This article is part of our DraftKings League of Legends series.
DraftKings LoL: All-Star Event Day 1
There are three games set for Day 1 of the 2016 All-Star Event on Thursday, EULCS vs. NALCS, LCK vs. LMS, and LPL vs. IWC. The North American, Korean, and Chinese All-Stars are all heavily favored against teams from weaker regions. The only underdog that I think can make a game out of things on Thursday is the LMS All-Stars. This is actually a pretty solid team, and while I don't think they win, they're in a better spot to upset than the Europe or the Wildcard All-Stars.
Top Lane: Ziv (LMS vs. LCK, $5,600)
It's not exactly a great matchup, being against the best top laner and all, but Ziv is quite cheap for his potential upside. While I'm not sure the LMS can win this matchup, I think they at least put up a fight and Ziv has proved to be a criminally underrated top laner throughout his recent history. Impact is probably the best play on the day in an easy matchup against sOAZ. I'm going with Ziv to save some money and spend up elsewhere.
Jungle: Karsa (LMS vs. LCK, $5,200)/Reignover (NA vs. EU, $6,500)
Like Ziv, I think Karsa is also underpriced due to a tough matchup. Karsa is also an underrated top tier jungler and provides good value at this salary. He allows us to not have to use two supports in our lineup and could pay off huge in a close match against the Korean All-Stars. Reignover is my favorite play of the day in a much easier matchup. The European All-Star team is mostly a joke and Reignover should have full control over the map. Look for him to work with Impact to get the top laner rolling early on Thursday.
Middle Lane: Bjergsen (NA vs. EU, $7,600)
This may be a bit surprising, but despite having $200 left over, I would rather play Bjergsen than Faker on Thursday. Faker is actually in a fairly difficult matchup against Maple, while I see no way that Bjergsen doesn't destroy xPeke. The European mid laner is mostly retired, but he did spend the majority of the Summer Split as Origen's ADC. While xPeke's legacy is great, his recent play has been terrible and Bjergsen should have no issue overcoming him on Thursday.
ADC: Pray (LCK vs. LMS, $7,800)/Doublelift (NA vs. EU, $7,700)
PraY is the player I think will benefit the most in this LCK vs. LMS matchup. While Ziv and Maple are no slouches, PraY gets a much easier lane against Bebe. It's one I think he'll dominate and when the dust clears I'd expect him to have the highest kill share and most kills on the LCK roster. Doublelift fits into my North America stack and although he gets the toughest lane in the game against a worthy All-Star pairing of Rekkles and Mithy, I think he and former support Aphromoo hold their own before Doublelift pops off late game.
Support: Aphromoo (NA vs. EU, 5,600)
As stated above, the Rush Hour bottom lane doesn't have the easiest lane in the game, but I don't think it inhibits Aphro or Doublelift from putting up points. They know each other well after working together for years on CLG and North America should roll through this European All-Star team setting up plenty of assists for Aphro.
Team: LMS vs. LCK ($3,800)
I've mentioned it a few times, while I don't think that the LMS win this game, I think they are the best underdog on the slate. I rarely pay up for my team spot and while the LCK eventually win this game, I think the LMS region keeps it close and picks up their fair share of objectives before gracefully bowing out to the Korean overlords.
