Fantasy preview: How to navigate Week 5 and Stage 1 winner's playoff tips
Welcome back to the OWTV Fantasy preview! We can't start this week's article without first congratulating Shin Se-won "THE CENTURION" Bernar, who broke the record for the highest Fantasy score ever recorded in a single series in his game against Crazy Racoon. Now that history has been made, it's time to prepare for another Weekend at Bernar's.
If you haven’t read any of our previews, Here’s a quick reminder of our goal with these weekly previews: to offer thought-provoking options for your team, while keeping you up to date with any major developments that might impact OWCS Fantasy. We do this by breaking down the fixtures, highlighting players we think offer strong value, and sharing any other strategies we come up with. We’ll also play along each week with our own team, Fantasy Watchpoint, and explain the reasoning behind the roster we lock in.
This week we also have a few wisdom nuggets from Stage 1 Korea Fantasy winner, SolarGiraffe. Be sure to check out the bonus section below for some extra help to carry you through the LCQ, Seeding Deciders, and beyond.
Fixture review
Similarly to last stage's LCQ and Seeding Tournament, we encourage you to target the teams competing in the Seeding Tournament: Crazy Racoon, ZETA DIVISION, T1, Team Falcons. Their matches are expected to be competitive, and every team is guaranteed three series. Unlike in Stage 1, this time around T1 are part of that group as well.
The LCQ teams, on the other hand, can play a maximum of two series. We expect O2 Blast vs. ZANSIDE GAMING to be much closer than their previous meeting, which ended in a 3-0 sweep for O2 Blast. Cheeseburger should be favourites against SuperBad regardless of how competitive that series ends up being, and we expect the loser of O2 Blast vs. ZANSIDE GAMING to defeat Cheeseburger and secure the final playoff spot.
The key takeaway is to target the loser of O2 Blast vs. ZANSIDE GAMING. Both teams had multiple players who broke the 40-point mark last week, and with an extra series to play, they will be able to score more points than the winning team, who’ll end up playing a single series the whole weekend.
As for Cheeseburger, they represent a lower-risk option. They should score well against SuperBad. We don't expect the same ceiling from them as from O2 and ZANSIDE players, but they are almost guaranteed two games.
Fantasy metawatch
It’s all about the BIG Samoan this week. Mauga, Reaper, Shion, Kiriko, Lucio was by far the most played comp last week, and Mauga players were rewarded with massive Fantasy scores.
While most of the region has embraced the Mauga, SuperBad are favouring the Sigma/Mizuki comp instead – something to keep in mind if you're considering their players.
ZETA DIVISION prefer to throw in the Cat/Bastion with Mauga, Shion, Kiriko, and oftentimes aren't afraid to field the Cat on its own when the situation calls for it.
Cost-effective players
Rather than sticking to one player per role, we’re suggesting one player per team this time.
Crazy Racoon: MAX (cost: 23) (1.35 PCM)
MAX played the entire series against ZETA DIVISION last week. Despite playing a single close game the whole week, he still finished within the top five highest scorers of the week. With three competitive series on the horizon, he might even take a swing at Bernar's record.
ZETA DIVISION: Proper (cost: 24) (1.35 PCM)
Proper is a menace on Shion. The hero has been a really good scorer in wins, and with ZETA building momentum, don't be surprised if Proper puts in a record-breaking weekend himself.
T1: D0NGHAK (cost: 22.5) (0.87 PCM)
With T1 facing only top-tier teams this week, we expect D0NGHAK to play every series. We've already seen how absurd his ceiling can be.
Team Falcons: ChiYo (cost: 21.5) (0.94 PCM)
Falcons haven't looked hot lately, but if you're really determined to invest in one of their players, ChiYo feels like the safest choice.
O2 Blast: Perr (cost: 18.5) (0.63 PCM)
Ideally, we'd recommend one of O2's supports or tanks, but both roles saw rotations last week. Fate (0.51 PCM) and SeungAn (0.50 PCM) have shared Mauga duties, while Misin (0.48 PCM) has gone missing, with Gamjung (0.57 PCM) stepping in and casually finishing as the fourth-highest scorer last week. Perr is the safest O2 option.
ZANSIDE GAMING: IRONY (cost: 19.5) (1.06 PCM)
IRONY has stepped up his game fantasy-wise in the second half of the regular season. He's an investment that could last you till the first round of the playoffs.
Cheeseburger: WoochaN (cost: 18) (0.87 PCM)
One last ride for the budget support. If your support slots are already locked, Gur3um (0.51 PCM) is also worth considering after playing every map against O2 Blast.
SuperBad: SOAE (cost: 16.5) (0.44 PCM)
SOAE is listed as a DPS player, but SuperBad frequently deploy him on Mizuki, effectively giving Fantasy managers a third support slot (supports tend to score well even in defeat *hint*). If that doesn't convince you, you can always fall back on SENTIER (0.64 PCM).
OWTV Fantasy staff team
- Tank - Bernar (cost: 22.5) (1.35 PCM)
- DPS - Perr (cost: 18.5) (0.63 PCM)
- DPS - Proud (cost: 22.5) (1.01 PCM)
- Support - CH0R0NG (cost: 22.0) (1.11 PCM)
- Support - WoochaN (cost: 18.0) (0.87 PCM)
Last week we thought Murphy’s Law only hit once per stage. Unfortunately for us, it stuck around for one more week.
As discussed before, Misin went missing, and Poker Face’s K4ne (0.60 PCM) took a page out of T1’s book and scored 42 points against O2. Had he not gone negative against T1, he would have outscored Perr. Skewed (1.12 PCM) outscored CH0R0NG, and almost all our decisions backfired, but at least Mealgaru (0.31 PCM) didn’t get a single map, and Bernar went berserk.
We’re sitting 96th in the overall leaderboard. In the spirit of developers who can’t balance their game, we’re reverting two of our transfers by bringing back Proud and WoochaN for ZEST (0.91 PCM). We’re not willing to take the risk on O2 supports anymore, and T1 playing nail-biting games in the seeding tournament only increases Proud’s ceiling.
A visit from an unexpected Giraffe
We caught up with Solar Giraffe, the winner of last stage’s Korean Fantasy and the current 2nd ranked on the NA/EMEA leaderboard, and he gave us more than a few tips heading into the LCQ and seeding tournament. Here are the main takeaways:
- Plan beyond the current week. Don’t make transfers with only the upcoming week in mind. Try to have at least two players that you know will also play in the playoffs next week.
- Prioritise teams before players. With every team in the seeding tournament guaranteed three series, maximizing games should be the main objective. Players from CR, ZETA, Falcons, and T1 should form the core of your roster.
- Don’t be afraid to take a hit. A -15 penalty (for a third transfer) can be worthwhile if it lets you field an extra seeding tournament player, although you should still be mindful of players who might split their playtime, e.g., Sp1nt and Checkmate.
- Four premiums and a hole. Gambling on a deadwood player could pay off massively if it allows you access to four players in the seeding tournament. For example, paying 17 for SENTIER to open up space for four players from the top four.
- Favour safe LCQ teams. Solar prefers Cheeseburger as the safest value option, while viewing O2 and ZANSIDE as higher-risk alternatives with potentially higher upside.
The Giraffe’s concluding notes
Last week I went with Perr and Misin from O2 blast, but Misin didn't play and gave me zero points, dropping me from 17th to 30th. I believe the upper bracket LCQ match is a gamble, and I’m not sure if Misin will get playtime this week. This week, I’ll pick WoochaN again, instead of Misin on support. Cheeseburger should beat SuperBad, and even though they lost both their matches against ZANSIDE and O2, WoochaN still scored 27 and 31 points. My second transfer could have been Perr to Argon, for the same reason as earlier. I also could have switched Proud to KNIFE, as T1 haven’t looked too inspiring recently, especially with ZETA’s resurgence. Ultimately, I went with Bernar instead of MAX. I expect MAX will get less playtime this week. I had to leave Perr in as I couldn’t find a way to free up enough budget to upgrade Perr to one of the seeding decider teams.
Overall, ZETA DIVISION, Crazy Raccoon, and Cheeseburger offer good, safe options for their prices. T1 are a bit expensive and inconsistent, and Team Falcons tend to underdeliver for their prices. O2 and ZANSIDE are good options, but are slightly riskier than Cheeseburger in terms of value.