In terms of exciting times for League of Legends fans, the final LEC Superweek may be one of the best. The current standings actually set up for every team to have a statistical chance to make playoffs which means every match counts. For the top teams of Rogue and MAD Lions, they need 1 win in their last three matches to guarantee a place in the winner’s bracket, which would punch their ticket to the World Championships in September. For the surging Schalke 04, they need a 4-game swing in three games so while they don’t control their destiny, they are not on the outside looking in yet. Having to figure out the teams that will surge and the teams that will free fall in the last three days will be key for playing the LEC Superweek.

Game #1: Team Vitality versus Rogue

Cann’s Pick and lock of the week: Rogue

Game #2: Origen versus Excel Esports

Cann’s Pick: Excel Esports

Game #3: Fnatic versus Schalke 04

Cann’s Pick: Schalke 04

Game #4: Misfits versus MAD Lions

Cann’s Pick: MAD Lions

Game #5: G2 Esports versus SK Gaming

Cann’s Pick: SK Gaming

 

Fantasy Value Breakdown

Captain (1.5x Points)

Tier 1: Larssen (Rogue/$11,700): Larssen is still king of the mid lane in Europe. With the fall from grace of Humanoid (MAD Lions) over the last few weeks, it has become clearer as to who is the best in Europe right now. He has a 7.2 KDA and is part of 71% of all of Rogue’s kills. What does that mean for you? While he is expensive, he will get you the points you need in this spot. Rogue are also into the 9th place team in Team Vitality which should make this a pretty safe use of your cap space.

 Value Pick: Gilius (Schalke 04/$9,000): You feeling risky? This may feel like the craziest but also the most intelligent value pick I have made. Gilius is an absolute monster right now. He has had a rebirth on the once failing squad of Schalke 04 and has gone 5-4 since joining the squad and has them with a chance to make a late push into the playoffs. He is an absolute game changer pulling massive amounts of bans which sets his teammates up to be more successful. He is into Fnatic (their jungler is Selfmade) who seem like they are just a broken team. They struggle against teams who play more chaotically (much like Schalke 04) and cannot get any productivity out of their top laner (Bwipo) or mid laner (Nemesis).  

Top

Tier 1: Orome (MAD Lions/$7,000): The doubters have been silenced now. Orome has shaken the perception that he is the anchor holding this team back and shown that when his team needs him, he can rise to the challenge. He sits atop the LEC with a 5.5 KDA and only 22 total deaths all split. What does that mean for you? You have a safe top laner who will play efficiently and not lose you points with stupid deaths throughout the game.

Value Pick: Kryze (Excel Esports/$5,800): I don’t think Kryze is an excellent top laner. In fact, it seems like he can get easily frustrated when the enemy jungler comes and puts a lot of pressure into his lane. What makes Kryze such a good pick (outside of his price) is the fact that Origen is in an absolute free fall. His lane opponent (Alphari) has died over 10 times in the last 3 games and Origen haven't won a match since July 18th. I think Origen miss the playoffs and that includes losing to Excel here.

Jungle

Tier 1: Inspired (Rogue/$6,600): How Inspired is not more expensive blows my mind. He has the highest KDA (11) amongst all junglers and the second highest FPPG at 22.8. He doesn’t get flashy kills or outplays players such as Gilius or Shad0w, but he is wildly consistent. Even in their loss against SK Gaming, he had a KDA of 7. I expect him to pull off a better performance and control come objectives in this matchup against Team Vitality.

Value Pick: Trick (SK Gaming/$5,200): This is also a spicier pick. G2 Esports somehow finds themselves in a tie for 3rd with SK Gaming and their really young line up. While I have been more impressed by G2 Esports as of late, the struggles with consistency I think will plague them here. In their win over Rogue, SK Gaming were getting blown up in fights but because of two key steals (Soul Dragon and Baron) by Trick, SK Gaming found the win. I think in his prime, Jankos is a far better jungler. The problem is that this looks nothing like a prime version of G2 while SK has quietly established themselves amongst some of the strongest teams in Europe.

Mid

Tier 1: Humanoid (MAD Lions/$7,600): You could easily switch Larssen into this spot but I figured I would give you some time looking at the next best option. Humanoid and the MAD Lions are some of the most aggressive players I have seen play this game in over 10 years of League of Legends. Seriously, Humanoid will take a situation where he is outnumbered and turn it around on the enemy team. He has a KDA of 3.5 but is part of 70% of all of his team’s kills. He does have a knack of getting focused down in fights first so his deaths are a bit higher than what you would want but into FEBIVEN and Misfits, this should be less of an issue.

Value Pick: ZaZee (SK Gaming/$6,200): I love ZaZee. I have always been on the ZaZee train and think he is such a consistent player if SK Gaming can build a comp around his champion pool. Now why this is a value pick is about the numbers. Compared to the mid laner of G2 Esports (Caps) he costs $1,800 less but only averages 0.6 FPPG less as well. The value there is insane when you look at where you could spend an extra $1,800. I already believe this game will be somewhat of a coin flip, but ZaZee should perform regardless.

ADC

Tier 1: Hans sama (Rogue/$7,200): Someone please tell DraftKings that if they have an opening setting the values of players in the LEC to what they really are please let me know. This is an absolute insane value and should not be passed up. With FIVE higher ADCs above him in terms of salary, Hans sama has the highest FPPG with almost 28. This is a stupid no brainer and should be an instant lock. 

Value Pick: Crownshot (SK Gaming/$6,200): If you are reading this, I am disappointed in you. If you cannot afford Hans sama and you are looking for something cheaper, Crownshot is a solid choice. His lane opponent (Perkz) is $2,000 more than he is but Crownshot has a higher FPPG at 24.5. The danger in this pick is that Crownshot is pretty susceptible to early game aggression in lane so if he cannot get out of lane you may be in trouble on this one.

SUP

Tier 1: Kaiser (MAD Lions/$6,200): We have made it folks. An over $6k support pick. Kaiser is an expensive boy but when he is on, he earns a lot of points. He currently averaging 22 FPPG and has a 5.4 KDA right now. This is off of an absolute egg by MAD Lions in their last game where he went 0-6-4. I would expect a big bounce back in this match from Kaiser and the MAD Lions in hopes to secure the #1 overall seed.

Value Pick: LIMIT (SK Gaming/$4,200): Are you seeing a trend here? All jokes aside, LIMIT is a solid support pick in any week. Why? He just doesn;t die all the time. In League of Legends a lot of people explain off supports dying because they “Are doing it for the team”. This is a lie. Well I guess it is more of an over emphasis on a basic idea. While supports should be the first a team is willing to sacrifice, it doesn’t mean they should seak out places to die. LIMIT has a KDA of 4.0 with only 33 deaths. Compared to G2’s support (Mikyx) who has a KDA of 3.0 and 41 total deaths. Very cheap pick and pretty safe bet.

TEAM

Tier 1: Rogue ($5,800): Safest bet here for a decent price. They are into the 6-9 Team Vitality and have been wildly consistent. In their loss against SK Gaming last week, Rogue put up massive Fantasy Points across the board so I expect them to button their play up a little more and punch their tickets to Worlds.

Value Pick: Excel Esports ($4,800): Excel are sprinting into the finish line here. In their last 6 games they have won 3 of them and are facing an Origen team who hasn’t won since the middle of July. Origen made an emergency switch at the support role which at first seemed like it was going to work out… and it has not worked out. Good cheap pick up here.

Value Combos:

*Hans sama and Vander (ADC and Support/Rogue/$12,800): This bot lane may be the most consistent in the league. They are not the flashiest and they will not roll over the competition in the early game but they are wildly consistent. Together they have a KDA of 7.2 and together they have died less than 14 INDIVIDUAL players. They are nuts and this will not break the bank.

*Orome and Shad0w (Top and Jungle/MAD Lions/$14,400): To lock in some of the best talent at top and jungle for this price point is pretty enticing. MAD have been structuring some of their gameplan around getting Orome ahead as of late so this pair could be a great pick up here if you can save money elsewhere.

Top Picks: Larssen, Hans sama, Carzzy, ZaZee, Gilius

These picks are solid. I have next to no doubt that they will perform in their match ups. Look for some of them to come at a steep price but will pay dividends in your lobbies.

Top Value: Crownshot, Kryze, LIMIT, Patrik

These picks have a lot of potential, but they are into some pretty hard matchups. They will come at a lower price point but I wouldn’t rush to fill your entire lineup with them. Use them to hedge some of the price gaps you may have from selecting some pricier picks.

EXAMPLE LINEUP (8/7):

Captain (x1.5 Points): ZaZee (SK Gaming)

PIVOT ==> Larssen (Rogue) 

Top: Orome (MAD Lions) 

Jungle: Shad0w (MAD Lions)

PIVOT ==> Inspired (Rogue) 

Mid Larssen (Rogue)  

PIVOT ==> Humanoid (MAD Lions)

ADC: Hans sama (Rogue) 

Support: Vander (Rogue)

Team: SK Gaming