST – Giants (4 – 12) vs Elements (6 – 10)

Last Match: Giants.  8 - 7 towers, 10 - 22 kills.  Match time: 42:08.  Week 5.

Prediction: Elements.  Last week's win over H2K seemed to tell the story that Elements are finally pulling together as a team.  With the Giants not having much of an impact in the latter half of this season, Elements have a good chance of taking this game.

2:00 PM PST – Unicorns of Love (9 – 7) vs Gambit (9 – 7)

Last Match: Unicorns of Love.  9 - 2 towers, 18 - 7 kills.  Match time: 26:17.  Week 2.

Prediction:  Unicorns of Love.  There are a lot of similarities between these two teams: inventive junglers, solid top laners, aggressive mid laners, and a fairly consistent bot lane.  Hopefully we'll see some truly off the wall picks this match.  Between the two, though, Unicorns of Love are coming into this week looking like the better team.

Friday:

10:00 AM PST – Copenhagen Wolves (7 – 9) vs Giants (4 – 12)

Last Match: Giants.  1 - 9 towers, 5 - 18 kills.  Match time: 37:30.  Week 2.

Prediction: Copenhagen Wolves.  The Wolves need to win both matches to feel secure about their 6th place spot.  Between their two matches this weekend, they have much better odds of winning this one.  The Giants, on the other hand, will no doubt bring their best game in order to prevent relegation.  However, once the Giants had played enough games to reveal their LCS playbook, they've had a hard time competing on the big stage.  As long as Copenhagen Wolves remember to ban Jax, they should fare fine.

11:00 AM PST – Fnatic (11 – 5) vs Elements (6 – 10)

Last Match: Fnatic.  11 - 3 towers, 27 - 11 kills.  Match time: 35:02.  Week 2.

Prediction: Fnatic.  Elements had a pretty solid victory over H2K last Thursday, but Fnatic is another beast all together.  When they last faced off, Fnatic had a very convincing win--one that no doubt left Rekkles wishing he'd kept his spot--that set the tone for both teams this Spring Split.  Elements will be very hard pressed to win this match up.

12:00 PM PST – Gambit (9 – 7) vs SK Gaming (13 – 3)

Last Match:  SK Gaming.  2 - 9 towers, 5 - 15 kills.  Match time: 37:57.  Week 3.

Prediction: SK Gaming.  SK Gaming seems to have found their stride again.  Although they are wonderfully predictable, they are also wonderfully efficient with their 1-3-1 split push play style.  Gambit has an outside chance of pulling off a victory a la mode of Fnatic.  SK, though, didn't have as much to prepare for this weekend--they will have focused most of their efforts on this game.

1:00 PM PST – Meet Your Makers (4 – 12) vs ROCCAT (6 – 10)

Last Match: ROCCAT.  3 - 10 towers, 8 - 15 kills.  Match time: 44:21.  Week 4.

Prediction:  Meet Your Makers.  Albeit this is an outside chance, of the two teams most likely to break the 9th place tie with a victory this weekend, it is Meet Your Makers.  After last week's game against Gambit, Meet Your Makers proved that they were not done with the EU LCS.  ROCCAT will also be focusing a lot of their efforts on the Wolves game, and might not adequately prepare for MYM.

2:00 PM PST – H2K (11 – 5) vs Unicorns of Love (9 – 7)

Last Match: H2K.  10 - 4 towers, 20 - 10 kills.  Match time: 40:55.  Week 5.

Prediction: Unicorns of Love.  H2K still come in as the more solid team into this match up, but the Unicorns have an uncanny ability to pull off victories against stronger teams.  In the same grain of their victory over Fnatic (which, incidentally, made them the only team to have beaten Fnatic twice), we can expect a lot out of these Unicorns in the last match of the regular season.