The Lolesports Fantasy League Week 2
Following up on our draft, we now bring you the results of Week 2 in the Lolesports Fantasy League. What are some of the key takeaways that our fantasy journalists learned? Read more to find out.
Full standings can be found here.
The Results
Match 1
Trent Murray - This is My Smurf
Usually betting against Dignitas has worked out for me. This time, benching Imaqtpie was nearly a costly mistake. Fortunately, Alliance kept rolling and Cloud9 returned to form. Along with subpar performances from my opponent's TSM and LMQ players, I was able to go from last place last week to a victory and the top scorer this week. This is why you never overreact to Week 1. Things tend to stabilize quickly, and your faith in consistent performers will be rewarded!
Ferguson Mitchell - FergSquad
Fact: FergSquad's No. 2 scorer last week, Innox (32.6), is still outscoring sOAZ (31.3) and remains a must-play. Nothing in life has prepared me for having to write that sentence. We're 0-2, boys, and it's not looking bright. With Bjergsen and TSM doing the egg-laying this week, it's hard to call anyone on our roster reliable outside Innox and Dignitas' Crumbzz. There is, thankfully, some upside—despite a devastating double loss week, my LMQ bot lane managed at least 40 points. Cop also pulled his weight with a respectable 30 points, giving some early credence to my double AD draft strategy. I'm not completely out of the woods, and I'll definitely have some clawing to get back up the ladder (or, more accurately, on it in the first place). But now is not the time to question logic, reason, or the power of Innox in the Top lane. Here's hoping my lineup can deliver anything other than donuts this week.
Match 2
Mattias Lehman - Gustaf's Gentlemen
Did you know that if you look in a mirror, say “Shiphtur!” three times, and then pick him for your fantasy team, you’ll win every matchup? I was expecting to lose coming into Week 2, having pegged Dragonslayer Teemo as the top team. But Shiphtur and Kerp are the No. 3 and No. 5 fantasy players this season so far, and have carried me to 2-0. On top of that, Cloud9 and LemonNation are back up to their old selves, netting me more points that Kerp and Shiphtur! I continue to be worried about top, but I can swap that pick back and forth between Xaxus and Quas based on matchups.
Going into Week 3, I’m relatively confident. I think I win at every position, if only because Seraph faces off against Balls and Ackerman this week. Oh, except WildTurtle; nobody will trade me an ADC. I’ll be starting Cloud9 over Dignitas this week. It’s a rough decision, but if Hai and Sneaky do well for my opponent, I want to reap the rewards of those points. He had the top score - 223 to my 187 - last week, but I’m pretty sure last week was a bad one for me and a good one for him.
Jack Ho - Dragonslayer Teemo
After a solid Week 1 victory, I was brought back down to earth with a 28 point loss to Gustaf's Gentlemen. What made this defeat particularly biting was that even with my best lineup (Kev1n instead of Amazing at Flex and SK Gaming instead of LMQ), I still would have lost 6 points. What this indicated to me was my lineup needed a drastic change. I dropped Amazing for Svenskeren and Pr0lly for Genja on the waivers, hoping these changes are what I need to turn Week 3 around.
Match 3
Josh Augustine - Yordle Ascension
Could ZionSpartan and Wickd please send me an email before Wednesday night letting me know if they plan on going super-stud this week? I'm sick of seeing their huge numbers on my bench because I start the wrong player every time. Fnatic gave me a heart attack with their first game, netting me hardly any points, but their second game brought me back from the brink. MrRalleZ continues to be the best value pick of the split, netting another impressive score and demoting Rekkles to my flex spot. That'll show him! Overall, I scraped by a win this week, but I'm not top-tier yet. My Team slot is noticeably weak and my bench doesn't give me any realistic options. I replaced disappointing ROCCAT with the promising Supa Hot Crew, and dropped Svenskeren from my bench for Airwaks off waivers.
Thomas Watts - Code Monkeys
Another week, and another loss for the Code Monkeys. On the positive side, the Mimer & Jankos trade ended up scoring more points from those two positions, but on the other hand, TSM Gleeb scored me negative points. I grabbed Millenium's Jree off of the free agency wire for depth at the Support position, and will be playing matchups with those two going forward while looking for a quality starter. ROCCAT's recent struggles make it impossible to justify starting their Jungler (Jankos) and Mid lane (Overpow) on the same fantasy team, so for now Overpow rests on my bench and Woolite slides into my starting flex. Given that my team was intentionally autodrafted, I am very pleased with the roster tweaks I have been able to pull off, and that should start translating into wins.
Match 4
Andrew Whitmore - Rainbow Unicorns
A new week and another win for the Rainbow Unicorns! Though this coming week will easily be the most difficult I’ll have in the entire split – with CLG, Cloud9, LMQ, and EG all facing off against each other. Remember when I said I had an incredibly cannibalistic team? Now it’s going to bite me in the butt. I’ll very likely be actively trading with other members in order to control the damage that this week will bring, but the prospects for next week look grim. Unless there’s a bloodbath of pentakills for every carry in North America, I’m in trouble. On the bright side, my opponent has an NA heavy team as well and will very likely be in the same situation as me.
Kelsey Moser - Diana Fire
I learned that my team is ultimately a very long-term investment. I'm still thinking Millenium and dexter are good long-term pickups, though their performances at the moment are varied. xPeke, however, I expected to do decently against Gambit at least and followed through. This week, given that Selfie has been more consistent, I figure it was worth it to give him a go as a starting Mid despite SHC's difficult week. KiWiKiD so far has proven to be the best decision I've made, but I'm still expecting the ill-fated Dignitas stumble. I suppose it's safe to say I haven't learned anything, since I'm still making the same mistakes; player's performances are well-connected with their team's performance.