Welcome to this week’s edition of Start ‘em, Sit ‘em. In this series, I will look at four players who you should consider starting in Fantasy LCS, as well as four players you should consider sitting, and give my reasons why.
Start ‘em
Vincent “Biofrost” Wang: Team SoloMid Support, matches against Phoenix1 and Team EnVyUs
The rookie support has not disappointed anyone that took a risk on him before the split in the thousands of fantasy drafts that occurred. He has consistently been not only one of the highest scoring support players, but one of the highest scoring players overall, as Biofrost currently is the thirteenth highest scoring player overall, and first when looking at just supports. Some of his success could very well be credited to the fact that TSM is playing great, but if you own him and are able to benefit from his success, do you really care how he gets the points? No. Phoenix1 and Team EnVyUs do not present too big of a matchup for TSM and expect them to roll through these two games, with support Biofrost benefiting heavily from the inevitable success of his AD Carry and mid laner.
Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen: Cloud9 Mid laner, matches against Phoenix1 and Team EnVyUs
Ironically, Cloud9 has the same exact schedule as TSM, a schedule that plays into both of these team’s favor. I have not touched too much on the success of Jensen, or really any C9 player in my two fantasy LCS based series I work on here at GAMURS, so I thought this week would be a good time to start. Take into consideration that Jensen had a 52 points in the first P1 match, and with the 49 points from the first Team EnVyUs vs. C9 match, he could have himself a 100+ point weekend. I expect similar numbers this week, out of not only himself, but the rest of C9. It is worth noting that Cloud9 believes they have found their stride with their support Andy”Smoothie” Ta being moved into a full-time starting role in favor of Michael “Bunny FuFuu” Kurylo.
You can read more about that situation and Bunny FuFuu’s rumored move to Immortals here.
Hampus “Fox” Myhre: FC Schalke 04 Mid laner, matches against Team ROCCAT and G2 Esports
Fox is very interesting this week. On one hand, he plays G2, the number one team in the league right now who have been rolling through the competition, but on the other hand, you have ROCCAT, who have been rolling down in the standings. Putting him in this week is biting the bullet and taking the risk. The last time he played G2, he scored a very encouraging 45 points off of a series that ended in a 1-1 tie. With 53 points against ROCCAT in their first meeting, a score that is sadly average against ROCCAT, he has the potential for a good week. If he can have another 50+ point series against ROCCAT, and then just sort of survive against G2, he could have himself a nice week for his fantasy owners.
Mateusz “Kikis” Szkudlarek: Fnatic Top laner, matches against Splyce and Origen
The new Fnatic top laner had a very nice first week with his new team after taking over for Yeong-Jin “Gamsu” Noh, scoring just over 50 points. As he gets more acclimated to the team, you can expect those numbers to increase in the last two weeks of the split, and these two matches also play into the favor of Kikis. Splyce and Origen are both two mid-field to bottom tier teams, that Fnatic is going to look to apply pressure to. The matches are going to be controlled by the hands of Fnatic, who should, if all goes well, gain a firm grip on the map after a successful laning phase. That segways into major fantasy points that the owners of Kikis can get in on. Check your league to see if he is available; his current ownership rate is at 55%, so he could be a steal for these last few weeks of the split.
Sit ‘em
Park “Police” Hyeong-gi: Team Vitality AD Carry, matches against Giants and H2k-Gaming
While Police had a week seven performance that was good enough for my winners list, I do not see him repeating that success in week eight. They play two mid-field teams in Giants and H2k who are both very much in the playoffs, and have looked strong in the past. Both of these teams were able to either, in the case of Giants, tie, or for H2k, defeat Vitality in their first meetings. Some people may cite the terrible week that H2k had, but I put a lot of fault on the fact they played the top two teams in the league in G2 and Fnatic. Police struggled in these matchups the first time around, and with both of these teams really looking for a win, you can bet that they will bring the heat to Vitality.
Oh “Ohq” Gyu-min: NRG Esports AD Carry, matches against Immortals and Team Liquid
Like in the case of his fellow Korean player, Police, Ohq has to play two teams that are deep in the hunt for playoff spots. While Immortals has a spot all but wrapped, TL is fighting Cloud9, who they are currently tied with at an 8-6 record. They also narrowly lead Counter Logic Gaming and Team EnVyUs by one game. One bad week and Team Liquid could slip down to as far as sixth, right on the bubble for playoffs, so you know they are looking to sweep this matchup this time around. NRG scored very few points the first time around against TL and ultimately ended up losing the series. They fared better against Immortals, but IMT are lurking underneath Team SoloMid and want to keep that position that they can pounce from if TSM slips up.
Jang “Keane” Lae-young: Apex Gaming Mid Laner, matches against Echo Fox and Immortals
Apex is currently the bubble team in seventh place through the first seven weeks, and with two weeks remaining, you know they want to secure a spot in the playoffs, or if not then at least avoid the relegation tournament. While the EF match gives you a little bit of joy seeing as Keane had about a 33 point showing in their first meeting, it does not make up for the Immortals match, a series that is most likely going to be very one sided in favor of the current second place team. Echo Fox are fighting to get out of last place and have some breathing room going into the relegation tournament, which they are almost certain to be playing in. If Apex wants a playoff spot, it is going to be a scrappy match that possibly goes to three games, which is not good for fantasy numbers.
Paul “sOAZ” Boyer: Origen Top Laner, matches against Giants and Fnatic
The French top laner had decent fantasy showings with the struggling European League Championship Series team, but the Fnatic match scares me. He did score 26.27 points in the first meeting, which is okay for a player on the ninth place team against a team that would go on to dominate the first half of the split. However, Fnatic has made changes in the top lane, parting ways with Yeong-Jin “Gamsu” Noh and adding former G2 player Mateusz “Kikis” Szkudlarek. Kikis had some very strong matches in his first week with the team, and I believe he poses a bigger threat to enemy top laners than Gamsu did. To touch on the Giants match, it is similar to that of Police; Giants is in the hunt for a better playoff bid, and are going to look to bring their best League of Legends during matches this week.
All images gracousily provided by Riot Games via their official Flickr Page.
You can follow and get in contact with the author Ryan Kish on his Twitter account.
