(-175) Team Liquid v TSM (+135)
(-165) Evil Geniuses v Team Dignitas (+125)
(+500) Golden Guardians v Cloud 9 (-900)
(-250) 100 Thieves v Immortals (+185)
(-110) Flyquest v Counter Logic Gaming (-120)
Welcome back to the LCS folks! With Cloud9 unceremoniously bowing out of the Mid-Season Invitational, a lot of eyes are on North America and how the region will grow to meet the rest of the world. Look for teams like Team Liquid and Team Solomid make big pushes early to compete with the reigning champions while teams like 100 Thieves and Evil Geniuses look to capitalize on the steps they took last split. A lot of questions surround the teams who were on the bottom of the table in teams like Counter Logic Gaming and Immortals who need to show growth in this next split if they want a chance at Worlds in the Fall. Let’s dive in!
Game #1: Team Liquid v TSM
Cann’s Pick: Team Liquid
Game #2: Evil Geniuses v Team Dignitas
Cann’s Pick: Team Dignitas
Game #3: Golden Guardians v Cloud 9
Cann’s Pick: Cloud 9
Game #4: 100 Thieves v Immortals
Cann’s Pick: 100 Thieves
Game #5: Flyquest v Counter Logic Gaming
Cann’s Pick: Counter Logic Gaming
Fantasy Value Breakdown
Captain
Favorite: FBI (100T: $12,000) You may be confused on my choice for FBI rather than someone from C9 but I think there are some pretty reasonable reasons for that. First, C9 just made a massive roster change in the bot lane. This is a pretty big red flag and while I think they can still easily take care of the Golden Guardians, I think it is hard to set any reasonable expectations for them at this price point. Secondly, FBI could have easily been in the top three in MVP voting, especially early on into the split. He is playing into one of the lowest performing bot lanes in Raes and Destiny from Immortals. 100 Thieves had a really lackluster end to their mid-seasonal tournament so I am expecting a little more fire out of these guys coming into this split.
Value Pick: Fudge (C9: $10,800)
Top Lane
Favorite: Alphari (TL: $6,400) Time to start hammering the king of the top lane pick again. The gap between Alphari and the rest of the top laners on a game in and game out basis is an absolute ocean in my opinion. He had a 6.1 KDA, an almost 70% team kill participation rate, and 63 kills in 18 games with 103 assists to boot. Huni could be challenge but with his normal volatility, Alphari can take advantage of his overaggression and pull you in massive points.
Value Pick: Finn (CLG: $6,000)
Jungle
Favorite: Blaber (C9: $7,600) Blaber took some serious lumps during MSI, but he took it on the chin from some of the best junglers in the world. There is a HUGE gap between Wei from RNG and Iconic from Golden Guardians. Blaber lead all junglers in kills (68), first blood rate (56%) and second best KDA (5.1) in the Spring split. Iconic was the ONLY sub-2.0 KDA jungler in the entire LCS which makes me love the price investment here. I don’t trust all of the members of Cloud9 right now, but I expect Blaber to take his throne back at the top of NA junglers.
Value Pick: Dardoch (DIG: $6,200)
Mid Lane
Favorite: Jizuke (EG: $7,400) I think Evil Geniuses couldn’t get out of their own way in Spring. They would have wildly explosive games and then completely disappear in other matches. Jizuke is the driving force for EG. When he gets on his split pushing/assassin picks like Ekko or Yone, he can have MASSIVE score output games. The hope with this pick into Dignitas’ Soligo is that they don’t force him onto a slower control mage. If EG unleashes the Italian Stallion, you are sure to cash out at the mid role, or even captain if you are looking for a low ownership pick.
Value Pick: Insanity (IMT: $6,200)
ADC
Favorite: Tactical (TL: $7,200) In terms of players who are due for a big bounce back, Tactical is the pick for me. In Summer of 2020 and the World Championships he lit the world on fire and appeared the perfect replacement for DoubleLift as the next great ADC. In Spring, he regressed and there were many discussions about what could be the blocks for him. I think the biggest issue for Tactical was learning a new way to play, one in which CoreJJ does not spend as much time in lane with him. By the playoffs, Tactical hit his stride with 63 kills in 17 games. In fact I would argue they would have beaten Cloud9 if they had their jungler (Santorin) in the finals. I think TSM’s ADC (Lost) has a much lower ceiling than Tactical and I would hedge this pick on that fact alone.
Value Pick: Neo (DIG: $6,800)
Support
Favorite: huhi (100T: $6,000) I think the best combination of players from the same team on a given slate is ADC/Support and for this slate, I love the 100 Thieves pair of FBI and huhi. In the Spring split huhi posted a 3+ KDA with over 160 assists. He was a participant in 33% of 100T’s first blood kills and averaged a +300 gold at 10 min average. 100 Thieves win through bot lane and that makes this an even stronger pick here.
Value Pick: SwordArt (TSM: $4,400)
Team
Favorite: Cloud9 ($5,800) I think the consistency now coming out of Fudge and Blaber with the potential from Perkz makes this pick hard to pass up. Cloud9 took games off of every quarter finalist at MSI and had a strong run through the Mid-Season playoffs at the end of Spring. They have a team focused strategy which lends to points coming from dragons, towers, and barons being taken by them which makes this a better pick too. Add on top of it they are playing arguably one of the weakest NA teams in League of Legends history in Golden Guardians and I feel more comfortable with this pick
Value Pick: Counter Logic Gaming ($4,600)
Cann’s Example Lineup
Captain (x1.5): FBI ($12,000)
Alternate: Blaber ($11,400)
Top: Finn ($6,000)
Jungle: Santorin ($6,800)
Alternate: Dardoch ($6,200)
Mid: Jizuke ($7,400)
ADC: Tactical ($7,200)
Alternate: Neo ($6,800)
Support: huho ($6,000)
Team: Counter Logic Gaming ($4,600)