LoL Grind Down: NA - Saturday, July 2nd
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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Phoenix1 vs. TSM
| Phoenix1 | TSM | |||||||||||
 | Vegas Sprd | +1162 |  | Vegas Sprd | -3061 | |||||||
| Avg. Pts. | 9.4 | Avg. Pts. | 15.0 | |||||||||
| Avg. Pts./W | 26.0 | Avg. Pts./W | 17.8 | |||||||||
| FB% | 28% | FB% | 57% | |||||||||
| Matchup – Opponent DvP Ranks | Matchup – Opponent DvP Ranks | |||||||||||
| DvP Rks | Top | Jng | Mid | Supp | ADC | DvP Rks | Top | Jng | Mid | Supp | ADC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | Zig | Zentinel | Slooshi | Gate | Mash | Players | Hauntzer | Svenskeren | Bjergsen | Biofrost | Doublelift | |
| Opp. Season | -60.22% | -58.47% | -53.03% | -53.92% | -56.63% | Opp. Season | 25.73% | 26.29% | 32.80% | 42.81% | 43.24% | |
There isn’t much controversy on who we expect to win here (see the odds.) TSM is the most dominant team in the region and probably the entire Western LCS scene. They are dominating opponents and for the most part, they have eliminated any major slip ups. Phoenix1 will look to play spoiler here since they are basically just fighting for their lives to remain in the LCS and make a late push at the coveted 7th seed to avoid the relegation tournament. P1 players are basically towards the bottom of most statistical categories aside from bright spots like Pirean. The bad news for him is that he has to face off against the best mid laner in the region and it’s going to be a very rough time. The player I really like is Hauntzer. That’s not entirely fair considering I love all of the TSM players, but Hauntzer in particular is a target for me as he has been consistently a top performer. He, along with the rest of TSM, is highly likely to get the bonus for finishing the series in 2 games so that high floor is really nice to work with. Go for TSM and go as heavy as you can in cash games.
Phoenix1
Elite Plays
- None
Secondary Plays
- None
TSM
Elite Plays
-Hauntzer (DK $7,500, AD $8,000) – I’m bullish on Hauntzer and I’m willing to pay up to get him. The other top laners on this slate are pretty volatile and while Huni has the potential to go off, he has potential to fall flat and it makes him quite risky. Hauntzer is safe and hes been in the top 3 of both kills and assists despite playing much less in total game time.
Secondary Plays
- Everyone Else – Cop out? Maybe. But you have to consider all TSM options in this one.
NRG Esports vs. Counter Logic Gaming
| NRG Esports | Counter Logic Gaming | |||||||||||
 | Vegas Sprd | +228 |  | Vegas Sprd | -289 | |||||||
| Avg. Pts. | 9.2 | Avg. Pts. | 11.8 | |||||||||
| Avg. Pts./W | 18.6 | Avg. Pts./W | 16.5 | |||||||||
| FB% | 40% | FB% | 49% | |||||||||
| Matchup – Opponent DvP Ranks | Matchup – Opponent DvP Ranks | |||||||||||
| DvP Rks | Top | Jng | Mid | Supp | ADC | DvP Rks | Top | Jng | Mid | Supp | ADC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | Quas | Santorin | GBM | KiWiKiD | Ohq | Players | Darshan | Xmithie | HuHi | Aphromoo | Stixxay | |
| Opp. Season | 22.42% | 16.04% | 18.15% | 25.40% | 12.82% | Opp. Season | 30.03% | 49.02% | 42.12% | 40.06% | 41.07% | |
For those of you who just expect CLG to eventually pick things up and be back to the team we saw at MSI, it’s time to give up the dream. Okay, so I can’t 100% confirm that this team will not reign supreme by the seasons end but based on what we have seen so far, it is highly unlikely. It’s even tough to rank any of their players aside from Aphromoo in the top 3 at their position. That being said, they do get some form of reprieve against NRG who just managed to prove they aren’t the worst team in the NA LCS, but they are pretty damn close. Star player GBM just isn’t receiving the resources he needs to perform at the top level and he even looks like he has declined in his play as well. This team makes loads of mistakes in their communication and map play and a disciplined, though struggling, CLG team should be able to exploit that. Stixxay hasn’t been one of the players to carry very hard even in games the CLG wins but I think he could be a viable play on this slate. The bottom lane for NRG is responsible for a huge portion of the team’s deaths and CLG will likely look to punish that. I do favor players like Aphromoo and Xmithie as decent fill-ins for those secondary roles. The major concern for Aphro is the kill participation. He ranks dead last in that category hovering right around 65%. You have to consider the same thing for Darshan who sits at an astounding 50% kill participation which is terribly low. You can’t touch Darshan on any slate. As for Xmithie, I like what he offers but he’s just decent and basically a slightly better version of Santorin but at a much higher salary. I’m okay with the play but it’s not something I really want to do. NRG offers very little to me aside from Santorin who I actually think is sneaking quite under the radar. He has a fantastic 80% kill participation and he’s in the top 5 in total assists. Definitely my sleeper jungler for GPP’s but don’t go crazy on NRG as they will probably go down 0-2.
NRG Esports
Elite Plays
- None
Secondary Plays
-Santorin (DK $5,300, AD $7,100) – As I said before, Santorin has some fantastic numbers but he just doesn’t generate a ton of fantasy points. When the team does succeed, he is usually a part of it. Pretty good punt play on DraftKings as well as AlphaDraft but he’s the only one on NRG that I’m touching.
Counter Logic Gaming
Elite Plays
- None
Secondary Plays
-Stixxay (DK $7,300, AD $7,700) – I’ve never been a huge fan of Stixxay as a player and he hasn’t been off to a great start this summer but I think he can make some headway towards a better season in this one. The team just can’t play around Huhi so Darshan and Stixxay are really the only hard carry options and
Immortals vs. Apex
| Immortals | Apex | |||||||||||
 | Vegas Sprd | -713 |  | Vegas Sprd | +486 | |||||||
| Avg. Pts. | 14.6 | Avg. Pts. | 12.3 | |||||||||
| Avg. Pts./W | 17.0 | Avg. Pts./W | 20.1 | |||||||||
| FB% | 53% | FB% | 44% | |||||||||
| Matchup – Opponent DvP Ranks | Matchup – Opponent DvP Ranks | |||||||||||
| DvP Rks | Top | Jng | Mid | Supp | ADC | DvP Rks | Top | Jng | Mid | Supp | ADC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | Huni | Reignover | Pobelter | Adrian | WildTurtle | Players | Ray | Shrimp | Keane | Xpecial | Apollo | |
| Opp. Season | 50.14% | 52.50% | 34.60% | 50.74% | 43.18% | Opp. Season | -43.88% | -41.30% | -44.13% | -44.30% | -40.16% | |
Immortals has established themselves as the second best team in the region but Apex is not without their charms. Immortals always hold some fantasy value because of their aggressive nature leading to high kill games but it can’t be forgotten how many kills they give back to their opponents. While the other top teams in C9 and TSM have right around 180 total deaths, Immortals as a team has nearly 250. It’s worth noting that Apex also is just over the 250 death mark which means this is a series you can stack a bit on both sides and I want to have some action on both sides. Immortals has the 2-0 potential but Apex can probably steal a game if they play at their peak which is wishful thinking. Apex has been pretty inconsistent with a 0-2 loss against Team Liquid followed by a 2-0 victory against Echo Fox last week. You don’t quite know what you are going to get out of them in any given game making them a risky fantasy play, but not without value for the reasons mentioned above. Don’t be afraid to mix and match here but you should lean on Immortals more than Apex.
Immortals
Elite Plays
-WildTurtle (DK $8,100, AD $8,000) – WildTurtle is the player I want to build a lineup around this week. He is my “must-have” player for this slate because he has that potential to just go off at any given moment. Last week he had multiple games with 9 kills and he has 4 games with 9 kills or more this split. Apex is a top focused team and that gives Immortals a chance to really go hard to get the bottom lane ahead.
Secondary Plays
-Adrian (DK $6,300, AD $7,500) – Adrian is a safer, less valuable, support version of WildTurtle. When WT goes off, Adrian goes off but he has also had some great games even without that caveat. It’s paying up for a support, but this bottom lane is the closest thing to a lock for going off on this slate outside of TSM.
Apex
Elite Plays
- None
Secondary Plays
-Keane (DK $5,600, AD $7,500) – This is a direction I don’t often go but I have a good gut feeling about Keane as a flex/GPP play at least. He has been pretty solid for Apex even in losses and last week he had 4 or more kills in each game despite losing 2 of those contests. Poebelter is a safe laner but in the late game, the focus will be on Ray, leaving Keane alive to dish out some damage and rack up some fantasy points.
-Ray (DK $5,100, AD $7,100) – Ray will be highly owned and it’s hard to pass up on an incredible talent even with a tough matchup against Huni. The key for me is that Ray plays a similar style to Huni, but he is much more the focal point for the team than Huni. He also has a slightly higher kill participation number than Huni which makes him even more enticing of an option. High risk but high reward.
Liquid vs. Team Envy
| Liquid | Team Envy | |||||||||||
| Vegas Sprd | +155 |  | Vegas Sprd | -152 | ||||||||
| Avg. Pts. | 12.0 | Avg. Pts. | 18.6 | |||||||||
| Avg. Pts./W | 18.4 | Avg. Pts./W | 20.1 | |||||||||
| FB% | 53% | 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 | Lourlo | Dardoch | FeniX | Matt | Piglet | Players | Seraph | Procxin | Ninja | Hakuho | LOD | |
| Opp. Season | 32.97% | 18.77% | 19.90% | 11.76% | 15.53% | Opp. Season | -51.79% | -52.21% | -50.79% | -52.35% | -57.27% | |
When you see two teams trending in different directions, but it isn’t reflected in the salaries, that’s when you should try to cash in. Team Liquid is riding high after a victory over C9 while NV just lost to that same team last week in a convincing 0-2 fashion. The talent on Team Liquid is coming through and young players like Lourlo and Fabbbyyy are coming through in the clutch while the stud in the jungle, Dardoch, is making place all over the place. I really don’t want much of anything on the NV side and while Seraph certainly has an edge in the top lane matchup, I can’t necessarily justify paying up for him and I might even consider Lourlo because of his teamplay. The other typically interesting options on NV are just way too overpriced for my liking. I think this series is extended to 3 games but I would not be shocked if Team Liquid takes this in 2 after what we’ve seen from them recently. Buy low now before their prices shoot up next week.
p.
Liquid
Elite Plays
-Dardoch (DK $5,600, AD $7,500) – If you want the GPP/Flex play in the jungle slot, go with Santorin. If you want the stud for cash games, Dardoch has to be the play. He was an absolute monster against C9 and he has the potential to take over the game at any given moment. There is no jungler I value more than him on this slate.
Secondary Plays
-Team Liquid (DK $4,300, AD $3,500) – For me this is about as low as you can pay for a team with realistic expectations to win the series. This team looked so cohesive against a top team like C9 while NV has started to look shaky as their schedule has toughened up a bit. I’m buying the hype for now.
Team Envy
Elite Plays
- None
Secondary Plays
- None
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