Sometimes you get it right, other times you get it wrong, and for the most part last week I got it wrong. I advocated starting Piglet – I started him in all my leagues – to watch in horror as he put up less than 10 points in his 1st game, I thought Pobelter would have a mediocre week only to watch him top fantasy scoring for all mid-laners. There were numerous last minute substitutions and roster changes, as well as one game cancelled entirely this week, so congratulations if you overcame all of the above to win your matchup. If you’re not sitting pretty at 2-0, it’s time to put week 2 in the rear view and look ahead to week 3.
Players I love in week 3
Adrian – Support – IMT
It certainly doesn’t hurt your fantasy value to be on the only unbeaten team, nor does it hurt to be matched up against two struggling teams, and it certainly doesn’t hurt your position stock to be laning with Wildturtle, who seems to have rediscovered his magic after leaving TSM. This week Adrian; who is currently the 6th highest fantasy scoring player overall, will be facing Remi on a struggling Renegades team who have looked out of sorts since the start of the split, and Big from Team Fox who are coming off a heart breaking loss to Team Liquid. The way Immortals have been playing I expect Adrian to put up monster numbers once again.
Forg1vengre – ADC – H2K
Quietly putting up one of the better fantasy performances of the split, Forg1vengre is averaging almost 20 points per game, and is 4th overall amongst qualified ADCs. He should have another good outing in week 3 as H2K go head to head with LCS newcomers Vitality and the rebuilt roster of Roccat. In terms of matchups the tougher of the two is likely to be Hjarnan of Vitality who has a similar level of experience to Forg1vengre, however to give you an idea of how far apart they are this season, Forg1vengre has more kills than Hjarnan and his Roccat opposite number; Safir, combined 20 to 12.
Hauntzer – Top – TSM
One of my top picks coming in to the season, Hauntzer is proving why TSM went out and signed him as soon as he became a free agent. He’s put up solid dependable performances week in and week out, including a 37.53 point performance last week. You know what you’re getting when you start Hauntzer both in fantasy and from a team perspective, a dependable consistent showing and while in real life consistency doesn’t always equate to success, it almost always adds up to fantasy gold. TSM will be facing C9 and NRG in week 3 which will pit Hauntzer against Balls who has been up and down this season, and either Cris or Impact as NRG seem undecided on their top lane starter. I will love this matchup even more if we see Cris taking the stage for NRG.
Players I hate for Week 3
Fenix – Mid – TL
It’s possible that the amazing comeback win against Team Fox is the catalyst for Liquid getting back to a level comparable to where they were last year, they certainly have the pieces to do it in Fenix and Piglet. While I do believe there’s too much talent on the roster for them to not eventually get it together, I don’t think it’ll be this week. Liquid as a whole looked out of sync all weekend and struggled mightily against a Fox team that started 3 replacement players. Fenix will most likely be facing Gate of TIP who was a beast this week, putting up 50.25 points and GBM of team NRG who has put up almost 48 points across 3 games and will be looking to bounce back from a lacklustre week 2 performance. With the team around him so out of sorts and with tough matchups for the week ahead you’d be better looking elsewhere than Fenix for week 3.
RF Legendary – Top – REN
It’s been an underwhelming split for Renegades as team. I was quite high on them last week given that they had what figured to be two fairly easy matchups and, unfortunately, the performance was around the same level that we’ve seen from them. It’s about to get a lot harder this week facing off against two very good teams, the unbeaten Immortals and the 3rd place CLG. This matches RF against Huni who leads the league in fantasy points and Darshan who isn’t far behind coming in at 4. The way both of his opponents have been playing, expect RF Legendary to be a non-factor both for his team and in fantasy this week.
Emperor – ADC – G2
Up until this point, Emperor has been pretty solid if you started him in week 1 and week 2. He’ll have bagged you a total of 60.29 points, including a 40.86 showing in week 1. This week, however, does not figure to be one where you can expect Emperor to put up the points. G2 will be playing against Fnatic and UOL in week 3, which matches Emperor against Rekkles and Steeelback respectively. Both of these opponents bring with them a substantial advantage when it comes to experience in the LCS, and have the same or better KDA across the split. Of the players on this side of the list, Emperor is the one I feel least confident about having mentioned, it’s entirely possible he comes up big this week; he is after all the 11th highest fantasy scoring ADC so far. With the 3rd highest scoring ADC in MrRallez owned in only 13.8% of leagues, however, checking if better free agent options are available is a prudent move.
HR Department – Team Fox
An honorary mention, since the HR staff for team Echo Fox won’t actually contribute to any fantasy wins at any point. They are, however, likely to have cost a few people points this week. In case you missed it, due to work eligibility issues Fox had to forfeit their 1st game of week 2 against NRG due to being unable to field an eligible roster. In fantasy terms this means none of the players from either team scored any fantasy points for the matchup. When they did play on Sunday, 3 of their players had been replaced leaving Keith and Big as the only remaining members. The low ownership of players from Fox means this has more of an impact on players facing them, than on players from their own roster.