This article is part of our DraftKings League of Legends series.
DraftKings LoL: Saturday Cheat Sheet
Cloud9 vs. Team Dignitas
Cloud9 won both regular season meetings, taking down Dignitas twice with a 2-1 score line. In both series, Dignitas took Game 1 before dropping the final two games. Cloud9 come into the playoffs winning six straight series, not dropping a best of three since Week 6, while DIG have won four of six series, including wins over Team SoloMid and Immortals.
This should be the closer of two series, with DIG playing fairly well coming into the playoffs. DIG have played much better since solidifying their roster with Altec and Adrian in the bottom lane and Shrimp in the jungle. The bottom lane has especially been good, with Altec (73.8%) and Adrian (77.3%) both in the top-15 in the league in terms of kill participation. I think the bottom lane is Dignitas' best chance of success, while Smoothie and Sneaky are no pushovers, they often aren't the driving force behind Cloud9.
That said, Cloud9 is still the favorite here and possesses a dominant Mid-Jungle pairing that should be able to lead them through to the semifinals. Jensen is a superstar mid laner, having performed better than any other player this split. He lead the NA LCS in kills, KDA, kill participation, and was the best player in terms of gold differential at 10 minutes, experience difference at 10 minutes, and creep score difference at 10 minutes. Simply stated, he is a beast. Contractz has been great in his second split, finishing second amongst junglers in kills, assists, KDA, and finished with a top-20 kill participation (71%) amongst all players. Contractz usually looks to get Jensen ahead, allowing C9's mid laner to carry games.
Dignitas have a great top laner in ssumday, but the unfortunate thing about this matchup against C9 is that he'll be up against Impact. Impact is good enough to stop ssumday from taking over games, limiting Dignitas' best player. That said I'd still take a shot on ssumday, as he's also worth it when he's priced cheaply.
Prediction: C9 3-2
C9 Players to consider: Contractz ($6,300), Jensen ($7,200), Smoothie ($5,500), C9 Team ($4,900)
DIG Players to consider: ssumday ($6,000), Altec ($6,700), Adrian ($4,900)
Unicorns of Love vs. Misfits
A little shorter on the analysis here. Unicorns beat Misfits 2-1 during Week 6 of the Summer Split, dropping the first game before taking the final two to win the series. It was a fairly close series, with Misfits putting up a good fight in all three games, before eventually falling victim to superior teamfighting in the final two matches. UoL come into the playoffs winning three of their last six series, while Misfits have only won two of their last four series.
Unicorns are heavily favored and as such are the most expensive plays on DraftKings. UoL are very tough to beat, especially in 5-vs-5 teamfights and I'm not sure Misfits are the right team to overcome them. As far as players, Vizicsacsi and Xerxe led their respective roles in kills during the regular season and both finished second in assists among top laners and junglers. Samux has been the main carry for UoL this split, taking over from Exileh. Samux finished second in kills and lead all AD carries in assists during the Summer Split. Last but not least, Hylissang finished second in assists in Europe.
The one place Misfits can look to take over the game is in the mid lane. PowerOfEvil has been a player to look out for all year and finished first amongst mid laners in kills and kill participation. He is the carry threat for this team and faces off against Exileh, who regressed mightily during the Summer Split. Exileh had the highest death total among mid laners, so look for Misfits to try and get PowerOfEvil ahead to carry games. PoE is probably a good contrarian shot for tournaments, as he's priced very cheaply for his potential upside.
Prediction: UoL 3-0
UoL Players to consider: Vizicsacsi ($6,600), Xerxe ($6,400), Samux ($7,500), Hylissang ($5,600), UoL Team ($5,100)
MSF Players to consider: PowerOfEvil ($6,500 - Tournament Play Only)
