The winners bracket semifinals matches are hitting this week in North America with Team Liquid versus Golden Guardians and Flyquest versus Cloud9. Meanwhile across the pond, the losers bracket match takes place, where a rising Schalke 04 faces off against a questionable SK line-up.

Captain

Jensen ($10,800)

Jensen has quietly climbed the ranks of the LCS mid laners to the top. Him, Bjergsen, and PowerofEvil comprise the 3 best mid laners in the LCS, and while PowerofEvil faces off against Nisqy, who is another formidable mid, Jensen faces Damonte in lane. Damonte is by no means a bad player, but he fulfills a niche in his team that requires him to be a foil. Damonte is relatively low in each conventional metric observers use to articulate whether a player is good or not. While Damonte isn’t intrinsically bad, Jensen being one of the best mid laners the LCS has to offer, and Damonte not receiving resources that are typically granted to most LCS mid laners, makes this over all match-up a no brainer. If you’re looking for a different captain, we would set our eyes on PowerofEvil; the EU choices are simply too expensive.

Alternatives to consider: PowerofEvil ($10,500)  

Top Lane

Solo ($5,800)

Solo versus Licorice is a classic since 2018. These two were the rookie top laners coming into the split, and while Licorice clearly overshadowed him for the last two years, Licorice has been caught lacking this split and Cloud9 plummeted in standings following their outstanding first round robin. Licorice has not been having a fantastic split so far, but Solo has been an outstanding top laner, and was good throughout FlyQuest’s midseason slump. While S04 is riding their 7 game win streak, often overlooked is FlyQuest’s 6 game winstreak heading into play-offs. While FlyQuest got complacent after being up 2-0 over EG, they were able to close the series out the same. Solo had a shaky game 4, but he was consistently great throughout the series, and this may finally be Solo’s chance to strike down Licorice. If you’re looking elsewhere for a top laner, we would recommend Impact. Hauntzer had played well into Broken Blade last week, but that does not eliminate his frequently mediocre performances throughout the split. Meanwhile, Impact’s champion pool is swinging back into meta.

Alternatives to consider: Impact ($6,000)

Jungle

Gilius ($7,200)

God Gilius is on top. It means a lot when you were voted in as the #2 all pro jungler, and you didn’t even start until midway through the split. Gilius’ return has been absolutely phenomenal. What used to be a lower to mid table jungler has skyrocketed in value and has become the best jungler in the second round robin. Schalke’s run from 10th to 6th is truly miraculous. Meanwhile, Trick has been mediocre throughout the split, while he did have some standout games on Sett, Trick has been a liability since his split on S04 last year. There’s even a chance that rookie Canee may play, due to restrictions on Trick’s visa were they to qualify for worlds. If you’re looking for a different jungler, we would recommend Santorin, who has been another amazing 2nd round robin jungler. Blaber has been shaky as of late, and has been a large reason for Cloud9’s decline alongside Nisqy.

Alternatives to consider: Santorin ($6,600)

Mid Lane:

PowerofEvil ($7,000)

We will spare words with PowerofEvil since we recommended him as Captain also: mid lane on the day is relatively high level: Zazee has been good, Abbedagge post-Gilius has been a completely different look for him, Jensen is MVP material, and PowerofEvil has been another fantastic performer. While Cloud9 may have a stylistic edge into the slow pace of FlyQuest, the lack of coordination as of late that has faced Cloud9 has tipped the scales into the favor of FlyQuest going into the match. If you’re looking for a different mid laner, we’d recommend Abbedagge, who has transformed into AbbeFaker as of late: he’s expensive, but Zazee holds no chance of holding up against Abbe if he’s been playing at the level that he has in the subsequent weeks.

Alternatives to consider: Abbedagge ($7,800)

ADC:

WildTurtle ($7,000)

ADC is by far the hardest role to choose from. Literally all of these guys are amazing choices aside from perhaps Neon. FBI is likely better than Tactical, but Tactical has the better team. Crownshot is almost certainly better than Neon, but Neon has the superior support and the overall better team. Wildturtle? Likely worse than Zven. However, Wildturtle has a team that is much more in form relative to Zven, and Wildturtle has already proven himself capable against high caliber LCS ADCs. WildTurtle definitely has our vote, as the gap in skill is likely the smallest between the match-ups, while being on the winning team. If you’re looking for a different ADC, we think Tactical has the best second chance. Tactical’s support is better than FBI’s support: Huhi is good, but CoreJJ is a world champion for a reason, and that alone has lended him a tremendous advantage over the ADC who has been an individual superstar.

Alternatives to consider: Tactical ($7,600)

Support:

CoreJJ ($5,800)

Between first and second, this one is actually very close. CoreJJ wins out however, because the gap between first and second is much larger in the LCS as opposed to the LEC: and in addition, CoreJJ is the actual best support in the LCS, while the supports who are playing on the day in the LEC aren’t quite at that level. Tactical has been outstanding this year, and while Jensen and CoreJJ have had his back, he’s shown an amazing amount of improvement across this split. FBI and Huhi stand in his way of greatness: FBI has finally fit the pieces together this split, and Huhi has transformed himself into a lane ruling tyrant, who nurtures the late game threat that is FBI. CoreJJ has been unimpeded in his domination of bottom lane, and is certainly an overall superior player to Huhi, whose main strengths are in the early game. CoreJJ is likely to be named MVP for a reason, and that’s why he has our pick. Our second pick, however, is S04’s Dreams, whose reintroduction into the roster has been another key reason for S04’s success alongside Gilius. While LIMIT has improved a lot this split relative to his disastrous debut in spring, Dreams has been a fantastic support and is an overall more well rounded player.

Alternatives to consider: Dreams ($5,600)

Team

Schalke 04 ($5,200)

A bit of a curveball relative to the mostly LCS driven picks individually, but there’s a good reason for this: if Schalke is able to obliterate Rogue, MAD, and other teams at the top of the standings, what is preventing them from driving through 5th place SK all the same? While individual players may be superior between the LCS match-ups, despite being on losing teams, the only large mismatch on S04 may be Neon, and even then, Crownshot is very prone to overplaying and making mistakes in a vain attempt to carry his team. The pressure is off for Neon, he has a great support, a fantastic jungler, and a revitalized mid laner. Between all of the matches, one is very likely to end in an upset- at least, but Schalke are very likely to defeat an SK that looked to be on a decline as the split progressed. If you’re looking for a different choice, between FlyQuest and TL, we’d recommend TL. It’s hard to bet against FBI and Closer, but Jensen has been amazing, and Impact has come back into form as the split has progressed. They’re first place for a reason, after all.

Alternatives to consider: Team Liquid ($5,600)

Top Stacks:

Gilius & Abbedagge

If you came into the summer split saying “Abbedagge and Gilius will be a fantastic 2v2” people would either call you psycho, or much more likely, would assume you were trolling or being sarcastic. Everyone is completely oblivious to how what was likely the worst mid laner in all of LEC has suddenly begun to contest players like Humanoid, Larssen, and Caps- some of the best mid laners in the entire world right now- but whatever he’s been doing, it’s been working. Gilius has been in and out of LEC since 2015 due to his mediocre performances, but this split, Gilius is what S04 needed to create the miracle that was the second round robin. These two are the strangest occurrence in what is perhaps all of League of Legends history, but here we are.

Tactical & CoreJJ

On the other hand, these two bring a level of consistency that’s unmatched elsewhere: King CoreJJ and Prince Tactical have ruled the LCS bottom lane ever since they conquered Cloud9, and while Cloud9 may be capable of climbing back to their former level, their play hasn’t been inspiring as of late. FBI and Huhi are extremely difficult opponents for these two, but their strengths stack up nicely relative to their opposition. CoreJJ has a level of veterancy that’s unmatched by either Huhi or Tactical, and his knowledge of both ADCs and supports lends him a big advantage in lane: while Huhi thrives off of what his opponents do not know, virtue of him being a former mid laner, alongside exemplary mechanics for the support role, CoreJJ hasn’t faced significant mechanical challenge in the LCS aside from Vulcan. While Huhi has come into form and has become an excellent support, CoreJJ is on top for a reason. Between Tactical and FBI, while FBI may be the better player, Tactical has superior synergy with CoreJJ, and that’s where the ultimate difference in skill resides. Better support wins lane.

PowerofEvil & Santorin

It feels like we’ve talked about these two so much, that it’s very difficult to say more. They are both farm based players, and FlyQuest in general take their games very slow relative to the rest of the LCS. Santorin has become what is likely the best jungler in the LCS, contested only by Closer. On the other hand, PowerofEvil is within the top 3 of North American mid lane. His style is more akin to Froggen than Damonte or Nisqy, but that stability is important in any team. Nisqy has been volatile as of late, and Blaber has similarly been lacking. It’s a perfect storm for these two: Cloud9’s mid jungle has been crumbling, while these two have looked on top of the LCS.

Top Picks: Jensen, CoreJJ, Gilius

It’s really hard to choose top picks, because there are so many players who are fantastic who we have to skip out on: Abbedagge, PowerofEvil, Wildturtle, FBI, Solo, amongst others. But these 3 have given their team the strength to keep going. Jensen and CoreJJ rebuilt from the rubble that was Team Liquid spring, and while Broxah still hasn’t fully integrated into the team, Jensen hasn’t needed a jungler to link with in order to dominate his competition. CoreJJ still looks world class, and Gilius’ new look is refreshing in the LEC. It feels like Abbedagge finally has a teammate who fully trusts him, and these two players who looked like they’d be out of a job next split have shown their value to their league.

Top Value: Closer, Vulcan, Solo

Closer’s mediocre series against FlyQuest is likely attributable to Spica’s faster pace and Bjergsen’s strength over Jensen. TL vs GG is likely to be even more fascinating than TSM vs GG- will FBI be able to hold up? Is Closer prone to being exposed in best of 5’s? Either way, Closer is insanely cheap, and he was within the top 10 MVP candidates in the league. Vulcan has been a great support- don’t let Cloud9 failing as a team distract you from that. He held the top KDA in the league for forever, and top support KDA too. Vulcan and Zven have been the only two players on Cloud9 that held any form of consistency throughout the split, and while they’ve been falling off as of late alongside their team, it’s no real comparison. He is a great choice for support. Solo being cheap is just pure questionable. While Licorice is good, he’s definitely had games where he’s been a flat out liability, while those games are extremely rare for Solo. Each of these players are amazing, and worth more than what their price tag would have you expect.