Fantasy Love/Hate: Week 3
Whoa, the Summer Split is out of control -- in the best possible way! While Origen tears through Europe for maximum fantasy points, half of NA dukes it out for the top spot. The explosive games have brought plenty of surprise stars to our Fantasy LCS rosters, so keep an eye out for trade opportunities!
For Fantasy Week 3, We Love...
Forg1ven (vs. Copenhagen Wolves, SK Gaming)
Yes, Konstantinos "FORG1VEN" Tzortziou is the lowest-scoring AD carry right now. Yes, Gambit is winless. Yes, he's going to make a comeback this week.
Last week, Gambit showed very real signs of life against the undefeated Fnatic. They prevented a blowout and kept the superstars of Fnatic in check better than any of their previous opponents.
And if they're going to make a comeback, this is the week to kick it off. They've got a soft schedule that should forgive the occasional mistake and let them focus on getting back to what they do best: bullying lanes and snowballing those leads into teamfights. Don't forget that this is the team whose playstyle made them the #1 Fantasy LCS team multiple weeks last split.
You should be able to get Forg1ven dirt cheap right now. It's still a gamble, but he's exactly what you want on your second ADC: tons of personal skill on a huge upside team.
Move (vs. Counter Logic Gaming, Team Dignitas)
Gravity looked like they could be the best team in NA last week. Their wins over Cloud9 and Team Liquid were authoritative and merciless. And at the forefront of both wins was jungler Kang "Move" Min-su, whose Jarvan IV and Rek'Sai ganks earned him piles of kills and assists that turned fantasy owners' heads.
Most importantly, though, he's shaping up to be something exceedingly rare this split: consistent. He scored 48 points in Week 1 and 43 points in Week 2. Every other jungler in the Top 5 of Week 1 dropped below Move in Week 2. Meanwhile, Move didn't move.
This week will be a test for Gravity, but it should give Move plenty of opportunities to scrap and rack up some points.
Odoamne (vs. SK Gaming, Unicorns of Love)
Last Split in this article series, I talked about how I really like a schedule that has one easy game and one tough -- but not unbeatable -- game. That gives your player some surefire (in theory) points, and one game that has the potential to be drawn out, giving them time to build up high kill counts.
In that sense, H2K has the perfect schedule this week. And looking at their squad, I like the potential for Andrei "Odoamne" Pascu in particular to bust out some big numbers.
Odoamne is the #2 point-scorer on the team (only behind their ADC Petter "Hjarnan" Freyschuss), which is very uncommon for a top laner. That means when H2K does well, he's one of the primary benefactors. That's the sort of player I want on my roster, and you should too.
But We Hate...
Vizicsacsi (vs. Origen, H2K)
The Unicorns of Love simply have too tough of a schedule for me to feel comfortable starting anyone on their roster this week. H2K and Origen in particular are especially tough on top laners, which'll limit Kiss "Vizicsacsi" Tamás this week.
Let's take a look at some scary numbers. Origen has only allowed top laners 5.1 points per game, on average. Scared yet? It gets worse: outside of their loss to Origen, H2K has only allowed top laners 3.7 points, on average!
UOL looks really exciting this season, but the key to winning Fantasy LCS leagues is recognizing good weeks for your low-scoring players and bad weeks for your-high scoring players. Your bench players are there for a reason. Give them a chance to shine!
Shiphtur (vs. Team SoloMid, Gravity)
Team Dignitas looks surprisingly strong this Split, and I'm not the only one who's eager to see them become a serious threat in the NA LCS by the time Worlds rolls around. After their incredible fantasy showing last week, many owners snatched them up with plans to start them. Especially Danny "Shiphtur" Le, the #3 mid laner last week!
But, hold up, friends. There isn't a single mid laner in the LCS that I'd be excited about starting on the week that they have to face both Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg and Lae-Young "Keane" Jang in the central death funnel we call mid lane.
Both of those mid laners, and teams, are on fire right now and pose too much risk to starting this burgeoning squad, if you can avoid it. Opposing mid laners only averaged 8.7 points per game against them last week. And you're going to need more than that to win your matchup.
Josh Augustine's favorite champion is Sivir, 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.
