LCK Slate Feb 18th, 2021

Nongshim RedForce v Hanwha Life Esports

Afreeca Freecs v Gen.G 

Well the first day back for the LCK did not disappoint with an absolutely amazing match between DWG KIA and KT Rolster. We also were able to see just how much of a disappointment LSB actually are. Today we get to see the second and third place teams play the 7th and 8th place teams. You could find some areas to sprinkle in some AF into the mix for your GPP lobbies but I would say the biggest risk team will be NS. But instead of me continuing to ramble here, let’s dive into the breakdown!

Game #1 Nongshim RedForce v Hanwha Life Esports

Cann’s Pick: Hanwha Life Esports

Game #2: Afreeca Freecs v Gen.G 

Cann’s Pick: Gen.G

Fantasy Value Breakdown

Captain

Favorite: Deft (HLE:$11,700) Deft has the second most kills in the LCK at 90 and should crest the 100 kill mark in this match. Deft has a relatively low team kill participation rate (60%) but a lot of that comes from having Chovy in the mid lane who racks up solo kills so it is a touch misleading. Deft’s strength is finding small advantages in the early game but exploding in the mid to late game through superior positioning. 

Value Pick: Bang (AF: $10,500) Bang can be easily overlooked on this slate because they are playing Gen.G but it is important to note that he has had a pretty solid year. Like in his time on EG in the LCS, Bang normally is quiet in laning phase and will look to make plays during skirmishes. Unfortunately for him, there are games where his jungler (Dread) just doesn’t really come bottom much. Gen.G are a really slow playing team which should give Bang the opportunity to transition into those mid-game objective based skirmishes.

Top Lane

Favorite: Rascal (Gen.G: $6,600) There is really no reason not to go with Rascal here. Going into the break he was up 12 in the kill colom as the kill leader in the top lane (59) and his opponent (Kiin) has only 33 kills but 52 deaths. This could get really messy for AF if they don’t send Dread into the top lane. 

Value Pick: Rich (NS: $6,000) As the resident captain of seeing the glass as half full, this could be a positive point for NS. Rich does relatively well in lane. He is prone to giving up a lot of kills over but he is averaging a 2.0 KDA right now. I think HLE is the better team, and will most likely continue to roll out Morgan into the top lane but there is an outside chance they decide to use Dudu which makes picking them a slight risk.

Jungle

Favorite: Arthur (HLE: $7,400) Arthur is such a huge part of HLE’s success and it doesn’t get as discussed because he is in the shadow of Chovy and Deft. He is part of 68.3% of all team kills and normally focuses on getting lanes ahead early so he can focus neutral objectives in the late game. He is great at farming and getting pretty substantial gold leads and is on a favored team today, pretty easy pick up.

Value Pick: Dread (AF:$6,600) This pick (if you are mass adding to lobbies) could be a game changer for you. He is the LCK kill leader from the jungle at 82 and he almost does nothing but fight. He has about a 70% team kill participation and an unbelievable 74% first blood participation rate. Do I think AF will win this match? Nope. Could they make it a contest behind Dread’s aggressive play? Absolutely.

Mid Lane

Favorite: Chovy (HLE: $7,600) If you gave me the opportunity to build my own organization and I could get any one player to play on my team, I would back a BRINKS truck up for Chovy. He has a 6.0 KDA through 20 games with 81 kills and 130 assists. He makes up over a quarter of his team’s kills and averages the highest average gold lead at 10 minutes at a whopping 350 (this is over 150 more than second place). Please keep Bay in your thoughts as he tries to take on this complete monster in the mid lane.   

Value Pick: Bdd (GEN: $) I really like Bdd but what keeps him from being an absolute lock is because Gen.G has tried to out think themselves a few times and thrown Karis in for absolutely no reason whatsoever. Bdd has 52 kills and 100 assists to his opponent’s (FLY)  38 kills and 119 assists. Remember for DFS kills are worth +3 points and assists are worth +2 so you should take the kill heavy player more often. 

ADC

Favorite: Ruler (GEN: $7,600) Outside of Deft, the ADCs are all fairly similar in terms of kill production. Ruler gets the nod for a few reasons. First and foremost, Gen.G (on paper) should have the advantage in this match. While AF is decent (7th overall and 3-5 in their first 8 games) they don’t have the same firepower in the solo lanes. Bang and Lehends may keep this close in laning phase but Ruler will get his in team fights.

Value Pick: deokdam (NS: $7,200)  The last ADC to talk about here is deokdam. I would say that he is really gifted and will make solid plays but the team deficit will make it harder for him to get the same points as the others. Of the three lower ADCs on the slate he does have the most kills (79) and highest team kill participation (67.4%) he just doesn’t have the same supporting cast. I am impressed to see that he leads all LCK ADCs with the highest percentage of team kills at 42.4% which is nuts. This alone should make him valuable enough to at least mix into your 1 of lineups. 

Support

Favorite: Vsta (HLE: $5,600) I feel like a broken record on this slate. There are heavy favorites and there are dogs. I don’t expect this one to be close and with Vsta being the assist leader (181) in the LCK and Deft being the kill leader… stack em. One downfall of Vsta is he usually is the first to die in fights and is almost at 25% of HLE’s total deaths. Not a terrible thing, but just something to note.  

Value Pick: Lehends (AF: $4,800) Lehends is fourth among all LCK supports in assists with a total of 152 and is just a touch under 3 in the KDA column. He is also in the top four of supports in terms of first blood participation (37%) and total kill participation (70.9%). If Afreeca have a chance to take this to three games (or even win it) it has to come from the bot lane.     

Team

Favorite: Gen.G ($5,400) This is the 4th best LCK team in the late game and they are averaging +857 gold lead at 10 minutes. They secure first blood in 80% of their matches and get first turret in 70% of them. They are a surgical team in terms of creating a win condition and following it and  while there may be openings for AF, this could be a pretty fast 2-0. 

Value Pick: Hanwha Life Esports ($5,200) These are your kill leaders for the LCK with 306 and the next closest is 270. They are fast and wild in fights and I like their drafts. They know their strengths and they play to them. They have one of the better early game ratings and average a +321 gold lead at 10 minutes. They have struggled in the past in the mid to late game but I see them getting a large enough lead on NS in the early game to stay ahead through later fights. 

Cann’s Example Lineup

DraftKings Classic 

$50,000 Salary Cap

Captain (x1.5): Chovy ($11,400)

Alternate: Ruler ($11,400)

Top: Morgan ($6,400)

Jungle: Dread ($6,600)

Alternate: Peanut  ($6,400)
Mid: Bdd ($7,200)

ADC: Deft ($7,800)

Alternate: Ruler ($7,600)

Support: Lehends ($4,800)

Team: Hanwha Life Esports ($5,200)