We’re down to our final four sides at MSI, with China, Korea, Japan, and Europe the regions left.
With just three games left to decide our winner, it feels like MSI has gone by in a flash. With Europe the only Western region left, Asian sides are favourites to take the title which is currently held by G2 Esports of Europe. As the knockout stage begins, games moving to best-of-five, and one series being played a day, things will be taking a massive change this week, and we’re here to preview it.
PSG.Talon v Royal Never Give Up
PSG talon was a slight outsider for the Knockout Stage, with many predicting Cloud9 would move forward. PSG showed a great level of performance on the stage, and their style of play certainly tripped up many sides. With DAMWON winning the group, they picked MAD as their opponent, sadly for PSG that means they’ll play a side they’re yet to beat. PSG showed up in some big victories against DAMWON, MAD Lions and Cloud9, however, RNG was able to beat them twice.
RNG has been a tour da force in the Rumble stage, though they managed to beat DAMWON twice, losses to MAD, and Cloud9 in the final two days ultimately cost them the top spot. RNG will come into this series as favourites, despite PSG’s performances in the Rumble Stage. For me, RNG is big favourites at 1/7, however, PSG only seemed to improve over the course of the Rumble Stage so picking them up at 9/2 could be a risk worth taking.
MAD Lions v DAMWOM
Whilst MAD was expected to have a good showing at MSI, some of their performances have exceeded expectations. Their Day 5 victory against RNG will have kept DAMWON sweating on what team to pick, however, their loss to Cloud9 might have shown that MAD is easily exploited. As we’ve mentioned in previous weeks, MAD’s entire roster is pretty new to international tournaments, with fewer than 50 games across the entire team. While it’s tempting to offer them up at 5/1, for me this is going to be one series too far for MAD, though I expect them to pick up at least a game.
As for DAMWON, they’ll be favourites especially considering they picked MAD Lions as their opponent. MAD picked up some big wins at MSI thus far, but DAMWON is a side they’re yet to take down. With DAMWON being such heavy favourites at 2/17, however, if you’re looking to pick an outsider, MAD might be the better option, especially considering the odds on DAMWON.
Grand Final
The expected final will be between DAMWON and RNG, and seeing as RNG has beaten DAMWON twice already, they’d be favourites. PSG are likely to give RNG a run for their money, and if PSG makes the final they might be worth a look as a real outsider for the entire event.
*All odds correct at time of writing.