1. Fantasy LCS isn't region locked.
One of the best parts of Fantasy LCS is the fact that you don’t need to stick within your region like when playing League of Legends itself. You can join a league with anyone from North America, EU West, EU Nordic East, Brazil, Oceania, Latin America North, Latin America South, Turkey and Russia.
However, this freedom should be taken in moderation as the drafting period takes place when the owner of the league decides to start it, meaning it’s in your best interests to join leagues with people you have a good means of communicating with. It is also in a league owner’s best interest to ensure each of the players in their league is available for one specified time to draft. Poor draft organisation can lead to having to wait for 1 minute per round for each missing player which can really slow down and drag out the process since each missing player is a guaranteed 10 minute wait (for the 10 available draft slots).
2. Tactical drafting, know the scene.
One of the cleanest ways to secure a Fantasy win is to be tactical about every single player you draft. When you go to draft a player, think about what they could bring to your team and how they play rather than simply if you like them or if their estimated scores are high. A close eye should also be paid to who is left on the board when it comes to your turn and who is most likely to be picked by your rivals (TSM players and Mid Laners go really fast). Sometimes drafting a player who might be outside of your original game plan can help you secure worthwhile trades and deals later on.
The scoring criteria are as follows:
Players:
Kills: +2
Deaths: -0.5
Assists: +1.5
CS: +0.01
Triple Kill: +2 bonus points
Quadra Kill: +5 bonus points
Penta Kill: +10 bonus points
10+ Kills: +2 bonus points
10+ Assists: +2 bonus points
Teams:
First Blood: +2
Dragons taken: +1
Barons taken: +2
Towers destroyed: +1
Victory: +2
If you know that a particular player is known for being bloodthirsty it might be in your best interest to pick them up; however, it is also a good idea to have a backup player available to swap in for the games where your bloodthirsty player might gift away too many deaths. Teams that have great objective control are also very worthy pick-ups, as that is basically the whole criteria of a team’s points spread. Players like Kerp were goldmines of points on days where they hit their stride but in matches where the pressure was reversed, an oasis of points can quickly turn into a drought.
One of the biggest missteps people make during the drafting process is tunneling too hard on estimated point values. While they’re there to guide you, they’re not a prediction of the future. This is where knowledge of the scene and of the true value of every player to his team comes in handy.
As an example: Copenhagen Wolves and Counter Logic Gaming have for a long time played a style that heavily favoured their AD Carries. Woolite and DoubleLift owners prospered as a result of this. On the flip side, Seraph and Youngbuck owners didn't see as much of a flood in points due to their more supportive playstyles and tendency to be the men to take one for their team, usually in order to help said carries.
3. Stay alert on player news.
Sometimes the unexpected can happen, a player can be hit with an expected illness or be banned from playing for a week. One case to be aware of in the coming season is ZionSpartan’s inability to play for CLG in the first week. There were a few moments in the last season where certain players were unable to attend and one rare moment where Copenhagen Wolves flat out forfeited a game. When a player is unable to play their substitute is later added to the free agents pool where anyone can pick them up, meaning you could be left in a bad position if someone tactically signs them before you can and you’re left with a player who isn’t playing. Quick reactions and an alert watch over the scene can help you not befall any of these fantasy tragedies.
4. Don’t overlook supports.
A common thing I saw from drafting periods was the overlooking of support players in comparison to Mid Laners and AD Carries who were drafted off rather quickly. An A-Tier support can and often is the difference between a win and a loss in Fantasy LCS. In a lot of cases, the sheer amount of assist points picked up by players like Yellowstar and Aphromoo can help clinch tight matches. While it’s easy to see kills and carries as the most important factor to gaining points, supports will usually pick up the most assists on their team and assists are worth only 0.5 less than kills. In addition to this, supports won’t be getting points from stats like kills, CS, or kill streaks, and they often pick up a lot of deaths in tough games. So investing early in a high-assisting and or low risk-taking support can really aid your season.
5. Don’t judge a player based on one week’s performance.
I myself was a victim of this as I removed Amazing from my squad immediately when he failed to score any points worth mentioning one week very early on, I was then disappointed when he went on to find his stride and become a key player for TSM securing a lot more points. Just because a player has a bad week doesn't necessarily mean they deserve the boot. Manage your team with a calm mind and properly evaluate who is a good fit for your team. The best time to make some roster changes, if needed, is not until week three or four in my opinion, because by then you have a good backlog of performances to make a more informed decision on.
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by Reece "SabrewoIf" Dos-Santos
