LCK Slate Feb 19th, 2021

DRX v T1

KT Rolster v Fredit BRION

This is a far less chalk slate as compared to Thursday’s matches. We have the underwhelming T1 taking on the 4th place team (and only one win above them) DRX while KT Rolster and Fredit BRION make their way back onto the rift after both of their pretty impressive series on Wednesday. Plenty of intriguing storylines so let's get into it!  

Game #1 DRX v T1

Cann’s Pick: T1

Game #2: KT Rolster v Fredit BRION

Cann’s Pick: KT Rolster

Fantasy Value Breakdown

Captain

Favorite: HyBriD (KT: $11,100) Very high probability for this pick to peak over the 150 mark in the captain role. He is averaging almost 5 kills a game and is the kill leader for the LCK with 110 kills. Oddly enough with these big numbers he is still only only participating in 59% of KT’s kills. This means there is even a higher ceiling for HyBriD in terms of kill participation. Love this lock but it should be noted that DK does have the other KT ADC (Noah) is listed on the slate and he is more expensive than HyBriD which seems so odd. 

Value Pick: BAO (DRX: $10,500) With 85 kills and one of the strongest players on DRX, BAO could be a real steal for this cost. He struggles in the laning phase but DRX usually will transition into the late game for a stronger team fighting focus. DRX will try to facilitate him in the early game when needed as he has a 20%+ first blood rate which I think will be a needed strategy against the power of T1’s bot lane. 

Top Lane

Favorite: Doran (KT: 6,800) The only reason I do not have Canna or Zeus as my favorite pick is because T1 loves shifting their lineup around. It makes picking them so difficult to pick and feel really bad when your pick is on the bench and the other guy has 90+ points. Doran performed pretty well racking up 84 points with 13 kills and 18 assists. His opponent (Hoya) is averaging 37 FPPG while Doran is at 63.3. Spending a lot on a top laner is usually not something I do often but the gap on paper between KT and BRO is big enough to justify the cost of this. 

Value Pick: Zeus (T1: $6,600) Between the two T1 top laners, I am leaning more towards this pick up because he performed well in their last matchup against Fredit BRION. Now with them playing harder competition, do not be shocked if they lean with Canna. If you are up at 2 am CST and can make sure your roster is accurate, grab him. He has a 5.9 KDA in 5 games and is averaging 2 kills and 7 assists a game which is pretty solid and the $200 can save you money elsewhere for another step up in quality in other positions. 

Jungle

Favorite: Pyosik (DRX: $6,400) Pyosik is a really solid player who brings a lot to the table for DRX. With a 3.0 KDA and 51 kills in 22 games he is averaging over two kills per game. He is extremely gank focused with a 67.5% team kill participation rate but down in gold and experience at 10 minutes on average. Pyosik will need to pressure T1 and not let them get into a groove for DRX to have a chance and I think he has that opportunity to do so. 

Value Pick: UmTi (BRO: $6,200) If you were looking to sprinkle a little outside play into your lineup UmTi may be the move for you. In the KT versus BRO matchup there is very little statistical difference between UmTi and KT’s Blank. UmTi has a 3.5 KDA and Blank is at a 3.9. UmTi has 40 kills while Blank has 44. What makes UmTi appealing in this matchup is the fact that he has a team kill participation of over 80%. If Fredit BRION has a showing like they did against LSB, UmTi could have a big cash in.  

Mid Lane

Favorite: Ucal (KT: $7,400) Ucal is third among all LCK mid laners in terms of kills (66) and a KDA of 3.5. Ucal is a very slow player (very little action happens in the mid lane during laning phase) but he comes online later in the game. While BRO are decent in late game teamfighting, KT is significantly better than LSB in the laning phase so I think you will avoid the LSB v BRO game 1 situation like we did on Wednesday. 

Value Pick: SOLKA (DRX: $6,600) With the issues with T1 and DFS, SOLKA is the only safe play unless you are up for the matches. I would avoid this pick if you can with his lack of kills (35) and higher death numbers (42). He has a decent assist total at 117 and has a decent read on the control mage meta. Most mid players are not the focal carries for their teams right now so picking up a little cheaper of an alternative is a decent play here.   

ADC

Favorite: Gumayusi/Teddy (T1: $7,800/$7,600) Coin flip for your choice. They have split their games about 75%-25% which makes me think more along the lines of picking up the younger and flashier option in Gumayusi. Gumayusi has a 5.0 KDA while the vet in Teddy has under three. Teddy does put out more damage per minute (almost 200) and participates in first blood kills at an impressive rate (40%). If you can get a gauge on who is starting, picking them up is a solid choice. 

Value Pick: Hena (BRO: $7,200) Henna had a really impressive match against LSB on Wednesday and I think he has been one of the more impressive parts of BRO. On the second worst team in the LCK he is still managing a 3.0 KDA and has 69 kills and claiming 38% of all of BRO’s kills. He isn’t the best ADC on the slate but he definitely can hold his on in the point totals. 

Support

Favorite: Keira (T1: $5,800) This is the safest pick from T1 because there isn’t an active sub to replace him! He is tied among supports for first blood rate (38%) and has the 4th most assists in the LCK at 169. His lane opponent (Becca) is a whole point less in KDA and has 20 less assists. The biggest strength for T1 in this matchup is the bot lane so cashing in on Keira is a great idea.

Value Pick: Zzus (KT: $5,600) This may be the biggest scoring support on the slate. Zzus has the second most assists in the LCK with 196 and a kill participation rate of a serviceable 66%. He is averaging deficits in gold and experience which tells us that this is because of his early game roaming and playmaking. I like him into the Hena/Delight bottom lane who rarely try to make plays in the 2v2. 

Team

Favorite: KT Rolster ($5,400) This is the more likely 2-0 on this slate making is the safest pick up. They have the second most kills (312) and rates higher than Fredit BRION in all phases in the game as well as turret, herald, and baron control. It may look ugly at times but KT should get the job done. 

Value Pick: DRX ($4,800) This is my pick as the most likely to get the upset for the slate. T1 are the favorite because of the talent they have on the lineup but they lack the coordination to finish the job. Now the break could have given them the opportunity to correct some of these mistakes but it is hard to ignore that DRX leads T1 in mid/late game rating (best in the LCK), baron control, and vision placed. T1 has the advantage in early game ratings and objectives so this will be the true test of early aggression versus late game scaling. 

Cann’s Example Lineup

DraftKings Classic 

$50,000 Salary Cap

Captain (x1.5): HyBriD ($11,100)

Alternate: Faker ($10,800)

Top: Zeus ($6,600)

Jungle: Pyosik ($6,400)

Alternate: UmTi ($6,200)
Mid: Ucal ($7,400)

ADC: Gumayusi ($7,800)

Support: Zzus ($5,600)

Team: DRX ($4,800)