NA LCS – Fantasy Studs & Duds: Week 2 (Spring 2015)

NA Week 2 Studs

Top Lane – CST Cris
Projected: 31.1
Points: 40.28
KDA: 4/8/19
3K/4K/5K: 0/0/0
Champs: Gnar/Sion 

Cris was ranked high after his Week 1 performance and rightfully so as he is still a solid player who is stuck on a below average team. A caveat regarding playing Cris in Week 3 is that he will be against the likes of Quas and Balls, and considering how Team Liquid and Cloud 9 underperformed in Week 2, expect IWDominate and Meteos to camp top and get their tops rolling as Impaler is more focused on getting Jesiz rolling. He will be ranked among the lower echelon in Week 3 so start him at your own risk. 

Honorable mentions: GV Hauntzer (Proj: 25.8, Actual: 36.09 pts)

Jungle – TSM Santorin
Projected: 30.1
Points: 41.98
KDA: 0/0/24
3K/4K/5K: 0/0/0
Champs: Jarvan IV (both games) 

As a great week for all TSM players occurred this week, Santorin is a beneficiary of no major attention drawn to him to shut him down as he ends up with a great supportive jungler score of 0/0/24. He also showcased a larger champion pool in two weeks than TSM’s old jungler so he is reliable so far. As he is heavily focused on feeding Bjergsen first, he should still be a favorite in this upcoming week as they face an average TIP and a weak DIG team.

Honorable mentions: T8 Porpoise8 (Proj: 25.6, Actual: 39.27 pts)

Mid Lane – CLG Link
Projected: 39.0
Points: 40.13
KDA: 12/2/8
3K/4K/5K: 0/0/0
Champs: Cassiopeia/Zed

After the second game of Week 1, Link seemed to be back to his old self. However, after his performances on non-utility champions this week, he may be reinvigorated along with this new CLG lineup. Although more games are needed for him to be in the talks for the best mid laners in North America, no one can take away a great second week for him as CLG moves into a tie for first place in the NA standings.

Honorable mentions: TSM Bjergsen (Proj: 39.2, Actual: 41.49 pts)

AD – TSM WildTurtle
Projected: 33.5
Points: 44.78
KDA: 11/2/10
3K/4K/5K: 1/0/0
Champs: Kalista/Tristana

Even though his Kalista wasn’t as impressive as that of Sneaky or Doublelift, WildTurtle had a very respectable performance on it. However, it was his Tristana play that rocket jumps him ahead of some other other notable carries this week, such as GV Cop. He has easy matchups next week against the weaker bot lanes of TIP and DIG so he should provide some great points once again.

Honorable mentions: GV Cop (Proj: 38.4, Actual: 45.43 pts), T8 maplestreet8 (Proj: 35.3, Actual: 43.90 pts), CST Mash (Proj: 40.1, Actual: 46.79 pts)

Support – TSM Lustboy
Projected: 24.4
Points: 38.91
KDA: 4/3/20
3K/4K/5K: 0/0/0
Champs: Annie/Morgana 

Another beneficiary of a great week for TSM, Lustboy came out big this with his Annie play. With WildTurtle’s aggressive play style, TSM’s bottom lane is sure to skirmish more than average next week as they have favorable matchups. Expect Lustboy to have another great week.

Honorable mentions:  CLG Aphromoo (Proj: 31.5, Actual: 34.92 pts)

Team – Team SoloMid
Projected: 22.5
Points: 40.00
First Blood: 2/2
Dragons: 7
Barons: 2
Turrets: 21
Win: 2/2
Fast Win: 0/2 

As the majority of TSM’s players made this list, it should be no surprise to see TSM in this position. Although it was not the toughest of matchups this past week, it wasn’t the easiest either. Their easy week is upcoming in Week 3 as they face Team Impulse and Team Dignitas who is fresh out of a jungler so if you have them, it’s definitely worth starting as they will be ranked high this week.

Honorable mentions:  Counter Logic Gaming (Proj: 24.1, Actual: 39.00 pts), Team Gravity (Proj: 28.1, Actual: 39.00 pts)

NA Week 2 Duds 

Top Lane – TL Quas
Projected: 30.2
Points: 6.92
KDA: 0/5/3
3K/4K/5K: 0/0/0
Champs: Gnar (both games) 

As expected, Quas was not the dominant performer he was in Week 1 due to the terrible matchup of C9 and TSM this week. Western teams are still not accustomed to playing around a top laner when they play with a Gnar so we notice poor rage management from even the elite top laners in the west. Given the performance they had last week, Quas should bounce back this week as they play against CST and DIG.

Jungle – TL IWDominate
Projected: 29.1
Points: 3.18
KDA: 0/7/3
3K/4K/5K: 0/0/0
Champs: Jarvan IV/Nunu

As a supportive jungler for Team Liquid, IWD was the worst NA jungler in fantasy this week. Not much to say as Team Liquid just gave up this week. With two fairly easy games next week against CST and DIG, IWD should lead the pack to solid fantasy outings. 

Mid Lane – DIG Shiphtur
Projected: 33.9
Points: 13.07
KDA: 2/5/3
3K/4K/5K: 0/0/0
Champs: Xerath/Azir 

What is left to say about Shiphtur that hasn’t already been mentioned? As the hyper-passive mid laner of the worst team in NA, Shiphtur relies on long range poke champs and is unable to be aggressive. Don’t expect much out of him as his mechanics won’t matter if he never chooses to actually fight within a professional match.

AD – TL Piglet
Projected: 41.9
Points: 8.75
KDA: 0/4/3
3K/4K/5K: 0/0/0
Champs: Sivir/Caitlyn 

With much hype surrounding the starting Korean imports in Week 2, Piglet was the most hyped and it was a massive letdown for those who started him as his point total did not even reach double digits over both games. He should bounce back next week as he faces fairly easy bottom lane matchups so it might be worth it to actually hype up for the next outing.

Support – TL Xpecial
Projected: 33.3
Points: 1.83
KDA: 1/5/1
3K/4K/5K: 0/0/0
Champs: Leona/Janna 

Xpecial is a good support and by no means should anyone decide to move on from him. Matchups make fantasy wins and losses and if you decided to start him when he faced C9 and TSM, not much can be said as the entire team was shut down hard and shut down early. Next week should help them get back to their winning spirits as they face CST and DIG.

Team – Team Liquid
Projected: 31.6
Points: 8.00
First Blood: 0/2
Dragons: 1
Barons: 0
Turrets: 7
Win: 0/2
Fast Win: 0/2

A disappointing week for Team Liquid fans and a rage filled week for owners who started Team Liquid. As everyone underperformed at an individual level, the team score naturally illustrates that as well. With poor map control and bad engages, this was a disastrous week for Team Liquid as they averaged 4 points per game this week. It will be clear skies next week as they face off against a Coast team that has thrown games and a Dignitas team that seemed to forget how to play the game. They will be worth a start in Week 3.