LPL Spring Split Day 3 

Oh My God vs. FunPlus Phoenix & Rogue Warriors vs. Top Esports 

This could be a very fast slate, especially when you look at how OMG and RW performed in their first matches of the Spring Split. I think OMG on the surface looked ok going 2-1 with EDG, but their last loss should have been a win for them. As for RW, they had multiple advantages against Team WE and they just threw it back to them each time. I know TES is coming off an 0-2 to Suning, but Suning could be a top three team this split so I do not think it is an indictment on their overall skill. This should be a pretty bloody morning and a lot of fun to watch. I feel pretty confident about winners in this matchup and at this point I am 5-1 on predicting series (who picked Suning to go 2-0??).   

Game #1 Oh My God versus FunPlus Phoenix

Cann’s Pick: FunPlus Phoenix

Game #2: Rogue Warriors versus Top Esports

Cann’s Pick: Top Esports

Fantasy Value Breakdown

Captain

Favorite: Knight (TES: $11,400) I think this is the safest play across the board. In RW’s match against Team WE, they had found some options to get into games in the early game. In both games, Forge was NOT one of those opportunities. Knight is still a baller and even in the 0-2 loss to Suning, he still outshined his lane opponent. Knight will roll over Forge here, hammer this pick. 

Value Pick: Nuguri (FPX: $9,600) You pay for this service for the hottest of takes, and here you go. Top lane is quickly becoming one of the strongest lanes and a definite win condition for teams with strong top laners. Nuguri is going to FEAST on New. Even in OMG’s win against EDG this weekend he went 0-3-8 as Renekton into Volibear. His Kennen in the third game was an absolute liability and while I think Flandre is good, Nuguri is far better. At sub $10k, this is also an absolute steal of a deal. You can thank me later. 

Top Lane

Favorite: Nuguri ($6,400) Second verse same as the first. I feel bad for New on this day. 

Value Pick: Ziv ($5,600) Absolute take quake here. I don’t like 369 as a top laner. My example? Against Suning he played Karma into an Aatrox (He should have the advantage) and is playing a champion who should RACK up assist points and his score line was 0-0-2. When playing Jax into a Camille (more of a skill match up) he was absolutely rolled going 0-7-5 and Bin went 11-3-12. Ziv isn’t great but 369 is more of a tank/teamfighting player and that just isn’t strong right now. If you are looking to skimp on some money, you could do it here.     

Jungle

Favorite: Tian (FPX: $7,200) Clear favorite here as AKi is still pretty unproven. While AKi had an ok Taliah game, his Kindred and Graves games were bad. Tian should have a pretty good game here and I have more faith in FPX’s drafting abilities and limit AKi’s ability to make plays. 

Value Pick: Karsa (TES: $7,000) TES should have a good bounceback game here. Over the Summer Split, Summer Split Playoffs, and World’s event he posted a 4.7 KDA and had a 66% KP. He is an aggressive jungler who knows how to play to the strengths of his team comp. Look for him to be ganking his winning lanes of Mid (knight) and bottom (JackeyLove)   

Mid Lane

Favorite: Knight (TES: $7,600) This is almost too good to pass up. While TES botched their last match against Suning, that was more on 369 and the bottom lane. Add on top of that the fact that Forge is bad, I like this pick up. He was counter picked in both matches against Suning (meaning that Suning was able to get a champion who has an advantage against him) and he still put Angel in a dumpster. I love him against bad Mids too because he starts feeling himself and likes to pick up a lot of flashy kills. He may die in questionable positions because of it, but worth the risk. 

Value Pick: Doinb (FPX: $7,400) Not much savings here but it does give you $200 elsewhere. Doinb ended the 2020 Summer Split with a 4.1 KDA but FPX fell short of making Worlds by finishing 4th in the Regional Finals. I think the addition of Nuguri will make a huge difference for FPX and limit the amount Doinb will need to do in the mid lane to win games.    

ADC

Favorite: JackeyLove (TES: $7,800) For those of you who are new to professional League of Legends, there are few players as polarizing as JackeyLove. Those who love him, he is a God amongst men. For those who don’t like him, he is seen as the most overrated player. Admittedly I don’t know if he is the best ADC in the World (or even in his region) but I think you cannot find many players with his combination of swagger and skill together.  He was 4th in kills in 2020 Summer Split (166) but he was also fourth highest in deaths as well (99). He is the player who giveth and the one you taketh away. I trust him against RW, but then again… he does taketh away. 

Value Pick: Eric (OMG: $7,200) I am full of the spiciest picks today. Lwx had a rough Summer Split and I would argue was a driving reason why FPX missed out on the World Championships in 2020. Eric went 7-5-16 against EDG and had a KP of 77% in the series. I think This may be another advantage that OMG could have against FPX so I am thinking this could be another solid day for the young ADC. If you have some alternate lineups, this may be a good pick to get someone like Knight as your Captain.  

Support

Favorite: Crisp (FPX: $5,400) This was a hard pick for me. While Crisp is good, he did only have a KDA in 2020 of 3.1 which means one of two things. The first explanation is he dies a lot. That may be ok if you root for FPX and they win, but in DFS it can kill you. The main reason I call him the stronger pick compared to TES’ Zhuo. Zhuo had a rough match against Suning going 1-10-9 in the series which is a killer for DFS. Crisp should be safer (even with TES being more highly favored) just based off Zhuo’s last performance.   

Value Pick: QuiQui (RW: $4,800) This is a sneaky good pick. Of the 18 total kills that RW had against Team WE, QuiQui was part of 17 of them. If you watch the matches you can see this fact is because of two different things. The first is the fact that OMG’s strength is in the bot lane and a lot of that is QuiQui. The second thing being he can play the engage/peel supports so well. He put on a clinic when he played Maokai going 1-0-6 and put a ton of pressure on Team WE to close out that first match. This would be a great pick to save you some big money.  

Team

Favorite: Top Esports ($5,400) They have -1999 odds on MY BOOKIE to win the match. That about sums it up for me.   

Value Pick: FunPlus Phoenix ($5,200) They should take care of OMG, but OMG did feel scrappy against EDG. I think FPX is far better on paper that EDG, I have to recognize that FPX has had their duds in the past. I would not be surprised to see this game go 2-1 FPX. 

Cann’s Example Lineup

DraftKings Classic 

$50,000 Salary Cap

Captain (x1.5): Nuguri ($9,600)

Alternate:Knight ($11,400)

Top: 369 ($6,600)

Jungle: Tian ($7,200)

Alternate: Karsa ($7,000)
Mid: Knight ($7,600)

ADC: JackeyLove ($7,800)

Alternate: Eric ($7,200)

Support: QuiQui ($4,800)

Team: Top Esports ($5,400)