(+750) Team Dignitas v Team Liquid (-1600)

Cann’s Pick: Team Liquid (3-0)


Three more series to play in the LCS preseason tournament! While many analysts have pushed back and been frustrated that we can’t take too much away from the tournament in terms of season expectations, I would argue we are getting a really good look at the raw mechanical ceilings of some of these players. This holds especially true for players like Bjergsen, who is making his return to pro play, and Hans sama, who is playing in the LCS for the first time. The chips are stacked up against Team Dignitas here but it is also important to note that just last weekend this team took out the reigning LCS Champions, 100 Thieves. A lot of lines on this showdown slate and with the ability of only picking two players per team, let’s dive in!


 

Fantasy Value Breakdown

Captain (Team Liquid) 

Favorite: Bjergsen ($16,500) There are only two people on the TL roster that you can feel comfortable picking and them not being benched. One of those players in Bjergsen and you would probably still debate picking him up even if there was a risk of him sitting the bench. He has played in all six games for Team Liquid and currently has almost a 20 KDA with a the slates second most assists with 41. He is averaging over 200 gold advantage per game over his lane opponent all the while contributing 25% of Team Liquid’s team damage in matches. 


Value Pick: Hans sama ($16,200) *** TL has had to move players around because of visa issues so there is a risk with this pick not playing all games *** 


Captain (Team Dignitas)

Favorite: Neo ($15,600) I was actually shocked when I looked at the kill leader for the slate and it ended up being Neo. He has 23 kills in six games and 19 assists in that same time. He has a 65% team kill participation and a 35% team kill share rate. Dignitas hasn’t played through the bottom lane in the early game but Neo and Biofrost tend to shine more in the mid to late game. DIG will need this bot lane to make an impact later in the game but that will require them not to lose out early to the TL bot lane in the early game. 
 

Value Pick: Blue ($14,100) 


Flex (Team Liquid)

Favorite: Santorin ($9,800) Like I had noted in the Bjerg breakdown, there are only two players that I would call “safe” for TL to pick. Santorin is their jungler and at no risk of being moved to the bench as he has residency and wouldn’t count against the TL import count. Santorin has a 65% team kill participation rate which isn’t the highest but has the highest assist number (42) on the slate. He is a smart jungler who looks to pick up the bulk of his points and participation in later game team fights. Don’t stress if Santorin isn’t super involved early on because he directs the late game teamfights. 


Value Pick: Bwipo ($8,800) *** TL has had to move players around because of visa issues so there is a risk with this pick not playing all games *** 


Flex (Team Dignitas)

Favorite: FakeGod ($7,800) FakeGod has been ok for DIG in this tournament. He will have a tough time in this lane but the benefit to this pick stems from the role he plays for DIG. FakeGod plays tankier champions that are used to hold the side lane and soak up gold and XP where he can. He looks to rotate into objective based teamfights which usually will net decent points even if he dies during the teamfight. 


Value Pick: Biofrost ($6,400) 

 

Cann’s Example Lineup

DraftKings Classic / $50,000 Salary Cap

Captain (x1.5): Bjergsen ($16,500)

Alternate: Hans sama ($16,200)

Captain (x1.5): Neo ($15,600)

Alternate: River ($12,600)

Flex: Santorin ($9,800)

Flex:  Biofrost ($6,400)