(+250) Golden Guardians v Team Solomid (-350)

(-200) Team Liquid v Immortals (+160)

(-225) 100 Thieves v Evil Geniuses (+170)

(-360) Cloud9 v Team Dignitas (+255)

(-155) Counter Logic Gaming v Flyquest (+120)
 

With the three league leaders (100 Thieves, Team Solomid, and Cloud9) all dropping what should have been easy games on Friday, it feels like the LCS is still very open for any team to take their place at the top. Team Liquid looked like a new team with Alphari back in the lineup and the former academy roster of Flyquest looked like a very scrappy bunch to have to deal with. Saturday’s matches will really be a test on how well the “good” teams can bounce back from disappointing losses. There are a lot of possible matchups to exploit and I am here for it! Let’s dive in!

  • Game #1 Golden Guardians v Team Solomid
    • Cann’s Pick: Golden Guardians
  • Game #2: Team Liquid v Immortals
    • Cann’s Pick: Team Liquid
  • Game #3: 100 Thieves v Evil Geniuses
    • Cann’s Pick: 100 Thieves 
  • Game #4: Cloud9 v Team Dignitas
    • Cann’s Pick: Cloud9
  • Game #5: Counter Logic Gaming v Flyquest
    • Cann’s Pick: Counter Logic Gaming

Fantasy Value Breakdown

Captain

Favorite: Tactical (TL: $11,100) Last weekend someone from 100 Thieves was asked in a post game interview (I believe it was FBI) what team they were, if any, they were afraid of. His answer? Team Liquid if Alphari came back, and Friday showed us why. It isn’t about Alphari’s individual skill (though that helps) it is the fact that teams now have someone else to contend with as a threat before they can get to Tactical. On Friday Tactical had 3 kills and 6 assists but most importantly only 1 death. I expect the Tactical numbers to spike dramtatically because he won’t instantly be the primary target in team fights which should lead to bigger numbers coming out of the TL ADC.

Value Pick: Fudge (C9: $10,200)

Top Lane

Favorite: Alphari (TL: $6,600) The king has returned. There was a collective groan from LCS top laners who have enjoyed the four week hiatus from the Alphari abuse while he was on the bench as he returned to the starting lineup on Friday. We were able to see the top laner from TL flex his muscles in the 1v1 with a solo kill and then his flashy team fighting in the late game as well. Revenge is a good top laners but I think there is something to be said that Immortals won’t be able to ban Alphari out and keep him off of a pick that will influence on the game. 

Value Pick: Ssumday (100: $6,200) 

Jungle

Favorite: Closer (100: $7,200) Rewatching the 100 Thieves loss to Golden Guardians I am still impressed with Closer. While he had a bad statistical game, he was one of the only reasons that 100 Thieves had a lead/chance to win through the early game. Even with the loss, Closer still has a 6.0 KDA, 100 assists and a 71% team kill participation rate. Closer is printing money in the jungle and I think 100 Thieves have a big bounce back against Evil Geniuses. 

Value Pick: Xerxe (IMT: $6,000) 

Mid Lane

Favorite: Jensen (TL: $7,600) A lot like the Tactical breakdown, Jensen benefits from Alphari returning to the lineup because he does not need to do too much. He can play from fog of war and look for unique angles on champions like the LeBlanc he played on Friday. Even in light of the Team Liquid struggles from the past month, Team Jensen has stayed at the top of the league in the mid lane role. He has 60 kills and has 98 assists through 17 games played. I would fully expect for Team Liquid to start to shoot to the top of the table and put some real pressure on Team Solomid and 100 Thieves for the top spot. 

Value Pick: Abbedagge (100: $7,200)   

ADC

Favorite: Zven (C9: $7,800) I admittedly don’t trust C9 at all and I look at them a little like G2. I think there is so much skill and success amongst the players and the org that they don’t stay mentally sharp. We obviously know this lineup can be good, they were the winners of Spring, but there seems to be a lack of consistency. One exception (other than Fudge) to this phenomenon is Zven. He went 4-4-14 in his Varus performance in the loss from Friday, which shows us that when Cloud9 lose, it isn’t off the performance of Zven. He will pick up his points each and every game, hence the massive pricetag on this pick. 

Value Pick: Stixxay (GG: $6,000) 

Support

Favorite: Smoothie (CLG: $6,000) I want to show CLG some love. Over the last few weeks things have looked better for them and a lot of it is through their bottom lane play. Smoothie has proven success in this league and I believe he and WildTurtle have some gas left in the tank. They are playing Flyquest who beat C9 on Friday but did so in such a messy way. We saw Flyquest struggle in the bottom lane and as a whole give up 24 total deaths. CLG play simplistic forms of this game and I think that will translate to Smoothie and Turtle having pretty high upsides in this matchup. 

Value Pick: CoreJJ (TL: $5,600)

Team

Favorite: 100 Thieves ($5,200)  This is still the best team in the league right now. They tested themselves on Friday with more unique picks but I fully expect them to revert back to a playstyle that makes more sense for who they are as a team. Evil Geniuses are a dangerous team (hense why I chose them for a possible value pick) but I have a lot more confidence for the team with the highest early game rating (64.6) to come out with guns blazing against the Evil Geniuses. It should also be noted that there were times in their match against IMT on Friday that it looked like EG could have also been a victim of the day of upsets on Friday. 

Value Pick: Evil Geniuses ($4,000) 

 

Cann’s Example Lineup

DraftKings Classic 

$50,000 Salary Cap
 

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

  • Alternate: FBI($12,000)

Top: Alphari ($6,600)

Jungle: Iconic ($5,200)

  • Alternate: Xerxe ($6,000)

Mid: Abbedagge ($7,200)

ADC: Zven ($7,800)

  • Alternate: Neo ($6,600)

Support: CoreJJ ($5,600)

Team: Team Liquid ($5,000)