LEC DFS Picks for 7/25/20 - FanDuel, DraftKings League of Legends Daily Fantasy

Welcome to RotoBaller's continued coverage of League of Legends DFS for FanDuel and DraftKings. Hopefully, you've been following our coverage of the LPL, LCK, and LCS as well as we intend to cover all LoL leagues for the Summer split. Today, I am focusing on the 5-game LEC slate that has contests available on both FanDuel and DraftKings.

My name is James Swindell and I will be continuing to bring you LEC DFS content here on RotoBaller. Friday's LEC matchups provided plenty of entertainment and excitement for fans of LoL and DFS players alike. We saw one massive upset as well as a few others during the weekend's first round of matches, in addition, Mad Lions and Rogue continued to separate themselves from the rest of the pack. The middle of the pack teams in the LEC are closer than ever, and as well reach the end of the Summer split, anyone can make a push for playoffs.

I'll be bringing you my top League of Legends advice, analysis, and picks, for the LEC slate on Saturday, July 25th, 2020 at 11:00 AM EST. This 5-game slate features a red hot Rogue team facing off against last year's LEC champs G2 and many more exciting games. You can follow me on Twitter @s28_james and hit me up if you ever want to talk about LoL lineups or roster construction. I am more than happy to chat with you all!

League of Legends DFS Basics

Since LEC 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.

1. Once a match starts, anything can happen. Usually, the better teams are very consistent. Be sure to check the player pool carefully and try to craft a roster of players who have been playing recently or do not have listed backups. 
2.  Stacking in LoL DFS lineups is paramount. 4-3 stacks are the order of the day (on DraftKings) with 3-3-1 or 4-2-1 are becoming more popular (and necessary on FanDuel) as people try to differentiate their lineups in these suddenly large-field GPPs.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.

Excel Esports (-110) vs. Team Vitality (-125): DFS Targets

In the first match of Friday's LEC action, Excel Esports (XL) picked up a convincing win over SK Gaming (SK) with the final kill total at 15-9 in their favor. XL was able to establish early bot side control and use that advantage to pick up an Elder Dragon buff that they used to end the game. Throughout the game, XL showed excellent map awareness and vision control while minimizing individual mistakes. Their opponents, Team Vitality (VIT), came out of their matchup on Friday with an impressive victory over Orgien (OG). VIT capitalized on mistakes from OG to generate a large mid-game kill advantage. With the kill/gold advantage they had built up, VIT was able to itemize quicker than OG, allowing them to be more successful in team fight scenarios.

XL's success has come from Patrik so far this split, but as of late their team compositions have allowed other players to shine such as mid-laner Special who finished Friday's contest against SK with an impressive 8/3/6 KDA ratio (kills/deaths/assists). Team Vitality has found success playing through multiple players, but the best player on their roster is Milica. He got back on track with a nice five kill, four-assist performance. Labrov also deserves a good bit of credit, he had an excellent 3/0/11 game on Bard and is regarded as one of the best Bard players in the LEC.

This matchup should be very close as the money line suggests. Both of these teams have exceeded our expectations of them this split and they have been performing well as of late. Team Vitality is slightly favored here but XL has the individual pieces on their roster to compete with VIT. The game could go either way, but XL has been significantly better after they allowed their players to open up their champion pool a bit and play to their individual strengths. It's a close call, but XL should be able to pull off the upset here.

XL Plays: Kryze, Patrik, Caedral 

VIT Plays: Milica, Comp

Misfits Gaming (-240) vs. FC Schalke 04 (+170): DFS Targets

Misfits Gaming (MSF) fell to Rogue (RGE) on Friday with the final kill total at 11-5 in favor of their opponents. MSF took control of the game early, jumping out to a 2-0 kill advantage early. Unfortunately, Misfits were unable to convert their early momentum into a win. Although MSF did play a solid game all around, a few crucial mistakes during a late-game team fight cost them the game. FC Schalke 04 (FCS) pulled off the biggest upset of the season on Friday, dominating the match versus spring split champion G2 Esports (G2). FCS capitalized on early mistakes from G2 to get their jungle and mid-lane rolling. The kills advantage that they built up in the early/mid-game allowed for FCS to have a massive level advantage heading into team fights over key objectives. FCS deserve a ton of praise for this one, they picked up their second win of the year and finished the game with the highest kill total for a team in a single game this split.

Misfits Gaming's best performer over the past few games has been Febiven. In Friday's loss, he secured 3 kills and 1 assist against only one death. While 3/1/1 is not a good DFS scoreline, if you take into account that line was good for an 80% KP (kill participation) and he accounted for more than half of his team's total kills, it looks much more impressive. Odoamne has been my favorite player on FCS to talk about and he got a chance to shine in FCS' win. He packed the stat sheet with 26 assists and 2 kills against only 3 deaths. Gilius and Abbedagge deserve credit as well, each putting up monster 10+ kill games.

Although Misfits are coming off a string of losses and FCS off of a huge victory, MSF comes into this matchup pretty heavily favored. Despite the fact that they are not performing as well as we would have hoped, the Misfits roster is loaded with talent and their record could be significantly better if they did not throw away games during the latter parts of matches. FCS does have a shot to upset here, we've seen they can take down struggling teams in the past. That being said, MSF should clean up their late-game mistakes and take out FCS without too much trouble.

MSF Plays: Febiven, Kobbe, Doss, Team Slot

FCS Plays: Odoamne, Gilius

Mad Lions (-450) vs. SK Gaming (+290): DFS Targets

Following up last week's trouncing of the Spring split's LEC champion, MAD pulled out a victory versus last splits runner up, Fnatic (FNC). MAD got off to a slow start but made the most of the small opportunities they were given in order to swing the momentum of the game. They dominated the late game and were able to secure 22 kills to Fnatic's 11. SK Gaming fell to Excel Esports on Friday in a fairly close match. Unfortunately for SK, they were unable to come back from the significant mid-game lead XL built up. SK found themselves at a 900 gold advantage at 15 minutes, but towards the middle/late stages of the game that advantage was erased by XL's team fight wins. SK did not perform how we had hoped against a team they are competing with for a postseason spot, but their playoff hopes are still alive as they sit at 6-6 on the split.

Mad Lions have proven they are the team to beat in the LEC, and their success this split is largely due to a drastic improvement in mid-laner Humanoid. Despite getting off to a tough start, he finished with three kills and ten assists against five deaths, with three of those deaths coming very early in the game. Crownshot had a tough game on Friday and couldn't really get rolling, finishing with a subpar 2/2/3 KDA ratio. When SK is doing well, the vast majority of the time it directly correlates with the success of Crownshot.

SK Gaming has had an excellent turnaround from where they were during spring split. They sit at 6-6 and have a good chance at a playoff spot. That being said, MAD is the best team in Europe and I expect they will continue their winning streak here. SK has made great improvements but MAD should overwhelm them with superior mechanics and in-game strategy

MAD Plays: Humanoid, Shad0w, Kaiser, Team Slot, Carzzy

SK Plays: Crownshot, ZaZee

Fnatic (-160) vs. Origen (+120): DFS Targets

Fnatic lost their match versus Mad Lions on Friday, bringing them to 6-6 this split. FNC was able to get out to an early game lead but a few mistakes allowed MAD to claw their way back into the game. Eventually, Fnatic lost a decisive team fight in the Baron pit and MAD took control of the game from there. Origen dropped their game versus Team Vitality on Friday, only managing to secure 3 kills against VIT's 17. The match started off rough when Origen failed to use one of their bans during champ select. After that mishap, OG was also outplayed during the match. VIT was able to emulate OG's typical gameplan far better than OG themselves, securing map vision and control of neutral objectives. Unfortunately, OG took a step forward last week just to take one backward on Friday.

Once again Fnatic has opted for playing through Selfmade, letting their ADC Rekkles play more support oriented champions such as Senna. Neither had an exceptional game, with a 3/3/5 KDA ratio and a 3/2/5 KDA ratio respectively, the two FNC stars need to step up their performances if Fnatic is going to return to the top of the table. Origen was very disappointing on Friday after looking to have found new life in their lineup with Support addition Jactroll. Alphari secured two kills and one assist against two deaths, his measly 1.5 KDA was good for best on the team.

Both of these teams have been incredibly inconsistent this split, but Fnatic seems to be picking things up as opposed to Origen who took a step back on Friday. FNC is looking to re-establish themselves as one of the top four teams in the LEC and a win here over another top contender would help out that cause immensely. During this split, no pick is a sure pick, but Fnatic has the momentum heading into this one and they should be able to pick up the win here.

FNC Plays: Rekkles, Selfmade, Nemesis

OG Plays: Alphari, Upset

G2 Esports (-110) vs. Rogue (-125): DFS Targets

It's a tough time to be a fan of the G2 Esports League of Legends team right now. In Friday's match, G2 was absolutely dominated by the previous one-win FC Schalke 04 roster. G2 was simply outclassed from start to finish, conceding 32 kills to FCS and only managing to score 9 for themselves, 7 of which coming from one player. Conversely, Rogue has been one of the most consistent teams in this split. As of late, they have not put up incredible DFS numbers but they are reliable and that helped contribute to their five-game win streak. Rogue's patient and calculated gameplan paid off in their game versus Misfits, and eventually, their small lead created an opportunity for them to steal the win from MSF.

The only bright spot we can look at from G2's loss on Friday was Caps' performance. Caps racked up seven kills and zero assists against four deaths, making it seem as if he was the only one on G2 putting in an effort to turn the game around. Perkz and Jankos were especially disappointing, surrendering 15 deaths between the two of them. Rogue's mid-laner is no slouch either, Larssen picked up a solid 3/1/7 KDA ratio for the day, good for a 90.1% KP. Hans Sama had another strong game as well, finishing with six kills and four assists to only one death.

At this point in the split, G2 has had enough chances to bounce back and recover their momentum and now they are in serious danger of missing a playoff spot, despite the fact that they won Spring split. On the other hand, Rogue is looking better than ever and if they are able to knock off G2 in this matchup, they will prove that they are not just "the other first-place team". Although RGE is favored in this matchup, they were unsuccessful in their matches versus the other top LEC teams, MAD and G2. This is do-or-die time for G2, and they should have talented enough players to pick up a much-needed win.

G2 Plays: Caps, Wunder, Jankos, Team Slot

RGE Plays: Larssen, Inspired 

Summary

1. MAD and MSF have the best matchups this week but they will be chalky DFS plays.
2. Differentiation and covering a range of possibilities will give you the edge over players who choose more popular stacks. Look for stacks in games that will have low team ownership such as XL vs. VIT or FNC vs. OG. G2 could also have low ownership this week but be wary of matchups that have the potential for upsets. The most important thing for your rostered DFS players is a win.
3. Look for price discrepancies on different DFS sites. In general, Draftkings prices players based on odds and FanDuel prices based on recent performance. I'm repeating this tip because it gives DFS players a huge advantage knowing this. If you primarily play on DK look for players/teams who are hot right now, if you play on FD look for good individual matchups you can capitalize on.

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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