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James Swindell's League of Leagues (LoL) analysis and LEC DFS lineup picks for FanDuel, DraftKings on 7/31/20. He discusses the LEC LoL slates and his top targets.
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. Last weekend was another wild one in the European League of Legends scene as some of the top teams fell and we saw struggling teams pull off surprising upsets. The playoff race in the LEC is still very marginal, with only two wins separating third place and ninth place. As the LEC competitors make a final push for playoff spots, the matches will only grow in intensity. This week's LEC action is another one that you don't want to miss.
I'll be bringing you my top League of Legends advice, analysis, and picks, for the LEC slate on Friday, July 31st, 2020 at 12:00 PM EST. The 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.
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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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
FC Schalke 04 (+115) vs. Excel Gaming (-160): DFS Targets
In the first match of Friday's LEC action, FC Schalke 04 (FCS) will be taking on Excel Gaming (XL). FCS was victorious over Misfits (MSF) last Saturday, pulling off another impressive upset. In their recent wins, FC Schalke 04 has played significantly better, and bringing in a new jungler has played a big role in that recent improvement. XL has been on a nice streak of their own recently, winning four of their last six games including wins over G2 Esports (G2) and SK Gaming (SK). Excel was able to secure a convincing win over Team Vitality (VIT), bringing their record up to six and seven on the split.
FC Schalke's new jungler Gilius deserves a lot of praise for how he has helped to turn the team around in the few weeks he's been there. On Saturday he had his best performance yet, racking up eight kills and four assists against only two deaths in the team's win. Although XL has shown the flexibility to let other players carry games, Patrik has been their main carry all season. The gameplan centered around him once again versus VIT and he did not disappoint, posting a 6/0/0 KDA ratio (kills/deaths/assists).
This matchup will be interesting for a number of reasons, both of these teams had a slow start to the split but as of late they have turned things around. FCS has improved drastically during the second half of the split as opposed to XL who have been gradually improving over time. Although Schalke's recent success is exciting to see, XL has a more talented roster and should be able to take this game.
FCS Plays: Odoamne, Gilius
XL Plays: Patrik, Kryze, Caedrel , Team Slot
Misfits Gaming (-110) vs. SK Gaming (-125): DFS Targets
Misfits dropped both of their games last weekend with their loss on Friday coming to last-place FCS. Unfortunately, MSF was dominated throughout the duration of the game with the final kill total at 19-8 in favor of FCS. As for SK Gaming, they pulled off a huge upset over first place team Mad Lions (MAD), putting up 20 kills to MAD's 9. SK has continued to look impressive and cohesive as a team, in addition, they have the third-best kill/death ratio in the league at 1.11 as well as third-best in kills/game at 12.1.
Kobbe posted the team's best KDA ratio in Saturday's loss with a 1.5 on 66.7 KP% (kill participation). Although these are not the types of numbers we hope to see from our DFS starts, his high KP% and team-best 4.4 KDA on the season indicates that when MSF succeeds, Kobbe will score big points as well. SK Gaming's star this split has been Crownshot who had another impressive outing in their win over MAD. Crownshot finished with a team-high five kills as well as 9 assists against zero deaths. ZaZee deserves credit as well for his impressive 5/3/14 performance on Orianna.
SK Gaming comes into this one as slight favorites over MSF. Misfits have an immensely talented roster but they have struggled to put the pieces together and play consistently well as a team. They will be making a substitute at support opting for Denyk over Doss. Although this move could improve their communication as a team, SK has already established good team chemistry and have shown that their players can step up to face top competition. This matchup could go either way, but SK is playing well lately and is making a serious push for a playoff spot.
MSF Plays: Kobbe, Febiven
SK Plays: Crownshot, LIMIT, ZaZee
Origen (+165) vs. Mad Lions (-230): DFS Targets
Origen (OG) had a tough outing versus Fnatic (FNC) on Saturday, only managing to secure 7 kills to Fnatic's 22. Origen could not come back from the early deficit they found themselves in and the game snowballed out of control from there. MAD also found themselves on the wrong end of the scoreboard last weekend, falling to SK Gaming. Although MAD has been the most innovative team this split, SK took a page out of their book and used an unorthodox team composition to gain an advantage for team fight scenarios and it paid off for them in a big way.
Despite the fact that OG has been struggling recently, they are still in the playoff race and a large part of their success is due to Alphari. He has been the most consistent performer for OG this split. Although top-laners don't typically have the most impact on the game, putting Alpahri on an island and letting him win lane frees up the rest of their team to roam to other lanes. MAD's roster has plenty of outstanding performers but the "big three" of sorts is comprised of Humanoid, Kaiser, and Shad0w. All three of them have KDA's north of 3.0 with Kaiser sitting an outstanding 6.2 on 75.5 KP%
Both of these teams have talented rosters and the new addition of Support Jactroll has helped Origen to have more consistent performances as of late. That being said, MAD has the most talented roster in the LEC and their superior in-game strategy should be enough to get back on track and pick up their 11th win of the season.
MAD Plays: Humanoid, Shad0w, Kaiser, Team Slot
Origen Plays: Alphari, Upset
Team Vitality (+185) vs. G2 Esports (-265): DFS Targets
Team Vitality fell to SK Gaming on Saturday, making it three losses in their last four games and a 5-8 record on the season. The bad news is that VIT has really struggled to pick up wins lately, but the good news is that since the LEC has been so tumultuous, they are still in the race for a playoff position. In addition, VIT's matchups have been difficult over the past few weeks. That being said, VIT needs to start beating top competition if they hope to make playoffs. G2 Esports (G2) pulled off a miracle comeback on Saturday over co-first place team Rogue (RGE), securing a vitally important win in the LEC's tight playoff race. G2 came out flat and got crushed early by Rogue, but through tremendous individual effort and some less than optimal plays from their opposition, G2 was able to swing the game's momentum and take the victory.
VIT has had a few strong performers throughout the split, but they most often play through mid-laner Milica. During the Summer split, Milica has a team-high 4.0 KDA as well as a 30.2 DMG% (percentage of team's damage dealt to champions). As for G2, we all know they are loaded with talented players but they have not lived up to expectations. Caps has been the best player on G2 by far and he came through versus RGE in a big way with five kills, three assists, and a huge Baron steal that turned the tides of the game.
This matchup is huge for the playoff implications in the LEC. A loss in this matchup would be detrimental to both of these organizations' post-season hopes. Unfortunately for Team Vitality, G2 seems to be getting back on track as of late. Caps has picked up the slack while the rest of his teammates have struggled, and now is the time for G2's all-star roster to step up. VIT is a solid team and it will be unfortunate if they miss playoffs, but G2 should pick up the win here.
G2 Plays: Caps, Jankos, Wunder, Team Slot
VIT Plays: Milica, Comp, Skeanz
Rogue (-105) vs. Fnatic (-135): DFS Targets
Rogue suffered a heartbreaking loss at the hands of G2 on Saturday. RGE was able to get out to a huge lead but a few costly mistakes late-game allowed G2 to gain enough momentum to turn the game around. During the game, Rogue had the second-best GD@15 (gold differential at 15 minutes) for any match this season but blundered their lead away by forcing fights over neutral objectives while trying to close out the game. Conversely, their opponents Fnatic picked up an important win over Origen. Fnatic took an unorthodox team composition into the match but looked much better playing comfort picks and letting each individual member play to their strengths.
In spite of the huge disappointment last week RGE has the talent on their roster to recover this week. Larssen has been the key factor behind RGE's success this split and he was completely shut down versus G2, posting a 3/4/1 KDA. Hans Sama had an excellent ten kill, five assist performance but it wasn't enough to keep the lead. As for Fnatic, Bwipo had his best game of the split, racking up a 10/1/4 KDA ratio. Bwipo has faced some criticism this split for not playing up to his potential, but on Saturday he proved that he still has the talent to compete with the best LEC teams.
This matchup is the toughest to call of the weekend and both teams should be fairly highly-owned in DFS competitions. Rogue has been strong all split but has still not managed to beat top teams consistently. Fnatic got off to a poor start but they seem to be hitting their stride lately and adjusting their gameplan/team comps to optimize the talents of their players. Fnatic needs to keep winning games in order to keep their playoff hopes alive, but Rogue should come into this game with something to prove and earn with a hard-fought victory.
RGE Plays: Larssen, Inspired, Hans Sama
FNC Plays: Selfmade, Rekkles, Bwipo
Summary
- MAD and G2 have the best matchups this week but they will be chalky DFS plays. Both teams tend to secure lots of kills in their victories, so although they will be chalky, they will be smart plays as well.
- 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 FCS vs. XL or RGE vs FNC. SK Gaming could be another good strong stack since they should be low-owned. Don't be afraid to pick tougher matchups but remember that the most important thing for your rostered DFS players is a win.
- 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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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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