Week 8: Vengeance to the Victor

As the initial round robin of Fantasy LCS came to a close, everyone my eight person league is doing rematches against old foes. After barely eeking out a victory last week, I am matched against my friend Sam, who beat me back in Week 2. He also wanted revenge for me calling out his team (he has the second worst record in the league, lol), so it appears vengeance will go the victor. Here’s a reminder of last week’s roster:

1. Kev1n – Millenium
2. Svenskeren – SK Gaming
3. Cowtard – Copenhagen Wolves
4. Rekkles – Fnatic
5. Gleebglarbu – TSM
6. Wildturtle – TSM
7. Millenium
8. Mimer – Supa Hot Crew
9. Impaler – Supa Hot Crew
10. Nrated – SK Gaming

I traded a couple of players from the add/drop pool, with the main reason for each trade being to punish those who did poorly during super week:

Added Niq, Dropped Cowtard: After Cowtard’s dismal performance, I immediately wanted a replacement. My go to, Overpow, had been picked up with the resurgence of ROCCAT (in hindsight, I probably should have picked him up and dropped Nrated). I chose to grab NiQ, as Gambit’s recent results showed slight improvement over their past performances.

Added Fnatic, Dropped Millenium: Perhaps I should have known better on this one, but Millenium just did not perform to the level of Fnatic. After their fantastic super week, I picked them up once again hoping they could replicate their success.

I also tweaked my starting roster as well. Here is what the roster looked like:

1. Mimer – Supa Hot Crew
2. Impaler – Supa Hot Crew
3. NiQ – Gambit Gaming
4. Rekkles – Fnatic
5. Gleebglarbu – TSM
6. Wildturtle – TSM
7. Fnatic
8. Kev1n – Millenium
9. Svenskeren – SK Gaming
10. Nrated – SK Gaming

Started Mimer, Benched Kev1n: This was a tough decision, as Kev1n’s Millenium played against Copenhagen Wolves, the team of huge point margins. However, Kev1n also played against Alliance, and I did not like their chances of earning points from that game. I chose Mimer because, while they had a similar schedule, I thought they had a greater chance of being their tough opponent, Fnatic, or at least tying them.

Started Impaler, Benched Svenskeren: A simple decision. Both teams faced Fnatic, but while SK Gaming faced the resurgent ROCCAT, Supa Hot Crew faced the floundering Gambit (yes, I know I added NiQ, whatever, I’m on a hotstreak).

Started Gleebglarbu, Benched Nrated: TSM has come back furiously in the standings, so I have faith in them and their bot lane to do well. TSM had the slightly harder week, so most of this is my confidence in their past performance (although Nrated dominated Gleeb during Super Week).

After these changes were made, I was ready to go into the matches! Here is how I did!

Mimer: 1
Mimer did ok with 27 points. But Kev1n scored 59. I literally cost myself 30 points. Most matches are determined in 30 point margins, as was this week’s match. I get a 1 to show my epic disgrace. Sorry kev-bro.

Impaler: 4
As it turns out, I was correct in thinking SHC would have a better week. Mainly because SK Gaming go rocked this week. Scoring nearly 3 times as many points as Svenskeren, he earns his place as my default jungler. He doesn’t get a 5, however, because while he was the much better choice, he only earned 17 points.

NiQ: 1
NiQ showed a bit of consistency, scoring 17 points (more than Cowtard’s performance from last week). But the Wolves picked up two games with huge point totals, putting Cowtard at 46 points. Again, this is a match-defining screw-up, one that should not happen. Of course, this should have been expected when Gambit announced new players to its starting roster. Unfortunately, I did not catch that (I should pay attention to my own blogs).

Rekkles: 5
Just shy of 50 points, he continues to show why he is the top player in the league in terms of point totals. Bonus points are awarded because Fnatic is beginning to dominate. Yay for my good fortune in the draft phase!

Gleebglarbu: 4
Gleeb had an okay week, dishing out 22 points. The main reason why he gets such a great score is because Nrated, my back-up, scored 3 points. Just 3 points. For you math junkies, you could right this out as 1/7Gleeb > Nrated. I made the correct choice; nuf said.

Wildturtle: 5
QUADRA! HE GOT A QUADRA! But seriously, that is super well done and shows the raw mechanics that spurred me to pick him in the first place. He is shining in the sun with another 40+ points this week, which is now half of the weeks this split. Woot woot!

Fnatic: 5
When a team scores 30 points, it’s a good week to have them on your team. When they score 40, however, you should go buy lotto tickets. With the top points of any team and just as many points as my ADC’s, it was a great choice to pick them back up.

Kev1n: 1
WHY KEV1N? WHY DO I DOUBT YOU? I AM SORRY. COME BACK TO ME BABY. I’LL CHANGE. I PROMISE.

Svenskeren: 2
While I didn’t play him, and that is great, I am seriously considering throwing him into the Add/Drop pool. It may do me quite a service to see that happen. But that name though………..

Nrated: 1
WHY! WHY DID I DROP OVERPOW FOR YOU?!?!? I REGRET IT, I WISH YOU WERE NEVER PICKED UP BY SK GAMING. But seriously, dude, what is going on? You are literally being sent to the pool next time I get the chance.

After foolishly benching Kev1n, I thought my week was done for. But with WildTurtle’s Quadra at the end of Day 2, I scraped by with a 5 point victory (Quadra kills, as you know, are worth a bonus 5 points. Coincidence? I think not.). With this, I am now one of two people tied for first, and after beating the other guy tied for first, the Fantasy LCS system shows me at the top of the rankings! Woot woot!

Week 6: Parity is Power

Week 5 came down to the wire with some exciting, if not close, calls. I am finally tied for first place in my league, but that may come to an end as I face one of the people I am tied with. To remind you, this was my roster last week:

1. Kev1n – Millenium

2. Svenskeren – SK Gaming

3. Overpow – ROCCAT

4. Rekkles – Fnatic

5. Gleebglarbu – TSM

6. Wildturtle – TSM

7. Fnatic

8. Mimer – Supa Hot Crew

9. Impaler – Supa Hot Crew

10. Nrated – SK Gaming

I made a single Add/Drop this week, and yet again, it was to the Mid-lane position:

Added Cowtard, Dropped Overpow: Cowtard belongs to the worst team in the LCS EU. So why would I pick him up over the rising Overpow? Because every week, no matter his team’s record, he scores about 50 points. That number is insane, and I think he will continue to give more points in the long-haul than Overpow because of his sheer consistency.

My roster had a few more changes to it. Here it is:

1. Mimer – Supa Hot Crew

2. Svenskeren – SK Gaming

3. Cowtard – Copenhagen Wolves

4. Rekkles – Fnatic

5. Nrated – SK Gaming

6. Wildturtle – TSM

7. Fnatic

8. Kev1n – Millenium

9. Impaler – Supa Hot Crew

10. Gleebglarbu – TSM

Started Mimer, Benched Kev1n: Finally, an easy week to decide who to play in top lane. Millenium has the tough schedule of Alliance and SK Gaming, while Supa Hot Crew has Gambit and Fnatic. I think Mimer will do much better with the easier schedule (or at least I hope, I’d really like to be right about my top laners for once).

Started Svenskeren, Benched Impaler: Choosing between these two players has become quite ridiculous, and this week they both have equally tough opponents. However, I have noticed a trend that I am either playing both or neither of the SHC players on my roster. Each time I always end up picking the wrong choice. This week, I decided to diversify my approach and just pick one, with Mimer clearly being the better pick. Hopefully this will have better results than going all-or-nothing on one team’s performance.

Started Nrated, Benched Gleebglarbu: TSM has the ridiculously tough schedule of CLG and LMQ, while SK Gaming, as mentioned above, plays ROCCAT and Millenium. TSM bot lane seems to struggle against tougher opponents like Rush Hour, so I didn’t want to have both members of TSM on my roster.

Started WildTurtle, Benched Others: Wildturtle’s points have begun to pick back up, which I am excited about. Unfortunately, both of his opponents this week are really strong. Yet I have faith that he will come through with at least 30 points. If not, then it signals that he should be benched when he has a tough week ahead.

My opponent this week was my arch-nemesis! Ok, not really my archnemesis, he just posts a meme on my alma mater’s gaming club page that reads “You don’t even go here” because I graduated. Grumble Grumble Grumble. Unfortunately, he has a pretty strong team. Here’s how I did:

Mimer: 4

I got my top lane right! Of course, he was only better by four points. But after last week’s victory by a 6-point margin, any point is a good point. Woot woot.

Svenskeren: 2

I am really starting to hate my junglers. SK stalled out hard this week, and Svenskeren only earned 20 points compared to Impaler’s 32. But he still has a ridiculously cool name, so I am not that upset.

Cowtard: 3

Cowtard did not live up to expectations. His team did go on tilt both games and fought constantly. Unfortunately, his team got stomped in every fight in one match, netting 2 points for the game. Still, at 30 points total (yes, he scored 28 in his next game), it’s hard to be upset. If only I can get 2 games where the fights are relatively even………

Rekkles: 5

Rekkles is love, Rekkles is life.

Nrated: 2

Did I say SK stalled out? Because they did, and that hampered Nrated’s score. He did net 28 points, which is not bad, but that is the floor of which I am willing to accept. He also didn’t’ KS enough, which essential for my Fantasy LCS supports.

Wildturtle: 5

Earning the most points in both LCS systems is a good thing. It is even better when you have a ridiculously tough schedule while doing it. He has earned his place back as a starter without question, and I will no longer question him.

Fnatic: 2

At 24 points, this was much less than the 30 point consistency I have come to expect from them. I am going to look into picking up a new team in the near future, at my own risk. Then again, their logo is just so, so cool.

Kev1n: 4

Although less than Mimer, Kev1n still earned decent points on the bench. I have faith I will use him again in the future.

Impaler: 2

I want to say that Impaler is a streaky player, but a score of 30 shows consistency. Consistency that I was not expecting, to be honest. I get a low score for not starting him, but that is mainly because SK under-performed. I’m not going to impale myself over the decision (bad puns are bad).

Gleebglarbu: 2

The resurrection of the TSM bot lane has happened. With as many points as Rekkles himself, he will be my default support from now on. Not only did this guy help me play better support, but he is helping me in my Fantasy League. Win-win.

My opponent has probably the best team I have seen in a while. Thankfully, the NA LCS keeps splitting 1-1, and that allows me to side-step some really impressive totals every week. The NA LCS’s parity is my power, especially because of my EU-centric line up! I ended up winning again, raising my record to 4-2. Next week is super week, so stay tuned!

Strategy: Preventing 0’s

“Gambit Gaming’s core line-up is going to miss the fifth stage of LCS EU Summer that takes place in London from June 21^st to June 22^nd.”

“Unfortunately for us at Supa Hot Crew Bram has an important University Exam and cannot participate in this weeks LCS.”

Above are two statements from Gambit Gaming and Supa Hot Crew, respectively, outlining that they are going to have players missing from last week’s LCS. The kicker? This is not the first time such an event has happened.

From Altec and Helios being added to the EG line-up for power to Copenhagen Wolves’ Cowtard not playing due to sickness, there are a plethora of reasons why a fantasy player may not participate in the matches scheduled for them. This is of huge importance to us Fantasy managers (they are calling us managers these days, which is pretty cool until you realize we don’t really manage anything except a computer screen).

A player/team who does not compete earns 0 Fantasy LCS points, as some of you may have had the misfortune of learning (it happened to me Week 4). This is a catastrophic loss of points, which can translate into a lost match-up when every point counts. Thus, we need to stay on our game in order to prevent such things from happening. Here are a few tips in order to stay on top of things:

Check the Fantasy LCS page 30 minutes before it locks: I know this can be a real pain, but it is absolutely necessary. If your projected points take a huge dip, it’s probably because Riot has changed the forecast of a player to 0 because of a substitution. You can easily sub in one of your alternates or, like I usually do, go pick up a player from the Add/Drop pool.

Get notifications from the teams of your Fantasy LCS players:

Usually, teams will let you know if one of their players is being benched before the matches happen. They do it for the fan service mostly, but a large reason is so players can adjust their fantasy teams (most of these people have a Fantasy League as well, trust me).

Subscribe to the LoL subreddit or something similar. You know what is the fastest way of getting news on small topics like a video game? It’s Reddit. With thousands of subscribers all looking at game websites on the reg, someone on the website will spot an aberration and post it instantaneously. It will quickly get upvoted to the top of the page, giving you enough time to make adjustments. This is how I caught the Gambit Fiasco this past week, which if I hadn’t, would have cost me my match-up this week.

Realizing there is a substitution is the most important part of the game. Deciding who to pick after that is almost irrelevant, as you will most likely get less points than you would have gotten if your player/team didn’t have a substitution (unless you purposely put bad players into play *alliteration FTW*). I already have a blog on who to start in normal circumstances. In these circumstances, however, there are a few nuances you should know:

A substitution for one player can affect the players on the rest of the team: A no-brainer, really. In a team-oriented game like League, changing a player drastically shifts how the rest of the game will play out. Prime example: Gambit lost four of its five core players when traveling to London for LCS EU. The fifth, NiQ, still played, but do you really think his scores were ok? I’ll answer that for you; no they were not.

Substitutes are not always bad: Sometimes, a player change can be neutral. If Alliance had to use a substitute for its next game against Gambit, I don’t think that substitute or anyone on the team would have really low scores. Furthermore, replacement players tend to do better than their predecessors (Altec has had great points, Yellowpete did not). Do not automatically overlook the player coming in, but instead use your best judgment in evaluating the player.

Week 5: If you aint first, you’re last

At 2-2, this was the week where I finally had a shot at going positive. After an exciting Week 4, it was now time to see if I could make it to the big leagues and win my Week 5 matchup. Here was my roster last week:

1. Mimer – Supa Hot Crew

2. Impaler – Supa Hot Crew

3. Cowtard – Copenhagen Wolves

4. Rekkles – Fnatic

5. Nrated – SK Gaming

6. Wildturtle – TSM

7. Fnatic

8. Kev1n – Millenium

9. Svenskeren – SK Gaming

10. Krepo – Evil Geniuses

I made a number of adds and drops this week, mainly because of the big Gambit announcement:

Added Gleebglarbu, Dropped Krepo: Also known as Gleeb, the support player for TSM was a huge driver behind their Week 4 success. It appears he has achieved good form, and since he was dropped earlier due to TSM’s poor play, he was easy to snag from the Add/Drop pool. Krepo did not work out as a hot-streak player, having a very poor showing in Week 4.

Added NiQ, Dropped Cowtard: This is not vengeance for him earning 0 points last week (after all, he did sign my mousepad). Rather, Copenhagen Wolves has the ridiculously tough schedule of Alliance and Supa Hot Crew. Gambit, on the other hand, has Fnatic and ROCCAT. Furthermore, Gambit has improved significantly since their dismal Week 1 performance, and NiQ has put up some decent scores. I expect NiQ to earn a solid number of points, though I would not be surprised if he flopped.

Added Overpow, Dropped NiQ: HOLD THE PHONE. If you saw my Facebook update or any of the other news, you know that Gambit had to substitute four of its members because of visa issues. NiQ was the only remaining player left, but the lack of top performers made me desire to get my old frenemy Overpow back in the line-up. ROCCAT has picked up a few wins lately, so I expect that he will score at least decent points.

This created a very different line-up than we saw last week, with good reason. Here it is:

1. Kev1n – Millenium

2. Svenskeren – SK Gaming

3. Overpow – ROCCAT

4. Rekkles – Fnatic

5. Gleebglarbu – TSM

6. Wildturtle – TSM

7. Fnatic

8. Mimer – Supa Hot Crew

9. Impaler – Supa Hot Crew

10. Nrated – SK Gaming

Started Kev1n, Benched Mimer: After Kev1n’s superior performance compared to Mimer last week, it’s back to the weekly comparisons between their two schedules. Millenium has ROCCAT and Fnatic, while SHC has Copenhagen Wolves and SK Gaming. I thought Millenium had the potential for two wins against SHC’s one, so I picked Kev1n.

Started Svenskeren, Benched Impaler: After Impaler’s embarrassing performance last week, Svenskeren gets a shot to see about becoming a permanent player on my roster. Their teams played each other, with SK Gaming and SHC other opponents were Alliance and CW respectively. I thought that Svenskeren could earn points in the loss against Alliance and then destroy SHC to earn more than Impaler. Plus, I was still worried about Impaler’s poor performance.

Started Gleebglarbu, Benched nRated: Both players’ teams play the respective top team in their league, Alliance and Dignitas. However, TSM plays Curse in its second match, while SK Gaming plays Supa Hot Crew. Gleeb definitely has the edge in ease of schedule, and after his dominating performance last week compared to nRated’s shaky play, he gets bumped into the starter slot. Also, yay for TSM bot lane! You should get double points for having a matched bot lane.

My opponent this week was 1-3, but that didn’t matter as he had a scary good line-up with Link, Aphromoo, Shook, and Imaqtpie. I steeled myself for a loss, but still gave it my all. Here is how I did!

Kev1n: 2

Kev1n did pretty well at 35 points. Only problem is that Mimer outshined him with 47. I think I may be underestimating the power of playing CW. It’s not that they are just bad, but CW tend to play long, drawn-out games with plenty of fights and kills for both teams. I think I will consider this more in the future.

Svenskeren: 2

This was a bad call. Alliance demolished SK Gaming, leaving Svenskeren with under 10 points for the game. While he earned quite a bit more in his other game, it was not enough to prevent his 25 scorecard.

Overpow: 4

The king has returned! After screwing me for multiple games, he scored 44 points this week as his team went 2-0. It was spectacular, even earning himself Week MVP by Riot’s casters. He gets a 4, however, because Cowtard outperformed him, even as he faced much tougher opponents.

Rekkles: 4

I have a new system for determining if he gets a 4 or a 5. If he A)scores less than 40 points, and B) scores less than someone on the bench, he gets a 4. That happened this week, scoring 39 points, which is a bit less than Mimer. Still, I won this week, so I’m not mad.

Gleebglarbu: 4

Putting him as a starter was a great choice. He earned a solid 31 points even though his team went 1-1, and it was more than Nrated by a good margin. High fives all around!

Wildturtle: 4

Scoring 44 points, he was the highest earning member of my starting roster. He did well for himself and earned his place back in the regular rotation. Still, he earned less than Mimer as my flex, so he gets a 4.

Fnatic: 4

At 30 points, that is all I ask of my team. I want consistentcy, and with another 1-1 record and good points, that is what I am getting. Great!

Mimer: 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTHNpusq654

Enough said.

Impaler: 2

My steakiest palyer continues to show why I have 2 junglers. He put up good points, which I suspect is simply due to the CW game. With his points all over the place, though, I can’t blame myself too much. Plus, he is still on my roster.

Nrated: 4

My suspicions about him were correct, as he earned a little over 20 points. I kept him on my roster, though, because I know he will pay dividends in the future.

After day 1, my opponent scored a whopping 120 points. I honestly thought the game was over at that point. But with chokes by CLG and Dignitas, I was still in the running. The matchup became a nail-biter, going all the way down to my last game. I ended up winning by FOUR POINTS. I am now not only positive in my league, but I am tied FOR FIRST PLACE! Woot woot!

How to Dreamhack

If you are nerdy enough to read a blog about esports (not a bad thing, I do too!), then you will probably go to a huge video game convention at some point in your life. For me, my first major event was this past weekend at Dreamhack Summer, the largest and most famous LAN party in the world. After attending, I came back with a greater understanding on how to get the most out of your experience. With MLG Anaheim right around the corner, I thought it would be timely to take a break from Fantasy LCS and post these ideas for everyone to see. Here are my major tips on how to Dreamhack:

Do not only play video games at a video game convention: This sounds counter-intuitive, does it not? Yet we can all agree that if you wanted to play League of Legends for an entire weekend, you could just stay home and save your ticket money. Go out and watch the pro-gamers play. Browse the vendors and see if there is something you may want to pick up for purchase. Participate in some of the special events like musical performances, panel discussions, meet and greets, and prize competitions. Make your trip memorable, not just another weekend where you played video games.

Wear clothes you would not mind getting dirty: Gamers are not known for their cleanliness or personal hygiene, and Dreamhack reinforced that hard. Despite volunteers constantly sweeping, there was food wrappers and electronics packaging everywhere. I would not recommend wearing anything put tennis shoes, jeans/cargo shorts, and a t-shirt. Regardless, do your part to keep the event clean by picking up after yourself, reporting spills to volunteers, and keeping your hygiene in tip-top shape.

If you there are seats for 18+ and 21+, grab them if you can: My biggest regret this weekend was buying a desk ticket in the main hall and not in the 21+ area. Although there are many people who are over 18 at big video game conventions, you must remember that it is children who play the most video games every week. They also flock to these major events, and usually get their parents to buy tickets closest to the action. You always want to get tickets for the older people area because 1) middle schoolers are a pain, and 2) there really aren’t a lot of 40 year old virgins to worry about. Trust me, it’s a good investment.

Respect the crew members: Most people working at conventions, video game or otherwise, do not get paid. They do their work because they love the event and want it to succeed, but having difficult revelers diminishes their willpower and makes them unhappy. The less happy they are, the worse the convention runs. Please, be respectful and do what they ask of you.

If you are reading this blog, you also probably go to huge gaming conventions to meet the big names in video gaming. Perhaps these are pro-gamers, famous streamers, cosplayers, or even developers. Everyone wants to get those few moments with a famous star to get a picture and, most importantly, get an autograph. Here are a few tips and tricks for getting autographs.

Ask at opportune moments: There are good times and bad times to ask autographs, and your chances of getting an autograph vary greatly during these times. Obviously, a bad time to ask is during a match. Other bad times are right before a match, after a match when the player loses, in the bathroom or other more private spaces. Good times are after the players wins a match/set, when they are in transit from place to place, and when they are just browsing the internet in between games. Also, be sure to attend the times designated for players to sign autographs. It is almost a guaranteed signature, and the players are usually happier.

Signing a t-shirt can be quiet tricky: This is something I had to learn the hard way. Shirts do not often stay still even when placed on a flat surface. What’s more, there are two layers of fabric when you put a T-shirt on a flat surface, leading to a lot of sliding. It is very difficult to autograph a t-shirt when it is like this, and oftentimes the signatures come out sloppy and barely legible. You will want to either be wearing the shirt when it is autographed, or to place something hard inside the shirt when it is being signed (like a piece of cardboard or a book). Trust me, I learned this the hard way L.

Less famous people always give better autograph experiences: You are not going to get an amazing conversation from Bjergsen when you ask for an autograph. The reason is because he is always being asked for autographs, so much that it has become more of a nuisance than an honor. A less accomplished player, on the other hand, is more likely to feel happy about being asked and will gladly spend a minute or two to talk if they have the time. For the most part they can answer your burning questions just as well as a more famous player can, so the interaction is equally as valuable. Plus, they tend to be nicer to the average fan. Never overlook an autograph just because a player is “bad” or “so-so.”

People from different countries react differently to autographs: This can also be read as “Koreans as a whole seem more melancholy when asked for an autograph”. I do not know why that is, but it seemed to be consistent. Europeans as a whole tended to be much more open to autographs than Koreans, though I was only rejected once out of 50 signatures. Do not be bother by this; it can easily be explained by the cultural barrier between people from different countries and continents.

Be prepared for the occasional no: I do not know why niche celebrities would decline to sign an autograph. Pro-gamers are not widely recognized outside of conventions and tournaments, do not have the paparazzi after them, and can for the most part live a normal life. That being said, it is well within their right to deny an autograph. Sometimes they are having a bad day, and no one likes to be bothered on a bad day. It’s not a rejection of you as much as it is an indication of their mood. You can always try again later.

Next week I’ll be back with more specific Fantasy LCS advice. However, this is just as important, if not more important, for you as a gamer.

Week 4: Down with the Sickness

Of the four weeks we have had in the Summer Split thus far, this one is definitely my favorite. Between me travelling to Dreamhack and a number of very surprising twists to the my matchup, it was immensely exciting. Here is the roster I had at the end of Week 3:

1. Kev1n – Millenium

2. Svenskeren – SK Gaming

3. Cowtard – Copenhagen Wolves

4. Rekkles – Fnatic

5. Nrated – SK Gaming

6. Wildturtle – TSM

7. Fnatic

8. Mimer – Supa Hot Crew

9. Impaler – Supa Hot Crew

10. Overpow – ROCCAT

I only made one exchange in the Add/Drop pool this week, a record low. I imagine that my trades will become fewer than in the earlier weeks as it becomes clear who is worth keeping on your bench and who you should leave to die in the Add/Drop graveyard.

Added Krepo, Dropped Overpow: I thought I should put my money where my mouth is and pick up a player on a hot streak. Krepo had a dominating performance in Week 3 with 40 points, and if he repeats he could become a valuable trade commodity and possible starting flex player (a support as a flex player? GASP). Overpow scored significantly less than Cowtard, and since dropping him means that every player from ROCCAT is now in the Add/Drop pool, I feel confident no one will pick him up.

The composition of my ten players did not change to terribly much, as mentioned above. However, I did make a few changes and one difficult not-change this week to my starting line-up. Here were my players, with the top 7 being the ones who earn points:

1. Mimer – Supa Hot Crew

2. Impaler – Supa Hot Crew

3. Cowtard – Copenhagen Wolves

4. Rekkles – Fnatic

5. Nrated – SK Gaming

6. Wildturtle – TSM

7. Fnatic

8. Kev1n – Millenium

9. Svenskeren – SK Gaming

10. Krepo – Evil Geniuses

Started Mimer, benched Kev1n: After last week’s performance, Mimer has earned a permanent position as my top laner. Kev1n is certainly strong, but I am convinced that Mimer is the best top laner in EU LCS, and maybe better than those in NA LCS as well. Plus, Mimer has an easy schedule in Millenium and ROCCAT.

Started Impaler, benched Svenskeren: This one was tricky, especially after Svenskeren’s dominating performance last week. The deciding factor was schedule strength: Millenium and ROCCAT seems easier than Fnatic and Copenhagen Wolves. If Svenskeren still outperforms, however, he may just earn a permanent starting position as my jungler.

Started WildTurtle, benched the rest of my alternates: I am not joking with Wildturtle becoming a player that I need to bench in the future. I looked long and hard at my three alternates, but I eventually decided to keep Wildturtle in the flex position. The only reason I did this was that him and Svenskeren seemed to have pretty equal schedules, and I am clinging to the idea that ADC’s should earn more points than junglers, all else being equal.

This week I faced the monster in my league, the only remaining undefeated team. He had regularly posted up great scores each week, so it looked grim. I did my best, and here are my evaluations for the week:

Mimer: 2

Supa Hot Crew is a team where if the team does well, all players do well, but if they do poorly, all players do poorly. SHC got rocked and went 0-2 this week, and as a result Mimer earned a meager 18 points. Pride cometh before the fall, and now I look foolish for thinking Mimer would start for me every week without fail. Such a scrub move.

Impaler: 2

If Mimer had a bad game, Impaler had an even worse game. With 8 points total, he was easily one of the worst performing starters in my entire league this week. Impaler has been demoted in my book to benchwarmer against Svenskeren, only to be brought out in the future in the best of SHC circumstances.

Cowtard: N/A

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?

From the Copenhagen Wolves Facebook page a few hours after their forfeit to ROCCAT:

“Cowtard got sick overnight and informed our team manager that he wouldn’t be able to play. This happened around 04:00 CEST.”

This was a soul-crusher to realize, especially since my match-up this week was against the best team in the league. However, he did show up to Dreamhack and I got him and Unlimited to sign my super sexy Taric mousepad. So it evens out in the long-run, but was really detrimental to my performance.

Rekkles: 5

Do I really need to keep talking about Rekkles? With 54 points this week, he put up another dominant showing. As of right now, he is also the 2nd most scoring player in the Fantasy LCS system. I find no reason why I would ever get rid of him at this point.

Nrated: 3

SK Gaming had a pretty bad week this week. This directly translated into Nrated’s results, where he earned 24 points. However, even though there were also plenty of supports for me to choose from in the pool and even on my bench, he did better than most of them. Furthermore, he managed to earn more than three other players on my team, so I am not that upset at the decision.

Wildturtle: 5

I do not know what Wildturtle to encourage his team this week. All I know is TSM came out like a huge bass-drop in a rave, with WildTurtle yelling “TURN DOWN FOR WHAT?” After beating their consistent rival Cloud 9 and WT earning 40 points in the process, TSM also crushed Curse and he earned another 30 points. With an average of 35 points per game, perhaps the highest average posted by a player this whole season, Wildturtle was easily the top player in the league this week and single-handedly made up for Cowtard’s unfortunate circumstances. I am SOOOO glad I did not bench him.

Fnatic: 4

Even as Fnatic continues to split games, they earn solid 30 points every week. At this point, I’m not sure I want to try risking adding back Millenium or another streaky team that may earn more points. I really like the reliability that Fnatic gives me, and they are never more than five points behind the top team each week.

Kev1n: 2

Kev1n has turned out to be one of the streakiest players I have. He regularly switches from earning 40 points a week, incredible for a top laner, to 20 points a week. This week he earned 40, which is rather unfortunate as I could not capitalize on those points. He may become a valuable trade asset in the future as I look to pick up a more consistent mid-laner (Cowtard has been good, but I want someone on a better team).

Svenskeren: 3

While Sven did not do amazing, he did have double the number of points of Impaler and I should have played him. The only reason I didn’t, however, was because I thought Copenhagen Wolves would be stronger than ROCCAT. Unfortunately, Cowtard got sick and thus SK had an easy time against a team with a substitute. There is no way I could have known this would happen, so I don’t penalize my decision-making here. Sometimes, bad plays are the singular result of bad luck and nothing more.

Krepo: 3

Alright, Krepo did not work out. Despite a commanding performance last week, EG came back to their lackluster performance. Still, picking him up as an alternate did not hurt my performance at all, nor did it give anyone in my league an advantage. Thus, an average score of 3 is given.

This week’s match-up was interesting. Both of us had two members of Supa Hot Crew and two members of Fnatic, so much of our results were mirrored: our SHC members sucked while our Fnatic members were on fire. When I realized that Cowtard would not play and earn points, I immediately typed “gg” into our Facebook thread. However, his LMQ players had a terrible week, while Wildturtle exploded. Somehow, I not only managed to beat the last undefeated person in my league, but also had a score that was higher than average.

Apparently, being down with the sickness can lead to very good results in a Fantasy League! Woot woot! I am now 2-2! Here’s to more victory!

Blog Update – Dreamhack Summer 2014

Hello from Dreamhack!

I’m just letting everyone know that this week’s posts may be a little be slow in getting up because I am at the world’s largest LAN party! As you can see, I’m already meeting pro-gamers like Team Liquid’s Taeja! I’ll have a blog all about Dreamhack soon enough, so stay tuned!

– Vande Kamp

Strategy: Trading

The Fantasy LCS beta is a fantastic system overall. One of its sole oversights, in my mind, is that it does not have an official trade feature. Trades are important parts of all fantasy leagues, regardless of the (e)sport it follows. Still, there are workarounds in the current system to allow for trades.

Suppose one of the other people in your league has a player that you want (for arguments sake, let’s take Millenium’s breakout star Kerp). How would one go about trying to convince your friend to trade you? Here are some tips and guidelines to follow:

Treat it like a business deal: A trade in a competitive fantasy league is like a business negotiation, not the Pokemon cards you still use on occasion. Be direct in bringing up the subject. Have a solid offer ready in case they are willing to trade the player or team. Know ahead of time who you are willing and not willing to offer in the trade. And be capable of ACCEPTING NO FOR AN ANSWER. This last part is especially important, and as a good impression talking about trades today could lead a good trade for you later in the league.

Do not offer another person of the same role: In general, offering someone of the same role in a trade implies that one person is getting ripped off, especially if you are the one initiating the trade. For instance, if I try to offer Overpow of ROCCAT for Kerp, then it’s clear that you are trying to upgrade your mid laner at your friend’s expense.

Look at their roster for weaknesses: Unless someone got really lucky in draft, every person in every league should have a weakness in their roster. Identifying that weakness can give you a big boost in trading, as you can offer a better person for that role. For instance, if the person who owns Kerp also picked up Wildturtle, who has flopped (not that I would know anything about that, *cough* Week 1 and 2). If you can offer a more reliable ADC, like Sneaky of Cloud 9, then you have a better chance of getting a trade.

Suppose all goes well and you and your friend decide you would like to trade: Kerp for Sneaky. The process for doing so is pretty simple. Both of you log-in and go to the add/drop page. One player drops one of the players, perhaps you drop Sneaky, and pick up someone that is still in the pool (like Bubbadub. No one should own Bubbadub, even though he’s got dat stache.). The other player then adds the recently dropped player and drops the other player in the trade. In our scenario, your friend adds Sneaky and drops Kerp. Finally, the first person to drop a player adds the recently dropped player and drops the useless one. To finish it up, you add Kerp and drop Bubbadub.

Because there is not an official trade function in Fantasy LCS, you have to be careful with who you trade and how you trade. Here are some precautions you should take in order to ensure that you have a good trading experience:

Make the trade only when both people are logged onto the portal: This should be a no-brainer. Do not drop a valuable player and wait for your trading partner to finish the transaction. Another player in the league may see your drop, think you are just being a scrub, and pick up the player for their team. You do not want anyone else interfering with the trade: some people may rectify the error and fix it, but then again, you run the risk of being screwed over by someone. Play it safe and trade at the same time.

Make sure your trading partner is trustworthy: the scenario I described above can only work with a bond of trust. If one person has malicious intent, they can demand that the other person drop a desired player first, then the malicious person can add that player and drop a terrible player instead. In our scenario, this would be your trading partner demanding you drop Sneaky first, picking him up and dropping Wildturtle instead of Kerp, who you don’t want because the turtle is sucking right now. It helps to know the trading partner personally, as random people are less likely to respect you enough not to double-cross you. For some reason, people take Fantasy LCS serious enough that they would do anything to succeed.

Make the trade at a time when no one else is on the portal: Similar to trading at the same time, you should make the trade at a time when you know no one else is on (perhaps before noon or after midnight). It could be that another person sees part of the trade in action, thinks someone is just making a scrub move, and picking a player up that is involved in the trade. In our scenario, this would be you dropping Sneaky and a third person in the league adding him and dropping Celavar of ROCCAT.

Week 3: Down a 40 FTW

As the race for victory continues, my line-up is constantly improving. Week 2 did better than Week 1, let’s hope it continues to improve! Here was my line-up:

1. Mimer – Supa Hot Crew

2. Impaler – Supa Hot Crew

3. Overpow – ROCCAT

4. WildTurtle – TSM

5. Vander – ROCCAT

6. Rekkles – Fnatic

7. Fnatic

8. Svenskeren – SK Gaming

9. Kev1n – Millenium

10. Millenium

I made fewer Adds and Drops this week than last week, but they were more significant in terms of my starting line up:

Added Nrated, dropped Vander: I told you I would do it, and here it is. Vander is on the worst team of the EU LCS and has consistently underperformed. Nrated, on the other hand, is on the powerful SK Gaming and has a consistently high KDA. Plus, he tends to ks, which really is good in a Fantasy LCS support.

Added Cowtard, dropped Svenskeren: I thought Overpow was getting really, really weak, so I grabbed Cowtard. He has posted good results and his team was faced against Millenium and Gambit, which I thought would bode well for his stats. Svenskeren looks like the weak link, so I went ahead and dropped him.

Dropped Millenium, added Svenskeren: I changed my mind. Millenium seems like the weakest link on my roster. They bombed out 2-0 last week and scored dismal points. Furthermore, they are not in high demand, so I guess I can always go back and pick them up again. Svenskeren of SK Gaming, on the other hand, may not be there when I get back.

With these changes, I felt like I had a winning cominbation. Here was my Roster for Week 3. Remember, only the top 7 earn me points:

1. Kev1n – Millenium

2. Svenskeren – SK Gaming

3. Cowtard – Copenhagen Wolves

4. Rekkles – Fnatic

5. Nrated – SK Gaming

6. Wildturtle – TSM

7. Fnatic

8. Mimer – Supa Hot Crew

9. Impaler – Supa Hot Crew

10. Overpow – ROCCAT

I changed quite a bit of my starting line-up from last week to this week. Here was my rationale:

Kev1n starts, Mimer on bench: SHC has the ridiculously tough schedule of Fnatic and Alliance, so I thought it was time to give Mimer a break. Millenium’s schedule, while it included SK Gaming, also had Copenhagen Wolves. I thought they are about equal players in skill, so I started the one with the easier schedule, Kev1n.

Svenskeren starts, Impaler on bench: Same reasoning, only that it was a much easier decision to make. Sven had an easy schedule on SK Gaming by facing Millenium and Gambit.

Cowtard starts, Overpow on bench: I needed a break from Overpow, to be honest. After failing to get a good mid from trading, I risked it by starting Cowtard. They both come from pretty bad teams, but Cowtard had good stats and exceeded Riot’s expectations each week. Overpow, on the other hand, was worse than what Riot considered each week. It was time to roll the dice and see if I got a seven.

Wildturtle starts as flex, others stay on bench: After last week’s dismal performance, I was very worried as to how my boy was doing. He’s consistently not been worthy of my top pick. This week I moved Rekkles to ADC and Wildturtle to flex. It is symbolic, showing that WT is on the chopping block. I decided against benching him, knowing ADC’s can pull in great numbers and that he may yet be destined for greatness. Here’s your one chance, Fancy Wildturtle don’t let me down.

How did I do? Let me tell you!

Kev1n: 2

Kev1n’s stats were mediocre at best. He underperformed and only received 17 points. Mimer did not do much better at 20 points, but every point counts in some of these matches. Still, I did not screw up terribly.

Svenskeren: 5

Benching Impaler during SHC’s tough schedule was a great idea. While he only got 10 points against Millenium, the 30 points Sven got when his team demolished Gambit certainly paid off. I will not put him in the Add/Drop pool again, he’s earned his place as a keeper. Plus, his name is way more awesome than Vander, who I still haven’t and probably will never forgive.

Cowtard: 5

Big risks can often mean big rewards. Cowtard’s Lulu play let him go 3/1/13 against Gambit, and even though his team lost, that is a hell of a lot of points. He may be on a terrible team, but if he keeps this up, I’ll certainly be playing him Moo-ore. (Get it? The cow joke? Yeah, ok. I know my puns are bad. I’m sorry. I’ll stop.)

Rekkles: 5

Rekkles exceeded Riot’s predictions and earned about 40 points this week. Living up to his reputation, almost half of those points came when Fnatic lost, proving he is a solid starter regardless of his team’s performance.

Nrated: 5

One of my noob friends actually let this gemstone go by dropping him. This was ridiculous, as his team SK dominated this week. Nrated ks’ed a bunch and didn’t really die, and of course got plenty of assists. He earned almost 40 points, putting him higher than a support should ever reasonably be. If there was a hype train for supports, he would most certainly be the engine (and I am the conductor, striped overalls and all).

Wildturtle: 3

At 30 points, Wildturtle did not do a faceplant like last week. While I am moving beyond his role in my draft, I will keep a close eye on him. It is very possible that he will be benched in the weeks ahead for one of my more consistent players.

Fnatic: 4

Slowly but steadily, Fnatic is coming back for me. They tend to have long, drawn-out games. Lots of turrets, dragons, and barons are slain by the team, and even if they do not win, that is great for points. If they could start getting First Blood, it would be great, but as for now, I am cautiously happy that I picked them 3^rd in my draft.

Mimer: 2

I knew I wasn’t going to trade Mimer away when I benched him. However, he got more points than Kev1n even against the toughest schedule in EU LCS this week (perhaps in NA, as well). With this performance, he has earned a permanent start on my team as the top laner.

Impaler: 4

Benching a player should never get you a 5 rating, but this one was close. Choosing to replace him turned out to be a bonanza for points, although I hope his ratings turn up in the future.

Overpow: 2

I am getting concerned about Overpow. At just over 20 points, he has yet again shown that he will not perform to Riot predictions. He is now on the chopping block for players on my bench. I will be looking closely to see who I should or should not pick up in the future.

After a hard fought series, I ended up winning my first fantasy match-up! With over half of my point-earning players going on tilt for 40 points each (ridiculous stats), it was not possible for my opponent to keep up. GG WP Brad.

Strategy: Add/Drop Tactics

One of the most overlooked mechanics at the start of every fantasy league is the pool of remaining players. In Fantasy LCS, this is called the Add/Drop pool. And because there are no penalties for adding and dropping players in Fantasy LCS, it adds a nuanced dimension in your quest to dominate the competition.

By this point in the game, the Add/Drop pool has been reduced to just the average and poor players (if you are in an 8-person league, this may just be poor players). This, however, does not mean that those players then become useless to you. In fact, they still retain a great deal of value for a number of reasons:

Hot streaks – Sometimes players and teams will shrug off their usually skill and go on fire for a period of time. If you can identify this hot-streak first (which means you have to watch LCS), you can pick up these players and use them on your team to earn points. If you think the hot streak will end soon, you can trade those players to other people in your league for more consistent individuals (more on trading at a later date).

Schedule advantage – It is inevitable in the LCS system that a bad team will get matched up against multiple other bad teams for their weeks match-ups. If this happens, the players on that team become a gold-mine of high risk, high reward options for your roster. Try to find the best players on that bad team and add them to your roster, in either their position or the flex position, and chances are you’ll get better than average points.

Infinite choices for a single role – Chances are, all the ADC’s in the Add/Drop pool are gone. However, this also means that all the average players for another role, like support, are still there. That means if your support is doing bad, you have many different options to choose from. You can constantly change your support player depending on whose ADC is good at the moment, who has the easiest schedule, and whose team is playing well. I hope you aren’t committed to playing Lemonnation!

So who should you keep in your alternates instead of leaving in the pool?

High-value roles: If you don’t have two ADC’s in your 10, you are doing it wrong. It’s great to have multiple of a high value role so you can constantly switch them in or out depending on the schedule. If you have on fantastic player and one so-so for that high value role, then consider switching the so-so in and out at the flex position.

Highly consistent players: You need reliable back-ups to do well, even on their off days. These players are not the A-tiers of consistency like Rekkles (who if you have, should be on your main roster), but players who will rake in a solid number of points regardless. You should have a back-up player for someone who is not God-tier.

Players about to hit a hot streak: It does not matter if a player is known for being streaky or not. As soon as he hits a hot streak, people no longer care and want that player. Save a low-skill, streaky player for your bench and when he heats up, trade him for a better, more consistent player. A good way to determine this is by finding players you think could do well, put them on your roster right before their team has an easy schedule, and then watch the trade offers come in.