by Saturday, July 27 – 4pm PDT / 7pm EDT
A three-way tie for sixth place will be put to the test in week eight of the LCS Summer Split when Golden Guardians face off against 100 Thieves in what could be a decisive match in the race to the playoffs.
GGS need to avoid another 0-2 week if they are serious about reaching the post-season. In theory, that should be much easier to achieve compared to week seven, when they faced Team Liquid and Team SoloMid.
Guardians will look to repeat their success from week three, when they beat 100 Thieves with relative ease. However, a closer look at that match reveals it was not so much a dominant performance from GGS but rather a poor performance from 100T that shaped that result.
Also, a lot has changed since then. While GGS have gone 2-6 in the four weeks since these sides last met, Thieves are a much better team with Maurice “Amazing” Stückenschneider and “Ryu” Sang-wook on board.
100T have won three of their last four matches, including triumphs against OpTic Gaming, Echo Fox and FlyQuest. And whereas Guardians have slumped after week three, Thieves have a 5-3 record since then.
To sum up their performances in the last two weeks, 100 Thieves look strong. Although they copped a heavy defeat to Cloud9 recently, the rest of their performances tell the story of a side that belongs in the top six.
Much of their success is due to huge improvement from Zaqueri “Aphromoo” Black and Bae “Bang” Jun-sik. Their boosted confidence is reflected in their aggressive playstyle, which benefits the team more often than not. Even when they end up losing the laning phase, they perform well in team fights and contribute to the cause in any way they can.
Golden Guardians vs 100 Thieves betting predictions
The biggest concern for GGS ahead of Saturday’s fixture is their bottom lane, which will have to face an in-form Aphromoo and Bang. Not only do the 100T duo look better in the laning phase, they contribute much more in team fights compared to Victor “FBI” Huang and Choi “huhi” Jae-hyun. Huhi has the tendency to die too often and too early, while FBI fails to contribute enough damage, which is a huge problem for GGS and their team fighting strength.
Should huhi and FBI perform up to par and stop Aphromoo and Bang, GGS will have a good chance to win against 100 Thieves. However, from what they showed last week, there is little to suggest they can match the quality of their opponents.
Prediction: 100 Thieves to win – -102.04 at BetOnline
