Match Prediction: SK Gaming - Astralis | LoL

In the European division of the competitive League of Legends, the final week is coming. It will be noteworthy that, following the results of a three-day marathon, we will find out the names of 8 participants in the next stage.

In this regard, the match SK Gaming – Astralis is of particular interest. Although the teams are far from the top titles, they have big ambitions for the first stage of LEC Winter 2023.

SK Gaming will come into this match with 4-2 statistics, sharing the 2nd place in the standings with G2 Esports, MAD Lions and BDS. The company is serious and it would be better to get rid of it, and for this you need to defeat Astralis.

The Danish club is in a much worse situation. The team occupies the penultimate line of the standings with statistics 1-5 in the overall standings. Nosebleeds need to take the match if they qualify for passage to the next round.

We are trying to figure out whether SK Gaming will be able to stake out a place for themselves in the second stage of LEC Winter 2023 or whether Astralis will rise up and join the fight for a place in the group stage.

SK Gaming Uniform

We open the review of the match from the analytics of the SK Gaming form. In this match they will appear before us in the status of a favorite, which is logical.

Bookmakers are very clear in their opinion. For the victory of SK give a coefficient in the region of 1.3.

One should not be surprised at such a pre-match assessment. SK Gaming feel good before the start of the match, as evidenced by their position in the standings.

SK Gaming roster

The high performance of SK Gaming is due to the updated roster. In the 2023 season, the focus was on young and promising performers.

SK Gaming players

• Irrelevant
• markoon
• Sertus
• Exakick
• Doss

Of the five SK Gaming, the most “hardened” can be called the mid laner Sertus. The 21-year-old German has already played in the LEC, playing for the Misfits during the last season.

The backbone of the squad consists of French legionnaires recruited mainly from LDLC OL players. The result of such a personnel approach is obvious.

SK Gaming performance at LEC Winter 2023

Before the start of the match against Astralis, SK Gaming are on the second line of the standings. The team played 6 matches and won 4 of them.

In the first series, SK Gaming faced MAD Lions. One of the most productive teams in the European region in past seasons outplayed SK in 27 minutes.

In the second game, SK faced the French club BDS. The monumentally renewed Team BDS roster closed SK in a long 40-minute game.

After 0-2 SK began to win back with lightning speed. In the third series, LEC newcomers from Team Heretics fell under the hot hand, and Exakick shone in that match.

The next episode was even more interesting. SK Gaming beat one of the main contenders for victory at LEC Winter 2023 and Hans Sama did not help: Azir from Sertuss helped SK win against G2.

Smelling the smell of blood, SK rushed to the fifth match, where not just anyone, but Vitality themselves became opponents. The uncompromising French club failed to cope with their colleagues from Germany: SK inflicted the only defeat of the season on Vitality, winning the game in 31 minutes.

They were not going to stop there. Before Astralis, SK Gaming met KOI (former Rogue) and once again Exakick shone: 29 minutes and 4 wins of the season in SK's pocket.

SK Gaming Champions

The top picks from SK Gaming were Gnar (2 games, 1 win), KSante (1 game, 0 wins), Camile (1 game, 1 win), Sion (1 game, 1 win), Renekton (1 game, 1 win).

Sejuani and Eliza are honored in the forest. Both champions appeared twice and won both matches, but Vi and Kindred lost their games.

In the mid lane, Sertuss plays Sylas (2 matches, 50% win rate), Kassadin (1 time, 0 win rate), Azir, Syndra and Akali (1 game each and 100% win rate).

Of the shooters - Zeri. The character appeared 3 times and won 2 matches, and in addition Varus (who lost the only match), Sivir and Lucian were also picked.

On supports, Yummi, who managed to get fed up, broke into the Karma meta, as well as Renata Glasc and Lulu. Yummi won two matches out of 3, Karma lost the only game, and Renata Glasc and Lulu won.

Astralis shape

We continue the review of the fight with an analysis of the game form of Astralis. They are in the status of an underdog in this fight.

Bookmakers are very skeptical about Astralis' chances of winning, but they are in no hurry to bury them. The Danish club's chance of winning is estimated at around 2.8.

The figure for an outsider in b1 is very pleasant, but you need to understand the specifics of the competitive League of Legends, where there is little room for surprises.

Astralis squad

And if we take purely calculated data, without the amorphous specifics of LoL, then everything also does not speak in favor of Astralis. In the new season, they decided to stake out the backbone of the duo bot + midlaner and add jungler and topper to the roster.

Astralis players

• Finn
• 113
• Dajor
• Kobbe
• JeongHoon

The newcomers Finn and 113 have an impressive gaming experience, but so far it does not play a decisive role. So, for example, the first managed to play for Rogue, CLG and Excel, and the second played as part of Karmine Corp.

The presence of the South Korean legionary JeongHoon in the team, who previously represented the academic staff of Brion, does not help Astralis.

Astralis Performance

The Danes have 1-5 and a critical situation. The defeat in this match casts doubt on the participation of Astralis in the further draw of LEC Winter 2023.

The Danes started with a loss to Team Heretics and continued the first week of the LEC with pockets against MAD Lions and G2 Esports.

The second week was not particularly the best: Astralis lost to Vitality and BDS. However, later the team managed to get the first victory by beating Excel.

Astralis Champions

Astralis tops KSante (3 matches, 0 win%), Fiora (1 game, 0 wins), Aatrox (1 game, 0 wins). The only success is Gnar (1 win in 1 game).

The most popular junglers were Viego (3 games, 0% win), Sejuani (1 match, 0% win), Jarvan IV (1 match, 0% win) and Trundle (1 game, 1 win).

The central line is Syndra and Sylas (2 matches each, and Sylas has 1 win), Rize and Twisted Fate (1 match each and 0 wins).

The bot had the largest number of experiments. These are Caytlin and Xayah and Ezrael, as well as Zeri and Lucian. Success brought only Lucian.

A similar situation with supports. There was enough variety here: Ashe (2 games), Bard, Lux, Yummi and Nami. The latter won the only game in conjunction with Lucian.

History of personal confrontations

Previously, the teams have repeatedly played in the regular seasons of the LEC. Over the past year, the statistics were 2-2 in personal meetings, but they did not intersect in the new lineups.

The outcome of the confrontation

In this game, I expect a confident victory from SK. The team has already shown what it is capable of in matches against the giants.

Moreover, there is a big difference in terms of individual performance. In almost all positions, SK is stronger, but I expect defeat in the bot: we see how Astralis is trying to find a working link, changing characters every time. This is definitely not done out of great confidence.

Outcome: victory for SK Gaming.