Welcome back to another League of Legends DFS fantasy slate! New rosters are debuting still, and some of the teams have struggled to mesh early on this split. We are right back at it with another 5 game slate and have plenty of avenues to attack today's slate.
Roster changes will be addressed if need be when mentioning each team. As a friendly reminder, if you can't stomach any sub risk or don't enjoy waking up early, then figure a way to roster players that don't hold any sub risk. The LCK is tricky when it comes to starting lineups, and we are usually given the LCK starting lineups about an hour or so before lock, for the first series. (@KorizonEsports on Twitter is a good lineup source, as well as @kenzi131) In this case, we might not get LCK lineups before the 2:00 AM lock, so we are going to try and project starters based on new additions. LPL starters are found earlier and on Twitter too.
I'll provide my League of Legends DFS advice, analysis, and lineup pick for this LPL & LCK slate on DraftKings and FanDuel that locks at 2:00 AM EST on Sunday, January 16th, 2022. If you have any questions about the slate or anything please reach out to me on Twitter @nolanroth10. I'll do my best to provide some useful analysis, and the odds listed are from Pinnacle. Let's jump right into the matchups, and good luck RotoBallers.
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LCK Matches
3:00 AM: HLE (-130) vs. BRO (+100)
HLE sunk plenty of lineups on Thursday when they upset heavy favorite NS. HLE executed their game plan and draft compositions well, however, NS just played poorly in games 2 and 3. I still do not think HLE will be a very good team this split, but they are favored up against BRO who has given up 21 and 18 kills in their two losses against T1.
There are not many teams that HLE would be favored against in the LCK. That is saying something about the expectations for BRO this split. They were able to take game one against T1 in their first series before dropping the next two.
I see value in some of the HLE players in a matchup against two of the bottom-tier teams in the league. HLE's game plan in their first match was clearly to give Top and Jungle, advantageous lane matchups as both have 100% counter pick rate early on. ADC SamD is also a large part of the team and a clear carry option as seen with his 77% kill participation and 33% kill share in their first series. The BRO bot lane has totaled 50% of the death share for BRO and is clearly a spot to attack this team. BRO top lane Morgan was not a large part of team fights in the first series as he was only involved in 44% of the team's kills. The top side not being a priority but having your bot lane lead your team in deaths is not a winning combination.
Top HLE plays: SamD, DuDu, OnFleek, Vsta
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5:00 AM: DWG (-124) vs. Gen.G (-105)
This is one of the best matches in the LCK and arguably the best individual lane matchup in the LCK with ShowMAker and Chovy in the mid-lane. This will be a great series to watch but doesn't have the same appeal fantasy-wise as other matchups on this slate. Both teams went 2-0 in their first match of the split with solid scoring outputs. This match however could be a long slow-paced game that just doesn't produce the kill totals we are looking for on a 5 game slate. This is mostly a fade matchup.
If you are choosing to play anyone from this game I would look towards ShowMaker and Canyon as they are the key players of DWG
Top DWG plays: ShowMaker, Canyon, Deokdam
TOP GEN plays: Chovy, Ruler
LPL Matches
2:00 AM: OMG (-115) vs. IG (-115)
Dead even odds for this matchup. OMG has looked better then I expected early on in this split and have swept both of their matchups so far. IG also won 2-0 in their only game this split.
I think OMG keeps their winning streak going and takes down IG in game 3. This game has appeal as a small stack as OMG have been putting up some high kill counts in their wins early on this split.
OMG has put a major focus into giving their jungle the counter pick in every game so far. Aki has responded well to this plan with a 79% kill participation. Creme and Able have been the clear kill threats for OMG early in the split combining for 63.8% of the team's kills.
Top OMG plays: Creme, Aki, Able, Cold
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4:00 AM: WE (+185) vs. V5 (-250)
V5 are the largest favorites on the slate as we have 5 relatively close matchups. V5 will be playing their first match of the split, whereas WE have one series under their belts which they dropped. V5 is expected to be a better team in 2022 then they were in 2021, with new pickups in the Top and Mid lane there is more talent on the current version of the team.
V5 comes in as the most expensive team on the slate which makes stacking them tough to do. I am slightly hesitant to go all-in on them as we have seen some teams struggle with chemistry in their first games of the split. I am going to be underweight on this game as the ownership on V5 could be high even with it being their first game.
Top V5 plays: ALL of them.
6:00 AM: WBG (+110) vs. BLG (-145)
The 6 AM early morning hammer features a banger of a series with WBG and BLG and is definitely a matchup worth watching. We finally get to see the return of the Uzi who is regarded by some as the best ADC to ever play. WBG also brings TheShy in the top lane in a matchup of huge names.
WBG is offering some good value having already won a series this year and coming in as a slight underdog. WBG is one of the cheapest options on the slate and as mentioned in the previous game, we have seen some teams struggle in their first games. BLG will likely come in with large ownership especially with the exciting return of Uzi who is absolutely a fan favorite. It wouldn't shock me if this series went to 3 games.
Top WBG plays: TheShy, SoFm, Angel, Huanfeng
Summary
- TLDR: I'll be loading up on OMG and HLE for my full stacks, and getting spicy by prioritizing WBG for value while sprinkling in some V5 as well.
- GPP Stacks: My favorite combinations for GPP stacks are OMG/WBG and HLE/WBG.
- Cash Stacks: For cash, OMG/HLE is where I will be going.
Good luck tomorrow RotoBallers!
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