KeSPA Cup Rundown (Day 1) 

12-21-20

For those of you not savvy about competitive League of Legends, the KeSPA Cup is an “off-season” tournament for Korean teams put on by the Korea E-Sports Association. One of the fundamental reasons Korean League of Legends is so dominant can be cited to this tournament. In almost every other region you can watch as teams slowly get into a groove as new additions and coaching staffs settle into a rhythm while Korean teams have had this pre-season tournament to get the blood flowing. This is a great place to see what rosters look strong, what rookies to look out for, and setting expectations for the first split in the LCK. While I won’t be Fantasy Alarm’s regular LCK reporter, I am happy to give you some expectations of this first slate. KeSPA Cup begins with a two-group (five teams per group) round robin stage where teams will play each other twice with the top three from each group advancing to the knockout stage. Let’s dive into the first group that will be playing and learn more about each team:

Group A

Afreeca Freecs (AF) - 2020 was about as unkind to Afreeca Freecs as it was to any other organization. AF went into the 2019 KeSPA Cup and established dominance against some of the strongest teams in Korea. They got to the final of the event and handily dispatched Sandbox Gaming and took home their first title in the event. Things were looking up at the beginning of the LCK Spring Split as they went 6-3 and were sitting in fourth place and were legitimate contenders for the split. When COVID-19 hit and teams transitioned to purely online competition, AF fell apart. They quickly free fell in the Spring Split and had to refocus for the Summer Split. In summer, they showed more life but it was clear that they had not fixed the consistency issues of Spring Split, even with transitioning during the split back to on-stage competitions. They ended the regular season in fifth and ended fourth in the Summer playoffs. In the last chance gauntlet (a path for teams to make the last spot at the World Championships) they took third and missed out on competing on the biggest stage. Moving into this tournament Afreeca Freecs have rehauled the majority of their roster. Addition of the former World Champion Bang from North American team Evil Geniuses is the biggest highlight of the offseason pickups for AF. Another player to watch here is Kiin, the top laner for AF. While he had some pretty average numbers during Spring, he came alive in the playoffs moving towards the World Championship. His gauntlet run had him with an impressive 3.24 KDA, most impressively was his Lucian performance with a staggering 13.5 KDA through two games. With an academy player being brought up to challenge for that spot, look for Kiin to bring his ‘A’ game this tournament. 

Damwon Gaming (DWG) - All hail the kings. DWG is the reigning World Champions and look to begin their run of dominance again. While DWG is a perennial favorite, this is not the exact team from the World Championship run. During the offseason Nuguri (top lane) leaves and it looked like BeryL (support) would join him in leaving. Luckily BeryL would rejoin Ghost in the botlane and DWG pick up superstar Khan and bring up their academy player in Chasy. It looks like this is a team that will have the talent again this year, but it will be about the synergy and how the team will play together this year. I would never put faith in anyone more than I would put in the best mid laner in the world, ShowMaker, so this is an easy player to watch during this tournament.  

DRX (DRX) - This team has shown serious potential in the past year but it has struggled to close the deal. They finished second both in the regular season and in the LCK Summer playoffs. They took the second seed for the LCK into the World Championships in October and lost in the knockout rounds to future tournament champion Damwon Gaming. I expect this team to take some time to find itself since they lost the core of their roster last year including the superstars Chovy (mid laner) and Deft (ADC). We see promise with this young roster, the bulk of which find roots in the DRX academy system. The player to keep your eyes open for on this squad will be SOLKA (mid laner) who had a standout tournament in last year’s KeSPA Cup and will look to establish himself as one of Korea’s next big superstar talents in the mid lane. 

Liiv SANDBOX (SB) - Liiv SANDBOX, previously SANDBOX Gaming, got to the KeSPA Cup finals in 2019 and finished third in the 2019 LCK gauntlet tournament. From that point, things felt like they would not break their way. In a bold move to shake up the team, the organization had brought in European League of Legends genius in YamatoCannon to take the role of head coach. With constant shifts in starters and coaches, SB never established themselves as a real threat in the LCK. With stars like GorillA (support) retiring and their team pillar in Dove (mid laner) moving on, SB has had to make a new identity over the offseason. This will be a difficult team to pick from because of their jungler, ADC, and support-by-committee approach. This year may bring about the same amount of success as they saw during the LCK regular season. 

Nongshim RedForce (NS) - Nongshim is a bit of a wildcard for this tournament. They are a re-branded team (Team Dynamics) who had made their way from the Korean Challenger series to the LCK. In their first season in the LCK they placed eighth and were ahead of both Hanwha Life and SeolHaeOne Prince. The splashiest player on this roster is Peanut (jungler) who has played on esports titans like LGD of the LPL and Gen G in the past. This organization will probably begin the tournament/season with their established ADC in deokdam but I would not be surprised to see the newly added Wayne from Griffin make some appearances as well. 


Lineup Breakdown

Cann’s Example Lineup for 12/21 - The lineup is based off players recommended below, this is not meant to be plugged and played.

(DK Classic: $50,000 Cap)

Captain:Showmaker ($11,700)

Alternate: Fly ($11,100)

Top: Khan ($7,000)

Alternate: Summit ($6,800)

Jungler: Croco ($6,600)

Alternate: Peanut ($6,400)

Mid: SOLKA ($6,400)

Alternate: Fly ($7,400)

ADC: Bang ($8,000)

Support: Becca ($4,200)

Team: DAMWON Gaming ($5,000)

Positional Breakdown

Top - The best pickup here is obviously Khan ($7,000) for Domwan Gaming. Khan has a long pedigree of success playing on FunPlus Phoenix, SK Telecom T1, and Kingzone DragonX. With a career (469 games) KDA of 3.47, he can play a wide range of champions and styles to match the team’s needs. He does come with a high price tag and the chance for DWG to put in their bench top laner (Chasy-$6,800) because with that price tag DK seems to think he may seem some time. I think a sleeper value pick is Summit ($6,000) from Liiv SANDBOX. This group has a pretty big drop off of talent after Khan, with Kiin ($6,800) being another possible strong pick but not without his own risks.   

Best Pick: Khan: DWG ($7,000)
Value: Summit ($6,000)

JungleThe jungle pool for this slate is interesting. The clear favorite, for both me and the bookmakers, would be Canyon ($7,200). As reigning World Champion, it would be hard not to give him the nod but there are some other interesting storylines. One of these storylines is the jungler from DRX, Pyosik ($6,000). DRX had dismantled G2 Esports and was a win away from going to the World Finals. It is unfortunate that they have to meet their kryptonite in DWG in the group stages but in the other four matches he should be able to control the game. A wild card in this group will be Peanut ($6,400) from Nongshim RedForce. While as a team they are not seen as a favorite in most of their matches, Peanut knows how to take over the game. I think if the rest of NS can hold in their lanes, Peanut can make an impact on this group stage. 

Best Pick: Canyon ($7,200)

Value: Pyosik ($6,000)

Mid - This section should only have one name, and it is ShowMaker ($7,800). He is expensive but in the biggest tournament last year, he racked up 65 kills in 17 games (Most) and had a KDA of 5.4 (second-best). He is no joke. The rest of the options feel so difficult to pick from. There are a lot of middle-of-the-pack talent with a splash of unknowns (at a cheap cost) with SOLKA ($6,400) from DRX. Safe picks would be either Fly ($7,400) or FATE ($7,000) who will not take over a match, but both can add to what their team wants to do. 

Best Pick: ShowMaker ($7,800)

Value: SOLKA ($6,400)

ADC - For those of you who do not play League of Legends, there have been some significant changes in how this position plays. Much like the changes in the NFL to how defensive backs can guard wide receivers, and how defenders can hit the quarterback has pushed the league to a pass happy organization, changes in items have made ADC’s more impactful. For this group I think the pedigree really sits with Bang ($8,000) and Ghost ($7,600) who both have had the title of World Champion. What I am curious about is if the changes in how ADC is played helps bring up the floors for the newer ADC’s.

Best Pick: Bang ($8,000)

Value: deokdam ($6,600)

SupportSupports can be tough to project success for in the LCK because the teams in this league will cycle them in freely if they believe it will help their success. BeryL ($5,600) played more consistently than any other support on this slate last season, so that may make him worth the big price tag in this spot. Lehends ($5,200) is probably overvalued because of his ADC, but instead I am curious to see what Kellin ($4,800) can do coming off a summer split where he had a 4.1 KDA. 

Best Pick: BeryL ($5,600)

Value: Kellin ($4,800)

Best Stacks

Canyon & ShowMaker ($15,000): Two words here… World Champions.

Bang & Lehends ($13,800): I think if Afreeca Freecs has a shot to win this tournament, it will come through this bot lane. Bang is a top tier talent who did not become what Evil Geniuses hoped he would become. I think leaving NA and going back to the LCK may spark something inside of Bang to get back to the level we once saw him at.