World Championship October 9th, 2021
Hanwha Life Esports v Beyond Gaming
Cloud9 v PEACE
This may have been the most intriguing tournament in League of Legends history, and then late Friday night we had an absolute bombshell of information hit the web. The BYG mid laner (Maoan) has been banned from the rest of the tournament for insider information being given in regards to gambling. With BYG just pulling off an amazing reverse sweep on Thursday, this has to be the final nail in their coffin. The heavy favorites (HLE and C9) are even heavier favorites going into Friday. So who should be picked up? Let’s dive in!
Game #1: Hanwha Life Esports v Beyond Gaming
Cann’s Pick: Hanwha Life Esports (3-1)
Game #2: Cloud9 v PEACE
Cann’s Pick: Cloud9 (3-0)
Fantasy Value Breakdown
Captain
Favorite: Chovy (HLE: $11,100) With a replacement mid laner coming in to fill in for the disgraced Maoan, the tournament’s best mid laner is going to have an absolute field day with BYG on Friday. He is averaging almost a 400 gold lead in lane as well as a 5.0 KDA, which is at the very top of the World performers thus far. Don’t overthink it, pick the slam dunk.
Value Pick: Tally (PCE: $9,900)
Top Lane
Favorite: Fudge (C9: $6,600) He is averaging 37 FPPG and is still a cornerstone of the loud9 team. He can play anything from a tank (like Malphite) to a legitimate carry in something like Irelia. Cloud9 will need him to square up against former European standout in Vizicsacsi and deliver a stand out performance.
Value Pick: Liang (BYG: $5,600)
Jungle
Favorite: Blaber (C9: $7,000) I actually don’t love this pick, but HLE has two legit junglers that they can bring out (thought Willer will most likely be their jungler of choice). Blaber will need to play consistently throughout the entire series. Cloud9 should have an easy route to the group stage but it has to come through Blaber not finding new and creative ways to throw leads in the mid game.
Value Pick: Babip (PCE: $6,600)
Mid Lane
Favorite: Chovy (HLE: $7,600) If you listened to me on Thursday, you know I am good for one good pick a slate and I nailed the Doggo pick. Today’s slate has Chovy set up to have just as good of a performance. I think we see a jump in his kills (which have been uncharacteristically low so far) into a weaker opponent.
Value Pick: Perkz (C9: $7,000)
ADC
Favorite: Zven (C9: $7,600) I think Zven can have a decent performance on Friday. His lane opponent (Violet) did not perform well in PEACE’s match against Red Canids on Thursday. I think if it was not for the PCE mid laner (Tally), we could be looking at a RED v C9 series on Friday. Zven needs to step up and make an impact. In so many matches where he is involved, he seems to be a passenger on the ride rather than someone who is driving the bus and he will not get another chance that will be so easy to do so.
Value Pick: Doggo (BYG: $7,400)
Support
Favorite: Vsta (HLE: $5,800) I am not sure why Vulcan is the higher costing support on the slate but I can guarantee he is not worth the 6k he is listed at. Instead, pick the heavy favorite in Vsta and dip below that 6k line to ensure good value without overspending on a position that has a much lower ceiling. HLE could easily go 3-0 on Friday, and those types of series will produce the better support numbers.
Value Pick: Kino (BYG: $5,400)
Team
Favorite: Hanwha Life Esports ($5,200) This is the best team by far of those teams still in the play in stage. They have played far more challenging competition to get to this point, including being one game away from earning an automatic bid to the group stage and sending T1 to the play in stage. BYG on the other hand has scrapped their way along to this point and have been wildly underwhelming. This is especially true when you think about the fact that they were a potential team to unseat C9 for top of Group 2 in the play-in stage. And now they are in their second do-or-die series in as many days.
Value Pick: PEACE ($4,400)
Cann’s Example Lineup
DraftKings Classic
$50,000 Salary Cap
Captain (x1.5): Chovy ($11,100)
Alternate: Violet ($10,800)
Top: Fudge ($6,600)
Jungle: Bapip ($6,600)
Alternate: Willer ($6,800)
Mid: Perkz ($7,000)
ADC: Doggo ($7,400)
Alternate: Zven ($7,600)
Support: Vsta ($5,800)
Team: Hanwha Life Esports ($5,200)