Fantasy OWL starts in just a few short days, but there is plenty of uncertainty still regarding rosters and starters. Teams are still announcing roster additions, leaving fantasy players a little uneasy when it comes to picking starters. The good news for nervous owners is that there are only 10 teams playing this weekend. The bad news is that there will be plenty of players on rosters that will be on bye. This opening weekend will certainly be a tricky one to maneuver for new fantasy owners, but TGH is here to discuss some potential starts for those looking for help.
Standard leagues have the restriction of only having access to the players that were originally drafted. While the following players may have already been drafted by another team, take a look on the waiver wire to check and see if there is a value pick early in the season.
Note: Make sure to take note of what the scoring format is for the league. HIGHNOON.GG typically takes the best 3 maps for a player. DraftBuff will count all maps, but will average the two matches if a player plays multiple times a weekend.
One of the best things to look out for when it comes to potential starts is the opportunity for a player to perform well. With Lastro being the sole flex-support on LAV, he is in line for an excellent fantasy opening weekend. Look for Lastro to have a strong matchup against a shaky Dallas roster.
Photo: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment
JJANU holds the trifecta of criteria that makes a good fantasy start – talent, opportunity, and environment. This coming week will showcase how important that third item truly is. JJANU has both a strong team to support his play and a favorable schedule for him to perform well. Although the match against LAG will be tough, the match against LAV should be quite the stomp for Vancouver. JJANU also no longer needs to babysit Sang-beom “Bumper” Park and can focus on playing a different game alongside Chan-hyung “Fissure” Baek. Expect a strong showing from the second-year off-tank.
The rookie from London will be the focus of both fans and opponents. Glister has the advantage of playing twice this weekend, giving him the chance to warm up against a tough New York team, and then excel against a weaker Paris roster. Glister is the key to London’s success, and his incredible skill is will produce a strong fantasy performance despite their opposition’s best efforts.
Photo: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment
Although Ryujehong has the talent and the environment to perform well like JJANU, he lacks the much-needed opportunity to do so. The biggest issue is that Ryujehong has to contend with an equally talented flex-support on a brand new team.
Ju-seok “Twilight” Lee will likely have the start for Vancouver, thanks to his synergy with the rest of the Titans. Leave Ryujehong on the bench for this week, at least to see what Vancouver decides to do with the support line going forward.
Fusions is the sit for tanks of the week, but this is also a moment to discuss the problem with main-tanks. As for Fusions specifically, Boston’s only game this weekend is against a tough NYXL bunch. A main-tank against a team with a cast of stud DPS players won’t have a great time. Give Boston’s captain a rest and leave him out of the starting lineup.
As a whole, most main-tanks will not generate enough points to be fantasy relevant for the entire year. There will be times where starting a main-tank is a necessity, but if possible, play two off-tanks. Off-tanks have access to a hero pool that will deal more damage and score more elims than main-tanks.
What an unfortunate start 2019 was for ZachaREEE’s OWL career.
Photo: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment
After spending half the year in Brig-jail , he bounced back and forth between the stage and the bench. Sadly ZachaREEE will see far more bench time as Dallas added two more DPS players to the roster this off-season. Behind both Dong-ha “Doha” Kim and Gui-un “Decay” Jang, ZachaREEE won’t see much time to provide an impact in fantasy.
In HNGG’s Unlimited leagues, there is a little more flexibility to roster creation. Players have access to the entire league, rather than be restricted to the team that they drafted. Unlimited leagues by default take the top three maps for each player, regardless of how many matches they play that weekend. That means each week there isn’t much of an excuse to play weaker fantasy options. Remember to always take in account for the main three criteria for a good fantasy play – talent, opportunity, and environment.
Support: Seong-Hyun “Jjonak” Bang, Lastro, Twilight
Given the chance, teams should be rostering (and playing) Jjonak at every chance. His potential for high scoring weeks is too high to pass up. To sweeten the deal, Jjonak gets to play multiple times this weekend, granting him more maps to truly put up those week-winning numbers.
DPS: Hyo-jong “Haksal” Kim, Brady “Agilities” Girardi, Glister
Photo: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment
The reigning Rookie of the Year is back and looking to start the season with a bang. Haksal has a premier match up with his teammate JJANU and will almost certainly be one of the top scorers in the opening weekend. Agilities on the other hand may not have the same team around him, he definitely has the match up to have a good fantasy outing. Against Paris, Agilities should have no problem proving his fantasy-value early on in the season.
Tank: JJANU, Indy “Space” Halpern, Hyo-bin “ChoiHyoBin” Choi
Space and ChoiHyobin play only one match this weekend, but they are simply too good to pass up. They are top players at their positions, their teams are primed for excellent seasons, and they have no one to contest their playtime. This will be the last time these two are suggested, as they should be must-starts every week their team plays.
Featured image courtesy of Ben Pursell and Blizzard Entertainment
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