This article is part of our DraftKings League of Legends series.
Games (EDT)
- 12:00 p.m. Excel Esports vs. FC Schalke 04
- 12:50 p.m. Misfitvs vs. Vitality
- 1:40 p.m. SK Gaming vs. G2
- 2:30 p.m. Origen vs. MAD Lions
- 3:20 p.m. Rogue vs. Fnatic
XL vs. S04
Two of the worst teams in the league are going at it, although Excel Esports finally won their first game. Special and Kryze still look like the weak links on their team, but FC Schalke 04 is in last place in every category. There has to be a way to turn this around for S04 as they have the better top and mid laner who were once touted top players in the league, but their bot lane is a liability. xL loves to play through their bot lane and this could cause a problem for S04 and this is where Lurox will need to mitigate any damage to let Abbedagge take over. This is a toss up, but with how good the players are on S04 I can't see them losing to a struggling top and mid laner for xL.
Prediction: S04 Win
S04 Players to Target: Abbedagge ($7,600), Odoamne ($5,800)
MSF vs. Vitality
Vitality came back down to earth and dropped two games to MAD Lions and Rogue who are arguably the top 5 teams in the LEC. Looking ahead to Week 3, Misfits should have a better understanding of this meta and start funneling some resources into Febiven and Dan Dan, who are the two that are struggling the most on this team.
Games (EDT)
- 12:00 p.m. Excel Esports vs. FC Schalke 04
- 12:50 p.m. Misfitvs vs. Vitality
- 1:40 p.m. SK Gaming vs. G2
- 2:30 p.m. Origen vs. MAD Lions
- 3:20 p.m. Rogue vs. Fnatic
XL vs. S04
Two of the worst teams in the league are going at it, although Excel Esports finally won their first game. Special and Kryze still look like the weak links on their team, but FC Schalke 04 is in last place in every category. There has to be a way to turn this around for S04 as they have the better top and mid laner who were once touted top players in the league, but their bot lane is a liability. xL loves to play through their bot lane and this could cause a problem for S04 and this is where Lurox will need to mitigate any damage to let Abbedagge take over. This is a toss up, but with how good the players are on S04 I can't see them losing to a struggling top and mid laner for xL.
Prediction: S04 Win
S04 Players to Target: Abbedagge ($7,600), Odoamne ($5,800)
MSF vs. Vitality
Vitality came back down to earth and dropped two games to MAD Lions and Rogue who are arguably the top 5 teams in the LEC. Looking ahead to Week 3, Misfits should have a better understanding of this meta and start funneling some resources into Febiven and Dan Dan, who are the two that are struggling the most on this team. Kobbe should be use to not massive resources thanks to his time with Team SoloMid, but he was able to lane very well and not let the other team snowball his lane. Vitality has a way better early game rating at 50.4 compared to Misfits 30.4 rating but Misfits blow them out in towers and dragons, clearly excelling in the most important part of the game. As long as Misfits can withstand Vitality's early game, they can win this game pretty easily.
Prediction: Misfits Win
Misfits Players to Target: Kobbe ($7,200), Razrok ($6,200)
SK vs. G2
A short summary of how this game is going to go. SK Gaming have played some clean LoL while G2 is not due to their drafts. I keep saying this about G2, and they bit me in the butt early on, but this team is very good and the fact that their drafts are holding them back yet still winning should give an indication that when this team stops experimenting they will be good. G2 needs to come out swinging otherwise SK's early game (59.4 percent) could be a problem, but like we've seen before, G2 can pop off at any moment.
G2 Players to Target: Everyone
OG vs. MAD
The kill spread is 20.5, but these teams are playing at a faster and bloodier pace than what the lines are giving us. OG beat FNC because Fnatic decided to run Soroka bot with a mid laner with no extra healing and if Fnatic drafted normally, they would of smashed OG. MAD has been impressing us all season due to their pool of champions and crazy drafts that throw teams off. One thing we should know by now is that OG can't handle that type of playstyle since they like to play regular LoL. The huge gap and spike that MAD has over OG is in the mid game as their rating is the best at 32.5 compared to Origin's 19.5 mid-to-late game rating and MAD have a better rating the way OG wants to play LoL.
Prediction: MAD Win
MAD Players to Target: Everyone
RGE vs. FNC
Rogue was undefeated until the game against G2 where they showed some great early game, but got out-scaled in the mid to late which they could of won if they didn't make some macro mistakes. I still believe Fnatic is a step ahead of Rogue because they are smashing in the early game and first blood, but the numbers then get skewed due to their Soroka pick. Fnatic handicapped themselves by running Soroka both games and losing both games as they really didn't have any hard-engage champions to follow up on the Soroka healing. This is an important game for Fnatic and I can see them going back to drafting normally and showing a stomp game since Bwipo, Selfmade and Rekkles are all showing how much they can carry a game.
Prediction: FNC Win
FNC Players to Target: Rekkles ($8,000), Selfmade ($7,200), Bwipo ($6,400)