League of Legends Professional League/League of Legends Champions Korea
January 27th, 2022
(-360) KT Rolster v Liiv SANDBOX (+250)
(-220) T1 v NS RedForce (+165)
(-350) TOP Esports v Oh My God (+250)
(-114) Royal Never Give Up v Bilibili Gaming (-114)
Absolutely thrilling matches were played on Tuesday and we saw teams put their expectations to the test. The LPL gave us two full series and the LCK saw the favorites take advantage of their easier matchups. On Wednesday, we have some close matchups that could come down to a knife’s edge and will conclude with an electric matchup between RNG and BLG. Who to choose? Which players will rise to the top? Let’s dive in!
Series #1: KT Rolster v Liiv SANDBOX
Cann’s Pick: KT Rolster (2-0)
Series #2: T1 v NS RedForce
Cann’s Pick: T1 (2-1)
Series #3: TOP Esports v Oh My God
Cann’s Pick: TOP Esports (2-1)
Series #4: Royal Never Give Up v Bilibili Gaming
Cann’s Pick: Royal Never Give Up (2-1)
Fantasy Value Breakdown
Captain
Favorite: Aiming (KT: $11,700) Admittedly, I don’t have the greatest trust for KT Rolster. They have had a storied history in looking amazing, having a high ceiling, and then disappointing their fans in the postseason. Thus far, AIming has picked up 36 kills in 9 games (average of 4 kills per game) and has 34 assists in the same time. Lower raw numbers than some on the slate but I also look to the fact that KT has also faced some of the hardest competition in the LCK like Damwon and NS RedForce. As the ease into some “easier” games, I expect Aiming to continue to build on his kill and assist numbers while keeping his deaths down like he is now.
Value Pick: Gumayusi (T1: $11,100)
Top
Favorite: Breathe (BLG: $5,800) It may be odd to see me pick a player from BLG when I expect RNG to win the series. RNG is cleaner in closing out games and fighting around objectives but we have seen them outclassed in some teamfights. We have seen this to be especially true when opposing teams can muddy up the early/mid game with odd rotations and have weird picks. BLG has been pretty good at fighting (Breathe has a 4+ KDA with over 25 and nearly 40 assists) and I can see that being their way into winning this game.
Value Pick: shanji (OMG: $5,400)
Jungle
Favorite: Oner (T1: $7,000) Looking over all junglers on the slate for Thursday, it is hard to pick anyone other than Oner. He is aggressive with the ability to single handedly put the enemy jungler behind. For most teams, the different lanes need to help support a jungler in getting ahead. For T1, Oner has shown the ability to path well into the enemy’s jungler or contest different objectives without needing a lot of support. This has led to his 7.6 KDA and 34 kills in 9 games. This may be the match I feel most comfortable with and the largest gap is between Oner and his lane opponent Dread.
Value Pick: Weiwei (BLG: $6,600)
Mid
Favorite: Faker (T1: $7,200) This may be one of the harder challenges for Faker this split and NS has been a little more battle tested (including their win over DWG). This being said, NS is very prone to over committing on plays and we have seen them lose teamfights because they will over value their own strength. One of Faker’s (and T1 as a team) biggest strengths is their understanding of game state from moment to moment. This reason alone is why T1 and Faker have some of the fewest deaths and best KDAs in the LCK. Faker can make plays to take over a game, but he understands when to do it. This limits bad deaths and can maximize this actual kill potential.
Value Pick: Xiaohu (RNG: $7,000)
ADC
Favorite: JackeyLove (TES: $8,000) TOP Esports’ opponent for Thursday (OMG) have somewhat shown that they are not at the same level of some of the big teams in the LPL quite yet. Their win condition is definitely Able and cold running through enemy bot lanes and when we saw OMG run face first into EDG, EDG’s bottom lane ran amuck in the mid game. I fully expect JackeyLove to have a similar performance on Thursday. He is one of the top five most mechanically skilled players in the LPL and arguably one of the best ADCs in the entire world. Watch for him to be on playmaking bot laners and look to expose the OMG bot lane on his own terms. He is a bit death prone which is why I am not moving him to the captain role with such a high price tag.
Value Pick: Gala (RNG: $7,200)
Support
Favorite: Keria (T1: $5,600) The only real risk with Keria is that there is technically a second support on the T1 lineup. His production and synergy with his ADC (Gumayusi) should be more than good enough to solidify him his starting spot on Thursday. His almost 11 assist per game average is the highest for supports on the slate and he has a 78% team first blood participation rate. Start early and get points often with this roam heavy support from T1.
Value Pick: Crisp (BLG: $4,800)
Team
Favorite: T1 Esports ($5,400) This is going to be T1’s first real test in the LCK so fading this pick wouldn’t be the worst idea. I chose them for my favorite because of how they approach the game. They play with control and a pace that they choose to dictate. You don’t see T1 get swayed or frustrated by their opponents very often. Their drafts are usually very clear and have a well defined win condition in mind. You see teams draft champions trying to respond to their opponents selections and many times, those teams struggle because they lack a vision of how they want to play out the game. Bad teams play not to lose but good teams like T1 play to win through a specific approach. NS has good pieces and I see them as a team who could represent the LCK at the end, but they are not at that level yet.
Value Pick: Bilibili Gaming ($5,000)
Cann’s Example Lineup
DraftKings Classic
$50,000 Salary Cap
Captain (x1.5): Aiming (KT: $11,700)
Alternate: Doggo (BLG: $10,500)
Top: Breathe (BLG: $5,800)
Alternate: shanji (OMG: $5,400)
Jungle: Oner (T1: $7,000)
Alternate: Weiwei (RNG: $6,600)
Mid: Xiaohu (RNG: $7,000)
ADC: JackeyLove (TES: $8,000)
Support: Crisp (BLG: $4,800)
Team: Bilibili Gaming ($5,000)