RADIO
Jason Malmanger's expert League of Legends (LoL) DFS advice and DraftKings lineup picks for EU Masters slates on 4/24/20. His top LoL value plays and eSports DFS recommendations.
Welcome back RotoBallers to my League of Legends DFS column! We will continue to extend our analysis for LoL DFS across different leagues and sites, bringing you the insight you need to succeed. Thanks once again for the outpouring of support from the DFS and eSports communities. I can't thank you enough for the kind words on Twitter, and your support has afforded me the opportunity to write about something I love every day.
Welcome to the second day of the main stage of the EU Masters tournament, and I'm sure the thought has crossed your mind, "What exactly is this?" Think of it as EuroLeague NBA meets Triple-A ball. The LEC doesn't have an academy league like the LCS does, but what they do have is a vibrant collection of national associations to use as a feeder system for new talent and a retirement home for older. There are six more games on the docket today as the group stage continues. With the DraftKings offering contests for the EU Masters main stage and LPL/LCK playoffs continuing - it's an excellent time for eSports DFS enthusiasts like myself. Spring season is coming to a close, but there are still some massive contests posted in the FanDuel and DraftKings lobbies, including the 15-dollar Shock Blast that pays 50k to first place!
Today, I'll be providing my League of Legends advice, analysis and lineup picks for this EU Masters slate on DraftKings that locks at 12:00 PM ET on Friday, April 24th, 2020. Make sure you are following 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: Energypot Wizards (-130) vs. Esuba (-105)
While the last few days have seen some very lopsided contests today's matches in the group stage, have some very tight matchups. They are starting right off the bat with this match between the Wizards, who are the Balkan's champions versus eSuba, who are the Czechoslovakian champs.
Both of these regions are historically weak at EU Masters, and yesterday's upset of FNC by WIZ is probably the biggest win for either region. I think that is going to set up nicely for the Wizard fade to start off the day on Friday.
Esuba has made their way through the play-ins by beating the Italian second seed, which, as we have seen, is not a very powerful league. They also took a game from GL the third seed out of Germany in the play-ins, which to me, is a higher quality win than the more current upset of FNC. Stats for these minor regions are hard to come by.
I think we will see WIZ be highly owned on DraftKings and FanDuel as the books have them as a favorite, but both sites have them priced as dogs. I messed up this call yesterday, calling for the fade of K1CK, but I'm going right back to a similar spot today. For cash games, I don't think you can pass up this value, but for GPPs, I'm going to look at getting a bit different.
Jejky - JNG ($7,000)
The eSuba jungler leads the team in both KP% and kill share, plus in their series win over RCN in the knock out stage, he led the team in DKP as well. That kind of carry performance will make him a nice one-off on Friday if you're looking to get different.
Rufus - SUP ($5,000)
Another nice spot to differentiate on Friday could be the eSuba support Rufus. Not only does he share a name with one of my favorite dog's ever he's second on the team in KP%, and as we have seen WIZ focus bot lane very hard so that will put him in the center of the action on Friday.
12:45 PM: Mouse (-185) vs. Fnatic Rising
I think this line should be higher on the side of Mouse, and from what I've seen thus far in the tournament, FNC has not impressed. They are the number one seed from the UK, but barely squeaked out of their playoffs.
They finished the regular season in second place well behind XL. They have played sloppy, and Mouse has been on point. I expect FNC to step their game up in the face of stiffer competition, but they are no IG or G2. Mouse win this in a spot I think might be fairly popular due to FNC poor showing yesterday.
LIDER - MID ($8,000)
Friday will bring us a showdown of LEC level mid-laners. LIDER played for MSF at times last summer, and MagicFelix did some subbing for FNC in summer too. The two never met in LEC, but LIDER and his MSF squad did have a surprising upset in week six over Nemesis and FNC.
He played Akali and thrashed the emotionless Nemesis showing his proficiency on assassin champions. He sits third on the team in KP%, but his 37% kill share leads everyone else by a full ten percent. That's insane. Hopefully, we will get to see him on Irelia before then end of the groups as that is his signature champion.
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1:30 PM: Giants (-475) vs. Defuse Kids
I hyped today as a day of close calls, but this is one of the two that are pretty clear cut. On a different day, I might take a shot on DraftKings here due to their crazy red side proficiency, but that day is not today.
There is no need to get cute here as the Giants, Spain's first seed, is set to run the Dutch representatives off easily. They play in a much stronger league and have statistical advantages early and late. The problem here is the pricing. GIA is the top of the top, and DraftKings is one of the slower teams in the tournament, averaging only 16.75 deaths per loss.
Pretty - MID ($8,200)
If I can only fit one of the carries on GIA, I'll look to the mid-laner pretty. In their last game, Hjarnan needed a Penta-kill on the fountain to hit value. A lot of his time was spent farming and scaling while Pretty was in the center of the action. Hjarnan does have a few percentage points over Pretty in KP% and KS%, but as I expect this game to be over quickly, I'll take the mid-laner.
2:15 PM: LDLC (-115) vs. Rogue (-120)
The French runners-up versus the Portuguese champions fits my theme of the day of close matches. This match will be a spot to watch what happens with these odds closer to lock. Right now, I like the idea of getting ROG at a discount on DraftKings as they are the favorites on FanDuel, and I wasn't impressed with LDLC's performance vs. GIA to open the tournament.
We've also seen the other Portuguese representative K1CK perform very well, and that bodes well for the side of ROG. On FanDuel I might take the discount on the side of LDLC and run. LDLC has slightly better objective control, but ROG wins the vision match up. Its close and I like Rogue to win here.
Woolite - ADC ($6,400) and Mystiques - SUP ($4,400)
The bot lane duo from the side of Rogue is LEC quality, and they have both played up as recently as last summer. Woolite's Rogue squad even going so far as to make the playoffs. Hades and Yellowstar are a weak link to me on the side of LDLC.
Yellowstar is 28 years old and has been playing professionally since Season one, and we're currently halfway through Season ten. Hades is 19 and just joined the team in March. I think this is a huge advantage for the side of ROG, especially when you consider Woolite leads the team in both KP% and KS%.
3:00 PM: BTXL (-135) vs. GamerLegion (-105)
GL is the third seed from Germany, but they finished their regular season at 8-10 backing into the playoffs. Since then, they have been riding a hot streak through the playoffs and the play-ins.
XL, on the other hand, finished first in the regular season only to stumble to the two seed int he playoffs. This matchup is one I think we can skip on Friday's slate, but if I had to pick, I'd side with the GL here as the German league is historically so strong.
We saw it yesterday with the GO vs. XL matchup, and on the first day with S04 and MSR that teams who are close and slow do not put up big fantasy numbers. With both teams hovering around 17 deaths in a loss I will look elsewhere for fantasy goodness on Friday.
3:45 PM: Gamers Origin (-575) vs. YDN
You Die Next was embarrassed on Thursday vs. GL, and I fully expect the French Champions to follow suit. YDN went all-in on a very odd assassin heavy early game composition that did not play out well. Their strength has been early game comps, but GO start games strong as well. I do not think this will be close
Bluerzor - JNG ($7,600)
The core of this team remains unchanged from last year's EU Masters squad. Bluerzore leads his team with 77% KP and should be a main playmaker for the French champions here. I don't really want to spend up for any members of GO here, but if I do, I'll take the jungler.
Bluerzor started hot yesterday in his game vs. XL, and likely will again vs. the Italian champs here. Just like some of the junglers in the LPL, I think we could see him carry this game before his carries have time to come online.
Summary
- It might be hard to get away from the value presented by WIZ in cash games. It will allow me to load up on GO as I think they have the better upside of the two big favorites.
- Mouse looks much better than FNC, and I like them to win, and FNC has looked sloppy. Their sloppiness has led to some serious fantasy points, and I wouldn't be surprised to see that again.
- Giants should run Defuse Kids so I will likely skip that match.
- Rogue and LDLC is probably my favorite spot for GPPs as both teams average north of 20 deaths in losses this year.
- Despite XL and GL being close like RG and LDLC, I don't like this matchup as much. Both teams are more conservative, and objective focused.
- GO are the higher upside of the big favorites, and this has more to do with YDN. The Italian champs have one way to win and that's to jump ahead early, and when that doesn't work, they have to do a lot of fighting from behind.
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Looking Forward
The League of Legends DFS action never stops, and we here at Rotoballer have got you covered. EU masters are in full swing, and we will have two weeks of the group stage to keep us busy while waiting for LPL/LCK playoffs to finish up. Then it will be on to MSI, and it will be summer split before you know it.
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, Counter Strike, Rocket League and eNASCAR. Thanks for reading, and good luck RotoBallers!
RotoBaller Testimonials
Readers of RotoBaller's eSports DFS articles have been winning money on DraftKings and FanDuel regularly. Some of them are winning contests daily and bringing in some serious cheddar. Check one out below and lots more here!
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