LEC fires their week up on Friday, where RGE gets their hand at an S04 rematch, G2 cash in versus VIT, FNC test out the powered-up AST, while SK and MAD, and XL and MSF all fight to try to escape the gulag. Let’s get into the picks.

Captain

Hans Sama ($11,400)

Aside from a blueshell from S04 in the first round robin and their match against G2, Hans Sama has generally been riding high on RGE and looks like a top ADC in the league; he’s an archetypal defensive ADC but still holds solid lane statistics (think a player like Ghost, if you’re more familiar with LCK). For captain, he’s relatively cheap and allows you to minimize on econ picks, and provides you with a solid secondary ADC without having to gamble on Patrik. If you want more firepower with a marginal upgrade, I’d recommend G2’s Jankos who gets his hand at Skeanz on Friday.

Alternatives to consider: Jankos ($11,700)

Top Lane

Kryze ($6,200)

Kryze in his sophomore split has been a standout player on XL, and one of the only players hitting his highs in spite of their 3 game loss streak; fortunately for XL, Misfits lacks an X-Factor like Astralis with Magifelix, and their top laner HiRit has been one of the worst performing top laners in the league this split. Kryze comes in extremely cheap, gives you a good base of consistency, and has a great match-up to boot: big thumbs up. If you are looking for an upgrade, I’d recommend Odoamne who is in a similar situation; although his opponent in Broken Blade is more volatile than HiRit and has the slight chance of causing him issues on the right champ.

Alternatives to consider: Odoamne ($6,400)

Jungle

Inspired ($6,800)

Rogue’s jungler Inspired has been tearing through this split and comes in at a fraction of the premium jungle options. His opponent in Gilius is a control, defensive based jungler which is stylistically optimal for Inspired to face: Inspired likes to link with Larssen for the 2v2 while the latter plays for priority, and help support his laners by handing them the kills during invades or ganks, lending him some of the highest number of assists in the league. Combine this with solid farming differentials and low deaths, and you have a great jungler. Jankos is the upgraded option, but for an extra $1,000 I would recommend sticking with Inspired. Selfmade is another potential option, also.

Alternatives to consider: Jankos ($7,800)

Mid Lane

Larssen ($7,400)

There are 3 mid lane options worth considering on Friday: the premium option in Caps, who has a great match-up versus Milica and you should consider if you are willing to scrape on Captain or ADC, Larssen, the 2nd best mid laner and while his match-up in Abbedagge is more difficult than Caps’, he shouldn’t be hurting in the slightest. Finally, you can choose Czekolad, the young rookie who has taken a bit of a tumble in the last few games, but is looking to redeem himself against Vetheo, a hot-or-cold mid laner. Personally, I wouldn’t recommend a budget mid laner, but the option is there. I strongly recommend Caps or Larssen for mid lane.

Alternatives to consider: Caps ($8,000)

ADC

Rekkles ($8,200)

Rekkles is the best ADC in the league, and maybe even the best player. Vitality’s Crownshot is likely an upgrade relative to Comp, but it’s inelastic and unlikely to make a difference. Rekkles has ran through each bottom lane he’s faced and S04 scraped together a win by neutralizing him with Neon and LIMIT. Crownshot and Labrov likely will not have that capability against Rekkles, and he’s likely to steamroll the last place team. If you are looking for a more affordable option, both Jezu and Patrik are available; I particularly recommend Patrik since it’s unlikely he’ll get punished by Vander and Kobbe.

Alternatives to consider: Patrik ($7,200)

Support

Trymbi ($5,200)

Rogue’s new support Trymbi has proved a valuable pick up to the squad, although the absence of Vander is somewhat missed in the closer games that just need that extra shotcalling to close out. Against S04, Rogue likely do not need any more shotcalling. This is metagaming, but S04 are falling apart behind the scenes and Rogue is likely to steal this win from under them. If you want an even cheaper support option, Treatz has been nothing short of impressive this split alongside Jezu, and I think he’ll fair well against MAD.

Alternatives to consider: Treatz ($4,600)

Team

SK Gaming ($4,600)

While I don’t have SK taking the W on the day (Elyoya has been impressive, so has Armut and Humanoid can coinflip) SK does come in very cheap, and they’re likely to be competitive against MAD, which is the only thing a sack pick needs to accomplish. They even have the chance at taking down the Lions like they did during the first round robin, although their current form seems to have changed. If you want a more stable choice, just pick up Rogue, G2, or XL.

Alternatives to consider: Rogue ($5,400)

Stacks

Rekkles & Caps

Top two players in the league most likely. Rekkles is undisputedly the best ADC, and while Larssen is hot on Caps’ tail for the throne of the middle lane, G2’s match up versus Rogue proved that Caps still has what it takes to be #1. These two will cost you your entire life savings, so it’s hard to fit both of them into your roster; although you could try an XL/SK dominated line-up to somehow squeeze these two in, although I wouldn’t recommend it.

Inspired & Larssen

Rogue’s 2v2 is solid and just the right amount of aggression you want in a line-up, their control of the map allows Larssen to pick up kills from places inaccessible to other mid laners, and Inspired facilitates roams onto often neglected side lanes by other mid laners. These two are definitely solid options.

Kryze & Patrik

The two standouts for XL could be a reasonable option for top and ADC on a budget: HiRit will likely get rolled by Kryze, and while Vander and Kobbe won’t keel over, they’re unlikely to punish Patrik since they’re similarly defensive in play-style. Few ADCs in the LEC bring the aggression (maybe Crownshot, Jezu, and Carzzy when he’s on form) which is ideal for Patrik to hit his spikes.

Top Picks: Rekkles, Caps, Jankos

First place versus last place; G2 dominates these. Enough said.

Top Value: Inspired, Hans Sama, Kryze

Rogue’s players are consistently undervalued despite holding the #2 spot in the LEC, only dropping to a S04 blueshell and G2, who is the #1 spot. Inspired and Hans Sama are the 2nd best in their respective roles; unless you’re weird and somehow think Elyoya is better than Inspired. Kryze is a great top lane prospect who will only get better with time, and has consistently shown his potential even in his first split on XL which ended terribly for the squad.