We are now looking at the beginning of the second half of the Summer Split for the 2020 LEC season and there are a lot of teams who are hoping to right the ship in hopes of making the World Championship Tournament. Before they can get there, the bulk of the LEC needs to find out how to deal with the top two teams in Rogue and MAD Lions who both sit tied for first. Will the old guard of G2 Esports or Fnatic find a way to put it together and finish strong? Will revitalized rosters in Origen or rebounding teams like Team Vitality and Excel Esports find the way? The only known is that while there will be plenty of games to play, you won’t want to miss watching the drama unfold!

Game #1: Team Vitality versus SK Gaming

Cann’s Pick: SK Gaming

Game #2: Rogue versus Schalke 04

Cann’s Pick and lock of the week: Rogue

Game #3: Misfits versus Fnatic

Cann’s Pick: Misfits

Game #4: MAD Lions versus Excel Esports

Cann’s Pick: Excel Esports

Game #5: G2 Esports versus Origen

Cann’s Pick: Origen

Fantasy Value Breakdown

Cann’s Starting Lineup for 7/17

$49,500 out of the $50,000 salary cap

Captain (x1.5 Points): Larssen (Rogue) 

Top: Finn (Rogue) 

Jungle: Inspired (Rogue) 

Mid:  Humanoid (MAD Lions)

ADC: Hans sama (Rogue) 

Support: Doss (Misfits)

Team: MAD Lions

Captain (1.5x Points)

Tier 1: Larssen (Rogue/$11,700): This is a no brainer. With so much of a focus on Humanoid and MAD Lions (especially after Rogue lost to the MAD Lions) many analysts have begun sleeping on Larssen. Just looking at the most surface level stat (KDA-Kill/Death/Assist ratio) Larssen has a staggering 8.0 and is 2.3 more than second place. He is part of 29% of the first blood kills in Rogue’s matches and is a focus of his team’s success. Look for Inspired (Jungler) to get Larssen ahead early by focusing early pressure in the lane.

 Value Pick: Kaiser (MAD Lions/$9,000): This is a pretty crazy pick when you start looking at numbers. Usually supports are not the best picks for the captain role because if their team struggles, they are usually the first person to sacrifice themselves to try and turn the game around. Kaiser is my only exception to this generalized rule. Outside of Rogue’s support (Vander), Kaiser has the second highest KDA (Kill/Death/Assist ratio) in the league at 12.5. What stands out most about Kaiser and the MAD Lions’ gameplan is how they utilize the support role to move throughout the map rather than being attached to the ADC the entire game. Playing a resurging Excel is a little nerve racking after the loss to Misfits, but I have faith the MAD Lions have a convincing win.   

Top

Tier 1: Finn (Rogue/$6,200): Finn is not the carry for Rogue. Finn will play the champions his team needs him to play to fit the larger strategy for the game. It is apparent with the range of champions he has played. He has filled the role of weak side pusher (Gangplank) and teamfighting initiator (Ornn). Finn won’t likely get a lot of attention in this matchup, but he should be able to effectively navigate the early game against Schalke 04’s Odoamne who is ranked last amongst top laners.

Value Pick: Dan Dan (Misfits/$5,200): This pick feels a bit of a risk but can save you some cash. In Misfit’s last game before the break, they not only beat the #1 team in MAD Lions, they completely dismantled them. Dan Dan has played 8 unique champions in 9 games and creates a lot of pressure from his aggressive playstyle. He has a 3.8 KDA (Kill/Death/Assist ratio) as compared the KDA of Fnatic’s top laner (Bwipo) of a 1.5. Fnatic has some identity issues and Bwipo just isn’t playing to the level we have seen from him in the past. If Fnatic continues to struggle, this is a great value pick up.

Jungle

Tier 1: Shad0w (Mad Lions/$7,400): It is easier to rack up serious points in the jungler role when you pick the jungler from the most aggressive and proactive team in the league. Shad0w is ranked first overall by DraftKings and for good reason. He is averaging over 25 fantasy points per game and he has the highest KDA (Kill/Death/Assist ratio) among all junglers with a 6.5.He participates with 68% of all of MAD Lions kills and is part of 57% of all first blood kills in MAD Lions matches. Look for Shad0w to put pressure mid lane and control a lot of the objectives in this match.

Value Pick: Razork (Misfits/$5,600): Misfits are still benefiting from players from more notable teams being overvalued. While he is going up against Fnatic and their jungler (Selfmade), who has a higher KDA (Kill/Death/Assist ratio), Razork brings objective focus to the match. He looks to exploit macro positioning to secure larger leads for his team, rather than himself. I suspect Misfits will win this match because of this playstyle out of Razork.

Mid

Tier 1: Larssen (Rogue/$7,800): If you didn’t pick up Larssen up as your captain, you need to pick him up here. He is facing the league’s worst ranked mid laner in almost every category, Abbedagge. While not completely the fault of Abbedagge but he is definitely not living up to what he was supposed to become in terms of expectations of him. Larssen has played a wide range of champions but none are as impactful as his Orianna and if you pick him look out for this pick (he has a 9 KDA on Orianna).

Value Pick: FEBIVEN (Misfits/$6,200): This will be the biggest gap in between the two teams in this matchup. In every measurable metric, FEBIVEN ranks higher than Fnatic’s Nemesis. This shouldn’t be oversold, the two mid laners are still relatively close and if FEBIVEN cannot hard win his lane Misfits will be in a rough position. One metric that is important to look at in this matchup is the total percentage of team damage that each player has. FEBIVEN has contributed 29% of his team’s damage (which is solid for someone who should be a main damage source for their team) while Nemesis is only 20% (a VERY low number compared to all other mid laners).

ADC

Tier 1: Hans sama (Rogue/$7,400): This article feels more and more like a trap but I promise this is legit. Rogue have a concrete gameplan and they are very consistent on following through with that plan. Hans sama currently has a 4+ KDA (Kill/Death/Assist ratio) and in an anchor in late game teamfights. He won’t usually be the player to rack up kills with flashy plays, his 27.7% team damage percentage speaks to his purpose on Rogue. His main focus is to stay safe and output as much damage in teamfights and that's exactly what he does.   

Value Pick: Kobbe (Misfits/$6,400): This might be the riskiest pick I’ll give you. If there is a strength on Fnatic, it is Kobbe’s lane opponent Rekkles. The two trade leads in different stats. Rekkles has better overall team damage, less deaths, and better kill participation. Kobbe has an edge in KDA (Kill/Death/Assist ratio), overall kills, and overall team standings in the league. The edge for Kobbe here is the Fnatic support (Hylissang) is having a rough year with a 1.2 KDA.
 

SUP

Tier 1: Mikyx (G2 Esports/$6,200): I was tired of writing about how Rogue (Vander) and MAD Lions (Kaiser) have outperformed the rest of the league and I also think they are pretty pricey for the support slot. Mikyx has proven to be a solid support on G2 and be completely flexible to what they need. He has played with 3 different ADC’s this year and shown that his understanding of lane match ups are as good as anyone. He usually is a primary engage for G2 so while he will have a handful of deaths, he will have a staggering number of assists.

Value Pick: Jactroll (Origen/$4,600): This could be a huge pick up for you on the very cheap. I have Origen having a slight edge because of the fluctuation of P1noy and Perkz at the ADC position at the end of the first half and the fact that Origen took the first match against them. Upset (ADC) is a huge part of Origen’s win condition and if he eats so will Jacktroll. Since this is his first week back with Origen, he is really cheap and in future weeks that price will go up.  

TEAM

Tier 1: Rogue ($5,800)/MAD Lions ($5,600): The top of the table teams are playing the bottom of the table teams. Take your pick here.

Value Pick: Team Vitality ($4,800): I think out of the rest of the games that don’t include Rogue/MAD Lions this is the least coin flippy. By that I mean of all the close matches, this seems to be a clearer choice. While I think their opponent (SK Gaming) has the better ADC (Crownshot), Team Vitality has better solo laners. Jenax and Milica tend to fly under the radar because of the talent in Europe at their positions but they tend to be pretty consistent. SK Gaming’s mid laner (ZaZee) has been exposed frequently in the last few matches to having a small champion pool that he can make plays on. I think Team Vitality will fall a little bit behind in the early game but turn in around in the late game 5v5 teamfights.  

Value Combos:

*Kobbe and Doss (ADC and Support-Misfits/$10,800): The ADC and support combo is always a solid pick for combos. Much like picking up a QB and their favorite TE or WR in football, there is definitely the feeling of double dipping into the success by picking these two positions together. Kobbe is aggressive and Doss knows how to make openings for him. While Doss will die at times for these openings, I think against Fnatic there will be plenty of opportunities for Kobbe to shine because of Doss’ playmaking.

*Shad0w and Kaiser (Jungler and Support-MAD Lions/$13,400): This is a pricey pair, especially when you take into consideration neither position is usually given priority in picking up any CS throughout the game. Where these two will pick you up points will be in raw kills and assists. At about 6-7 minutes into the game, this pair begins to move to different lanes and neutral objectives looking for a fight. With the play making ability of both, you should find no shortage of points here.

Top Picks: Larssen, Humanoid, Hans sama, Caps, Selfmade, and Alphari

All of these players are big price tag pick pickups that are favored in their specific matchup. While the outcome of the game isn’t set in stone, the ability for these players to put points up almost is a guarantee. You won’t be able to lock in all of them, but if you can pick up the right combination, you should be set!

Top Value: Kobbe, Jacktroll, Comp, Dan Dan, FEBIVEN, and Xerxe

These picks are undervalued based on their performances previously. Their team may be seen as underdogs or they are up against the more prominent names in their specific roles. While cheaper, these are rickier picks so be warned against filling a full team with these picks.