2020 World Championship 10/8/20 - Group A Second Round Robin Picks & Predictions

The 2020 World Championship Knockout Stage is right around the corner, which means it’s time for each group (and the four teams within it) to duke things out for a shot at glory. This means we’re looking at six games minimum, with the potential for subsequent tiebreakers as well. In short — that’s quite a lot of League of Legends! Because this is basically a mini tournament of sorts, we thought it’d be best to go over all four competing teams, rather than six matches that are scheduled to happen. This way you’ll gain a bit of in-depth knowledge on who’s strong and why, which should, in turn, influence your decisions when it comes to betting. 

If you’re uninitiated in how the World Championship Group Stage is set up, it’s important to highlight that only two teams (out of four competing) get to advance further into the tournament. This means that each and every game going forward matters immensely. There’s a lot of luck involved as well, as just a single game can end up being the difference between advancing further and waiting things out on the sidelines. 

Needless to say, the pressure is mounting. 

Group A teams will be the first to compete. G2 Esports, Suning, Machi Esports, and Team Liquid all potentially have a shot at making it out, but that’s only true when we look at their current win/loss tally. Once we factor in their performance and overall level of play, things become a lot less flexible. G2 and Suning currently have two wins and just a single loss apiece, with TL and Machi having the inverse record. With that said, things have pretty much developed “according to plan.” The LEC champions (G2) and third LPL seed (China) have been the most consistent and impressive teams within their group, which should remain the case going forward. Machi Esports, the PCS champions, have definitely earned our benefit of the doubt, but no matter how clean or surprisingly aggressive they might be, they’re still not strong or cohesive enough to eke out a win over G2 or Suning. They’ll fight their hearts out and they might even come achingly close, but it won’t matter in the end. 

Team Liquid is the only outlier in Group A. They really didn’t look good in any way, shape, and form, and while they’ve certainly stepped up, it feels like a case of “too little too late.” They’re still stacked with talent (and multiple former World Champions, to boot!) but they’re just not flexible nor aggressive enough to warrant anyone’s benefit of the doubt. They’re predictable, their drafting is one-dimensional, and had G2 not fooled around, Liquid would’ve been the only team without a win on the board. With that said, they’re a capable bunch and should not be underestimated. Their one win gave them a bit of momentum and they’re hoping to build on it going forward. The odds are definitely stacked against them, but they have a puncher’s chance of doing some damage to teams ranked above them. That’s definitely a huge “if” but it’s far from impossible.

The same can be said for Machi as well — they’re the biggest dark horse in the group, and while they’re not predicted to get out of groups, they still have a chance of making things insanely close and relatively even. G2 and Suning are favored and there’s a very good reason why that’s the case. They’re better across the board, and their rematch (the final game of the day) is definitely a must-watch. We’re siding with G2 on that one but it’s not going to be easy. Not even close.

This means that, barring any mind-blowing twists and unexpected upsets, G2 and Suning are favored in each and every match they’re slated to play. They know there’s a lot on the line so expect both line-ups to be on their best behaviour, with coherent drafts and planned-out, detailed strats. Machi and Liquid will be looking to upset, but they probably won’t end up affecting the current status quo.