(+190) Immortals v Cloud9 (-260)
(+165) Flyquest v TSM (-210)
(+255) Team Dignitas v 100 Thieves (-360)
(-350) Team Liquid v Counter Logic Gaming (+250)
(+190) Golden Guardians v Evil Geniuses (-260)
We are seeing the LCS in the most competitive state it has ever been in. We have five teams at the top in 100 Thieves, Team Solomid, CLoud9, Team Liquid, and Evil Geniuses that all could win the LCS this split with teams like Immortals and Team Dignitas who could be a problem in the playoffs. Each game is one where you can have a dominant performance out of a top tier team or a shocking performance out of a lower tier team. So who rises to the top on Friday? Who sets themselves apart? Let’s dive in and find out!
Game #1 Immortals v Cloud9
Cann’s Pick: Immortals
Game #2: Flyquest v TSM
Cann’s Pick: TSM
Game #3: Team Dignitas v 100 Thieves
Cann’s Pick: 100 Thieves
Game #4: Team Liquid v Counter Logic Gaming
Cann’s Pick: Team Liquid
Game #5: Golden Guardians v Evil Geniuses
Cann’s Pick: Evil Geniuses
Captain
Favorite: Danny (EG: $12,000) Ok I am buying what Danny is selling now. Currently he is second in the LCS in terms of kills (78) behind TL’s Tactical. What led me to give Danny the nod and pass over Tactical in this spot is that I just am trusting Evil Geniuses more right now. While you’ll see a lot of TL players through this write up today, I just don’t trust their consistency in the captain role right now. EG is on an 8 game winning streak and they have more than enough time to prepare for the resurgent Golden Guardians on Friday. ADCs also tend to be better picks in this spot because we see them more consistently being the members of teams picking up 3+ kills on a game in and game out basis.
Value Pick: Spica (TSM: $9,600)
Top Lane
Favorite: Impact (EG: $7,000) Now I will begin this breakdown by noting that this is a LOT of cash to dump into the top lane role. For that reason I may shy away from this pick but there isn’t really anything else to give in terms of negatives for picking Impact. In fact, when you look at his match history from this split you can only find one game where he has a sub par (more deaths than kills/deaths combined) game. Impact has had his champion pool opened up since coming to EG and even more so this split. This has led to higher kill numbers (66) and an impressive 7+ assists per game average. This will be the key lane to watch as he goes up against Licorice who has been a driving force for the new trajectory for Golden Guardians.
Value Pick: Kumo (FLY: $5,400)
Jungle
Favorite: Closer (100: $7,200) If you like playing jungle or want to learn more about how the game of League of Legends is played, then watch Closer. He isn’t a player who just relies on strong mechanical skill (like a Blaber for example) but instead backs it up with clever pathing and knowing exactly where he needs to be at any time. He leads all LCS junglers in kills (63) and is top five in assists (113), team kill participation (71%), and first blood participation rate (50%). The price is really nice for a player who has such great productivity numbers on a weekly basis.
Value Pick: Xerxe (IMT: $5,800)
Mid Lane
Favorite: Jizuke (EG: $7,800) In terms of spending a lot for a mid laner, I think Jizuke is one of about two or three I would pay a higher price like this for. There have been 4 games where Jizuke has less than 3 kills and most were at the beginning of the split. He is into Ablazeolive from the Golden Guardians who pretty consistently gets pressured out of lane without jungle help. The Italian Stallion is known best for his aggressive playmaking in the early game and transferring that into oppressive side lane pressure throughout the game. I love this matchup for EG and I wouldn’t mind investing this money into a winning lane here.
Value Pick: Abbedagge (100: $7,200)
ADC
Favorite: Tactical (TL: $7,800) There is a real possibility we begin to see Team Liquid hit their stride. The LCS Summer split only has three weeks left and 9 games left to be played. We will see the TL coaching staff use Alphari more exclusively in the final weeks and this will continue to help Tactical in terms of having the space in team fights to carry without the risk of being instantly focused. TL needs to find a way to help Tactical add to his league leading kill count (84) and his 34% team kill share percentage in their matchup with the drowning CLG who faced a ton of backlash for releasing a video of their coaching staff firing the entire team, so I feel like hedging against them seems like the best idea.
Value Pick: Raes (IMT: $6,200)
Support
Favorite: IgNar (EG: $6,000) There are a lot of good supports in the LCS and I love a lot of them today with the chalky nature of the matches but the prices for a lot of them are entirely too high. I think IgNar is fairly priced, especially with his league leading 175 assists and relatively low death count (35). Chime and Stixxay are not the scariest bot lane in the league and usually need to wait for Golden Guardians move out of the laning phase to pick up kill participation so IgNar won’t have to do as much protecting of Danny in the early game. I think Impact, Svenskeren, and Jizuke create enough pressure in the early game that the EG bot lane can quietly into the mid game and pick up big numbers there.
Value Pick: Destiny (IMT: $5,200)
Team
Favorite: 100 Thieves ($5,600) It is hard to pick out individuals from 100 Thieves sometimes to be stand out performers because they do so well in draft to shift priority from one role to the next based on matchup. What they do really consistently is strangle out enemy teams on objectives and can quickly snowball towers on you. They are leading all teams in the FPPG category with 19.4 which is really high for this role. I like the matchup into a struggling Dignitas who are trying to settle into their lineup still and 100 Thieves are still eyeing that number 1 overall spot going into playoffs.
Value Pick: Flyquest ($4,400)
Cann’s Example Lineup
Captain (x1.5): Danny ($12,000)
Alternate: Closer ($10,800)
Top: Impact ($7,000)
Jungle: Xerxe ($5,800)
Alternate: Inocinc ($5,800)
Mid: Jizuke ($7,800)
ADC: Tomo ($6,400)
Alternate: Raes ($6,200)
Support: IgNar ($6,000)
Team: Evil Geniuses ($5,000)