This article is part of our DraftKings League of Legends series.
DraftKings LoL LCS: Sunday Cheat Sheet:
Daily Player Recommendations:
Top Lane:
Hauntzer (Team SoloMid vs. Team Dignitas, $7,200): This is likely the biggest mismatch that TSM has in terms of skill going into this game, as while BillyBoss has proven himself somewhat effective in team fights, his split push game has been dreadful, and that's the game Hauntzer loves to play. TSM has also, on a whole, been better at enabling their top laner, something Dignitas usually manages to do the opposite of, especially in lane swap games. If Hauntzer isn't controlled, he'll unleash hell on Dignitas, and so far they have proven incapable of keeping such control on the top side of the map, making him a safe investment in my eyes.
Other suggestions: Darshan (Counter Logic Gaming vs. Renegades, $7,400), Balls (NRG eSports vs. Cloud9, $6,800), kfo (Echo Fox vs. Team Impulse, $6,500)
Top Lane Player to Avoid:
Lourlo (Immortals vs. Team Liquid, $5,200): While he doesn't have the insane price tag from yesterday, he's still in an unenviable position. Few top laners manage to fight Huni gracefully, and Lourlo is unlikely to buck that trend. His price is low enough to be a candidate for a longshot, but there's better people on his team to be on in that case, as a Piglet hard-carry really seems to be the only likely way Team Liquid are going to be seeing a victory screen this week.
Jungle:
Rush (Cloud9 vs. NRG eSports, $6,600): This jungle matchup is sure to be explosive, but there's little doubt that Rush will come out ahead. Moon has demonstrated a very gank-heavy playstyle that tends to be feast-or-famine, and it will only take a single failed gank attempt for Rush to get the lead in experience, a lead he'll use to find and kill Moon at every opportunity. I would not be at all surprised to see the first blood from this game be Rush unto Moon, and that situation will start a snowball that NRG will be unable to stop, with Rush at the head.
Other suggestions: Xmithie (Counter Logic Gaming vs. Renegades, $7,200)
Jungler Player to Avoid:
Svenskeren (Team Dignitas vs. Team SoloMid, $7,000): While I don't doubt that TSM will take this game, it remains to be seen if Svenskeren will have something to do with that, or just come along for the ride. While his mechanical play against Cloud9 was solid, it still didn't earn him the points that his salary commanded, and this is a similar case. With Rush and Hard both sitting beneath him in the salary lists, while both having outperformed him yesterday, it's hard to justify taking him. For only another couple hundred dollar, you can instead have Reignover, who is sure to bring home more points.
Middle Lane:
HuHi (Counter Logic Gaming vs. Renegades, $8,300): While his price tag might look insane, there's no reason to think that HuHi won't earn it. Last time he found himself across a lane against Alex Ich he killed him outright in the laning phase, and kills like that tend to blow games wide open for an assassin savant like HuHi. If Renegades allow him an Ahri or LeBlanc pick, he may well earn a KDA that will make even the vast sum of money required to get him on a roster look paltry by comparison.
Other suggestions: Froggen (Echo Fox vs. Team Impulse, $7,200), Jensen (Cloud9 vs. NRG eSports, $7,600)
Middle Lane Player to Avoid:
Pobelter (Immortals vs. Team Liquid, $8,300): A quick perusal of the KDA's Pobelter has pulled down recently should make this obvious. For his cost, he's simply not putting up the numbers you would expect, barely outperforming enemy mid laners in some cases even when his team wins. While he's all but guaranteed to be on the winning side of this game, that doesn't make his price tag worth it on it's own.
ADC:
KEITH (Echo Fox vs. Team Impulse, $7,300): To say KEITH overperformed yesterday would be an understatement, as even I was blown away by his performance, and I actively supported him going into the weekend. Today, he faces an even less impressive lane, as Mash has rightfully or wrongfully been branded the weakest ADC in the region. If Echo Fox snatch another victory today, it's hard to imagine that KEITH won't get a big share of the pie, which makes his price tag pretty desirable even if he doesn't snatch another game-ending quadra kill.
Other suggestions: WildTurtle (Immortals vs. Team Liquid, $8,300), Sneaky (Cloud9 vs. NRG eSports, $7,700)
ADC Player to Avoid:
Stixxay (Counter Logic Gaming vs. Renegades, $8,300): This one is simple. In no world does Stixxay command a higher salary than Wildturturtle. While Renegades might be a team beset with problems, Freeze is not one of them, and there's certainly precedent for him utterly dominating his opposing laners. In fact, the last time CLG met Renegades, Freeze did get the better of Stixxay. When you can acquire Doublelift for less, or Turtle for the same price betting on Stixxay simply seems illogical.
Support:
Hai (Cloud9 vs. NRG eSports, $5,700): Coming in at well beneath the average salary cap, we have Cloud9's legendary Hai. While the result of this game is difficult to predict for sure, both of these teams have demonstrated an incredible willingness to skirmish, which can only mean tons of assists for Hai, who tends towards a very high kill participation for his role. While he might not bring in the most points from his role today, his lower cost makes him a safer bet.
Other Suggestions: BIG (Echo Fox vs. Team Impulse, $5,400), YellOwStaR (Team SoloMid vs. Team Dignitas, $6,100), Aphromoo (Counter Logic Gaming vs. Renegades, $6,200)
Support Player to Avoid:
Matt (Immortals vs. Team Liquid, $4,100): Supports facing Immortals tend to have a pretty bad day. Matt, whose over-agression is often exploited even by teams worse than his, is likely to do worse that usual. Unless you think Liquid has a chance at winning, I'd recommend you stay away, but considering they fell to Echo Fox yesterday there's little hope of them winning today.
Team to Use:
Echo Fox (Echo Fox vs. Team Impulse, $4,400): With their victory over Team Liquid yesterday, Echo Fox officially pushed themselves into the mid tier of teams. With the struggling Team Impulse next on the docket, they seem like a safe team to bet on for the price they command.
Team to Avoid:
Counter Logic Gaming (Counter Logic Gaming vs. Renegades, $6,000): As ridiculous as this sounds, CLG seems overpriced for this match. Renegades surprised the world yesterday by giving Immortals a better run for their money than any team except C9 had so far, even earning a gold lead around the 20 minute mark. With that in mind, it's fully possible that Renegades make such a showing again today, against a team with less natural talent to fall back on. While I don't place very high odds on a Renegades victory, the possibility exists, and betting as much money on CLG as I would on Immortals seems dubious at best.
