Fantasy Love/Hate: Week 4
Three weeks into Fantasy LCS, you’re surely not the only one who's suffered the shame of a high-scoring bench player and a low-scoring starter. We're back with another attempt to steer you in the right direction and help you avoid pitfalls!
FOR FANTASY LCS WEEK 4, WE LOVE…
CandyPanda (vs. FNC/CW) - SK Gaming's AD Carry is what everyone wants in their starting roster: reliable, with frequent upside. And this is a big upside week. Last week, CandyPanda abused his struggling opponents, Millenium and Gambit, to earn 50 points (No. 5 overall in Week 3).
This time, he faces Copenhagen Wolves and Fnatic. Don't let the high-scoring tendencies of their bot lane heroes Woolite and Rekkles scare you away from this pick though. Despite their high points, they've done nothing to suppress their lane opponents. Copenhagen Wolves let Creaton go for 28.2 points last week, and Fnatic let MrRalleZ go for 20.3. SK's bot lane is one of the best in the league, which'll only favor CandyPanda more.
Shiphtur (vs. C9/CRS) - Shiphtur is playing out of his mind right now, amassing 175.3 points, 25 higher than the next closest Mid in the NA LCS (Bjergsen at 150.2). Don't even bother breathing if you're thinking about benching him, but we're calling him out here because he's going to have an absolute field day with this week's matchups.
C9's Hai still looks lost in mid lane and gave up monster points to Pobelter (36.6 to be exact) last week and Voyboy, who's averaging just 14.5 pts/game, isn't in Shiphtur's league (21.9 pts/game).
MrRalleZ (vs. MIL/ROC) - Sure, he put up mediocre points last week (although, to be fair, it was the kind of points most people expected when they drafted him in the fourth round). But don't let last week's "slump" fool you -- he faced off against Fnatic and Alliance (who give up the third and second fewest points in the EU LCS to ADCs). Millenium and ROCCAT, teams that give up the second and third most points to ADCs in the EU LCS, should provide much easier fodder.
BUT WE HATE...
Curse (vs. DIG/LMQ) - This will not end well for anyone in black and orange. Curse lost to TSM and compLexity last week, with very few fantasy points to show for it (12 pts across two games). And this week's opponents, Dignitas and LMQ, are poised to potentially beat them even harder.
xPeke (vs. SK/ALL) - Fnatic is in rough shape. Their slump hasn't quite gotten as bad as last split's nosedive, but their struggles are still very noticeable when compared to their dominant high points last split. xPeke has held his own for two weeks in a row (37.38 pts last week) but he's far from dominant.
More troubling however, is that he hasn't managed to give fantasy owners great scores even when his team is winning. xPeke is always a wild card who could show up big at any moment, but it seems unlikely that he stages a comeback this week against the two top Mids in EU, Froggen and Jesiz, whose teams hold opposing Mids to 12.4 pts/game and 10.8/pts game respectively.
Altec (vs. LMQ/CLG) – Undoubtedly, this inclusion makes you shout, "Altec put up amazing numbers last week! How could you possibly bench him?!", but take a look at those numbers: about 44 of his points last week came from his 13/1/6 win over C9. In a loss against Dignitas the next day, he put up just 6.
He's an unreliable ADC on an unreliable team. He's a smart pick up for your bench, where you can wait for him to evolve into a consistent performer later this split. As an up-and-down player, and with facing LMQ Vasilii and CLG Doublelift this week, you should keep him on the sidelines.
Josh Augustine's favorite champion is Thresh, 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 Sony Online Entertainment. He’d love to talk with you on Twitter.
