Week 3 Streaming Options
Hello, it's me.
I ended up being super busy this week so I couldn't finish a video talking about it, but I wanted to share the information I gathered for week 3 anyway.
Barring some pretty big blunders (Renegades, IWDominate), I think my streaming/stashing options went pretty well. If you read my write-up on week 2 streamers, I said that I ended up being pretty comfortable starting Gamsu and MrRallez last week, and they ended up coming through. If you actually took the gamble and started MrRallez last week, congratulations on winning!
I think the biggest thing I learned last week is how cruel of a mistress a young league like the LCS and their teams can be. A lot of things like Visa issues, last-minute roster changes, and Echo Fox doing whatever the hell they did ended up changing the results for the week pretty significantly ,and there are no signs of that changing for this week, with things like Edward and Diamond missing week 3.
So with that being said...
Week 3 Streaming Options
As always, this advice is mainly for deep 8-man leagues and maybe 6-man leagues. You always want to start your studs in a 4-man, but this might still help you if your non-studs have a tough matchup.
- CLG (Owned in 38.8% of leagues), Xmithie (48.6%), HuHi (39.1%), Stixxay (42.4%)
Before we start with anything else, Immortals and CLG both have the same schedule this week against EF and REN. At least in the NALCS, we're starting to get an idea of how everyone stands in the season, and it should be clear that Echo Fox and Renegades are clearly a step below all the top/high-mid tier teams right now. REN and EF have all given up a ton of points to their opponents, so everyone on CLG and IMM should be must-starts this week. Most of those players should already be taken, but CLG, Xmithie, HuHi and Stixxay are available in over half of the leagues, pick them up.
Advice: CLG and IMM are must starts this week.
- Steve (15.8%), MrRallez (14.4%)
Believe it or not, but Elements isn't as bad as we thought they would be so far. All of Elements blew up for huge points, including MrRallez dropping a cool 59.65 points. For the start of the season, Rallez and Steve are averaging 21.12 and 17.81 PPG respectably, which is a pretty good amount for their positions. I doubt they're going to get a total as high as last week again, but this week they're against an always dangerous Origen and a Diamond-less Unicorns. This could be a boom or bust week for them that will really test their standing in the EULCS
Advice: Stash MrRallez in 8-man leagues, or start both as low-end top/flex options.
- Vitality (32.5%), Shook (31.4%)
Shook shook off (hah!) a horrible week 1 performance and helped VIT to a 3-1 record, getting 19.54 PPG in the process. No one in the EU has a particularly great match up this week, but Vitality has a game 2 against a win-less Giants Gaming with a new jungler after a tough match against H2K, this might be a week where VIT shows that they're the real deal. At the very least, they could make up a weak game 1 performance with an absolute stomp in the second.
Advice: Start VIT and Shook as mid-high streaming options
- Seraph (1%), Mash (1.9%), Gate (3.1%)
I really, really wished TiP was more active in letting the community know about their roster during the week. Seraph came up huge for TiP against C9, dropping 22.88 points, but then was "busy or doing something" in day two and didn't play. If Seraph becomes their permanent starter in the future, he could help Impulse turn their horrible season around
... wait, they went 2-0 last week?
This week they're against a struggling Team Liquid and an always aggressive Dignitas, so there's potential for huge points coming out of Impulse this week. Mash is a solid flex option this week, and my favorite thing about Gate is his ability to fill. He's listed as a Support this week, but on any given day they could put him in the mid or top lane. A support giving mid-top lane value? I'll don't hate that.
Advice: Stash Seraph in 8-man leagues, start Mash and Gate as low-end flex/support options
- Perkz (18.7%), KiwiKid (18%)
Just wanted to throw another mid and support option out there. G2 and DIG are both proving to be boom or bust, and entirely match up dependent. G2 is still in that 5-way (!) tier for first with a 3-1 record. This week they're against another 3-1 team UOL that will be missing their Jungler for the week and the dangerous Fnatic squad. Along with all of EU, this week will give us a good idea where they stand in the league.
Similarily, Dignitas is also in a 5-way tie for third, and this week they're against a volatile Team Impulse and Cloud 9. Contrary to popular belief, I think that C9 might still end up splitting starts between Hai and Bunny, and they seem to start Bunny against the lower tier teams. So after they start Hai against TSM, I think there's a good chance C9 starts Bunny against Dig, and we all know that they look completely different without Hai (AKA, shit), so there's a chance DIG, and KiwiKid, has another 20 PPG week.
Advice: Risk it for the biscuit and start Perkz and KiwiKid in the flex/support positions.
Hopefully this helps anyone, next week I'll be back with a another video (maybe)!