On paper, 100 Academy are the higher-seeded team for this match, finishing with an 11-7 record compared to EG Academy’s 9-9. Advanced gold metrics actually rate EGA higher, though, with +0.46 GPR and +2.8% GSPD to 100A’s +0.17 GPR and +1.3% GSPD.
But 100A’s addition of Kenvi for the final three weeks makes things a bit more complicated. In those six games, 100A put up +0.38 GPR and +6.8% GSPD, a very small improvement despite the team putting together a 5-1 record to close the season.
There is no clear favourite for this series; it’s going to come down to preparation and mental strength.
With TSM’s 2-0 advantage in the season series and plenty of recent momentum, including a win over Cloud9 in week 8, Bjergsen et al. should be confident coming into this Quarterfinal. But the Golden Guardians have been consistently slept on all year and have routinely performed above expectations, earning their own win over Cloud9 earlier in the same week and ending the season with the second-best EGR and GPR in the LCS.
If the Golden Guardians can make the series all about the early game, they have a great shot to advance. But if TSM can weather the storm and find ways to scale, their superior mid/late play should see them move on.
Golden Guardians Academy and Counter Logic Gaming Academy split their season series 1-1, and GGA only picked up one more win against the rest of the field, finishing 10-8 to CLGA’s 9-9. That paints this as a very close on-paper matchup.
But gold metrics tell a more nuanced story, creating some separation between the teams: GGA actually led all Academy teams in GPR with +0.93, meaning they spent most of their time playing with a gold lead, while CLGA finished 7th in GPR at -0.29. GGA created those leads with the league’s best early game (67.8 EGR); they just failed to close out their leads as much as they should, ending with the 9th-ranked MLR (-12.3), which gives CLGA a window of opportunity, with their 4th-ranked MLR of +6.8.
