RADIO
Nathan's expert League of Legends (LoL) DFS advice and DraftKings, FanDuel lineup picks for LPL & LCK on 1/12/22. His top LoL value plays and eSports DFS recommendations.
Welcome back all to a new split of League of Legends DFS! The past two days have been LPL only slates with only two games each, but tonight we have the much-awaited first 4-game slate of the year. The LCK is back and there are some new faces out there in both leagues.
Roster changes will be addressed if need be when mentioning each team. As a friendly reminder, if you can't stomach any sub risk or don't enjoy waking up mid-REM sleep, then figure a way to roster players that don't hold any sub risk. The LCK is tricky when it comes to starting lineups, and we are usually given the LCK starting lineups about an hour or so before lock, for the first series. (@KorizonEsports on Twitter is a good lineup source, as well as @kenzi131) We are going to try and project starters based on who has recently been starting. LPL starters are found earlier and on Twitter too.
I'll provide my League of Legends advice, analysis, and picks, for this LPL & LCK slate on DraftKings and FanDuel that locks at 3:00 AM on Wednesday, January 12th, 2022. If you have any questions about the slate or anything please reach out to me on Twitter @nvanhareDFS. I'll do my best to provide some useful analysis. The odds listed are from Pinnacle. Let's jump right into the matchups
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LCK Matches
3:00 AM: DRX (-191) vs. SBX (+156)
This is the first game of the LCK and it features two teams with very new-looking rosters. DRX is a team full of impressive players from past years/splits and it should be very interesting to see how they all work together. SBX also looks new and has Dove who has swapped lanes from the Mid lane to top lane.
We should get starting lineups prior to lock for this one so keep an eye out on Twitter for them to be posted!
SBX comes into the split keeping only one player from their starting roster last year. They have picked up two new ADC's. a new top laner, a new support, and a new mid. Some of the names you'll recognize if you've been playing LoL DFS for a while but Kael and Envyy might be new for most. Envyy boasts an impressive 5.2/1.7/6.1 KDA in wins in 2020 and a 3.6/3.6/5.3 KDA in losses. The man really puts up numbers win or lose. Kael has much more lackluster stats for a support with only an average of 10.8 assists per win as compared to 12+ for many of the supports in the region. Croco is a personal favorite of mine and Dove should be fun to see in the top lane.
DRX is likely to be composed of Kingen, Pyosik, Zeka, Deft, and BeryL. All very solid players from the last year or so and now working together to try and win this league.
Both of these teams are in play for GPPs and neither is for cash. This is one of the games I think likely goes under-owned in primary stacks on the slate so I would exploit that.
Top DRX plays: Pyosik, Zeka
Top SBX plays: Croco, Envyy
6:00 AM: T1(-294) vs. KF (+231)
For the second LCK series, we won't have starting lineups before lock but we can make some educated guesses about what the teams will be rolling out.
T1 is likely to use Zeus, Oner, Faker, Gumayusi, and Keria while Kwangdon is assumed to use Kiin, Ellim, Fate, Teddy, Hoit.
It's the first game of the split for both of these teams so we don't have much of an idea about how the teams mesh or how they stack up against one another. I'm not usually a fan of taking LCK dogs in matchups, but in this game style and this early in the split, both teams are going to be in play for GPPs. Ellim and Teddy are back for revenge against their old team T1, revenge narratives "always" come true (always is a loosely defined word here), so load up on Ellim and Teddy in your KF stacks.
I think that in cash, T1 makes for a good play only if they let you get a higher ceiling team than if you used a double LPL stack. KF is not to be used in cash game lineups!
Top T1 Plays: Oner, Zeus
Top KF Plays: Ellim, Teddy.
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LPL Matches
4:00 AM: TES (-579) vs. RA (+415)
The LPL has two very straightforward matchups today so will be touching on them lightly. The favorites are massive favorites but again, it's early in the split so don't be afraid to take shots on the underdogs in GPPs.
RA will be rolling out Cube, Leyan, Strive, iBoy, and Zorah while TES will be using Zoom, Tian, Knight, JackeyLove, and Zhuo.
TES is massively favored here and is expected to make a run for the LPL spring title as always. In each position, they outclass Rare Atom and are likely to put up some decent scores here in wins. TES loves to skirmish and team fight and will be going out of their way to increase the pace of this game as RA tends to play a bit slow for their liking. Zhuo and Knight are a killer combo when he roams and Tian should be interesting to watch with this team dynamic. TES makes for a good full stack in both GPPs and cash games.
RA is another story. This team is struggling hard with the current roster and they come up against a titan in the LPL. If, big if, RA can pull off the win here they likely do by making TES play their style and I don't see them putting up scores that are too high. I would look to use RA in secondary stacks in GPP only.
Top RA plays: Strive, iBoy
Top TES plays: Knight, Zhuo
6:00 AM: LNG (-473) vs. UP (+350)
Another massive favorite game here with LNG's super squad up against the major dogs Ultra Prime. With the addition of LvMao and Doinb, LNG are trying to make a title run this split and this is a great warmup match for them. This is a high kill match in which both sides like to push the pace. Either of these teams "should" score well in wins and should be looked at as primary stacks in your GPPS. LNG is a primary cash stack as well.
LNG is using: Ale, Tarzan, Doinb, Light, and LvMao. UP is using zs, H4cker, Cryin, Elk, ShiauC. With Cryin and Elk the squad has definitely improved from last year, but are still up against it here with LNG. I will definitely be playing some of them in GPPs as the split is early and we do not know for sure the team chemistry present in each squad.
LNG is a priority for me in all formats, look to load up on them!
Top LNG Plays: Light, Doinb, Tarzan, Ale, LvMao, play them all
Top UP Plays: Elk, H4cker
Summary
- TLDR: LPL games are pretty straightforward massive favorites. LCK games are both closer to toss ups and make for interesting GPP plays.
- GPP Stacks: All teams are in play here of course but would look to target the UP/LNG game as well as get overexposed to SBX
- Cash Stacks: Look to pair LNG with TES in most cases. If using T1 in cash, only do so if it allows you to create a higher ceiling team.
Good luck tomorrow RotoBallers!
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