What is better than one super slate? TWO super slates! A lot of these matches could go either way and is very contingent on what form each team shows up in. Does Invictus continue with the momentum from their upset over EDG? Does LNG start their climb back to the top of the table? Does Prince and LSB get their first with the new lineup? A lot of questions and we look for the answers here! Let’s get after it!  

Game #1 Victory Five v LNG

Cann’s Pick: LNG

Game #2: Rare Atom v Oh My God!

Cann’s Pick: Rare Atom

Game #3: Suning v Invictus Gaming

Cann’s Pick: Invictus Gaming

Game #4: Gen.G v Afreeca Freecs

Cann’s Pick: Gen.G

Game #5: Liiv SANDBOX v Nongshim RedForce

Cann’s Pick: Nongshim RedForce

 

Captain

Favorite: FoFo (RA: $12,000) It feels really weird putting a player with only 48 kills and costs this much. Then you take a step back and see that FoFo and RA are playing OMG. Wuming has only 39 kills but then has almost 30 more deaths and averaging almost 3 deaths per game. FoFo is 25% of all RA kills as well which adds to the potential value of this pick. RA is a little risky because they are very hit or miss, but playing OMG means you have a much higher chance for hit than miss.    

Value Pick: XUN (IG: $10,800) I think I hit my head because I am putting a jungler as a captain. I think slate to slate it is a big risk to pick a jungler as your captain because it is so feast or famine in that role in terms of points. Xun has the fourth highest kill total in the LPL at 98 and is involved with almost 71% of all team kills. Suning’s jungler (SofM) is having a down year to say the least and after the impressive performance against EDG, this could be a high value series for the IG jungler. 

Top Lane

Favorite: Rascal (GEN: $6,800) This may be the best top laner in the world right now. He has 81 kills and so many of those kills actually come in lane. Among LCK top laners, he has they highest first blood kill rate (52%), second in kill share percentage (21.3%), and  first gold differential at 10 minutes (+328). His lane opponent (Kiin) usually plays as the weakside laner, meaning he isn’t going to get the same help as other lanes, which mean he is stuck with Rascal until Rascal chooses to move to teamfights. This may be a long day for Kiin.

Value Pick: Summit (LSB: $5,600) Summit has the third highest kill number for top laners in the LCK with 64 and also has a respectable 114 assists. In LSB’s first match against DWG on Thursday we saw the true ceiling for Summit as he went 8-2-9 as Gnar the first game and then even had a respectable game two with a 1-2-8 scoreline. Posting a 6.5 into Khan and DWG Kia is impressive to say the least. Rich is a decent laner, but overall NS seems like they are very hit or miss in terms of playing to losing lanes, which means if Summit gets an early lead, there is a real likelihood that NS will just abandon Rich in the toplane. 

Jungle

Favorite: Clid (GEN: $7,000) Gen.G is one of the best teams in the LCK and a lot of that has to do with the pace and control that Clid manufactures from the jungle role. He creates the first blood kill for Gen.G 45% of the time and he is part of 67% of all Gen.G kills. Not normally known for his deuling skills, he is performing at a pretty high rate with 76 total kills on the split. The risk here is he is playing the jungle kill leader in Dread but you should feel confident in Clid’s ability to play intelligently and avoid the 1v1 fights with Dread. 

Value Pick: Tarzan (LNG: $6,000) LNG is such an overlooked team in the LPL and that leads to us as fans to overlook Tarzan. Tarzan was a wonder child from the LCK and came from the Korean giants in Griffin. In the LCK he either won or was the runner up in the LCK in 2018 and 2019. Including a deep World Championship run in 2019. In the LPL this year he has not seemed as dominant but I think that says more about the supporting pieces around him. On GRF he had Chovy, Viper, and Lehends around him. On LNG he has icon, Light, and Iwandy. He has a 3.9 KDA and a 69% team kill participation. If you are looking to try and pick up playmakers elsewhere, this is a safe cheap alternative to pick up in a matchup that could very well go LNG’s way.  

Mid Lane

Favorite: Rookie (IG: $7,600) The gap between Rookie and Angel in mechanical skill is an absolute ocean. In the periods where IG has struggled this split, Rookie has been the sole reason they did not spiral into oblivion. In his series against EDG, he had a 3.8 KDA and helped control the mid to late game teamfights with his intelligent play on Azir. He is almost 20% of IG’s kills and has a split KDA of 4.4. Angel is a similar stats in terms of kill percentage and KDA, the difference? He has 15 less kills and 50 less assists. Rookie will gain you some serious points in this matchup.    

Value Pick: FATE (LSB: $6,600) FATE’s lane opponent has the third lowest average FPPG on the slate with 44.0. FATE, on the other hand, is averaging almost 60 FPPG and is the biggest carry for LSB. With the introduction of their new ADC (Prince), FATE could have some of the pressure taken off of him and it will allow him to make plays without forcing anything. Saving $1, 000 can also make an impact on your pick at Captain or ADC.     

ADC

Favorite: Puff (IG: $7,800) IG decided to switch up the bot lane in their match against EDG and they moved Puff and Lucas into the starting role. To say that paid off would be an understatement. Puff went 16-3-9 in his two games which is 63 points right there. Suning and huanfeng is no where near the level of EDG and Viper so it is exciting to see what Puff can do in this matchup. I want to see him in aggressive lane matchups and XUN to make his way bot frequently to get him ahead.   

Value Pick: Bang (AF: $6,000) This may seem like a weird pick since AF is playing Gen.G but Bang has been such a bright spot for AF this split. He has 91 kills through 26 games while Ruler has 104 through 25 so both ADCs have relatively similar numbers in that category. Bang makes up 29% of AF’s kills in their matches and is only 14% of their deaths. There is a real outside chance that even with the odds stacked against AF, they find some scrappy fights in transition and Bang has an opportunity to pick up some points here.  

Support

Favorite: Hang (RA: $6,000) The bot lane for OMG (Eric and cold) are horrific. The Hang pick here is more about exploiting the fact that the support/ADC combo of OMG average a combined average FPPG less than the top four ADCs on this slate. Hang has 123 assists as well as a 2,9 KDA while cold has a KDA of 2.0 and has 12 more deaths comparatively. This is expensive because statistically, this is the safest pick on the board and should be worth the pick up if you have the cash to do so. 

Value Pick: Lehends (AF: $3,800) If you are looking for a low ownership pick, Lehends will most likely be the pick for you. At this price you can break the bank elsewhere and when you compare him to Gen.G’s Life, you begin to realize there is not that much of a gap. Life has 48.1 FPPG while Lehends has 45. Life has 193 assists and Lehends has 199. In terms of team kill participation, Lehends has almost 71% which makes me more confident to expect points coming from him.   

Team

Favorite: Gen.G ($5,800) Gen.G is an objective focused team through and through. They average 52.8 FPPG and they have the highest early game rating and the fourth highest late game rating. They have the highest gold difference at 15 minutes (+1264). AF will have a difficult time taking objectives and leads against Gen.G.  

Value Pick: Liiv SANDBOX ($4,400) For two teams who are 8th and 9th in the LCK in terms of FPPG and separated by less than two points, I don’t understand why there is $1,000 difference in salary. LSB has a +14 advantage in early game rating and has an average slim gold advantage at 15 min while NS is averaging a deficit of -1514. LSB tends to be better in the early game while NS will come online later with teamfights where deokdam can make plays. If LSB can keep him out of the game, LSB could go 2-0 in this series. 

 

Cann’s Example Lineup

The Example Lineup is meant to show construction based on players mentioned in the Playbook. It is not meant to be plugged and played.

Captain (x1.5): XUN ($10,800)

     Alternate: deokdam ($11,100)

Top: Rascal ($6,800)

Jungle: Clid ($7,800)

     Alternate: Weiwei ($6,800)

Mid: FATE ($6,600)

ADC: Puff ($7,800)

     Alternate: Ruler ($7,600)

Support: Iwandy ($4,800)

Team: Gen.G ($5,800)