Esports action for Monday, March 8th takes us all around the globe as Michael Lee previews matches from LoL Pro League and the ESL Pro League Season 13. Check out Michael Lee's best Esports betting tips for the day here!
Esports Betting Tips: Monday, March 8th
Victory Five vs JD Gaming
LoL Pro League
The eighth week of League of Legends Pro League (LPL) Spring kicks off with a clash between Victory Five and JD Gaming, in what promises to be a very one-sided affair. The reigning LPL champions enter this match off a dominant 2-0 victory against eStar on Friday and while I don't like to overreact to one good performance, I have to say that was probably JDG's best series of the season.
The whole team played well, but I have to give special praise to two individuals. ADC Lee "LokeN" Dong-wook and support Zuo "LvMao" Ming-Hao were simply phenomenal and if they can continue putting up the same performances, we might start talking about a possible back-to-back LPL title for this team.
Victory Five lost their bout with Suning in what was a very weird series from them. This team proved they can be very good and are usually very consistent, but of late, V5 looked very out of character, which was also the case in their previous loss against LNG (0-2).
I'm not exactly sure what's happening with V5, but with the way they've been playing last week, it's hard to be overly optimistic about them going forward. This is a must-win game for V5 if they're serious about locking in a playoffs berth, however, I can't find a good reason to side with them against a team that is coming off their best performance of the season.
JD Gaming -1.5 Maps
$1.96
Complexity vs FunPlus Phoenix
ESL Pro League Season 13
Complexity were last seen competing two days ago at DreamHack Masters Spring 2021 Europe Closed Qualifier, where they played out two games against Movistar Riders (2-1) and OG (2-0), and won both. Although their bout with Movistar was somewhat close, Complexity completely demolished OG with 16-3 on Dust2 and 16-5 on Mirage.
After a period of underwhelming performances, Complexity finally field a complete roster and look very good. If they can also enable Justin "jks" Savage and get him to play at the same level he did back at 100 Thieves, Complexity will easily emerge as a proper top-10 team in the world.
FunPlus Phoenix have acquired the former GODSENT core at the start of the year and added Chris "chrisJ" de Jong as a stand-in. ChrisJ’s stint with the team, however, was rather short as he got quickly replaced by ex-ENCE player Miikka "suNny" Kemppi.
Since putting together their current roster, FPX have yet to play a game, whereas their core played out their last game a month ago, which is why I don't expect to see any exceptional performances from them. An additional concern I have with FPX is that they don't seem like a tactical team, but rather a more firepower-oriented squad, which won't do them any favours against more tactically sound teams such as Complexity.
With the way Complexity have been playing of late, I don't see how they can drop the ball against FPX. They might give up one map, but losing the series isn’t an option.
Heroic vs Renegades
ESL Pro League Season 13
Renegades have not long ago parted ways with their in-game leader Christopher "dexter" Nong, who left for mousesports, and replaced him with a young AWPer Alistair "aliStair" Johnston. Although a solid player, aliStair has zero international experience, having spent the entirety of his CS:GO career competing in regional tournaments, so I don't expect much from him or Renegades as a team.
Heroic made two big roster changes not long ago, replacing Johannes "b0RUP" Borup and Nikolaj "niko" Kristensen with Ismail "refrezh" Ali and Rasmus "sjuush" Beck from MAD Lions after their disappointing run at IEM Katowice. These two changes are an upgrade in my book, but the duo have yet to prove their worth, so I am a bit sceptical about how well they’ll do here.
Heroic should win this match, as they are a far more talented team, but these online matches are often very volatile, so it's possible we could be in for a close affair. I would be surprised to see Renegades win, but I believe they should be able to take one map off a team that is still working on adjusting to their new signings.
