LPL Tuesday

(+400) Oh My God v Rare Atom (-650)

(-210) EDward Gaming v Bilibili Gaming (+450)

LPL continues on Tuesday with two matches that should be relatively decisive: an EDG that just narrowly missed out on the championship looks to match-up against a new BLG squad that has promise, but falls short in the starpower department relative to a team synonymous with success in the league. Meanwhile, a promising young Rare Atom roster that found a good degree of success last split will try to start strong against perennial bottom feeder OMG.

Captain

Jiejie ($10,500)

Cash is a major issue on Tuesday, and the best way to ameliorate that issue is by choosing a jungler in the captain position. Something that’s especially relevant later is the fact that Leyan is majorly overpriced on Tuesday, especially since jungler Jiejie was an upper tier jungler, albeit likely not world class at this point. However, having a strong jungler is more than enough to find success against BLG, especially with four great players around him. Jiejie is the best jungler on the day, and his strong laners should secure him a comfortable match. Otherwise, I’d select Flandre, although I don’t like top laners as captains; any other captain I find is too expensive and forces you to make significant sacrifices elsewhere.

Alternatives to consider: Flandre ($9,300)

Top Lane

Flandre ($6,200)

EDG’s top laner came under a lot of fire during the play-offs, but to be honest, I think that playing against Nuguri, Xiaohu, and 369 would make any top laner in the world have to sweat to secure the win. Flandre had a solid regular season last split, and now that we’re back to playing against the bargain bin top laners in the LPL, I think he’s more than capable of returning to his pre-play-off form. Furthermore, in many games Rare Atom played, I found Cube to be a liability more often than not. Cube isn’t a bad player; he has a winning team, but I don’t favor him relative to a player like Flandre who has had consistent success across his career.

Alternatives to consider: Cube ($6,600)

Jungle

Leyan ($7,200)

Leyan is the most overpriced player on the day; aside from maybe Hang. Jiejie is objectively better, which is why he is the captain, but for the sake of money and team slots, it’s better to have Leyan as your main jungler and put Jiejie captain- In spite of this, Leyan has improved significantly from his time on IG and is more than deserving of being on the Rare Atom roster alongside major firepower like iBoy and Fofo. He will certainly demolish OMG, but up against play-off competitive; even a great jungler on a bad team like Tarzan could outmaneuver the young Leyan. Thankfully, though, Leyan has (and has had) a long time to learn, so this split may be Leyan’s coming out party. If you have selected a different captain, Jiejie is a great option here.

Alternatives to consider: Jiejie ($7,000)

Mid Lane

Fofo ($7,600)

The largest carry, by far, on Rare Atom is mid laner Fofo. It’s actually relatively rare, surprisingly, for a player to come from the Taiwanese PCS (formerly LMS) and find success. Even players like Maple were disappointing once joining LPL. However, Fofo’s insane laning power has allowed him to go head to head with some of the best names in the league like Scout, Cryin, Knight, and Doinb without too many issues. OMG has two mid laners that I find extremely underwhelming and easy for Fofo to push over, but if you really need to save money, I think Scout is also a great player with some awesome highs.

Alternatives to consider: Scout ($7,200)

ADC

Viper ($7,400)

Both ADCs from the “winning” teams on Tuesday are amazing. iBoy is a mechanical prodigy with a seemingly infinite ceiling, but Viper is a superstar that’s prepackaged with everything that makes a player outstanding. iBoy’s overconfidence can bait him into scenarios where he gives up massive shutdowns, accrued by his incredible gameplay- a double edged sword. Meanwhile, Viper is consistently on top of his positioning, and gauging how hard he needs to play fights and win. Viper is the superior ADC and comes in cheaper too. Both are excellent choices, however.

Alternatives to consider: iBoy ($7,800)

Support

Meiko ($5,400)

The franchise player for EDG is one of the best players in the entire league, and his rivalry with RNG support Ming has persisted across the span of over four years. While BLG’s bottom lane hit two big upgrades this year in both Ppgod and Aiming, Viper and Meiko have consistently been the better players despite BLG’s being considered “great players on bad teams”. Unfortunately for BLG, underrated players are seldom better than overrated players; but Meiko and Viper are far from overrated considering their immense skill. For a different option, pick up Hang, but I find him similarly overpriced like Leyan.

Alternatives to consider: Hang ($5,800)

Team

Rare Atom ($5,600)

Rare Atom have the easier match-up relative to EDG, despite EDG being the stronger team. RA are likely to stomp out OMG, a team who can hardly even beat the lowest of the low in the LPL. EDG is still likely to beat BLG however, in spite of the upgrades BLG has made to their own roster.

Alternatives to consider: EDward Gaming ($5,200)

Stacks:

Viper & Meiko

EDG’s bottom lane contends with RNG, FPX, and other worlds contenders for best in the league. Viper should be a world champion right now, and likely would have made it to finals if it had not been for the Griffin fiasco that occurred at his worlds debut. Meiko, similarly, has the potential to be world champion caliber just as Ming has been, but it just takes that extra push for these two to get there.

Leyan & Fofo

While Leyan I consider overrated- at least as far as his price is concerned, I do appreciate these two together against a team like OMG. I think OMG’s strongest role is in their bottom lane with Cold and Light, whereas both of their mid laners and their jungler are just absolutely underwhelming. Target those two roles with two stronger points of RA.

Jiejie & Flandre

The top side of EDG is definitely underrated. I’ve been critical of Scout in the past for not living up to his highest highs, but he’s still a strong player. Jiejie has surprised me with his talent last split, and while Flandre was all over the place, it’s very apparent that he still has what it takes to succeed; at least in the LPL. BLG’s top side isn’t extremely threatening, so I feel comfortable with these two on my roster.

Top Picks: Viper, Fofo, iBoy

The biggest standouts between RA and EDG are their amazing ADCs. LPL is known for their bottom lane talent, and to import a player like Viper from the LCK was a bit of a risk; but paid off immensely for EDG and nearly let them capture the domestic championship. iBoy has been a great option for AD for a long while now. Finally, mid laner Fofo allows RA to soar above their weight class and contend with the juggernauts of the league.

Top Value: Scout, Meiko, Flandre

EDG players are way cheaper relative to RA players, and while they have the harder match-up, pound for pound, I find them superior relative to their RA counterparts. Cube isn’t impressive, and I’ve discussed how Hang is overrated. I’d say Scout versus Fofo is the rare exception that Fofo may be capable of outshining Scout depending on the day. Either way, Flandre and Meiko are obvious options relative to what’s across the board on Rare Atom.