DFSGhost 
The strategy going into today’s League of Legends (LoL) slate is slightly different than any other two-gamer; typically, we recommend hedging both games to get every combination possible and ensure your chances at a takedown in the process, if MMEing, but we have ourselves a lock in the first game where there is no hedge necessary. If playing 3-max tournaments or even single entries, recommended picks and strategies are listed below. Let’s dive in!
LoL Game 1: Dominus eSports (+333) vs eStar (-500)
The first game on tonight’s LoL LPL slate sees DMO taking on eStar where the latter is a heavy favorite, and rightfully so. Last season, DMO finished the spring split on a strong note and pulled off some nice upsets and took some playoff teams to 3 games in multiple series. However, the summer split is a different narrative, and they look awful. With the losses of Gala, xiye, and Mark, DMO has been reeling to begin the summer split and should be in tough versus eStar. Yes, ES lost their best player in Cryin who has returned to RNG, but they should dominate with ease. ES comes into the series with a projected 16.5 kills per game, however, it could escalate to a much greater degree; DMO got wiped by V5 in their opening series of the summer split and fed kills left, right, and center. V5 finished the series with 41 kills in two games, and does not boast the individual talent that eStar does in Wink, Xiaobai, SciauC, and Wei. Although we typically suggest to hedge both games on a LoL two-game slate to ensure that you have nearly every combination possible, there’s no hedge necessary here. Lock in ES; targets are listed in order of preference.
Pick: eStar (-500)
Targets: Wink (ADC), Wei (JNG), SciauC (SUP), Xiaobai(TOP), Team ES, Fenfen (MID)
LoL Game 2: Team WE (+162) vs Invictus Gaming (-225)
So, what happens after ES dominates DMO? We have a wide-open slate, that’s what. The second game will dictate GPP winning lineups, and rightfully so. IG will be exposed at the JNG position, where beishang should handle his business as usual versus Ning, who takes over for Leyan after the latter left for VG. However, the issue for WE lies in the mid-lane; Teacherma is limited to a handful of champions that he likes to play, and should IG be smart enough to remove them in the ban phase, Rookie will go to town all series long. However, we’ve seen weirder things happen, as EDG didn’t ban Teacherma’s preferred plays in their first matchup of the LoL LPL summer split, and we all saw how that turned out. Ideally, you want to hedge this game; it will have a high kill count and many team fights with the way both of these teams play; you’ll want to ensure exposure to 4-man stacks from both sides. Ultimately, I think IG takes this one with beishang stuck between a rock and a hard place covering for both Morgan and Teacherma, who I see losing their individual battles versus TheShy and Rookie, respectively. If WE were to win this one, it’s not only because IG didn’t ban Teacherma’s champion pool, but because beishang dives top lane with Morgan to attack TheShy two on one all series long.
Pick: IG (-225)
Top Targets: Rookie (MID), Puff (ADC), TheShy (TOP),Southwind (SUP), Team IG, Ning (JNG)
Hedge: Jiumeng (ADC), beishang (JNG), Teacherma (MID),Morgan (TOP), Missing (SUP), Team WE
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