Before the start of the LPL 2024 Summer regular season, Rare Atom and Team WE looked like two prime candidates to top Group Nirvana. Three weeks into the split, we know there is no clear favourite to win this section.

Team WE enter the fourth week on a three-game losing streak, with defeats against ThunderTalk Gaming, Oh My God, and Ultra Prime. Most of their issues stem from a passive playstyle and an unwillingness to actively search for opportunities to get ahead, and that could be a problem on Thursday.

Rare Atom did not produce the most convincing performance in their last series either, yet they are 4-1 and will have side choice. For those reasons, Rare Atom are a much wiser pick at plus money with top betting sites.

Royal Never Give Up suffered their fourth defeat of the split on Monday when they lost against Rare Atom. It was a concerning display from RNG, who had their moments but made way too many mistakes to be left unpunished.

Invictus Gaming won their second game of the split on Friday when they swept EDward Gaming. While they still have some work to do, it was a much better performance than against Oh My God at the start of last week.

Even though the rule for Group Nirvana is to back the underdogs if the betting odds go far above even money, Royal Never Give Up have looked bad enough to make Invictus Gaming a better bet at this price.

Weibo Gaming took a bite out of Bilibili Gaming on Tuesday, proving they can dance with the LPL top dogs. LGD Gaming, on the other side, lost their fifth consecutive game of the split on Saturday against Top Esports.

The teams are trending in opposite directions, but there is an unwritten rule never to trust Weibo Gaming as heavy favourites. Moreover, LGD Gaming are not as bad as their record suggests, as it takes a solid team to fight back from early deficits so consistently.

Weibo Gaming should win, but since both teams are volatile, it is fair to believe LGD Gaming can take at least one map.

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Invictus Gaming and EDward Gaming are tied at 1-3 after four rounds of action, having played teams of similar quality. But even though there is not much to set the teams apart, it’s hard to have much faith in Invictus Gaming after their horrendous display against Oh My God.

EDward Gaming aren’t great — although most teams in Group Nirvana are bad, with poor macro and a lack of individual talent. This also explains all the upsets we have seen in this bracket, which makes backing favourites less appealing.

This game is an exception, mainly because of Invictus Gaming’s horrendous performances over the last couple of weeks. True believers might also consider backing EDG to sweep at $2.59 with the best esports betting sites.

Although LGD Gaming are 0-3, they have played Anyone’s Legend, JD Gaming, and Bilibili Gaming — all of the best LPL teams except for Top Esports. This explains why LGD have the league’s worst gold difference at 15 minutes (-2882).

FunPlus Phoenix have not looked as good as they should have over the last few weeks. Their only victory came against Ninjas in Pyjamas, but even that was not too exciting.

LGD Gaming are a capable team, but they have not shown a lot of quality yet. The same applies to FunPlus Phoenix. We can give LGD a slight bump with side choice, but that is not enough to believe they will manage a clean game.

The last time these sides met in a best-of-three series, Ninjas in Pyjamas closed as $3.13 underdogs. This time they are paying $4.33 with GG Bet, and it is not hard to see why.

Ninjas in Pyjamas are an incredibly frustrating team. Their macro and decision-making are atrocious; they are just a group of extremely good players who know how to fight as a unit. This is usually enough to stomp on weaker teams, but they are exposed when matched with any semi-capable squad.

JD Gaming have had a couple of hiccups this split, but they are still an elite team with solid fundamentals, which is more than enough to expose Ninjas in Pyjamas for what they are.

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Invictus Gaming lost to ThunderTalk Gaming on Wednesday in two maps. They came close to tying the series, but like all bad teams, IG didn’t play to the strengths of their composition and had a few too many unforced errors.

Rare Atom were priced at around this number to defeat Ultra Prime on Thursday, but they crumbled and lost in two maps. It wasn’t their best showing, but one bad game should not be a reason for concern.

Invictus Gaming are at roughly the same level as Ultra Prime, yet that doesn’t make them a good bet to beat Rare Atom, who are a better team and will have side choice for this series.

Team WE won their first match of the LPL 2024 Summer regular season on Monday when they defeated EDward Gaming. It was a good performance following a troubling display at LPL 2024 Summer Placements.

Royal Never Give Up lost their second match of the split against Oh My God on Tuesday. OMG were by far the worst team in LPL 2024 Summer Placements, so the loss puts a huge question mark above RNG and their overall quality.

Despite recent results, this is still a clash between two weak, inconsistent squads. Team WE might be one of the stabler teams in this group, but at $2.28 with esports betting sites, Royal Never Give Up to sneak in a map is a much wiser bet.

Weibo Gaming started LPL 2024 Summer with a massive victory against JD Gaming but then lost to LNG Esports on Wednesday. However, they held a 3,500 gold lead on the third map at around the 20-minute mark and looked well on their way to winning the series before they crumbled and let LNG back in.

Ninjas in Pyjamas are the same team we know from LPL 2024 Spring — capable of beating anyone and losing to anyone. But while NiP are the type to capitalise on Weibo Gaming’s errors, LoL betting sites have them priced very short at $1.56.

As long as they don’t shoot themselves in the foot again, this talented Weibo Gaming squad should be able to deal with Ninjas in Pyjamas.

Esports betting tips

Ultra Prime defeated Invictus Gaming in the first week of LPL 2024 Summer Placements, and they’re expected to win again. UP have managed three wins in six outings this split, whereas IG have just one.

Invictus Gaming have given us very little to feel excited about, but the same can be said about Ultra Prime. Besides beating Invictus, their only other victories came against the inconsistent Weibo Gaming.

On Sunday, Ultra Prime lost to Anyone’s Legend in one of the worst-quality series of the split. They took one map, but that means very little based on what they showed on the day.

Despite what the teams’ records suggest, Invictus Gaming and Ultra Prime are relatively equal quality-wise. And considering UP are offside for this match, Invictus are a very inviting bet at $2.39 with the best esports betting sites.

Anyone’s Legend have been up and down throughout LPL 2024 Summer Placements. They have beaten Ultra Prime (twice), Ninjas in Pyjamas (twice) and Invictus Gaming, but they’ve also had concerning showings against Weibo Gaming and Ultra Prime.

Even though Anyone’s Legend seem to be in a good position, they looked very questionable in two of their last three series, so perhaps they don’t deserve to be given a 64.5% implied probability of winning this series.

On the other hand, Weibo Gaming are unbelievably inconsistent despite having a high ceiling. Their transition from early to mid game is atrocious, and their decision-making is even worse.

Despite Weibo Gaming’s issues, there is nothing about the form of Anyone’s Legend that justifies their price. Take the generous odds for the outsiders to win.

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The 18-year-old’s arrival is part of a significant roster rebuild, which the Chinese team initiated following a concerning run through the LoL Pro League (LPL) 2024 Spring.

As one of the league’s most successful teams, Invictus Gaming haven’t accomplished anything since their semifinal appearance at the 2019 LoL World Championship. And despite not reaching a single LPL playoff stage in the 2023 season, IG decided to run it back with the same five in 2024.

Initially, Invictus saw some success and found themselves in the running for a mid-table finish. But they ran out of steam in the latter stages of the regular season, barely clinching a spot in the playoffs.

Unfortunately, their playoff run was rather short-lived, ending in the first round with a 2-3 loss to Weibo Gaming. Two months later, and with the summer season knocking on the doors, Invictus Gaming decided to rebuild.

A day after parting ways with jungler Lu “Leyan” Jue, mid-laner Yuan “Cryin” Cheng-Wei, and ADC Zhang “Wink” Rui, IG promoted top-laner Cheng “ZUIAN” Zi-Hao, jungler Li “glfs” Hao, and ADC Zhao “neny” Zhi-Hao from the academy roster and added Vampire as the new starting support.

Out of the four new arrivals, neny and Vampire are the only players with some experience in China’s top flight.

Vampire debuted in the LPL with EDward Gaming, who signed him as starting support for the LPL 2024 Spring season. He also attended the pre-season NEST 2023 and Esports Shanghai Masters 2023, which EDward won with a 3-1 victory over Gen.G in the finals.

Throughout LPL 2024 Spring, Vampire played 37 maps but posted somewhat underwhelming numbers. With a 29.7% win rate and 1.9 KDA, Vampire ranked as one of the worst supports in the league.

However, that number reflected his team’s performance more than Vampire’s talent.

Vampire will debut for Invictus Gaming in the newly introduced LPL Summer Placements stage, set to start on June 1. There, IG will play in Group D, alongside Anyone’s Legend, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Weibo Gaming, and Ultra Prime.

The event will feature all 17 teams, divided into four double round-robin groups based on their placement in the spring season.

All matches will be best-of-three series and include a unique ‘fearless draft’ rule, forcing teams to pick any champion only once during the series.

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Weibo Gaming picked up a huge victory on Friday when they swept JD Gaming and secured their spot in the LPL 2024 Spring playoffs. Before that, Weibo Gaming lost to LGD Gaming, and they didn’t look good in their two games against Bilibili Gaming and EDward Gaming either.

The big reason for Weibo Gaming’s mixed results is their lack of consistency in the mid-late game, which has been a major issue for this team for most of the split. They have the talent to do well, but as proven, Weibo Gaming is not to be trusted as a heavy favourite.

Invictus Gaming had an explosive start to the split but recently hit a bit of a slump and enters this match on a four-game losing streak with defeats against LNG Esports, FunPlus Phoenix, JD Gaming, and Oh My God. The first three defeats can be overlooked, but losing to Oh My God doesn’t look good.

Weibo Gaming is a better team quality-wise but far more inconsistent, whereas Invictus Gaming is in shaky form. Weibo Gaming should win, and they get to pick a side, but we can safely assume it’ll be a scrappy game that can go the distance.

Royal Never Give Up have looked very bad throughout most of the season but found some success last week when they swept the surging FunPlus Phoenix and secured their fifth victory of the split. That victory won’t help Royal Never Give Up reach the playoffs, but at least they showed some good qualities, which is also why they’re expected to defeat LGD Gaming.

LGD Gaming won both of their series last week against Weibo Gaming and Rare Atom. This is fairly impressive, but it’s not like seeing LGD Gaming win a couple of games is too shocking. They’ve been playing well over the last few weeks, but despite their solid performances, LGD Gaming has consistently struggled to close out games.

Royal Never Give Up are running hot with three wins from their last four series, but qualitatively, these two teams aren’t that much different. LGD Gaming also has a side choice, which makes them a much more appealing pick at plus money.

Esports betting tips

Ninjas in Pyjamas started LPL 2024 Spring strong and picked up seven wins in their first eight series. However, NiP enters this match on a three-game losing streak, with defeats against FunPlus Phoenix, Anyone’s Legend, and Weibo Gaming.

Seeing Ninjas in Pyjamas struggle isn’t surprising, as they’ve been pretty sloppy for most of the split and finally got punished for it – even by a weaker team in Anyone’s Legend. So, the question here is whether ThunderTalk Gaming will be able to take advantage of NiP’s weak macro.

ThunderTalk Gaming is 2-2 in their last four series; however, while they managed to defeat Royal Never Give Up and EDward Gaming last week; Ninjas in Pyjamas will be a much tougher opponent to overcome. TT Gaming’s macro isn’t that much cleaner, and their early game is significantly worse, so while it’s fair to doubt the favourites, ThunderTalk Gaming are just a weaker version of Ninjas in Pyjamas.

Invictus Gaming won their eighth series of the split on Saturday, with a 2-0 sweep of Anyone’s Legend. Still, Invictus Gaming were priced as favourites for that match, so seeing them win isn’t that shocking.

Over the last couple of weeks, Invictus Gaming have been performing better than expected, although they’ve not beaten any great teams since their 2-0 sweep of Bilibili Gaming after the Lunar New Year break. This will be a proper test for them.

LNG Esports are the complete opposite of Invictus Gaming, as a team that have been performing worse than expected. With a 4-7 record, LNG still have a lot of catching up to do and based on what they’ve shown recently, it’s difficult to say where they stand.

LNG have more than enough talent to do well, but they’ve not found any traction yet, and their loss against LGD Gaming on Friday doesn’t inspire much confidence either. Even though Invictus Gaming aren’t a great team, they’re playing cleaner League of Legends and are worth a shot at plus money.

Esports betting picks

Anyone’s Legend have been holding on well this split and enter their final match of LPL 2024 Spring Week 6 with a 7-4 record. Last week, Anyone’s Legend defeated Weibo Gaming and Ninjas in Pyjamas; however, they spoiled their streak with a humiliating defeat against Rare Atom on Thursday.

Invictus Gaming have also been outperforming expectations in hte League of Legends esports world, winning seven of their last 10 series. And like Anyone’s Legend, Invictus Gaming have produced both great and some questionable results over the last few weeks.

Form-wise, the two sides look fairly even, but we have to give Anyone’s Legend a nod as the more consistent team. Invictus Gaming tend to rely too much on top laner Chau “YSKM” Shu Tak, and against Anyone’s Legend solid top side; this might not be the optimal approach.

ThunderTalk Gaming and EDward Gaming have been struggling this split, and although they’ve shown some improvement lately, esports betting sites cannot seperate them. EDward Gaming took a map from Oh My God and defeated Rare Atom last week, to which they added a solid performance against Invictus Gaming on Tuesday.

ThunderTalk Gaming are 2-2 from their last four, with defeats against BIlibili Gaming and JD Gaming and two wins against Ultra Prime and Royal Never Give Up. Not the flashiest results, but they’ve only struggled against two LPL top dogs.

EDward Gaming have had their moments, but overall, they’ve not looked great, which makes it very difficult to stay optimistic about them and their chances to do well. ThunderTalk Gaming have a lot of work to do as well, but they’re slowly finding some traction and are easily the stronger team of the two.

Royal Never Give Up are in a very tough spot ahead of this match. They’re 2-8 and on a seven-game losing streak, meaning they’ve not won a game since the start of LPL 2024 Spring Week 2. Over that stretch, Royal Never Give Up haven’t shown anything noteworthy and seeing them lose to ThunderTalk Gaming at the start of this week only confirms that RNG have serious problems.

JD Gaming are not nearly as good as they were in 2023, but they’re still one of the strongest teams in the LPL. While their 8-1 record is a bit misleading, JD Gaming have been very efficient in crushing weaker teams.

With their explosive early game and strong macro, JD Gaming should run over Royal Never Give Up. Expect two quick, low-scoring maps.

Esports betting picks

Invictus Gaming defeated Bilibili Gaming in LPL 2024 Spring Week 4, and on Friday they added another strong showing against Top Esports. However, they also lost against Team WE and barely edged past LGD Gaming at the end of February.

Invictus Gaming are all about playing through top laner Chau “YSKM” Shu-tak, similar to most Kang “TheShy” Seung-lok teams. This can work both ways, but against weaker teams, YSKM tends to do well.

EDward Gaming have been gaining momentum over the last week, but despite beating Anyone’s Legend and Rare Atom, EDG are not a very good team. Their early-game metrics rank them last in the league, and that won’t do them any favours in this match.

Invictus Gaming aren’t as great as their record would suggest, but their solid early game and solid top side should be enough to secure a comfortable win on Tuesday.

Royal Never Give Up have not looked great this split, largely due to their poor macro. Despite doing relatively well in the early game, they look all over the place in the mid-late game.

RNG are 0-4 with defeats against Top Esports, LNG Esports, Rare Atom, and Team WE. While you can’t blame them for losing against TES and LNG, their defeats against WE and Rare Atom are concerning.

ThunderTalk Gaming had a rough schedule last week when they had to play JD Gaming and Top Esports and lost both series. TT had their moments in both games, while they’ve shown some flashes with a win against LNG and a close map against Bilibili Gaming.

ThunderTalk are overall a volatile team, and while you wouldn’t trust them to take down LPL’s top dogs, they’re a solid bet at plus money against another struggling team.

Esports betting tips

FunPlus Phoenix have been very inconsistent this split, as you’d expect from a fresh roster. They have produced some good games but just as many shaky showings, which makes it difficult to say how good this team is.

With a 2-3 record, FPX are in a decent spot ahead of their first match of LPL 2024 Spring Week 4; however, they’re up against one of the most stacked teams in the league. So, even if we expect FPX to show their good side, it’s hard to find a good reason to believe they can win.

LNG Esports have won just two of five series played so far. However, they’ve suffered just one bad loss – against ThunderTalk Gaming in the first week. The other two defeats came against two of the league’s top dogs: JD Gaming and Bilibili Gaming.

LNG Esports were dominant in their wins and had to play much stronger teams than FunPlus Phoenix. Both sides have had over a week to strategise for this match, and while this usually favours the underdogs, LNG should be too good for FPX on this occasion.

Bilibili Gaming have not moved from their spot as LPL’s top team since the opening week of the split. With consecutive 2-0 sweeps against Royal Never Give Up, Anyone’s Legend, EDward Gaming, and LNG Esports, this is the only squad in the league that is yet to lose a series in LPL Spring 2024.

Invictus Gaming enter the fourth week of the LPL 2024 Spring with a 4-1 record, which is excellent for their standards. However, while a 67% win rate looks impressive on paper, IG have beaten mostly weaker teams, including Ultra Prime, Rare Atom, ThunderTalk Gaming, and Royal Never Give Up.

Invictus have really only faced one good team this split – Ninjas in Pyjamas – and lost badly, so there’s no reason to believe they can do well against the best LPL team. Expect a very quick 2-0 result and two low-scoring maps.

Esports betting tips