eSports has become the focus of the sports betting world, and one of the most widely competitive video game leagues is the League of Legends Pro League (LPL), currently in its ninth year in China. The League of Legends Development League (LDL) is a training league for players who could possibly move up to play in the LPL. For the Spring 2020 league, the LDL will have 26 teams, 17 as academy teams for LPL teams and nine as independent teams. The league uses a Swiss system format with five rounds overall, and matches are best of three. Let’s check the League of Legends Betting Odds.
eSports: League of Legends LDL Matches: April 16
Standings (through April 15)
- FunPlus Phoenix Blaze 1-0
- Royal Club 1-0
- Dominus Esports Y 1-0
- Joy Dream 1-0
- All Combo 1-0
- Invictus Gaming Young 1-0
- Legend Esport Gaming 1-0
- WanZhen Esports Club 1-0
- Legend Esport Y. 0-0
- Bilibili Gaming Junior 0-0
- EDG Youth Team 0-0
- LNG Academy 0-0
- OMD (Oh My Dream) 0-0
- SDX Gaming 0-0
- Team WE Academy 0-0
- Vici Gaming Potential 0-0
- 87 0-1
- LinGan e-Sports 0-1
- Victorious Gaming 0-1
- Young Miracles 0-1
- eStar.Y 0-1
- Rogue Warriors Shark 0-1
- Suning-S 0-1
- Triumphant Song Gaming 0-1
For the four matches on Wednesday, we’re dealing with teams that are making their season debuts. So when it comes to making picks, we’ll be looking back at their form in the LDL Summer 2020 season and playoffs.
Team WE Academy vs SDX Gaming (3:00 am ET)
Last season, SDX Gaming finished the regular season with a 17-7 record and took the third seed into the playoffs. Despite getting a bye to the quarterfinals, though, SDX lost to FunPlus Phoenix Blaze, the 11th seed, and finished in eighth in the playoff standings, which meant they walked away without any cash.
Team WE Academy settled for 20th place in the Summer 2019 regular season standings, with a record of 7-17. They won just 36% of their games overall. Given this disparity, until Team WE Academy establishes itself as an improved side, I’m taking SDX.
Prediction: SDX Gaming wins, 2-0.
Vici Gaming Potential vs OMD (3:00 am ET)
Vici Gaming Potential took the regular season title in the 2019 LDL summer standings, rolling to a 20-4 record, winning 74 percent of their games. However, in the playoffs, they finished out of the money, settling for fifth place after losing to EDG Youth Team in the semifinals.
OMD was just one game away from making the playoffs in the 2019 LDL summer season. They finished with a 13-11, identical with both Suning-S and Gama Dream. Like Suning-S, they won 55 percent of their games. However, Suning-S won one more game than OMD, edging out OMD for the last slot in the playoffs. So they should be coming in hungry, and Vici Gaming Potential may be taking them lightly coming in.
Prediction: OMD wins, 2-1.
Legend Esport Y. vs LNG Academy (5:00 am ET)
LNG Academy finished in the basement of the Summer 2019 LDL standings, with a record of 5-19 and winning just 31 percent of their games.
Legend Esport Gaming’s youth team finished in tenth place, going to the playoffs. However, they lost in the first round to Bilibili Gaming, failing even to qualify for the quarterfinals, let alone making the money rounds. Until LNG Academy shows that they have improved, it’s hard to argue that you should bet on them.
Prediction: Legend Esport Y. wins, 2-0.
EDG Youth Team vs Bilibili Gaming Junior (5:00 am ET)
EDG Youth Team made the most out of their ninth-place finish, riding their postseason wave all the way to the finals, where they lost, 3-1, to Invictus Gaming Young (the playoffs have a best-of-five format). Hope, EDG Youth’s star player, took second in MVP voting. That momentum should push them into the Spring 2020 campaign.
Bilibili Gaming finished seventh in the Summer 2020 LDL standings, winning in the first round of the playoffs but getting swept by Invictus Gaming Young in the quarterfinals. This is basically a toss-up on the basis of the summer standings, and EDG Youth could be a little overconfident after their deep playoff run, so I’m going with Bilibili.
Prediction: Bilibili Gaming wins, 2-1.
