Notes for Tonight’s 4/28 4am ET LCK Promotion Slate
LOL is back with this pretty terrible 2 game slate. We have the promotion series for the LCK with teams from the CK (minor league essentially) facing off against the bottom two LCK teams. It will be difficult to translate the stats we have from the two CK teams to these matches given the fact that they are facing off against much weaker players but we do what we can with the limited info. This will be a risky slate because we have no confirmed lineups besides DYN because they do not have any subs. If you can stay up late enough we may get a starting lineup for the first game from SB, but no guarantees due to the nature of this event being relatively small compared to the LCK. Play with caution. All 4 teams are in play since it is a 2 game slate. Do not take my word as gospel and play both sides if you want to cover all options. Just because I prefer two teams here does not mean they will win.
SB (-305) vs DYN (+215)
Sandbox was quite a disappointing team this season in the LCK. They fell quite far from their performance last year, and while they have so many talented players they struggled to put them in positions to succeed all year. Then they had subs coming in for literally every position all season long, I can see how it was hard for the team to find any consistency. The best players on SB are Summit, OnFleek and Route (with Gorilla being very consistent). But we have really no idea who is going to start. I would assume they play Summit and OnFleek but I cannot say with any certainty that will be the case. I still think they will win this game, but who will win it for them is a different story.
Team Dynamics were the second best team in the CK. They have a couple players that have been around for a long time and have some LCK experience. Beyond was a former LCK player for MVP and was on a team with ADD, Max and Pilot. This team was not particularly good and eventually Beyond no longer had an LCK spot. He is a quality player but definitely is a weaker jungler than OnFleek. Guger has been in the scene a long time and has played in the Japanese pro league as well as almost qualifying for the LCK numerous times. He is no stranger to the LCK promotion games but he has never successfully made it in. Finally Kuzan is their last notable player. He is a long time veteran player that has been in the LCK for many seasons and is relatively well known. He leads the team in Damage percentage and will be a main focal point for this team.
In the end Team Dynamics are the weaker of the two CK teams and I do not think they have enough star power to compete with the sheer talent that SB possesses. Yes SB are not the most coordinated team but neither are DYN.
Players to watch (SB): Summit (TOP), OnFleek (JNG), GorillA (SUP) – all players on SB have substitutes, keep that in mind and look out for a potential starting lineup
Players to watch (DYN): Kuzan (MID), Beyond (JNG), Guger (SUP)
GRF (-300) vs SRB (+210)
Griffin actually got their game together a bit at the end of the season, winning 3 of their last 4 games. They have a lot of talent themselves but were making a lot of poor decisions throughout the year and brought it together too late to escape relegation. They picked up Wadid as their support after the season ended; he used to be the support for G2 and FLY in the past. He is a solid player that is very experienced and I think he is an upgrade over Irove, who was quite frankly very poor. He tweeted something not too long ago saying he would be ready for the promotion series but there most likely won’t be confirmed lineups for this game so I would still be cautious about rostering him. Viper was actually one of the best ADC’s in the LCK last split even though his team was poor, this is a chance for him to really show off and I like this spot for him a lot. Tarzan is also very good and is not a sub threat so he is most likely safe to use. The top lane is a spot you may want to avoid for GRF as they do the whole magical chair routine with their trio of top laners.
SRB are the better of the two CK teams and I actually think they are pretty decent. If they were against SB I may have actually had them winning that series. GRF seem a little better to me compared to SB and if they get Wadid in support that is another benefit in their favour. SRB have some very well known players on their team and are my favourite underdog between the two. KaKAO was a legendary jungler on KT that was once considered the best in the world. He was extremely popular and was signed to IG in China as one of the first transfers of Korean talent to China. He was legitimately a superstar at the time. He faltered after securing the bag in China and fell through the developmental leagues in China before a quick stint in the LEC. He then played in the weaker Turkish league before coming back to the minor leagues in Korea. Sangyoon also is a notable name in Korean league of legends as he has played for ROX and HLE. He is a massive carry for this team and someone to look out for. Finally in the top lane they have Thal. Thal is an experienced vet as well, he was a substitute on SKT and also played for HLE.
In summary this one will be the more competitive match in my eyes. I see a lot of talent from the SRB side and some very notable names. GRF are better than SB in my opinion but they also got the harder opponent. I still think GRF will win but once again all teams are in play and cover all options if you do not want to take a stand.
Players to watch (GRF): Viper (ADC), Tarzan (JNG), Ucal (MID)
Players to watch (SRB): KaKAO (JNG), Sangyoon (ADC), Thal (TOP)