DraftKings and FanDuel League of Legends Overview: LEC - Friday, March 20th
We’re back with yet another exciting League of Legends slate on DraftKings and (new!) FanDuel. This time, it’s the European Championship back in action after a hiatus. The daily fantasy eSports slate begins at 1 PM Friday, and there are record-breaking price pools (by LoL standards) including a $100K guaranteed GPP and exciting levels of other action available.
While it’s nothing compared to what we’re used to, it feels great to be covering a DFS slate and we’re ready to give you the information you need to kickstart your lineup building process.
IMPORTANT: League of Legends tools, such as our LineupHQ optimizer, will be moving to premium status soon (existing Core Premium subs will be able to access). Be sure to give everything we offer a test drive today and then sign up for the tools and information we’ll provide this coming weekend, when some additional LOL leagues will return to action.
MAD Lions (8-6) vs. SK Gaming (2-12)
Projected Starting Lineup – MAD
Orome
Shadow
Humanoid
Carzzy
Kaiser
Projected Starting Lineup – SK
Sacre
Trick
Jenax
Crownshot
LIMIT
Matchup Breakdown:
I’ve been looking at a lot of stats, and LEC/LCS seems a lot different than LPL for DFS. With the bo1 format, I think targeting close games will be important. With that said, SK Gaming has been terrible this season, and MAD Lions should have no trouble dominating this game. They played earlier this season and MAD had 11 kills compared to 2 kills for SK. The biggest advantage stats-wise seems to be Humanoid in MID. I think MAD players are safe here, but I do think they’re upside is limited due to this being a lopsided game. Kaiser does seem like one of the better plays at support on this slate.
I don’t want to spend a lot of time on SK Gaming here. They’re clearly one of the worst teams in the league this season. They rank last in kills per game and kill to death ratio. They’re also ranked second to last in gold differential per minute. Crownshot would have to have a big game for them to win or even come close to winning. If you’re wanting to take a shot in the dark on a +305 team, he would be the player I’d roll the dice on.
FC Schalke 04 (3-11) vs. Misfits Gaming (9-5)
Projected Starting Lineup – S04
Odoamne
Lurox
Abbedagge
Innaxe
Dreams
Projected Starting Lineup – MSF
Dan Dan
Razork
Febiven
Bvoy
denyk
Matchup Breakdown:
Like SK Gaming, it’s been a rough start to the season for S04. They did have a major upset win against G2 in Week 4, so I’d say anything is possible. S04 is the smallest underdog on this slate, and even though it seems like MSF will win, I think in tournaments, you could roll out a contrarian S04 stack. Abbedagge has the best advantage in mid here, and he currently leads the league with 34.2% damage per game. With that said, the first time these two teams met, Febiven rocked Abbedagge in mid. I’ll have at least one stack, but I wouldn’t go to crazy with this one. Innaxe, Odoamne, and Abbedagge would be my main targets in a stack but could also see moving one of them out for Lurox.
It’s been a great start to the season for MSF, and they’re going to look to keep it going in this matchup. I actually really like the upside in this game for MSF. S04 ranks first in game duration this season, and this turns into a long bloody win for MSF, they could be a difference-maker for tournaments. Bvoy is my top target for this team. He has a 6.7 KDA, which is the third-highest in the league this season. Denyk has a high KDA and KP, which makes him a strong support play. Dan Dan is probably my least favorite of this group, but I’ll have multiple stacks with this team and don’t plan on fading anyone.
Excel Esports (7-7) vs. Fnatic (10-4)
Projected Starting Lineup – XL
Expect
Caedrel
Mickey
Patrik
Tore
Projected Starting Lineup – FNC
Bwipo
SelfMade
Nemesis
Rekkles
Hylissang
Matchup Breakdown:
Fnatic is one of the biggest favorites on this slate, which should make Excel Esports one of the lowest owned teams. XL ranks third in game duration, but Fnatic has the lowest game duration in the league. I think for DFS purposes, Mickey and Patrik would need big games if XL was able to pull off an upset win. They both have good KP and seem to correlate really well together. Fnatic is such a well-rounded team, there’s a reason why they have the second-best record in the league.
Fnatic is better at farming, objectives, and they’re a much more aggressive team. I think they take down XL in this matchup, and they’re one of the biggest favorites on this slate. Rekkles is considered one of the best ADC players in the league and seems to have the most upside for this team. Nemesis is also considered the top mid player in the league. Rekkles has a crazy high 8.8 KDA this season, which leads the league by .9. You have to pay for Rekkles, but I do think he’s one of the best plays on this slate. I think all of these players are strong plays, I’m not really high on Hylissang. He doesn’t get a lot of kills and hasn’t scored over 30 fantasy points in any of his last ten games. My biggest concern about this stack is this game being lopsided and these players not paying off their price points.
Origen (10-4) vs. Team Vitality (1-13)
Projected Starting Lineup – OG
Alphari
Xerxe
Nukeduck
UpseT
Destiny
Projected Starting Lineup – VIT
Cabochard
Skeanz
Selfie
Comp
Steeelback
Matchup Breakdown:
I feel like our first taste of LEC has a lot of lopsided matches. That doesn’t change with this matchup as Origen should have no problem with Team Vitality. OG ranks third in kills per game, while VIT ranks second to last. The only thing somewhat interesting with this game is both teams tend to play longer games. Origen dominated the first matchup against VIT, but the game went 38:35. UpseT is clearly the best play on this team, and one of the best plays on this slate. His 7.9 KDA is the second-best in the league, and his 29.5% damage per game is the fifth highest. I like the ADC/MID/JNG stack for OG, but we’re really hoping that VIT keeps it close enough that the game goes longer.
This team is bad, and if they end up winning this game, I’m not going to win any tournaments. I don’t plan on playing anyone from VIT. They average 7.4 kills per game, which is the second-worst. They’re dead last in both gold per minute and gold differential per minute. Selfie and Comp do a lot of damage per game, but they both have low kill per game numbers. It would be a major upset if VIT (+425) beat OG (-750) in this game.
G2 Esports (11-3) vs. Rogue (9-5)
Projected Starting Lineup – G2
Wunder
Jankos
Perkz
Caps
Mikyx
Projected Starting Lineup – RGE
Finn
Inspired
Larssen
Hans sama
Vander
Matchup Breakdown:
This is the game I’m most excited to watch, and I’m glad it starts at 4:20pm EST instead of 4am EST (LPL joke). G2 leads the lead with 17.3 kills per game, which is 2.8 higher than Fnatic in second. They’re the most aggressive team in the league, and games tend to be a little on the quicker side for them. They also get first blood 78.6% of the time, which is the highest in the league. The first matchup against RGE the game went 38:45, which would be a dream scenario for a four-player stack in tournaments. Mikyx is the best support player in the league. Caps and Perkz are two of the best overall players in the league, and Perkz is considered one of the best players in the world by many LoL experts. I don’t have a least favorite from this team, and they’re likely going to be popular in what should be a bloody, close matchup. While I love the upside of G2, I do think we have a few safer/cheaper options for cash games.
I’m sure we’re going to have plenty of chances to play Rogue this season, but this is the toughest matchup on the board. As I mentioned above, G2 is the best team in the league right now. Unfortunately for Rogue, they play both G2 and Fnatic this weekend. Rogue would have to play a complete game and G2 would have to be off for Rogue to win this one. I’ll have a lot of G2 stacks, so I will have a few hedge stacks with RGE. Larssen would be my top target from RGE, but I will say, Finn did a lot of damage in the first matchup between these two teams. I’d likely pair Hans sama and Inspired with them to make this a full hedge stack. I really think this one be a fun game to watch.