RADIO
Hello there, LoL enthusiasts, and welcome back to RotoBaller's coverage of LCS for the 2020 Summer split on FanDuel and DraftKings. The LCS has been a lot of fun to cover this season and we've already seen a number of big upsets and some major improvement by some teams while others have begun to falter by the wayside.
Week 8 continues Sunday with another four-gamer on tap. These recent weeks have been so interesting with C9 looking dominant this whole year and then losing four games in recent weeks. With C9 looking vulnerable, it makes the playoffs that much more interesting. We will see who continues to bring their "A" game in the final games before the postseason.
Today I'll be bringing you my League of Legends DFS picks, advice, and analysis for the four-game LCS slate on FanDuel and DraftKings that locks on Sunday, August 2nd, at 4:00 PM. Feel free to follow me on Twitter @Governor98. Thanks for reading, now let's get to the strategy and picks!
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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.
Game 1: (5-10) CLG vs. (8-7) GGS (-235)
This slate starts with a matchup between GGS and CLG. GGS is coming off of an impressive win against C9 and CLG is coming off of a loss to TL. I don't think there's much analysis needed for this one. CLG has won one game in the last 1o and they haven't shown anything that would suggest that they are going to be any better on Sunday. The Guardians’ success starts with Closer, as he is their main carry and gets the ball rolling in every game that the team wins. I believe GGS should take this one easily and Closer will be a big reason for that.
Top GGS Plays: Closer, FBI, Damonte, Hauntzer, GGS Team
Game 2: (10-5) TSM vs. (11-4) C9 (-290)
This one is very interesting to say the least. C9 has been struggling a ton recently, and as a result, they have dropped four games in the last four weeks. Oddly enough their losses have been from a variety of teams who are positioned at many different places on the standings. If TSM wins this one, they will be tied for second with a game against TL in week 10. If TSM wins out they could potentially get the top seed in the league and get the coveted bye position in the new playoff format. I expect them to be very motivated coming into this one.
C9 has shown that they are mortal after playing insanely to start the season. They really do not look like themselves in the draft and in the game. They aren't playing as aggressively or with as much confidence as the beginning of the slate. Both teams will be highly motivated in this one so it should be a great one to watch and both sides are very playable.
Top TSM Plays: Bjergsen, Doublelift, BrokenBlade, Treatz, Spica, TSM team
Top C9 Plays: Zven, Blaber, Licorice, Nisqy, Vulcan, C9 Team
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Game 3: (7-8) EG vs. (9-6) FLY (-145)
Another matchup of teams who are near each other in the standings here in this one. This game could be a preview of a first or second-round playoff matchup and will be another very interesting game to watch. EG had been playing well after their midseason roster swap, but have stumbled lately losing a couple of games in recent weeks. FLY was very impressive on Saturday vs 100T and they put up slate-breaking scores in that contest
I like FLY here again in this one, PowerOfEvil was on a roll Saturday and the matchup doesn't get much tougher on him as GoldenGlue is in the bottom tier of mid laners in the league. I also like Santorin as he has quietly been a top jungler this season, being a very steady presence for the team and leading them to many wins. EG gives up a staggering 19.5 kills per loss so if you believe in FLY, you're going to want to get involved here.
Top FLY Plays: PowerOfEvil, Santorin, WildTurtle, IgNar, Solo, FLY team
Game 4: (4-11) IMT vs. (5-10) 100T
I feel like I am repeating myself a lot here but this is another very tough game to call. 100T has been very up and down this whole season with as high of highs as anyone and as low of lows as a last-place team. IMT is coming off of a very much needed win versus DIG and they are still maybe in the hunt for the 8th seed with a win here.
If IMT has any chance here it's going to come off of the back of Insanity, who has played outstanding in his rookie campaign leading IMT to most of their wins. He matches up with Ryoma, who many regard as the worst mid laner in the league. Whether or not Insanity will be able to do enough in this one has yet to be seen but I think 100T has enough talent in their top and bottom lines that they can make this one close. Allorim is going to have his hands full with Ssumday, who is a top 4 top laner in the league, and on the bottom side, CodySun has been relatively solid in his matchups with new support Poome. I think both sides are plenty viable in this one but I would lean 100T slightly.
Top 100T Plays: Ssumday, CodySun, Contactz, Poome, 100T Team, Ryoma
Top IMT Plays: Insanity
Summary
- Favorite stacks: GGS, FLY, TSM, 100T
- I like TSM a lot against a staggering C9 and I think they might be lower owned than they should be.
- Players are listed in the order that I prefer playing them.
I mentioned this in our RotoBaller Slack chat, but if you guys ever have specific questions I feel as though in LCS where the games are best of one, it can be very hard to look at numbers and try to correlate those numbers to successful lineups. There's a lot more variance in LCS then there is in other leagues because of the fact that teams can't mess up or it costs them a whole matchup, there's no move on to next game until playoffs. Teams play games especially slow in the LCS because of this in my opinion and we see it on the scoreboard with the long, drawn-out games with the low kill totals. But getting back to my main point of this rant, if you ever have questions my twitter DMs are open and feel free to @ me in the slack with anything you may have whether it's strategy or 1v1s or just general analysis. Good luck, RotoBallers!
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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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