Fantasy Esports Picks: League of Legends (LPL) Top DraftKings DFS Targets for January 9

Nikhil Kalro shares his targets for Saturday morning’s League of Legends (LPL) DraftKings DFS action, which locks at 4:00 a.m. ET.

By Nikhil Kalro Jan 8, 2021, 10:13am PST

The spring split of the LPL starts on Saturday with the favored Top Esports facing Worlds runners-up Suning in the opener. Here is a breakdown of players to consider from each position for DraftKings’ two-game LPL slate.

Set your DraftKings lineups here: LOL $40K Opening Day [$10K to 1st]

Captain

JackeyLove ($11,700 CP)

It was towards the end of the spring split in 2020 that Top Esports found consistency with JackeyLove. That feels like an eternity ago because JackeyLove has done so much damage since then. He is now the most proficient killing weapon for Top Esports, and probably in the LPL as a whole. Proof of that is in his fantasy output of 178.0 DKFP per game.

Top

New ($6,000)

New did well to find some rhythm in the National Electronic Sports Tournament towards the end of last year. He had a KDA of 2.32 in that competition, averaging 2.11 kills per game. That followed a decent summer split in which he had a KDA of 2.6. His effectiveness increased substantially with Wukong as his champion. That will continue to be a trend this season.

Others to consider: 369 ($6,600)

Jungler

Karsa ($6,800)

The only thing working against Karsa’s viability on this slate is his price. Spending $6.8K on a jungler is a bit high, but there is a great chance of him providing a strong return. His efficiency increased as 2020 progressed. He started with a KDA of 3.72 in the regular season in spring, which improved to 4.54 in the regular season summer split. In the Mid-Season Cup, he had a KDA of 4.62 and finished a terrific year with a KDA of 5.26 at Worlds.

Others to consider: SofM ($6,200)

Mid

Knight ($7,600)

This isn’t a hard decision. Knight is right up there with JackeyLove as most-effective killing weapon in the LPL. Both of them are in the same team, which means they also assist each other with kills. Knight was sensational in the LPL last year — he had a KDA of 7.22 in the regular season summer split with 5.7 kills and just 1.7 deaths — which is a fantastic level of output for a mid laner.

Others to consider: Angel ($7,000)

ADC

Hope ($7,600)

Hope should continue to be EDward Gaming’s primary choice as bot laner this season despite Viper’s ($7,400) acquisition from South Korea. Hope averaged about 4.5 kills in the LPL last year (4.76 kills in spring and 4.18 in summer), providing Edward Gaming with stability and an area to attack the enemy base through. His average KDA of over 5.0 last year is testament to his skill as an AD Carry.

Others to consider: huanfeng ($7,000)

Support

Meiko ($5,400)

With this being the first game of a new split, the prudent fantasy strategy is to just wait and see how teams balance rosters with multiple players for one position. Meiko is very likely to start as EDward Gaming’s support. He averaged 9.08 assists in summer and 8.63 assists in the regular season spring split last year.

Team

EDward Gaming ($5,200)

The obvious and easy first choice for Team on this slate is Top Esports ($5,400), who are expected to win the entire spring split. However, Top is up against Worlds runners-up Suning ($4,600), which could be a tricky game. EDward Gaming, priced a bit more favorably, could be a smart, tactical choice.