LoL Fantasy Preview: Saturday, August 13th
Check out the preview for all the games coming up this Saturday. This article will cover slates on both AlphaDraft and DraftKings.
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LoL NA/EU Playoff Quarterfinals Preview
Giants Gaming (-169) vs. Unicorns of Love (+138)
Welcome to the playoffs Giants Gaming and Unicorns of Love. You have both proven me wrong from my projections early in the split and whoever wins this series will continue to carry the torch for the underdog into the next round of the EU LCS playoffs. When you consider this slate, the matchups are fairly distinct between the EU and respective series’. The NA series will be the one where we expect a lopsided result and stack the winning team but this EU series is one where you can really play both sides of the coin. Unicorns of Love in cash games will be the obvious play because of where they sit from a salary standpoint based on how dead even this matchup looks. I do think Giants has an edge and for fantasy purposes they tend to go off when they win resulting in bigger fantasy totals but UOL is still a fine play when it’s all said and done and they have a decent shot at pulling out the series as well. If you are feeling dangerous, locking in UOL in the team slot gives you a lot of flexibility but C9 will be the safer play if possible.
Giants Gaming
Elite Plays
-Maxlore (DK $6,300, AD $7,400) – I’m going to go on record saying I think Maxlore will be the best jungler on this slate. He went from total unknown to a stud in the jungle and though he doesn’t grab the headlines like Trick and Spirit, he has been a consistent player for the Giants. I like where he is priced compared to the other junglers and I’m willing to hedge on this game and presume it will be a 4-5 game series. Giants has a tendency to win games win commanding fashion so when they win, we can expect him to have some big games. He won’t rack up kills and he averaged less than 2 per game during the regular season but he did have the 3rd most assists among EU junglers.
Secondary Plays
-NighT (DK $7,300, AD $7,900) – The next best play for Giants comes down to NighT and S0NSTAR but I have to favor NighT in this one. Part of this is because I don’t want to have to choose Exileh against the Giants and into the matchup against 1st team All EU mid laner, NighT. Awards aside, NighT has been a very strong carry mid laner for the team and one thing you have to love is his kill participation at over 75% which was the best mark among players at his position. His projections in a win on the Rotogrinders research tools have him as one of the best options across all players and he’s up against a player in Exileh, who has surrendered the 2nd most deaths among all mid laners.
Unicorns of Love
Elite Plays
-Veritas (DK $6,600, AD $7,700) – The heavy play on C9 means you will have to dip into some dangerous territory trying to figure out who you expect to win in the EULCS. In the scenario where you have to go with UOL players, I really like Veritas based on his potential and play in the second half of the split. Early on he had some really rough games and his overall numbers suffered but he’s been pretty strong recently and the team is playing more around him and enabling him to carry. The bottom lane matchup may be one of the few advantages UOL has so if you like them to take this series the distance, Veritas has to be an option for you even if only in the flex slot. For what it’s worth, if you go this route, pairing him with support Hylissang may be a play worth going for.
Secondary Plays
-Vizicsacsi (DK $6,000, AD $7,300) – Impact is a very safe play in the top lane on this slate, but you are going to want to pay up for the carries of C9 making it tough to roster a secondary player like Impact. So now we turn to the EU series where I think Vizicsacsi may be the best value as far as the potential return based on his salary. I’ve been impressed by SmittyJ this season but I give the edge to a player like Vizi with playoff experience and a team that plays around him more. The extremely low kill participation is a concern no doubt, but he still had the 2nd most kills among top laners and his CS numbers indicate his strength in lane.
Cloud 9 (-411) vs. Team Envy (+311)
Cloud 9 was on the wrong end of the 3rd seed versus 6th seed matchup in the spring against an up and coming TSM squad who went on to make it all the way to the finals. Luckily for them, NV hasn’t shown similar upward trajectory towards the end of the season nor do they have the raw talent to pose as much threat as TSM did. Let’s be real, it would be a surprise if this series goes all the way to 5 games and it would be no shock if C9 closes this out with a clean sweep. NV is scrappy enough to possibly steal a game but I have little faith in them providing much from a fantasy aspect. It’s pretty clear you want to grab as many Cloud 9 players as possible and you may have to decide which carry you prefer. I gave you some facts below and you can decide for yourself but ultimately, I think they will end up with similar numbers.
Cloud 9
Elite Plays
-Jensen (DK $7,800, AD $8,200) – Here is the argument for Jensen: With less lane-swaps, Jensen should have a more isolated mid lane matchup against his lane opponent, Ninja. This matchup has probably the largest margin in this series and Ninja had the 2nd most deaths and 2nd fewest kills among mid laners during the regular season. Jensen also has the highest upside of anyone on this slate considering in 4 of his last 6 games, he’s had 8 or more kills. You could be looking at close to 20 kills over a 3 game span in this series which will likely be the top of the class.
-Sneaky (DK $7,900, AD $8,000) – Here is the argument for Sneaky: Again, the fewer lane-swaps we see could really benefit Cloud 9 who has at times struggled to play them correctly. A 2v2 against LOD and Hakuho isn’t the greatest imaginable matchup, but it’s still in C9’s favor. After that, Sneaky’s kill participation was the highest among ADC’s during the regular season at over 75%. Sneaky is also less of a liability for you when it comes to deaths and overall consistency. He has a safer floor than Jensen but the upside potential is just slightly worse.
Secondary Plays
-Impact (DK $7,200, AD $7,600) – Having a top laner on a winning team is a pretty big deal. When a top laner is on the losing side of a game, especially in a blowout, he tends to be the first line of defense and often the first to fall in the fight. If you go and look at the last two game losses for Impact, his final numbers were 0/2/1 and 0/4/1. That’s pretty much the typical bad game for a jungler. That being said, I expect Impact and C9 to close the series out fairly easily and that makes him an ideal play in the top lane. You could absolutely get the same reward from someone like SmittyJ or Vizicsacsi in that matchup, but there is a lot more questions about who will come out on top in that one. On AlphaDraft even more than DraftKings I really want to plug in Impact if I can.
Team Envy
Elite Plays
- None
Secondary Plays
-Procxin (DK $4,900, AD $7,200) – Just to be clear, I do not want to roster an NV player and it is quite possible to avoid doing so when building your lineup so this is not by any means the recommended play in my book. That being said, if you choose to roster anyone on NV, you could do worse than a player like Procxin. He has carry potential out of the jungle which is just as high as anyone on this slate when it comes to filling that role for the team. His assist numbers have also risen over the second half of the season and he closed out the season with a 12 assist game, followed by a 16 assist game. There, that’s about as many good things I could find about an NV player in regards to this slate. Good luck.