Of all the major regional League of Legends divisions, Europe's LEC has perhaps the most exciting final week of the summer split lined up.
Heading into week eight, which will take place across Friday, Saturday and Sunday, it is all to play for in the LEC Summer 2022 with only MAD Lions having booked their place in the playoffs.
At the other end of the table, Team BDS, who have lost 13 of their 15 matches, are the only team to be mathematically out of the running, meaning nearly every game counts, especially in the early stages of the final week.
Big guns Fnatic are among the sides at risk of crashing out before the playoffs and they are in action against Astralis, with Rogue taking on Excel and MAD Lions meeting G2 Esports in a top-of-the-table clash in some of the other Friday matches.
Rogue can show class against out-of-form Excel
| What | Rogue v Excel, LEC Summer 2022 |
| Where | Germany (offline) |
| When | 19:00, Friday 12th August 2022 |
| How to watch | LEC Youtube, Twitch channels and bet365's Sports Live Streaming |
| Odds | Rogue 2/5, Excel 7/4 |
A lot has been made of Fnatic's potential exit before the playoff stage but Rogue are another big gun at risk of underperforming.
They are in a decent position to make the playoffs but they are used to topping regular season splits, having placed first in the standings at the LEC Spring earlier this year and last year's LEC Summer.
But even if they have been falling short of expectations, they can begin the final week of the summer split with a comfortable win over Excel, who hit a serious low last time out with defeat to already-eliminated Team BDS making it four losses on the spin.
It is no surprise, therefore, to see Rogue at 2/5 to win this and the better bet in this contest could be Rogue at -6.5 on the kill handicap at 4/5 given that Excel have lost the kill count 27-10, 19-6, 21-13 and 12-4 in those four defeats.
Astralis could record huge statement win
| What | Fnatic v Astralis, LEC Summer 2022 |
| Where | Germany (offline) |
| When | 20:00, Friday 12th August 2022 |
| How to watch | LEC Youtube, Twitch channels and bet365's Sports Live Streaming |
| Odds | Fnatic 4/7, Astralis 5/4 |
Few matches on the opening day of week eight have more riding on them than Fnatic v Astralis.
These sides head into week eight tied with Excel on 7-8 records and know they will need to win all of their remaining matches to give themselves the best chance of making the playoffs.
History is on the side of Fnatic, who went deep in the LEC Spring playoffs earlier this year. Astralis, meanwhile, have finished 10th, seventh and ninth in their last three splits and have been overachievers this summer.
That said, the Danes are much stronger following the arrivals of Kiss "Vizicsacsi" Tamas and Andrei "Xerxe" Dragomir and have picked up big wins against Vitality and Rogue in the last couple of weeks.
And although this could be a close one, when assessing the prices for this match, Astralis are worth chancing to come out on top and all but end Fnatic's hopes of reaching the playoffs.
G2 still contenders
| What | MAD Lions v G2 Esports, LEC Summer 2022 |
| Where | Germany (offline) |
| When | 21:00, Friday 12th August 2022 |
| How to watch | LEC Youtube, Twitch channels and bet365's Sports Live Streaming |
| Odds | MAD Lions 8/11, G2 Esports 1/1 |
It is easy to forget what happened earlier this year but back in the LEC Spring, G2 Esports were a touch underwhelming in the regular season, losing seven of their 18 matches, before coming back with a vengeance in the playoffs to take the title.
And punters should consider that when looking at G2 Esports in the final week of the LEC Summer 2022.
They are yet to qualify for the playoffs but a win over already-qualified MAD Lions will do it, taking them to a 10-6 record, so the incentive is there.
And if, like in the spring, they are slow burners once again, this would be the kind of game in which G2 could show they are very much still title contenders.
They can draw confidence from the fact MAD Lions lost both of their games in week eight against Misfits Gaming and Rogue and, although they will want to be in good nick heading into the playoffs, the incentive may not be as strong and they are worth opposing in this crunch clash.
