After finishing the spring split with a record of 3-15, Golden Guardians managed to squeak into the playoffs as the eighth seed. Unfortunately, that meant they drew the higher seeded Cloud9 who fell into the lower bracket after losing to Team Liquid 1-3.
Here’s a core lineup of two players who had great series in losing efforts for FanDuel on August 13
| MVP | ||
| STAR | ||
| UTILITY | Fudge | $10,500 FD, $8,800 DK |
| UTILITY | Blaber | $12,500 FD, $9,600 DK |
| UTILITY |
The Fudge ($10,500 FD, $8,800 DK) versus Alphari matchup played out differently than expected. Fudge found himself fending for his own the entire series having to dodge ganks from Santorin. Top lane was equal throughout the entire series with Alphari only gaining advantages off the back of well-timed Team Liquid plays. Fudge managed to get a solo kill in game three before any jungle intervention and was even in CS in every other game which proved he can measure up to Alphari’s level of laning. Going into the series against Golden Guardians, Licorice is a relativity new player to the team and Fudge was the best top laner in the summer split. Fudge should have the advantage on paper and Cloud9 shouldn’t have their hands as full going against a weaker team.
Blaber ($12,500 FD, $9,600 DK) had a solid series against Team Liquid despite playing most of the series with behind laners. Blaber spent the series playing catchup trying to plug holes Cloud9 ship, but a point there just became to many. Team Liquid dominated Cloud9 in the vision game which made it difficult for Blaber to have an impact in the early game as he was constantly on vision. Even after falling behind in the early game, he found creative ways to pick up kills in an attempt to complete the comeback. A hail mary baron call turned to smite steal sealed Cloud9’s fate. With no more room for mistakes Blaber needs to turn it up to eleven and come out swinging against Golden Guardians.
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For Friday’s match both DraftKings and FanDuel follow the single game format.
MVP Picks
It felt like Zven ($15,500 FD, $16,800 [MVP] DK) was barely involved in the gameplan in Cloud9’s series against Team Liquid. Cloud9 often chose to have Vulcan roam around the map after four minutes and rarely come bot lane again. With Cloud9’s plays around the map failing Zven found himself stuck in bot lane having less wave clear than his opponent therefore losing his turret and giving up free gold. Cloud9’s recipe for success has been creating a stable lane for Zven where he can transition his gold leads into the late game where the focus shifts to him. Despite being benched at the start of the season he’s first in KDA, third in kills per game, least deaths per game, and first in assists per game.
If you’re on the Golden Guardians side of this matchup and think they will hand Cloud9 an early playoff exit missing out on worlds yet again, Ablazeolive ($13,500 FD, $14,100 [MVP] DK) will be the man to do it. He’s a high risk high reward player who has been the primary carry for Golden Guardians despite the late acquisition of Licorice. Ablazeolive has completely turned around the narrative of his LCS career after a poor start on Golden Guardians in the spring split. In summer he has been in the top half of LCS mid laners with plenty of dominant games on carry champions plus creative picks to gain a draft advantage. With Perkz’s susceptibility to early ganks by over aggressing in lane, it opens him up early. Perkz has the second most deaths per game and Ablazeolive has the most kills per game among LCS mid laners which will cause for a bloody battle with plenty of kills.
Tier One Picks
Perkz ($14,500 FD, $10,600 DK) continues to be a volatile piece in the Cloud9 puzzle. One game he’s smashing his lane one versus one up in farm and making plays around the map. Next, he’s dying to multiple ganks pre ten minutes and is a non-factor in the mid to late game. Everyone knows that when Perkz is playing at his peak, he’s one of if not the best player in the LCS, he just hasn’t been able to consistently get there. Fortunately, his been consistent against Golden Guardians this split with a score line of 14/8/30 across three games. Playoffs aren’t over yet for Cloud9 after dropping down to the loser’s bracket so Playoff Perkz can always make an appearance.
It would be the ultimate revenge for Licorice ($9,500 FD, $7,600 DK) to knock his old team out of playoffs and worlds. After the Cloud9’s 2020 season ended in disappointment with them not qualifying for the world championship for the first time in the organization’s history, Cloud9 traded one of their best players in Licorice to FlyQuest to get the money to snag Perkz from G2. After a failed stint on FlyQuest he was traded to Golden Guardians midway through the summer split and seems to have gotten his mojo back. Licorice has been dominating the top laners below him and challenging the ones above. He’s a selfless player who will help the team early rather than playing for himself. Should Golden Guardians get an early lead over Cloud9, look for Licorice to help the snowball by making cross-map plays.
Tier Two Picks
Vulcan ($9,000 FD, $8,000 DK) had an interesting series against Team Liquid. He spent most of his time away from bot lane pairing up with Perkz skirmishing in mid lane. Vulcan has usually been one to spend a lot of time with Zven and look for well timed roams as opposed to completely ignoring is lane. Cloud9 could reverse their strategy for Golden Guardians as they have much weaker laners.
Iconic ($11,500 FD, $8,600 DK) has slowly been getting better over time. While he still has a long way to go from being a top jungler in the LCS, he has shown gradual improvement week over week. Iconic has had his best performances on early game junglers who focus on early ganks and teamfight engage. Look for Golden Guardians to get him on Volibear or Zac, who’s crept up as a new jungle pick in the meta.
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