(-140) MAD Lions v FNATIC (+110)

(-200)Team Liquid v 100 Thieves (+160)

Welcome to Championship Sunday! This is one of the most exciting times in the professional League of Legends calendar, and for fans of the LEC and the LCS you get to see who is crowned champion. All four teams have a storyline that is engaging and winners of each region are placed in much more favorable groups for the World Championships. So who will take the crown in Europe and North America? Let’s dive in and find out!

Game #1: MAD Lions v FNATIC 

Cann’s Pick: MAD Lions (3-2) 

Game #2: Team Liquid v 100 Thieves 

Cann’s Pick: Team Liquid (3-1) 

 

Captain

Favorite: Upset (FNC: $11,100) Through his 18 games played in the Summer playoffs, Upset is sitting at 12.9 KDA and has almost 100 kills to his name. With his 5.3 kills per game average and his 6 assist per game average he is one of the highest performing players across all regions. The FNC versus MAD Lions finals should be an absolute bloodbath and I think of the two lower bracket champions (the other being 100 Thieves) Fnatic has a real chance to beat MAD Lions and if they do, Upset is going to be a huge part of that.

Value Pick: Closer (100T: $9,300)


Top Lane

Favorite: Alphari (TL: $6,600) It isn’t often when you discuss a western player that you say that they are in the top two or three in their position but when it comes to the top lane, you can easily make the case for Alphari. Alphari (especially with the return of Santorin) has been an absolute menace in the top lane during these playoffs. He has a 6.8 KDA and a 68.7% team kill participation which tells us there is a ton of upside with this pick. I feel safe that there really isn’t anyway that 100 Thieves’ top laner (Ssumday) can find an angle in the 1v1 to put Alphari behind and Team Liquid are 100% invested in the idea of playing through their all star top laner. 

Value Pick: Adam (FNC: $6,000) 


Jungle

Favorite: Elyoya (MAD: $6,800) I found it hard to decide where the actual difference maker in the MAD v FNC series will be but I think the most logical difference maker will be Elyoya. While his opponent (Bwipo) is a performer but the question comes down to consistency. Bwipo is averaging 3.7 kills per game while Elyoya averages 4.2. What makes me most excited about this pick is Elyoya having an 80% team kill participation. In a series that will be so explosive, 80% kill participation should translate into major points in you lineup.  

Value Pick: Bwipo (FNC: $6,600) 


Mid Lane

Favorite: Humanoid (MAD: $7,200) Humanoid looks like a completely different player compared to his World’s/Spring Split performance. He has 30 kills in 7 games and has the second highest team kill participation among all mid laners in these playoffs. In this matchup I would expect Humanoid and Nisqy to spend more time in side lanes ganking and forcing plays rather then holding waves in mid lane. There are a lot of points to be made in this series, it just depends on which side of the matchup you choose. 

Value Pick: Nisqy (FNC: $7,000)   


ADC

Favorite: Tactical (TL: $7,800) There is a lot of love for the 100 Thieves bot lane, but I think that is generally overstated now. I know it seems odd to put shade on a bot lane who just beat Cloud9 but there are serious gaps in how this bot lane can win. Tactical and CoreJJ on the other hand are versatile. Tactical and FBI (100 Thieves ADC) have similar kill numbers (Tactical with 50 kills in 13 games and FBI with 54 kills in 14 games), there is a huge difference in how they play out the matches. FBI has 33 deaths in 14 matches while Tactical only has 19 deaths in 13 matches. Tactical has high production with much lower risk associated with him.  

Value Pick: FBI (100: $6,800) 


Support

Favorite: CoreJJ (TL: $5,400) CoreJJ is a difference maker for this Team Liquid team. We have seen him fill a variety of roles from being a lane dominant support to a roam heavy support. Team Liquid use Core as a lynchpin to whatever strategy they are planning for a particular match. In fact most times you can figure out relatively early (even sometimes in draft) how TL are looking to play out a match. I can totally see TL look to get CoreJJ out of lane early and start getting kill participation across the map. 

Value Pick: Hylissang (FNC: $5,200)


Team

Favorite: Team Liquid ($5,000)  While their first series with 100 Thieves went a full 5 games, you need to watch those games. That series should have been a 3-1 at best, with an argument that the legitimate 100 Thieves win was more about draft than actual in game play. I fully expect that between the LEC and LCS championship matches, Team Liquid should be the most heavily favored and most likely to go 3-0. 

Value Pick: Fnatic ($4,600) 


Cann’s Example Lineup

Captain (x1.5): Upset ($11,100)

Alternate: Humanoid ($10,800)

Top: Alphari ($6,600)

Jungle: Bwipo ($6,600)

Alternate: Closer ($6,200)
Mid: Humanoid ($7,200)

ADC: Tactical ($7,800)

Alternate: Carzzy ($7,600)

Support: CoreJJ ($5,400)

Team: Team Liquid ($5,000)