LGD
One of the best teams in China, having defeated Invictus Gaming 3-1 in the LPL playoffs, was considered the absolute favorite in the qualifiers. They were expected to easily secure a spot in the main tournament after the group stage in a relatively weaker group. However, e-sports, like other sports, can sometimes be unpredictable, and this tournament is no exception. LGD finished only 4th in the group stage and now has to fight in the knockout stage to qualify for the main tournament.
It's hard to say why the team started so sluggishly, but the game they showed in this stage is like night and day compared to what they displayed in the LPL playoffs. The team's Jungle role player Peanut, who should be the main initiator and the team's success talisman, is not finding his game, and the team itself looks unbalanced despite the tournament taking place in China. The only positive moment in the team's game was a convincing victory against Japan's V3 team. In that match, LGD reminded us of their true form and convincingly won.
There is no doubt about this team's potential, but to win against Rainbow7, they will need to play aggressively from start to finish and give their leaders Peanut and Kramer the opportunity to shine. The biggest strength of LGD, like most Chinese teams, is excellent coordination in team fights. By choosing good team compositions and playing to their potential, LGD should confidently handle representatives from a much weaker region.
Rainbow7
Representatives of the CB LOL region surprised by winning against Unicorns of Love and LGD in the group stage, but those victories could partly be predicted by the chosen characters. Both LGD and Unicorns of Love players commented after the matches that with the chosen compositions, they put themselves in an uncomfortable position, and Rainbow7 only had to formalize the wins.
The Brazilians do not have as talented and individually capable players as other teams in the tournament, but they make excellent use of the advantages they create and punish opponents for mistakes. Rainbow7 often chooses pick-up compositions that are strong in the early to mid-game stages, and once they gain an advantage, they have shown they can close out matches. However, it would be naive to expect that anyone will underestimate the Brazilians in the knockout series as their opponents did in the group stage.
Rainbow7 came to this tournament as absolute underdogs but proved that the Brazilian region is capable of competing with the strongest teams in the world, so their performance can already be viewed positively. However, their journey in this tournament will most likely end in the series against LGD.
Prediction
There is no doubt about the differences in team potential, and the representatives of China, having tasted a cold shower, should pull themselves together and demonstrate their capabilities in the decisive stage. All LGD players are much more experienced compared to the Rainbow7 team, so they should not feel much pressure. The most important match in this series will be the first one, and if LGD wins it, the series will probably end with a clean result, as expecting major improvisations from Rainbow7 would be naive.
LGD will win the series 3-0, 2.2 odds, betsafe
