Gold MST Predictions
Hey guys, Toxin here! This week, BOL is heading into its first ever Mid Season Tournament, which is sure to be extremely exciting. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing how well the East stacks up against the West and viceversa. For the MST, Wakka and I have decided to do a rundown of how we expect the tournament to play out, as well as some key factors for each game. Let’s get into it!
ROUND ONE:
Goon Squad Gaming Sigma(East 1st Seed) vs Reign Gaming(West 8th Seed)
Key matchup: Bot Lane
I think that if Reign Gaming wants a chance at winning this game, they need to attack GSG’s bot lane. The top lane matchup is pretty even all things considered, and the bot lane matchup is where Reign Gaming can find themselves a lead. That being said, I expect this game to be a mid/jungle diff in favor of GSG. Winner: Goon Squad Gaming Sigma
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monkeys Rising (West 4th Seed) vs Singed Crab Shack (West 5th Seed)
Key matchup: Mid Lane and Jungle
I think of all the Round One matchup, this is the one that I’m the most hype for. I think that every lane can be considered a crucial one to watch, as the players are neck in neck in skill level. I think that for Monkeys Rising, the win conditions are bts jungkoop and Chinese Spy. If they can get the latter on a pick that SCS are unable to play against, the Monkeys can easily take over the game and win. That being said, Singed’s Crab Shack take the advantage when it comes to Top lane, with number one ranked VIN0 holding down the fort. This will be a close one and I can definitely make arguments for it going either way. At the end of the day, I took the safer route and chose Singed Crab Shack.
Winner: Singed Crab Shack
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CB X (West 2nd Seed) vs Literal Monkeys (East 7th Seed)
Key matchup: Bot lane
This matchup is really a tale of which roster with the Literal Monkeys throw out there. Will they use their best possible lineup? Or will they be scrambling last minute and throwing in Esubs? If we do end up getting the Riv60/NoName vs Wunderworld/Just Bobo matchup in the bot lane, I think that for sure is what I want to watch, as that could be an area that the Monkeys could have an edge in. But, I’m gonna stick with my gut feeling and have CB X winning this handedly.
Winner: CB X
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Limitless Excel (East 3rd Seed) vs Nitwits in Purgatory (West 6th Seed)
Key Matchup: Top Lane
I think where this matchup becomes lopsided is in the top lane matchup. C0nquers is one of the best top laners in the gold league, whereas xL PhYsiOloGY is a middle of the pack player that is still getting his feet wet in the league. I expect a sizable gold lead to come in the top lane in favor of Limitless Excel, which will lead to their victory.
Winner: Limitless Excel
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conduit Esports (West 1st Seed) vs Revolution Gold(East 8th Seed)
Key Matchup: Mid Lane?
I’m gonna be honest, Revolution Gold have not given me any hope that they will be able to win this game. There’s not really a lane on paper that I can look up that gives me a shadow of a doubt that they can take on and beat Conduit Esports. I’ll put Mid lane as the matchup to watch for now, but unless Conduit comes into the game sleeping, this should be a quick victory for them.
Winner: Conduit Esports
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Big Duck Entourage(East 4th Seed) vs Nails and Day Spa(West 5th Seed)
Key Matchup: Top and Mid lane
This is another matchup that I don’t really have a clue on who will end up winning. After only watching BDE play one match as a team, I’m not really sure what their win conditions are as a team. All I gathered from that match was that if JayJ does well, everyone else is struggling, and viceversa. On the opposite side of the coin is NADS, which have rumors swirling of a potential roster blow up in the near future. I think they are the better roster on paper, but if they don’t want to play with each other, one small mistake can cause a blowup where it normally wouldn’t. I think with both teams having unstable environments, I’m gonna give the edge to Nails and Day Spa. But, I wouldn’t be surprised if things went the other way.
Winner: Nails and Day Spa
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Radiant Storm Onslaught (East 2nd Seed) vs Krakens of Love (West 7th Seed)
Key Matchup: Jungle and Mid Lane
I think that if Krakens of Love want to stand a sliver of a chance in this matchup, they need to find a way to deal with MinuteMilitia. At the time of writing this, I have no idea who the starting jungler is for KOL, so that doesn’t really inspire much faith in me. I will say that the matchup of TheForgotten0ne vs Dark Evil Natsu could lean in favor of KOL and potential reason why RSO can lose. That being said, that’s a pretty large task for TheForgotten0ne, and I don’t think he will be able to clutch it out
Winner: Radiant Storm Onslaught
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Imperial Gaming(West 3rd Seed) vs NSG Gold(East 5th Seed)
Key Matchup: Mid Lane and Top Lane
This is a matchup that I think will be decided solely by the solo laners. I think that on paper, Imperial Gaming is favored in every single lane. For NSG Gold, their bot lane is the most likely to be able to weather the upcoming storm ahead, but I don’t have as much faith in their solo laners. If they are able to hang on though, they could just as easily win. Imperial Gaming is a team that can be very coinflip, so perhaps NSG Gold will catch them on an off game and beat them.
Winner: Imperial Gaming
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
QUARTERFINALS:
Goon Squad Gaming Sigma(East 1st Seed) vs Nails and Day Spa(West 5th Seed)
Key Matchup: Bot Lane
I think that for both teams, the most question marks come in the form of bot lane. I fully expect Physical vs Diete and BTG vs Trajen to be evenly matched in these games. Really what I’m looking at is to see if 7ruX and Kleio are able to punish ThatDeckerGuy’s roams. If they can get BaaMMM behind, they have a chance to win the game. The opposite side of the coin is also true: if GSG can topple their bot lane, the game will be smooth sailing for them. I think it's much more realistic that Sigma is able to accomplish their win condition than for NADS to leverage any sort of a lead.
Winner: GSG Sigma
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conduit Esports(West 1st Seed) vs Singed’s Crab Shack(East 5th Seed)
Key Matchup: Top Lane
I think that there’s a decent chance that SCS can take home the victory here. Conduit has been known for occasionally dropping a game to teams much worse than the Crab Shack, and I expect Top lane to be the biggest area of contention. I think it goes a long way if Skwigg is able to hold on into VIN0 in the top lane. I think that in my eyes, I want to bet on the veteran presence on Conduit to put them over the top. But I can just as easily see SCS pulling an upset.
Winner: Conduit Esports
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CB X(West 2nd Seed) vs Limitless Excel(East 3rd Seed)
Key Matchup: Mid Lane
Come on, you know I had to put the battle of the former Twin Disasters/VBU Argon mid laners as the key matchup. Buckbee currently holds the best IER of all players in the league, but was the benchwarmer to Kaiten the last two splits. I think LXX will come out the gate strong and should be able to match up well with their opponents, but I have a lot of faith in CB X just barely beating their opponents in every role.
Winner: CB X
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Radiant Storm Onslaught(East 2nd Seed) vs Imperial Gaming(West 3rd Seed)
Key Matchup: Bot lane
This should probably be the streamed match of this round. I think these two teams matchup pretty well in most lanes. What I’m most excited to see however is the bot lane matchup of Moekaizer/Wakka vs Paradigm/Rin. These are probably two of the best bot lanes in the entire league matching up against one another,