League of Legends Championship Series

January 21st, 2022

(-120) Team Dignitas v Counter Logic Gaming (-110)

(+140) Cloud9 v 100 Thieves (-185)

(-385) Team Liquid v Immortals (+270)

(-135) Team Solomid v Golden Guardians (+105)

(-350) Evil Geniuses v Team Dignitas (+250)** This game is not on Friday’s slate**

Friday is the final day of the group stage for the Lock In Tournament and there are some teams that are on the cusp of making the knockout stage. The highpoint of the slate is definitely the matchup between the red-hot Cloud9 facing off against reigning LCS champions 100 Thieves. We still can measure these teams for what they will be in the regular season, but we can definitely take last weekend as a measuring stick on what to expect for this slate. 

 

Game #1: Team Dignitas v Counter Logic Gaming

Cann’s Pick: Team Dignitas 

 

Game #2: Cloud9 v 100 Thieves

Cann’s Pick: 100 Thieves

 

Game #3: Team Liquid v Immortals

Cann’s Pick: Team Liquid

 

Game #4: Team Solomid v Golden Guardians

Cann’s Pick: Team Solomid

 

Game #5: Evil Geniuses v Team Dignitas

Cann’s Pick: Evil Geniuses

 

Fantasy Value Breakdown

Captain

Favorite: Bjergsen (TL: $11,700) Team Liquid looks like they could be the team to beat in the LCS this year and the biggest reason is how seamlessly Bjergsen has stepped back onto the rift. In his 3 games played in the tournament he has a 15.0 KDA and a 70% team kill participation rate. He has 10 kills (3+ kills per game) and 20 assists (just under 7 assists per game) which is one of the best averages among mid laners, especially when you look at his less than 1 death per game average. Easy lock in here against a struggling IMT team who cannot find their footing to begin 2022. 

Value Pick: Zven (C9: $10,200) 
 

Top 

Favorite: Bwipo (TL: $6,600) Bwipo’s KDA does not scream top tier talent (1.9 KDA). When you look at the raw numbers though, you see how much he has done for his new team. He has almost 24% of all of his teams kills and he has 15 assists. Bwipo historically does the dirty work for his team. He usually picks the champions that will fill out his team’s needs rather than picking what is best for his individual matchup. This means he usually gets decent team kill participation numbers because he is more active in the late game teamfights. Revenge should pose little problem for Bwipo and TL should pull away late in this match. 

Value Pick: Darshan (C9: $5,800) 

 

Jungle
 

Favorite: Closer (100: $7,200) Closer and the 100 Thieves look so good right now. Even dropping one game Closer has some of the best jungler stats in the LCS. He has a 14.3 KDA, 33 assists, and a league best 86% team kill participation. The C9/100T match on Friday should be a bloodbath in which we get to see Closer and Blaber but heads and match ganks for 40 minutes. I think Closer racks up a higher death count in this game but it is worth it for him to hit higher kill and assist numbers at the same time.
Value Pick: Blaber (C9: $6,400) 
 

Mid

Favorite: Abbedagge (100: $7,400) Abbedagge goes through periods where he appears to be having a lower output then directly followed by breakout games. He currently has a 3.0 KDA and is primed to have a breakout performance against Cloud9. C9 has transitioned their rookie top laner from 2021 to being their starting mid laner in 2022 which can bring a lot of questions on how he will perform. Through the first few games in Lock In, Fudge has looked good but I would argue has been untested. Friday will be a real test for him and C9 and I believe that Abbedagge will come out on top. 

Value Pick: Blue (DIG: $6,600) 

 

ADC

Favorite: Hans sama (TL: $7,600) There is risk to this pick because TL still has not figured out their lineup issues with CoreJJ. This means you could end up with the Yeon/CoreJJ bot lane today but I doubt that will be the case based on the excellent showing by Hans sama last weekend. Averaging 4.5 kills per game and 5 assists per game is a great stat line for the price point. He is also facing WildTurtle who is heavily prone to dying at terrible times which means the more stable ADC should have the more consistent stat line. 

Value Pick: WildTurtle (IMT: $6,400)  
 

Support

Favorite: huhi (100: $5,800) I was really back and forth between 100 Thieves’ huhi and C9’s Isles. The difference for me is the continuity between the lineups. Cloud9 is playing with a mixed roster of LCS starters and academy players where 100T is playing with their entire projected LCS roster. 100 Thieves had a stinker last weekend and I don’t see that replicated again for the rest of the tournament. I also give the nod to huhi because 100 Thieves have multiple strategies where huhi becomes one of the primary damage dealers (seen by his 6 kills in one weekend) and those bonus points from a support picking up kills can put a big gap between you and the rest of your lobby.  

Value Pick: Biofrost (DIG: $4,800) 
 

Team
 

Favorite: Team Liquid ($5.600) The only real flaw with this lineup is the fact that they are without CoreJJ. They are methodical, when they fall behind you don’t see them panic, and they are extraordinarily coordinated for a team who hasn’t played much together,. IMT is a tough out but TL as a team seem too clean and composed with all of their experience to be shook by their wild nature. TL has one of the best gold differentials at 10 minutes in the league (+2442) where Immortals currently has one of the worst (-2536). That 4k gold difference is a wild stat and if TL can replicate it at all, it should be an easier win for this super team. 

Value Pick: Cloud9 ($4,200) 

 

Cann’s Example Lineup

DraftKings Classic 

$50,000 Salary Cap
 

Captain (x1.5): Bjergsen (TL: $11,700)

Alternate: FBI (100: $11,400)

Top: Bwipo (TL: $6,600)

Jungle: Closer (100: $7,200)

Alternate: Xerxe (IMT: $6,000)

Mid:  Blue (DIG: $6,600)

ADC: Hans sama (TL: 7,600)

Alternate: Neo (DIG: $7,000)

Support: Biofrost (DIG: $4,800)

Team: Team Solomid ($5,000)