LEC Winter Split: KOI and G2 Esports into UB finals, SK to meet MAD Lions in the LB semifinals

LEC Winter Split: KOI and G2 Esports into UB finals, SK to meet MAD Lions in the LB semifinals

Time Stamp: February 20, 2023 7:27 AM

The LEC Winter Split is heating up.

After an exciting week of group-stage action in the LEC Winter Split, we finally have our four finalists in the playoffs. KOI made light work of their group A opponents, dispatching SK Gaming and Team Vitality clean 2-0 sweeps to put themselves in the upper bracket finals of the playoff stage.

G2 Esports will join them in the upper bracket, topping group B despite a narrow 2-1 win against Team BDS before putting an end to MAD Lions in two 28-minute games. However, MAD are still in the running as they will be joined by this season’s LEC underdog, SK Gaming in the lower bracket semifinals.

The playoff bracket will be a best-of-five series for both sets of teams with KOI and G2 Esports taking place first. This is to determine who will be the first to qualify for the LEC Winter Split grand finals and who will greet the winner between MAD and SK. 

And even after the name change from Rogue, the defending champions now known as KOI have lived up to their standards during round-robin group stage match-ups. This comes after a shaky start during the regular season where they managed to qualify in seventh out of only eight spots to the group stage. But since then, they have worked to come out on top against the regular season table toppers like Team Vitality.

As for G2, they finished in fourth during the regular season, cementing themselves as a top-four candidate in the LEC Winter Split. However, this was almost taken away by fellow mid-table candidate Team BDS, who managed to go toe-to-toe against G2 in their opening series in the group stage. And after putting aside MAD with some ease, G2 have set themselves up to be one series away from a grand finals appearance.

KOI will be looking to add to their trophy cabinet with the former roster having already claimed last season’s LEC Summer Split title. This will also be a rematch of sorts for G2 with four-fifths of the KOI roster being the same ones that swept them 3-0 at last year’s LEC Summer Split grand finals.

As for the lower bracket semifinals, this season’s dark horse could very well be SK Gaming, who invested heavily in a brand new squad for the season and are now reaping the rewards. While most of these players have been around the scene for some time, none have truly stood out, until now that is.

They will be in for the fight of their lives however, with MAD looking to be in good form heading into the best-of-five. Having shaken off last season’s burnout after a blistering start to their sophomore season, MAD will be looking to go all out in the playoffs.

KOI will go up against G2 Esports later today at 1.00 am UTC +8. SK Gaming and MAD Lions will take place on February 25 at 1.00 am UTC+8.

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