League of Legends Europe LCS Breakdown (6/22-6/23): Team Vitality Is Rolling

The Highlights

• The European league is now in Week 2 of the new split.
• Betting lines haven’t adjusted to the changing strengths of teams.
• The new patch continues to cause chaos, and many teams are experiments with unconventional compositions.

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Week 1 is in the books for every region, and the evolution of this new metagame continues to shake up the League of Legends landscape. Some teams have embraced surprising new compositions while other teams are still hoping for success with a classic style. The market still hasn’t adjusted to the current meta, so many betting lines this week are exploitable.

The summer-split picks I’ve recommended in articles and on Twitter are 18-9 (+11.33 units).

 

If you’re new to esports, check out my League introduction. While I focus primarily on League betting in this breakdown, it has relevance to daily fantasy as well. If you’re playing League DFS, be sure to check out my evergreen strategy pieces.

• Three biggest esports DFS mistakes and how to avoid them
• Two most important stats for League DFS
• How to build a winning League lineup

For DFS, pay attention to the Kills per Win (KPW) and Deaths per Loss (DPL) numbers for this split. In general, you’ll want to roster players on teams with high KPWs playing against teams with high DPLs.

For more League action, see my other regional breakdowns for this weekend.

• China LPL and Korea LCK
• North America LCS

All lines are from Bovada.

KPW Leaders

1. Misfits: 21.5
2. ROCCAT: 18.0
3. Team Vitality: 13.5

DPL Leaders

1. Giants Gaming: 17.0
2. Fnatic: 15.0
3. H2k: 13.5

Bets

Unicorns of Love vs. Giants Gaming: Friday 6/22 at noon ET

• Unicorns: +105
• Giants: -130
• Bet: Unicorns +105

The Unicorns are the bloodier team and have the more aggressive (albeit inconsistent) mid-laner, who could make the difference in a matchup of weaker squads.

Team Vitality vs. ROCCAT: Friday 6/22 at 1 p.m. ET

• Vitality: -205
• ROCCAT: +165
• Bet: Vitality -205

Last week I predicted Vitality would start the season with two victories, and I’m not stopping there. I’m predicting two more this week. The team will probably fall off later as better teams adapt to the meta, but we’re not at that point yet. All aboard the Vitality train!

G2 vs. Schalke 04: Friday 6/22 at 2 p.m. ET

• G2: -225
• Schalke: +175
• Bet: G2 -225

Amazing (the Schalke jungler) continues to underwhelm, which matters in this meta. In researching, I couldn’t find a single stat that shined a positive light on Schalke in comparison to their opponent. Everything Schalke does, G2 does better.

Misfits vs. Giants Gaming: Saturday 6/23 at noon ET

• Misfits: -235
• Giants: +185
• Bet: Misfits -235

The Misfits have come out as front runners to win the LCS with a dominant 2-0 start. They have 1.06 combined kills per minute in this new patch, and as an undefeated team they are playing with a lot of confidence.

H2k vs. G2: Saturday 6/23 at 1 p.m. ET

• H2k: +170
• G2: -215
• Bet: G2 -215

The H2k-Giants match last week highlighted how poorly suited H2k is to this meta, and they seem likely to struggle for another week. Before this patch, their biggest strength was Sheriff — their young attack damage carry (ADC) — but in this metagame ADCs have been weakened so H2k doesn’t have much going for it right now.

Fnatic vs. Team Vitality: Saturday 6/23 at 3 p.m. ET

• Fnatic: -140
• Vitality: +115
• Bet: Vitality +115

There’s still room on this locomotion.

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Thats all I’ve got for Europe. Hopefully we see strategies continue to develop in this new meta; this is some of the best League we’ve seen in years. For additional information throughout the weekend and into next week follow me on Twitter @Nty9problemsDFS, where I regularly post additional picks as the action unfolds.

Until next time, I’ll see you on the rift.