Day 4 of group stage is slated to begin on the 6th, and the day looks split down the middle: G2, SN, DRX, TES, LGD are likely to win their match-ups, with the biggest contest being between Gen.G and FNC. Let’s get into the picks.

Captain

BDD ($10,800)

Gen.G has looked pretty solid in group C, and a big factor in their success has been the success of mid laner BDD against other solid mid laners: Bjergsen and Xiye. On Tuesday, Gen.G faces off against FNC, with BDD being pitted against Nemesis. It’s no secret that Nemesis’ puny champion pool has been historically exploited by his opponents: G2 crushed FNC through mid gap, and while Caps is a prodigy, it’s not as though BDD is galaxies apart. I heavily favor Gen.G to crack FNC through the mid lane- as long as they ban Lucian, it should be a done deal. If you’re looking elsewhere, Team Liquid look dead in the water, and Jensen has looked mediocre as last year internationally. I recommend Caps, who has been spectacular year after year.

Alternatives to consider: Caps ($11,700)       

Top Lane

LangX ($6,200)

Despite having a few off games in the play-in stage, LangX has been really solid for worlds, especially once the elimination round started. He posts consistent CS leads, and betting against North America is a sure thing: Broken Blade has struggled so far at worlds, and even Solo presented a sort of challenge to the top laner. I think LangX and Peanut will severely punish Broken Blade’s coinflip playstyle. For a different top lane pick, I’d highly recommend Doran since Solo has just been abysmal this tournament: Doran isn’t good, but him performing so poorly against wildcard top laners like BOSS has made me lose faith in Solo.

Alternatives to consider: Doran ($6,600)

Jungle

Selfmade ($6,400)

Selfmade is unlikely to match-up well against BDD and Clid, since Xiye and Peanut were too much to handle, and BDD+Clid are the superior pairing. On the other hand, choosing Selfmade is a KaKAO-esque decision: FNC as a team stylistically play for Selfmade, as he’s a main carry. Therefore, picking up Selfmade will give you a larger share of FNC’s resources as a team relative to other jungle options. Furthermore, Selfmade is on the cheap relative to other junglers, and him being a solid pick up is definitely to his advantage as there are plenty of other good players worth taking. Selfmade is fantastic, but if you want the best choice, go for Karsa who should absolutely smash AHaHaCiK.

Alternatives to consider: Karsa ($7,400)

Mid Lane:

Caps ($7,800)

Caps is the big spending point of this roster. As described in the captain section, Caps has been one series away from becoming a world champion both times in the last two years. He is a mechanical prodigy, and is likely the best western player of all time. On the other side is Jensen, who has a weak jungler and has historically been a worlds underperformer. G2 is currently 2-0 in their groups, and the MCX that beat TL seemed like a breeze when G2 played them. Liquid once again appear doomed to worlds group stage, and Caps is the person who will bury them. If you have $400 extra to throw around, I’d recommend picking up Knight here. At some point, players aren’t really worth the extra money, but Knight versus Nomanz will be a catastrophe for the Russian mid laner. Knight will likely be a champion by the end of the year, and UOL is just another name on the chopping block for the Chinese squad.

Alternatives to consider: Knight ($8,200)

ADC:

Huanfeng ($8,000)

I’m willing to sit on Huanfeng for day 4: he’s performed really well throughout group stage, even in Suning’s defeat against G2. On Tuesday, he’s up against Bruce and Koala, and they’re pushovers compared to what they’re performed well against so far: Tactical & CoreJJ and Perkz & Mikyx are both superior to Huanfeng’s current opponents. Otherwise, Huanfeng has proven to be a prodigy domestically and hasn’t slowed down internationally. For a different ADC pick, I’d choose Deft. DRX’s bottom lane has proven to be really strong, and while Turtle hasn’t looked terrible, Deft is a sponge for resources and has been amazing for nearly a decade now. Deft should be the player you’re looking for if you’re trying to save some money for elsewhere.

Alternatives to consider: Deft ($7,400)

Support:

Keria ($5,400)

Truthfully, Keria may just be the best support in the world, and he faces little competition from other teams. Beryl, Yuyanjia, amongst others are the weakest points of their team, and LvMao is his only serious competition for the title. Keria’s opponent on the day IgNar is a good player, but relatively one dimensional in his style. If North America had a Ziggs player beyond FBI, I think FlyQuest would really get punished by the champion’s ability to smash roaming champions, which is IgNar’s dominant strategy. Combined with this stylistic superiority is the simple mechanical gap that exists between the players: Keria is a support prodigy, while IgNar is good by North American standards. For a different support pick, I’d recommend SwordArt, who’s proven his worth in the tournament this far, while support Koala looks as weak as ever for MCX.

Alternatives to consider: SwordArt ($5,600)

Team:

Suning ($5,400)

Suning vs MCX is a done deal, MCX scored a win versus the mediocre Liquid and MCX haven’t shown anything promising against G2. MCX may have a legitimate case for having the edge in the middle lane: M1ssion has been solid, and while Angel is usually on the backburner for SN, the edge SofM and their bottom lane provides is simply too great. For other options, TES is the obvious choice, but I’d actually recommend DRX. TES isn’t worth the extra $400 for the tiny increase. Both teams are likely to win.

Alternatives to consider: DRX ($5,400)

Top Stacks:

Keria & Deft

DRX’s bottom lane is a solid option for ADC and support. Keria is an extremely young and talented player who is making his international debut this worlds, and while DRX is facing strong competition, Keria has already made a name for himself as one of the best. He’s versatile, and is proficient on both engage and enchanters. On the other hand, Deft has shown consistent innovation throughout his career: obviously he has his traditional strengths in Ezreal, but this year he’s shown that he’s more than willing to pull out newer picks like Ziggs which lends him a great deal of versatility.

Caps & Jankos

Jankos’s worlds performance has been a comforting departure to his relatively poor domestic finish. The time off has done a lot of good for G2, and it shows in the jungler’s performance this far into the tournament. Caps is an evergreen player, and looked absolutely insane in his 6th consecutive championship. Their opponents in Jensen and Broxah are mediocre players on a mediocre team, Broxah leaving Europe stands as a very poor career decision, as the competition he left behind are currently running laps around him, skillwise.

SofM & Huanfeng

The ADC jungle of Suning are another option to consider: SofM is an early game monster, and he was identified early in his career by his insane mechanical ceiling. While he’s matured into a jungler that still has that flair for the dramatic, he’s an all-around player as opposed to a player that lacks that sense of veterancy like Kanavi or perhaps even Spica. In ADC is Huanfeng, who’s Suning’s late game assurance if SofM is unable to end the game singlehandedly by running over the enemy jungler. Together, they cover both types of Suning’s games: the quick ones, where they smash through mechanics, and the slower ones, where Huanfeng scales up and crushes teamfights.

Top Picks: Huanfeng, Caps, Keria

A good mix of players rounds out our top picks: Caps is too good to pass up, and Jensen has historically had a mental block against the mid laner. Truthfully, Jensen is just worse than Caps, and that’s all there is to it. Furthermore, Huanfeng is a fantastic ADC and a damage machine. There are few that can match his mechanical talent. Finally, support Keria is a glimpse into the future for Korea, and that future is a blinding, radiant light.

Top Value: Keria, BDD, Selfmade

As stated before, Selfmade getting a higher percentage of resources relative to most junglers will cause him to remain a good choice: even if FNC loses, if the game is relatively competitive, it will naturally be Selfmade who’s putting in the most work. BDD is cheap relative to the “elite” mid laners in Chovy and Knight, and he’s up against a bit of a pushover in Nemesis. Keria has had enough words spoken about him: he’s shown his worth, and it’s hard to believe he’s only 17 years old considering the talent he already has.