League of Legends DFS: EU LCS - Friday
Day one of the European LCS was worth the wait, delivering right from the start with Fnatic taking the day’s main event. Fnatic looked like a team that hadn’t gone through a full roster turnover as they easily dispatched split favorite Origen. Elements looked like the relegation team we believed they were and expected powerhouse Team Vitality were hit with a punch of reality. ROCCAT only took a single death at the hands of Vitality.
The fantasy story of the day was also Fnatic as they were the only team to reach at least 15 kills which left teams who didn’t trust the new Fnatic in the dust. They get another chance to impress on Friday against a Vitality team looking to avoid a sweep to start the season.
Odds
Unicorns of Love (-175) vs. Giants Gaming (+143)
Elements (-110) vs. Splyce (-110)
Fnatic (-294) vs. Team Vitality (+232)
Origen (-188) vs. H2k Gaming (+153)
ROCCAT (-123) vs. G2 Esports (+102)
Top
Wunderwear, SPL ($5,900) – A lot of people went this direction on Thursday as Wunder was the least expensive top lane on the board. Splyce came out flat and were beaten for the sub 30 minute bonus by Unicorns of Love, but it’s a new day and – most importantly – a new opponent. Elements remain the popular pick for automatic relegation and Splyce still has plenty of upside that could be on display here.
Vizicsacsi, UOL ($6,600) – Unicorns of Love laugh at worries of a downfall. UOL made a statement that they are ready for the season on Thursday and could find themselves at the top of the standing after week one. Vizicsacsi chomped his way on the Tahm Kench to a 3/0/4 line. The 26:56 win limited fantasy upside, but game times and fantasy scores are on the downtrend, so we’ll gladly take a repeat.
Jungle
Trick, G2 ($5,500) – One would think there’s no way ROCCAT allows Trick to get Graves again in this game, but he was perhaps the most exciting player to watch on Thursday against Elements. A 4/0/7 line with a league leading(amongst junglers) 26.6
damage%. That’s a very high DMG% and even if it isn’t sustainable it’ tells us that G2 wants Trick involved in their game plan.
Spirit, FNC ($6,400) – We knew Spirit just may show us that he’s the best jungler in the league coming into the season and he certainly did not disappoint. Spirit’s aggression on Zac early in the game against Origen had them scrambling to the point of no recovery. Fnatic coasted the rest of the way while Gamsu farmed Origen members for the easiest kills of his life. Expect a lot of Spirit dominating out of the jungle this season.
Mid
Ryu, H2k ($6,500) – DraftKings pricing clearly favors Origen over H2k in this game as Ryu has tanked down to the second least expensive mid laner. This is just too cheap for a player on a team that can certainly beat Origen on any given day. H2k defeated Giants with supreme ease in their first game while Origen struggled to communicate. Ryu is capable of coming out ahead against PowerofEvil and the considerable discount is worth the risk, particularly in tournaments.
Sencux, SPL ($6,800) – I think this comes down to pricing not yet recognizing that Elements may just be really, really bad. Perhaps they’ll turn it all around and prove me(and everybody else) wrong, but for now they should be picked on. As long as we’re going to be allowed to take players who are less expensive than their Elements counterpart, we’re just going to do it. Eika was completely outplayed by Perkz on Thursday. Sencux may not be as flashy as Perkz, but the fantasy numbers should be there by the time Elements’ Nexus falls.
ADC
Safir, ROC ($7,600) – Safir carried the load during ROCCAT’s upset of Vitality in the team’s opening game. His 37.5% DMG% was second only to Sencux of Splyce. Despite a matchup against the much more experienced pair of Hjarnan and kaSing, Safir was able to post positive @10 numbers as well as score first blood. Emperor and Nisbeth are by no means an easy lane, but they don’t compare to H2k’s bottom lane.
Kobbe, SPL ($7,200) – Maybe that really is Kobe. He and his teammates performances against Unicorns was certainly reminiscent of the currently 9-31 LA Lakers. I remain confident in Kobbe and Splyce however, and they get an immediate chance to rebound against Elements.
Team
The favorite: Unicorns of Love ($4,600) – Not the biggest favorite on the day, but I’m not buying Origen as being such a significant favorite over H2k.
The upset: G2 Esports ($4,000) – This is definitely an upset this time. ROCCAT took Vitality to the cleaners yesterday which is certainly a more impressive win than G2’s over Elements. Ultimately, this game is GPP only and any number of angles could pay off, but I like G2 to win.