DraftKings LoL: Thursday LPL/LCK Breakdown

GAMES (EDT)

• 4:00 a.m: KT Rolster vs. T1
• 5:00 a.m: LNG Esports vs. Invictus Gaming
• 6:50 a.m: Royal Never Give Up vs. Suning
• 7:00 a.m: Sandbox Gaming vs. SeolHaeOnePrince

KT vs. T1

T1 come into this one as a favorite, but while both LCK matches are expected to be one-sided, KT probably has the better shot to win. With that being said, I still see T1 taking this series since most of the lane matchups favor T1 them. Teddy leads the team with 95 kills this summer, and he has a 30-kill gap between second-highest Canna. Kill participation wise, just load up on the bot lane where both Teddy and Effort are the top two on the team. T1 currently holds a 17 kill per win expectation, which is a lot in the LCK, and one I expect to go down as the season goes on.

Prediction to Win: T1 2-1

• Players to Target: Teddy ($8,000) Canna ($6,600) Effort ($5,200)

 LNG vs. IG

The first LPL match should be one-sided in favor of IG. LNG come in at 2-8 this summer, and while IG are 7-3, you never know which IG are going to show up. I am expecting IG to not play around in drafts and in the top lane, which leads to them taking the series quickly. Puff is the kill leader this Summer with 92, and those usually come in team fights when he cleans up the map after the rest of the team engages. Basically, when IG are fighting as a team expect Puff to score well. The next highest player in kills is TheShy (80), but this comes with some risk since his 99 deaths are the most in the split. Looking at kill participation, it's Rookie with 71 percent, and even though Rookie's kills are the third-highest on the team, he has an easy matchup against Maple. One last note: Baolan is starting Thursday at support, but IG have two other supports they can bring in if needed.

Prediction to Win: IG 2-0

• IG Players to Target: Puff ($8,200), Rookie ($8,000), TheShy ($6,400)

RNG vs. SN

The second match in the LPL is the closest one on the slate in almost every measurable metric. SN currently have the better record (7-3) than RNG (5-4), and in terms of dragon control SN is 50 percent to RNG's 49 percent. Additionally, gold per minute is a 10-gold difference in favor of SN and the gold difference per minute is also close, with SN sitting at plus-86 while RNG is plus-25. In terms of lane matchups, I see RNG having the advantage in every lane outside of the bot lane. Gala and Ming will have their work cut out for them in the 2v2. With that in mind, I like the top side of the map better for RNG, so have New, XLB and Xiahou in your RNG stacks if you feel they can win. In your SN stacks, you will want the bot lane featuring Huanfeng and SwordArt

Prediction to Win: RNG 2-1

• RNG Players to Target: New ($5,800), XLB ($6,200), Xiahou ($7,400)
• SN Players to Target:   Huanfeng ($7,800), SwordArt ($5,600)

 SP vs SB

In our last series of the slate we have an improving Sandbox team (3-5) going up against a struggling SeolHaeOne Prince (1-7). Since YamatoCannon has been working with the team as the new coach, Sandbox hasn't lost a series, though Sandbox has had an easier schedule in the last three games. Looking at Sandbox's Summer split, OnFleek in the Jungle currently leads the team in both kills (39) and kill participation (77 percent). One thing to note is that the kills are very spread out; for example, Route and Summit both sit with 38 kills this Summer, while Fate in the mid lane comes fourth with 33. Going further into the second half of the split, I would expect the mid and ADC position to have more of the kills, but it's interesting that OnFleek leads them from his spot.

Prediction to Win: Sandbox 2-0

• SB Players to Target: Summit ($6,000), OnFleek ($6,600), Route ($7,400)