SK Gaming vs exceL

What a nightmare, this game. It feels like there's no safe option whatsoever. If we go with EXCEL -- which is the only logical option -- we might regret it dearly given SK's tendency to surprise and pull off an upset when you least expect them to. Going with SK doesn't make much sense overall but they have, in all fairness, started throwing wild haymakers in hopes of making the playoffs. They're a dangerous team and they're currently playing without any fear whatsoever; hence their win over Rogue.

A team with nothing to lose is a team that can, by all means, pull off the impossible. Well, at least right now when everyone's still struggling to get on the same page. Those momentous upsets don't really happen all that often in the Summer Split but *right now* they're definitely par for the course.

How do we, then, bet on such a match-up? Our only option is to go with the favorite and hope that SK have run out of gas. They have this weird tendency to really step up and deliver whenever they're on the brink of the abyss. It's been like that for years and it's also tied to some of their players as well. Guys like Gilius have been going on miracle runs for what feels like an eternity although that, too, has to come to an end eventually. EXCEL have lost a bit of steam but that's only because they've faced Rogue and Fnatic back-to-back. They literally went up against two of the best teams in the LEC so of course they lost. It'd be weird if they didn't!

Those losses don't, however, change anything in regards to the bigger picture. They're still a very capable team and they're favored over SK for a very good reason: they're better in nearly every regard although the gap between them isn't as large as they'd like. Give SK a good draft and a bit of leeway in the early game and they could easily run away with the win. We've seen it in the recent past as well -- they're not naive at all.

If EXCEL find a way to handle their nerves they *should* be able to get away with the win, but it's not going to be easy, that's for sure.