(EVEN) SK Gaming v exceL eSports (-130)

(+165) FC Shalke 04 v Misfits Gaming (-210)

(+165) Team Vitality v MAD Lions (-210)

(-450) Rogue v Astralis (+290)

(-130) G2 Esports v Fnatic (EVEN)

Some great matches on Friday set us up for an even more exciting matches on Saturday. Team Vitality and exceL have slipped out of the playoff race while G2 is continuing to climb to the top of the table. Players like Larssen, Upset, and Rekkles all had big performances on Friday and each of them will need to show up on Saturday to help their teams continue to make a late season push. So let’s dive in! 

Game #1 SK Gaming v exceL eSports

  • Cann’s Pick: exceL eSports

Game #2: FC Shalke 04 v Misfits Gaming

  • Cann’s Pick: Misfits Gaming

Game #2: Team Vitality v MAD Lions

  • Cann’s Pick: MAD Lions

Game #2: Rogue v Astralis

  • Cann’s Pick: Rogue

Game #2: G2 Esports v Fnatic

  • Cann’s Pick: Fnatic

 

Fantasy Value Breakdown

Captain

Favorite: Larssen (RGE: $11,700) Larssen has been one of the most stable mid laners in the LEC the last few years. Players like Caps and Humanoid have had serious ups and downs throughout the last three years and players like nukeduck and Nisqy have always seemed to under perform at the worst times. Larssen is so consistent and has been a rock for Rogue as they have climbed to the top of the LEC. On Friday Larssen went 7-0-3 on Lucian and I think we can expect another solid performance on Saturday!

Value Pick: Upset (FNC: $11,100)

Top Lane

Favorite: HiRit (MSF: $6,800) With the exodus of Alphari to North America, HiRit has stepped into the role of the king of the top lane. He has 49 kills and 78 assists  which both are at the top of the table stats for top laners in the LEC for summer. What also makes this pick exciting is who HiRit and Misfits are playing on Saturday. The only carry for S04 is their top laner (BrokenBlade). We have seen team after team throw a ton of resources top to shut down the German top laner and the rest of the team is easy to take care of the rest of S04. If there is a lot of focus on shutting down BrokenBlade, HiRit should be able to cash in big time.   

Value Pick: Kryze (XL: $6,200)  

Jungle

Favorite: Inspired (RGE: $7,000) The king of KDA In the jungle role is Inspired with a 6.1 KDA. He has the fewest deaths among junglers who have played 10+ games and only 20 deaths in 12 games. Rogue have a pretty substantial skill gap between themselves and Astralis and that is even more evident in how they want to play the game. Astralis tries to sink the game into chaos through skirmishing but Rogue excels at slowing the game down and controlling when and where fighting takes place. A lot of this mindset is through Inspired and that is why I am exciting about this pick for Saturday.

Value Pick: Bwipo (FNC: $6,400) 

Mid Lane

Favorite: Vetheo (MSF: $7,600) If you haven’t been tuning in to Misfits’ matches but you should to catch Vetheo play. He has the highest KDA for LEC mids (7.2) and most kills at 57. He also is averaging just over 1 death per game where most mid laners are around 2-3 per game. He plays safe, puts out huge damage numbers, and racks up kill participation (almost 70%). I love Misfits into the struggling Schalke 04 and I love Vetheo into their mid laner (NUCLEARINT) who has a sub 3 KDA. 

Value Pick: Nisqy (FNC: $6,800)   

ADC

Favorite: Hans sama (RGE: $8,200) There is a bit of a risk with this  pick only because of the price point and not the expected performance level. Hans sama has a 6.4 KDA and he is facing an ADC with 31 deaths (to his 19). Astralis try to force a lot of fighting around the map and Jeskla with his 29 kills makes little to no impact in those fights. Hans sama has 47 kills and 74 assists as well. I think Hans sama gets slept on in the LEC because he doesn’t normally get those 8+ kill games but he rarely dies and has a 69% team kill participation rate which should mean you get a return on your investment. 

Value Pick: Rekkles (G2: $8,000) 

Support

Favorite: Vander (MSF: $5,800) The strength of S04 is not their bottom lane and instead, I would call their bottom lane a liability in fact and the Vander/Kobbe bot lane should be comfortable in the matchup. Vander is second for LEC supports in assists (109) and is sitting at a 3.3 KDA. I find that Vander’s ability to follow up on Razork’s early game ganks to make this pick even more enticing with them taking on LIMIT and Neon. This game will accelerate quickly and Vander can pick up a lot of points. 

Value Pick: Hylissang (FNC: $4,800) 

Team

Favorite: Misfits ($5,200) While there are higher ranking teams that you can pick up, I think there is a lot of value for this stronger team at the price point they are at. Misfits have the league’s best mid to late game rating (+15.2) and the third best team kill to death ratio (+1.35). They are facing the league’s punching bag in S04 on Saturday and that makes this pick and even better lock for your lineup.    

Value Pick: Excel Esports ($5,000)
 

Cann’s Example Lineup

DraftKings Classic 

$50,000 Salary Cap
 

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

  • Alternate: Markoon ($9,900)

Top: HiRit ($6,800)

Jungle: Bwipo ($6,800)

Mid: Vetheo ($7,600)

  • Alternate: Nukeduck ($7,000)

ADC: Patrik ($7,200)

  • Alternate: Kobbe ($7,600)

Support: Hylissang ($4,800)

Team: Rogue ($5,600)