This article is part of our DraftKings League of Legends series.
Games (EDT)
- 4:00 a.m. SeolHaeOne Prince vs. T1
- 5:00 a.m. FunPlus Phoenix vs. Vici Gaming
- 6:50 a.m. JD Gaming vs. LGD Gaming
- 7:00 a.m. DAMWON Gaming vs. Afreeca Freecs
SP vs. T1
We have some pretty good games on the slate Thursday and to start off the morning we have a team that gives up a lot of kills and another team that has secretly been involved in high-kill total games.
This should be an easy 2-0 for T1 in a high-pace game considering SeolHaeOne is dead last in every statistical category. This was a team last season that caught teams by surprise because of their crazy play-style, but the Summer Split is seeing teams beating them at their own game. This should be solid game in DFS to target so long as SP can keep the game somewhat close to let T1 fight back.
Prediction: T1 2-0
T1 Players to Target: Faker ($7,600), Canna ($6,800)
FPX vs. VG
People say that the LPL has been inconsistent, and it's true to an extent, but the top-tier teams are cuts above the lower-end ones. Vici Gaming has looked decent the last few games and is on a three-game streak in which each series has went three games. VG also has been lucky, looking awful in their first game every series before their opposition ultimately gifts them a win. Rogue Warriors, eStar and LNG Espors all tend to overextend in teamfights, which opens up an opportunity for even mediocre teams to punish
Games (EDT)
- 4:00 a.m. SeolHaeOne Prince vs. T1
- 5:00 a.m. FunPlus Phoenix vs. Vici Gaming
- 6:50 a.m. JD Gaming vs. LGD Gaming
- 7:00 a.m. DAMWON Gaming vs. Afreeca Freecs
SP vs. T1
We have some pretty good games on the slate Thursday and to start off the morning we have a team that gives up a lot of kills and another team that has secretly been involved in high-kill total games.
This should be an easy 2-0 for T1 in a high-pace game considering SeolHaeOne is dead last in every statistical category. This was a team last season that caught teams by surprise because of their crazy play-style, but the Summer Split is seeing teams beating them at their own game. This should be solid game in DFS to target so long as SP can keep the game somewhat close to let T1 fight back.
Prediction: T1 2-0
T1 Players to Target: Faker ($7,600), Canna ($6,800)
FPX vs. VG
People say that the LPL has been inconsistent, and it's true to an extent, but the top-tier teams are cuts above the lower-end ones. Vici Gaming has looked decent the last few games and is on a three-game streak in which each series has went three games. VG also has been lucky, looking awful in their first game every series before their opposition ultimately gifts them a win. Rogue Warriors, eStar and LNG Espors all tend to overextend in teamfights, which opens up an opportunity for even mediocre teams to punish them. FunPlus Phoenix hasn't looked that great, in large part because the meta simply doesn't suit DoinB. Galio and Karma are the two champions he has played while Zeka has a wide pool of assassins and mages for this meta. When a team has to rely on their mid lane to help roam the side lanes instead of carrying teamfights, it's going to be hard for them to win. I think this is a closer game than people realize and VG actually has a better Baron and jungle control compared to FPX. If VG can fix their inconsistent early game, they can pull this win off against FPX, but it will take FPX to stop playing through DoinB and try to play through LWX.
Prediction: VG 2-1
VG Players to Target: Everyone
JDG vs. LGD
I believe this game is going to be a stomp fest for JD Gaming. This is the Spring Split champion team we wanted to see coming into the summer and they have the best chance out of any team in the LPL to contend with Top Esports. JDG has an advantage in every objective category and the biggest mismatch is their mid lane. Xiye is a serviceable mid laner, but he is a player that tries not fall behind early, allowing Kramer and Peanut to carry the game. Kanavi also looked to be back into form after his pathing and ganking seemed out of touch with the rest of the team, as well as Zoom who had been playing weak side poorly. LGD has a solid early game but in some of the games they lost, it was the mid to late game that gave them troubles. If LGD wants to win this they need to learn how take their early advantage and snowball the game before the other team scales. This should be a bloody game and another good game to target for DFS.
Prediction: JDG 2-1
JDG Players to Target: Yagao ($7200), Kanavi ($7,000), LvMao ($5,200)
DWG vs. AF
This is going to be the bloodest game on the slate as both DPL and KPW are around 16.5, and if I was betting this game I would take the over. They both play an aggressive style where they thrive off teamfighting. DAMWON Gaming has a better early game, first turret at 92 percent and first to three kills at 100 percent in all their games. Afreeca has a better first blood rate at 53 percent but have a better mid to late game than DAMWON. I have a strong lean towards DAMWON in this series because of how they're able to snowball early leads. The topside of DAMWON is better than Afreeca even though Kiin has been playing well to mitigate any damage on weak side. The bot lane is a pretty big difference, considering Mystic has a better KDA, kill percentage and gold difference after 10 minutes compared to Ghost, but DAMWON really relies on BeryL to be the main cog in the bot lane. As long as DAMWON can finish the game in under 30 minutes, their win percentage sky rockets with how Afreeca likes to throw games by fighting in unnecessary situations.
Prediction: DAMWON 2-0
Damwon Players to Target: Everyone
