ESPORTS

League of Legends Daily Fantasy Helper: LPL/LCK, Thursday 4/9/20

FanDuel is offering League of Legends daily fantasy, and look, if you don't know what that is, it's okay.

I have you covered with a detailed but straightforward primer to get you all set up whether you're a DFS player looking to dig into the new sport or a League of Legends fan ready to take your action over to FanDuel.

Let's break down the LPL/LCK slate for Thursday, April 9th, and see who stands out. (Just a heads up, the slate locks at 2:00 am Eastern.)

The Slate

It's a five-game slate split between the LPL and LCK. LPL and LCK matchups are a best-of-three format. Players who win a series in two games will get a 20-point bonus for a game not played. Winning teams get a 15-point bonus for a game not played.

The table shows a team's kill-to-death ratio (K:D) and their net tower score (towers gained versus towers surrendered). All stats are from gol.gg. The last two columns display a team's win and sweep odds based on simulations I've run on the matchups. The table is sorted by projected series win odds, which are based heavily on K:D and net towers.

Team Opp K:D Net Towers Win% Sweep%
T1 Sandbox Gaming 1.60 3.0 76.4% 42.1%
Royal Never Give Up LGD Gaming 1.26 1.3 73.7% 40.3%
EDward Gaming LNG Esports 1.36 1.1 70.1% 37.5%
Invictus Gaming JD Gaming 1.13 3.3 62.5% 32.9%
Afreeca Freecs Griffin 0.84 -1.1 60.8% 31.2%
Griffin Afreeca Freecs 0.72 -4.3 39.2% 15.1%
JD Gaming Invictus Gaming 1.34 2.0 37.5% 19.6%
LNG Esports Edward Gaming 0.81 -1.8 29.9% 14.9%
LGD Gaming Royal Never Give Up 0.88 -1.1 26.3% 16.0%
Sandbox Gaming T1 0.91 -0.2 23.6% 11.9%


There are a lot of good plays from T1, Royal Never Give Up, EDward Gaming, and Invictus Gaming, but you can't spend up for all of them. I'll hit on some of those options but also try to feature some cheaper plays.

ADC

Teddy (T1; $10,000) - Teddy ranks first among LCK AD Carries in KDA (kill/death/assist ratio) and is second on the slate behind only Hope (EDward Gaming; $10,400). Hope's KDA of 8.64 is a stop above Teddy's 7.81, but only two other AD Carries on this slate boast a KDA above 4.72. T1 have a huge mid/late-game rating over SANDBOX Gaming, and they rate out as expected winners, which can't be understated in League of Legends daily fantasy. He's coming in off a three-game stat line of 12/0/21 against Griffin.

Others to Consider: Hope (EDward Gaming; $10,400), Puff (Invictus Gaming; $10,100), Betty (Royal Never Give Up; $9,600)

Mid

Faker (T1; $8,900) - Mid lane is pretty loaded at the top, but Faker is the cheapest of the top four, and so he's an easy recommendation. He ranks third on the slate among mid-laners in KDA and is second in creep score per game. Combine that with T1's win odds agains SANDBOX Gaming, and Faker really becomes an easy recommendation here. Faker should be able to out-duel Dove (SANDBOX Gaming; $8,400), against whom he looks likely to have an early-game gold lead. Dove also rates poorly in damage per minute.

Others to Consider: Scout (EDward Gaming; $9,300), Xiaohu (Royal Never Give Up; $9,100), Yagao (JD Gaming; $8,500)

Top

Zoom (JD Gaming; $8,500) - You want to spend up at ADC and Mid, so you'll have to start saving somewhere. Even though I have JD Gaming as an underdog against top-ranked Invictus Gaming, top laners who lose are the least impacted negatively from losses, anecdotally because they're isolated in the top lane and are able to play more of their game regardless of the rest of the map (just trying to simplify the reasoning). Anyway, Zoom is back in top lane for JD Gaming and has been for two straight matches. In those four games, he has been a combined 12/10/33. There are better process plays, but we're getting savings here.

Others to Consider: Aodi (EDward Gaming; $9,000), TheShy (Invictus Gaming; $8,900), Canna (T1; $8,600), Langx (Royal Never Give Up; $8,400)

Jungle

Peanut (LGD Gaming; $8,100) - Peanut's squad, LGD Gaming, are just 3-7 and face a stronger team in Royal Never Give Up (7-4). Still, opposing junglers (and tops) are typically a little less sensitive to losses, which is what's expected for LGD. Peanut ranks second in kill participation rate among full-time junglers on the slate and is second in kills per game. He can certainly fall to elevated deaths but is a cheaper option if you need to save salary.

Others to Consider: Leyan (Invictus Gaming; $8,700), Kanavi (JD Gaming; $8,500), Punch (SANDBOX Gaming; $8,300)

Support

Killua (LGD Gaming; $7,000) - You should try to stack your support with an AD Carry for big upside, but you can't always swing that due to the fact that the top AD Carries are expensive, and the supports tied to them are also expensive. Killua is very cheap and has started and finished each of the past three series for LGD Gaming. He's second among supports on the slate in KDA over a 10-game sample.

Others to Consider: Southwind (Invictus Gaming; $7,800), Ming (Royal Never Give Up; $7,600), LvMao (JD Gaming; $7,400)

Teams

With teams, it's best to treat them as a position you don't build around or punt with. Put another way: don't force it, but don't ignore it. Kind of like defense in NFL DFS. You should target the biggest favorites you can within your salary cap and avoid teams destined to lose 0-2. Afreeca Freecs ($7,600).

Others to Consider: T1 ($7,900), EDward Gaming ($8,000), Royal Never Give Up ($7,500)