FURIA is down, KaBuM! is down, only two teams are remaining for the grand finals on April 23, and no one thought they would. After defeating both favourites in one weekend, RED Canids is now the second finalist at CBLOL 2022 Split 1 Playoffs, and the opponent of paiN Gaming, another dark horse.
For years now, Brazilian fans have been irritated by the fact that they couldn’t send their top team to international tournaments because of the poor result. Surprising champions and underdog stories are lovely, but it is so common in Brazil that they started to get old. No one can be sure if paiN and RED aren’t the best Brazil can offer right now though, so let’s put that aside and focus on this amazing grand final matchup.
RED Canids made the impossible happen
Between them and the grand final spot, two titans were sitting and RED Canids found an incredible start for their journey against FURIA. TitaN and Jojo dominated the bottom lane with Aphelios and Renata Glasc, leading their team to the victory against FURIA Esports that already had weak morale considering their performance during the playoffs.
FURIA managed to bounce back in the next game, utilizing Caitlyn against Zeri, a champion that is on top of the current meta. However, it was still a hard task for them to end the game, even when they had a very strong draft on their hands.
RED did not want such a game to happen again, as they knew they could exploit FURIA’s bot lane. Once again, picking Jinx and Seraphine, they made getting TitaN ahead their top priority, especially as a counter pick against Caitlyn. This time, it took them a lot of time to finish it and FURIA was able to hold the gates, but four champions centred around a 14-2-2 Jinx was mission impossible for FURIA.
RED Canids wanted to pull the plug in the fourth game, once again, getting their hands on Aphelios and Renata Glasc. This time, their only focus wasn’t the bot lane, but were able to put pressure from Viktor and Aegis’ 0-0-18 Jarvan IV. After 3-1, they moved on to face KaBuM! the next day.
KBM also faced paiN Gaming’s fury recently, where they were defeated 3-0. When they took the first game away from RED Canids, it felt like they studied well for this match. However, Hauz was the weak link in the mid lane, even while they were ahead. RED Canids would take advantage of that later.
Once again, RED decided to not make TitaN a winning condition, and made him their top priority. Jarvan IV and Twisted Fate had a very easy game while they were tying the series 1-1 with Camille on top as their safety net. The third game was a much closer one, but TitaN was 11-4-5 with Jojo playing Renata Glasc for the third time in the series, one of KaBuM!’s biggest mistakes.
Jojo couldn’t get Renata Glasc for a fourth time, but by the time KBM fixed that, RED Canids already had the upper hand in the series. TitaN played one of the most comfortable games in his career, with hus 13-1-7 Jinx helping RED get a 30-13 victory and finish it all. There it was, the top two of the CBLOL 2022 Split 1 regular season were now gone.
CBLOL 2022 Split 1 Grand Final schedule
You can find the schedule and the betting odds for the final game in CBLOL below:
April 23, Saturday
RED Canids (2.05) vs paiN Gaming (1.68) - 18:00 CEST
The betting odds show an advantage for paiN Gaming, but before the playoffs, such a grand final wasn’t expected, so it is really hard to determine something before we actually watch the series itself. Both teams surprised everyone and impressed fans, while paiN Gaming went ahead and took down two favourites, whereas RED Canids needed the lower bracket for things to get real for them.
RED Canids’ roster includes players with international experience from last year’s Worlds 2021. They haven’t changed a single player from that roster. On the other hand, paiN’s jungler went to MSI 2021 with them and dyNquedo participated in MSI 2018 and Worlds 2018. paiN is relatively a newer team as well. Can that affect their chances here? Considering how they demolished FURIA and KaBuM!, it shouldn’t, but you better keep those facts in mind.
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