(+135) SK Gaming v FC Schalke 04 (-175)

(-400) MAD Lions v exceL eSports (+275)

(+135) Team Vitality v Fnatic (-175) 

(-200) Rogue v Misfits Gaming (+160)

(-350) G2 Esports v Astralis (+250) 

We are at the halfway point in the Summer split and some teams are running out of time to make the cut for the Summer Playoffs. The biggest shock is the fact that European giant in G2 Esports is on the outside looking in and organizations in XL and Astralis had early struggles but are making the playoff cut as of now. This week the esports world also found out that fan favorite organization Schalke 04 has sold their spot in the LEC for the 2021 season to a French squad named Team BDS. So we have possibly new teams in playoffs and new LEC teams all together, the LEC is the league to be watching in the coming weeks for sure! Let’s dive in! 

Game #1 SK Gaming v FC Schalke 04

Cann’s Pick: FC Schalke 04

Game #2: MAD Lions v exceL eSports

Cann’s Pick: MAD Lions 

Game #3: Team Vitality v Fnatic

Cann’s Pick: Fnatic

Game #4: Rogue v Misfits Gaming

Cann’s Pick: Rogue

Game #5: G2 Esports v Astralis

Cann’s Pick: Astralis

 

Captain

Favorite: Carzzy (MAD: $12,000) This is a big redemption game for the MAD Lions. In the last matchup the MAD Lions experienced one of the worst losses they have had since returning from MSI.Even in this tough loss, Carzzy was still able to pick up 5 kills and 4 assists.  Through 9 games he is the LEC kill leader (47) and has a team kill share of over 36% and I am a big fan of the MAD Lions bot lane. Kaiser is an aggressive support which means Carzzy can cash in on Kaiser’s aggression for bug kill participation numbers.  

Value Pick: Nisqy (FNC: $10,500)

Top Lane

Favorite: Adam (FNC: $6,600) I am a big fan of Adam and his playstyle in the top lane. While his KDA isn’t the highest (3.2) he is aggressive and pulls in huge numbers because of it. He has a leading 37 kills (among top laners) and 50 assists to go along with it. He is into Vitality’s SLT who has more deaths than Adam (32 v 27) and Adam has almost an additional 10% kill share over SLT. While Team Vitality can be scary, I think Fnatic should have an edge in overall quality of roster with the majority of that quality coming in the top lane.   

Value Pick: HiRit (MSF: $5,800) 

Jungle

Favorite: Elyoya (MAD: $7,400) The biggest driving factor in MAD Lion’s success this year is Elyoya. This is no insult directed at former jungler Shad0w (who is now in the LPL) but you can see the difference in their play with Elyoya in the jungle. He has only died 17 times in 9 games with 62 assists. Elyoya has played a wide range of junglers which is what makes him as adept and valuable as he is. We saw it in the MAD Lions taking DWG to 5 games at MSI, Elyoya can change his champion picks and clear path to ensure the best matchups possible. Dan had probably his only standout performance in Summer in the last matchup (8-1-7) but has been completely lackluster in every other matchup. I see Elyoya making things right in this matchup and taking full advantage of Dan.  

Value Pick: Zanzarah (AST: $5,600) 

Mid Lane

Favorite: Larssen (RGE: $7,400) I am fading this matchup quite a bit. I think both teams are quality but Misfits could be propped up on wins against bad teams. Rogue is a dangerous team and I just don’t think Vetheo will be able to find the same openings against Larssen as he has against other mid laners. In fact, Larssen has 22 deaths in his 9 games played and +76 gold differential at 10 minutes versus the -146 from Vetheo. I expect this to be a lower kill game so I would avoid it but if you are looking for an edge here, there is a level of consistency in picking up Larssen here.  

Value Pick: MagiFelix (AST: $6,000)   

ADC

Favorite: Upset (FNC: $7,800) Upset is putting on an absolute clinic this split. He has the highest KDA among ADCs with 7.9 and 44 kills in 9 games. He has leads in average gold differential at 10 (+99) and average experience difference at 10 minutes (+102). He is into Team Vitality’s Crownshot who has a respectable split, but not an exceptional one. His 5,0 KDA is more representative of his lack of dying rather than his influence on teamfights with only having a 60% team kill participation rate (second lowest among all ADCs). Another upside for Upset in this matchup is Fnatic looks at him as a legitimate win condition while Crownshot is just a piece of the Team Vitality puzzle. 

Value Pick: Neon (S04: $7,200) 

Support

Favorite: Kaiser (MAD: $6,600) This is a really expensive stack (Kaiser/Carzzy) but there could be huge upside. While admittedly Kaiser has had less of the dominating performance that he had last Summer but you cannot argue the impact he makes for the MAD Lions. He has a 3.1 KDA  in this split and 76 assists which are both respectable. I think XL won’t be able to repeat the performance twice and you should be able to capitalize on it with the bot lane duo. 

Value Pick: Vander (MSF: $5,000) 

Team

Favorite: Rogue ($5,400) This seems like a steal of a price for Rogue. They are possibly the most refined team in the LEC right now. While MAD Lions are the returning champions, they will have really tough early games and Misfits (the other current first place team) has not really beat any of the top teams yet in the LEC. Rogue have a huge advantage in the early game (73.4 EGR) and have the biggest gold differential at 15 minutes (+2535). Great value here, and if you have faith in Rogue, you should be happy with the prices.   

Value Pick: Astralis ($3,800) 
 

Cann’s Example Lineup

Captain (x1.5): Hans sama ($11,400)

Alternate: Neon ($10,800)

Top: Whiteknight ($5,400)

Jungle: Elyoya ($7,400)

Alternate: Inspired ($6,600)
Mid: Nisqy ($7,000)

ADC: Upset ($7,800)

Alternate: Kobbe ($6,800)

Support: Hylissang ($5,600)

Team: Rogue ($5,400)