Hello everyone! The LCS is starting again later this week, and once again we're going to try and do a Fantasy LCS league. We'll probably be Drafting Monday January 19. If you want to join us, please send an Email to Geremy@Lasttimeonvideogames.com if you want to join us! Since Tyler and Ed don't watch League but are being forced to participate, I've put together this handy draft guide. I won't go as much into detail since there are 20 more players than last season and I had trouble talking about them even then. Instead, for each role I'm going to divide the players into five categories: Good, Risky, Average, Poor, and Unknown. After each category, I'll offer a little commentary on the players within.
Players in each category will be listed in order from who I think is best in the category to worst. Good players are some of the best, and should be highly considered. Risky players have upside, potentially a lot, but also have problems that could result in them getting very few points. They're not as strong as good players, but you might consider picking them up once none are left. Average players are just that, average, and can round out your roster. Poor players should probably be avoided unless no one is left. Finally unknown players are either new to the league, or I simply havn't seen enough of them to judge.
So with that said, lets get started.
Top Lane
Good
- Freddy112
- Balls
- Dyrus
- Impact
Top Lane has never been especially strong in NA, but Balls has been at the top pretty much since he entered. Dyrus has always been right behind him, never looking flashing, but always making the plays that count. Impact is a former world champion Top Laner. A year ago he could trash anyone in NA. He's been falling off a bit lately, and he's on one of the weaker teams in NA, but that might just mean he ends up with more of his teams points. Freddy is the best Top Laner in Europe, where there's less talent in top lane overall, which is why he's at the top of the list.
Risky
- Zion Spartan
- CaboChard
- Overpow
- Gamsu
- CaliTrolz8
Zion Spartan has been right on the edge of being a good top laner for a long time now. He's on his best team yet in CLG, but they've never given their top laners much love. He also can't play the first week, so he might fall lower in the draft, and would be a good pick up late. CaboChard has been very impressive in the games he's played so far, but he hasn't had any top tier competition yet. Overpow was a journeyman mid laner, but he had a very wide champion pool, which is a boon for top laners in the current meta. Gamsu has only been in 5 games so far, but he looks like a shining light for his team. CaliTrolz is known for aggressive and strange picks, he'll either take the LCS by storm, or be a total dud.
Average
- Quas
- Wickd
- YoungBuck
- Mimer
Quas and Wickd both stand out above the other two here, nearly making it into the 'Good' category, but neither quite made the cut.
Poor
Cris is on top here mostly because I've seen more of him. Neither is terrible, but there are a lot of better choices, you should probably risk an unknown over either of them.
Unknown
- Avalon
- Huni
- Jorge
- Odoamne
- Visicaci
Of these, Visicaci stands out as the best to take a risk on, folowed by Odoamne. Avalon should probably be avoided.
Jungle
Good
- Meteos
- Jankos
- Svenskaren
- Imapler
Meteos is by far the best Jungler in NA, a region that's rather Jungle starved. Jankos is probably the best in Europe, where there's a little more talent. Svenskaren isn't nearly as good as either, but his style leads to a lot of points and he's on a strong team. Impaler ranks among the best, but his team is weak, so he's by far the riskiest of the picks here.
Risky
- Shook
- Diamond
- Horo
- Xmithie
- Airwaks
- Kikis
There are a lot of potentially risky junglers. Shook is one of the most inconsistant players in the game, having both games where he defeats the other team practically by himself, and games where he has no impact at all. He has a very solid team however, which puts him on top. Diamond is a legendary jungler, who slumped hard in Season 4. He looks to be back on form ,but he hasn't faced any really strong competition yet. Horo was a decent Korean Jungler on a poor team, who's moved to a weaker region, but comunication issues still might hold him back. Xmithie was close to Meteos in season 3, but fell off hard in season 4. We'll see if he can get back to where he was with his new team. Airwaks is a mediocre player, but for some reason his fantasy stats end up being really good, even when is play isn't. Last but not least, Kikis is an interesting Jungler. He has a wide range of champions, and is very willing to pull out weird things. However, while he's done well for himself, his one match against strong competition was very poor, so we'll see if he's worth taking or not.
Average
- IWDominate
- Crumbz
- Saint Vicious
IWDominate nearly made the good list, as I continually underestimate him, but Average looked lonely with just two names so I moved him down. Crumbz is a journeyman jungler, but he's been struggling of late. Saint Vicious is on a mediocre team, but he's always been pretty decent.
Poor
Both of these junglers are here more because of their team than their play, but neither is great.
Unknown
- Santoran
- Rush
- Reignover
- F3rederic
- Loulex
Santoran is on TSM, and could end up being amazing, but his first game was terrible, and we just don't know. It might have been better to put him in the risky category, but that was so crowded I moved him down here.
Mid
Good
- Froggen
- Bejergsen
- Hai
- XiaoWeiXiao
Froggen is the best mid player in Europe, and his competition seems less experienced this year. Bejergsen is the best in NA, he doesn't always dominate, but he's very strong. XiaoWeiXiao is a stronger player than Hai, but Hai has a much better team.
Risky
- Nukeduck
- Power of Evil
- Ryu
- Keane
Nukeduck was an incredible player in 2013, but was banned for the 2014 season. His team seems to be built around him now, so if he's up to his old level he'll be a great pick. Power of Evil looks very strong, having trashed Alex Ich and Bejergsen, both incredible mid laners. However, he beat Alex when he was in a slump, and Bejergsen may have been a fluke. Ryu was once the only mid laner that could stand up to Faker, the best player in the world, but he's fallen a long way, and I'd bet against him. Keane has destroyed everyone in his way so far, but he hasn't played anyone great yet.
Average
- Link
- Shophtur
- Niq
- Pobelter
With the exception of Niq, all these players have an occasional incredible game, a lot of average games and a few terrible ones. Getting them on the right day could win you a week, but its impossible to predict when that would be. Niq is simply an average midlaner, which is why he's here.
Poor
Both Jesiz and Cowtard are passive mid laners who rarely do anything flashy. Cowtard is a bit more volitile, likely to have great games from time to time, but he has far more terrible ones.
Unknown
- Fenix
- Slooshi8
- Febiven
- XPePii
- Kori
- Fox
Fenix is on the best team of all these unknowns, and therefore probably the safest. Fox seems like he's a bit above the others two, but I'm not sure about any of them.
ADC
Good
- Rekkles
- Sneaky
- Doublelift
- Piglet
Rekkles is by far the best ADC in Europe, and the way he plays is conducive to getting a lot of fantasy points. Sneaky is the best in NA, but he isn't always the flashiest player on the team. Doublelift on the other hand is, and while he's not as good as Sneaky, he might nab more fantasy points. Piglet is a former world champion ADC, however he's publicly complained about lacking confidence in his new team, so even though he may end up being the best in NA now, he seems the riskiest of the really good players.
Risky
- Forg1ven
- P1noy
- Altec
- MapleStreet8
None of these players are proven, but they all have very aggressive styles and will have games where they single handedly carry the game. MapleStreet sits far below the others in my opinion, because his team is the weakest. However, that might mean in games where they do well, they'll rely on him and he'll get a lot of points.
Average
- Wild Turtle
- Cop
- Freeze
- Mr. Rallez
- Vardags
Turtle could have been in the good category, but he's really fallen off lately. He's definitely a step above the others. Cop and Freeze are at similar skill levels, just in different regions, and they're a step above the other two here, but any of them could do alright.
Poor
-
Mash
- Woolite
- Core JJ
- Apollo
Core JJ might be better than I have him rated here, but the games he's played so far havn't looked good, and he doesn't have a very good support either. All of them should be avoided if possible anyway.
Unknown
I've never seen any of these guys play, so your guess is as good as mine. Given the teams they play for, I'd probably take one of the Poor choices over these guys.
Support
Good
Aphromoo is a good support and plays with Doublelift, so he should get quite a few points. Xpecial is good too, and plays with Piglet, see my comments on him if you want to know why he's not on top. VandeR is a great support, but plays with a poor ADC. He always has and still does well, but it puts him below the others.
Risky
Bunny is an aggressive support who makes occasional great plays, but he'll need to improve a bit to be really good. Yellowstar is one of the best supports in the west, but his entire team has collapsed around him and I don't see how he can score well despite his skill.
Average
- Nyph
- Lemon Nation
- Lust Boy
- NRated
- EDWard
- Unlimited
- Hyilisaang
Its hard to score points as a support, so a lot of them fall into the average category. I've listed them here based mostly on the quality of the ADC they play with.
Poor
Voidle has done well on better teams than his current one, but he's never been a star. Sheep might be average on a good day. KiwiKid is bad, playing with a worst ADC than last year, and he tends to die a lot, which is bad for fantasy.
Unknown
-
- Adrian
- Rydle
- Nisbeth
- Imagine
As with the ADCs, I've never seen any of these guys play. Most of them are probably better than KiwiKid. Dodo8's name is suspiciously similar to the legendarily terrible Chinsese player Dada7, so if you're superstitious don't pick him. Also, Imagine won't be playing until at least week 2.
Teams
Good
It shows how much worse I think teams in both regions got that I only put two teams here, but they're the only teams I really trust in. Both are going to do really well in the early parts of the season, and both have very good chances of winning the splits overall.
Risky
- Team Liquid
- Team Solomid
- ROCCAT
- Gambit
- Unicorns of Love
Liquid probably deserves to be in the good category, but their Mid Laner is untested, and their ADC has expressed dissatisfaction with his team, which could spell disaster. Putting TSM here hurts, but Wild Turtle is falling off, Santoran is untested, and their most recent games looked awful. ROCCAT is a team on the rise, its impressively built, and looks great on paper, but its untested. Gambit has been playing great recently, but they havn't played any good teams, and did very poorly in 2014. Unicorns of Love have a great name, and are a lot of fun to watch, but we havn't seen them play anyone they'll be competing again, they could be great or bust completely.
Average
- SK Gaming
- Counter Logic Gaming
- Meet Your Makers
SK made some good moves in the off season, but feel untested to me. They're probably better than a few of the Risky teams, and a much safer pick. CLG has been on the decline for a long time. I'm willing to bank on them digging in over 2015, but I don't think they'll pick things back up and be great again. MYM are a middle of the pack team, we havn't seen them play in about 6 months now so its hard to say too much about them.
Poor
- Dignitas
- Team Impulse
- Copenhagen Wolves
- Winterfox
- Fnatic
Dig might be more average than poor, but they looked really bad at their most recent tornament. Two of their players are still learning English and they're a new team, so there's room for growth, but they've looked bad so far. Impulse has two very strong players, and three unknowns, so perhaps Risky or unknown is a better place for them, but my gut says they're going to crash and burn. Fnatic has four new players, so perhaps unknown is better for them, but again, my gut says they go there.
Unknown
- Team 8
- Gravity
- Team Coast
- H2k Gaming
- GIANTs
I've seen a little of all these teams, but don't rally have a sense of them. I listed them in order from best to worst, like all these lists, but they're probably worse than all the poor teams except Fnatic.
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