Esports betting can be a challenge when you’re playing against a bookmaker. No matter how good, dedicated, or creative you are, gambling sites tend to have a significant edge over their customers, turning any attempts to become a winning player into an uphill struggle.
But what if you were to gamble against other bettors?
Enter League of Legends fantasy!
Unlike conventional sports betting, LCK, LEC, and LCS fantasy drafts invite you to enter a battle of wits against gamblers from all over the globe. Research, patience, and game knowledge are heavily rewarded here, and the bookmaker doesn’t get involved in any way, shape, or form other than taking a small cut and providing a platform for the betting action.
In this ultimate guide to League of Legends fantasy, we’ll explain how fantasy LoL works and give you tips on how to get started on the biggest fantasy esports contest provider in the DraftKings review. We’ll also walk you through exactly what goes into making a perfect League of Legends draft. Without further ado, let’s get to it!
Play Fantasy League of Legends with DraftKings:
What is Fantasy League of Legends?
The first thing you need to learn before jumping into the exciting world of League of Legends fantasy is that it’s very different from traditional forms of gambling. In fact, fantasy league has more in common with poker tournaments than conventional esports betting. Much like poker, there’s a wide range of contests to choose from and a real money fee (buy-in) to pay if you want to get in on the action. Similar to poker, your skill is the main thing that determines whether you win or lose, so you need to have a LoL DFS strategy.
Sound simple enough, but there’s a lot of depth to it.
For instance, DraftKings fantasy contests have salary caps—fictional budgets that determine how much you can spend on your NA LCS fantasy team. Players also come with their own salary requirements. Signing a star player will cost a small fortune, but bottom-feeders and middle-of-the-pack pros will be much more affordable. With that, making a perfect fantasy League of Legends 2024 draft often comes down to budget management.
That’s not the only limiting factor either. Fantasy teams mirror the structure of actual League of Legends lineups, so you must find a top laner, a jungler, a mid laner, a bot lane player, and a support. Knowing which are the best LoL jungle players will help in this case, so research goes a long way.
On top of that, you need to fill two additional roles in Captain and Team. The Captain is the ace of your team. His salary will be larger compared to that of other players. However, he will grant you 1.5 times more points for every action he makes on the Rift. This position isn’t limited to a particular role either so that you can get a second jungler or mid-laner as your Captain.
The Team role works in a similar way to other positions, but instead of picking players, you select an organization. It will rack up points based on its win/loss record and the number of objectives (turrets, dragons, Barons, and First Bloods) it captured, so choose your Team wisely. Having the best top laner in the world in your roster might help rack up points, so factor in individual performance when making your LoL fantasy picks.
How does fantasy work in League of Legends?
Fantasy League of Legends works by allowing players to draft a team of professional League of Legends players and compete against other players’ teams based on the performance of those players in official matches.
Each fantasy league has its own rules, scoring system, and entry fees, but generally, players will have a salary cap or draft budget to build their team with. They will select a roster of players, with the goal of creating the strongest team possible based on the league’s scoring system. Points are awarded to players based on their in-game performance, and the fantasy team with the most points at the end of the league’s scoring period wins.
Is there a fantasy League for League of Legends?
There are fantasy leagues for League of Legends, allowing players to draft and manage a team of professional League of Legends players. They will compete against other players’ teams based on the players’ performance in official matches. Some popular fantasy League of Legends platforms include DraftKings and FanDuel.
You’re not putting your money on teams and instead, you’re betting on individual players. You do this by making an LoL fantasy draft out of the pool of available LoL esports pros and getting points based on how many kills, deaths, assists, and creep kills your players get over the span of the next few games. Afterwards, bettors with the most points get a chunk of the prize pool and become the fantasy League of Legends winners. If you are looking for a risk-free way to make money with League of Legends this information will be useful.
Where to play Fantasy LoL?
The growing popularity of League of Legends fantasy led to a surge in the number of platforms where you can bet in this way. As a beginner, searching for the best options, these are the top 5 choices:
- DraftKings is a popular fantasy sports platform that also offers a fantasy League of Legends league.
- FanDuel is a fantasy esports platform that covers League of Legends, and offers various fantasy game modes.
- PrizePicks is an online platform that allows users to make predictions and compete for cash prizes, with a focus on popular esports titles such as LoL.
- ThriveFantasy is a popular fantasy sports platform that allows players to draft their own team of League of Legends players and compete for cash prizes.
- Fantasy LEC and LCS are the official fantasy league for the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) and the League of Legends European Championship (LEC).
Another sire you should take a look at is Oracle Elixir. It is one of the main sources of raw data for DFS League of Legends. It covers all the major regions, as well as minor leagues and provides useful details about teams, players and champions. It offers at a glance, information about kills, structures and neutral objectives for every single player and team. Oracle Elixir is useful to track form, head to head results and it also grants access to historical data.
For general knowledge, there was the site AlphaDraft, a fantasy esports platform that FanDuel acquired in 2015, and it was dedicated to League of Legends, Dota 2, CS:GO and other games.
How To Get Started at League of Legends Fantasy?
Now that you know how fantasy LoL works, let’s see how you can get in on the betting action! The best place to get started is DraftKings – an American platform with a long history of providing qualified fantasy contests. New DraftKings players that make a deposit of at least $5 get a $3-$20 free ticket (the exact amount depends on your promo code) to a contest of their choice.
Another thing to note is that the first 50 contests you play on DraftKings will take place against other rookie bettors so that you won’t be fighting against pros and grizzled veterans. For alternative League of Legends fantasy draft options, you can read our DraftKings vs FanDuel article and make an informed decision.
What to Expect from DraftKings LoL Fantasy in 2024?
Signing up for the site is as easy as going to the DraftKings homepage and choosing the “Continue With Facebook” option. Alternatively, you can click the “Sign Up” button to fill in the blanks manually. You only need to enter your username, email, password, birth date, and country of origin, so you don’t have to share all your personal information to try out the site.
Once you’re done, you can log in and access fantasy contests. From then on, the world is your oyster.
Fantasy League of Legends might be the only option for esports fans at DraftKings, but all the main leagues are covered. The LCS, LEC, LCK, LoL Worlds and Rift Rivals spend a lot of time in the spotlight at the expense of smaller events. Don’t set your expectations too high for minor regions and national leagues just yet; they could be added in the upcoming years if fantasy LoL keeps gaining traction.
For the time being, there are several types of fantasy events dedicated to the aforesaid LoL leagues. Some worthy examples are freerolls and satellites, multi-entry tournaments, and special contests such as Sit N’ Gos and Double Ups. The rules differ from one event to the other and the same applied to the payout structure, so there’s a bit of information to take in.
Alternatively, you can start your own fantasy league by clicking the “Create a Contest” button and outlining the rules of your competition. You can even hold private (and free!) contests with your friends to get a hang of the ins and outs of NA LCS fantasy. And when you’re ready, you can start participating in real money contests. This brings us to our next point…
How to Make a Perfect LoL Fantasy Draft?
We’ll be frank: no foolproof blueprint ensures your League of Legends fantasy league fantasy drafts are always the best. However, there is a number of tips, tricks, and proven strategies you can implement in your game to dramatically increase your chances of winning.
1. Do Your Research
The first thing you need to know is that information is key. Much like with all other types of esports betting, you need to keep up with the competitive scene to be a winning fantasy League of Legends bettor. After all, you have to be able to tell which players are doing well and which players are slumping to create a good fantasy lineup.
One of the best places to get your information fix is the fantasy Reddit. There, you will find a multitude of other bettors sharing their thoughts and betting strategies for the fantasy format.
You can also keep up with general esports news on the official League of Legends subreddit and sites like Dotesports, Blitz Esports, and ESPN. However, the fantasy esports League of Legends Reddit is still the most efficient way of doing your research for LoL DraftKings contests.
2. Crunch The Numbers
Even if you stay up to date with the latest fantasy LCS Reddit trends, you have to remember that this is a numbers game. The number of points you earn is determined by player stats—and that’s very different from player performance. For instance, a tank top laner that’s initiating fights, soaking up damage and dying in place of his teammates is an absolute godsend on the Rift, but the fact that he’s so willing to give his life away makes him a liability in a fantasy contest. After all, every death detracts from your total amount of points.
With that, you want to be drafting players with the best numbers available. DraftKings makes this process as streamlined as possible by highlighting how many fantasy points per game (FPPG) a player earns on average. Keep in mind, though, that averages can be deceptive. A player’s stats can look great when he’s beating up bottom-tier lineups, but there’s no guarantee he can replicate this performance against stronger opponents.
Fortunately, DraftKings solves this problem with a handy opponent’s ranking (OPRK) metric that lets you know what kind of enemies your players will face next. And if you want more data to work with, you can drop by Oracle Elixir to get detailed player stats like KDA, kill participation, CS per minute, and more.
3. Set Draft Priorities
If you want to build a good League of Legends fantasy lineup, you need to set your draft priorities. The most important one is that carries tend to rack up a lot of points, so try to pay a little extra for good mid laners and bot laners. In a similar fashion, don’t go over budget for a great support or a powerhouse jungler since these roles won’t provide the best bang for the buck.
Another thing to note is that match result matters just as much in fantasy esports as it does in regular esports betting. Average players on winning teams earn more points than superstars on losing lineups, so don’t chase big names blindly. Instead, analyze the matchups and determine which players offer the most value for your fantasy team.
Finally, recognize when you need to take risks. If you’re participating in small leagues and head-to-head contests, it’s fine to assemble a nice well-rounded fantasy lineup. The best League of Legends player might be too expensive, and the return on investment is not necessarily the best.
However, if you’re taking part in massive tournaments with hundreds of entries, you need to be able to gamble on upsets or speculative players. Sure, most of the time, these risks won’t pay off. But when they do, your winnings will frequently cover your losses.
What is SuperFantasy LoL?
Superfantasy LoL is the natural development of burgeoning fantasy esports, which tweaks the rules for the sake of diversity and excitement. It doesn’t stray too far from the classic but introduces a card system that enables players to collect daily rewards. These cards come in different flavors, with rarity being the decisive distinction, so those who get their hands on rare cards unlock the biggest perks.
The goal is the same: you still try to maximize the return on investment by drafting players performing at the highest level. Punters get several cards designated to them, so participants can unlock multiple cards of different rarity levels, for the same progamer. When playing Superfantasy LoL you can destroy the players held by your opponents and unlock “sparks”, which is an in-game currency. This is used to create new cards, so there is a never-ending cycle of renewal and novelty.
In Superfantasy leagues the season follows the real events, so every game day provides a new opportunity to win. This applies to best-of-one matches, as well as series of best-of-three, in the playoffs, so players have an entire season to acquire an entire collection. Players get five points for a victory, as well as a kill, but they lose the same number for a defeat. Two points are awarded for assists, as well as dragon and herald kills, while destroying towers only produces one point. You lose three points when your player dies, but you get the same number for inhibitors and barons.
Verdict on League of Legends fantasy
There’s a lot of depth to League of Legends Fantasy. Of course, you can jump straight into action right after learning the answer to the “what is fantasy?” question. In fact, League of Legends fantasy league can be fun if you’re playing recreationally with your friends.
But if you want to strive for more, you must remember that fantasy League of Legends is a game of skill, patience, and resilience. And it’s only when you start applying these virtues that you will become a winning fantasy player. For beginners learning the ropes of esports LoL betting, fantasy leagues can be a smart way to learn the ropes and win real money without risking any.
Play at Fantasy League of Legends at DraftKings
Images Courtesy of LoL Esports
