MSI Thursday

(-475) Damwon KIA v Cloud9 (+305)

(+120) Infinity Esports v Detonation Focus Me (-155)

(+800) Pentanet GG v Royal Never Give Up (-1800)

(-140) fastPay Wild Cats v paiN Gaming (+110)

(+120) PSG Talon v MAD Lions (-155)

MSI finally begins on Thursday, with some hard to call match-ups aside from RNG vs PGG. DK and C9 are both from major regions, and while Cloud9 is likely to fall, it’s hardly to call where the largest cracks are between the two teams. DFM is likely to beat an underwhelming INF, and while the Wild Cats have been an interesting team to enter the international stage, their relatively poor regular season performance dashes expectations internationally. Whether MAD Lions will be able to turn around their underwhelming international legacy is yet to be seen too, but let’s get into the picks.

Captain

Xiaohu ($10,800)

The biggest surprise for a lot of people this year, me included, was RNG’s successful swap of long time mid laner Xiaohu to the top lane. Despite the team struggling for years with filling the position with a capable player, the true hero they needed was within grasp of the entire time: in actuality, he was one lane adjacent. Xiaohu was amongst the best top laners in the LPL alongside longtime names like Zoom and Nuguri, and his opponent Biopanther is one of the weakest top laners at the entire event. For a different choice, I’d select Khan, a cheaper top laner relative to Xiaohu who has a similarly easy match-up against a sore spot of Cloud9 in Fudge.

Alternatives to consider: Khan ($10,200)

Top Lane

Evi ($6,000)

While top laner Evi gets a resounding “meh” from me, I do think that his opponent in Buggax is, similarly to Biopanther, one of the weakest top laners in the tournament and was carried by his stronger bottom side, especially ADC Whitelotus. Evi’s jungler and mid lane should present enough of an advantage to radiate towards Evi and to take the win over the similarly mediocre Buggax, and he comes at a fraction of the cost of the premium top laners; speaking of premium top laners, if you want an upgrade, I’d consider the aforementioned Khan for top lane.

Alternatives to consider: Khan ($6,800)

Jungle

Wei ($7,600)

Similar to Xiaohu’s matchup against BioPanther, jungler Wei has an easy time against Pabu in the jungle: even #1 OCE jungle Babip floundered in North America academy, alongside longtime OCE representative Shernfire. Pabu is an alright jungler is a destitute region, Wei looks competitive with Canyon for best jungler in the world, and he’s likely to obliterate the Oceanic competition. Otherwise, I’d select Canyon versus Blaber- nothing wrong with Blaber, but DK’s stronger laners will allow him to outperform the American.

Alternatives to consider: Canyon ($7,400)

Mid Lane

Aria ($7,600)

LJL teams strength is determined by their imports, and newcomer Aria is no exception- his domestic performance rejuvenated an ailing DFM and resecured their domestic dynasty; while I do not believe LJL will find international success in 2021, I do think that they will be able to crush the LLN representative Infinity due to their stronger top side and secure bottom lane not getting crushed by Whitelotus; for a similar value pick, I think Turkish mid laner Serin may be worth looking into, although I’m skeptical due to the relatively weak nature of the league’s native mid laners.

Alternatives to consider: Serin ($7,400)

ADC

Carzzy ($7,600)

While MAD’s bottom lane did not impress in their prior international outing, I think the Lions have the chance to redeem themselves at worlds this time: Kaiser looks on top of Europe with his support play, and Carzzy’s opponent in Doggo is a last moment substitution and is unlikely to have established significant synergy with support Kaiwing or the rest of PSG- for a different choice, I do appreciate the strength of Turkish ADCs, and ADC HolyPhoenix has proved his worth in the TCL, and while BrTT still does look strong, I think the Wild Cats bottom lane will prove their strength on Thursday.

Alternatives to consider: HolyPhoenix ($8,000)

Support

Beryl ($5,600)

Support and jungle are the two roles that really benefit from strong laners, and Damwon support Beryl is the poster child of “strong support”. His movements across the map are exemplary, and his 2020 world championship was well deserved. While C9’s Vulcan is by no means a pushover, I expect Damwon to slowly choke out the North American representatives through their stronger side lanes and jungler. For a second pick, I’d pair Kaiser and Carzzy together for a strong bottom lane against PSG, in order to exploit new ADC Doggo subbing in for Unified.

Alternatives to consider: Kaiser ($5,200)

Team

fastPay Wild Cats ($4,800)

The two cheap picks I have for team is the Wild Cats versus PaiN due to Brazil’s routine failure to show up internationally (in contrast to a region like Turkey) and secondarily, Detonation Focus Me, who are stylistically stronger than Infinity Esports alongside acquiring a powerful mid lane upgrade in Aria.

Alternatives to consider: Detonation Focus Me ($5,000)

Stacks:

Xiaohu & Wei

RNG’s top side is the major strength they utilized to crush the weaker teams in the LPL, and while GALA slowly arose to the occasion, I expect the strong top lane of RNG to obliterate the weak points on RNG. PGG’s mid lane and bottom lane is relatively decent, so I would select RNG’s strongest choices- especially since their players are so pricey.

Carzzy & Kaiser

MAD’s bottom lane has made a triumphant return to the international stage, much improved relative to their last appearance at 2020 Worlds. Thankfully, their first opponents in PSG are scrambling to establish synergy with ADC Doggo which allows them to gain a foothold on the international stage.

Aria & Evi

The combination of solo laners from DFM isn’t due to their strong synergy; it’s due to their opponent in Infinity being incapable of punishing Evi, alongside the strength of Aria over Cody being capable of radiating that advantage to further crush top laner Buggax. Whitelotus will not be capable of translating his strong bottom lane performance to the top lane, and I expect DFM will take the win.

Top Picks: Wei, Xiaohu, Ming

RNG is one of the biggest names coming into the tournament, and OCE has been torn apart by North America in the pursuit of their strongest pieces. The 3 weakest positions in OCE are support, jungle, and top lane right now; which coincidentally are the strongest for RNG. These three are fantastic pick-ups.

Top Value: Aria, Kaiser, Khan

Mid laner Aria continues the strong Korean mid lane tradition abroad in Japan, and I’m expecting a great performance against Cody. Kaiser has overcome his demons and looks like one of the best supports in Europe, against big names like Treatz, LIMIT, and Mikyx. Khan has cemented himself as one of the best top laners in League’s history returning from FPX and swapping spots with Nuguri, and I’m excited to see if he can finally claim an international title.