(-350) Kwangdong Freecs v Liiv SANDBOX (+250)
(-460) T1 Esports v DRX (+305)
(-700) Bilibili Gaming v LGD Gaming (+400)
(-170) Anyone’s Legend v Team World Elite (+126)
(-125) JD Gaming v Weibo Gaming (-106)
This is it! We are at the end of the Spring Split for the LCK and, outside of some makeup matches, the LPL. The upper bracket teams for both leagues have been set and final seeding is all but finished. There are two series that will be a must-watch for this Sunday slate. The first is from the LCK and it is T1 Esports looking to end their regular season record undefeated. They face the third-place team, DRX and it will be a battle for T1 to close out their 2022 Spring campaign. The other series to watch out for will be the JDG Gaming versus Weibo Gaming matchup. Weibo is 3rd in the LPL at 11-4 and JD Gaming is sitting at 5th with a 10-5 record. The winner of this series will take home 3rd place (and have a possible 2nd place finish) in the regular season while the other will fall to at least 5th, possibly 6th place. The shift from a possible bye in the
Game #1: Kwangdong Freecs v Liiv SANDBOX
Game Breakdown: The lines for this game would make you think that KDF will win 2-0 in less than 70 minutes, but do not dive headfirst into this match. KDF is not consistent enough of a team for you to have too much faith in them. They have one of the best early game ratings (48.9) and one of the worst mid/late game ratings (-5.3). They can get small leads in the early game and then will completely rely on Teddy to carry them in the late game. This ADC has 140 kills and a 70% team kill percentage rate which are both solid stats. The problem? That is too focused on a win condition for a team. LSB will be going into this game looking for opportunities to shut him down and most of that aggression will have to come from their jungler, Croco. Croco is a solid jungler and I foresee him moving on from this organization to another after this year. He needs lanes to gain priority to facilitate his aggressive playstyle but LSB tends to have 2-3 losing lanes in each game. Do not discount KDF’s ability to throw games though! Do not overcommit to this series!
Favorite Picks: Teddy (KDF: $11,400/$7,600), FATE (KDF: $7,600), Hoit (KDF: $5,200)
Value Picks: Clozer (LSB: $5,800), Croco (LSB: $5,800)
Cann’s Match Pick: Kwangdong Freecs (2-1)
Game #2: T1 Esports v DRX
Game Breakdown: The most nerve-racking aspect of this matchup is the pressure that is being put on T1. They are looking to complete the 18-0 run and they have to get through a very meticulous DRX to do it. The last four series by T1 have not looked the cleanest/they have had the benefit of their opponents having to use subs because of COVID. Gumayusi is having to put in a lot of work in the late game because teams have begun testing them earlier in the game. T1 then needs to pivot their playstyle and this has allowed teams to pick up games in places you wouldn’t expect. I do think that the overall quality of the T1 roster, specifically with Zeus (top) and Oner (jungle) will be enough to lock up the 18-0 here.
Favorite Picks: Gumayusi (T1: $10,800/$7,200), Faker (T1: $10,500/$7,000), Oner (T1: $6,800), Zeus (T1: $6,200)
Value Picks: Deft (DRX: $6,400), Zeka (DRX: $6,000)
Cann’s Match Pick: T1 Esports (2-0)
Game #3: Bilibili Gaming v LGD Gaming
Game Breakdown: This is a get-right series for BLG and more specifically their bottom lane. If I have said this once, I have said it 100 times. If you have multiple players in a position for your lineup, you have no one for that position. BLG continues to flex Doggo and Uzi into the starting lineup and there seems to be little to no rationale for it. I think the best option for this squad is to focus on getting Breathe (top) into a position where he can carry and then protect him from LGD’s jungler, Shad0w. Breathe has the 7th most kills in the LPL (158) and has over 26% of his team’s kills. Those are insane numbers for a top laner and I think is the safest angle for this team. If they choose to focus bottom lane, they will need to get through Eric who has 142 kills and 167 asssists. LGD will slowly transition into team fighting because they wait until Eric is as strong as possible to ensure he can output the needed late-game damage. This should consist of really long games and I wouldn’t imagine a ton of early aggression in this series, excluding the top lane.
Favorite Picks: FoFo (BLG: $11,700/$7,800), Breathe (BLG: $6,800), Weiwei (BLG: $6,600), Bilibili Gaming ($5,600)
Value Picks: Eric (LGD: $6,600), Shad0w (LGD: $6,000)
Cann’s Match Pick: Bilibili Gaming (2-0)
Game #4: Anyone’s Legend v Team World Elite
Game Breakdown: I chose the fewest picks for your lineup from this series because this is 100% a trap series. AL is not a playoff team and in reality, not that much better than Team WE. AL has two more series victories and only two more individual game victories compared to Team WE. They get streaky performances from Betty and Forge, which means you aren’t even sure who will be the carry from game to game. I think the work that beishang will put in playing jungle for Team WE will be enough to keep this series close and I can’t think of a single player that I can look at and say with confidence will take over the series. The price tags are entirely too much for such risky picks from AL.
Favorite Picks: Betty (AL: $8,000), Forge (AL: $7,400)
Value Picks: Stay (WE: $6,800). Beishang (WE: $6,200)
Cann’s Match Pick: Anyone’s Legend (2-1)
Game #5: JD Gaming v Weibo Gaming
Game Breakdown: This line makes this series seem a lot closer than I imagine it will be. The biggest hope for WBG on Sunday will be if Yagao (JDG mid laner) will choke under pressure. In the bottom lane, huanfeng (WBG ADC) has the same number of kills as Hope (JDG ADC) but has played 6 more games. The output from Hope and the shot-calling from Kanavi and Missing will be the game-changers here. Weibo has consistently needed to build massive leads in the early game to grind out lengthy victories. They do not cleanly close out games against better teams and that should be the difference-maker here for Sunday.
Favorite Picks: Hope (JDG: $11,100/$7,400), Kanavi (JDG: $7,200), Missing (JDG: $5,600)
Value Picks: Angel (WBG: $6,600), huanfeng (WBG: $6,800), Weibo Gaming ($4,600)
Cann’s Match Pick: JD Gaming (2-0)
DraftKings Example Lineup
Captain (x1.5): Hope (JDG: $11,100)
Alternate: Gumayusi (T1: $10,800)
Top: Breathe (BLG: $6,800)
Jungle: Kanavi (JDG: $7,200)
Alternate: Ellim (KDF: $6,400)
Mid: Faker (T1: $7,000)
ADC: Gumayusi (T1: $7,200)
Alternate: Teddy (KDF: $7,600)
Support: Missing (JDG: $5,600)
Team: JD Gaming ($5,000)
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