League of Legends LEC DFS Playbook - Jan 22

Christopher Troeh -LEC LoL DFS Playbook - 1/21/2021

Twitter.com/PrussianLoL

 

LEC begins at last with solid match-up parity across the board, but if you’ve been following close in the off season, you may notice several major positional gaps between several of these match-ups. Let’s get into the picks!

 

 

Blue ($10,500)

Coming in from Turkey is mid laner Blue for SK Gaming. While SK has a pretty solid roster despite mostly consisting of rookies, Blue has one big advantage no other mid laner gets on the day: he gets to face Nukeduck, a likely candidate for the worst mid laner in the entire LEC. Combine this with Blue’s demonstrably good laning that he showcased in Turkey, alongside Turkey’s relatively solid performance at Worlds 2020 in the Play-in stage (eliminating MAD Lions) and you have a pretty solid case for a captain’s spot. He comes in absurdly cheap too, allowing you to snatch up more expensive players elsewhere.

Alternatives to consider: Scout ($11,100)

 

 

Bwipo ($6,600)

I usually don’t like picking up Bwipo since he’s a real generic top lane flipper a la someone like Huni or Orome. That being said though, he has a pretty clear path against Misfit’s HiRit or Agressivo; whichever they decide to start. Combine this with an overwhelming jungle gap in Selfmade versus Razork, and a stylistically favorable mid lane acquisition in Nisqy and you have a pretty easy game to coast through if you’re a top laner. This is the “freest” match-up in this role, but otherwise I’d recommend picking up Broken Blade or Odoamne since they’re both solid, with a slight preference for Broken Blade since Szygenda is a complete rookie.
 

Alternatives to consider: Broken Blade ($6,400)

 

 

Selfmade ($7,200)

To keep it brief; Selfmade has proved he was the best jungler in the west during this meta at Worlds, and it’s no surprise that Jankos: a jungler who prefers to play towards his lanes, struggles in a jungle farm centric meta. Meanwhile, Selfmade: a jungler who forces his laners to play towards him, thrives. Beyond picking strictly what’s the “best player”, I think Nisqy+Selfmade is a stylistically solid combination. If the L9 Jungle King isn’t your pick, I’d point you towards Inspired, who gets to face Dan, the new meat on the block in the jungle and unlikely to be a significant upgrade over Caedrel, who himself was lower mid tier last summer.

 

Alternatives to consider: Inspired ($6,800)

 

 

Nisqy ($7,600)

I pretty much alluded to it in the section of Selfmade, but this is the biggest stack I’d recommend for Friday: mid laner that loves to play to jungler; jungler that loves when lanes play to him, on top of that being the meta? Bam, smash hit. I was talking to Peter Dun a few days ago, who regretted Vetheo’s expedited advancement from ERL to the big LEC stage. Misfit’s Vetheo has a great degree of latent talent, but he’s unlikely to jump out the gate smashing his opposition. If you’re interested in a main carry mid laner, I’d pick up G2 Caps, best in the west.

 

Alternatives to consider: Caps ($7,800)

 

ADC:

 

Rekkles ($8,000)

G2 Rekkles seems like something out of a nightmare; or a dream depending on what sort of fan you are. Rekkles was a top tier ADC throughout his career since he was a child in season 4; and he’s hardly ever skipped a beat. He was the gem of FNC (we don’t talk about Elements). I hold nothing against Carzzy for his later 2020 performance, but you can’t get better than “the best”, with the strongest roster EU may has yet seen, Rekkles is the one to look at for ADC. If you’re looking elsewhere, I’d pick up Upset from FNC who plays against Kobbe.

 

Alternatives to consider: Upset ($7,800)

 

 

Treatz ($5,000)

Treatz hits on another player that’s a major weakness in Astralis: Promisq, one of the poorest performing supports throughout his tenure in LEC. Treatz was marred by criticism while he substituted in for TSM while Biofrost was on a downward trend; however, people are quick to ignore his pretty solid performances: support KDA leader is little mitigation, but those are solid points he’s putting down. ADC Jezu is great too, although maybe less polished than Jeskla. Treatz is a great pick up for support, although if you have cash, feel free to splurge on Mikyx. He’s the best for a reason, and on a stacked roster.

 

Alternatives to consider: Mikyx ($6,000)

 

 

SK Gaming ($5,000)

All and all, while SK may not be a star studded, hyper stacked roster, they do have a massive advantage over Astralis: SK’s roster makes sense, while Astralis have Whiteknight, Promisq, and Nukeduck. I feel quite bad for Zanzarah and Jeskla, but we can hope they’ll do well in spite of what’s against them. If nothing else, I’d recommend either FNC or G2. Choose either one of them, but I’d personally advocate for G2; they’re likely to be the best roster in the LEC.

Alternatives to consider: G2 Esports ($5,600)

 

 

I’m not the largest fan of Nisqy, but combined with a jungler like Selfmade, FNC have a seriously threatening jungle mid 2v2 at their disposal. Selfmade has reached unimaginable peaks already, and Nisqy is only going to further facilitate him and help him reach even higher.

 

Spending big? Why not. To call G2’s option “insane” is an understatement. I can’t even really think of a comparison to make; G2 has basically done it again: they’ve made an absurdly stacked super team. I love Perkz, but Rekkles is even more insane as an ADC. It’s crazy to think that G2’s worst player at this point is likely jungler Jankos, and he’s still top 3 in his position in LEC, if not top 2.

 

Favor your luck? The two newer players on SK appear promising: Jezu on Misfit’s Premier showed promise in the LFL, while Treatz looked solid on TSM. Astralis is a train wreck, and by picking up SK’s bottom lane, you target Astralis’ weak support and an ADC that doesn’t have a support structure to get him off the ground.

 

Top Picks: Rekkles, Selfmade, Blue

This is likely the most diverse group of players I’ve ever seen make the cut for top picks: Blue is a rookie who targets a major weakness on a bad team; Selfmade is a veteran who has unimaginable heights and is best in his region on his role; and Rekkles is a superveteran, playing since he came of age and is on the most stacked line-up Europe has ever seen. Keep on a look out for these three.

 

Top Value: Blue, Treatz, Broken Blade

SK’s players aren’t necessarily “fantastic”, but they do possess a high degree of latent potential and are capable of contending for play-offs. Thankfully, they come in cheap and let you be more flexible elsewhere on your roster. I’m not convinced by S04 after their late summer run, but I do think that if they’re capable of maintaining their level of play, they’ll go back to smashing most teams in the LEC that aren’t G2 or FNC. Broken Blade is a solid pick up for top lane too, he’s a great gold recipient and is capable of bringing extra carry threat to S04.