The world championship knockout stage commences on Friday, with T1 and Hanwha Life
Esports rematching the very final series of the summer postseason in the LCK. On Saturday,
EDward Gaming faces off against Royal Never Give Up: the summer and spring LPL champions
respectively. Both series are relatively contested, between long time domestic rivals.

Captain
Scout ($11,100)
Despite RNG’s first place group run, two players on Royal Never Give Up stuck out to me like
sore thumbs through their fumbles against HLE and Fnatic: Cryin and Wei both showed
underwhelming performances, with Cryin especially getting routinely outplayed by the weaker
teams. Against a well composed EDward, I don’t think RNG will be able to get away with
having a weak mid laner against a player like Scout, someone who’s progressively leveled up
across the year. For an alternative option, I’d grab Gumayusi; Deft has been strong for HLE, but
I strongly believe that Guma has the potential to be the next “great” LCK ADC.
Alternatives to consider: Gumayusi ($11,400)

Top lane
Canna ($6,600)
Likewise, with HLE, their woes are in their top side: Willer has shown flashes of brilliance, but
is otherwise an underwhelming player. However, that does not describe top laner Morgan at all,
who is by far the weakest top laner in the knock-out stage of the tournament, and maybe even the
entire worlds group stage. Canna should have a decisive, clear advantage over the weaker HLE
top laner. Otherwise, I’d select Flandre against Xiaohu, although that match up is way more
contested.
Alternatives to consider: Flandre ($6,400)

Jungle
Jiejie ($6,800)
While the EDward jungler hasn’t been the strongest star on the team, I do think he has a good
match-up against Wei, especially with the mid lane advantage on the rift; jungle is way easier to
play with a dominating mid laner like Scout, who has reversed his reputation as a choker slowly
throughout the years. Oner isn’t a bad shot either, although he comes at a $200 premium. At the
end of the day, both jungle match-ups are favorable, however.
Alternatives to consider: Oner ($7,000)

Mid lane
Faker ($7,200)
Mid lane is by far the closest role on Friday, excluding the Scout versus Crying match-up. Faker
is literally, the greatest League of Legends player of all time. He is without a doubt truly
“legendary” in every sense of the word. However, across the rift is likely the current best player
in the world in Chovy, the star of Hanwha Life Esports, and it’s 100% possible that with any
other player in his role, Hanwha would not have went to worlds at all.
Alternatives to consider: Scout ($7,400)

ADC
Viper ($7,400)
EDG’s Viper has a rough opponent in RNG’s Gala, who is likely one of the best all around
players alongside support Ming. But it doesn’t take a long memory to recall EDG’s dominant
domestic performance in securing the summer championship, whereas RNG had a series of trials
and tribulations just to qualify for worlds. Both options I think are solid, but with Viper’s
stronger mid jungle, EDG will have more resources to allocate to the bottom side of the map.
Alternatives to consider: Gumayusi ($7,600)

Support
Meiko ($5,600)

And likewise, I’d say pairing Viper with support Meiko is a good idea: while I feel as though
RNG and EDG have interchangeable bottom lanes- at least at this point (domestically, EDG’s
bottom lane was superior in summer). Meiko is a great support, and the top side advantage
generated by a stronger mid-jungle will unlock him across the map- Keria is a great pick up too,
but Vsta has been instrumental in HLE’s success alongside Deft and Chovy.
Alternatives to consider: Keria ($5,800)

Team
T1 ($5,200)
However, overall, I have to give the Korean series to T1: the top superiority of Canna and Oner
will likely be too great for Morgan and Willer to deal with, especially with Willer being only
introduced to the roster less than a split before. EDward is also likely to take the series away
from RNG, Cryin has looked relatively dead in the mid lane, whereas Scout has just been getting
better and better.
Alternatives to consider: EDward Gaming ($5,000)

Stacks
Canna & Oner
The top side for T1 can’t be understated: they target the weakest points on HLE which are
consistently their undoing. Canna has had some domestic issues, although he has regained his
form progressively throughout summer. Oner’s introduction to the roster has solved a lot of the
problems T1 has had with Cuzz, namely their slower game pace.

Scout & Jiejie
The mid-jungle for EDG, likewise targets RNG’s weak points in their mid lane and jungle: Cryin
and Wei have been weak for RNG, whereas Scout has been one of the strongest players on EDG.
Jiejie shouldn’t be challenged by Wei, whereas other junglers have had the opportunity to exploit
him.

Gumayusi & Keria

Bottom lane isn’t very contested on Friday, but overall I think that T1 has the most “complete”
match-up. Vsta and Deft have had highs and lows, whereas RNG and EDG are all solid bottom
lanes. That’s not to say HLE have a bad bottom lane- although I do find them less consistent than
the other 3.

Top Picks: Scout, Canna, Oner
Scout has the easiest match-up on Friday against the weak Cryin, and likewise with Canna and
Oner against HLE’s top side in Morgan and Willer; both players being the weak points for
Hanwha, routinely needing to be carried by their bottom side.

Top Value: Chovy, Jiejie, Viper
Chovy is the heir to Faker most likely. He’s the best mid laner right now, and just needs more
time to cement himself as the second GOAT and the successor to Faker’s legacy. Jiejie has a
strong match-up against Wei, and Viper is in contention for the best ADC in the entire world.