The second week of the 2022 LEC Spring Split will include an exciting matchup between reigning champion MAD Lions and Rogue, who had a great start to the season so far.
With three rounds of games played in this LEC split, it’s time for two giants to face off against each other. It will be the current top team Rogue who will be up against MAD Lions. Both teams have made changes through the offseason, with MAD Lions betting on new young talent for both its mid and bot lanes. Meanwhile, Rogue has picked up a new jungler and bot laner who have both proven themselves well thus far.
It has been so great for Rogue that the team went undefeated in its first three games as one of the only two team in the league to do so alongside Fnatic. MAD Lions also had a good start to the split by beating out Team Vitality and G2 Esports, but did take an unexpected loss to SK Gaming. In that loss, MAD Lions showed signs of inconsistency and that the team might need more time to build up synergy.
Rogue took points against SK Gaming, Misfits, and Astralis in three solid performances where it stood clear that Rogue is coming for the trophy this season. What Rogue still needs is to prove itself against one of the expected top teams, so a win against MAD Lions could prove much.
For Rogue, it has been new jungler Kim “Malrang” Geun-seong who has been the key and an interesting player to follow. After being picked up from none other than DWG KIA, Malrang has already shown great play and impact on the map. Malrang can also be the key against MAD Lions, as he will be up against one of the more impactful junglers in Javier “Elyoya” Batalla.
If Malrang manages to beat out Elyoya in this match, it will be a very tough battle for MAD Lions as Rogue is usually unbreakable when the players get to play their controlled play style. To avoid this, MAD Lions will need to come out with aggression and try to disrupt the tempo of the game.
Whoever gets to dictate the tempo from the start of the game will also likely be the team to run to victory. Both teams have very different ways of approaching the game, so it really will be two opposites clashing in what could be a close game.
MAD Lions vs. Rogue rosters
MAD Lions roster:
- Top – İrfan “Armut” Tükek
- Jungle – Javier “Elyoya” Batalla
- Mid – Steven “Reeker” Chen
- Bot – William “UNF0RGIVEN” Nieminen
- Support – Norman “Kaiser” Kaiser
Rogue roster:
- Top – Andrei “Odoamne” Pascu
- Jungle – Kim “Malrang” Geun-seong
- Mid – Emil “Larssen” Larsson
- Bot – Markos “Comp” Stamkopoulos
- Support – Adrian “Trymbi” Trybus
MAD Lions slight favorites against Rogue in the LEC
Heading into this match, it will be one of the hardest to predict for this week’s games in the LEC. Based on previous performances, MAD Lions will be the team with a slight advantage according to the bookmakers, but that might be a mistake.
Rogue is currently sitting at a 3-0 record after a flawless first week while MAD Lions only has two wins to its name. Based on these recent performances, it’s risky to consider Rogue the underdog here. In the end, this match will come down to a matter of margins, but there’s value in betting on Rogue as an underdog. A small edge will be given by oddsmakers to MAD Lions, who will give odds of 1.75 for winning. Rogue will give a little more money in return at odds of 1.95. With odds this close, it all depends on who shows up on the day.
MAD Lions and Rogue will face off in the LEC for the first time this season on Friday, January 21.
