GIANTX will seek their fourth victory of the 2024 season on Wednesday with the help of their newest arrival, Ramses “Famsii” Koivukangas. But while some roster changes were due following a rough start to the stage, adding a new, unproven player at VCT level might not be enough to stop the hottest European squad.

Team Heretics have not slowed down since they reached the finals of VCT 2024 Masters Shanghai, beating Natus Vincere and FUT Esports in the first two weeks of Stage 2. With that, Heretics finished the most challenging part of their schedule with a perfect record.

Even last stage, GIANTX proved to be a resilient team, and the honeymoon phase with Famsii could lead to better performances. But it’s hard to believe that GIANTX are ready to face the strongest VALORANT esports team outside Asia.

FUT Esports are already through to the next stage, but they can still secure a top-two finish and a direct bye to the upper-bracket semifinals. And considering their schedule consists of only Gentle Mates and GIANTX, that should be easily achievable.

The Turks have done well this VALORANT Champions Tour season. They placed third in the last stage and top six in China, confirming their status as one of the top three teams in the region.

Gentle Mates have had their moments this season, but those have been few and far between. With a 3-4 combined record, they might be able to squeeze their way into the top six but are not expected to accomplish more.

As the offered odds on esports betting sites suggest, this game should be very lopsided.

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The 20-year-old will replace Igor “Redgar” Vlasov and debut in the third week of VCT 2024 EMEA Stage 2.

The Finnish VALORANT esports player is the second new addition to GIANTX since the start of the season, following the acquisition of Semyon “purp0” Borchev in April.

Famsii started his esports career with KOI in 2022, when he joined the team as a replacement for Joona “H1ber” Parviainen.

At the time, KOI were competing in the VALORANT Regional Leagues (VRL).

In October 2022, Famsii was benched from the starting lineup and joined GIANTX’s partner club, UCAM Esports Club, three months later.

With UCAM Esports Club, Famsii competed in second-division tournaments, including VALORANT Challengers 2023 Spain.

In November 2023, he made his second appearance at the LVC – Crossfire Cup, where he had placed top four with KOI a year prior.

VCT Update pic.twitter.com/NVow1vmGoc

— GIANTX (@GIANTXENG) June 30, 2024

Over the 2023 season, Famsii helped UCAM Esports Club to some notable results.

Those include two bronze medals from VALORANT Challengers 2023 Spain: Rising Split 1 and 2, and a runner-up finish at LVP – Crossfire Cup 2023.

His last competitive endeavour with UCAM Esports Club happened in April when Famsii and co. placed fourth at VALORANT Challengers 2024 Spain: Rising Split 1.

By joining GIANTX, Famsii is set to make his official debut in the VALORANT Champions Tour.

However, his signing comes at a difficult time for GIANTX, who are nearing elimination from the VCT 2024 EMEA Stage 2 Playoff race.

GIANTX have struggled to make any noise this season, with a 10th-11th finish in VCT 2024 EMEA Kickoff and 9th-10th in Stage 1.

The first two weeks of VCT 2024 EMEA Stage 2 didn’t go as planned for GIANTX either, as they’ve managed just one victory over the three series played.

The dire situation GIANTX have found themselves in called for drastic measures, as the team decided to bench their in-game leader Redgar, for the next two games.

It is still unclear who will take over the IGL duties.

Famsii will debut for his new team on Wednesday, July 3, when GIANTX face off against Team Heretics.

However, the odds aren’t in their favour, as Faamsi and his new side are +350 underdogs with the best VALORANT betting sites.

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Fnatic looked unstoppable until the final match of LEC 2024 Summer Week 3 when they lost to G2 Esports. That defeat doesn’t prove anything new, however, nor is it in any way an indication that Fnatic have lost their momentum.

Team Heretics are 2-5, with their wins coming against GIANTX and Karmine Corp. But while losing five games is concerning enough, their performance against Rogue last week might be a good enough reason to see Heretics as one of the worst teams in the league.

Team Heretics are in a very tough spot and they’ve not given us many reasons to feel excited about them or their chances to defeat Fnatic. Expect a very one-sided series.

As the offered LoL betting odds suggest, this could be a close series. And since it is a match between two of the weakest LEC squads, that’s a fair assessment.

Rogue defeated Team Heretics on Sunday, whereas GIANTX picked up their second consecutive win against the shaky Vitality on Saturday. That success mostly came down to GIANTX drafting much better, but that doesn’t discredit their achievements.

Esports bookmakers have the wrong team priced as favourites. Whereas Rogue have shown little this split, GIANTX draft well and have performed to decent level even when faced with more formidable opponents.

G2 Esports have looked a little shaky this split but still managed to take down Fnatic last Sunday, proving again that they’re an elite team. That said, giving them an 84.7% implied probability of beating Vitality in a best-of-one is pushing it a bit.

It’s hard to find good arguments to trust Team Vitality outside of the belief that this roster has a very high ceiling. But the quality of the players alone is a good enough reason to question their +354 odds for this game.

Vitality have choked a couple too many times and had questionable drafts last week, which shows in their 2-5 record. But in terms of performance metrics, they are still in a good spot and have not fallen from grace as much as the market might suggest.

SK Gaming enter LEC 2024 Summer Week 4 after beating MAD Lions KOI and Team Heretics in their last two outings. Still, they’re not good enough to be priced as -250 favourites with LoL betting sites — even though they’ve beaten Team BDS and G2 Esports, who both made a slew of errors in those matches.

Karmine Corp are 3-4, although they’ve only beaten MAD Lions KOI, Rogue, and Vitality, who helped KC with a massive throw. This is far below the expectations for a roster of this quality.

Even though it feels wrong to trust Karmine Corp to do what they’re supposed to, SK Gaming are overrated at this price. The value is with the underdogs.

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Rogue are 1-4 after two weeks of action. They have not produced a single good game and their only victory came against MAD Lions KOI, who seem to be in an even worse spot than them.

Team BDS kicked off the split with three victories against Team Vitality, Team Heretics, and G2 Esports, then fell against the surging SK Gaming and beat Karmine Corp. The loss against SK pushed BDS down the power rankings but hasn’t eliminated them from contention for a top-four finish.

Team BDS should crush Rogue, but the kill line is set a bit too high — not necessarily because BDS can’t cover 10 kills, but because this will likely be a very quick match.

Team Heretics have done relatively well in this LoL EMEA Championship split, beating GIANTX in the first week and taking down Karmine Corp last Sunday. This doesn’t prove much, however, as neither of those opponents are much good.

SK Gaming, meanwhile, have looked incredible so far. They’ve picked up four wins and lost just once — against Fnatic on Sunday. Yet even that game was much closer than what the final score would suggest.

SK Gaming are arguably the second-best-performing team in the LEC. While their ceiling is somewhat limited, their fast-paced style should counter everything Heretics want to accomplish in their games.

Team Vitality didn’t start this split well. But after three tough losses, Vitality found momentum and won both games in LEC 2024 Summer Week 2 against MAD Lions KOI and Team Heretics.

GIANTX are 1-4, with their only victory coming against the struggling MAD Lions KOI. There’s a world where GIANTX improve, but their ceiling is very limited and they looked terrible in their four defeats.

While Team Vitality are volatile, they have the potential to be one of the league’s top three teams. As long as they can stay on track and show the same level of performance as they did last week, Vitality should come out ahead with a few kills to spare.

MAD Lions KOI looked great in LEC 2024 Winter, but despite fielding the same players, they haven’t looked the same over the first two weeks of this split. Their once-strong teamwork has deteriorated significantly and they’re struggling to get ADC David “Supa” Martínez García into the game.

Fnatic, on the other hand, are already guaranteed a top-eight finish in LEC 2024 Summer. They have been improving since last split and now look like a serious threat for the European trophy, although they first have to prove they’re better than G2 Esports.

Even though Fnatic will occasionally be overly confident and shoot themselves in the foot, their form so far has been phenomenal. This should end in a dominant victory for the Black & Orange.

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Team Vitality and Team Liquid ended Stage 1 of the VALORANT Champions Tour with identical 3-3 records, albeit with vastly different map differentials of -21 and -1, respectively. This secured Liquid a spot in the playoffs, where they crashed out in the first round after losing to Fnatic.

Those placements aside, they’ve looked about equally as strong. Team Vitality were a bit up and down through the stage but collected a couple of big scalps, beating Team Heretics and FUT Esports. Team Liquid have not beaten a single VCT EMEA title contender but were more consistent against weaker opponents.

Team Vitality tend to be less consistent, which will harm their chances of qualifying for VALORANT Champions 2024. However, they’re a capable roster who can compete with any European VALORANT esports team.

GIANTX and Gentle Mates were two of the worst-performing teams of VCT 2024 EMEA Stage 1 Group Omega. They finished the group stage in fifth and fourth place, respectively, and were never in contention to win the trophy.

GIANTX managed just one victory last stage, but three of their losses extended to the third map — against Team Liquid, Fnatic, and Team Vitality. On the other side, Gentle Mates won two games but performed terribly in the six lost maps, failing to pass six rounds in any of them.

Even though Gentle Mates won a couple in VCT 2024 EMEA Stage 1, they looked so bad in their losses that it’s even fair to assume the two wins were a fluke. GIANTX are not a strong team, but they’re rightly priced as favourites with the best esports betting sites for this fixture.

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GIANTX enter the final split of the League of Legends season with a new top laner, Antonio “Th3Antonio” Espinosa Bejarano and jungler Lee “Juhan” Ju-han, who are exciting additions. But the main thing that will dictate how well GIANTX will do this split is whether they’ll find a way to improve their early game.

In the spring split, GIANTX were very effective in closing out games where they got ahead early – but that happened very rarely. Perhaps their new additions will fix that, giving us a reason to be cautiously optimistic about this squad.

Team Heretics didn’t make any roster changes this offseason but instead freshened up the coaching staff – which was a smart move considering, talent-wise, Heretics are in a good spot. Drafting and overall approach to games needs some work.

GIANTX and Team Heretics were flawed teams in the LEC 2024 Spring, but they’ve made changes that might help with their issues. There’s a big “what if” on both ends, making GIANTX an excellent underdog bet at the offered price.

Last month, SK Gaming announced the signing of a new bottom lane duo, Cho “Rahel” Min-seong and support Lee “Luon” Hyun-ho, who could prove to be massive additions. SK were extremely inconsistent last split and completely fell apart following a strong start. so assuming Rahel and Luon can introduce some stability, SK Gaming could fly very high.

Rogue decided to run it back for LEC 2024 Summer, which is a bizarre decision for a team that was clearly the worst in the league since the winter split. Oddly, Rogue have the talent to do well, but we could’ve made the same excuse in January, yet nothing has changed.

Rogue have to find traction, and while they may bounce back, Emil “Larssen” Larsson and his crew have to first show something.

No changes for Team Vitality ahead of LEC 2024 Summer – and that’s completely fine. Team Vitality were a strong mid-table team in the LEC 2024 Spring, showing a surprisingly high level of consistency. It was uncharacteristic for this roster, but if Vitality can keep playing like that, they might be in the race for a top-three finish.

Team BDS are another interesting team. In spring, Team BDS proved they could do well without relying too much on top laner Adam “Adam” Maanane, and yet he still played a significant role in many of BDS’ victories. Like Vitality, Team BDS just need to continue what they started, and we could be looking at another potential threat for Fnatic and G2.

At the offered moneyline odds, no side of this matchup is interesting, but the esports betting sites have overexaggerated with the total kills line.

Unsurprisingly, G2 Esports kept their entire lineup intact – as they should. G2 Esports are unquestionably the best European LoL esports team and, as proven at the Mid-Season Invitational 2024, one of the world’s strongest teams.

The only two reasons to doubt G2 Esports are questionable motivation to perform and fatigue. This might not seem too relevant, but it can play a big factor, especially with G2 Esports, who are known to mess around when nothing is on the line.

MAD Lions KOI looked great last split when they built on the early success from the LEC 2024 Winter and proved themselves as a resilient and well-coached team. While they’re still not at the same level as G2 Esports, the kill handicap line for this match is a bit too high, knowing that G2 Esports might not be ready or willing to perform at 100%.

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BBL Esports have defied all odds so far in VCT 2024 EMEA Stage 1, winning three of the four series played. Not only have BBL won most of their games, but they have defeated Team Heretics and Natus Vincere along the way.

GIANTX, meanwhile, are 0-4 with a -36 round differential, although they have been competitive in parts. They took maps from Fnatic and Team Liquid, and last week they forced a three-map series against Team Vitality.

This comes with an asterisk, as while GIANTX have had some small victories, they only seem to do well on Lotus. On the other side, BBL Esports are a well-rounded team who have already defeated much stronger squads and shouldn’t struggle against GIANTX.

These teams last met in the VCT2 204 EMEA Kickoff finals, when Karmine Corp won 2-0. But based on their recent results, it’s fair to question whether the right team is favoured.

Team Heretics aren’t getting much respect due to their slump in weeks 2-3, but they seemed to have found their rhythm when they humiliated Team Liquid 13-2, 13-7. Karmine Corp, on the other side, are 3-2 but haven’t looked good over the last two series, with a 1-2 loss against Natus Vincere and a very close overtime victory against the league’s worst VALORANT esports team, KOI.

One good game doesn’t prove much, but Team Heretics showed what they’re capable of early in the season, and it was only a matter of time before they found their traction.

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Team Vitality looked phenomenal over the last two weeks when they defeated Team Heretics and FUT Esports. Yet their hot streak came to a screeching halt on Wednesday when Vitality suffered an embarrassing 0-2 defeat against Gentle Mates.

Vitality have never been known for their consistency, which explains how they lost against Gentle Mates. And as concerning as that defeat may seem, Vitality are still a force to be reckoned with.

GIANTX have been holding on relatively well. Despite being 0-3, they took maps from Fnatic in Week 2 and Team Liquid last round. While that doesn’t change the fact that GIANTX are 0-5 this season, they have something going for them.

Team Vitality’s recent loss suggests they can lose to GIANTX. But that defeat shouldn’t be a reason to doubt Team Vitality, who have enough talent to turn things around against an inferior opponent.

Based on the results over the first three weeks of VCT 2024 EMEA Stage 1, KOI are the worst-performing VALORANT team in the region. They’re 0-3 with a -40 round differential and three losses against Team Liquid, BBL Esports, and Fnatic.

Following a strong start to the season, Karmine Corp have slowed down a bit recently, with back-to-back defeats against Natus Vincere and FUT Esports. While it’s hard to criticise KC too much for losing against two strong opponents, the eye test proves something isn’t clicking.

Karmine Corp are not at 100%, and they need to find a way to fix their tendency to crumble after the first map. But even with all the flaws KC have, they should run over KOI without any issues.

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After a humiliating display at VCT 2024 EMEA Kickoff, Fnatic suffered another embarrassing loss in the first week of VCT 2024 EMEA Stage 1 against Team Heretics. The series ended in two maps; however, while Fnatic looked terrible on Icebox, they played well on Lotus.

Even though Fnatic are not nearly as dominant as last season, a 1-2 start to the year is no reason for panic – especially since their only two defeats came against the current top two teams in the region.
GIANTX are in a similar spot as they’ve yet to find much success this season, with one loss against FUT Esports and two defeats against Karmine Corp. During VCT 2024 EMEA Kickoff, GIANTX played reasonably well and took maps from FUT and KC, but last week they got stomped with a combined round record of 13-26.

Fnatic don’t seem as dangerous as in 2023, but this is the same roster that terrorised the entire VALORANT esports scene last season. So, while they’ll need to find more traction, Fnatic are significantly stronger than GIANTX, and it should show on Friday.

The newly promoted side, Gentle Mates, enter the second week of VCT 2024 EMEA Stage 1 following a 2-0 sweep of BBL Esports. It marked their first season victory after losing both clashes with Team Vitality in February.

By beating BBL Esports, Gentle Mates got their name on the board, but that victory is not worth celebrating too much. BBL Esports are not a very strong team, and still, they took 11 rounds on Sunset, which tells us more about Gentle Mates than it does about BBL.

Karmine Corp enter this match after getting reverse-swept by FUT Esports, who proved just how vulnerable Karmine Corp are. Still, they’ve only looked weak against other top teams, including Sentinels, Paper Rex, Team Heretics, and FUT Esports.

The loss against FUT Esports proves that Karmine Corp can fall. But regardless of their doubtful status as EMEA’s top dogs, Karmine Corp are very consistent in crushing weaker teams.

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Karmine Corp were expected to do well in Madrid but finished the first Masters event of the 2024 VALORANT Champions Tour in fifth-sixth place, with just one victory against FunPlus Phoenix. EMEA’s second seed, Team Heretics, ended the event in last place — so perhaps it’s not that Karmine Corp are weak, but that the whole region isn’t that good.

GIANTX didn’t come even close to qualifying for VCT 2024 Masters Madrid. They finished the Kickoff event in 10th-11th place, earning the tag as one of EMEA’s weakest squads.

These teams last met in February, when Karmine Corp won 2-1, and there’s a good chance they’ll win again. Despite their uninspiring performance in Madrid, Karmine Corp are still one of the region’s top teams, whereas GIANTX can hardly be in the conversation of potential title candidates.

At -175.44, Karmine Corp are priced quite generously on the moneyline market, but the map handicap is a more appealing option.

KOI and Team Liquid had a disappointing start to the season. Despite being viewed as one of EMEA’s top VALORANT squads, Team Liquid finished the VCT 2024 EMEA Kickoff in seventh-ninth place, while KOI placed a spot higher in sixth.

Both teams had a long break to figure out where things went wrong, yet neither made any roster changes, so we can’t expect any significant improvement.

These sides have met twice this season. Team Liquid won the first clash 2-0 but lost the rematch 1-2, yet they are priced as -188.68 to win this affair.

Liquid simply aren’t good enough to be viewed as such big favourites with esports betting sites. This looks like a 50-50 match at best, so we’ll gladly side with KOI at underdog odds.

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