by Day one of the 2019 LoL World Championship play-in stage has concluded, and with it, we got to see how the three teams from Group A stack up against each other on the Summoner’s Rift.
While we did not count out a possibility of seeing some upset wins, it’s safe to say Group A produced results that took many by surprise.
Clutch Gaming, MAMMOTH and Unicorns of Love enter the return fixtures in a three-way tie, so it is anyone’s guess who will finish in the top two and progress to the second round.
Wednesday results:
Clutch Gaming 0-1 Unicorns of Love
MAMMOTH 1-0 Unicorns of Love
MAMMOTH 0-1 Clutch Gaming
Unicorns of Love vs Clutch Gaming
Friday, October 4 – 12:00 CEST
Unicorns of Love – +197
In the opening match of the LoL Worlds play-ins, Unicorns of Love proved to everyone how unpredictable they can be, which took Clutch any anyone watching by surprise.
And it was not only the playstyle of the Russian side, but also the incredible teamwork and their unorthodox team composition, which proved to be too much for Clutch to handle on that day.
Clutch Gaming – -263.16
After a match to forget against UoL, where CG made a few too many mistakes, the LCS third seed knew they needed to defeat MAMMOTH to keep their boat afloat and they did just that.
CG approached that game more calculated, which did not earn them a lot of kills, however, still gave them a chance to build up enough pressure to crack MAMMOTH at just under 39 minutes.
Prediction: Unicorns of Love to win – Best odds at BetOnline
Some may say the UoL win over CG was a fluke, yet we believe the Russian side deserved to win on that day.
They might be a bit unorthodox and unpredictable, but when all pieces fall together and Unicorns start working as a team, they can be tough to stop.
We might be pushing our luck here, but if UoL can produce anything as they did on day one, they could make it two in a row against CG.
Unicorns of Love vs MAMMOTH
Friday, October 4 – 14:00 CEST
Unicorns of Love – -185.19
Unicorns of Love entered their fixture against MAMMOTH ecstatic after defeating CG, which showed in their recklessness, which ultimately cost them the win.
It’s safe to say UoL underestimated the Worlds debutants, which gave MAMMOTH enough momentum to roll over the Russian outfit in just under 38 minutes.
MAMMOTH – +142
It’s hard not to be impressed with what the Australians showed so far this Worlds, but the question remains: can they keep up the tempo and qualify for the round two?
On day one, MAMMOTH had the element of surprise on their side as well as an advantage of being underestimated. That, however, will change come Friday.
Prediction: Unicorns of Love to win – Best odds at BetOnline
The first fixture between these two sides ended in favour of MAMMOTH, however, we can’t imagine it happening again.
MAMMOTH played well, yet, we believe it was more the mistakes of UoL than MAMMOTH’s quality that won them the match. Expect Unicorns of Love to straighten up this Friday and take this one home.
Clutch Gaming vs MAMMOTH
Friday, October 4 – 17:00 CEST
Clutch Gaming – -555.56
Clutch won the first fixture against MAMMOTH with solid, calculated performance, and we can’t expect anything different this Friday.
While we have learned MAMMOTH are not to be underestimated, Clutch will desperately need to win this one, if they are serious about entering the main event.
MAMMOTH – +374
Clutch did not look as strong as many people expected them to in the opening day of play-ins, however, that did not stop them from defeating MAMMOTH.
There are some arguments to be made MAMMOTH could have won against Clutch if they had a better start of the match, and we can agree with that. The question is, however, can MAMMOTH muster up a better start to one they had on Wednesday?
Prediction: Map time over 32 min – -113.64 at BetOnline
Clutch are heavy favourites to win this one, and we can agree with that. They are an objectively stronger and more experienced team, but odds on MAMMOTH are very tempting.
Should our predictions come true, this will be the fixture to decide which team will advance into stage, meaning we could be looking at both teams playing on top of their game.
In that case it would be Clutch that will come out ahead, but, we have seen the NA squad choke too many times in important moment for us to trust them to perform in a high-pressure situation.
All in all, we could easily imagine this match lasting well over 30 minutes, as neither side will dare to risk it all, meaning more calm and calculated strategies will be in place.
