SK Gaming vs MAD Lions

Upsets galore! There's very little rhyme or reason behind what's happening in the LEC right now, but there *are* still a few constants. One of them pertains to SK Gaming: they *have* improved over the last few weeks, but not enough for it to truly matter. Betting against them, therefore, simply makes sense.

MAD Lions are still as inconsistent and flawed as they've been over the last few weeks, but they're nonetheless a very capable bunch and should, by all means, be able to get the win here. It won't come easy though, nor will it be particularly clean -- of that you can be certain. They're just not cohesive enough to execute their game plans without making a few egregious blunders along the way. Elyoya is still trying his hardest to 1v9 but his effectiveness *is* finite, and it often isn't enough -- to absolutely no one's surprise.

It's quite worrying that they haven't yet managed to get on the same page, seeing how we're so close to the playoffs and all. They don't have a lot of time left, and the margin for error is getting smaller and smaller by the day. For that to happen, Armut and Kaiser will need to step up and play as well as they did last year -- the onus is on them to perform. What's the crux of the issue and who's to "blame" doesn't even matter at this point as there's no time for such a discussion; those oh-so-important Best of 5s are fast-approaching.

Reaching the playoffs is no longer their biggest goal but rather securing the most favorable position within the Top 6. There's a world of difference between being ranked fourth and, say, sixth. Unfortunately, we don't think they're in a position to choose, with them being so darn inconsistent and volatile. At their best they're one of the most capable and dangerous teams in Europe. At their worst, however, they're anything but. We hope they'll step up over the coming weeks but we're not all that optimistic -- and it pains us to say it.

They should, however, be able to take down SK without much trouble.