NA Week 1 Studs
Top Lane – CST Cris
Points: 52.64
KDA: 13/1/13
3K/4K/5K: 0/0/0
Champs: Gnar/Irelia
After a nearly perfect week and only dying at the end of Game 2 in the opening week, Cris proved that he is able to hold his own in the LCS against good competition. However, he did face a substitute, FlaresZ and a new face, Gamsu, in his first games. This should not take away from his great performance and even a hefty sum of fantasy points but owners should beware as Cris faces Team 8 and Gravity in Week, who both took a game off the NA powerhouses in C9 and TSM.
Honorable mentions: TL Quas (44.16 pts) & CLG Benny (sub – 45.00 pts)
Jungle – TL IWDominate
Points: 70.40
KDA: 8/3/33
3K/4K/5K: 0/0/0
Champs: Nunu/Jarvan IV
An impressive showing in first week by Team Liquid’s IWDominate as he scored the highest fantasy points among junglers and the second highest overall scoring right his own team’s ADC in both regions. IWD offered early pressure throughout the map helping each lane to snowball which allowed Team Liquid to be the only undefeated NA LCS team after the first week. A definite must start in most weeks except maybe next week as Team Liquid faces Cloud 9 and TSM in Week 2. If for some reason you find him in free agency, IWD is a must add for most leagues.
Honorable mentions: CST Impaler (50.64 pts)
Mid Lane – TL Fenix
Points: 66.04
KDA: 12/10/25
3K/4K/5K: 0/0/0
Champs: Lulu/Azir
A great mid laner who racked up the 5th highest points over both regions, Fenix is a utility mid laner who will consistently offer plenty of assists and even many kills. The only small downside is that he is relatively new to the pro scene and has a mindset similar to that of C9 Hai as he will maximize his damage in a fight then sacrifice himself. The few deaths might lose you a few points but his assists should more than make up for it alongside other fantasy stars like IWDominate and Xpecial.
Honorable mentions: TSM Bjergsen (46.49 pts), GV Keane (43.01 pts) & CST Jesiz (40.85 pts)
AD – TL KEITHMCBRIEF (sub)
Points: 76.08
KDA: 15/2/23
3K/4K/5K: 1/0/0
Champs: Kog’Maw/Caitlyn
A complete surprise to most fantasy players as KEITHMCBRIEF was started in less than 1% of all leagues but scored the highest across all positions over both LCS regions! Playing very autoattack heavy carries in both games, Team Liquid was able to ride their substitute’s amazing opening week into two dominant victories over Team Impulse and Counter Logic Gaming. However, with Piglet’s return in Week 2, this is more of a one and done situation.
Honorable mentions: WFX Altec (52.28 pts), CLG Doublelift (47.48 pts), C9 Sneaky (35.60 pts) & GV Cop (40.68)
Support – TL Xpecial
Points: 50.82
KDA: 3/3/28
3K/4K/5K: 0/0/0
Champs: Janna/Annie
As expected, TL Xpecial proves why he was worth an earlier draft pick for the support position. Expect great things from Xpecial in the future, especially with Piglet returning to the lineup next week but beware as their opponents are C9 and TSM respectively.
Honorable mentions: CLG Aphromoo (43.59 pts)
Team – Team Liquid
Points: 37.00
First Blood: 2
Dragons: 7
Barons: 2
Turrets: 18
Win: 2
Fast Win: 0
It should be no surprise that Team Liquid is Week 1’s stud candidate in NA as they were the only team to go 2-0 in the opening week. With the help of IWD and Xpecial, the team is able to out maneuver many teams due to their impressive vision and objective control which will help fantasy owners reap their rewards as they are thorough in finishing games. However, there may be better options for Week 2 as TSM and C9 will try to unseat Team Liquid from the #1 spot. Â
Honorable mentions: Team Coast (29.00 pts)
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NA Week 1 Duds
 
Top Lane – C9 Balls & TSM Dyrus
Points: 22.69 & 22.13
KDA: 4/8/9 (both players)
3K/4K/5K: 0/0/0 (both players)
Champs: Gnar/Sion (Balls) & Irelia/Gnar (Dyrus)
Known as the dominant top laners in NA, both players displayed mediocre performances on Gnar as they were unable to properly manage Gnar’s rage bar. Another issue is the Sion level 1 strategy of dying to wolves or raptors to get a level advantage does not help owners in fantasy as these executes count as deaths. Expect both laners to level out their KDA ratios and point averages as they are both versatile carry top laners and very well might show champions such as Rumble/Lissandra/Kassadin in future weeks.
Jungle – C9 Meteos
Points: 16.12
KDA: 1/7/10
3K/4K/5K: 0/0/0
Champs: Elise/Rek’Sai
An implosion within the C9 team in Week 1 brings Meteos to this list as he was the only jungler to pick Elise to no avail in their first game. He is sure to return to his former self but poses strong counter junglers in IWD and Xmithie in Week 2. Assuming you don’t have a better jungler to start other than Meteos, you’ll have to stick it out for another week of average games until the third week.
Mid Lane – TIP XiaoWeiXiao & C9 Hai
Points: 20.69 (XWX) & 18.91 (Hai)
KDA: 5/6/6 (XWX) & 1/12/12 (Hai)
3K/4K/5K: 0/0/0 (both players)
Champs: LeBlanc/Lulu (XWX) & Fizz/Orianna (Hai)
Usually able to post dominant fantasy numbers even in losses, XiaoWeiXiao was underwhelming in the opening week. The games showed that the reinvigorated LMQ is unable to demand attention from enemy junglers in their top and bottom lanes. With the return of Impact to top lane next week, things should go back to normal for XiaoWeiXiao. Expect him to bounce back next week as he faces Link and Slooshi8 in the mid lane. Â
As for C9 Hai, he lost lane in both games due to heavy pressure by enemy junglers in both games throughout the game. The more disastrous outing coming at the hands of Gravity where Hai posted an end match score of 0/8/7 as Orianna. He is sure to bounce back but if there are better mids available in your league, Hai may be better off left in the flex position or on the bench for the next week.
AD – TIP Apollo
Points: 27.46
KDA: 5/2/9
3K/4K/5K: 0/0/0
Champs: Corki/Sivir
With high expectations of filling Vasili’s old spot on the reinvented LMQ team, TIP Apollo had an average performance alongside his midlaner in fantasy in Week 1. This is the level of performance owners should come to expect in the following weeks as XiaoWeiXiao is the main carry of TIP.
Support – C9 LemonNation
Points: 18.90
KDA: 0/8/15
3K/4K/5K: 0/0/0
Champs: Thresh/Janna
Most teams that go 0-2 in a week usually have supports that rank low in fantasy points and that is the case with LemonNation this week. As Cloud 9 gets back to their winning ways, LemonNation should level out in fantasy points as well.
Team – Cloud 9
Points: 17.00
First Blood: 0
Dragons: 3
Barons: 2
Turrets: 10
Win: 0/2
Fast Win: 0/2
As they go 0-2 in the opening week, Cloud 9 as a team finds itself at the bottom quarter in all of fantasy stats. Due to many uncharacteristic mistakes made by their mid laner and jungler, the team was unable to strategically maneuver around the map for objective control which ultimately caused them to slowly bleed out in both games. Expect them to come back strong in the upcoming weeks to make up for them falling short in the opening week.
Published: Jan 26, 2015 02:03 am