Week 9 was a weird one for EG. From beating C9, to taking an L to TL and finally, beating an Academy team. This was a strange week, but at the end of it EG placed third. While this prevents them from getting a bye, it’s not all doom and gloom. EG get the easier of the matchups as a result of the higher seedings and plays against Dignitas on Saturday, August 7. Dignitas are one of three teams to have a winning record against EG. The others being IMT and TL. One may look at that and think Dignitas stands a chance. Let’s be clear, they really don’t. EG will slaughter Dignitas.
Bot Lane:
Bot Lane is by far the strongest part of Dignitas right now. Neo and Aphromoo are a surprisingly strong duo. In TheGameHaus’ recent interview with EG Head Coach Peter Dun, he even said that their Bot Lane is the scariest part of the team. While Neo has some bad stats such as XPD@10 being the lowest in the LCS, Danny is right above him at 9. Neither of these two ADCs are known for strong laning. They are teamfight monsters and help win the game usually playing weakside. Despite this, Neo has a better GD@10 and CSD@10 than Danny. Danny does eek out Neo with DPM and KDA. Both of these ADCs have the potential to take over a later game fight. If EG is to lose, it’s probably going to be due to Neo.
But Bot Lane isn’t just a one person lane, it’s a duo. Aphromoo as mentioned earlier has played great, but IgNar outclasses him. IgNar has the best GD@10, XPD@10 and CSD@10 in the LCS for supports. He also has the second highest KDA and fourth best WPM. IgNar just is better.
The way this lane will probably play out is Dignitas are going to try to go for kill lanes to take advantage of Danny’s weaker laning and IgNar wanting to roam. Expect Akaadian to camp Bot Lane as well. This is really the only way that Dignitas can win. If Danny ints and IgNar is unable to roam / get his usual advantages it could be rougher for EG.
Despite this, a lost lane is not GG. Look at the 100T game from Sunday. Sure, it was versus an Academy team, but Danny got smashed in lane, but still was able to come back and get big later. Danny won’t dominate lane, but he will play the mid and late game better. That is what everyone expects out of him.
Honestly this lane is probably a tie in who is better. Both teams have pros and cons.
Mid:
Mid is really not even a contest. Jiizuke is better than Soligo or Yusui. Jiizuke has the best XPD@10, DPM and CPM of all Mid Laners in the LCS. It’s really not even a contest stat wise to be honest. Furthermore, Jiizuke’s unorthodox picks is a huge advantage for EG. In the same interview with Peter Dun, he discussed how even if teams ban his Ryze and LeBlanc like this weekend, they will still win mid. He played TF and Syndra to a masterful level and showed he isn’t a one trick. Peter Dun also mentioned how there are more Jiizuke picks in the pipeline that we have yet to see, some that aren’t even Mid Laners in a traditional sense.
Unfortunately for Yusui, he is going to be shoved in early and outclassed. There is a chance Jiizuke has a hard int game, but that hasn’t happened for a few weeks. Nevertheless, it’s worth throwing out there. Mid is certainly EG favored.
Jungle:
Despite Dignitas having a winning record versus EG, they have not won with Akaadian yet against them. Every win was with Dardoch. Furthermore, EG now has two Junglers who are both monsters. Contractz and Svenskeren are a great pair to be able to swap between. Generally, Contractz is much more agressive and plays more carries. This isn’t to say Svenskeren can’t. They both play champs like Diana or Viego. The difference is Contractz plays to carry while Sven usually plays for the lanes.
Now despite having two of the best Junglers in the LCS on EG, Akaadian is not a pushover. Actually, he has a very respectable split on a weaker team. His GD@10 is 115, CSD@10 is -1.7 and XPD@10 is 92. That’s not bad at all. His DPM is also among the highest in the LCS of regularly starting Junglers at 374. In most other stats, he is middle of road. The thing is, despite this, Contractz and Svenskeren generally have him beat. In the @10 stats, both of them are higher. DPM wise, Contractz is higher with Sven is slightly lower. Plus, Akaadian needs to prep for two Jungle matchups, which is quite hard.
Akaadian deserves more respect than he is getting, but EG still outclasses him. Expect a high priority on the EG side for Diana and Viego with possible picks like Volibear and Xin. Akaadian has been a lot more experimental with picks like Zac and Kayn. He still plays the OP stuff as well such as the previously mentioned Diana and Viego. We could see some wonky stuff, but EG is still favored here.
Top:
Finally, Top Lane. Let’s start with FakeGod. FakeGod had an incredible Spring Split showing that he had the ability to win lanes and take over games. Despite the great Spring, his Summer has been incredibly underwhelming. His laning stats are worse than Solo and are at the bottom of the LCS. His DPM and KP are the second lowest in the LCS. When KDA is FakeGod’s best stat that’s when you know he isn’t playing well.
Well. @Impact just had the highest GD@10 (+2,801) in #LCS history. Like. The whole thing. In any lane. Ever.
— LoLEsports Stats (@LoLEsportsStats) July 18, 2021
Now a certain event happened last time Impact and FakeGod met. It was the highest GD@15 in LCS history. It was +2,801 as Impact’s Renekton ran circles around the Dignitas Top Laner and prevented him from getting CS or XP. To say it was disgusting is an understatement.
So word to the wise, ban Renekton unless FakeGod wants a round 2. Impact is straight up going to win this lane. Generally, him and Fudge are Top 2 in every stat for the lane with some notable exceptions like DPM, but that’s probably due to the champs more than bad play. EG wins Top Lane.
TLDR:
EG should win every lane with the possible exception of Bot Lane. This series really shouldn’t be that close. EG has the advantage in pick ban with a few “must bans” like Renekton and Ryze all while having a vast champ pool and better players. A 3-0 #EGWin would not be shocking.
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