After stumbling in the first weeks of the League
of Legends Master Series Spring season and finding themselves at 1-3, ahq e-Sports
Club have a massive opportunity to climb up the standings this week.
ahq are matched up against Dragon Gate Team and
Alpha Esports, who combined have a record of 2-7 with each squad having just a
single win so far.
Ziv and An remain the most notable players on this squad given their previous appearances at international events. Given their long-standing presence, this is the type of week during which the veterans need to perform.
ahq are already two wins shy of Hong Kong Attitude, who sit in fourth, a fact which makes this week a make-or-break one for their season outlook.
It is worth noting is that ahq are playing the first and last match of the week. This is a luxury, given that many teams, an example being Flash Wolves this week, end up with back-to-back matches where they play the final game on one day before an immediate turnaround for the early match the following day.
It also makes them potentially good value in the
betting with ahq currently the 2.070 underdogs for their match with Alpha
(1.769).
Top two
clash
The match of the week sees a battle at the top
of the standings between MAD Team and J Team.
MAD Team have the same squad that was seen at the 2018 World Championships, and they have thus far put that experience to good use with their only loss being against Hong Kong Attitude, 2-1 back in week two.
However, last week MAD did look fairly vulnerable, needing all three games to put away two 1-3 teams in Alpha Esports and G-Rex, leading to some doubts about their frame of mind heading into this showdown.
However, despite that, Dafabet have them as
favourites at 1.606.
J Team out
for revenge
J Team, 2.350 for victory, lead the LMS with a
4-1 mark, but the red flag is that the lone loss came against Alpha Esports –
the latter’s only win of the season so far.
However, in general, J Team have been the more impressive squad given their slew of 2-0 victories, and overall the team have done well in usurping the Flash Wolves as the pacesetters.
Both J Team and MAD Team only have this match to focus on this week, giving each squad the opportunity to prepare fully as they battle for what they hope is sole possession of first place.
J Team will be looking to avenge last year’s
Summer play-offs loss to MAD Team when they were swept away 3-0.
Wolves
still in the mix
Flash Wolves have still managed to contend
despite the losses of Moojin, Maple and SwordArt, with only Hanabi and Betty
the remaining starters from last year.
Flash Wolves’ lone loss in their 3-1 record was to MAD Team who do appear to be one of the title contenders this year. Meanwhile, their only win over a decent squad was against Hong Kong Attitude, but they have yet another week that appears ripe for a 2-0 when they take on both G-Rex and Alpha Esports, albeit in a back-to-back scenario, as mentioned. They are heavy odds-on favourites for both clashes.
Rather has been a solid addition from Griffin and, in general, Flash Wolves have performed better than anticipated, given the adaptations they clearly had to make.
Fortunately Betty remains the type of player who can carry a team to a high level of success, especially during the early stage of a season when teams are often trying to gel.
The era of Flash Wolves completely dominating does appear to be over, but they do have a chance to pull away from the middle of the table if they can produce this week.
