LFL 2022 Spring Split Playoffs Picks, Predictions March 23

• The playoffs of the LFL, France’s premier LoL tournament, starts this midweek
• The intensity is expected to increase with the format moving now to best of five
• Karmine Corp will continue to rely on the proficiency of Rekkles in the lanes

The long and winding road that is the regular Spring Split is now over, and we have the top six teams into the Playoffs. A mere two wins separated teams from No. 1 to No. 5, an indication of how closely fought the league stages were.

It’s not entirely unsurprising to see LDLC OL and Karmine Corp, who will fight it out in the first of our playoff fixtures this week, finish as the top two teams. The story so far, at least from the previous two weeks, is Team BDS Academy’s late dash to the playoffs.

This has come about on the back of four successive wins that helped them finish the regular split with a 12-6 record. This allowed them to pip Misfits Premier and Vitality Bee to the third spot. Misfits and Vitality finished with a 11-7 record. Vitality could have finished a spot higher at fourth but for a loss in their final game to toppers LDLC.

How The Playoffs Work

Firstly, all matches are best of five, unlike in a regular split that is decided on the basis of a single match. Then in the first round, the third seed have the option of playing either the fifth or sixth seed, while the fourth seed plays the remaining team.

In this case, BDS Academy, the third seeds, chose to play sixth-placed GamersOrigin, which meant fourth-seeds Misfits Premier had to play Vitality Bee.

In the first playoff game in round one , BDS Academy recorded a 3-1 victory over GamersOrigin, while Vitality Bee handed Misfits Premier a 3-0 pounding.

This brings us now to round two.

Here, the first two seeds face off against each other in the “Juggernaut” match. Winners from round 1 also face off against each other. In this case, that contest will be BDS Academy v Vitality Bee.

Now that the rules and how the fixtures are formed have been explained, let’s get down to business. We’re looking ahead to the big game: LDLC OL v Karime Corp.

LDLC OL – Clawback Ability Their Biggest Trait

LDLC OL finished the regular split with a 13-5 win-loss record, that’s one win clear of Karmine and BDS Academy. They’ve had a 10-day break since their previous game now, enough time to soak in the feeling of finishing first in the regular split, definitely more than enough time to formulate strategies for the playoffs.

The story of their season has been how they have managed to come out unscathed despite being challenged and pushed to a corner at different times. Their final group game against Vitality Bee brought out this characteristic.

Vitality took an early lead, only for LDLC to come storming back to nick the game with a 3.4k gold advantage in the end. LDLC managed 15 kills, just five more than Vitality. When it came to tower capture, they managed 7 to Vitality’s 5. It told you how neck and neck the contest was.

Players For Every Situation

Exakick stood tall with his offensive proficiency for LDLC, landing 10 kills, 1 death and 3 assists, to finish with a creep score of 321. Doss was the solid support player who stood tall and had a high kill participation rate, landing 1 kill, 3 deaths and 10 assists.

There were also noteworthy contributions from Eika (7 assists) and Ragner (9 assists). It also told you of how every player stepped up to be counted when it mattered.

This ability to fight back from a tough position wasn’t a one-off. Look back at their clash against BDS Academy from a couple of weeks ago to spot a similar trend. The game swung wildly from one side to another, before LDLC pipped it by a mere 500 gold advantage.

LDLC managed 21 kills, just shading past BDS’s 18. Their presence across the map was so emphatic that capturing a tower lesser than BDS’s 8 wasn’t enough to stop them from eventually clinching the match. Once again, LDLC had a complete team performance, with Eika leading the way with the most kills (6), while Ranger and Exakick managed five apiece. Yike had a high assist percentage, finishing the game with 11 assists.

The Eika Threat In The Mid Lane

Eika has been a massive threat for all the sides right through the league phase. A champion in the mid lane, his arrival at the LFL from Immortals (LCS in 2020) has given him a new wind, after featuring in the European League for several years. His return to LDLC is akin to coming home because this is the team that first made him a League of Legends icon.

His offensive proficiency married with his ability to influence the entire map makes him the single-biggest threat for opponents in the mid lane. He finished the split with an impressive 4.89 kills, 2.11 death and 6.11 assists on an average, along with a KDA of 5.21 and creep score of 331.39.

Karmine’s Gung-Ho Aggressive Play

Karmine Corp finished the regular split with a 12-6 record. Among the sides to have made the playoffs, Karmine have stood out with their offensive play. Their risk-taking ability and plans of going all-out aggressive, even if the strategy is loaded with risks, have stood out.

And the man who has played his part superbly in ensuring this strategy has so far played out is Saken, who has built his way to land big kills. Rekkles, the high-profile signing from the season, and Hantera have equally been prolific in the bot lane.

The Rekkles Impact

An eight-year LEC veteran, Rekkles hit the headlines when he moved to play in a non-worlds qualifying league in 2022 by moving to Karmine in November after he was placed on the trading block by G2 Esports. Their itch to sign him was justified. He is after all a record holder for most kills in a single split. Rekkles, who left Fnatic after an eventful six-year stint with them, teamed up with Caps to form a partnership for the ages during the 2021 spring.

Rekkles was one of their key performers, finishing the summer with a staggering kill rate of 5.28 and deaths of 1.11 on an average per map. These coupled with a superb creep score of 330.83 and a high-efficiency rate measured by KDA in League of Legends (8.65) made him an immovable force. This time around, he finished the split with an average of 4.67 kills, 1.44 deaths and 5.56 assists, along with a KDS of 7.08 and creep score of 332.06.

Favorites?

The trick is to look beyond the points table, understand strategies and player data before you stash your cash on a single team. Here, LDLC OL are the toppers but the odds are against them purely going by this match-up. Karmine’s style of play and key players have always shown the ability to perform well under pressure, and are therefore the favoured team here. This should be a cracker.

BDS Academy vs Vitality Bee Pick

Vitality Bee (moneyline)

What Has Worked For BDS so Far?

It is their bot-centric style to favour their most prolific player CrownShot. He’s been instrumental in handing them the advantage during team fights. The style of play has also worked well for Aggresivoo, who has been adept at playing split pushers and scale on the sideline. This has allowed BDS to put sustained pressure on the map, which has helped them push for leads they have managed to hold on to eventually.

Their win over GamersOrigin to open the playoffs was closer than the 3-1 score line suggests. BDS quickly sussed up GamersOrigin being heavily reliant on the mid and ADC to do bulk of the damage and had plans to counter that.

They managed to keep Vizicsacsi, the former LEC top laner, quiet in the process. In the game GamersOrigin simply needed to win to take the game into a decider, he managed just 2 kills, along with 5 deaths and 4 assists. This didn’t help allay any pressure on the rest of the group. Much of it was down to BDS’s terrific planning. This manifested itself across other games too which they won to take the contest.

Despite Mini-Slump, Vitality Can’t Be Written Off

Vitality Bee have tightened up significantly since they nearly let things slip. After a dominating first half of the split, they let things spiral out of control and were suddenly competing in a  mid-table jostle. Teams had figured out the need to keep bot laner Scygenda quiet and this had generally been reflective in his overall standings.

Teams know of his threat and have countered several strategies to minimise that. Vitality needs to counter plans of the opponents better and do so quickly. All said, it’s impossible to brush aside the formidable records of Jeskla and Szygenda. Their overall squad proficiency makes them the punters favourites for this clash, even if the match may be a contest of equals looking at the larger picture.

How to Watch LFL 2022 Spring Split