This article is part of our DraftKings League of Legends series.
Games (EDT)
- 5:00 a.m. Invictus Gaming vs. FunPlus Phoenix
- 5:00 a.m. Top Esports vs. JD Gaming
IG vs. FPX
This game is for third place, which definitely means something for these guys. The LPL is able to send three representatives to worlds and the way it works is by circuit points. You get circuit points when you get into playoffs, but in order to obtain more you need to place well. Invictus Gaming the last few series has shown the inability to draft well, failing to get Puff ahead so he can carry late games. The team is starting Ning, a junger who hasn't played all split. He likes to get in your face at all times, but he does get caught out a lot trying to gank and make a dive onto the enemy team. FunPlus Phoenix, on the other hand, is starting Khan who I personally think is better than Gimgoon in mechanics and can play weakside, but not as well. Khan will most likely play his Fiora which is the right way to go against TheShy, picking a split-push carry champion to mitigate his opposition from getting ahead early. The only way FPX loses this is if Tian le'ts Ning do whatever he wants around the map as FPX play a little timid against JDG. The way to beat IG is to play aggressive at their own game and capitalize on IG team-fighting mistakes.
Prediction: FPX 3-1
Bets: N/A
FPX Players to target: Khan (TOP $5,600), DoinB
Games (EDT)
- 5:00 a.m. Invictus Gaming vs. FunPlus Phoenix
- 5:00 a.m. Top Esports vs. JD Gaming
IG vs. FPX
This game is for third place, which definitely means something for these guys. The LPL is able to send three representatives to worlds and the way it works is by circuit points. You get circuit points when you get into playoffs, but in order to obtain more you need to place well. Invictus Gaming the last few series has shown the inability to draft well, failing to get Puff ahead so he can carry late games. The team is starting Ning, a junger who hasn't played all split. He likes to get in your face at all times, but he does get caught out a lot trying to gank and make a dive onto the enemy team. FunPlus Phoenix, on the other hand, is starting Khan who I personally think is better than Gimgoon in mechanics and can play weakside, but not as well. Khan will most likely play his Fiora which is the right way to go against TheShy, picking a split-push carry champion to mitigate his opposition from getting ahead early. The only way FPX loses this is if Tian le'ts Ning do whatever he wants around the map as FPX play a little timid against JDG. The way to beat IG is to play aggressive at their own game and capitalize on IG team-fighting mistakes.
Prediction: FPX 3-1
Bets: N/A
FPX Players to target: Khan (TOP $5,600), DoinB (MID $7,000), LWX (ADC $7,400)
JDG vs. TES
The grand finals for the LPL is going to be a good one as both teams at the start of the split struggled heavily trying to find an identity. As soon as each team got a player that impacted their team in a strong way, they have not let off the gas since. Going back to the semifinals, Top Esports' 3-1 series win over Invictus Gaming really could have went either way if IG would have just drafted marginally better. TES played really well all around -- even Karsa who was the question mark heading into the matchup. IG wanted to ban out Yuyanjia's champion pool which is odd because they are targeting the weakest player on the team, and support role is nothing they should of focused as Knight has looked insanely good. TES has had some things go in their favor as teams look to have punted either drafts, or make a small macro decision in game for TES to snowball them. I would say TES is good but they are still a team that can be punished hard through bot lane but neither WE or IG succeeded in doing that. JD Gaming played a great series against FPX, although the 3-0 score was indicative of the actual series contest. FPX had some opportunities in Games 2 and 3 where JDG lost one teamfight, regrouped and then punished the over-extension of FPX. It's no surprise that JDG has the best first-blood percentage in the league as Kanavi is the one setting up the plays. This is where I give the edge to JDG because not only is Kanavi playing better than Karsa, but JDG's first tower and first dragon has been the best the second half of the split. JDG should have no problem handling TES here and I expect a one-sided series.
Prediction: JDG 3-1
Bets: JDG -1.5 (+125)
JDG Players to target: Kanavi (JNG $7,200), Yagao (MID $7,600), Loken (ADC $7,800)
