exceL vs Astralis

A two-week hiatus might seem tremendous at first glance (and, in a way, it certainly is), but it's not going to make much of a difference in this particular case. The gap between EXCEL Esports and Astralis cannot be narrowed within a meager fifteen days. That much is a fact. The latter simply have too fixed of a skill ceiling and while they certainly *are* a whole lot more dangerous and impressive than expected, they're still a gatekeeper at heart (if even that much).

Then again, it's been a while since the last time the LEC was "in session," so we might witness a few surprises -- it certainly isn't outside the realm of possibility. Astralis are currently "sitting pretty" with a very respectable three wins and four losses. That's by no means a spectacular tally, but it's still a very impressive one given everyone's expectations and just how limited they are in terms of strength and potential. Their best players are seasoned veterans who, in all fairness, are way past their prime. They can still overperform and put on a show, but those instances are getting rarer and rarer.

So, with that in mind, nearly having a .500 record is actually quite tremendous given the overall context. Heck, they're just one win below Team Vitality, a line-up that probably cost three, four, or maybe even five times as much. That's at once both a compliment to Astralis *and* some heavy criticism towards Vitality -- but we digress.

EXCEL is the team that interests us the most at this point in time. The sheer fact that they're tied with Fnatic and Rogue atop the standings with a whopping five wins and just two losses is still mind-boggling. That's a 71% win rate for a team that barely made playoffs last split. They're playing with an astounding amount of bravado and, needless to say, are the very definition of a dark horse. One has to wonder, though: how has this two-week break affected them? Did they lose a bit of their edge? Has their level of play degraded now that the hype has subdued?

These are all incredibly important questions and, sadly, we don't think we'll get our answers in the very near future; EXCEL are scheduled to face Astralis and SK. These two teams, while pretty capable, are still as flawed as they come. And, well, they don't have much to offer compared to Nukeduck and Co.

In any case, it'll be a nice "warm up" for the boys in black and white.