LoL Fantasy Grind Down: Friday, February 26th
Welcome to the RotoGrinders LoL Grind Down! These articles will cover everything you need to know for playing League of Legends fantasy including defense vs position, projections, vegas odds, and detailed analysis.
Also included is the RotoGrinders original statistic pace — a higher pace means bloodier games, so when two teams with high pace play, expect a bloodbath!
Note: As always, if you want to try a new DFS site, be sure to click through a RotoGrinders link and use our DraftKings promo code and AlphaDraft promo code to receive the best perks in the industry.
For live game tracking and other eSports news RotoGrinders recommends Instant Esports. Get the app for iOS or Android.
Origen vs. G2 Esports
| Origen | G2 Esports | |||||||||||
 | Record | 6-6 |  | Record | 9-3 | |||||||
| Vegas Sprd | +170 | Vegas Sprd | -210 | |||||||||
| Avg. KP | 67.8 | Avg. KP | 69.4 | |||||||||
| Team Pace | 0.82 | Team Pace | 1.07 | |||||||||
| Matchup – Opponent DvP Ranks | Matchup – Opponent DvP Ranks | |||||||||||
| DvP Rks | Top | Jng | Mid | Supp | ADC | DvP Rks | Top | Jng | Mid | Supp | ADC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | sOAZ | Amazing | PowerOfEvil | Mithy | Zven | Players | Kikis | Trick | Perkz | Hybrid | Emperor | |
| Opp. Season | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | Opp. Season | 7 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 4 | |
A 20 kill performance from Origen on Thursday against lowly Splyce may serve as a false indication of improvement to box score hunters. We can’t be fooled, though. Trailing by 2,000 gold beyond the 20:00 mark, Origen needed a late game carry by sOAZ to defeat Splyce. If anything, this game serves as further confirmation that Origen are still yet to make the necessary strides if they are to be legitimate competition in the playoffs. Origen have dropped to a -255 GD@15 and are set to face the most dominant early game team in Europe. So how does Origen go about making this match with G2 more interesting than the 16-4 loss from three weeks ago? A new jungler wouldn’t hurt, but we would be so lucky. I suspect Origen will look to scale, likely conceding that they are unlikely to outmaneuver G2 inside the first 20 minutes. I’m not particularly buying success, though.
Fan favorite Steve gave G2 a moderate scare in the early going, as he’s been known to do recently, but it takes much more than that to take down a team this good. Even in games where G2 isn’t in the lead from the get-go, they’re able to force their opponents into mistakes that they capitalize on and create leads in a hurry. Death timers on Elements limited G2’s fantasy success, but teams won’t always realize their upside, even in victory.
Origen
Elite Plays
None.
Secondary Plays
Zven (AD: $7,600, DK: $6,600) – Origen’s struggles haven’t prevented Zven from having very appealing statistics from a fantasy standpoint. His 8.1 CSD@10 is one of the highest in the league, and his damage share is the highest. In a game where Origen are a heavy dog, a special performance from Zven may be their only chance.
G2 Esports
Elite Plays
Everyone (DK only) – It’s been something of a theme this season that DraftKing’s prices have given Origen a little more credit than they’ve deserved. There’s little reason to not have healthy exposure to any and all G2 players on DK, who are very moderately priced.
Secondary Plays
Everyone (AD only) – Also a theme is that G2 players are generally very expensive on AlphaDraft. If any one of these players is elite, it would be Emperor, who does save $400 from FORG1VEN.
Giants Gaming vs. H2k-Gaming
| Giants Gaming | H2k-Gaming | |||||||||||
 | Record | 2-10 |  | Record | 9-3 | |||||||
| Vegas Sprd | +485 | Vegas Sprd | -710 | |||||||||
| Avg. KP | 73.3 | Avg. KP | 73.4 | |||||||||
| Team Pace | 0.74 | Team Pace | 0.81 | |||||||||
| Matchup – Opponent DvP Ranks | Matchup – Opponent DvP Ranks | |||||||||||
| DvP Rks | Top | Jng | Mid | Supp | ADC | DvP Rks | Top | Jng | Mid | Supp | ADC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | Atom | BetongJocke | xPePii | GODFRED | Adryh | Players | Odoamne | Jankos | Ryu | VandeR | Forg1ven | |
| Opp. Season | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Opp. Season | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | |
A pair of Barons gave H2k a win over Fnatic in what was an exciting match that saw both teams have their moments. In the end, H2k’s superior map control and excellent play from Jankos swung the game their way. The game and the big win didn’t remain the story for long though, as we learned some unfortunate news immediately following play ending.
That news is that FORG1VEN could be playing his last game as a professional League of Legends player on Friday, as he has been called to serve in the Greek military. Rumors have swirled that there may be ways to circumvent this, but for now we should assume that this could very well be the end for him. Lucky for FORG1VEN, he sees his potential final game against Giants Gaming. Has there ever been a bigger narrative street type of event in LoL? Perhaps H2k won’t want to change their game plan in risk of a potential upset, but you have to think a huge performance by the departing player could be in the cards.
And of course, Giants Gaming are no stranger to coughing up big performances to their opponents, no narrative necessary. If all you’ve done all season long is pick as many players against Giants as you possibly could, you probably won money. Giants are more likely to lose this game on purpose for FORG1VEN than they are to pull the upset. Or maybe they see this as the time to strike?
Giants Gaming
Elite Plays
None.
Secondary Plays
xPePii (AD: $7,100, DK: $5,600) – PePii’s performance on Thurday left a lot to be desired, even for a Giants Gaming player. We often expect him to be the one upside player they have to offer and while that hasn’t changed, he’ll have to be better here if he’s going to be worth the punt. I will in fact be considering using him as my one off today, though.
H2k-Gaming
Elite Plays
FORG1VEN (AD: $8,500, DK: $8,500) – I will note here that even if there was no narrative, or the threat of his career ending is quickly resolved, FORG1VEN would be an elite play against Giants regardless.
Jankos (AD: $8,000, DK: $7,300) – A healthy 75% KP, 17% damage share and a 62% First Blood rate, Jankos is unlikely to have difficulty paying off these expensive tags, even against a team who could fold early.
Secondary Plays
None.
Unicorns of Love vs. Splyce
| Unicorns of Love | Splyce | |||||||||||
 | Record | 8-4 |  | Record | 4-8 | |||||||
| Vegas Sprd | -310 | Vegas Sprd | +243 | |||||||||
| Avg. KP | 66.1 | Avg. KP | 74.1 | |||||||||
| Team Pace | 0.91 | Team Pace | 0.66 | |||||||||
| Matchup – Opponent DvP Ranks | Matchup – Opponent DvP Ranks | |||||||||||
| DvP Rks | Top | Jng | Mid | Supp | ADC | DvP Rks | Top | Jng | Mid | Supp | ADC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | Vizicsacsi | Rudy | Fox | Hylissang | Steeelback | Players | Wunderwear | Trashy | Sencux | Nisbeth | Kobbe | |
| Opp. Season | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | Opp. Season | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | |
After an upset loss to early game heroes ROCCAT, Unicorns of Love are now all but out of the running for a bye in the playoffs. Friday’s game with Splyce is a must win for Unicorns to avoid falling into the conversation of 7th place. There’s no excuse for another loss, though. New jungler loulex debuted with an 88.9% KP, but also had just 9.5% of his teams damage. One game isn’t enough to read into, but loulex has a history of having very, very low damage shares.
After making a game of it early on against Origen, Splyce did as Splyce does and gave it up in a hurry. For our purposes though, it was nice to see a Splyce game reach what we might call bloodbath status. Still, even after the 20 death performance, Splyce still has just 127 deaths on the season. The other three European teams with at least nine losses all have at least 30 more deaths than Splyce.
Unicorns of Love
Elite Plays
Vizicsacsi (AD: $7,800, DK: $7,200) – Although Csacsi’s KP has fallen to 64%, his damage share is still second among top laners and he remains one of the top fantasy option in his role on most slates. He’s likely to have considerably less ownership than Cabochard in tournaments.
Secondary Plays
Steeelback (AD: $8,100, DK: $8,000) – I’ve been quite vocal about minimizing your exposure to Splyce games and it hasn’t gone that way in a couple of their recent games, but I remain resolute. That puts Steeelback as a secondary play.
Splyce
Elite Plays
Sencux (DK: $6,000) – On the surface this seems like a solid one off, secondary type of play, but Sencux’s consistency has been surprisingly strong. Often posting in the neighborhood if 15 points even in losses, he’s been one of the better punts on the board on most slates.
Secondary Plays
None.
Fnatic vs. Roccat
| Fnatic | Roccat | |||||||||||
 | Record | 7-5 |  | Record | 2-10 | |||||||
| Vegas Sprd | -388 | Vegas Sprd | +296 | |||||||||
| Avg. KP | 61.8 | Avg. KP | 67.6 | |||||||||
| Team Pace | 0.81 | Team Pace | 0.79 | |||||||||
| Matchup – Opponent DvP Ranks | Matchup – Opponent DvP Ranks | |||||||||||
| DvP Rks | Top | Jng | Mid | Supp | ADC | DvP Rks | Top | Jng | Mid | Supp | ADC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | Gamsu | Spirit | Febiven | Klaj | Rekkles | Players | fredy122 | Airwaks | Betsy | extinkt | Tabzz | |
| Opp. Season | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | Opp. Season | 1 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | |
A pair of mistakes involving Baron caused Fnatic to drop their game to H2k on Thursday, but for the first time in a while, they looked competitive with a top tier team. The team briefly fell asleep while H2k picked up their second Baron of the game and attempted to force a fight, which was their demise, but I saw signs of life. Hopes of a top two finish are now all but dead, however a strong finish from Fnatic could spell trouble for potential playoff opponents.
ROCCAT on the other hand scored an upset over Unicorns of Love on Thursday and looked at least slightly improved in some of the areas where they have struggled. The team amassed their now customary 15 minute lead, but were able to hold onto it this time for a win. It wasn’t without missteps though. ROCCAT’s gold graph tells a story of a team who, much like they have all season, weren’t able to smoothly ride a lead to a win. A number of mistakes were punished by Unicorns of Love and there were a few occasions where just one more bounce in Unicorns’ direction would have been very costly for ROCCAT. Ultimately, it’s a nice win, but we need to see consistency in the mid to late game to be excited about rostering ROCCAT players on a regular basis.
Fnatic
Elite Plays
Spirit (AD: $7,500, DK: ($7,100) – Looking comfortable on a reemerging Gragas, Spirit’s play took a step back toward where we expected it to be. A season KP of under 70% puts Spirit toward the bottom of the list among junglers, but ROCCAT’s 170 deaths are desirable to attack with junglers. He did post a 8/3/5 line against ROCCAT earlier this month as well.
Secondary Plays
Febiven (AD: $7,700, DK: $8,200), Rekkles (AD: $7,800, DK: $8,200) – Bottom line: Inconsistency keeps these two out of the elite category. It’s difficult to trust them in cash games given Fnatic’s propensity to play below their expecation, and ROCCAT have shown enough to be wary of.
Roccat
Elite Plays
None.
Secondary Plays
Tabzz (AD: $7,100, DK: $6,000) Noxiak (AD: $6,300, DK: $4,000) This bottom lane duo is new, but there is reason to believe in their ability to mesh and take ROCCAT to new heights. Opposing laners Rekkles and Klaj have also shown improvement together, but until Rekkles improves upon his negative @10 numbers, I’ll consider the potential for opposing bottom lane snowballs.
Vitality vs. Elements
| Vitality | Elements | |||||||||||
 | Record | 9-3 |  | Record | 4-8 | |||||||
| Vegas Sprd | -482 | Vegas Sprd | +356 | |||||||||
| Avg. KP | 68.6 | Avg. KP | 69.3 | |||||||||
| Team Pace | 0.74 | Team Pace | 0.76 | |||||||||
| Matchup – Opponent DvP Ranks | Matchup – Opponent DvP Ranks | |||||||||||
| DvP Rks | Top | Jng | Mid | Supp | ADC | DvP Rks | Top | Jng | Mid | Supp | ADC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | Cabochard | Shook | Nukeduck | KaSing | Hjarnan | Players | Steve | Gilius | Eika | sprattel | Mr RalleZ | |
| Opp. Season | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | Opp. Season | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | |
Having beaten all of G2, Origen, H2k and Unicorns of love in their last four games, Vitality could be argued as the top team in Europe. Vitality have lifted their GD@15 up above 1,000, secure First Blood more then 60% of the time and have the highest dragon percentage in the league. The team is an absolute force to be reckoned with in every facet on the Rift, and have also been posting big fantasy scores recently as well. They’re the lock of the day and are looking like my favorite team in Europe as we inch toward the finish line of the regular season.
Elements on the other hand have continued their journey toward yet another 7th place finish. The team briefly tested G2 on Thursday, only to have their lead evaporated in seconds. We often talk about how Elements provide upside and that MrRalleZ would be viable in a better situation, but it’s been a farce. They’ve won just one game since a 3-1 start to the season. I’m thoroughly finished with seeking upside from MrRalleZ and his Elements teammates and I invite you to join me.
Vitality
Elite Plays
Cabochard (AD: $8,000, DK: $7,400) – It gave many nerves when Cabochard brought out Nautilus(a tank champion) on Thursday, but as he has done time and time again, he proved he is a fantasy beast on any champion. While it certainly lowered his damage share and ability to snipe or collect solo kills, Cabo still picked up 12 assists and was on most of the top scoring teams on the day. There’s no denying that we would prefer that our top lane hero be on champions such as Graves, it’s a reminder that he’s going to put up results on any champion.
Hjarnan (AD: $7,800), Nukeduck (AD: $7,900) – Somewhat cheaper relative to the field on AlphaDraft, Vitalty’s carries are lock-them-in cash game plays on the site. They’re not inexpensive, but can be afforded with more ease.
Secondary Plays
Hjarnan (DK: $8,300), Nukeduck (DK: $8,300) – And the other side of the coin. Small differences in pricing for Vitality on the sites means that this pair is a hair more difficult to afford on DraftKings, and that you may have to consider cheaper carries.
Elements
Elite Plays
None.
Secondary Plays
None.
Still need more data to help set your lineups? Check out our eSports daily research tools!