China's League of Legends Pro League returns for another relentless week of action, with matches taking place every day this week once again.
The top regional event is into the penultimate week of the regular season and there is still plenty to be decided.
Team WE became the first LPL side to see their playoff hopes dashed entirely earlier in the split, having lost all 12 of their matches with a games differential of 6-24 coming into week nine.
At the other end of the standings, there are still a handful of playoff spots up for grabs with Top Esports, JD Gaming, Royal Never Give Up, Victory Five, Weibo Gaming and Edward Gaming having already secured their berths heading into the second-to-last week of action.
Tuesday's matches feature Invictus Gaming, one of the sides trying to make a late push for the playoffs, against struggling Rare Atom, before high-flyers Victory Five look to recover from an underwhelming week eight against Bilibili Gaming.
| What | Rare Atom v Invictus Gaming, LPL Summer 2022 |
| Where | China |
| When | 04.45am ET, Tuesday 2nd August 2022 |
| How to watch | LPL Twitch channel |
| Odds | Rare Atom +137, Invictus Gaming -188 |
Rare Atom managed to sneak into the playoffs at the LPL Spring earlier this year before losing their only knockout fixture, but at the LPL Summer 2022 their journey looks set to finish in the regular-season phase.
With only Team WE below them heading into week nine Rare Atom have lost ten of their 12 matches in the LPL Summer with their game differential also underwhelming at 8-22.
Week eight was admittedly a tough one for the team with matches against Royal Never Give Up and Edward Gaming, but they did not put up much of a fight, losing both contests by a 2-0 scoreline.
Formerly known as Vici Gaming, Rare Atom have indeed lost by a 2-0 scoreline in four of their last six matches and they could be in for another comprehensive loss when they take on Invictus Gaming.
With their jungler Peng "Xun" Li-Xun having picked up seven MVP awards this season, Invictus have had their moments in the LPL Summer and are fresh from winning their latest match in the event against Ultra Prime in week eight.
Their playoff hopes are admittedly fading fast with only three wins recorded in 12 matches, but they still have a faint chance of making the top ten and will know this is a must-win fixture.
With that in mind and given the run of form from Rare Atom, punters are advised to back Invictus Gaming at -1.5 on the match handicap at +162 in this opening match on Tuesday.
| What | Bilibili Gaming v Victory Five, LPL Summer 2022 |
| Where | China |
| When | 07:00am ET, Tuesday 2nd August 2022 |
| How to watch | LPL Twitch channel |
| Odds | Bilibili Gaming +275, Victory Five -400 |
To put into perspective the rise of Victory Five in the League of Legends Pro League, this time last season they were rock-bottom of the LPL Summer 2021 standings with a 0-16 win-loss record.
Fast forward a year and they have been one of the standout sides in the LPL Summer 2022 and are set for the playoffs.
Thanks to some smart roster tweaks, they have managed to transform their game in the LPL and the standards they are now being held to are much higher.
They went into week eight with a 10-1 record in the LPL Summer, but lost both of their matches against OMG and JD Gaming, meaning they have now lost three of their last four encounters.
Given the way they have turned things around this year, that poor run of form has been surprising and their performances against bigger sides like that of JD Gaming are also cause for concern.
Top laner Lee "Rich" Jae-won just did not show up in that game and seems unable to make an impact on champions like Gangplank.
Of course these issues will become more apparent against better opponents in the playoffs and they should still fancy their chances of winning their week nine opener against Bilibili Gaming, who have a 5-8 record.
That said, Bilibili have failed to win a map only once in their last nine matches and backing over 2.5 maps at +110 could be the way to go in this contest.
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