(+210) SK Gaming v Misfits Gaming (-285)

(-110) exceL eSports v Astralis (-120)

(+210) Team Vitality v Rogue (-285)

(+230) FC Schalke 04 v G2 Esports (-325)

(-120) MAD Lions v Fnatic (-110)

Since this is a showdown slate, I am going to give you a little bit of a different look for a breakdown. We are going to go position by position to find edges each team may have and then I’ll give you my picks 

Game #1: SK Gaming v Misfits Gaming

Cann’s Pick: Misfits Gaming

Game #2: exceL eSports v Astralis 

Cann’s Pick: Astralis 

Game #3: Team Vitality v Rogue

Cann’s Pick: Rogue

Game #4: FC Schalke 04 v G2 Esports

Cann’s Pick: G2 Esports

Game #5: MAD Lions v Fnatic

Cann’s Pick: MAD Lions

 

Captain

Favorite: Rekkles (G2: $12,300) Rekkles has put himself quite a second half of the season with a league leading 86 kills and 63 assists all while having less than 20 deaths. G2 has won their last 3 games and Rekkles has been a huge part of that. To add to the benefit of this pick, G2 are playing the worst team in the league in S04 who are currently on an 8 game losing streak. Neon is a better laner than he has performed this year, but G2 are too hot right now. Big day to Rekkles on Saturday.  

Value Pick: Upset (FNC: $10,500)

Top Lane

Favorite: HiRit (MSF: $7,000) Even with the small step back that MSF has taken in the last two weeks, HiRit is still in the top three among all top laners in the LEC. He has 50 kills and 103 assists through 16 games which puts him at a 4.3 KDA. What else makes me excited about this pick is 65% team kill participation rate which is second among all top laners. Look for Razork and the rest of Misfits look to get HiRit ahead in lane and incorporated in late game fights.   

Value Pick: Whiteknight (AST: $6,000) 

Jungle

Favorite: Jankos (G2: $7,200) Much like the Rekkles analysis, G2 is hot. Hopping on this train could have a pretty big payout, especially into the flailing Schalke 04. Jankos started really slowly this Summer Split which extended even before that into the Spring Split. Jankos has 58 kills (2nd most among junglers), 108 assists (5th among junglers), and a 23% team kill share owner which shows us that Jankos is at the core of G2.  

Value Pick: Selfmade (VIT: $6,000) 

Mid Lane

Favorite: Larssen (RGE: $7,800) Rogue are on a warpath and other LEC teams are receiving the wrong end of this path. They have a league leading 75% win rate and Larssen is averaging +135 gold differential at 10 minutes throughout the Summer Split. We have seen him play a wide range of champions and styles which will be useful when drafting against better teams like VIT (and into the playoffs in a few weeks). VIT’s mid laner (Primary one is LIDER) has over 2 less points in the KDA category (2.8 v Larssen’s 5.0). Big mismatch for Rogue here and it should be a pretty big area for you to pick up points in your lineup.  

Value Pick: Nisqy (FNC: $6,800)   

ADC

Favorite: Hans sama (RGE: $8,000) The other head for the two headed Rogue monster is Hans sama. I write about him a lot because he (and Rogue as an organization) are so incredibly consistent. Hans has a 6.4 KDA with 26 deaths in 16 games. You don’t see him get caught out of position too often and the Rogue bot lane does such a great job absorbing early attention when opposing teams look to focus them. Team Vitality are rightfully pretty big dogs in this matchup and a lot of that stems from the quality of play from Hans.  

Value Pick: Crazy (MAD: $7,200) 

Support

Favorite: Mikyx (G2: $5,800) I will admit that I like the two more expensive options for the support role (Trymbi and Vander) in terms of what I think they could realistically be expected to produce on Saturday. My biggest problem, and what led me to this pick, was their overall cost. Anything in the $6k range ends up really hurting you elsewhere in your lineup. That being said, Mikyx has put up pretty good numbers in the bot lane with Rekkles (146 assists, 3.0 KDA) and I think G2 continues to roll on Saturday.   

Value Pick: promisq (AST: $4,400) 

Team

Favorite: Misfits ($6,000) I like this as the most expensive pick on the slate. G2 has a horrible tendency to drop the most quizzical games and Rogue is facing a better quality team, leaving the door open for them to lose a lot of objectives along the way. Misfits have lost a few more games in the second round robin, but have continued to take care of business against bottom tier teams like SK Gaming (who have been eliminated from playoff contention already). Misfits had a great showing against FNC on Friday and should roll that success into Saturday.   

Value Pick: MAD Lions ($5,200) 

 

Cann’s Example Lineup

Captain (x1.5): Caps ($11,400)

Alternate: Nisqy ($10,200)

Top: Whiteknight ($6,000)

Jungle: Zanzarah ($6,400)

Alternate: Elyoya ($7,000)
Mid: Larssen ($7,800)

ADC: Carzzy ($7,200)

Alternate: Upset ($7,000)

Support: Kaiser ($5,000)

Team: Misfits ($6,000)