In China, TES looks for their first win against Rare Atom, a rebranded Vici Gaming. Meanwhile, eStar looks to test out their new roster against an underrated Rogue Warriors. In Korea, World Champions Damwon KIA face off against an uncertain T1, while Gen.G run back their roster against a brand new Brion.

Captain

Canyon ($9,900)

Make no mistake, there’s a massive hole in T1’s roster, and it’s without a doubt in the jungle. While Oner hasn’t made his debut yet, both Cuzz and Ellim appear underwhelming and inexperienced, respectively. Canyon’s performance at the World Championship in 2020 solidified his position as the best jungler in the world, and finally snapping the ascent of China as a region. If you want a more “expensive” captain, I’d suggest Ghost, who similarly played fantastic at worlds, but whose position lends him to higher point generation. Just be warned that both of T1’s ADCs appear quite solid.

Alternatives to consider: Ghost ($11,100)

Top Lane

Khan ($6,200)

Khan had not yet made a great integration into his team as of Demacia cup, but on paper he fits in great with the rest of Damwon: he loves jungle attention just as Nuguri did, and while Nuguri has left for China, Khan looks like a good choice to fill his shoes. Canna and Zeus both look like challenging opponents for Khan, but his experience leverages him a massive advantage, alongside the teamwide advantage that’s in his favor from mid lane, and jungle. Another great option is Gen.G’s Rascal, who played great against KT and whose opponent in Hoya looks very weak, either of these choices are great, but Khan’s price point seems slightly more favorable to me.

Alternatives to consider: Rascal ($6,400)

Jungle

Clid ($7,000)

There are many points on Brion’s roster I’d call “weak”: and their junglers are no exception. Umti and Chieftan are about as uninspiring as they come, and while Chieftan may have some mileage left in him, Jin Air alumni Umti just looks limp and as useless as Afreeca’s Dread. Clid isn’t remarkable, but for a pack of otherwise underwhelming Korean junglers, I’d argue that he’s actually amongst the best: big fish, small pond. If you want to look across country lines, I know TES has been on a downswing, but Karsa still has what it takes to go far. Despite TES falling apart at worlds, he still showed great promise as a jungler and single handedly carried the squad against Fnatic.

Alternatives to consider: Karsa ($6,800)

Mid Lane:

Showmaker ($7,200)

T1’s mid lane is likely one of their strongest points, Faker needs no introduction, and Clozer is the prodigy that may just follow in his footsteps. Unfortunately, mid lane isn’t really a solo lane, and the advantage Showmaker gains from Canyon is exponentially greater than what either mid laner gains from Cuzz or Ellim. Showmaker is the best mid laner in the world right now, and while Faker has his legacy and Clozer shows promise, but right now is the era of Showmaker. Otherwise, for mid lane options, I’d personally select Forge from Rogue Warriors, who had a good Demacia cup and is facing an unremarkable selection of mid laners from eStar

Alternatives to consider: Forge ($7,600)

ADC:

Ghost ($7,400)

Ghost or Ruler? It’s pretty impossible to decide. Hena looked quite good for the few games Brion played at Kespa before being forced to forfeit, meanwhile Ghost’s opponent in Gamayusi or Teddy are both high ceiling players in their own right. The difference, in my mind, comes down to support: Life is good, but unremarkable, meanwhile Beryl is more than capable of matching Keria, who had a rough game on Alistar against HLE. I really can’t make a convincing argument for one over the other: legitimately, choose whoever you prefer. I have a slight edge towards Ghost since he has the superior team and is cheaper, although I’d say Ruler’s competition is easier relative to what Ghost has to face.

Alternatives to consider: Ruler ($7,600)

Support:

Zhuo ($5,800)

Fool me twice? I swear, this is the last time I’ll bet for TES if they bite me, but you have to understand the facts: Zhou obliterated Hang’s Vici Gaming (Rare Atom) at Demacia Cup, and there’s virtually no difference between then and now beyond a timeline of a few short weeks. All of the other “good” supports are tied up on bad teams (ShiauC) or face stiff opponents (Beryl vs Keria). Hang is by no means bad, but Zhuo’s pedigree should transcend the incidental drought that TES has faced at the beginning of the LPL season. He literally won Demacia cup just a few weeks ago, and while he’s had a rough time so far, I’m waiting any second now for TES to swing it around and return to top form. If you’re done with TES, I’d recommend Beryl, but I mean come on!

Alternatives to consider: Beryl ($5,400)

Team

Gen.G ($5,800)

This one is probably the easy one: we don’t have to know for certain where Gen.G will win, and they’re a pretty “ho-hum” clean team in the first place, unlike Damwon who is slightly more feast-or-famine, so Gen.G vs BRO takes my pick for the team to choose. Their players don’t have the same disposition to rack up big points unlike some others since they’re not very combative, but they get the job done and secure the W when they’re supposed to. If you want a bit of a cheaper option, I guess you could go with Damwon KIA, since they are the best team in the world, although they take a spot away from DWG, and T1 has a sort of… history that follows them, maybe you’re familiar?

Alternatives to consider: Damwon KIA ($5,400)

Stacks:

Canyon & Showmaker

Nothing against Nuguri or the Damwon bottom lane, but these two are the real engine behind the success of the Korean hype train, for my money. Showmaker is basically proven to have one of the widest champion pools out of all mid laners in competitive League of Legends, aside from perhaps Doinb, and Canyon fits into the “season 6, part 2” jungle style that had been developing at the latter part of season 10, and has continued into season 11.

Rascal & Ruler

While Doran and Rascal used to be comparable in my eyes, the “underwhelming, but good enough Korean top laners” who attended worlds during 2020, if Rascal can keep the pace he set by crushing KT a few days ago, we could be seeing promising development from the Gen.G top laner. Ruler needs no introduction, but the geographic diversity of these two makes them good pick ups: Rascal can hold down Gen.G’s top side, and Ruler is a great late game carry with a solid defensive laning phase.

Zhuo & Karsa

I could spend time convincing you that TES should still be a top team, but I’ll just say it flat: you either have faith, or you don’t. Me? I definitely still think that this roster should absolutely not be 0-2, especially against a team like Rogue Warriors. I don’t think Rare Atom will be the easiest game, in particular due to Fofo looking quite solid, but these two should be capable of creating a big enough difference to secure the win. But who knows, maybe Zhuo’s success this far has just been a flash in the pan.

Top Picks: Canyon, Clid, Rascal

Gen.G’s match-up against Brion is extremely favorable: the team just looks weak aside from Lava who may have more yet to squeeze out of him, and Hena who looks promising. Hoya, the junglers, and Crescent? Haven’t been impressed so far. Gen.G’s players are amongst the most expensive on the day, but I’d certainly recommend them in select roles; e.g. hit them where Brion is weak.

Top Value: Ghost, Khan, Showmaker

I absolutely understand why T1 is rated so highly walking in: their roster looks pretty solid, and while it wasn’t good enough to secure them a worlds spot, it definitely should have been. What I don’t understand is, why is Damwon so lowly rated? They completely obliterated Kespa Cup and smashed the World Championship into absolute pieces, ending the short monopoly Chinese teams had over the title. Don’t skip out on Damwon, these players are a buy!