Hey there LoL enthusiasts and welcome to RotoBaller's coverage of LCS for the Summer split on FanDuel and DraftKings.
The summer split represents the most important part of the LCS season as the teams who perform the best get to represent North America on the world's stage. The spring split was dominated by Cloud 9. They had a historic season, only losing one game to TSM during the regular season and sweeping FlyQuest in the finals. This split there are some personnel changes, most notably the acquisition of Doublelift by TSM. TSM bringing in the best domestic player is a league changing move but we will have to see if it will be enough to take down the champs Cloud9.
Today I'll be bringing you my League of Legends advice, analysis, and picks, for the 2-game LCS slate on FanDuel and DraftKings that locks on Friday, June 12th at 9:00 PM. Feel free to follow me on Twitter @Governor98. Thanks for reading, now let's get to the strategy and picks!
LCS DFS Slate Overview
Friday's slate marks the first-ever Friday night LCS slate. The "Monday Night League" idea from spring split was mostly a flop as these games had to compete against the likes of Monday Night Football and NBA games. So the league's bright idea was to slap two games onto the other side of the weekend and see how that goes. But I digress as we are not here to talk about the LCS scheduling issues, we are here to talk about the two game slate for DFS.
The first game is 100T and EG. Both teams finished in the middle of the pack last year and both teams were pretty evenly matched as each team took a game off one another in the regular season. The second game is a rematch of the Spring finals (if you want to call it that it was basically C9 versus practice dummies) C9 vs. FLY. C9 dominated this matchup last year, as they did many so it will not be a surprise of who I like in this one but with that let's get into the games.
League of Legends DFS Basics
Since LCS contests are being offered on both FanDuel and DraftKings, it's important to note some pricing discrepancies from site to site, but the roster slots, scoring, and roster construction rules are almost entirely identical with the only exception being that FanDuel forces you to roster at least one player (or team slot) from a third team, while you can play only two teams among your seven roster slots on DraftKings.
- Stacking in LoL DFS lineups is very important. 4-3 stacks are the order of the day (on DraftKings) with 3-3-1 becoming more popular (and necessary on FanDuel) as people try to differentiate their lineups in these suddenly large-field GPPs.
- In LoL DFS, it is very important to focus on players from winning teams. Think in terms of baseball, one side of the matchup is like a pitcher and the other side the batter. This means there is a very negative correlation between teams in the same match. Players score by accumulating kills, which costs the other side points in deaths. Just like earned runs bring down your pitcher’s score.
- Along with this another mistake I see beginners making is trusting average scoring. Players' scoring potential is only realized in games that are won. If player X averages 50 DKP, that likely comes from scoring 70 in a 2-0 win and 30 in an 0-2 defeat. What this means is that someone who looks like a value at $4800 suddenly might not end up being such a great point-per-dollar play.
- Finally, you're going to want to do your best you fill your captain slot with an ADC or MID. Depending on which teams and players you decide to stack that might not be feasible. The order of preference for your captain slot is generally ADC, MID, JNG, TOP, SUP. Some players in some positions may stand out above the others so consider stats like kill share before you make your final decision.
9:00 PM: 100 Thieves vs. Evil Geniuses (-180)
Here we have what should be the closer of the games tonight. As I stated above, both teams played well against each other well last year and they both finished around the same place in the standings. The only offseason move made by either of these teams was EG bringing in the once best top lane in NA Huni. It is unclear ar the time who is going to start for EG at TOP, but I'm going to guess Kumo as he has played plenty of games with the roster so theoretically, he has more chemistry.
In short, in this game I like EG. Looking at each lane matchup there are a lot more paths to victory for EG than there are for 100T. Jizuke towards the end of the season was a force who EG used heavily to carry games. Svenskeren, who was MVP of the summer split last year on C9, has had ups and downs but is one of the more consistent junglers in the league. Bang has been very quiet in the LCS but this could be the year he goes back to the days of dominance when he was a world champion ADC for SKT Telecom in Korea.
100T will have to rely on the late game team fight master CodySun and Ssumday. Ssumday showed flashes of carrying games last year and on the flip side of that, he had games where he fed his matchup and got stomped. CodySun is one of the steadiest players in the league. He doesn't die too often and get some kills. If his team allows him to shine in the late game he has more than enough capability to do so.
Ssumday is intriguing because of his low salary on both sites and because of the fact that you need players from 3 teams on FanDuel. I also like him because I have no interest in playing Kumo. I think he is overrated but if Huni is announced as the starter then I will have to rethink things. This will be an interesting game to watch but I lean EG slightly here.
Top 100T Plays:
- CodySun
- Ssumday
Top EG Plays:
- Svenskeren, Jizuke, Bang, Zeyzal, EG team
10:00 PM: Flyquest vs. Cloud9 (-500)
After getting absolutely embarrassed last year in the finals we will see if FLY can make a respectable performance against defending champs C9. To keep it short, I do not think they can or will. C9 was dominant last year, they had the best split that the LCS has ever seen and didn't lose anyone off of the roster. If they can build on what they did last spring they could be serious worlds contenders later this summer.
My favorite captain play on the slate is probably Blaber. He's coming off of an MVP season and is one of C9's main carries. Licorice probably has the biggest lane mismatch on the slate aside from maybe Zven and Vulcan over WildTurtle and IgNar. I am not sure how much I like a top lane as my captain though.
Top C9 Plays:
- All of them, Blaber favorite captain
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More ESports DFS Analysis
Be sure to check back throughout the week as we'll be publishing daily ESports DFS articles, analysis and lineup picks for Call of Duty, League Of Legends, and Counter-Strike. Thanks for reading, and good luck RotoBallers!
More ESports DFS Analysis
RotoBaller Testimonials
Readers of RotoBaller's eSports DFS articles have been winning money on DraftKings and FanDuel regularly. Some of them are winning contests daily and bringing in some serious cheddar. Check one out below and lots more here!
Did you read a RotoBaller article and win too? Send us your screenshots on Twitter @RotoBaller and we'll add it to our winners Hall Of Fame!
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— "Thunder Dan" Palyo (@ThunderDanDFS) April 16, 2020