Hey everyone, good morning/afternoon, and welcome to RotoBaller's coverage of League of Legends DFS for both FanDuel and DraftKings. Be on the lookout for coverage of the LPL, LCK, and LEC as well as we have some great analysts covering all LoL leagues for the Summer Split. Today, I'll be focusing on the 5-game LCS slate starting at 6 P.M. EST.
In a relatively surprising turn of events, at this point in 2021, Immortals are playing their games remotely for the weekend. Their opponents also have the option of playing their games remotely. This could definitely lead to some ping issues and some sloppy games so I'd keep an eye on how things go today!
Today I'll be bringing you my League of Legends advice and analysis for the five-game LCS slate that locks on Friday, July 23rd, at 6:00 PM. Thanks for reading, you can find me on Twitter @nvanhareDFS for more DFS related content!
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LCS Matchups
- 100 Thieves (-124) vs. Cloud9(+102)
- Team SoloMid (-117) vs. Evil Geniuses (-103)
- FlyQuest (+179) vs. Liquid (-223)
- CounterLogic Gaming (+115) vs. Golden Guardians (-140)
- Dignitas(+127) vs. Immortals(-155)
100 Thieves vs. Cloud 9
Two of the top teams in the LCS going at it. Over the last few months, this game has disappointed in kill totals for the winning team, something I didn't fully expect when looking into it. In their last 5 games, the winning team has averaged 15.6 kills per win. On a slate where we are likely to see higher totals in other games, this is one I'm not looking to main stack in my lineups. Generally, people enjoy playing the guys from these teams too, so we may see some heightened ownership on them, undeserved.
I wouldn't touch either side of this game in cash as it's too much of a coinflip but It makes for a decent secondary stack in GPPs. There's no one on each of these teams that I would say to avoid, they're all good players and have solid ceilings in wins.
Top C9 Plays: Zven, Fudge, Blaber
Top 100T Plays: FBI. Closer, Abbedagge
Team SoloMid vs. Evil Geniuses
More tough teams battling it out here. This is a game of two very different strategies as TSM loves the technical side of the game while EG is a full steam ahead fighting team. Normally I wouldn't target a TSM game in GPPs, but this might be a case where I look to use both sides as both secondary and primary stacks. In their last 6 games, the winning team has averaged about 17.8 kills per win. This is a pretty good number when looking at the slate and the results from the league this year so it's a spot I'm looking to take advantage of here.
I wouldn't be using this game in cash, but I love it in GPPs. I'll likely be over the field on both EG and TSM main stacks. In my TSM stacks, I'm making sure to use PowerOfEvil in each and everyone with the same thing going for Impact in my EG exposure.
I lean EG here in this matchup because of their recent play, although they are coming off of a bad loss, they do have a much-improved skill set this second half of the split.
Top TSM plays: PowerOfEvil, Lost
Top EG plays: Impact, Danny
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FlyQuest vs. Liquid
In a game that seemed much closer than it was, FlyQuest lost to 100 Thieves last weekend 21-11. This doesn't bode well for their matchup this Friday against Team Liquid, a team of high skill as well. Dont get me wrong, I still love FlyQuest and will definitely be using them in GPPs. But, Liquid is definitely one of my favorite cash plays on the slate. They are the better team clearly in this matchup and we don't have a lot of those spots on this slate. In cash, they become very important.
In GPPs I love a good FlyQuest play. They shouldn't be as owned anymore coming off of a loss, and they're dogs in this matchup as well. That being said, I like them more as a primary stack than a secondary one, as if they do manage to pull off a win here it's going to be with their style of high pace, high kill.
Top FQ Plays: Triple, Nxi
Top TL Plays: Alphari, Tactical
Golden Guardians vs. CounterLogic Gaming
Last week on Sunday may have been the most demoralizing game of LoL that I've been able to watch since I began to follow. CLG was leading by 10k gold and dominating the game when IMT started to just play around for fun. IMT won an objective a few times and we watched the confidence drain from the players of CLG. As the game pressed on and IMT continued to come back, it was clear that CLG had given up on the game. After IMT secured the win, CLG players were in tears and I don't know how you mentally come back from that.
This week is going to be important for the CLG team. They've let this sting sit for a week now waiting to play their next game. Who knows whether they come out with a fire in their step or just going through the motions of being there because of their contracts.
In any situation, this is my favorite GPP game to target. If CLG shows up and just gives up early GG can rack up kills and dominate this game. Vice-versa, if CLG shows up and gives this their all, we could be in for a highly contested, exciting, action game of two very average to below-average teams. GG has looked much better lately but I still believe they are closely matched teams overall.
GG is my other cash play team as I would be pairing them with Liquid on this slate.
Top GG plays: Stixxay, Ablazeolive, Chime
Top CLG Plays: Damonte, Broxah, Finn
Dignitas vs. Immortals
The last game of the day is my other favorite game to target for GPPs. Immortals are playing from a remote location and Dignitas may as well. This could lead to some interesting game dynamics with high ping. Coupled with this, Dignitas is a team that wins hard and loses hard. I expect to see the winner of this game put up good numbers as DIG has an 18 kill per win average and IMT has a 17 kill per win. IMT has 16 death per loss and Dignitas a 17.
Normally I would say that IMT would be a good cash play here but this game is going to be very unpredictable in how the distance is going to affect gameplay. Because of this, I lean towards using both of these teams in GPPs only.
Top DIG plays: Neo, FakeGod
Top IMT Plays: Insanity, Raes
Summary
- GG and TL seem like my favorite cash lineup spots
- TSM vs. EG likely goes under-owned in GPPs and I like the idea of using multiple primary stacks of them
- IMT vs DIG and GG vs CLG are my two favorite GPP stacking games on the slate, all these teams have the potential for slate-breaking upside.
- I'm not one to make predictions but I'm going to have a fun 5 game parlay each week where I post my picks here in the summary. This week I'm going with DIG, GG, FQ, EG, C9! Good luck to all that are playing this weekend!
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