This post is sponsored by Skrilla, an esports daily fantasy platform. Register and compete at the Skrilla website.
The second-to-last week of the 2018 League of Legends Championship Series spring season is over, wrapping up another round of fantasy action.
There was a lot of parity in the EU LCS this week, as four teams finished with a 7-9 record and the bottom two were at 6-10. FC Schalke 04 was the big winner, with wins over Giants Gaming and G2 Esports producing high fantasy scores. Schalke had three players in the top five fantasy scorers on both Friday and Saturday.
Whether you came out on top or ended up with a loss, it’s important to learn from your mistakes and improve your daily fantasy esports strategy.
With that in mind, let’s take a look back at the past week of EU LCS fantasy play and evaluate how some of our picks performed.
Friday
Our fantasy picks were thrown off by some unexpected results on Friday. We expected G2 Esports to have a strong performance against H2k Gaming, but H2k managed to secure a win. However, G2 Esports still put up enough points to salvage the day. Our pick of Martin “Wunder” Hansen performed decently with 42.99 points in the loss.
The other matchups went as expected. Splyce and Misfits performed as predicted, while Schalke, Vitality, and Fnatic had solid wins as well.
Start — Kim “Ruin” Hyeong Min, Top Lane, Giants Gaming, 11,200
Schalke dominated Giants, and Ruin scored 10.19 points. He was a decent pick considering his affordable price.
Sit — Luka “PerkZ” Perkovic, Mid Lane, G2 Esports, 18,950
Start — Kim “Wadid” Bae In, Support, G2 Esports, 12,750
We predicted that PerkZ would struggle against Marcin “SELFIE” Wolski, but we underestimated the performance of the rest of G2 Esports. SELFIE turned out to be a great value pick.
Sit — Jonas “Kold” Andersen, Jungle, Unicorns of Love, 21,400
Unicorns of Love had a rough week, and Kold only scored 11.94 points. It was a good call to avoid him.
Overall, it was a mediocre day for our fantasy picks.
Saturday
Saturday once again proved that making fantasy picks in such a close league is challenging. Giants, ROCCAT, and Schalke pulled off upsets and scored well in fantasy. On the other hand, Fnatic and Splyce didn’t have strong performances despite securing wins.
Like Friday, Schalke players were the key to fantasy success on Saturday, with five of the top nine scoring players. Pairing them with ROCCAT and Giants turned out to be even better. However, many players overlooked them in favor of perceived safer picks.
Start — Steven “Hans Sama” Liv, ADC, Misfits, 22,400
Start — Nubar “Maxlore” Sarafian, Jungle, Misfits, 19,700
Misfits lost their match against Giants Gaming, and Hans Sama only scored 10.32 points. It was a poor choice to include him in your lineup.
Sit — Felix “Betsy” Edling, Mid, Giants Gaming, 18,250
Despite Giants’ victory, Betsy didn’t perform well with a score of 65.37. He was an iffy investment considering his high salary.
Start — Raymond “kaSing” Tsang, Support, Splyce, 7,400
Splyce didn’t have a big fantasy score despite their win against H2k. However, kaSing provided solid value with 61.09 points.
If you’re a fan of Schalke, you probably had a successful week in fantasy. However, Schalke players were uncommon in starting lineups.
Schalke’s prominence highlights an interesting aspect of Skrilla’s scoring system. Players are rewarded not only for their individual statistics but also for their team’s success in securing objectives. This week’s fantasy MVP was Elias “UpseT” Lipp of Schalke. UpseT scored a total of 179.47 fantasy points, with 101 of those coming from his team’s scoreline. Even with a 16/3/10 KDA and 947 CS, the majority of his scoring was tied to his team’s success. Predicting the winning team is crucial in fantasy esports.
In a tightly contested league like the EU LCS, you’ll experience wins and losses in your fantasy matchups.
Fantasy MVP: Elias “UpseT” Lipp, ADC, FC Schalke 04
UpseT played a key role in Schalke’s upsets against Giants Gaming and G2 Esports, solidifying their position in the playoff race. He was the top scorer on both Friday and Saturday, earning 91.66 and 87.81 points, respectively. Despite his impressive performance, UpseT had a bargain price of 14,600, making him one of the cheapest ADCs in the league.
Best Value: Tore “Norskeren” Hoel Eilertsen, Support, ROCCAT
Supports typically don’t score high in fantasy, but Norskeren stood out with an impressive 81.22 points on Saturday. He ranked third overall on the day, thanks to his 3/1/12 KDA with Morgana. Considering his salary of just 10,050, he provided great value.
League of Legends Championship Series, EU LCS, fantasy esports, FC Schalke 04, G2 Esports, Giants Gaming, Splyce, Misfits, Fnatic, ROCCAT, Team Vitality, Unicorns of Love