G2 Esports vs. MAD Lions: 2021 LEC Spring betting analysis

The 2021 LEC season is finally here and will be starting with a banger between defending champions G2 Esports and the wild cards from MAD Lions. 

What was a competitive and exciting matchup last year will be opening the 2021 LEC season. G2 made one of the biggest moves in the offseason by sending Luka “Perkz” Perković to Cloud9 in the LCS, followed up by signing Martin “Rekkles” Larsson from Fnatic. 

This move not only shocked fans but will also be one of the most exciting storylines to follow in the 2021 season. Rekkles is one of the biggest names in European League of Legends and will now be playing with the best roster Europe has ever produced. Whether Rekkles and G2 will fit together is hard to predict, but the match against MAD Lions will likely be a good indicator. 

While G2 stole all the headlines in the offseason, MAD Lions has also been making moves in recent months. For the upcoming season, MAD Lions will be fielding two new faces in the LEC. The first one is top laner İrfan “Armut” Tükek who helped knock MAD Lions out of the 2020 World Championship. In the jungle is Javier “Elyoya” Prades, who previously played in the Spanish LVP league and will now get a shot on the big stage. 

Just like last year, MAD Lions is fielding a young, talented lineup that could end up as a dark horse once again. The team is looking to notch upsets against LEC giants like last year, where MAD Lions miraculously managed to take down G2 in a best-of-five series. 

This time around, the key matchup will likely be in the mid lane where MAD Lions’ Marek “Humanoid” Brázda has to match G2 mid laner Rasmus “Caps” Winther for his team to stand a chance. The bot lane will also be interesting since Rekkles gets a chance to prove himself against the talented MAD Lions duo of Matyáš “Carzzy” Orság and Norman “Kaiser” Kaiser. 

G2 Esports vs. MAD Lions rosters:

G2 Esports: 

• Top – Martin “Wunder” Hansen
• Jungle – Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski
• Mid – Rasmus “Caps” Winther
• Bot – Martin “Rekkles” Larsson
• Support – Mihael “Mikyx” Mehle

MAD Lions: 

• Top – İrfan “Armut” Tükek
• Jungle – Javier “Elyoya” Prades
• Mid – Marek “Humanoid” Brázda
• Bot – Matyáš “Carzzy” Orság
• Support – Norman “Kaiser” Kaiser

G2 Esports is expected to beat MAD Lions in LEC

The matchup itself will likely deliver on all fronts, with a lot of kills and great individual plays. With that said, G2 simply looks too strong on paper and MAD Lions will probably need more time to synergize. The game is still a best-of-one, but anything outside a clean G2 victory would be a surprise.

The bookmakers agree that G2 is the big favorite, as a win for the defending champions only gives odds 1.31 while MAD Lions pays out 3.15.

The opening match of the 2021 LEC season between G2 Esports and MAD Lions kicks off on January 22.