Free LPL Betting Picks 6/18
LPL Betting Picks 6/18
*All odds courtesy of Bovada.*
The LPL Summer Split continues to roll on, and we have another great card ahead of us. The opening match for the day will see the split surprise Victory Five back in action as they are set to take on Bilibili Gaming. The second contest of the slate has the makings to be a barn-burner as JD Gaming will battle it out with Royal Never Give Up. I've got a great take on both of these matches, and I'm excited to get back to LPL action.
Victory Five (-170) vs. Bilibili Gaming (+120)
Match Spread: Victory Five -1.5 Maps
Match Total: 2.5 Maps
Confirmed Starting Lineups
Victory Five: Biubiu, Weiwei, Mole, Samd, ppgod
Bilibili Gaming: ADD, l3est16, FoFo, Wings, XinMo
You may have to rub your eyes when you see this line. Yes, Victory Five is favored, and their 2-1 record should be a surprise for anyone after their horrendous Spring Split in which they didn't win a single round, much less a match. Meanwhile, Bilibili Gaming sits at 1-2 and they looked much better the third time around with their 2-1 upset over eStar Gaming. This contest is intriguing to me because I'm not ready to say that either of these teams have fixed all of their holes. Victory Five's two wins were against DMO and OMG which aren't impressive, although they were able to take a map in their 2-1 loss to LGD. Their opponent Bilibili Gaming lost to ViCi Gaming and FPX before an upset over eStar last match. Even though it's going to take a little more from either team to sell me on them, I do like Victory Five to handle business here in this contest. Their team has nice KDAs across the board with their lowest being Support ppgod's 3, meanwhile Bilibili's highest KDA is 2.47 from the Bot Laner Wings. If you're looking for a safer play, Victory Five's -170 moneyline is the way to go. I'm looking for a little more value though, so I am playing Victory Five's spread for a unit.
Pick: Victory Five Spread -1.5 Maps (+170)
JD Gaming (-235) vs. Royal Never Give Up (+165)
Match Spread: JD Gaming -1.5 Maps
Match Total: 2.5 Maps
Confirmed Starting Lineups
JD Gaming: Zoom, Kanavi, Yagao, LokeN, LvMao
Royal Never Give Up: New, XLB, Xiaohu, Betty, Ming
The second bout of the slate should feature some fireworks as the 1-1 JD Gaming will take on the 2-1 RNG. JDG had a nice debut against Suning with a 2-0 win, but things went south in their second contest as they took on Top Esports and fell flat with an 0-2 loss. RNG has two 2-0 wins over OMG and ViCi Gaming under their belt, but they took a horrible 0-2 loss to LNG in their last affair. Jungler Kanavi hasn't looked nearly as dominant this split, but Yagao and LokeN have done a good job of taking the reins during his slump. Meanwhile RNG has nice KDAs across their roster and look to have improved since spring. Bot Laner Betty is second in the LPL currently with a 9.17 KDA, and Mid Laner Xiaohu (7.75 KDA) and Jungler XLB (7.1 KDA) aren't far behind him. I can totally understand why JDG is favored and laying this big of juice given the level of competition that RNG has faced thus far, but JDG didn't look good against Top Esports when they faced their only tough task themselves. Over two and a half maps (+105) could certainly be worth a play given the talent on either team, but I am playing the underdog for a unit in this match. RNG is playing better as a team than JDG this split, and I believe that they can get the job done.
