by Invictus Gaming vs FunPlus Phoenix LPL betting info
- LPL match odds: IG +165 at BetOnline | FPX -232.56 at BetOnline
- LPL betting lines: IG +1.5 at -175.44 | FPX -1.5 at +125
- When: January 13, 2020 at 17:00 CST
- Watch live: Lolesports, Twitch
Invictus vs FPX LPL Spring betting preview
The 2020 League of Legends Pro League Spring Split will kick off on Monday, January 13, with a must-watch clash between the former and reigning world champions Invictus Gaming and FunPlus Phoenix.
Invictus made a name for themselves with their incredible run in 2018, but they suffered an up and down season in 2019 which culminated with a third-fourth place finish at the 2019 LoL World Championship.
IG started the 2019 season with a second-place finish in LPL Spring and a gold medal in the Spring playoffs. Shortly after, they suffered a huge upset when they dropped the ball against Team Liquid in the semi-finals of the 2019 Mid-Season Invitational, which began a five-month period of lacklustre results. IG went on to finish fourth at NEST 2019, second at Rift Rivals, sixth in LPL Summer and seventh-eighth in the Summer playoffs.
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Song “Rookie” Eui-jin and co. were on the verge of missing out on the 2019 Worlds, but they managed to find their stride and edged past JD Gaming and Top Esports in the 2019 Regional Finals to secure a ticket for Berlin. There, they IG failed to defend their title as they crashed out at the semis against FPX.
In a bid to enter 2020 stronger, IG decided to part ways with their top laner Lee “Duke” Ho-seong and ADC Yu “JackeyLove” Wen-Bo, who were replaced by former ViCi Gaming member Ding “Puff” Wang. Besides ADC changes, IG also signed two supports in academy graduate Peng “Fate” Jun-Jie and former ViCi member Su “Southwind” Zhi-Lin.
Whether IG made the right move to part ways with JackeyLove is up to debate. The fact that they finished the Demacia Cup at the 13th-16th place would suggest the move has weakened the team, but it is worth noting his replacement played exceptionally well.
Puff was by far the best ADC of the tournament despite playing only two games. His 14.75 KDA was far above any other player and his 9.94 CSPM was up there with the top four ADCs. He also ended the tournament with 89.4% KPAR and averaged the second-highest GPM (473). With the bottom lane performing so well, the reason for IG’s poor finish must lay somewhere else.
While we talk about poor results at the Demacia Cup, FPX were not much chop either. Just like their compatriots, FPX crashed out of the tournament in the group stage, where they defeated Suning and ViCi but fell flat against Team WE and LinGang e-Sports.
It was rather shocking to see FPX crash out like that, considering they won all three events prior to the Demacia Cup in the LPL 2019 Summer regular season, Summer playoffs and LoL World Championship. If we look at the roster which played at the tournament, however, things become much more understandable.
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Instead of fielding their star roster, FPX entered the Demacia Cup with five academy members in Li “xiao7” Zhong-Qi, Xie “Mingjing” Ming-Jing, Zhang “April” Jun-Chao, Ye “Yoghurt” Zhi-Wei and Guo “ppgod” Peng. While xiao7, Mingjing and April were promoted to the main roster back in December, they are still academy players.
FPX will enter the LoL Pro League campaign with their best members, meaning they will have a far stronger roster than the one they fielded during the Demacia Cup. We might also see the debut of Kim “Khan” Dong-ha, who joined FPX in mid-December from T1.
Since the start of 2019, IG and FPX have met five times. FunPlus have three wins in that stretch, while Invictus have two. FPX won both of their last two meetings at Worlds and the LPL All-Star back in November.
Invictus Gaming vs FunPlus Phoenix LPL betting predictions
This match will be decided in the bottom lane, where IG’s new arrivals will have to deliver. Puff and Southwind match up nicely with the FPX duo of Lin “Lwx” Wei-Xiang and Liu “Crisp” Qing-Song, which leads us to believe this fixture will be closer than expected.
Prediction: Over 2.5 maps – +111 at BetOnline
