I’m dubbing this set of games “Melee in the Mid” because that’s where almost all the juicy matchups are; we’ve got Ryu vs Febiven, Powerofevil vs Perkz, Bjergsen vs Fenix and Pobelter vs Huhi to name a few. What this means is my Love/Hate this week is very mid-lane centric. Sadly, that’s the nature of the beast. All the other lanes will have their day. Except Jungle, Riot just gave you dudes a whole week. One day it’ll be Support’s time to shine. One day.
Players I love in Week 7
Jensen – Mid – C9
Talk about a performance. Last week Jensen put up a whopping 74.24 fantasy points; it’s quite likely he single handedly won or lost you your matchup, and this week I like his chances of repeating his top tier scoring. This week C9 will be facing CLG and Dignitas, starting with their game against DIG on Saturday. The last time the teams faced was back in week 2, before Dignitas performed their patented mid split implosion, which was also when Shiptur could be discussed as a viable midlaner. This though is not week 2 and Dignitas have been in poor form recently, meanwhile C9 have gotten rolling and Jensen should have no problem steamrolling down mid, all the way to the fantasy point bank. The Sunday game meanwhile has him facing Huhi of CLG, who has been playing some pretty good League of Legends, and is likely to be a tough opponent. That being said C9 look like the more complete team, and as a result the sum of their parts should result in another good fantasy outing for Jensen.
Kikis – Top – G2
G2 are currently taking the EU LCS by storm and a significant portion of that success can be attributed to solid play from Kikis in top lane. Currently the 3rd highest scoring top laner for the split, Kikis is having a season that belies his low draft position and ownership statistics, owned in 51.7% of leagues, starting in just 36.2%. This week has G2 first taking on 7th place Elements, meaning Kikis will be facing Steve who has been fairly underwhelming this split and has managed only 5 kills over the past 2 weeks. Kikis should have no trouble netting big points against a struggling top laner such as Steve, and while you may look at their second game against Origen and be tempted to sit Kikis, here’s why you shouldn’t. Last time G2 and Origen faced off, not only did G2 come away with the win but Kikis put up 23.25 points in that game alone. With OG looking all kinds of tilted right now, and G2’s sights firmly locked in on the #1 spot, smart money says Kikis goes off in this one too.
Players I Hate in Week 7
Froggen – Mid – FOX
Welcome back to the LCS Froggen! Since his return Froggen has been averaging 27.67 points per game, alas he’s got two utterly horrible matchups this week against TSM and Immortals, neither of which are a team Froggen has faced previously, as the last times FOX played them Goldenglue was starting in his place. Saturday has Echo Fox, who – credit where credit is due – have looked substantially better these past 2 weeks facing TSM, which means they’re in Bjergsen town and FOX most definitely “ain’t from round here”. I’m not suggesting Bjergsen will wipe the floor with Froggen, but it’s hard to envision a scenario where Froggen puts up even 25 points on this game.
The final game for Sunday has Echo Fox squaring off against Immortals, and that means it’s time to face Pobelter, (who just happens to have the highest total points for any midlaner this split). When teams face IMT, their fantasy production typically goes down, and while it’s entirely possible that Echo Fox somehow end Immortals streak, it’s highly unlikely. What’s more likely is Froggen gets held to a more pedestrian fantasy score by Pobelter and the rest of the team. Based solely on his play over the past 4 weeks, I know there’s a lot of desire to start Froggen, he was started in almost 10% more leagues in weeks 5 and 6, and yes, it’s perfectly acceptable to get on the bandwagon and pick him up. Just do yourself a favour and don’t start him this week.
Eika – Mid – EL
It’s not been a good split for Elements. Chances are they’re just looking forward to getting the last 3 weeks out of the way, especially because right now they’re only 2 wins above dead last. Unfortunately, it doesn’t get any easier this week as they face two of the teams currently tied for 1st. EL open the week with a game against G2, pitting Eika against Perkz, who for lack of a better term, has been downright scary in mid and is legitimately in the discussion for not just the best mid laner in Europe but best player. Nobody wants to face that, especially not when things just aren’t going well for your team. Add to that the fact that when these teams faced off in week 1, and Eika put up a meagre 2.26 fantasy points.
Game 2 against Vitality won’t be much easier, continuing the trend of past stats, when VIT faced EL in week 4, Eika fielded only 4.08 fantasy points, in the same game his opposite number, Nukeduck, put up 12.27. It’s now 3 weeks removed from that last meeting , but Eika has shown limited development as a player, while Nukeduck has continued to evolve and has posted increasingly better numbers each week.