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The winners of the spring split, JD Gaming, open their summer campaign on Wednesday against Suning. That and another game make up Wednesday’s LPL action, which gets underway at 5:00 a.m. ET. We take a look at some picks for DraftKings’ slate below.
Set your lineups here: LOL $100K Shock Blast [$25K to 1st] (LPL)
Captain
Loken ($11,700)
For a long period in the spring split, Loken was dominating all offensive metrics. He lost some of that astounding output towards the end of the season but he still finished with terrific numbers, carrying JD Gaming to the title. He had a kill participation of exactly 10 (4.0 kills and 6.0 assists a game) with a creep score per minute of 9.41.
Other to consider: Betty ($11,400)
Top
Cube ($6,000)
Going purely by form, Cube is probably the best pick in this slate. In the season opener, a 2-0 thrashing of Bilibili Gaming, Cube had 4.5 kills and 6.5 assists with just 1.0 death per map, giving him a KDA of 11. He isn’t going to come close to that level in this matchup but he has shown that he has the offensive game, despite his role not being suited to that style.
Others to consider: 705 ($6,000)
Jungler
Kanavi ($6,800)
Kanavi was probably the best jungler in the spring split. He had 4.19 kills with 6.86 assists per game in that campaign. These are mid laner or ADC numbers. In fact, he even led JD Gaming in kills. He almost adds a completely different, unexpected avenue of offense with his killing proficiency. Despite his price, he is too good to pass up.
Others to consider: XLB ($6,400)
Mid
Angel ($7,200)
A hugely under-rated mid laner, Angel has proved repeatedly that he has the skill-set to lead this Suning offense. He had a kill participation rate of over 10 in the spring split with 4.22 kills and 5.98 assists. In five games in the summer split, he has been killed an average of just 1 time per map. He also has a fantastic KDA of 10.8 this season. His price also allows you some luxury in other categories.
Others to consider: Yagao ($7,400)
ADC
Betty ($7,600)
Without Uzi this season, Betty will have to do it all himself. He made a fantastic start to the season with 5.5 kills per game and 8.0 assists in Royal Never Give Up’s split opener. He even had a creep score per minute of over 10. He has a wealth of experience too, coming into this campaign on the back of a solid spring split, in which he averaged 4.13 kills over 38 games.
Others to consider: Huanfeng ($7,200)
Support
Hang ($5,200)
You would probably need the most inexpensive support player to balance out your spending in this slate. Hang is that player. He is the least costly player expected to start, priced at just $5,200. He has not been killed yet, which takes his KDA to 19 (2.0 kills and 17 assists in the season opener against Bilibili Gaming).
Team
Royal Never Give Up ($5,200)
There is no doubt that JD Gaming ($5,600) is the best choice in this category but you might not have the luxury to draft them with their expensive price tag. Instead, Royal Never Give Up will be a value-for-money selection considering they have all the requisites to consistently keep winning this season.
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Nikhil Kalro is the Founder and CEO of Altletics Esports.