Esports Betting Tips May 4th – Mid-Season Invitational and Overwatch League
Robert Paul for Blizzard EntertainmentEvery week, we take a look at some of the most interesting matches in the world of esports betting.
We’ve teamed up with Rivalry.gg to bring weekly insight into some of the biggest and most interesting matches in esports. Whether you’re looking for a favorite you can trust, or an underdog that could deliver a big upset, there’s a match for you.
This week, we take a look at some of the final matches of Stage 3 in the Overwatch League, as well as the play-in stages of LoL’s Mid-Season Invitational.
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Play It Safe
LoL Mid-Season Invitational
Gambit Esports TO WIN vs Ascension
When: Saturday May 5th, 09:00 UTC
Odds: 1.24 vs 3.37 – Bet HERE
The 2018 Mid-Season Invitational is underway with the play-in stages, in which the top teams from the minor regions around the world fight for a spot in the tournament proper, where the champions of the major regions await.
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One of the top candidates to take one of those spots is Gambit Esports, representatives of the CIS region. If you’re a long-time fan of League of Legends you’ll likely recognize legacy names like Jungler Diamondprox and Support Edward, while mid-laner Kira and top-laner PvPStejos might be familiar from the Albus Nox Luna team that famously made an epic run to the quarter-finals of the 2016 World Championship.
Visa rules in Germany, where the EU LCS is hosted, are the only thing preventing many of these players from competing in the major league of the region, but even denied that opportunity and exposure they still form a formidable squad.
In the first round of the double-round-robin group stage for the MSI play-in stage, Gambit defeated all three of their opponents comfortably, including Ascension Gaming.
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Unfortunately, Thai squad Ascension Gaming is simply outclassed in this match-up. Gambit has more experience at a higher level, and with every game potentially key to advancing they’re not going to take any match lightly. Gambit should be a comfortable favorite to pick up a repeat victory here.
Feeling Lucky
Overwatch League
Seoul Dynasty TO WIN vs London Spitfire
When: Saturday May 5th, 03:00 UTC
Odds: 2.26 vs 1.52 – Bet HERE
What might once have been anticipated as perhaps the biggest match-up of the league is in Stage 3 more a question of which team is weaker than which is stronger.
London Spitfire is having their worst stage of the season by a long way. Having won the Stage 1 title and reached the playoffs of Stage 2, the Spitfire were a contender for the best team in the league until Stage 3, but they currently sit in ninth place with a 3-5 record, well out of the playoff race this time around.
The reason the London Spitfire remain favored by the odds is likely that London has always had Seoul’s number. Both times these teams have met, the Spitfire walked away with a 4-0 sweep. That being said, the Spitfire of stages one and two would never have suffered so many defeats as they have in Stage 3, so that history may well have lost some of its weight.
The Seoul Dynasty themselves aren’t exactly having a blazing-hot stage either. The team has yet to reach a stage playoff, and that is likely to remain the case in Stage 3 unless everything goes right for them over the final days of the stage, including several other teams sustaining big losses.
Despite this, the Dynasty are currently tied in match record in the overall standings with London Spitfire. Seoul’s advance has been a steady one – while they’ve never topped the table, they’ve been good for a solid positive record throughout the league, and that consistency has seen them remain near the top overall.
We’ve seen repeatedly that London’s peak is higher than Seoul’s, but the Spitfire seem to be in disarray right now. In current form they look capable of losing to almost anyone in the top two-thirds of the league, and if ever the Dynasty were to take revenge over them for previous defeats, this would be the time.
Wildcard
Overwatch League
LA Gladiators TO WIN vs Boston Uprising
When: Friday May 4th, 23:00 UTC
Odds: 2.51 vs 1.43 – Bet HERE
The Boston Uprising have been in impeccable form in Stage 3, an indomitable force setting several league records. They’re the first team to beat all three all-Korean squads within a stage, and have set a new record for the longest streak undefeated at thirteen coming into this match.
It’s hard to argue that Boston isn’t the stronger team overall right now, but that doesn’t mean the Gladiators are to be overlooked. They too are looking for a season’s-best stage, entering the match at a 6-3 record with the chance to beat their Stage 2 finish of 6-4.
More importantly, however, is the difference in stakes for these two teams. Boston will undoubtedly be gunning for a flawless stage, but for Gladiators a victory here may well be the difference between going to the Stage 3 playoffs and missing out again.
Moreover, in the overall season standings Boston currently sits in second, with a three-match margin ahead of the chasing pack. They’re already in a comfortable position to secure a spot in the season playoffs. Gladiators meanwhile sit at eighth, and with only six spots in the $1.5million playoffs the Gladiators will need every win they can find between now and the end of Stage 4 if they’re to steal a spot.
The Gladiators aren’t without tools with which to do it either. Most notable is undoubtedly main tank Baek ‘Fissure’ Chan-hyung, who has proven repeatedly that he can both carry and clutch for the Gladiators, but in Stage 3 DPS player ‘Surefour’ has also stood out for a surge in form, becoming one of the most deadly Widowmakers in the league.
Boston was pushed to the brink by the other Los Angeles team, the Valiant, in their first match of the week. They’re undoubtedly strong, but not unstoppable, and a Gladiators win is certainly feasible.
