(-115) FC Schalke 04 v Astralis (-115)

(-195) Team Vitality v exceL eSports (+155)

(-170) Rogue v MAD Lions (+130)

(+285) SK Gaming v Fnatic (-425)

(+120) Misfits v G2 Esports (-155)

Saturday is filled full of electric matchups in the LEC. Astralis, Team Vitality, and Excel are all sitting at 5-9 with two of those teams on the outside looking in while Rogue looks to continue their impressive run by challenging the reigning LEC champions, MAD Lions. G2 look to right some of their early wrongs by knocking Misfits down a peg and Fnatic are hoping for a big bounceback game after their tough loss on Friday. So many players and so many lines that could lead you to the top of your lobby. Let’s dive in!
 

Game #1: FC Schalke 04 v Astralis 

Cann’s Pick: Astralis 

Game #2: Team Vitality v exceL eSports

Cann’s Pick: Team Vitality

Game #3: Rogue v MAD Lions 

Cann’s Pick: Rogue

Game #4: SK Gaming v Fnatic

Cann’s Pick: Fnatic

Game #5: Misfits v G2 Esports

Cann’s Pick: G2 Esports

Fantasy Value Breakdown

Captain

Favorite: Rekkles (G2: $11,700) This should be a pretty wild matchup and a very fun game to watch overall. I think the mid lane will be a strength for G2’s opponent (MSF) but their bottom lane could be a real liability. Rekkless has over 20 more kills than the MSF bot laner (Kobbe) with 71 kills to his 47. Kobbe also averages deficits in gold (-33) and experience (-209) at 10 minutes while Rekkles averages leads in both (gold-+168, experience- +171). This bottom lane difference will ultimately be too much for Misfits and Rekkles will most likely be the driving force leading G2 to another victory. 

Value Pick: LIDER (VIT: $10,500)

Top Lane

Favorite: Adam (FNC: $7,200) The matchup between FNC and SK should be a real measure of the resilience of this FNC team. THey were completely worked over by Rogue on Friday and while not at risk of not making playoffs, they definitely want to continue pressuring for first place. Luckily for them, SK Gaming have had a lot of uninspiring performances this split. While SK have picked up impressive performances (including a win over the MAD Lions), most games they play they just lose skirmish after skirmish and objective after objective without much of a fight. One of the biggest hurdles they have is their top laner in Jenax who has a sub 3 KDA and 25 kills/61 assists this split. Adam has a 3.1 KDA with 55 kills/88 assists. I fully expect for FNC to try and get Adam onto a dueling champion to force Jenax into bad situations. Big upside with this pick. 

Value Pick: HiRit (MSF: $5,800) 

Jungle

Favorite: Selfmade (VIT: $7,200) This is a strong matchup for the Polish jungler. XL has had to make a change in the jungle (Markoon in and DAn out) because of performance issues. Markoon has been an upgrade but that is a surface level change. On Friday we saw XL struggle at times with S04 because XL was not coordinated as a team. They were able to flex individual mechanical skill and come out ahead against an inferior team. That should be more difficult against Selfmade and Team Vitality who are direct competition for the last playoff spot.  

Value Pick: Elyoya (MAD: $6,000)

Mid Lane

Favorite: Larssen (RGE: $7,400) Even with the risk based on team matchup (RGE are facing MAD on Saturday) I think this is a really smart pick. Larssen continues to be one of the more consistent mid lane players in the LEC with 57 kills and a 5.0 KDA. Humanoid (MAD mid laner) has some shining performances but also has moments where he gets caught wildly out of position or punished for not playing safe enough. Rogue do such a good job at punishing mental lapses like this and this should translate into good points for Larssen.  

Value Pick: Vetheo (MSF: $6,400)   

ADC

Favorite: Upset (FNC: $8,200) I was so impressed watching Upset in FNC’s loss to RGE on Friday. That may seem odd to read but even in light of FNC dying 27 times as a team, Upset only died once and had a 4.0 KDA. The significance of this stat really shows itself when FNC are winning games. If in a crushing loss Upset is still producing decent numbers, his ceiling is almost unmeasurable when FNC is winning. This is a big price tag but Upset has a 10.4 KDA and 77 kills to his name which makes me more comfortable shelling out this dollar amount.  
Value Pick: Jeskla (AST: $7,000) 

Support

Favorite: Trymbi (RGE: $5,800) There are two reasons I like this pick. First, it is under my $6k price point. With Trymbi being top three in terms of support assists (129) this feels like a steal. The second upside here is the fact that the MAD Lions are in the bottom half of the league in terms of deaths (192) and their misplays in teamfights should directly translate to assist points for Trymbi.  

Value Pick: promisq (AST: $5,200) 

Team

Favorite: Fnatic ($5,800) Like I said in earlier breakdowns above, this is a huge bounceback opportunity for FNC. They are facing a struggling team after getting embarrassed on Friday. I fully expect aggression to payoff in objective takes and a faster game for the FNC side.  

Value Pick: exceL eSports ($4,000)

Cann’s Example Lineup

DraftKings Classic 

$50,000 Salary Cap

Captain (x1.5): Rekkles ($11,700)

Alternate: LIDER ($10,500)

Top: Whiteknight ($6,400)

Jungle: Zanzarah ($6,600)

Alternate: Markoon ($5,800)
Mid: Vetheo ($6,400)

ADC: Upset ($8,200)

Alternate: Carzzy ($6,600)

Support: Mikyx ($5,600)

Team: Rogue ($5,000)