LPL Slate Jan 26th, 2021

RNG v Victory Five

LNG v Bilibili Gaming 

As we near the end of the first half of the Spring Split we are seeing certain teams rise and fall in the standings. Surprise teams on this slate include the likes of RNG, Victory Five,  and LNG all sitting near the top of the table at the moment. Teams need to finish strong moving into the break to help secure themselves a spot in the Spring playoffs! 

Game #1 RNG v Victory Five

Cann’s Pick: RNG

Game #2: LNG v Bilibili Gaming 

Cann’s Pick: Bilibili Gaming

Fantasy Value Breakdown

Captain

Favorite: Gala (RNG: $11,700) Gala is near the top of the charts in almost every metric for ADCs. He is part of almost6 75% of all of RNG’s kills and still keeps up his almost 11 CSPM, both of which translates into big points for you. I have more faith in this matchup as well looking at V5’s wins only coming against  Invictus Gaming and TT who are a combined 2-6 on the year. I think the V5 ADC (y4) is a safe player so Gala won’t pick up too many kills in lane but instead pick up more in the late game. 

Value Pick: Aiming (BLG: $11,100) Aiming is the kill leader amongst all players on this slate and you can pick him up for a decent price. Deaths can be a detriment with this pick (he has 29 deaths in 10 matches) but his kill and assist rate will outweigh the possible risks with this pick. 

Top Lane

Favorite: Xiaohu (RNG: $$6,400) Xiaohu is not a flashy laner like we see needed from most of the successful top lakers. He has settled into picks like Gnar, Malphite, and Pantheon that allows him to not die in lane but create openings for his teammates. Looking at his stats, you risk having a pretty low kill and assist game out of him but he won’t die a ton and RNG should end up winning the match so you can pick up the bonus 30 points for a 2-0. 

Value Pick: Biubiu (BLG: $6,000) Much like his counterpart in the bottom lane, Biubiu is the kills leader for this slate. He has 28 kills in 10 games while the next closest player has 17 kills in 7 matches. Biubiu is a reckless player (51 total deaths) you are also getting a lot of assists out of him as well (80). BLG has won their matches this year from strong team skirmishing, which is off the engages and flanks by Biubiu. Definitely  not the most skilled top laner playing, but he makes plays for his team and he gets the stats to show for it. If you need to go cheap somewhere, this wouldn’t be a bad place to do it.

Jungle

Favorite: Wei (RNG: $7,000) Wei was the player of the week from weeks 1 and 2 and for good reason, we was 21-12-35 and was part of 70% of all of RNG’s kills.  Today he is 22-16-64 and is part of 73% of RNG’s kills. While he has cooled down his pace for kills, he is establishing himself as a core part of his team’s success and fights go through Wei and he should be a solid pickup here. 

Value Pick: Meteor (BLG: $6,600) This is a test to see who has been reading my work since the beginning of the split. Who is the player I noted would be the team leader and cornerstone of BLG? Meteor. That he has been as well. Through 10 games Meteor is posting a 7.3 KDA with 48 kills, 15 deaths, and 62 assists. He is an amazing jungler and I think a darkhorse for my player of the split. 

Mid Lane

Favorite: Cryin (RNG: $7,600) Cryin is the favorite of the mids on this slate and a lot of it comes from the fact that he is incredibly consistent. He has a 6.8 KDA and only 12 deaths so far. I love his control mid pool with champions like Orianna and Viktor. RNG will play this match slower and not allow V5’s jungler to dictate the pace and that begins with Cryin not misplaying in the mid lane. 

Value Pick: Mole (V5: $6,800) Much like the LPL casters have said, this is the year of the Mole. And if Mole gets Zoe… RNG is in serious trouble. Mole has been able to make a name for himself this split with his 6.0 KDA. He does have more kills than Cryin so that may make him more of an appealing pick up here but I think it will a tough hill to climb for V5 in this match.   

ADC

Favorite: Gala (RNG: $7,800) The benefit for picking up Gala is how RNG chooses to play the game. Rarely will you see RNG make early game moves throughout the map that doesn’t include the botlane. And preferred to early game aggression, RNG plays more for late game teamfights. In these teamfights is where Gala shines. He positions on the outside of fights and knows when to full commit. 

Value Pick: y4 (V5: $7,000) If you were uncomfortable picking up Aiming as your ADC, y4 is your next best option. He is a safe ADC with only 10 deaths on the year while racking up 30+ kills. The problem with this pick is that there are two V5 ADCs on the slate meaning there is a chance you could see him less than all games played. 

Support

Favorite: Ming (RNG: $5,600) Of all the supports to choose from I think Ming is the most cautious. He has the second least amount of deaths (17) and highest KDA (5.1). I appreciate that RNG has really changed their identity to a degree. In the Uzi years, they were a skirmish driven team who looked to fight at all times. We see that they have molded themselves into a more scaling and calculated team and how Ming plays fits right into that. Ming looks for openings in a team fight rather than trying to make one. I am not for or against this either way, but it is a benefit that the team fits his playstyle. 

Value Pick: |wandy (LNG: $5,400) Similar to Ming, lwandy is not prone to force the issue. The reason why he is cheaper is that he normally just doesn pick up the same stats as Ming. In the same number of matches he has one less kill and twenty six less assists. Make note, this pick should really be the pick to save money not look for the highest point value in the role. 

Team

Favorite: Royal Never Give Up ($5,200) The resurgence of RNG is no fluke. I have gone back and rewatched their matches and you can see the difference of play this year. They are coordinated and working together. They are not just the sum of individual talent but have a collected vision. At the end of the split this could be a team making a deep run in the LPL playoffs. 

Value Pick: Team LNG Esports ($5,000) This is a bit of a contrarian pick. LNG has beaten only one team of note (Invictus Gaming) and no top five team. It is early on in the year but I think with how few kills they normally get, this is a much more methodical team. You will most likely get your points for objectives secured which makes this a somewhat appealing pick for an ok price. 

Cann’s Example Lineup

DraftKings Classic 

$50,000 Salary Cap

Captain (x1.5): Aiming ($11,100)

Alternate: Meteor ($9,900)

Top: Xiiaohu ($6,200)

Jungle: Meteor ($6,600)

Alternate: Weiwei ($6,200)
Mid: Cryin ($7,600)

ADC: Gala ($7,800)

Alternate: Aiming ($7,400)

Support: Ming ($5,600)

Team: LNG Esports ($5,000)