This article is part of our DraftKings League of Legends series.
Daily Player Recommendations
Top Lane
Hauntzer (Team SoloMid vs. Team Impulse, $7,200): In a top lane meta that is moving ever more towards tanks, Hauntzer is one of the few remaining carry players in NA. His opponent, Feng, is one of the weaker laners in NA, and it's not hard to imagine Hauntzer snowballing on him. Considering TSM should easily win the game either way, Hauntzer's point floor should be fairly high, with plenty of room to go up. Considering the top lane salary this week is pretty much equal across the board for top laners in winning matchups, there's really no loss to picking him up, as the only cheaper player with a likely win is Darshan at $7,100. This week's top pool really comes down to an easy question: do you want to bet on a team that's likely to lose? If you don't, then any of the five other options are close enough in salary to be a reasonable choice.
Other suggestions: Seraph (Renegades vs. Cloud9, $5,000), Huni (Immortals vs. NRG eSports, $7,600), kfo (Team Echo Fox vs. Team Dignitas, $7,200)
Top Lane Player to Avoid
Billyboss (Team Dignitas vs. Team Echo Fox, $5,500): A losing matchup and a player that has looked all but lost on the big stage. Unless you believe the break triggered a miraculous increase in skill from him, stay away.
Jungle
Xmithie (Counter Logic Gaming vs. Team Liquid, $6,800): Xmithie has gone from beating Immortals to being the lowest salaried jungler on the winning side of the standings in a single week. CLG has shown an increasing willingness to play around their jungler is recent weeks, unlocking him and his KDA with carry picks like Nidalee and Udyr. While we can't say with certainty whether that will continue, the possibility that it might gives him plenty of upside, and the fact that his team is almost certain to win gives him a low floor.
Other suggestions: Rush (Cloud9 vs. Renegades, $7,300), Dardoch (Counter Logic Gaming vs. Team LIquid, $5,100)
Jungle Player to Avoid
Moon (NRG eSports vs. Immortals, $4,600): Junglers who face Immortals tend to have bad days, and Moon in particular tends to do poorly in games where his team is losing. Considering NRG has been struggling recently, they are pretty widely believed to be a long shot. While betting on them might not be the worst idea, I recommend betting on a player aside from Moon, such as GBM or Altec.
Middle Lane
Jensen (Cloud9 vs. Renegades, $8,400): Jensen has consistently proved himself to be the hottest midlaner this season, at least taken on his own merits. His average points per game are the highest in the league, and he's facing the worst team in the league. If you need a player to earn you a large sum of points to build your team around, you can do no better than Cloud9's Danish midlaner.
Other suggestions: Huhi (Counter Logic Gaming vs. Team Liquid, $7,900), Fenix (Counter Logic Gaming vs. Team Liquid, $6,100), Froggen (Echo Fox vs. Team DIgnitas, $7,900)
Mid Laner to Avoid
Ninja (Cloud9 vs. Renegades, $5,600): As if being on the worst team in the league wasn't bad enough, Ninja is also new to his role. While his performance in NACS has always been serviceable, it's hard to say whether he will perform better than time-honored legend Alex Ich. To make matters worse, Ninja's first game will be against the most talented mid-laner in North America at the moment, Jensen. While I understand that his low price tag might look appealing, from an analyst's standpoint putting your money on Ninja is about as effective as setting it on fire.
ADC
Piglet (Counter Logic Gaming vs. Team Liquid, $6,300): This week's long shot pick is Piglet. Let me be clear, I give CLG about a 70% chance to win this game, at least. However, Piglet scores well in games his team loses, and more importantly, tends to bring home ridiculous points when his team wins. His average points per game is second in the league, despite being on a mid-tier team, which hammers home the point that he has both a high ceiling and a high floor.
Other suggestions: WildTurtle (Immortals vs. NRG eSports, $8,400), KEITH (Team Echo Fox vs. Team Dignitas, $8,000), Doublelift (Team SoloMid vs. Team Impulse, $8,100)
ADC Player to Avoid
Freeze (Cloud9 vs. Renegades, $5,800): Once again, Freeze finds himself here. He's the lowest scorer in his role, thanks to the combination of his team's ineptitude and being an obvious target. If/when Renegades manage to win, he'll be a big part of it; but this will almost certainly not be that day.
Support
Aphromoo (Counter Logic Gaming vs. Team Liquid, $5,900): This reasoning is simple: he's the cheapest support likely to win. Plus, with the salaries of players projected to win ballooning this weekend, that's a valuable quality by itself.
Support Player to Avoid
Hakuho (Renegades vs. Cloud9, $3,900): Let me put it this way: Hakuho's average points per game is so bad that a sub for one week -- Ken -- is still outscoring him. Eight points per game is a joke, even if the price tag is rock bottom. KonKwon will likely score just as well as him, while being cheaper, which means there's literally no reason Hakuho should be on a team this week.
Team to Use
Counter Logic Gaming (Counter Logic Gaming vs. Team LIquid, $5,600): The cheapest team who is projected to win. Their macro-heavy style also ensures that their floor is quite high, as they always manage to find some objectives to prop up their score. If you want to skimp here, picking their opponents, Team Liquid, is a fair choice. This matchup, while not particularly close on paper, is still likely the best shot for an underdog this week, as every contest seems to pit a top team versus a bottom one.
Team to Avoid
Renegades (Renegades vs. Cloud9, $3,100): Unsurprisingly, I have little hope for the worst team in the league in a matchup against one of the best. Unless Renegades show us something that we've never seen before, there's little hope for them here.
