Fantasy LCS draft guide for the 2015 Summer Split
There's no need to panic, even if you haven't been paying attention during the off-season. We've put together a quick draft guide to get you caught up on all the big changes for the next split of Fantasy LCS.
What Did I Miss?
First, if you haven't already, read our big rundown of roster changes made during the off-season. Here are the biggest things to keep in mind:
Three New Teams: Origen (EU) is composed of many LCS veterans, including Enrique "xPeke" Cedeño Martínez and Maurice "Amazing" Stückenschneider, and they should do very well in the EU LCS -- draft them with confidence. Enemy Esports (NA) and Team Dragon Knights (NA) looked strong in Challenger, but are mostly untested against tested LCS teams. Draft them with tempered expectations, and keep an eye on them for Week 1 pickups if they look strong.
Elements is New Too: Only mid laner Henrik "Froggen" Hansen remains from last Split's roster, paired with a mix of veterans and rookies. There's definitely talent on this squad, but last Split we learned that talent is not enough to guarantee fantasy points. These are still risky picks, but you might be able to grab them later because of how many owners got burned by Elements last Split.
Rekkles Should Be Back: After a disappointing Spring Split, Martin "Rekkles" Larsson migrated to the on-fire Fnatic roster, to form what could be the best team EU has ever produced. Martin "Rekkles" Larsson should get back to breaking Fantasy LCS records again this Split, but it may take a week or two for him to adjust.
Forg1ven is Confusing: The #4 ADC last Split, Konstantinos "FORG1VEN" Tzortziou, left SK Gaming to join Gambit. SK replaced him with their previous ADC, Adrian "CandyPanda" Wübbelmann. We won't know the full ramifications of these swaps until we see the new teams in action, but if I had to guess: Gambit does better and SK does worse -- draft accordingly.
New Dawn for Cloud9: Cloud9 had their first-ever roster change, with Nicolaj "Incarnati0n" Jensen taking over the mid lane. Mid lane competition is fierce in NA and studs like Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg and Yu "XiaoWeiXiao" Xian will punish every mistake he makes. Cloud9's strengths always came from their cohesiveness and this will be a big test, adding some risk to drafting anyone on that squad.
Who Should I Pick First?
The classic watercooler debate for all fantasy sports. Thankfully, there are a few viable options in the Summer Split. Check out the arguments for each and make your own decision.
Rekkles: Fnatic's AD carry Pierre "Steeelback" Medjaldi had the highest average points per game last split, and Rekkles should perform even better than him. Fnatic is one of the few teams you can feel 100% confident in drafting early.
Huni: MADNESS! HERESY! A top laner as your first pick? Hear me out, at least. Seong "Huni" Hoon Heo scored, on average, 25.1 points -- five more points than any other top laner, and second only to Steelback overall. That's the highest gap for any position. There were 15 junglers within five points of the top-scoring jungler. For mid laners, seven. For AD carries, six. For supports, four. All the while, Huni is up there all by himself in top lane scoring.
Forg1ven: This one is risky, but if you believe in Gambit, it's easy to see Forg1ven scoring even more points over there than he did on SK Gaming. If nothing else, Gambit's straightforward brawl tactics of last Split should lead to plenty of fights, and fantasy points.
Bjergsen: Every first-round-pick discussion has to include the NA LCS' king of the mid lane. Forget TSM's poor showing at MSI during the off-season. They will get back on track against their familiar NA opponents.
Who Should I Avoid?
Even the best players can be overrated, and we need to be frugal during the draft if we want to build a championship team. Here are the players who you'll likely have to reach too far to get -- avoid them at their usual draft spots, and only grab them cheap.
All Cloud9 players: At some point during your draft, you're going to see a Cloud9 player available and be tempted to draft "such a good player." I call this the "Josh mistake" and you should not follow me into this pit of regret. Cloud9 is a great team, but their reserved playstyle doesn't give great fantasy points. Despite having the best record in NA last Split, the highest Cloud9 player was #27 overall in fantasy points. Eek.
nRated: Christoph "nRated" Seitz was inconsistent last Split, but he pocketed a few mind-blowing weeks that landed him the #3 support spot. We're not sure minds will be blown this Split quite yet -- a rusty CandyPanda (#9 ADC in the 2014 Summer Split) is definitely a downgrade from Forg1ven (#4 ADC last Split).
xPeke: You should be able to get the other Origen players for cheap, but xPeke is as flashy as draft picks come -- recognized and respected by anyone that's been following professional LoL for any period of time. His celebrity adds a premium to his draft cost that isn't worth paying at this uncertain stage in his career.
Pobelter/Huhi: "Committee" is the dirtiest word in fantasy sports. When a team splits one role between two players, fantasy owners always lose. Eugene "Pobelter" Justice Park and Choi "HuHi" Jae-hyun will split time in the mid lane and, even if CLG wins every single game they play, neither player can be trusted as a Fantasy LCS starter.
Freeze: Aleš "Freeze" Kněžínek and the Copenhagen Wolves benefitted from a depressed EU scene last split. His 3rd Place finish on the ADC fantasy scoreboard should boost his draft value this year, but EU will be more punishing this Split. I don't see many teams losing to Copenhagen Wolves this time around, which'll severely limit Freeze's potential.
Which Value Picks Can I Get For Cheap?
You need to take risks to win Fantasy LCS. Grabbing safe players for every position will land you in a nice, safe position on the leaderboard at the end of the season. That's not what we want. In later rounds, try to grab underrated players with upside -- the potential to develop into a true stud.
Xpecial: Veteran LCS fans will remember that Alex "Xpecial" Chu used to be considered one of the best support players in the world. He had a rough Spring Split playing ADC roulette on Team Liquid, but Piglet looks like he's stabilized and ready to prove that he and Xpecial can be the scariest bot lane in NA.
XiaoWeiXiao: Yu "XiaoWeiXiao" Xian finished last Split as the #10 fantasy mid laner, which should leave him low on people's lists this draft. But Team Impulse looked great in the second half of the Split, and this happy mid laner should unleash the beast more often this time around.
Niels: xPeke wants his teams to fight. Just like old-school Fnatic, Origen will win by picking fights and violently beating their opponents into submission. That should mean a lot of points, especially for their AD carry, Jesper "Niels" Svenningsen, who went 23-3-27 in the Challenger Series Finals (averaging 31 fantasy points per game!).
Bodydrop: If you can't grab Xpecial or Bora "YellOwStaR" Kim for your support, focus on the other positions early and just grab one of the decent supports from the pile near the end -- they all mostly score the same points anyways (only three points/game separated the #2 support from #12). Adam "Bodydrop" Krauthaker should be cheap, since he's new to the LCS, and has tempting upside potential with his deep champion pool, solid skills, and dominant success in Challenger.
Jwaow: Elements is such a scary unknown this Split that you could probably pick up anyone on their roster for cheap. But Jesper "Jwaow" Strandgren in particular should be up for grabs until very late. Jwaow struggled on Meet Your Makers last Split, so his upside is tied entirely to Elements' potential, but there's very few other deep options in the top lane.
Good Luck!
If you have your own advice, toss it in the comments below to help out your fellow drafters. Let us know who you go with for your team, and best of luck in your Fantasy LCS draft!
Josh Augustine's favorite champion is Nunu, 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.
