Here are my rankings for top laners in week three.Â
No. 1 – Kim “Ssumday” Chan-ho (Dignitas – NA LCS)
Last Week
- Best Game: 37.01
- First Two Games: 55.25
Projections For This Week
- Best Game: 50-65
- First Two Games: 65-90
Ssumday is the main focus of his team’s play, and I think this will only continue going forward as more carry oriented top laners come back into the meta. If you own Ssumday, then you are starting Ssumday. He is too talented of a player to be held down completely, and his ceiling for points is much higher than anyone else.
Despite having a rough week last week, I see DIG and Ssumday bouncing back against FlyQuest and Counter Logic Gaming. The more practice DIG gets, the better they will become.
No. 2 – Jung “Impact” Eon-yeong (Cloud9 – NA LCS)
Last Week
- Best Game: 52.41
- First Two Games: 63.32
Projections For This Week
- Best Game: 45-60
- First Two Games: 55-75
Impact will always be a top scorer in this league; he is on too strong of a team to not be. Add that with the fact that he has been in great form as of late, and it equals big fantasy points this week.Â
No. 3 – Samson “Lourlo” Jackson (Team Liquid – NA LCS)
Last Week
- Best Game: 35.56
- First Two Games: 54.80
Projections For This Week
- Best Game: 40-55
- First Two Games: 55-65
Lourlo has been brought up a ton lately in the community, with questions of how well is he actually playing. To me, he has been solid. He’s not quite a top-three top laner in skill level, but with how his team plays, it makes him look better, which for fantasy, is a good thing.
Liquid takes on Echo Fox and Team EnVyUs this week, which are both very winnable games. The Echo Fox series comes down to whether or not Reignover can contain Akaadian like he will want too. EnVy, on the other hand, should be an easy series. Regardless, even if Liquid loses, Lourlo has shown in the past that it does not affect his fantasy totals too much.
No. 4 – Martin “Wunder” Hansen (Splyce – EU LCS)
Last Week
- Best Game: 23.99
- First Two Games: 36.66
Projections For This Week
- Best Game: 40-55
- First Two Games: 55-65
This week will really be a test for Splyce. Will they look like the team that had a lot of success in last season’s EU LCS, or will they look like the team that struggled in the first week of this split? Personally, I think they will bounce back strong, and Wunder should be a big part in that. Despite both of the teams he plays this week being teams that have strong top laners (Origen/Satorius and UoL/Vizicsacsi) I do not see them bullying Wunder enough for it to matter. The top lane has not really relied on 1v1 laning due to the tank matchups, so this should not be an issue.
No. 5 – Kevin “Hauntzer” Yarnell (TSM – NA LCS)
Last Week
- Best Game: 53.40
- First Two Games: 75.43
Predictions For This Week
- Best Game: 40-55
- First Two Games: 55-65
Taking on P1 in what seems to be a battle for second place in the league should be a good thing for Hauntzer. TSM probably has the biggest talent advantage in the top lane between those two teams, so I imagine it will be on their top priorities coming into this week. Then, against CLG, they should have no problem picking up two strong wins. TSM seems to be on the upswing after a shaky start to the season, and I have faith that they will continue this.
No. 6 – Paul “sOAZ” Boyer (Fnatic – EU LCS)
Last Week
- Best Game: 20.93
- First Two Games: 21.37
Predictions For This Week
- Best Game: 35-50
- First Two Games: 45-60
Fnatic has been said to be one of the toughest teams in the league, and they have looked good thus far, only dropping a series to G2.
This week, they take on ROCCAT, which has been the league’s punching bag aside from Origen. Then, they play against a Misfits team that likes to throw away leads and play recklessly, which will inevitably play into Fnatic’s favor.
I don’t expect sOAZ to be a world-beater this week, but he does not have to for his team to win. He will produce a good amount of points, and you never know when he will bring out some crazy pocket pick and go off.
No. 7 – Jang “Looper” Hyeong-seok (Echo Fox – NA LCS)
Last Week*
- Best Game: 55.02
- First Two Games: 57.50
Predictions For This Week
- Best Game: 35-50
- First Two Games: 45-60
Looper has been a strong rock for Echo Fox in the top lane. He lanes well, he fights well and he seems to be transitioning nicely to the NA lifestyle. There should never be a week where Looper looks awful, even if Echo Fox goes 0-2, and to me, that makes him valuable in fantasy.
Liquid and Cloud9 will not be easy outs for Echo Fox, but they are not completely unwinnable games. I could easily see Echo Fox take a game off of C9, and the series against Liquid will more then likely go three games.
No. 8 – An “BalIs” Van Le (FlyQuest – NA LCS)
Last Week
- Best Game: 44.18
- First Two Games: 72.09
Predictions For This Week
- Best Game: 30-45
- First Two Games: 45-60
Balls is not a strong laner, he is not a strong mechanical player, but he is a solid team-fighter. To me, Balls is the ultimate teammate. He will sacrifice farm, he will die for his team, and he will listen 100 percent to everything Hai says. While some of these qualities are not great for fantasy, they do make him a consistent scorer. He is essentially the best option to have if you just want someone that will consistently put up a small amount of points. He is probably a top laner you picked in the later rounds because you used your picks earlier to take some real carries.
FeelsBadMan Starts of The Week
Lee “Flame” Ho-jong (Immortals – NA LCS)Â
Flame is a high risk play, with a possible high reward. You never know when Immortals will get it together and have a good week; they are bound to eventually.
Derek “zig” Shao (P1 – NA LCS)
Zig has been very solid all year, but has never put up huge numbers. He is essentially a lock to score a decent amount of points, but he will not carry your fantasy team to a victory.
Darshan “Darshan” Upadhyaya (CLG – NA LCS)
Much like Zig, Darshan is pretty consistent. He has not had a huge week yet, but he could erupt at any moment. By the time the season ends, there will be one week where Darshan cracks the top-four scorers for the top lane, so maybe this is the one.
Who’s starting in your top lane for week three? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us @GAMURScom.
Published: Feb 1, 2017 08:22 pm