After a dynamic lock-in phase, the LCS’ traditional spring season finally opens this weekend with two rounds of fixtures on Saturday and Sunday. After Team Liquid eased to the lock-in title last weekend, they will be buoyed but will face the defending LCS champions in 100 Thieves in the opening weekend. Where to place your LoL bets?

We take a look.

Liquid and 100T open with a blockbuster

The blockbuster fixture of the opening round of fixtures is undeniably the lock in winner Liquid facing the LCS champions of 2021 in 100 Thieves on Saturday. Team Liquid bludgeoned Evil Geniuses in straight maps in the final of the lock in last weekend. They have one of the deepest, most reliable rosters around after some shrewd acquisitions.

Liquid start as favorites, at odds of 1.55 against 100 Thieves, which aren’t too bad actually. Liquid will have a new mid and bot laner pairing after the acquisitions of Hans Sama and the now out of retirement Bjergsen. In the lock in, Hans Sama had 4 kills, 1.45 deaths and 5.27 assists per map at a KDA of 6.38 and a creep score of 316 while Bjergsen managed returns of 3.23 kills with 0.62 deaths and 6.38 assists at a sensational KDA of 15.63 and a creep score of 287.69.

Over in 100 Thieves, they will also have some new personnel to rely on, including FBI in the bottom lane of Summoner’s Rift. Interestingly, they could even look at the jungle for some offensive production after Closer managed 4.17 kills, 1.83 deaths and 5.83 assists at a KDA of 5.45. 100 Thieves will have to find their best against Liquid, which I can’t foresee yet. Liquid, Cloud9 and Evil Geniuses in a parlay is not a bad place to start the LCS.

Cloud9 looking good in 2022

There is an interesting betting opportunity in Cloud9. If you saw even part of the LCS lock in, you may have seen glimpses of Cloud9 of 2020. That was about the time we last saw Cloud9 perform to par. They had then dominated their aggressive approach through the lanes.

Zven and Fudge in particular were sparkling in the lanes in the lock in. Here are their returns from the lock in. Fudge was in stunning form in the mid lane, with 3.8 kills, 2 deaths and 5.4 assists per game at a KDA of 4.6 and a creep score of 283.9. Zven in the bot lane pretty good too, with returns of 3.7 kills, 2.4 deaths and 4.8 assists at a KDA of 3.54 and a creep score of 284.6. This star mid and bot laner pair make Cloud9’s low odds of 1.20 on Betway against Golden Guardians quite compelling.

Maybe add them as part of your parlay? – I would.

EG vs TSM

The new split opens with lock-in runners up Evil Geniuses facing TSM. Evil Geniuses were beaten 3-0 by Liquid in the final of the lock in, but displayed plenty of promise right through their roster. TSM, on the other hand, were forced to field their Academy roster with multiple Covid-19 issues. That resulted in them finishing the lock in at the bottom of Group A with a 1-3 record.

Evil Geniuses have relied on a much-improved bot laner in Danny, who produced returns of of 4.08 kills, 1.5 deaths and 5.67 assists at a KDA of 6.5 along with a creep score of 290.75. He was helped in the middle lane by Jojopyun, who had returns of 3.67 kills, 2 deaths and 6.08 assists per map at a KDA of 4.88 with a creep score of 267.25. If these two continue to dominate the lanes, EG should have a stunning season.