(+190) Team Dignitas v Evil Geniuses (-155)

(+190) Immortals v 100 Thieves (-260)

(-125) Team Solomid v Team Liquid (-105) 

(-150)  Flyquest v Golden Guardians (+115)

(+170) Counter Logic Gaming v Cloud9 (-225)

Since this is a showdown slate, I am going to give you a little bit of a different look for a breakdown. We are going to go position by position to find edges each team may have and then I’ll give you my picks 

Game #1 Team Dignitas v Evil Geniuses

Cann’s Pick: Evil Geniuses

Game #2: Immortals v 100 Thieves

Cann’s Pick: 100 Thieves

Game #3: Team Solomid v Team Liquid

Cann’s Pick: Team Liquid

Game #4: Flyquest v Golden Guardians

Cann’s Pick: Golden Guardians

Game #5: Counter Logic Gaming v Cloud9

Cann’s Pick: Counter Logic Gaming

 

Captain

Favorite: Perkz (C9: $11,700) I am not loving Cloud9 as of late. The biggest reason I am putting him as a favorite here is because he is playing Pobelter on Sunday. Pobelter (and all of CLG) took the LCS by storm last weekend with what has been coined as their “Bongo Comp”. This comp was overly aggressive and aimed to put teams on the backfoot by focusing on diving the backline. Teams have began outdrafting them and in these more recent games, Pobelter has been almost useless. He has gone 4-8-6 and has lost lane both days. As long as Cloud9 don’t put Perkz on a support mage mid, he should be able to pick up a solo kill or two in the mid lane which should snowball the game. 

Value Pick: Jensen (TL: $10,200)

Top Lane

Favorite: Impact (EG: $7,200) Man is Impact good at this game. I think if Impact would have stayed with TL, they would have been clearly the best team in NA right now. While Contractz was the man of the match in the EG v TSM match, it should be noted that Impact absolutely body bagged Huni in Saturday’s match. Impact is now playing FakeGod who has 14 less kills and 21 less assists this split and Team Dignitas had just broke their 5 game losing streak with a win over the league’s worst team in Flyquest. 

Value Pick: Ssumday (100T: $6,600)  

Jungle

Favorite: Closer (100T: $7,200) There are only a handful of players who are having a week 4 like Closer. In two games he has gone 4-2-15 and beaten Dignitas and Cloud9. On Sunday 100 Thieves play Immortals who have also been on a hot streak. What gets me to pick against Xerxe in this matchup is the overall quality of team play. Closer’s supporting cast of Ssumday, Abbedagge, FBI, and huhi is just more refined group compared to the resurgent Immortals crew. I think 100 Thieves are easily the best team in the LCS and I think Closer is a big part of that. 

Value Pick: Josedeodo (FLY: $6,600) 

Mid Lane

Favorite: Jizuke (EG: $8,000) Jizuke is one of the more frustrating players in the league. He will have a game like Saturday where he went 4-1-8 on a more aggressive pick (Lucian) but also went 1-6-3 on Neeko against Team Liquid on Friday. Jizuke can completely dominate one game and try too hard the next. The positive here? He is up against Goldian Guardians on Sunday. On Jizuke’s best day (especially with his supporting cast) he can completely take over this game. High risk, high reward on this pick here. 

Value Pick: Ablazeolive (GG: $6,600)  

ADC

Favorite: Zven (C9: $7,800) This Zven pick is probably more controversial if you only look at this weekend’s sample size. Especially in the loss to 100 Thieves, he was relatively forgettable getting 2 kills, 3 assists, and dying 3 times. This is not his normal though, with most of his career being more statistically sound. I think compared to a lot of global ADCs, Zven is more passive and will end up with far more assists than most, which is why I put him here and not the captain spot. I think there is better value down the board but the Zven/Vulcan bot lane is heavily favored over the WildTurtle/Smoothie one from Counter Logic Gaming. 

Value Pick: Tactical (TL: $6,800) 

Support

Favorite: IgNar (EG: $5,800) IgNar gets forgotten in the support role a lot because of player like CoreJJ, SwordArt, and Vulcan. That being said, I love IgNar and his playmaking style. On a team of flashy players, IgNar is the player needed to create the openings. In his 9 assist/deathless performance against Team Solomid on Saturday, IgNar was hitting some of the best engages I have seen in the LCS this split. His lane partner (Danny) has been getting much improved as well which also strengthens IgNar as a pick. There are still a few more slates before EG hits the price point of the 100 Thieves/Team Liquid/Cloud9 and then he won’t be as valuable. 

Value Pick: CoreJJ (TL: $4,600) 

Team

Favorite: Cloud9 ($5,600)  I want to get out in front of this pick and say I think there are safer picks on this slate. The value from this comes from the price. Cloud9 is heavily favored in this matchup and when they win, they are very objective focused. My exception to this pick is they haven’t been the most consistent. You can save a few bucks for your captain by picking them up (they are -225 favorites) but know, this isn’t the quality team we saw win Spring.  

Value Pick: Team Liquid ($4,600) 

 

Cann’s Example Lineup

Captain (x1.5): Jensen ($10,200)

Alternate: Raes ($9,000)

Top: Impact ($7,200)

Jungle: Blaber ($7,600)

Alternate: Contractz ($6,800)
Mid: Abbedagge ($7,600)

ADC: Jiumeng ($7,600)

Alternate: Danny ($8,000)

Support: CoreJJ ($4,600)

Team: Team Liquid ($4,600)