The heated Bo3 between R7 and GAM will determine the first team to say goodbye to MSI 2023.
Today the fans watched qualification games for the Bracket Stage played in London’s Copper Box Arena. Tomorrow will be the start of the do-or-die games with Losers’ Bracket play starting, and we will kick off the day with the Movistar R7 vs GAM Esports series.
For the readers who aren’t all that familiar with the teams, you can read our individual team previews on Movistar R7 and GAM Esports.
Movistar R7 vs GAM Esports Preview
Movistar R7
R7 had a very demoralizing start to the Mid-Season Invitational in their first series. Drawn against the LPL 2nd seed, they got defeated in the fastest series of the event so far. But, the loss was expected going into it and there were some positives even in a 0-2 loss.
Most of the good things R7 did against BLG were centered around their solo lanes. Oddie had a decent second game where he played around Bong, and they were able to find some early kills on Bin to put him massively behind. All the while Mireu was dominating the LPL champion mid laner Yagao in a 1v1 lane, even though he was on a scaling pick like Aurelion Sol.
Bad news is that the bot lane did not look good at all. To give them some credit their jungler played toward top side while Xun camped bot lane for both games, but they still made a lot of mistakes and overextended more than necessary, giving BLG more opportunities than they needed.
GAM Esports
There was a lot of hype around GAM Esports coming into MSI as VCS is usually a fan-favorite region, but their first series against Golden Guardians was a bit of a letdown. Neither some of their drafts nor their play on the Rift was up to par with their regional showings.
In the two games they played yesterday, the only objectives GAM managed to secure were turrets. No drakes, no Heralds or no Barons. Except for the first-ever play in the series when Levi and Kiaya dove GG top laner, they didn’t make any proactive plays either. They were always second to objectives and took very bad fights, essentially losing both games due to their decision-making.
GAM’s drafting wasn’t also that good. They won VCS by letting Levi play carries while Kati was on facilitators like Lissandra or Galio, but they switched it up by playing Gragas jungle and mid lane Tristana. Neither player looked really comfortable in this setup, so maybe they will go back to their comfort.
Movistar R7 vs GAM Esports Predictions
If this was the first game both these teams played at MSI, the expectation would be a sweep. But, we saw GAM struggle while R7’s top side fight back against BLG in previous games. The current form might allow R7 to steal a game, but GAM should win the series at least 2-1.
How to watch Movistar R7 vs GAM Esports
Fans can watch the event on the official LoL Esports website for the chance to earn exclusive drops from Riot, which will be available throughout the whole event. Or you can catch the action on Riot Games Twitch channel and the LoL Esports Youtube channel.
For more of our coverage during MSI 2023, follow us on ESTNN.
