Draft the best team for TSM vs. Team Liquid in the LCS playoffs

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The 2021 LCS Mid-Season Showdown starts tomorrow with none other than TSM and Team Liquid clashing in a best-of-five series. 

TSM vs. Team Liquid is a matchup that always delivers, and that’s looking to be the case this time even though TSM got the upper hand with two wins in the regular split. With a lot on the line for both teams, it will be crucial to win and continue in the playoffs in the upper bracket. Fans have the chance to draft a team for the matchup and earn as many points as possible. To help along the way, here are some good picks to keep an eye on for the draft. 

Big value in TSM Lost for the bot lane

The role to harvest the most points is usually the bot lane. In a meta where marksmen can easily get over 10 kills in a game, this is the position to be most considerate of. At the same time, bot laners are usually some of the most expensive players. With a budget of $50,000 for each draft, players have to think twice before spending a lot of money on a bot laner. 

Looking at the two bot laners for this match, there is a clear difference in price. Team Liquid bot laner Edward “Tactical” Ra has a salary of $11,400, while TSM’s Lawrence “Lost” Hui is significantly cheaper at $10,500. It’s worth considering picking Lost for this reason alone, but also after looking at the stats. During the regular split, Lost got a total of 83 kills. This is 17 more than Tactical’s 66. During the same amount of games, Lost died a total of 37 times while Tactical has died 41 times. Both players are fairly inexperienced, but Lost seems like the best value pick for this match up. 

Team Liquid Alphari can score big in the draft at a fair price

A player that has to be considered is Team Liquid top laner Barney “Alphari” Morris. After joining Team Liquid for the 2021 season, he has been popping off in the top lane and been the best in his role without comparison. Alphari’s dominance was recently awarded a spot on the LCS 1st All-Pro team, in a vote he won by a landslide. 

For this matchup, Alphari can be bought for $9,600. While this is expensive for a top laner, it can definitely be worth the investment when it’s Alphari. Top lane isn’t usually the lane to gather the most kills, but Alphari has been going against that trend. Over the course of the split, Alphari has gotten 63 kills while only dying 27 times. This puts him at the top of the leaderboard among all top laners in the league. He has also proven that he can carry games alone, which usually translates to a lot of points in the draft. 

With Alphari going up against TSM’s Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon, there is a fair chance that the top lane will be bloody. Huni is known for his aggressive play, and he isn’t afraid of a fight. If Alphari plays up to expectations, he will likely win those fights and start harvesting draft points. 

You can build your own draft for this week’s games on DraftKings. 

Eligibility restrictions apply. See draftkings.com for details.

I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is Vejvad) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.