SK Gaming vs Excel Esports Preview and Predictions: LEC 2023 Summer Group Stage
| Tags: League of Legends
| Author Bence Loksa
SK Gaming vs Excel Esports was not the Qualification Match the community was expecting, but it will certainly be very exciting.
The first two rounds of the LEC 2023 Summer Group Stage have concluded! All 8 teams have played a series, with SK Gaming, Excel Esports, G2 Esports and Team BDS proceeding to the qualification matches, while Team Heretics, MAD Lions, Fnatic and KOI got knocked down to the Lower Bracket. The first two teams, SK and Excel are a bit of a surprise, as they were the underdogs – especially SK, who fought until their last match in the Regular Season to qualify. How will these two squads fare against each other?
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SK Gaming vs Excel Esports Preview
SK Gaming
SK Gaming suffered quite a bit to make it to the Group Stage, but by the end of the Regular Season, they found their footing. They only had 2 wins going into the third week, but after suffering a loss from Astralis, they beat MAD Lions and Fnatic, finishing 6th with great teamwork thanks to a reawakened Thomas “Exakick” Foucou and Daniel “Sertuss” Gamani.
They made short work of their opponents in their first Summer Group Stage match, beating Fnatic 2-0. The first match consisted of Joel “Irrelevant” Miro Scharoll running circles around the black-and-orange squad, especially Oscár “Oscarinin” Munóz Jiménez and Iván “Razork” Martín Díaz, giving infinite space to Exakick to scale. In the second match, it was all about Sertuss and Exakick in the early game, with Irrelevant’s Gwen carrying the lategame with the help of Mark “Markoon” van Woensel’s legendary Poppy. SK Gaming have found a great playstyle that fits their strengths – can it carry them to the playoffs?
Excel Esports
Excel Esports had an 0-3 showing in the first week of the Regular Season but became a completely different team afterwards. Andrei “Odoamne” Pascu and his teammates beat every opponent thrown their way except G2 Esports, showing that they are here to correct the mistakes of the past.
Lee “Peach” Min-gyu has proved to be an exceptional jungler, and Felix “Abbedagge” Braun finally had time to adjust to his new team. They continued down the path to glory in the Group Stage after they defeated MAD Lions 2-0 with a commanding macro game and a great combo of Odo’s Rumble and Dino “LIMIT” Tot’s Rell – can Excel actually make it to the Season Finals?
SK Gaming vs Excel Esports Predictions
This showdown seems to be a very well balanced one. Both teams are on a roll, and they adapted to the meta changes well with Odoamne busting his Rumble out and SK Gaming picking champions like Kai’Sa and Tristana. However, Excel Esports played two very similar comps against MAD Lions, while SK showed that they can easily adapt – which puts them just a tiny bit above Excel at the moment. The stakes are incredibly high, as the team that wins the Bo3 qualifies for the Playoffs, but who will rise, and who will fall to the Loser’s Bracket?
Where to watch SK Gaming vs Excel Esports
You can find the two teams clashing tonight at 18:00 on lolesport.com, as well as the LEC Twitch and YouTube channels. Don’t forget to check out ESTNN’s other previews and predictions!