This article is part of our DraftKings League of Legends series.
GAMES (EDT)
- 4:00 a.m: KT Rolster vs. Team Dynamics
- 5:00 a.m: Bilibili Gaming vs. Victory Five
- 7:00 a.m: JD Gaming v. Royal Never Give Up
- 7:00 a.m: SeolHaeOne Price vs. Hanwha Life Esports
DYN vs. KT
KT were a surprising team last year, as they came into the season filled with veteran players who were trying to reclaim a name brand. They proved a lot of people wrong, and Aiming was the standout star. He carried a lot of games, and now that KT added Ucal and Smeb, this team is looking to make a big statement. Smeb is an elite top laner who has been to worlds numerous times, and he just came back from retirement. Ucal is coming from Griffin, and even though he showed inconsistency, he has the capability of being another carry threat. KT's weakness was their top side, and the addition of Smeb and Ucal will make them scary. DYN are a team that just got promoted into the LCK this year, and their first game is going to be tough. The overall talent of KT is leaps above DYN in terms of game decision, team fights and coaching, so while this should be an easy matchup for KT, it won't be an exciting one for DFS.
Prediction: KT 2-0
- KT Players to Target: Aiming ($7,800)
BLG vs. V5
This game is in favor of V5 stylistically because of how well they control the map and their team-fight potential. BLG beat eStar the other day,
GAMES (EDT)
- 4:00 a.m: KT Rolster vs. Team Dynamics
- 5:00 a.m: Bilibili Gaming vs. Victory Five
- 7:00 a.m: JD Gaming v. Royal Never Give Up
- 7:00 a.m: SeolHaeOne Price vs. Hanwha Life Esports
DYN vs. KT
KT were a surprising team last year, as they came into the season filled with veteran players who were trying to reclaim a name brand. They proved a lot of people wrong, and Aiming was the standout star. He carried a lot of games, and now that KT added Ucal and Smeb, this team is looking to make a big statement. Smeb is an elite top laner who has been to worlds numerous times, and he just came back from retirement. Ucal is coming from Griffin, and even though he showed inconsistency, he has the capability of being another carry threat. KT's weakness was their top side, and the addition of Smeb and Ucal will make them scary. DYN are a team that just got promoted into the LCK this year, and their first game is going to be tough. The overall talent of KT is leaps above DYN in terms of game decision, team fights and coaching, so while this should be an easy matchup for KT, it won't be an exciting one for DFS.
Prediction: KT 2-0
- KT Players to Target: Aiming ($7,800)
BLG vs. V5
This game is in favor of V5 stylistically because of how well they control the map and their team-fight potential. BLG beat eStar the other day, but it was really scrappy as Wei forgot to pick smite, which is crucial for a jungler. eStar almost won that game due to team fighting alone. V5 are lead by SamD, who has the highest damage per second on the team and is backed up by ppgod. ppgod is crucial in every team fight, as he has done an amazing job setting his team up for them to clean up. The other thing is that their topside works so well together on roaming to control objectives. V5 look like to be a better team overall, while BLG are still trying to figure out how to work in Best16 in.
Prediction: V5 2-1
RNG vs. JDG
Both of these teams lost their last game, but RNG fell to the worst team in the league. For some reason RNG starts off their first few games looking solid then fall off. This is a meta where Jungle and mid laner synergy is very important, as the ADC role is useless until late. Kanavi and Yagao are looking better than XLB even after one sample. LNG were able to exploit how XLB paths in the early game because of how one directional he is. If XLB doesn't have Xiaohu following him around then he gets caught out, and XLB's in-game decision-making isn't great. JDG overall have the better team synergy and better late-game team fight, while RNG needs to get their early game going or else they get outscaled. RNG does have the upside to beat a lot of teams, but it takes XLB to be better and Cryin to start.
Prediction: JDG 2-1
- JDG Players to Target: Yagao ($7,800), Kanavi ($7,400)
HLE vs. SP
SP is APK Prince, and this was a team that also surprised us, as Trigger and Flawless looked really good. Trigger had the best damage per game and damage per second in the LCK and carried APK to a lot of victories. The problem is that they were inconsistent with their objective control and mid laner. They brought in Micky, who was an average player in Europe, while HLE made a huge upgrade with by bringing in Viper. He is now reunited with Lehands, the support player he came to the LCK with. HLE are finally having Lava play mid lane, Haru jungle and Cuvee top. This roster is really good on paper, as HLE's bot lane should be competitive, if not better, than Trigger himself. The stability of this team will need to come from the top side, and we saw last year how Haru and Cuvee played well together. HLE last year came out with an LPL playstyle that worked until they kept switching the subs in and out and reverted to a playstyle that lost them games. I can see this team going back to an aggressive early game and beat a lot of teams to push for a playoff spot.
Prediction: HLE 2-0
- HLE Players to Target: Eveyone (APK plays uptempo and this can be one of the bloodiest games on the slate)
