RADIO
Welcome back, RotoBallers, to my League of Legends DFS column! European Masters are back for the bracket stage as we start to eliminate teams and work our way towards our eventual champion.
As the World Championship nears and the end of the season approaches I want to again take time to thank everyone that joined me this year. I know many of you only decided to get into League of Legends Dfs as a necessity when traditional sports were on hiatus, but that's how I started too four years ago wondering what this was in my Draftkings app and why it locked at 3 a.m. So thanks for coming, thanks even more for staying, and I look forward certainly to Worlds, but also next year and beyond. Hopefully LOL Dfs has grown on you and it will continue to grow on both DK and FD so that you come back to see me again in the future.
Today, I'll be providing my League of Legends advice, analysis, and lineup picks for the EU Masters slates on DraftKings that lock at 12:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, September 15th, 2020. Make sure you follow me on Twitter @Mr_Malmanger as I often post starting lineups when I see them and other useful info for the slate.
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12:00 PM: Vodafone Giants (-245) vs. Team GamerLegion
My boys from the Prime League Team GamerLegion made the 3-0 run on the last day of groups and survived tiebreakers on Sunday to advance to the knockout stage. Vodafone Giants took a much more straightforward path to the next stage of the competition by running through group C, only losing once and that at the hands of Misfits Premier. Tiebreakers were a microcosm of GamerLegion as a team. They took the lead early in the first match and never looked back, stomping the second seed from the LVP SLO Movistar Riders 21-7, but themselves getting dumped versus AGO Rogue 20-4. We got to see the good and bad, the crazy picks, and the individual talent, and now we have to see if they can put it all together again, versus the first seed from Spain Vodafone Giants.
When we think of GL we think of early game and laning prowess, but the stats tell us that it is the Giants who have been the better early game team at this tournament. GamerLegion does have a better first blood percentage, but VG owns the rest of the stats. Rift Herald, first turret, dragons, barons, gold differential, CSM, and vision numbers are all in favor of the Giants. The Spanish side is also slower-paced and more controlled. They will also enjoy the advantage of the blue side as the higher seed. This game is a much worse matchup for the side of GL than was their tiebreak versus MSR. Giants can better match the early pressure that GL will try to exert, and I see this playing out much like the second match between VG and MSF. With GL looking to start skirmishing early, but not being able to generate leads from it, and while they may be up in kills early, I look for VG to use their vision advantage and superior objective controls to accelerate into the lead in the midgame. VG doesn't lack in talent either, answering Hjarnan in the bot lane with Attila, their former LEC ADC. I like the Spanish side here in a possible sweep; they should match anything that GL wants to do early, and they are the more polished objective and map play team.
Top VG Plays:
- Lamabear - JNG
- PrettyGRE - MID
- Attila - ADC
- Th3Antonio - TOP
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3:00 PM: LDLC vs. GamersOrigin (-240)
Today's other side of the bracket features two of the three qualifiers from the LFL defending EU Masters champions LDLC versus GamersOrigin. This match is a familiar one thanks to these two teams histories in the LFL. GamersOrigin has gotten the better of LDLC this year, owning the matchup five games to ones, including a 3-0 win in the spring finals of the LFL. In their last meeting in the LFL week three, GO smashed LDLC 27-11 in 32 minutes. It was close early with LDLC being down in kills, but up in gold at 15 minutes. It wasn't until after the 20-minute mark that GO was able to use their superior positioning to control objectives and explode the game out of LDLC's reach. This ability to take an early lead will be LDLC's chance in this series.
Within the LFL this split, however, it has been GO with the better early game numbers leading LDLC in rift herald, first blood, first turret, and gold differential at 15 minutes. Surprisingly, LDLC has a better dragon and baron percentage even though GO has the better vision score. Within the EUM tournament, the numbers are very nearly reversed with LDLC holding the early game stats lead and GO the objective control.
GO are 10-2 and sit in first place currently in the LFL, while LDLC is stuck in a log jam of teams tied for second with a 7-5 record. LDLC is the more active of the two teams on the map, and it shows in their KPW and DPL they aren't afraid to fight. Ownership will be tough on this slate; GO are the favorites, but everyone knows that LDLC are reigning champs. I think being the betting favorite will carry more weight, and that this match will be more closely contested and owned. It's challenging to get over GamersOrigin record head to head with LDLC, but in three of the five games LDLC lost, they were ahead at 15 minutes in one way or another. I like the discount on the former champs and will have plenty of them since they are cheap enough on DK to let me configure my roster with freedom. I will take LDLC for the upset here, but if you can't get past the H2H record GO is surely still in play. Splitting your exposure to this match makes sense.
Top LDLC Plays:
- Tynx - JNG
- Vetheo - MID
- Bando - TOP
Top GO Plays:
- Bluerzor - JNG
- Smiley - ADC
- HustlinBeast - SUP
- Toucouille - MID
Summary
- TLDR - Vodafone Giants, and LDLC advance. I think that VG is safer for sure, and I'm willing to take the shot on LDLC to upset GO. I will recommend splitting your exposure to the second match, and Team GamerLegion will be your lowest owned option for deeper gpp play.
- LDLC averages nearly 23 kills in their wins and gives over 25 deaths in their losses. If you go with GamersOrigin, go heavy there as they could very well go over 20 kills in their wins. If you side with LDLC know that GO is a much slower, less risky team, I would look at VG for my big stacks.
- I'll be back tomorrow for the other side of the knockout brackets, and will be with you to conclude the European Masters. The World Championship Group draw will be on the 15th at 4 a.m. EST, and you can rest assured I'm already plugging away on my Worlds prep, so I'm eager to see how these matchups are going to shake out.
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