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The Pacific Championship Series has almost always been a one-team region with PSG Talon winning out every season. But in 2022, the league has gotten all-new faces as teams have come and gone in this year’s season. Read on to find out who’s our top choice for PCS Summer split betting.
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The PCS has always been underrated as a region to place one’s bets on. However, veterans would know that over the decade the Asia-Pacific has produced top-caliber teams such as the renowned Flash Wolves, PSG Talon, and the Season 2 World Champions Taipei Assassins. With the region’s talent, there are definitely gems to be found in the PCS. As such, following the region is a step in the right direction towards getting those rare finds before the competition does.
With a Double Round Robin regular season followed by a double-elimination playoffs bracket, there’s going to be a lot of games to bet on in the PCS Summer. From moneyline to handicap, you can check out how these bets work in our comprehensive League of Legends betting guide or read an abridged cut down below.
In a league of best-of-ones like the PCS, moneyline bets should be your go-to punts in the betting market. With the number of up-and-coming teams in the region, there’s much to be gained should you happen to bet on the right team on the right day. Remember to follow the teams’ performances week per week to see which teams are worth your money. To start with, keep it simple and just follow a team or two to bet on when you’re just starting out!
Best betting sites to use for Moneyline betting: bet365
A half step above moneylines are total bets or as they are commonly known as over/under betting. In total betting, you just predict whether the game at hand will go over or under a specified metric such as game time, number of kills, or even more complex stats like total dragons slain.
Although at first daunting, total betting is as simple as it gets because most of the time stats go hand-in-hand with each other. For example, longer game times mean that there are more dragons, barons, towers, and kills to be had. This means that it’s easier to decide between over or under when it comes to regions with slower playstyles because they simply have longer average game times.
However, despite a region’s playstyle, some teams can just go against the flow of their own region and play their own game. That’s why you should always go back to the stat lines and the current state of the meta at the end of the day. Numbers are your best friends, always remember that!
Best betting sites to use for Prop betting: GG.BET
If you want to take your betting a step further, propositional betting or prop betting is the next level in the game. Prop betting is a way you can bet on your favourite games outside of just who wins the match. Through prop bets or otherwise known as special bets, you can try to pin down how a match will turn out from the minute they step out of the fountain to the Nexus being destroyed.
In Rivalry, these are a few examples of prop bets that you can bet on:
As we may painfully know from our own experience, taking Baron doesn’t mean that you win the game right away. So, prop bets can be a fun pastime away from the typical moneyline bets. To up your odds, do your due diligence by researching stats related to these betting markets on platforms like Games of Legends and Oracle’s Elixir. With stats like First Baron Rate (FBN%), First Blood Rate (FB%), or First Tower Rate (FT%), you can directly see how teams like to play and can easily decide which teams to place your bets on.
Best betting sites to use for Prop betting: Rivalry, 1xBet
Just like its name suggests, handicap betting sets ‘handicaps’ on teams by requiring them to win by a set margin to get their payout. As Pinnacle explains it, handicap betting balances the playing field so that odds for the underdogs stay competitive. For the PCS, handicap bets come in the form of the number of kills a team should be ahead by at the end of a game. Come playoffs, this extends to the number of games won in a series.
In practice, a handicap can be positive or negative. For kills, a -6.5 kill handicap placed on PSG Talon against Beyond Gaming means that PSG needs to be ahead by at least seven (7) kills in order for you to cash out. Meanwhile, a +4.5 kill handicap in the same matchup would mean that even if PSG were behind by four (4) kills, then you would still win your bet.
Meanwhile for map handicaps, a +1.5 map handicap means that a team only has to win one (1) game in a best-of-three series and two (2) games in a best-of-five series. Contrarily, a -1.5 map handicap means that your team needs to win two straight games in a best-of-three or a 3-1 result in a best-of-five to claim your winnings.
Best betting sites to use for Prop betting: Pinnacle
For betting on the PCS Summer split, you can place your punts on our recommended bookmakers such as Betway, bet365, and Rivalry. To read up further on our recommendations, you can check our bookmaker reviews on esports-betting.
But if a best-of-one league like the PCS is too volatile for you, then you might want to look towards the east like in the LPL and the LCK where they host best-of matches in the regular season. If you want a more familiar betting market, then the LCS and the LEC are there too.
Rivalry prides itself as the esports betting platform for gamers. With betting markets across a variety of titles and tournaments, Rivalry is a go-to for punters in esports. Read our in-depth Rivalry betting review to get to know this top-tier bookie.
Bet365 is based in the United Kingdom and serves bettors from American Football to esports. The bookmaker offers all the basics you want to bet on: from simple moneylines to over/unders. Get to know the bookie with our comprehensive bet365 esports review. You can also check a list of esports betting sites in the UK here.
Betway started in 2006 and up till today, still offers competitive odds for a diverse collection of esports titles. From UK to the United States, you can be sure to rely on Betway to offer you a platform with its reliability and ease-of-use. Read up on our detailed bookmaker review on Betway to know more.
As one of the remaining leagues left with a promotion-relegation structure, you can bet that the PCS will always have the best teams in the Asia-Pacific. As such, always keep an eye out for up-and-coming teams to bet on in the PCS!
The Pacific Championship Series was inaugurated in 2020 with teams from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines. The PCS came as a merger between the formerly known League of Legends Master Series (LMS) and the League of Legends SEA Tour (LST) which ran their own independent leagues in the Pacific.
Back when it was announced, the PCS had ten teams initially selected to be permanent franchise partners of the league. However, the league would shift into a promotion-relegation system in 2021 to promote competition within the region. In the past, the PCS’ highest placing has been at the Mid-Season Invitational 2021 when PSG Talon got 3rd to 4th place after reaching semis. But aside from that, the region has yet to establish its form as a Major region by consistently placing at Worlds.
However, the Asia-Pacific has produced top-caliber teams and players in the past that have come to succeed internationally. Teams like Taipei Assassins who upset the seemingly unstoppable Azubu Frost in 2012 or Flash Wolves who have produced talented players like Hung “Karsa” Hao-Hsuan, Hu “SwordArt” Shuo-Chieh, and Huang “Maple” Yi-Tang among others.
The Pacific Championship Series is made up of Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao, and the entirety of Southeast Asia. Thus, it still features a promotion and relegation structure to allow for deserving rookie teams to have their chance on the big stage. In 2021, we even saw Impunity from Singapore and Malaysia overpower Resurgence in a close 3-2 match to qualify for the 2022 season.
Following promotion, the 10 participating teams then go head-to-head in the regular season following a Double Round Robin format. Matches are held in best-of-ones with the top eight (8) teams qualifying for Playoffs. The bottom two teams are then sent to the grinder for the next season’s Spring promotion.
In the playoffs, the teams compete in a double-elimination bracket with the top two teams receiving a bye to Round 2 of the winners’ bracket. Round 1 of the playoffs are played in best-of- three while the rest of the playoffs are played in best-of-five. This tournament format allows for the best team to stand out in the playoffs no matter their standing in the regular season.
Like in the past season, the winner of the PCS 2022 Summer playoffs qualifies for the Worlds 2022 Main Event with the runner-up qualifying for the Play-Ins.
In the good ol’ days, the PCS was still separated into the LMS and the LST. It was only in 2019 that Riot decided to merge the neighbouring leagues with teams from countries across Asia. Now, the region consists of six teams from Taiwan, two from Hong Kong, one from Malaysia, and one from Singapore.
Despite initial talks of the PCS being a franchise league like the LCS, LEC, and the LCK, it chose to pivot towards a promotional system to promote “regional competitiveness”. For the 2022 season, here are the 10 teams competing in the Summer split:
With Worlds on the horizon, the PCS Summer split already began on the 1st of July, and will run until August 6th. Due to the teams in the PCS having their separate regional headquarters, the tournament is held fully online for the time being. However, seeing that the PCS could soon develop into a franchise league, a LAN-based tournament format is not out of the question. Games are held weekly every Friday to Sunday starting from 10:00 to 14:00 CET.
As of now, there are no announced dates yet for the playoffs. But if Spring were to be followed, the PCS Summer playoffs will begin around two weeks after the regular season.
The PCS is an intermediate region which sits roughly in-between a Major and a Wildcard region. But despite this, it still has a generous prize pool of around $80,000 USD per season. Of this amount, $30,000 goes to the winning team. But alongside the money and the trophy’s prestige, they get to represent the PCS at Worlds 2022. Here, players and teams get to make a name for themselves in the world stage as players like SwordArt and Chiu “Doggo” Tzu-Chuan have – which have netted them spots at teams like TSM in North America or Suning in the LPL.
The regular season of the PCS still follows best-of-ones and with a double round robin format, that totals to 90 games over July until August. Out of those games, there will only be a handful of teams that will make it to playoffs and from them, only two will go to Worlds. Read on to see who we believe have the best shot at making it to Mexico City and all the way to New York.
After a rough 3-7 record at the Rumble Stage in MSI 2022, PSG went back to the woodworks replacing their mid-jungle duo with Korean players Kim “Gori” Tae-woo and Jeong “Burry” Seung-hwan. No matter the cause, PSG recruited the two thinking that the team could perform better at Worlds with their talents. Gori has had a lot of competitive experience fighting talented mid laners in the LCK and the LPL alike in his time on Nongshim RedForce and FunPlus Phoenix. Meanwhile, Burry is an upcoming talent with a lot to prove given that he’s only played in the Challengers League.
The PSG BOIS are back live streaming 📺 on @TWITCH Make sure to tune in every week 😃 Tuesday – Azhi/Unified/Kaiwing 11PM-2AM Wednesday – Hanabi/Gori/Burry 11PM-2AM#PSGTALONWIN #PCS #LOL pic.twitter.com/HpYaFiRTFa — PSG TALON (@PSG_Talon) July 4, 2022
The PSG BOIS are back live streaming 📺 on @TWITCH Make sure to tune in every week 😃 Tuesday – Azhi/Unified/Kaiwing 11PM-2AM Wednesday – Hanabi/Gori/Burry 11PM-2AM#PSGTALONWIN #PCS #LOL pic.twitter.com/HpYaFiRTFa
— PSG TALON (@PSG_Talon) July 4, 2022
Though the team just lost to long-time rival Beyond Gaming in Week 1 of the Summer season, do not fear because the team has yet to reach their fullest potential come later into the split. With talented champions like Su “Hanabi” Chia-Hsiang, Wong “Unified” Chun Kit, and Ling “Kaiwing” Kai Wing still in their squad, we’re confident that PSG can ride out the wave and head into Worlds even stronger than before.
After a more than rough split last Spring 2022, Beyond Gaming seem to be back on full tilt with a 3-0 record so far in the PCS Summer season. Since making it to Worlds last year, BYG’s own Chiu “Doggo” Tzu-Chuan got picked up by the LPL’s Bilibili Gaming. And last season, they picked up players from the former Berjaya Dragons and BOOM Esports to complete their roster. Since then, BYG had a tough time adjusting to their all-new roster 5th in the regular season last split. However, they now seem to be in the upwards trend coming into the Summer season with Worlds on the line. Time will tell if this team has what it takes to dethrone the weakened talons of the Pacific.
Once the champions of the LMS, J Team were a team that dethroned AHQ to place relatively well in Worlds 2019. But for almost four seasons in a row now, J Team have failed at the hands of eventual champions Machi Esports and PSG Talon. This was after the team joined the PCS in 2020 and their star mid laner Chu “FoFo” Chun-Lan leaving the squad. Since then, the team have struggled to re-establish themselves as the undisputed kings of the Pacific. With one of the strongest mid-jungle duos Hsiao “Kongyue” Jen-Tso and Chen “Uniboy” Chang-Chuin the mix, J Team find themselves in a position where they could do exactly just that – and their 3-0 record after Week 1 speaks to that. And as their new addition Liang “Enso” En-Shuo transitions better into his role as a support (being a former jungler), time is only on J Team’s side.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by J Team (@jteam.club)
A post shared by J Team (@jteam.club)
Despite their name, CTBC Flying Oyster is just Machi Esports under the rug. CTBC has three (3) out of the five (5) former 2020 Summer champions and as such, should be able to hold their own against teams like PSG and BYG. Meanwhile, Chen “Mission” Hsiao-Hsien has been a consistently good laner in the past years being a pillar for the teams he’s been in. Where CTBC will run into problems however is in the top lane as it seems that their top laner Hsu “Rest” Shih-Chieh has been underperforming in the past season. It will take more than Rest’s glory days back in J Team to give CTBC a fighting chance against the top teams at the PCS.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by 中信飛牡蠣 CTBC Flying Oyster (CFO) (@ctbc_flyingoyster)
A post shared by 中信飛牡蠣 CTBC Flying Oyster (CFO) (@ctbc_flyingoyster)
From July 1st until August 6th, you can watch the Pacific’s best match up in thrilling best-of-ones on Twitch and YouTube. For the local bettors, you can watch the PCS on Twitch in Cantonese and Mandarin. For those who prefer an alternative platform, you can even tune into the stream through Huya, eGG Network, and YahooTV. For day-to-day updates on the regional league, you can follow the PCS on Facebook, Twitter, and on LoL Esports. Again, matches start as early as 10:00 CET and can run until 16:00 CET from Fridays to Sundays.
With the way the league’s developing right now, we can see Beyond Gaming and PSG Talon still holding on to the top spots of the PCS. When the stakes are high, you can count on the more experience teams to come out on top. But in your PCS Summer betting, don’t forget that the PCS is still somewhat of a mess right now and can see old flames like J Team and the all-new Machi Esports in CBTC Flying Oyster to reclaim their throne.
You can generally find betting markets on the PCS with ease. But for your convenience, we recommend bet365 for moneyline bets, Rivalry for prop and total bets, and Pinnacle for handicap betting!
You can watch the PCS live on Twitch and YouTube every weekend from Friday to Sunday. Games begin at 10:00 CET and can end as late as 16:00 CET. For local viewers, you can also watch the PCS in Chinese on Huya.
Although yet to be announced, the playoffs of the 2022 PCS Summer season will likely have a prize pool of $80,000 split across the placing teams.
The playoffs will likely begin around mid-August to early September, shortly after the regular season which ends on August 6th, 2022.
The regular season of the PCS follows a double round robin tournament format held in best-of-one matches. The playoffs follow a double-elimination playoffs bracket played in best-of-fives after the first round.