Team Vitality vs MAD Lions

Predicting the outcome of this one match feels nigh impossible. Vitality have a much better shot than the odds would suggest, but they're also amongst the most inconsistent, volatile teams in the LEC (if not the West). There's no telling whether they'll come out the gates swinging or implode at the first sign of trouble. They're like Jekyll and Hyde — they're comprised of two vastly different, opposing forces. Whenever they get on the same page and play to the best of their ability, they're undeniably one of the best teams in Europe. But that doesn't happen all that often. And even when it *does* it's at the most random of moments — you can hardly predict it.

So, naturally, betting on the MAD Lion makes a lot more sense, right? Well, not exactly. They haven't been quite as clean or commanding lately — and we're really putting it mildly here. Moreover, their loss to tenth-ranked SK Gaming also tells us that it might as well be time to sound the alarms. Dropping a game here or there isn't necessarily the be-all and end-all, but while most of their peers have been getting better and better, MAD Lions have either stagnated or, even worse, regressed in power and potential. Whether they're just burned out or need a bit of time to get back in the swing of things still remains to be seen, but it's hard not to be at least a little bit worred for their chances.

Vitality, on the other hand, looked quite good against G2 yesterday. It was a fairly solid showing, although they still made a bunch of unforced errors -- all of which were the result of their seemingly unparalleled drive to skirmish and engage. They're fun to watch but a nightmare to bet one. That's perhaps the simplest and most direct way of putting it. Still, the odds are so good that we might as well go with the "underdogs" on this one and hope for the best. They have all the right tools to get the "W" although it still remains to be seen whether they'll harness said tools and weapons once they step foot on stage to compete.