BDS Academy vs Heretics: European Masters 2022 Final Predictions

After a month of edge-of-year seat action among Europe’s best League of Legends teams, the European Masters is nearly at an end. The top two teams from Group C are up against each other again, this time in a square-off for the title. The winner of the Grand Final will take home a $39,000 prize.

The contest is between  the Spain-based Team Heretics, winner of the LVP Summer, and Team BDS Academy who were the runners-up at France’s LFL Summer. It’s been a tight race to the finish line so far, and undoubtedly the last game of the tournament will see a tough fight.

BDS have been the standout team so far however, with a perfect run in the main event and playoffs. They’ve already beaten Heretics twice during their group stage too, so the League of Legends betting market indicates they’re natural favourites to lift the trophy.

LoL Predictions: Team BDS Academy to win

Odds: 1.31

Betting Site: Odds provided by GG.Bet

When: Sunday, September 25 – 17:00 CEST

Team BDS Academy

BDS have been in sublime form all summer. They were among the favourites to win the LFL and at one point, when they defeated LDLC in round two of the playoffs and surged into the finals, it seemed as if they might just get there. But a 1-3 defeat in the grand final saw LDLC claim the title, and BDS slipped to the runners-up spot.

Ever since the EU Masters began though they’ve been on a rampage with a perfect, unbeaten run in the tournament so far across the groups as well as the play-offs. They finished with a 6-0 record and a first place finish in their group, able to beat Team Heretics, SK Prime Gaming, and Valiance twice each without breaking a sweat.

Then BDS knocked Vitality Bee and Gameward out of playoff contention with disdain, winning both those games 3-0 and maintaining their immaculate record in the league. Their quarterfinal opponents Vitality Bee were just no match for the BDS juggernaut. Though they put up a fight in the third and deciding game, Vitality were simply swatted aside like flies. Gameward gave BDS a tougher contest in the semifinals, but Adam ‘Adam’ Maanane was right on the money.

The top laner was responsible for a whopping 21 kills over the course of three games, with bot laner Juš “Crownie” Marušič’s not too far behind with 16 total kills. Despite Gameward taking the aggressive route in the decider to try and save the series, BDS’ gold and tower advantage was simply too high for them to recover from. Considering that not a single team has been able to beat them this past month, it’s no surprise that the LoL predictions are skewed in favour of BDS.

Team Heretics

Heretics have returned to the competitive LoL circuit after a break of five years, and what a return it has been. Earlier this summer at the LVP they seeded second in the round robin, and after beating the Giants 3-0 in round two of the playoffs slotted directly into the final. They carried off a similar 3-1 defeat there as well against the same opponent, and were crowned the LVP champions.

It was a trajectory quite similar to BDS’ run at the LFL, except for the all-important ending – Heretics came in first, while BDS slipped to second.

They’ve carried that sublime form right into the masters. They seeded second in their group, having lost only two out of their six games to the same, indefatigable opponent. Their knockout stage wasn’t all smooth-going, but in the end the results went their way. In the quarterfinals they came up against Unicorns of Love Sexy Edition, who’re a tough, cohesive unit that are always difficult to beat unlike their name suggests.

Heretics took the lead in the first of the best-of-five but the Unicorns evened the scoreline in the next, and back and forth it went up until the series decider. Marcin “iBo” Lebuda and Jakob “Jackspektra” Gullvag Kepple took five and four kills respectively, while the others chipped in with three each.

Heretics will now appear in their second final in two months, and have made a terrific comeback into professional play. While the LoL odds tip BDS as the stronger team, you can count on Heretics to put up a hell of a fight.