LCS/LEC DFS Playoff Picks (4/12/20): DraftKings, FanDuel League of Legends Daily Fantasy

Welcome to RotoBaller's coverage of League of Legends DFS for FanDuel and DraftKings. Hopefully, you've been following our coverage of the LPL/LCK overnight slates on DraftKings. Today, I will be focusing on the two-game LEC playoff slate that has contests available on both FanDuel and DraftKings.

Yesterday I was able to cash the majority of my lineups as things went pretty much as expected. Fnatic won their series 3-0 against the MAD Lions, while Cloud9 finished off Evil Geniuses 3-1. Both of the favorites handled their opponents and it paid not to get "too cute" with builds. We have one game like that on this slate, but the second game projects to be much closer so it might not be as easy as "plug the two favorites in your lineup" today.

Today we'll be bringing on our top League of Legends advice, analysis, and picks, for the LEC playoff slate that locks on Sunday at 11:00 AM, April 12th, 2020. Follow me on twitter @ThunderDanDFS and definitely make sure you're following my LoL mentor and our RotoBaller lead ESports analyst @Mr_Malmanger, too!

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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.

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.

NOTE: An important detail to note in regards to scoring is that both teams and players can get a double bonus for sweeping their opponent 3-0 in the best of five format. Each player receives 20 extra points in a 3-1 series victory, while teams get 15 additional points. That becomes 40 points per player in a sweep and 30 points per team. Both DraftKings and FanDuel both have the same scoring rules for this bonus.

 

LEC Losers' Bracket

Sunday 11:00 AM: G2 (-450) vs Origen

G2 has been licking its chops for this game since getting knocked off in the first round by MAD Lions. If they beat Origen here, they'll have a rematch with MAD in the semifinals while Fnatic waits for the winner of that game in the finals. Meanwhile, Origen is coming off a 3-1 victory over Rogue on Friday.

After dropping game one, they reeled off three straight victories in impressive fashion. Origen is a solid team, but they're the next tier down from G2 and Fnatic in the LEC and I'm a little surprised G2 isn't favored by more in this match. 

G2 handled Origen in both head-to-heads this season and will be more focused for this match than they were for their round one loss to MAD. They are simply better at every position than Origen. They love to fight, which is pretty much the exact opposite of Origen who are more objective-driven and strive to control the map early.

It's certainly possible than Origen can steal a game in this series, or even push it to five games if they draft well and force G2 to play their style of game. But I just don't see G2 losing this series, and I think it's much more likely they win in three of four games.

Give me a four-man G2 stack on DraftKings and at least three G2 players in all of my FanDuel builds. You do need a player from a third team on FanDuel and some of the Origen guys are possibilities as punts in the hopes that it's a bloody series and they steal a game or two.

Top G2 Stack: 

• Jankos - JNG (9200 FD, 7200 DK)
• Caps - ADC (10400 FD, 8000 DK)
• Perkz - MID (9500 FD, 7800 DK)
• Mikyz - SUP (8100 FD, 5600 DK)

Favorite Captain/MVP - Jankos (DK), Caps (FD)

 

Top Origen One-Offs

• Alphari - TOP (8000 FD, 6000 DK)
• Nukeduck - MID (8600 FD, 6600 DK)
• Xerxe - JNG (8300 FD, 6400 DK)

 

LCS Losers' Bracket

4:00 PM Sunday:  Team Solo Mid (-205) vs Flyquest

Here we have another elimination game as the loser of this one is finished and the winner moves on to play Evil Geniuses in the semifinals in the hopes of meeting up with Cloud9 in the finals.

Flyquest swept Golden Guardians in their last series 3-0, while it took TSM all five games to dispatch the feisty 100 Thieves team. TSM had a much tougher opponent there as 100T is a superior squad to GG, so I wouldn't read too much into those results.

During the regular season, these teams split their head-to-head matchups but before that GG series, Flyquest was looking rough and trending down in a big way. I think TSM is a much better team and we should see that bear out over the five-game series. They are better in the early phase of the game and have a better early game, first tower, and gold generation ratings.

They also are better in combat and have the second-best kill-to-death ratio of 1.18 in the LCS. I think Flyquest can steal a game somewhere, but I do think TSM is the better team and I expect them to win this series. They are my second favorite stack on the board after G2 and a priority on this slate for me.

Top TSM Stack:

• Broken Blade - TOP (8400 FD, 6400 DK)
• Bjergsen - MID (8800 FD, 7400 DK)
• Biofrost - SUP (7600 FD, 5000 DK)

Favorite captain/MVP: Bjergsen

 

Top FQ Stack:

• PowerOfEvil - MID (8100 FD, 7000 DK)
• Santorin - JNG (8000 FD, 6600 DK)
• Solo - TOP (7700 FD, 5800 DK)

 

Summary

1. Never fade G2 on any LEC slate, let alone this one. Getting the right combination will be important.
2. The FQ/TSM series could be the closest one we've seen this weekend but I like TSM by a good margin. You can hedge that game, or just go all-in on TSM.
3. Playing LoL DFS is a ton of fun! I hope you're enjoying, learning more about the game, and making some money in the process!

 

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The @RotoBaller crew keeps producing ? content and insight. Been a great week so far and They have more great content coming for the weekend! Keep it up! @mr_malmanger @ThunderDanDFS @rdr1634 pic.twitter.com/L9B3njL2xL

— John Deacon (@Jdeacdfs) April 10, 2020

 

Be sure to check back throughout the week as we'll be publishing daily ESports DFS articles, analysis and lineup picks for League Of Legends, CounterStrike, Rocket League and eNASCAR. Thanks for reading, and good luck RotoBallers!

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