Cloud9 Massive Favorites Over Evil Geniuses

Cloud9 has undoubtedly been the force of the LCS during the Spring Split, with a nearly perfect 17-1 record. They entered the playoffs by easily sweeping 100 Thieves and now will face off against Evil Geniuses with a place in the Finals on the line.

Of course, C9 are massive favorites for the Bo5 series with an astounding -1600 moneyline per Sportsbook. Before you think that this series is a foregone conclusion, keep in mind that over in the LEC, G2 Esports managed to lose to MAD Lions despite closing as a -1800 favorite.

C9, whose entire team was named as the All-Pro LEC team last week, have gone 2-0 in the split against EG with both games ending at the 30-minute mark. Jungler Robert “Blaber” Huang has been especially great against EG this split, going 13/2/19 through the two games. Though everyone on the C9 roster has been absurdly good this split, their lone loss came due to jungle play.

The lone loss for Cloud9 this season came at the hands of TSM in Week 7, thanks to some incredibly aggressive jungler play. Joshua “Dardoch” Hartnett was able to outplay Blaber and constantly pushed into the top lane to get kills against Eric “Licorice” Ritche. Dardoch was a microcosm of the play TSM employed in that game, prioritizing aggression more than anything else.

This aggression could be a template for Evil Geniuses in this series. However, Dennis “Svenskeren” Johnsen, the jungler for EG, is one of the least aggressive junglers in the LCS. Out of the 12 junglers to qualify, Svenskeren ranks 11th in kill participation and ninth in KDA. That being said, much like the rest of the team, Svenskeren has been playing his best LoL down the stretch, as he has refocused on playing Lee Sin.

EG managed to claim second place in the LCS Spring Split thanks to a late surge that has seen them go 10-2 in their last 12 games played, including their 3-1 series victory over Flyquest. One of those losses came at the hands of C9 and was, to be frank, a complete destruction. C9 outkilled EG 26-9, had a 16K gold lead and only gave up two towers.

All signs point to Cloud9 running through the LCS playoffs unopposed. However, Evil Geniuses are the second-hottest team in the LCS and have developed one of the best bot lane duos over the past couple of months.

Odds as of April 10 at Sportsbook