MSI Grand Finals

(-110) Damwon KIA v Royal Never Give Up (-120)

The finals of the Mid Season Invitational conclude on Sunday with LPL representative Royal Never Give Up against LCK’s Damwon KIA. Damwon had a bit of a struggle against MAD Lions in the semi-finals, whereas Royal dealt with PSG Talon handedly in their match-up. Damwon seems like a team with a few strong pieces and more weak points relative to Royal, let’s check out the picks.

Captain - Royal Never Give Up

Gala ($16,500)

While Gala wasn’t a stud domestically in the LPL regular season, he carried his play-offs form to the international stage and has been outstanding at worlds so far. While he’s had the occasional trip-up, RNG definitely holds one of the strongest bottom lanes at the tournament. In particular, RNG is way better at facilitating the movement of superstar support Ming relative to Damwon, whose Beryl has often found himself hardstuck in lane at MSI: a large reason why Damwon struggled against MAD Lions. I find DK’s bottom lane extremely underwhelming, and I opt to take Gala to punish their largest weak point. For a different captain option, I’d definitely grab Xiaohu, as Ming is likely to roam top lane to punish Khan, just as Kaiser had done to Khan.

Alternatives to consider: Xiaohu ($12,300), Wei ($13,800)

Captain - Damwon KIA

ShowMaker ($15,300)

The player that dragged Damwon over the finish line against MAD was mid laner ShowMaker for many of the games. The young prodigy’s laning power on picks like Sylas revealed a high degree of mechanical competence and confidence that betrays his young age, Damwon’s mid jungle 2v2 is a solid bulwark that stood strong despite Damwon’s side laners routinely suffering due to misplays. The real issue I perceive for RNG vs DK is RNG’s increased mid jungle strength relative to the Lions, despite the fact that Elyoya may well have been the best jungler in the entire tournament. Thankfully, Canyon is no slouch either, and while I suggest ShowMaker for captain, my secondary choice for DK captain is definitely jungler Canyon.

Alternatives to consider: Canyon ($13,500)

Flex - Royal Never Give Up

Xiaohu ($8,200)

The top laner for RNG is one of the strongest carries on the map for the squad, and is the primary target of pressure from both jungler Wei and support Ming, who are my secondary picks for this position. Xiaohu appears to solidly be the best top laner at the event with little to no contest from the other teams. It’s rare for top laners to receive a massive share of resources, but Xiaohu is certainly an exception, and that’s to the advantage of RNG on Sunday, as he gets to target an underperforming Khan on the other side of the rift.

Alternatives to consider: Ming ($7,400) Wei ($9,200)

Flex - Damwon KIA

Canyon ($9,000)

While Canyon vs Wei is likely the most contested match-up of the entire grand finals, I think that Canyon holds the edge for one singular reason: ShowMaker is capable of outlaning Cryin, and influencing the jungle through this advantage. In MAD vs DK, this allowed Canyon to gain a lead, albeit transiently, over enemy jungler Elyoya despite the rival jungler perhaps being stronger skillwise; I still have faith in Canyon, and I think DK may be capable of upsetting RNG if they’re willing to play to their strong mid laner in ShowMaker and utilize him with jungler Canyon. For a secondary option, I don’t think he’s an outstanding player, but Ghost keeps high KDAs, and KDAs are points. Ghost is a fine option.

Alternatives to consider: Ghost ($10,600)

PrizePicks - League of Legends

MSI grand finals begin and conclude on Sunday, with LPL representatives Royal Never Give Up facing down LCK’s Damwon KIA. The battle of the junglers features the most contested match-up between the two teams: Damwon’s prodigy Canyon, born and raised within the team. Meanwhile, RNG have their own secret weapon, Wei, who they acquired from a young Estar roster when he was just beginning his career.

PrizePicks Prop Selections

Wei (RNG) - Projected Fantasy Score: 31.5 - OVER

Each of these metrics only apply to the first 3 games of the series- the ones that are guaranteed to be played. Across these 3 games, Wei must average around 10 to 11 KP per game. Against PSG, Wei fell just short of this milestone but I think the dimensions will change versus Damwon; PSG didn’t have a clear weakness, they were a well rounded team aside from maybe Hanabi in the top lane. Meanwhile, Damwon skip leg day: their bottom lane is extremely underwhelming and even top laner Khan isn’t awe inspiring. The strength for DK come from their mid and jungle, who rarely “get active” in the early game in contrast to RNG’s. I think since RNG have stronger pieces, particularly in the bottom lane support role, Wei will crush this metric and will achieve over 12 KP per game.

Canyon (DK) - Projected Fantasy Score: 28.5 - UNDER

While Canyon played solidly aside from a few hiccups in the MAD Lions series, Humanoid really showed his fatigue as the series progressed, and Armut failed to have the same effectiveness once his pocket picks were revealed. Carzzy, similarly, seemed to have fallen in efficacy as the long, grinding, late game teamfights dragged on. For the reasons I described above, I don’t think Canyon will have the opportunities to rack up kills in the longer games of MAD vs DK, because I think RNG will be effective in closing these games relatively early through their patented usage of their asynchronous side laning to create side lane pressure, and passive advantages. The sides of RNG are much better laners than both MAD and DK, and don’t need a jungler to bail them out like MAD needed with Elyoya- Wei is much more comfortable playing for straight out, jungle versus jungle punish against Canyon.