G2 vs MAD Lions Prediction: Battle for a Spot in Grand Finals of the LEC Season

• G2 and MAD Lions are currently the two top-ranked teams in the LEC Season Finals 2023 
• G2 Esports won both the Winter and Summer splits, giving an extra slot to the next-best-placed team 
• The winning team will move on to the grand finals, while the loser will face the winner of the lower bracket semifinal match between Fnatic and Team BDS 

G2 vs MAD Lions Pick

• Our Pick: G2 to win. 

G2 vs MAD Lions Predictions

Despite G2 and MAD Lions being the top two teams across the season, oddsmakers have heavily favored G2 in the upcoming matchup. If you were to wager on MAD Lions and win, you would walk away with nearly five times your initial stake. 

However, we’re with the oddsmakers on this: G2 are more likely to get the win and are currently listed at 1 to 1.7 favorites. We reckon it will boil down to your appetite for risk; just remember that the odds have been moving in G2’s favor since opening on 22nd August, and are currently at their lowest.  

G2 Esports has been on a tear throughout 2023, starting the season by winning the Winter split. Since then, they went on to finish the Spring Split in 4th place. Shifting their focus away from the LEC to chase bigger goals, they finished a commendable 5-6th in the 2023 Mid-Season Invitational as the top-ranked non-Asian team in the entire tournament. They would then return to the LEC circuit and make a statement by demolishing the competition to win the 2023 Summer Split.  

G2 will be out to make a statement during the current tournament. 2023 is the first year that the LEC is following the new format. By demonstrating that they are levels above the competition throughout the season, it would be the cherry on the cake for G2 to take home the LEC 2023 Championship as well. 

Winning the tournament would put them in a great position to challenge for the 2023 World Championship. Not only would the tournament win grant them direct access to the Worlds, but it would also do wonders for their confidence going into the largest tournament on the League of Legends world stage.  

MAD Lions are having a remarkably consistent tournament this time around, despite historically being a team that has a tendency to struggle in the early stages of competition. In the most recent summer split, they lost five games in a row before coming back and finishing the tournament in 7th place. Despite the impressive comeback, the result could be a premonition of a slip in form. MAD Lions finished the Spring Split in first place and the Winter Split in 2nd. 

Past Meetings

In their most recent match during the LEC Summer Season, Mad LIONS took the win. However, the statistics lean in favor of G2, who has beaten Mad LIONS 12 times out of 23 times that they have faced each other. Crucially, G2 has done better when the stakes are higher. 

They beat MAD Lions 3:0 in the Mid-Season Invitational most recently and they are currently in a good position to pull it off again, as the most dominant team of the 2023 season. 

G2 on a Surge

G2 raised eyebrows by winning twelve maps in a row during the regular season of the LEC Summer Split. In the group stages, they continued in dominant form by winning four and not losing a single game. Their win rate for the current tournament stands at 75%, with three wins and a single loss.  

They have dealt an average of 2457 Damage Per Minute and drawn first blood in an even 50% of their games. G2 stands out with a K/D ratio of 2.5, with 17.5 kills and 12 deaths per game on average, with 2.2 assists per kill. The German team has also made sure not to ignore their economy, acquiring an average of 1970 Gold Per Minute with a massive +921 Gold Differential at 15 minutes. So far, G2 has won 100% of their games when ahead at 15 minutes and destroyed the first tower in 50% of all their games. 

Toplaner Brokenblade and Botlaner Hans Sama have been the star players of the tournament so far. Broken Blade has a KDA score of 10.8 per game, while Hans Sama has a KDA of 6.4 per game. If they continue to play at this elite level, it’s hard to see how MAD Lions will be able to get past them. 

MAD Lions Face a Huge Challenge

Unlike G2, MAD Lions have had a 100% success rate in the LEC Season Finals so far, winning all three games that they have played. On paper, their stats stack up well against G2. They dealt an average of 2521 Damage Per Minute and drew first blood in an amazing 100% of their games. 

Over the course of the tournament, they dealt 14.7 kills and 12.3 deaths per game, for a K/D ratio of 1.5 with 2.5 assists per kill. This discrepancy in the K/D ratio of both teams could prove to be MAD Lions’ undoing when the pressure is on.  

On the economy front, MAD Lions is once again slightly behind G2. Despite their 1933 Gold Per Minute being comparable to that of their rivals, their gold differential at 15 minutes stands at an underwhelming -1610, which could be another key indicator of how the upcoming match might go. 

How to Watch G2 Esports vs MAD Lions

• Teams: G2 Esports vs. MAD Lions
• Location: Europe
• Time: Sunday, September 3, 2023
• How to Watch: Twitch