League of Legends European Championship

February 19th, 2022

 

(-300) Excel Esports v Astralis (+220)

(-130) BDS Esport v SK Gaming (EVEN)

(EVEN) Misfits v MAD Lions (-130)

(EVEN) Team Vitality v Rogue (-130)

(+121) G2 Esports v Fnatic (-159)

The only thing known about the LEC is that it seems like no one knows anything about the LEC. We had major upsets of Fnatic and G2 on Friday that were truly stunning. Team Vitality found a way to rip a win from the jaws of defeat and Rogue is back to looking unstoppable. Players like Vetheo, Comp, and Patrik have all stepped into the limelight and become the faces of the LEC. Deep into the Spring Split now and with every team having played each other once before, we are going to see deeper strategies and even closer games. Let’s dive into it!


Game #1: Excel Esports v Astralis

Cann’s Pick: Excel Esports  

Game #2: BDS Esport v SK Gaming 

Cann’s Pick: SK Gaming 

Game #3: Misfits v MAD Lions

Cann’s Pick: Misfits

Game #4: Team Vitality v Rogue

Cann’s Pick: Rogue

Game #5: G2 Esports v Fnatic

Cann’s Pick: Fnatic

 

Fantasy Value Breakdown


Captain

Favorite: Comp (RGE: $11,400) The current king of the FPPG average, Comp is still dropping 34 points despite the tough stretch Rogue found themselves on last week. Comp was solid in Rogue’s win over the MAD Lions on Friday, with a nearly 4.0 KDA and 11 assists. Team Vitality’s biggest weakness, in my humble opinion, has to be the disconnect in their bottom lane. More importantly, I believe Labrov (their support) is the weakest player in the entire matchup and a place where Rogue can attack.

Value Pick: Neon (MSF: $10,200) 


Top 

Favorite: BrokenBlade (G2: $6,000) A lot of people are going to burn down the ship when it comes to G2. They are going to bail and point to a pretty rough loss to SK Gaming as the reason why we should doubt them. I think Friday’s match was just a game that got away from them and even so, BrokenBlade was still a menace. He had more gold than the enemy mid laner and picked up over 400 CS. BB is the strongest top laner and he is facing off against a pretty washed up top laner in FNC’s Wunder. Wunder is the player who will hard lose the early game on a teamfighting champion, so there will be opportunities for BB to pick up some early kill participation here. 

Value Pick: WhiteKnight (AST: $5,200) 


Jungle

Favorite: Markoon (XL: $7,400) Even in their loss to Misfits (who I think may be one of the hottest teams in the LEC right now) Macaron still had a 3.0+ KDA and helped his team secure 2 out of the 5 dragons taken in the game. He plays the utility junglers well which plays into the strengths of his team strategy, get Patrik ahead. Macaron isn’t a kill heavy jungler but the team’s need to find fights for Patrik to carry them does allow for Markoon to grab a good amount of assists. 

Value Pick: Malrang (RGE: $6,600) 


Mid

Favorite: Larssen (RGE: $7,400) I am not huge on this pick, but there is something to be said about Larssen and how we can normally expect him to play. In their match against the MAD Lions the old man put Reeker in a pine box all throughout the laning phase. I don’t see him getting that far ahead in this matchup but there is something to be said for Vitality struggling to beat BDS on Friday. Rogue showed us once again that if they play their style (which includes Larssen on a control mage in the mid lane) they are one of the best teams in the league. 

Value Pick: Vetheo (MSF: $6,600) 

 

ADC

Favorite: Patrik (XL: $7,800) Patrik hit 50 kills on Friday and he is averaging about 2 kills per death in 2022. His 4.1 KDA is one of the better KDAs among ADCs but that isn’t my favorite part of this pick. Patrik is part of 73%  of XL’s team kills and has 34% of those kills. He is looking more focused and has been able to play more of the traditional carry ADC picks. 


Value Pick: Jezu (SK: $6,600) 


 

Support

Favorite: Mikyx (XL: $6,400) I am starting to have more faith in the XL management. They received a lot of heat after picking up Mikyx but there does seem to be a change in how this lineup is performing. Mikyx has a 10 assist per game average and a staggering 77% team kill participation rate. His leadership is coming up huge as the team win percentage has jumped to 50% with him, all the while having faced the harder competition on the schedule most recently. 

Value Pick: Mersa (MSF: $5,200) 


Team

Favorite: Rogue ($5,000) When Rogue is on, there really aren’t too many teams with the same ceiling as them. We find ourselves looking at a team that, when properly drafting, can out play and out maneuver most teams in Europe with relative ease. They are facing Team Vitality who have relied on chaos to pick up wins and it shows, with VIT sitting at .500 while Rogue is atop the table at 10-2. Better teams show up in the brightest times. Let’s see how they perform on Saturday!

Value Pick: Misfits ($4,600) 



 

Cann’s Example Lineup

DraftKings Classic / $50,000 Salary Cap


 

Captain (x1.5): Vetheo (MSF: $9,900)

  • Alternate:  Jezu (SK: $9,900)

Top: BrokenBlade (G2: $6,000)

Jungle: Markoon (XL: $7,400)

  • Alternate: Malrang (RGE: $6,600)

Mid: Larssen (RGEL $7,400)

  • Alternate:  Nuclearint (BDS: $6,800)

ADC: Comp (RGE: $7,600)

Support: Mersa (MSF: $5,200)

Team: Excel Esports ($5,800)