EU Masters 2022 Predictions and Picks

The European Masters Summer Main Event is into its second week, and the groups B and D have already confirmed their top two seeds. LDLC OL and X7 Esports topped group B with an identical 5-1 record, and the former won the tie-breaker to seal the top seed. Gameward had a perfect unbeaten run in Group D, winning all six of their games and finishing first place, followed by Dusty with four wins and two losses.

Groups A and D are halfway through their matches, each team three down with three to go. In Group A, the LoL predictions suggest that Unicorns of Love Sexy Edition and ⁠Vitality.Bee are expected to go through, the former having won all their games so far.

From the last group Team BDS Academy  and ⁠Team Heretics are in the lead, 3-0 and 2-1 respectively. All four teams from Group A will play on Friday, the bottom two Zero Tenacity and Giants contesting each other, along with the top pair Unicorns and Vitality.

Zero Tenacity vs Giants

This match is a do-or-die considering how both teams are placed at the moment, and are meeting for the second time in the event. Tenacity are still winless, while Giants have just one victory so far – against the same opponent. The former have practically no chance of making it through at this point, but there is still hope for the Giants.

If they do manage to pull off improbable victories against Vitality and ULSE on Thursday, as the League of Legends betting market predicts they will, then beating Tenacity might be their one shot at seeding through.

Zero Tenacity

Tenacity are on the brink of elimination, with only a mathematical chance of breaking into the top two. They faced Giants in their opening game, and in terms of kills was very closely contested. The game witnessed over 40 kills in total, and spanned over 43 minutes. Tenacity were more than willing to attack, but didn’t focus on other aspects of their game.

Giants were more focused on building their lead, and pulled through in the end. Their next game against Unicorns was a lot more one-sided, and Tenacity only managed seven kills to 18 with a gold deficit of more than 10k. On the third day Vitality took them to the cleaners, leaving Tenacity floundering at the bottom of the standings.

Giants

The only game Giants have managed to win so far is against bottom-placed Tenacity. They employed an aggressive but well-thought-out strategy, so while Tenacity were up to their neck in kills, Giants quietly accumulated 11 towers, six Inhibitors, two Barons and a gold lead of over 5k. From that unassailable lead it was easy to take the game home.

Unfortunately they were completely outclassed in their following games by two top-tier teams, Unicorns and Vitality. Unicorns’ gold lead was over 13k, and their high tower count kept them well ahead. Giants’ game against Vitality told a similar story, and they slumped to two losses in three games.

Unicorns of Love Sexy Edition vs ⁠Vitality.Bee

Provided no upsets take place on Thursday, these two teams are most likely to go through from Group A. At the time of writing Unicorns have had an unbeaten run, while Vitality have lost only one so far.

Vitality will want to win this one because it’s their chance at top seed, which should give them an advantage in the single-elimination style playoffs. If they do defeat Unicorns, which LoL odds indicate is unlikely, the two will play a tie-breaker to decide the first seed.

ULSE

Unicorns have had a perfect run so far, even beating one of the top teams in the tournament quite easily in their opening game. Lukas “Lurox” Thoma and Lee “Ruby” Sol-min led the charge with six kills apiece, and Unicorns claimed close to 58k in gold. The seven towers and four dragons gave them an excellent advantage to close out the game.

No one expected Unicorns to take down one of the best LoL teams in the world, but it happened and Vitality were left with a lot of questions after the game. If they can carry on in this form, they might just give the other top teams in the tournament a run for their money as well.

Vitality.Bee

Vitality’s shock defeat to Unicorns at the start of the tournament served as a harsh wake-up call. Given the fast-paced nature of the event they had little time to pull themselves together, but returned to their usual form against Giants and Tenacity. Vitality placed third at the LFL summer, getting knocked out of the semi-finals by eventual champions LDLC, a hard-fought series that went down to the fifth and final game.

It was a tough loss to take, but they rallied admirably at the play-ins to seal their spot in the Masters. A team of Vitality’s calibre will know that the hardest part is yet to come, and they certainly have the capacity to get past it.