Fantasy Love/Hate: Week 1

For the first week of LCS, the fantasy game is all about faith. Faith in players, in their teammates, and in the trends established last season. After a Spring break with so many major changes involving key players across both regions, that faith may well be misplaced. This week is sure to see some unexpected fantasy busts and booms, but for now, fantasy owners are flying blind into the Summer Split.

For Fantasy LCS Week 1, we love...

Froggen (vs. CW/SHC/FNC/GMB) – Oh, do we ever love Froggen this week. Great things are expected from the veteran mid this season, but fantasy owners could not ask for a better Week 1 situation. Alliance open their season with games against a slightly revamped Copenhagen Wolves, a Supa Hot Crew team that's endured a lot of struggles, a Gambit team that's trying to audition a new mid laner, and finally Fnatic.

Two of those opponents have inexperienced Mid laners, and Copenhagen Wolves are dealing with two major lineup changes in other positions. With Alliance looking hot, and soft-looking opponents in his lane, Froggen should basically be a one-man Sharknado. For fantasy owners, the results will probably be a lot more welcome than the film.

XiaoWeiXiao (vs. EG/CLG/COL/CRS) – Expect XiaoWeiXiao to over-perform this week. This is one of his best opportunities to rack up fantasy points all season, thanks to favorable matchups, and he'll want to announce his arrival in NA LCS with a bang.

If LMQ are going to live up to their hype, it's going to be on the back of XiaoWeiXiao's ace mid laning. This is the week where we find out if he can rise to the moment (especially since he avoids matchups against Shiphtur, Hai, and Bjergsen). Our bet is that he should, and fantasy owners should get a surprising number of points off of a player who was likely an alternate pick.

Imaqtpie (vs. COL/EG/C9/CRS) – Imaqtpie, a solid AD pick, is likely to have a good week to start out the season. Dignitas has a manageable schedule this week, and Imaqtpie stands a very good chance of getting the better of his lane. The only fly in the ointment might be Curse's new bottom lane pairing, but that still gives Qtpie some great chances to rack up major fantasy points. Those who took a chance on the Dignitas AD should get rewarded this week.

sOAZ (vs. SK/ALL/CW/ROC) – Fnatic have been so streaky that it can be hard to trust any of their players to live up to expectations on any given week, but sOAZ is a great choice for starting top laner this week. He's one of the best in the world at his position, and he shouldn't be getting too much competition this week. With Fnatic posing such a threat in the bottom lane and in mid, sOAZ should be getting a lot of one-on-ones this week, and he'll absolutely own them.

LemonNation (vs. TSM/DIG/COL/CLG) – Cloud 9 can usually be trusted to have a good week, and this one should lift LemonNation surprisingly high in the fantasy points total. With Team SoloMid's bottom lane pairing a complete wild card, and compLexity just getting up to LCS speed, LemonNation and Sneaky should both have good weeks. Expect LemonNation to leave most other supports in the dust.

But we hate...

CandyPanda (vs. FNC/GMB/CW/SHC) - “Hate” is relative here, but as good as CandyPanda is, he's got his hands-full this week. Opening against Fnatic is never an easy matchup for an EU LCS bot laner, and Genja and Edward are both going to be under pressure to win their lane in order to compensate for their uncertain mid lane. Even games that should be good matchups for SK, like against MrRalleZ's Supa Hot Crew, still leave CandyPanda dealing with the most competition.

SK might have a good week, but everyone CandyPanda faces is going to be trying to shut him down. Against that much containment, this sleeper-favorite may underperform.

cowTard (vs. ALL/MIL/SK/FNC) – Sorry cowTard, but this isn't going to be your week. In fact, it's probably going to be pretty ugly. Copenhagen Wolves have a tough schedule this week, and cowTard gets the worst of every matchup as he faces down one talented mid laner after another. Froggen, xPeke, Kerp, and Jesiz all get their shots at cowTard, and without Amazing to help stabilize, he's projected to finish the week near the bottom of the fantasy standings.

Gambit Gaming (vs. ROC/SK/ALL/MIL) – There are so many warning signs associated with Gambit this week, it's hard to know where to start. For one thing, their captain and longtime mid-laner Alex Ich just quit the team and they're basically trying to find a replacement while kicking off the Summer Split. It's bad news if Alex's comments have demoralized the team, and it's worse news if he's right.

On top of everything, Gambit have a tough Week 1 schedule. They open against ROCCAT, who seem to have Gambit's number (5-1 in past 6 games), and then they face strong SK and Alliance teams. Even Millenium look to be much better this season. Gambit as a team may underperform, even if some of their players might pull off good weeks.