LoL Grind Down: EU - Friday, June 17th
Welcome to the RotoGrinders League of Legends Grind Down. In this all-encompassing preview of the upcoming LCS action, every game will be broken down statistically, with several key elements highlighted in our charts.
We provide Defense versus Position data for each team, along with the RotoGrinders original stat, Pace. Every game is also broken down, providing an overview of the game and a selection of players to consider from each match.
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ROCCAT vs. FC Schalke 04
| ROCCAT | FC Schalke 04 | |||||||||||
 | Vegas Sprd | +243 |  | Vegas Sprd | +243 | |||||||
| Avg. Pts. | 11.6 | Avg. Pts. | 11.5 | |||||||||
| Avg. Pts./W | 16.9 | Avg. Pts./W | 17.7 | |||||||||
| FB% | 50% | FB% | 70% | |||||||||
| Matchup – Opponent DvP Ranks | Matchup – Opponent DvP Ranks | |||||||||||
| DvP Rks | Top | Jng | Mid | Supp | ADC | DvP Rks | Top | Jng | Mid | Supp | ADC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | Parang | Airwaks | Betsy | Raise | Steelback | Players | Steve | Gilius | Fox | sprattel | MrRalleZ | |
| Opp. Season | 0.83% | 5.25% | 0.63% | 1.25% | -3.71% | Opp. Season | -15.56% | -22.61% | -19.98% | -13.26% | -27.58% | |
This may be the most difficult series to decipher on Friday’s slate. Each of ROCCAT and Schalke have been improved in their own right, which has raised their ownership levels and general optimism around the teams is much higher than it was earlier this year. 10 games into the season though, and we’re still not quite sure where either of these teams is actually at. This week was ROCCAT’s big chance to make a statement that they are a cut above the lower tier teams in Europe. After a 2-0 loss to Origen on Thursday, they once again look like a team who just can’t hold it together for meaningful stretches. I’ve still got one foot inside the ROCCAT door, but a loss here will have me out.
For Schalke, who sit just a point behind ROCCAT, this is a chance to rebound after a pair of hard fought losses to Fnatic. No team wants to look at a 2-0 loss and be happy, but 24 kills and two very long games later, this is about as close as a 2-0 can get. This series certainly smells like a split, however I am on Schalke’s side as a slight favorite. Consider them to be strong tournament plays across the board.
ROCCAT
Elite Plays
None.
Secondary Plays
Steeelback (DK $7,200) – Triple-e’s AlphaDraft price is simply too high for me. Still, he’s been impressive this season and should have your consideration in all formats on DraftKings.
FC Schalke 04
Elite Plays
Fox (DK $6,900, AD $7,600) – Fox has been better than ever this season and is averaging just over 5 kills per game. His early game numbers are strong and he’s maintaining a KP above 70%. He’s everything we want in a player and comes at prices that I would consider far too low.
Secondary Plays
Steve (DK $6,200, AD $7,400) – I can’t speak as highly of Steve as I can with Fox, as he is simply not at that level of play. Thankfully, he doesn’t need to be for our purposes. He’s affordable on both sites and plays well enough to warrant consideration against an overrated Parang.
Unicorns of Love vs. G2 Esports
| Unicorns of Love | G2 Esports | |||||||||||
 | Vegas Sprd | +1204 |  | Vegas Sprd | -183 | |||||||
| Avg. Pts. | 10.6 | Avg. Pts. | 16.8 | |||||||||
| Avg. Pts./W | 18.9 | Avg. Pts./W | 18.5 | |||||||||
| FB% | 41% | FB% | 43% | |||||||||
| Matchup – Opponent DvP Ranks | Matchup – Opponent DvP Ranks | |||||||||||
| DvP Rks | Top | Jng | Mid | Supp | ADC | DvP Rks | Top | Jng | Mid | Supp | ADC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | Vizicasacsi | Move | Exileh | Hylissang | Veritas | Players | Kikis | Trick | PerkZ | Mithy | Zven | |
| Opp. Season | -11.91% | -8.81% | 1.34% | -0.89% | 1.86% | Opp. Season | 35.02% | 26.23% | 16.99% | 18.63% | 9.39% | |
There is so very little to be said about Unicorns of Love. Currently tied with Giants Gaming at the bottom of the standings and may very well find themselves the sole holder of Europe’s 10th spot after Friday’s games. Exileh hasn’t looked like a LCS caliber player and the team’s cohesion is far worse than it was during the Spring Split. Quite frankly, it would be stunning if they managed to steal a game from G2. G2 continue to chug along and although a split against H2k might not be what they wanted, a poor game one can be forgiven. In fact, G2 was so unbelievably good in game two that they posted fantasy scores as if they had swept the series.
Unicorns of Love
Elite Plays
None.
Secondary Plays
None.
G2 Esports
Elite Plays
Trick (DK $7,300, AD $8,000) – In game two against H2k yesterday, Trick posted one of the most incredible scores I have ever seen. A single game line of 7/0/20 put him over 60 points. Once again, Trick is one of the league’s top players and is capable of massive scores in any given series.
Secondary Plays
Perkz (DK $8,300, AD $8,300) – Extremely high prices make reaching G2 players difficult, so taking more than one is going to be a challenge. Regardless, I want to mix in Perkz, who is going to be looking for blood after finding very little activity on Thursday.
Vitality vs. H2K
| Vitality | H2K | |||||||||||
 | Vegas Sprd | +445 |  | Vegas Sprd | +136 | |||||||
| Avg. Pts. | 13.5 | Avg. Pts. | 14.2 | |||||||||
| Avg. Pts./W | 20.0 | Avg. Pts./W | 16.9 | |||||||||
| FB% | 61% | FB% | 54% | |||||||||
| Matchup – Opponent DvP Ranks | Matchup – Opponent DvP Ranks | |||||||||||
| DvP Rks | Top | Jng | Mid | Supp | ADC | DvP Rks | Top | Jng | Mid | Supp | ADC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | Cabochard | MightBear | Nukeduck | KaSing | Police | Players | Odoamne | Jankos | Ryu | VandeR | Freeze | |
| Opp. Season | -11.37% | -9.71% | -12.90% | -10.19% | -0.73% | Opp. Season | 6.85% | 5.73% | 2.66% | 2.83% | 8.77% | |
Vitality looked strong against Unicorns and while that isn’t an accomplishment in itself, sweeps of weak teams build confidence and in-game communicative cohesion. I like Vitality to find a split against H2k, although it will not be easy. Police returned to the Rift Thursday and did not disappoint, raising all of his statistical categories significantly. Vitality going back to Police was a surprise, but given his strong play, it seems unlikely that Reje will play on Friday. Keep an eye on this moving forward.
H2k did get a win against G2 in what was a strange series with a pair of blowout wins, but I’m still not quite sold. Freeze posted a negative score in game two and only leads xPeke in KP among ADCs. His team is already becoming accustomed to the fact that he isn’t good enough to be a true carry. 10 games isn’t a huge sample, so I wouldn’t say that I am writing Freeze off just yet. I just want to see more. Much more. For a player with a community reputation as a great player, I see a significant downgrade from FORG1VEN. Winning lane in both games against Vitality would be the expectation of FORG1VEN if he were playing, and Freeze should be held to the same standard. I don’t believe that he will.
Vitality
Elite Plays
Cabochard (DK $5,600, AD $7,300) – He just gets better and better, and more fun to watch. Cabo is my favorite European player and should continue to regularly find his way into fantasy lineups. The Vitality top laner is the teams leader, often their carry and always their answer to problems opposed by opponents.
Secondary Plays
None.
H2K
Elite Plays
Jankos (DK $6,600, AD $7,600) – If there’s any clear advantage in this game, it’s Jankos over Mightybear. It isn’t to say that Mightybear doesn’t belong or that he can’t be a good player, rather that Jankos is simply a top European jungler. Jankos can make the plays that are necessary to win games and will be needed if H2k wants to find a sweep here.
Secondary Plays
Ryu (DK $, AD $7,800) – Projected for 47.15 in our official projections, Ryu may even eclipse that. H2k should be funneling gold to Ryu, not Freeze and if that happens, there’s big upside with the veteran mid laner.
Splyce vs. Fnatic
| Splyce | Fnatic | |||||||||||
 | Vegas Sprd | +858 |  | Vegas Sprd | -115 | |||||||
| Avg. Pts. | 9.3 | Avg. Pts. | 12.8 | |||||||||
| Avg. Pts./W | 17.0 | Avg. Pts./W | 17.3 | |||||||||
| FB% | 42% | FB% | 40% | |||||||||
| Matchup – Opponent DvP Ranks | Matchup – Opponent DvP Ranks | |||||||||||
| DvP Rks | Top | Jng | Mid | Supp | ADC | DvP Rks | Top | Jng | Mid | Supp | ADC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | Wunderwear | Trashy | Sencux | Mikyx | Kobbe | Players | Gamsu | Spirit | Febiven | YellOwStaR | Rekkles | |
| Opp. Season | -24.94% | -32.01% | -15.24% | -21.20% | -22.81% | Opp. Season | 17.47% | 17.50% | 12.34% | 22.45% | 20.45% | |
Splyce’s 2-0 win over Giants may have been expected of them and doesn’t change the perception of the team, but I am cautiously optimistic. Both Sencux and Kobbe posted DraftKings double bonus games in the opening game of the series and deserve major credit for their play. The team calmed things down in game two and took an easy, controlled win to finish off the sweep. Although Giants are a poor team, they’ve shown enough that 2-0 wins over them can’t be entirely dismissed as easy. It’s difficult to expect much from Splyce against Fnatic, yet I will still be watching this series closely.
Compliments to Splyce due and given, Fnatic should still expect to sweep here. Top tier teams cannot expect to earn their playoff byes if they aren’t regularly taking the full points from teams of Splyce’s ability. Rekkles continues to look like a different player. Or well, like the old Rekkles. I expect a 2-0 win, with the kills to tell the story. Splyce aren’t the Splyce from spring, who often sat back and lost with little dignity. They’re willing to fight, and in turn, willing to die. Expect plenty of both against Fnatic.
Splyce
Elite Plays
None.
Secondary Plays
None.
Fnatic
Elite Plays
Rekkles (DK $8,000, AD $8,100) – 45 kills, a 80% KP, and 30% damage are just a few statistics that Rekkles boasts so far this season. The comparisons to his Spring Split aren’t even close and he is a difficult fade even at lofty prices.
Secondary Plays
Spirit (DK $7,100, AD $)7,700 – Exposure to Fnatic is a near must and given their prices, if you can’t reach Rekkles or Febiven, Spirit is your guy.
Giants vs. Origen
| Giants | Origen | |||||||||||
 | Vegas Sprd | +600 |  | Vegas Sprd | -102 | |||||||
| Avg. Pts. | 8.1 | Avg. Pts. | 12.6 | |||||||||
| Avg. Pts./W | 16.3 | Avg. Pts./W | 19.5 | |||||||||
| FB% | 56% | FB% | 48% | |||||||||
| Matchup – Opponent DvP Ranks | Matchup – Opponent DvP Ranks | |||||||||||
| DvP Rks | Top | Jng | Mid | Supp | ADC | DvP Rks | Top | Jng | Mid | Supp | ADC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | SmittyJ | Maxlore | NighT | Hustlin | SONSTAR | Players | sOAZ | Amazing | PowerOfEvil | Hybrid | FORG1VEN | |
| Opp. Season | -21.99% | -14.41% | -13.14% | -15.98% | -21.42% | Opp. Season | 25.61% | 32.84% | 27.31% | 16.35% | 35.79% | |
xPeke’s play as a bottom lane carry continues to surprise and baffle me. This team shouldn’t be winning games, let alone sweeping solid competition like ROCCAT. Yet, here we are. The fantasy performances against ROCCAT weren’t outstanding and as of now, it’s still difficult to try to figure out what this team’s identity is with both Zven and FORG1VEN having departed. I’m still not sold that they will continue to win many games, and have a difficult time trusting them even against Giants. They can’t be ignored though, even despite prices that I’m not particularly comfortable with.
Giants, on the other hand, deserve consideration. Origen’s 2-0 sweep of ROCCAT notwithstanding, I still see many 1-1 series in their future, and believe Giants are capable of getting a win here. NighT still has talent and this team is much better than the previous iteration, even if it still has them sitting at the bottom of the table.
Giants
Elite Plays
None.
Secondary Plays
SONSTAR (DK $6,100, AD $7,300) – While NighT is the better player, the advantages of laning against xPeke outweight that. NighT will be stuck laning against a PowerOfEvil who has the look of a better player than he’s ever been.
Origen
Elite Plays
PowerOfEvil (DK $7,700, AD $7,500) – POE is one of the leaders in damage in Europe now that xPeke has shifted to ADC. The team is relying on their mid laner to come up big, which he was unable to do during the spring. POE’s ability hasn’t drastically changed, but he’s answered the call of a desperate team relatively well, and deserves immense credit for helping Origen begin it’s climb out of the basement.
Secondary Plays
Amazing (DK $6,800, AD $7,300) – Amazing is probably an elite play on AlphaDraft. I’m not sure what’s changed, but of the players who often received public criticism during the Spring Split, Amazing may be the most improved. His play simply seems more involved in what Origen is attempting to do game to game, and he should be rostered more regularly as a result.
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