The beginning of the 9 week split took off with a bang on Friday as teams from the League of Legends European Championship took their remote stages for week 1. From shocking upsets to last minute comebacks Friday had it all. With Saturday’s games getting locked in prepare for some old rivals to square off.

Game #1: Schalke 04 v SK Gaming

Cann’s Pick: Schalke 04

Game #2: Rogue v Misfits

Cann’s Pick: Misfits

Game #3: Excel Esports v MAD Lions

Cann’s Pick: MAD Lions

Game #4: Fnatic v Team Vitality

Cann’s Pick and Lock of the Week: Fnatic

Game #5: G2 Esports v Origen

Cann’s Pick: G2 Esports

Fantasy Value Breakdown

Cann’s Starting Lineup for 6/13

$49,500 out of the $50,000 salary cap

Captain: Perkz (G2)

Top: Kryze (Excel)

Jungle: Shad0w (MAD)

Mid: Humanoid (MAD)

ADC: Innaxe (S4)

Support: Vander ($4,400)

Team: SK Gaming

Captain (1.5x Points)

Tier 1: Perkz G2 ($12,900)- High value and will make you the points you need against Origen Perkz is one of the most renowned players on the planet and the fact that he plays ADC garuntees that G2 will funnel kills, CS, and all other resources into him. Look for G2 to put pressure on his lane and watch the skill difference between him and Upset.

Value Pick: Zazee ($9,300)- This is all about risk versus reward. Zazee had a decent first game in the LEC on Azir but wasn’t the reason his team won. There are always unknowns when it comes to rookies and their potential. As a mid laner he should have a decent KDA and high CS numbers.

Top

Tier 1: Odoamne Schalke 04 ($7,000)- Even with SK’s upset of Origen on Friday, I think that speaks more to the flaws in Origen and not the skills of SK. Look to Odoamne to put a lot of distance between him and Jenax.

Value Pick: Kryze- XL ($5,200)- This is a feast or famine pick. MAD Lions is an all or nothing teams so if Excel Esports can weather their aggression early game, look for Kryze to rack up some serious points in this one against Orome.

Jungle

Tier 1: Shad0w-MAD ($7,400)- While it feels criminal not picking Jankos from G2, I think the skill gap between MAD Lions and Excel is far wider than that of G2 and Origen. Look for Shad0w to constantly look for opportunities around the map but especially mid lane.

Value Pick: Gilius- Schalke 04 ($6,800)- Gilius should have his way against SK Gaming’s jungler Trick. Gilius is a staple in the LEC and focuses heavily on facilitating team wins through objective takes and getting the right lanes ahead.

Mid

Tier 1: Caps- G2 ($8,200)- It is actually impossible to pick any midlaner over Caps when compared head to head. It does not matter what strategy G2 decides to take going into the match, Caps performance will remain consistently at a high level.

Value Pick: Febiven- Misfits ($7,000)- I was actually really surprised to see Febiven at only $7,000. While some of his luster was lost when he came to play in North America, there is no doubt in my mind that he still has it. Famous for his assassin.flashy playstyle, I look forward to seeing Febiven push Larssen to the limit.

ADC

Tier 1: Perkz- G2 ($8,600)- Much like his mid laner counterpart, Perkz outclasses every other ADC. Even Fnatic’s Rekkles (easily the 2nd best ADC in Europe) Perkz holds an edge with being able to be more flexible for his team. The amount of champions he can play at the highest level is second to none.

Value Pick: Crownshot- SK Gaming ($6,400)- HUGE value here. While I think there is some distance between the two teams, I think t the ADC role Crownshot is actually better than his opponent. He is really good at playing out teamfights and even in bad matchups can keep up on his GPM (Gold Per Minute) making him relevant later in the game.
 

SUP

Tier 1: Hylissang- Fnatic ($5,400)- This pick speaks even more to how much I do not expect this match to be close. Team Vitality are not even close to the level Fnatic are and I fully expect a lot of pressure in this bot lane. It becomes really easy to pad your KDA when your ADC is Rekkles. 

Value Pick: Vander- Rogue ($4,400)- This pick is looking at the fact that Misfits may not have the synergy in the botlane with the new addition of Kobbe. For Rogue, their botlane were their rock in the Spring split with Vander and Hans sama being elite talent in Europe. I think if Rogue looks to stress the bot lane of Misfits, you can see Vander pick up a lot of points.

TEAM

Tier 1: Fnatic ($6,000)- There is nothing in this world that is a sure bet. With that said, this feels about as close as you can get. Team Vitality has less skill on their team and lack any sort of identity. Fnatic should easily take care of business here.

Value Pick: Team SK ($4,400)- Team SK Seemed inspired in their win against Origen on Friday. While I think on paper, Schalke is the better team, I do think that Team SK has serious potential between Zazee in the midlane and Crownshot at ADC.

Value Combos:

*Shad0w and Humanoid (MAD Lions v Excel Esports)- $15,000 Combined Salary: These two should have a field day against Excel Esports. On Friday the two of them were still able to put pressure on Caps for a decent portion of the game even though MAD Lions were down in gold to G2. Even if they do not roam to the side lanes together, I would fully expect the two of them to apply pressure around the map. Humanoid does a good job playing champions that fill into the team identity and Shad0w will force smart team fights around objectives.

*Hans sama and Vander (Rogue)- $11,200 Combined Salary: This is a high risk, high reward pick. Rogue had a clinical win against Excel Esports on Friday while Kobbe and the rest of Misfits had victory ripped away from them. While Kobbe and Misfits could make a statement win out of this game exacting revenge onto Rogue, it is just as likely that there is still growing that needs to be done there and Hans sama/Vander can capitalize on it.

Top Picks: Perkz, Caps, Abbedagge, Rekkles

All these players are the carries for their teams. If their teams are ahead, they are racking up huge points for you. There are very few instances where I see any of these picks struggling tomorrow.

Top Value: Shad0w, Nemisis, Innaxe, Crownshot

These won’t be the first guys to jump off the page to you, but they either favorably match up against their specific opponent, or really limit the amount of mistakes they make in a game. This makes them a safer pick up for less money.

 

 

Cann’s Game by Game Breakdown

 

Game #1

SK Gaming versus FC Schalke 04

On paper, these two teams should be considered fairly close in skill. Going into the Spring Split there were high expectations on Schalke (6-12) and SK Gaming (4-14) were looking for an identity. Schalke had suffered one of the greatest public collapses of a team as the long time ADC legend FORG1VEN publicly pushing back against the organization saying they were unwilling to field a competitive roster. While after his benching, the team did go .500 in the rest of their games, the damage was done and Schalke couldn’t salvage the split. SK Gaming is still stuck in their own growing phase and looking for a member of their roster to define themselves as the “carry” for the team.

Cann’s Winner: FC Schalke 04

Most Valuable Player Abbedagge- Mid- Schalke 04- I really like Abbedagge. In a league where the top teams of G2, Finatic, and Origin run all over most of the league, Abbedagge holds his own. While his KDA was just a bit north of 2, I think he will be able to have his way with the fresh face of SK’s mid laner, Zazee.

Game #2

Misfits versus Rogue

Another match up of teams who ended in a fairly similar situation at the end of Spring. Misfits (10-8) ended in 5th and Rogue (9-9) ended in 6th. In the Spring playoffs Rogue did get the last laugh beating Misfits 3-1 in the first round of play even though they were the lower seed. While it seems like I am setting myself up for a 50/50 toss up pick with a slight edge to Rogue, I think the biggest factor in this matchup is Misfits massive upgrade at the ADC position with Kobbe. Kobbe, returning from a short stint to North America, returns to Europe to take his spot as one of the Premier ADCs. I think his leadership in the botlane and his ability to play safely throughout fights. I would expect it to still be a close contest with the matched strength in Misfits botlane of Hans Sama and Vander to keep pace for most of the game but the differences in top and mid will lead to a win for Misfits.

Cann’s Winner: Misfits

Most Valuable Player Hans sama- ADC- Misfits- I know I spoke highly of Kobbe earlier, but it is hard to take anything away from the consistency of Hans sama. Hans sama ended the last split with almost a 4.0 KDA and outputs massive amounts of damage in teamfights. I think this game will go long giving Hans sama plenty of time to rack up high CS numbers as well as a decent KDA.

Game #3

MAD Lions versus Excel Esports

MAD Lions (11-7) is such an exciting team. They made a big splash in their first split in the LEC with a young and unproven roster proving to the world you can make a name for yourself by playing your game. They are aggressive and look to make plays around the map regardless of the gold difference between teams. While they have a tendency to be punished by better teams, I don’t see them struggling much with Excel Esports (7-11). Excel Esports missed out on playoffs last split but generally held their own against most teams and even won the regular season series for Spring against MAD Lions. I think the difference for this game will be the synergy between MAD Lions’ jungler (Shad0w) and mind laner (Humanoid). They are going to create so much pressure and with the issues that Excel has with the mid lane, I would expect these two to control the match.

Cann’s Winner: MAD Lions

Most Valuable Player Shad0w- Jungler- MAD Lions- This is the type of player organizations would kill to build a roster around. While I admit I might be too much of a hype man for Shad0w but I think his mechanics can rival junglers from around the world and he is fearless in the pressure he creates around the map. His biggest deficit is his ability to make the same impact when he and his team fall behind. I look for MAD Lions to make a jump this split and push the teams at the top of the table even more.

Game #4

Team Vitality versus Fnatic

In years past, this matchup would have been a showmatch that all of Europe would stop and watch. Last split Team Vitality (2-16) were the wettest of all the noodles. The saddest thing about the fall of grace for Team Vitality is the fact that they helped pioneer the idea of not bending to the whims of what is popular strategy in League of Legends and instead played the style and champions that suited them. We see teams all around the world follow this model and find wild amounts of success. With the losses of Jizuke (Mid), Steeelback (Support), and Gilius (Jungler) Team Vitality lost much of the fire that set them apart. I fully expect that the heavily decorated Fnatic squad to run Team Vitality off the rift under the firepower of Rekkles (ADC) and Bwipo (Top).

Cann’s Winner: Fnatic

Most Valuable Player Rekkles- ADC- Fnatic- This really isn’t even close. The only real time in the history of this game that Rekkles was not seen as either the #1 or #2 in his position was during a period of time his position played champions mainly from another role. Since getting back to the long range damage dealing champions in the bot lane, Rekkles has returned to taking over games. Look to see Rekkles rack up huge points through his kill participation coupled with what should be a completely one sided affair.

Game #5

G2 Esports versus Origen

This should be another really exciting game. These teams make up two of the top three titans of the league in addition to Fnatic. G2 Esports (15-3) has been the pinnacle of success in the LEC  since their 3rd/4th place finish at the World Championship in 2018. Since that finish they have finished 1st in 8 out of their 9 total tournaments. Behind the might of Caps (Mid) and Perkz (ADC) who have shown the world that their versatility and technical skill on what seems to be an endless champion pool, I expect similar levels of success for this split. Origen (13-5) on the other hand has seemed to fill the role of always 3rd place. On paper they always feel like they have game changing players and those players dominate the bad teams that they should find success against. When this team meets up against good teams in relevant moments, they always seem to fall flat. Look for Nukeduck (Mid) and Alphari (Top) to try and push this teams over the hill and find the success that has always been expected from them.

Cann’s Winner: G2

Most Valuable Player Caps- Mid- G2 Esports- In the coin flip that is trying to pick an MVP from a team that is legitimately filled with MVPs, I think Caps will be the person to look to. His lane opponent, Nukeduck, is the catalyst for an Origen win so I fully expect G2 to spend serious resources mid to ensure that Nukeduck doesn’t get online. Origen cannot ban out Caps’ champion pool and no matter how bad of a matchup Caps is in, he finds ways to make an impact.