LCK Thursday

(-210) Hanwha Life Esports v DRX (+165)

(-140) Afreeca Freecs v Liiv SANDBOX (+110)

Thursday’s League of Legends contests features only LCK, as LPL is on recess. Two bottom tier teams face off against Hanwha Life Esports and DRX; with Hanwha looking underwhelming despite prior success. A surprisingly upper tier Afreeca Freecs face off against a slightly lower Liiv SANDBOX, both teams powered up by their new ADCs.

Captain

Dread ($10,800)

In my opinion, there’s no better option for captain. Money is absurdly sparse on Thursday, with mid and adc picks for captains overinflated; your only option is to look to the lesser valued roles; support and top lane definitely aren’t worth their cost; Hanwha’s Dudu and Vsta are unfavorable, to say the least. YoHan isn’t excellent either; but he has a decent enough match-up in Pyosik considering YoHan’s stronger bottom side. Dread is an excellent player, and worth the captain spot- and the jungler you take in addition isn’t too much of a liability either.

Alternatives to consider: Fly ($11,100)

Top Lane

Kiin ($6,200)

The second best top laner in the LCK so far is pretty much certain: Kiin has finally came back around into form and looks like a strong top laner, consistently out laning his opponent and showing up big for the Afreeca Freecs. His opponent in Summit has been a strong top laner in the past, and while he is also returning to form, he is held back by his weak laning phase which Kiin can exploit. Your other option is Dudu; he has a good match-up against Kingen and Destroy, but he’s not a good top laner, and likely not worth your time.

Alternatives to consider: Dudu ($6,400)

Jungle

YoHan ($6,800)

With Dread as your captain, you basically have no other option: Croco and Pyosik aren’t worth any of your money, and YoHan at least has lanes to facilitate his success. Despite the fact that YoHan isn’t a strong jungler, there is a decent degree of factors in his favor: he always has high kp and looks to be active on the map. Other than that though, Dread is worth your money if you are somehow working with a different captain.

Alternatives to consider: Dread ($7,200)

Mid Lane

Chovy ($7,600)

Fly is underwhelming, Chovy is demotivated, FATE and Solka are just bad; mid lane is a real craphole on Thursday. The biggest edge I can give to Chovy is he is up against the worst mid laner in the LCK in Solka, and he has been incredibly good- in contention for the best mid laner in the world- in the past. Fly is a fine secondary option too, but he’s been bad for a long time and I don’t think the match-up between him and FATE is a clear cut case.

Alternatives to consider: Fly ($7,400)

ADC

Deft ($7,800)

Ironically after spring, in summer, Deft is likely the best performing member on Hanwha Life Esports. He looked like garbage late spring and early summer, but slowly has been showing glimpses of his former superstardom. HLE decisively took a game off of DK due to his strong ADC play, and thankfully, his opponent in Bao is one of the worst in the league- meanwhile, Afreeca and SANDBOX’s superstars in Leo and Prince are locked against each other- I narrowly favor Leo due to having Lehends on his squad, but I would prefer Deft’s match-up.

Alternatives to consider: Leo ($7,600)

Support

Lehends ($5,600)

Compared to his gameplay with Bang in spring, Lehends looks so much improved, much more akin to his Griffin or HLE form in years past. His melee support play on picks like Tahm Kench and Rakan has been impressive, and while Effort has looked better than usual, he’s still a middle tier support at best, whereas Lehends has been on top of the world in the past. Your other option in Vsta is weak- take Lehends, unless you have a lot of faith in his good match-up against Bao and Becca

Alternatives to consider: Vsta ($5,400)

Team

Afreeca Freecs ($5,000)

The meteoric rise of Afreeca Freecs has been interesting to witness; the only piece they changed out is their ADC: Leo has been an improvement over Bang, but Kiin coming back into top form has been a fantastic aid to their success. In addition, their opponent in Sandbox’s underwhelming top side is likely to be crushed by Afreeca’s top laner, with Fly remaining unexploited. The secondary option you have is HLE, who play against the last placed DRX.

Alternatives to consider: Hanwha Life Esports ($5,200)

Stacks:

Dread & Lehends

Alongside Kiin, these two have been outstanding for AFS, and are one of the strongest jungle-support duos in the league; Effort is a decent enough player, but Croco is a weak point for Sandbox, allowing Dread to take control of the match in favor of Afreeca.

Chovy & Deft

The carries of HLE have the potential to be great again, especially against a team with weak laners like DRX. Solka and Bao are some of the worst in the league; Chovy and Deft don’t need to be amazing on Thursday; just better than the absolute bottom tier, which is a low standard to set.

Kiin & Dread

The resurgence of Kiin and Dread finally filling the shoes that Spirit left (at long last) come at the perfect time; Afreeca has a real chance to reach worlds for the first time since 2018 due to their top side power. Unfortunately, they may be kept domestic due to their weak mid laner in Fly, but in a meta where middle isn’t as important, Afreeca may yet have a chance to make a splash.

Top Picks: Dread, Kiin, Deft

And those two players encompass the top picks; sorry Lehends. Dread and Kiin have a massive advantage over the weak points of Sandbox, and likewise for HLE’s Deft against Bao and Becca, two players at the bottom of their role’s rankings.

Top Value: Kiin, Leo, Afreeca Freecs

Leo is a good option if you’re not certain on Deft’s form yet though, he’s been a consistent strong point for AFS and a refreshing change for the team after a disappointing homecoming performance from Bang. I’m high on Afreeca Freecs, especially in a league with a team like Nongshim near the top.