The League of Legends 2019 MSI Group Stage Starts on May 10th
The preliminary rounds of the League of Legends 2019 the Midseason Invitational have ended. Six teams will advance to the MSI Group Stage and perhaps not surprisingly, these are the pre-tournament favorites. In the new phase of the competition, all these teams will play in the same group and will compete against each other. Action starts on May 10 around noon and it will conclude on Tuesday, with the top four teams to qualify for the semi finals scheduled for Friday, May 17.
SKT and Invictus Gaming are the MSI LoL Main Favourites
Only two teams will be eliminated at the end of the MSI 2019 Group Stage LoL and the final ranking of the qualifiers doesn’t matter. That’s because they will face each other in the semifinals, with the top two playing against the bottom two. SKT and Invictus Gaming are widely expected to survive the group stage and many regard them as the most likely MSI 2019 League of Legends finalists.
SKT will play the opening match on May 10 against G2 and they are credited with the first chance by ArcaneBet. The incredible comeback in the South Korean domestic league has propelled them to the top and they are expected to continue the good streak. Odds of 7/20 on the MSI 2019 League of Legends main favourites are worth considering, even though the series consists of a single match. This is how all the games will be played during the MSI Group Stage, so nobody can afford to make any mistakes.
The Invictus Gaming vs G2 match scheduled later in the day looks like the same lopsided affair, with the Chinese team in the driver’s seat. We get identical odds on the favorites to prevail, while those willing to bet on G2 will be paid off at 2/1 if they win. Invictus Gaming have finished second in the LPL at the end of the regular season, but looked unstoppable in the playoffs. These are the reigning champions and a vastly experienced team that thrives in elimination matches.
Team Liquid and G2 Should Survive the MSI Group Stage
As stated above, G2 have a terribly difficult mission in the opening day as they play against the best teams at the MSI 2019. They are likely to start the tournament with back-to-back defeats and will have to wait until Saturday, May 11 to secure the first victory. This could prove to be a decisive match, because the G2 vs. Team Liquid series could decide the third qualifying team. This will be the first match of the day and the American side is likely to have the advantage of superior confidence after early victories.
Team Liquid play on Friday against Flash Wolves and Phong vu Buffalo who had to go through qualifiers to reach the MSI 2019 Group Stage LoL. Rivalry prices a Team Liquid victory over Flash Wolves at 1/2, while a triumph over Phong Vu Buffalo benefits from odds of 3/10. Back-to-back wins against these opponents would virtually ensure their presence in the semi finals, but failure would add a lot of pressure on them in the match against G2.
Flash Wolves have struggled during the regular season and they’ve finished behind their archrivals, but have outplayed them in the playoffs. Odds of 3/2 offered on them to cause an upset in the opening match against their American opponents look quite tempting. They are, however, less likely to win the match against SKT, which is one the most lopsided games of the day, with odds of 33/10 on the underdog. Those who fancy accumulator bets should consider the possibility of adding this one on the same slip as Invictus Gaming vs Phong vu Buffalo. They can only expect odds of 1/10 at Betway on the League of Legends World Championship reigning champions, who are highly motivated to kickstart the MSI 2019 Group Stage LoL with the win.
Get Ready for the MSI Group Stage Derby
Six games are scheduled for Friday, but the most anticipated match of the entire MSI 2019 League of Legends group stage takes place the next day. At noon, SK Telekom and Invictus Gaming are scheduled to play the game that is likely to decide the winner of this phase of the competition. The match between the best two teams in the world is expected to generate a lot of enthusiasm among players and punters alike. Not surprisingly, major bookmakers such as Pinnacle, have already published the Mid-Season Invitational odds.
It was only natural that the MSI Group Stage derby would be the most balanced of all the games played in this competition. Each team gets identical odds of 19/20, which reflects the balance in head to head results and their excellent form. SKT still have some of the best players in the world and they have won more trophies than any other team in the world. On the other hand, Invictus Gaming has emerged as the team with the best synergy and they were absolutely dominant in 2018.
The odds are not expected to move sharply in any direction, as punters are fully aware that this match is the perfect coin flip. That’s why, the only way of avoiding a bet with 50% chances to succeed, at odds slightly below even value is to wager on the special markets. You can do so by betting on the team to score the first blood, to reach 5 or 10 kills first, as well as the total number of kills in the match.
