LCS Fantasy sleepers to pick in your draft
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Mimer "Mimer" Ahlström
With the beginning of the 2015 season, Mimer is one of the longest tenured top laners in Europe. He has become a solid player poised for a breakout season. In previous splits, he had a maddening ability to play a beautiful game, and then follow up with a wretched performance, but he has gotten consistently better throughout each season of competition he has participated in.
One of the big points in Mimer’s favor is the stability that has surrounded him throughout the offseason. MeetYourMakers acquired the Supa Hot Crew roster at the beginning of the offseason, and the MYM roster returns four of the five players from the 2014 Summer Split. All of these facts describe a high round fantasy pick.
The one caution with Mimer is that he has to show that awful games that marred his 2014 campaign are few-and-far-between. Consider Mimer as early as the third round depending on draft position, and he can either be a starter in the top lane position, or a potent flex pick.
Mid
Tristan "PowerOfEvil" SchrageDuring Unicorns of Love’s run at IEM San Jose, the team showed a willingness to scrap on the Rift. The Unicorn’s jungler Mateusz "Kikis" Szkudlarek facilitated kills, and mid laner PowerOfEvil was a frequent beneficiary from Kikis’ work.
While Kikis earned MVP consideration at IEM San Jose, and played himself out of a sleeper designation, PowerOfEvil is a solid pick in the mid lane. He’s been a regular in the European Challenger Scene for months. The only red flag when looking at PowerOfEvil from a fantasy perspective is that while the IEM San Jose tournament was eye-popping, it was only a single tournament. That drops his value, but whenever UOL has a weak schedule, PowerOfEvil has all the ingredients to be a fantasy star.
In terms of value, PowerOfEvil would be a good pick in the fifth or sixth round. Anything earlier than that is a reach, but it must be noted that should PowerOfEvil pick up where he left off at IEM San Jose, an earlier round reach could prove prescient.
Jungle
Christian "IWDominate" Rivera
Team Liquid’s IWDominate has never lacked for skill coming out of the jungle. It was a case of the team he was playing on being inconsistent. With the beginning of the 2015 season, that notion is on the chopping block.
One of the reasons for optimism is Team Liquid’s addition of Chae “Piglet” Gwang-jin. Piglet has been mentioned in the same breath as legendary AD carries Gu “imp” Seung-bin and Zhu "NaMei" Jia-Wen. The aggressive AD carry formerly of SK Telecom T1 K is known for creating havoc for the opposition which was enhanced by T1K’s jungler Bae "bengi" Seong-ung.
Fantasy owners should weigh that optimism against how well IWD is able to synergize with new mid laner Kim "FeniX" Jae-hun. FeniX has professional experience from his time with the Jin Air Green Wings, and Team Liquid has had several weeks to build synergy, but until that has been debuted on the Rift, the question will exist.
Even with a new player in Liquid’s mid lane, IWDominate is a value starter. Drafting him in the first three rounds is a reach, but anything after that is worth considering. If he falls into the later rounds, grab him and don’t look back.
AD Carry
Konstantinos "FORG1VEN" Tzortziou
FORG1VEN is making a return to the LCS after a break during the 2014 Summer Split. The AD carry for SK Gaming presents a great flex option.
When he was playing for the Copenhagen Wolves, FORG1VEN was a fiery player that was just as likely to erupt at his team as he would score multiple kills on the way to carrying the Wolves to a win. That behavior, and the deleterious effect it can have on teammates, is an issue for fantasy production. Poison the team environment and everything falls apart. At the same time, FORG1VEN’s abilities from an AD carry position cannot be ignored.
He is a high risk/reward pick because of his dichotomy. The stabilizing effect that comes from a longstanding esports franchise does alleviate some concern, but draft carefully here. The AD carry position is deep enough that sliding FORG1VEN directly into a starting slot is too risky, but stashing him on the bench in the sixth round gives a fantasy owner options throughout the season as a flex or main starter.
Support
Adrian “Adrian” MaThe young support for Team Impulse earned the moniker of “sleeper” thanks to the talent that surrounds him. Jungler Lee “Rush” Yoon-jae was bred from the bloody battlefield of Korean solo queue. Mid laner Yu "XiaoWeiXiao" Xian has the potential to carry a teamfight at any point, and top laner Jung "Impact" Eon-yeong was a key component for SK Telecom T1 K. All three of these players have exceptional prowess on the Rift, and come from regions that love to fight. That means kills and assists for everyone on the team.
The question for fantasy owners is how will Adrian adapt not only to those three players, but new lane partner Apollo “Apollo” Price as well. If Adrian hadn’t already competed for several months at a high level, that question would relegate him to the waiver wire. Luckily, Adrian worked with XDG Gaming, as well as RMU during the 2014 season.
The upside of picking Adrian is the elite talent surrounding him will generate fantasy points through teamfights, but the team itself has to come together to get the killing machine going. Since Impulse has not been seen live, Adrian is worth taking a flier on in later rounds with the hope he will payoff later in the season.
The five players mentioned here are just a few candidates for sleeper Fantasy LCS picks. With two more team’s worth of players in each LCS, there are sure to be more out there waiting to help a fantasy team take home this season’s trophy. Who have you scouted this offseason and think will burst onto the fantasy scene? Let us know in the comments.
