MAD Lions vs Origen

The LEC, much like the LCS, is in a state of absolute chaos. No one's quite sure what's going on, but it's like not even a single team can maintain a certain level of play for longer than a week or, at best, two. Everyone's struggling for one reason or another, and that means betting on the favorite has never been this hard. It's like there's no favorite at all, with underdogs and bottom-tier dwellers taking games off of top-tier behemoths with staggering ease.

No one has a clue what's going on, especially given the fact that we're so darn close to the end of the regular portion of the split. Still, with the playoffs being right around the corner, it's fair to assume that teams will stop experimenting and start drafting comfort picks from start to finish. The margin for error is non-existent, and even a single game can be the difference between competing for a shot at the LEC title or waiting things out on the sidelines for the remainder of 2020. Once this week concludes, we'll have a fairly good idea on who's good and why, and whether or not they have a chance of leaving a mark once all is said and done.

Still, even amidst all of this chaos, two teams managed to stand out and shine bright: MAD Lions and Rogue. Now, granted, MAD Lions have shown much more potential overall, but Rogue aren't all that far behind, at least not on a good day. They'll face Origen next which is quite an entertaining clash stylistically speaking. We have one extremely aggressive team that's always looking for an opening, and another that's the quintessential LCK copycat. These styles differ in more ways than one, and watching them clash will be an absolute must. Of course, the MAD boys are favored to get the win and with good reason. They're better in almost every regard and have proven their worth on more than one occasion.

This would've been a much harder prediction to make had Origen not imploded beyond measure last week. Once they brought Jactroll over, they actually looked like a team with renewed vigor. They played at a much more aggressive pace, they fought for every inch of the Summoner's Rift and actually looked good in the process. But that honeymoon phase didn't last long -- in fact, not even two weeks. Jactroll finished last week's games with a 0/13/4 KDA across two games, and while Origen did lose (which invariably affected his final score), there's still no excuse for performing so badly and being out of position on so many different occasions. Overall, all of that hype they had came crashing down in quite dramatic fashion.

Now, if they were up against any other team, this would've been much harder, but with MAD being as talented and in sync as they are, they shouldn't have too big of a problem in taking Origen down. If they draft as well as they can and find a way to shut Alphari down, they're almost guaranteed to win. Still, with so many upsets happening right now, it feels like there's no certainty whatsoever.

Either way, we should be in for one heck of a game.