LPL 2023 Summer Playoffs Preview – 10 teams, 1 champion

The fight for Worlds has already begun: the 10 best teams will fight in playoffs to determine the LPL Summer Champion.

LPL 2023 Summer Playoffs – Overview

The LPL Playoffs feature the highest amount of teams among all competitive regions in the world, including the top 10 teams from the regular split.

BLG and JDG, the top two teams of the LPL, have looked a tier above the rest, as fans are probably expecting to see a repeat of MSI and the LPL Spring Finals. After them, you have 4 teams with high potential of fighting for a Worlds seed: LNG, TES, OMG, and WBG.

But before the top six teams get to jump on Summoner’s Rift, the bottom four seeds of the LPL Playoffs will have to fight against each other: EDG already beat Team WE in the first round, putting an end to the enemies’ season. EDG will now face OMG in the next round.

In the other bracket, #7 seed RNG will go up against #10 seed NIP. The winner will then face WBG in Round 2. Without further ado, let’s jump right into the match previews.

LPL Summer Playoffs – Round 1 & 2 – Matches and predictions

Below you can find the matches for the first rounds of the LPL Summer Playoffs:

EDG 3 – 1 WE – 11:00 CET – July 20
RNG vs NIP – 11:00 CET – July 21
OMG vs EDG – 11:00 CET – July 22
WBG vs TBD – 11:00 CET – July 23

RNG vs NIP

While it’s a historic result for NIP, making it their first-ever LPL playoffs, the team’s chances of winning against RNG are slim. Not only do the opponents have the better players on paper but they have also looked more cohesive. NIP have primarily relied on their jungler Shad0w to get the ball rolling in the early game, but against someone like Wei, it will be a much tougher matchup. The same can be said for the top lane, where Breathe can potentially demolish invincible if given the right matchup.

The only way for NIP to win is if Angel and Photic magically turn up both and outperform the RNG counterparts. But it would need too many stars to be aligned to make it work. Getting one game or two would be a fantastic result for NIP already, and it would be a great confidence boost going into the next season. For RNG, instead, this is a must-win series. They might not have what it takes to go to Worlds, but the expectations are at least to make it to the second round.

Prediction: RNG 60% | NIP 40%

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EDG vs OMG

Will this be the final dance for Uzi? After one of the roughest starts for the EDG, the team managed to bounce back and lock playoffs, also thanks to the return of the legendary ADC. Despite not playing competitively for more than a year, Uzi showed he still has “it”, hard-carrying EDG when it really counts.

He did in multiple series and he’ll likely do it again in these playoffs. That being said, EDG must get the rest of the players on form, especially Meiko and Jiejie, who have been underperforming quite heavily during the regular split. To see EDG fight with the top dogs, these two must step up once again. Top laner Ale is playing well and Fofo is a good selfless mid laner that can help out his side laners whenever needed.

Unfortunately, I still think OMG are in a better form, especially when it comes to the setup for objectives and fights. There is a bit of recency bias in this statement, but that’s because OMG faced EDG in the last week and they were able to win 2-1. They are absolutely not a clean team, but that’s what makes the team so entertaining to watch.

Prediction: EDG 48% | OMG 52%

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