The 2022 League Championship Series (LCS) is back for its summer edition. The LCS Summer Split contains 10 teams, who will first face off in a double round-robin format before the tournament moves forward into the playoffs stages.
Evil Geniuses, who still have a dark-horse narrative associated with their very first LCS triumph during the spring season, are marked as LCS outright favorites at the moment with odds of +195. Right there with them is Team Liquid with LCS betting odds of +195 despite finishing third in the spring season.
The spring runners-up, 100 Thieves, aren’t too far behind Team Liquid in the LCS summer outright odds table, though. They’re given odds of +220 of going on to win the summer split, with Cloud9 the outside option at odds of +450.
Before we look more closely at the LCS Summer Split, make sure to familiarize yourself with all things League of Legends betting, and let’s jump in.
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| Evil Geniuses | +195 |
| Team Liquid | +195 |
| 100 Thieves | +220 |
| Cloud9 | +450 |
| Flyquest | +1000 |
| TSM | +1000 |
Odds as of June 17 at Sportsbook
Favorites To Win In The LCS 2022 Summer Title Odds
Evil Geniuses (+195)
All things considered, this is turning out to be a fantastic year for Evil Geniuses. The Spring Split victory meant they pocketed $100,000 in prize money and qualified for the Mid-Season Invitational not long after. They’re coming fresh off the MSI now, in fact, having finished in the 3rd-4th bracket in Korea for a further $25,000 cash prize.
Their rise to being favorites is remarkable. They were thorough underdogs last time around who sprung up to beat all the big boys – Team Liquid and Cloud9 included – despite having a middling league stage and finishing fourth with a win rate of 50 percent. We expect them to better that win rate; they are on a different plane now than they were in the spring.
Team Liquid (+195)
Team Liquid was arguably the most dominant team in the Spring Split – before the playoffs, that is. They finished the league stage with a 78 percent win record, were the only team to form a winning streak of more than two games during that phase, and looked good to march all the way into the finals at that stage. Things then got close in the playoffs, starting with a 3-2 escape against Evil Geniuses and a 3-2 loss to 100 Thieves, then followed by an absolute 3-0 pounding at the hands of Evil Geniuses to eventually be knocked out.
They will think of that as a one-off glitch for an otherwise solid team rated favorites once again for the title. Since the Spring Split, they’ve brought on Haltham as the team’s new head analyst and that’s about the only significant movement in their roster.
Value Picks To Win In The LCS 2022 Summer Outright Odds
100 Thieves (+220)
Like most teams at the top echelons of the LCS, 100 Thieves will be grieving the end of their spring season. At the start of the Spring Split, there seemed to be little doubt that the joust for the title would eventually be between themselves and Team Liquid.
But, bygones are bygones, and both giants will have learned their lessons. Most importantly, that lesson was that league stage performances can mean little at the business end of the tournament. 100 Thieves will be wary of that, particularly given how they had drubbed EG during the league stages, only for the favor to be returned.
The Thieves roster remains much the same ahead of the Summer Split apart from two major moves. Tim Sevenhyusen has come on board as the director of esports analytics, while top lander Tenacity left for the academy roster less than two weeks before the start of the LCS.
Outside Picks To Win In The LCS 2022 Summer Outright Odds
Cloud9 (+450)
Cloud9 had a strong tournament last time around, but the end result has made it seem like that wasn’t quite the case. They finished second during the round-robin stages, with a win rate of 72 percent, which makes their pretty tame fourth-place finish seem even more sour.
They are, however, four-time champions at the LCS, and we think there is an opportunity in backing them given how long their odds are. They’re not a team doing as badly as outright odds of +450 would suggest. Expect them to be as solid as ever in the Sportsbook stages.
Betting Strategy for Sportsbooks of LCS 2022 Summer
We don’t think there is any point looking beyond the top four rated teams in the LCS 2022 outright odds. Evil Geniuses (+195) and Team Liquid (+195) are currently rated on par with each other, which we think is a bit of a disservice to Team Liquid; yes, EG is the current champion and in generally great form, but we don’t think it will be quite as easy to come in and dominate this season as the odds suggest.
Team Liquid and 100 Thieves (+220) are both teams that we think should have shorter odds than they’ve been given, and that is good news for long-term backers. There is a massive chance one or both of them will be in the finals come August and they won’t be available at such odds as the tournament gets into gear. So take a punt on one of them and the Evil Geniuses – at this early stage, that covers a lot of ground for your money.
