Fantasy Love/Hate: Week 6
Uh oh. We've reached that dangerous point in the Fantasy LCS season where we've seen enough games to think we know who's going to win matchups, only to be completely destroyed by surprise wins (Hello, Team Dragon Knights!) and unbelievable losses (Where'd you go, H2K?).
Here's what our gut (and the numbers) say about who to start and bench this week. Share your own gut-intuition in the comments!
For Fantasy Week 6, We Love...
Ryu (vs. Elements, Unicorns of Love)
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The funny friends of H2K stumbled for the first time last week, with a 0-2 hiccup that left fantasy owners in a lurch. But one good surprise came out of their struggles: mid laner Ryu "Ryu" Sang-wook's stable fantasy performance.
While everyone else on H2K scored 30 or more fantasy points lower than their previous week, Ryu only dropped 4 (37 to 33). Petter "Hjärnan" Freyschuss may be the hare with wild swings up and down, but Ryu is the tortoise with his slow and steady scores.
Every now and then, though, Ryu gets his -- and this looks like it could be one of those high-point weeks. Ryu scored 57 points against the teams he’s playing earlier in the Split. Sure, Elements is winning more games now but, even in their wins last week, they still gave up an average of 18 points to the opposing mid laner.
Unicorns of Love joined H2K in their big, messy tilt last week, which could be a sign of a really bloody, high-scoring game between the two of them as they regain their footing.
Rush (vs. Enemy Esports, Counter Logic Gaming)
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39. 30. 37. 39. 67.
Those have been the fantasy points of Team Impulse's jungler, Lee "Rush" Yoon-jae, this Split. While TiP has swung up and down in performance and fantasy value, Rush has, alone, somehow managed to stay consistent.
He's the #4 jungler overall, and it looks like TiP is ready to kick off a big upswing. I wouldn't expect another 67-point week -- he won't always get his beloved Lee Sin -- but he's proven that he's a very low-risk starter.
That makes him the safe pick on a risky team that has the potential to explode into points-apalooza dream land any given week. That's a great combo.
Vander (vs. SK Gaming, Gambit Gaming)
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ROCCAT is back. Again. Maybe. Who knows. They certainly did everything in their power last week to help fantasy owners forget their low Week 4 scores. Their two win Week 5 boosted Oskar "VandeR" Bogdan to the #4 support spot that week, and their upcoming schedule is intriguing, at the very least.
All three of the teams that'll be scrapping (SK, Gambit, ROCCAT) have shown signs of greatness, but have also been unable to attain it for long. So you're taking some risk by betting on any of them, but ROCCAT looked solid last week and should be able to put up a good fight, and secure at least one win.
Bonus encouragement stat! Supports against SK and Gambit averaged 17 points last week.
But We Hate...
Froggen (vs. H2K, Origen)
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Good news, Elements owners: They've scored well for you two weeks in a row!
Bad news, Elements owners: That schedule.
I was ready to gamble on Froggen in my own lineup this week... until I saw who they were playing against. Origen and H2K are some of the most dominant teams in EU, and opposing teams not named Fnatic simply don't score many fantasy points against them.
It's simple science. Simple science that Heo "Huni" Seung-hoon and crew are somehow immune to -- so don't make judgements based on H2K's loss to Fnatic last week.
This is a very tough schedule for the newly shifted Elements roster. Give Henrik "Froggen" Hansen and friends another week to find their footing, and look to take advantage of them in Week 7 if they can hold together this week.
Team Gravity (vs. Counter Logic Gaming, Team SoloMid)
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These are going to be awesome games to watch. All three of these teams have been strong, with weaknesses, lately. The potential drawn-out bloodbaths between these juggernauts makes me want to take a greedy gamble on the players in them -- but not the teams.
Remember, team slots don't benefit from back-and-forth games, like players do. Team slots want easy wins. And with no theoretically easy wins this week, Team Gravity's team points are completely up in the air.
If you have another option with an easier schedule, you should sub them out of your Fantasy LCS squad this week.
[ed. note] The article had previously stated that Gravity was playing Team SoloMid and Team Liquid, when they have Counter Logic Gaming and Team SoloMid this week. This has been updated.
Josh Augustine's favorite champion is Pool Party Anything, he's never enjoyed a Darius, and he will always go for the kill, even when he knows he shouldn't. He currently works as a game designer on EverQuest Next at Daybreak Games. He’d love to talk with you on Twitter.
