What a way to open the season yesterday! We saw Suning show the LPL and the world that their run to the World Championship finals was no fluke last season going 2-0 over Top Esports. In the OMG/EDG match, we saw both the possibile ceiling for EDG in their two wins but we definitely saw how low their floor could go in their match loss to OMG. In this slate we see the runner up from the 2020 Demacia Cup in Team WE take on Rogue Warriors in a matchup to test how good Team WE actually have become. In the second match the second place team from the Summer Split Playoffs (JDG) will square off against a retooled IG who is looking to recapture the magic from their 2018 World Championship run. 

Game #1 Team WE versus Rogue Warriors

Cann’s Pick: Team WE

Game #2: JDG versus Invictus Gaming

Cann’s Pick: Invictus Gaming

Captain

Favorite: Jiumeng (WE: $11,400): I think the favorite here has to be Jiumeng and I think the simplest answer is the team difference here. According to My Bookie, Team WE are -526 favorites, which are absolutely huge odds. Team WE plays through a committee of Mid Laners so picking their love ADC feels like the smartest play to ensure maximum points here. He has a career KDA of 3.99 and has a level of comfort playing with his support, Missing, for the second season in a row. I expect big numbers here. 

Value Pick: Rookie (IG: $10,500): I LOVE this play here. In the 2020 Summer split Rookie and his lane opponent (xiye) had the same KDA (Rookie-3.9/xiye-4) and Invictus had a lower quality roster comparatively. And after IG had added their new support (Baolan) they went on to win the next six match-ups, including the heavyweight TES. I think IG has a real shot to win this matchup and a lot of it will be behind Rookie in the mid lane.

Top Lane

Favorite: Breathe (WE: $6,400): This is the most obvious pick which is why it is as expensive as it is. His lane opponent, Ziv, is coming from a minor region in the PCS. While quality talent can come from minor regions, Ziv is not at the level to be completely game changing. He may surprise the LPL, but I doubt that surprise will come in Week 1. 

Value Pick: TheShy (IG:$6,000): Going over the stats from last split I saw how some numbers could be misleading. Zoom (JDG) had huge numbers with almost double the KDA of Breathe and TheShy but so much of that came from assists. Zoom’s playstyle matched the meta at the time and the champions that were strong matched his strengths on JDG. Zoom is strong on tankier champions who focus on holding side lanes and then making an impact in team fights. In contrast, TheShy might be one of the most technically skilled players to ever play the position. Flashy champions who focus on dueling their lane opponent to get ahead. In this season we have seen these more aggressive champions having more success which makes me want to give TheShy the nod in the matchup. 

Jungle

Favorite: Kanavi (JDG: $6,800): I think JDG will have an opportunity to make plays through the jungle. IG’s jungler (XUN) has only played at the highest level during offseason tournaments like NEST and the Demacia Cup. While he performed admirably, it all changes when you get on stage. Kanavi performed well domestically last season and really only saw a bit of a fall off at the World Championship last year. I expect Kanavi to start out hot and put a lot of pressure on IG in this match. 

Value Pick: Haro (RW: $6,600): I think this may be the closest area between the two teams. Haro had a decent year and comparatively between him and beishang from 2020, it was the assists that caused the gap in KDA (5.2 vs 3.3). I think this really could point more to the difference in playstyles rather than skill. Haro will focus on maneuvering around the map and focus on late-game team fights rather than beishang’s focus on early game fighting. This means that Haro should be pretty consistent in the points he will pick you up. 

Mid Lane

Favorite: Shanks (WE:$7,400): During the Demacia Cup, Shanks carried the majority of the load in the Mid Lane and earned a 4.3 KDA through 15 games. Shanks has been training with WE since 2020 as he began on the Team WE Academy team. At the Academy level he showed wild amounts of potential picking up 169 kills through 36 total games in 2020 (this includes NEST 2020 and Demacia Cup 2020). I think he should have a strong showing against RW’s Mid Laner Forge, but note that Team WE does have two more Mid Laners riding the bench behind him. 

Value Pick: xiye (JDG: $7,200): I think the matchup between xiye and Rookie will be close. I think with $200 separating them, you could flip a coin on this one. What makes me take a longer look at xiye is the fact that he had the success (4.0 KDA and 136 total kills in 2020) while on LGD Gaming, who were one of the worst teams in the LPL in 2020. It stands to be seen if xiye can perform on this roster, but it may be good to jump on him while he is still relatively under valued.   

ADC

Favorite: LokeN (JDG: $7,400): According to Rotowire, IG is trotting WInk out at ADC. Wink was saved from Estar Gaming and it is hard to accurately gauge what impact he will make on the lineup since he only played one game for IG in the Demacia Cup in December. LokeN has had a chip on his shoulder for a while since he was snubbed from receiving the 2019 MVP award which many believed he deserved. In 2020, there was no season or tournament where he had less than a 5 KDA or less than 8.82 CS/M. He is one of the best ADC’s in the LPL and I think LokeN will put a lot of pressure on IG tomorrow. 

Value Pick: kelin (RW: $6,800): If you are feeling risky, pick up kelin. It looks like Rogue Warriors are looking for sparks to get their team to the next level and that includes moving kelin up to the starting lineup. There isn’t much to go on in terms of stats but you would be making this pick because of the salary value at the position as well as the possible wild card opportunity with a new player stepping into the five-man roster. 

Support

Favorite: Missing (WE: $5,800): This will be the safest play of the day. Missing and Jiumeng will be going up against an (almost) all rookie lineup in the bottom lane. The RW support, QiuQiu, played two games last year with Top Esports and had a 4.4 KDA but he just does not have a long enough list of accomplishments for me to comfortably not pick up. 

Value Pick: Baolan (IG: $5,200): With Baolan as support IG completely turned around their 2020 Summer Split. In only 16 games played with IG last here he had an 81% WP and a KDA of 4.2. I think there could be a huge upset in the bottom lane and if there is it will be because of the impact Baolan makes.

Team

Favorite: Team WE ($5,200): Rogue Warriors are still working through what the fully functioning starting lineup will be through the split and Team WE are coming off of an impressive showing in the Demacia Cup. This should be a 2-0 win when you look at the discrepancies between teams.  

Value Pick: Invictus Gaming ($4,800): JDG is valued at $400 more dollars which I think is a lot when you look at a very possible 2-1 that could go either way. Rookie can take over this match along with a return to form for TheShy.

Example Lineup

The Example Lineup is meant to show how you can build a lineup based on the player's mentioned in the Playbook. It is not mean to be plugged and played.

Captain (x1.5): Rookie ($10,500)

     Alternate: xiye ($10,800)

Top: TheShy ($6,000)

Jungle: Kanavi ($6,800)

     Alternate: beishang ($7,000)

Mid: Shanks ($7,400)

ADC: Jiumeng ($7,600)

     Alternate: LokeN ($7,400)

Support: Missing ($5,800)

Team: Team WE ($5,600)