EPT
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Fantasy Update
Shinhan 08/09 - Round 2 Week 5
The second round of Proleague is coming to a close. The first five weeks are now in the books. We have only two weeks left before a winner is determined, and one of those weeks is not even a full week. SKT has cooled down a bit and, after a slow start, Lecaf has finally ignited its fire like most everyone would have expected them to. Leta has run away with the fantasy point lead for an individual player and though he has finally ended his undefeated streak for this round, it is unlikely that any player will catch him in points by the round’s end….
Round Two Flops
Most anyone who has been following the Proleague the past five weeks can tell you which players are red hot; however, which players have severely underperformed based upon their expectations at the outset of this season of Fantasy Proleague?
Of the three players that could have been purchased for 9 points during team creation,
Calm has fallen a great deal. With the end of the round approaching, he has scored less than half of the points he scored from last round. At the end of round one STX found themselves surprisingly at the head of the standings due to some upsets during the last few games. Calm was the key to the team’s victories in earning that position. With only two games left in this round, STX has yet to achieve half the number of wins this round; a measly three so far. As Calm fell, no other player could rise to take his place and keep STX plowing forward. In fact, with the exception of July, every player on STX has performed beneath expectations.Woongjin, who made a surge at the end of last round with the reacquisition of
GGPlay, has also dramatically fallen. 
free and ZerO were both heavy hitters from the up-and-coming team, but have both been underperforming as of late. Much like Calm, they have both yet to score even half the points they had scored the previous season. Zero ended last season on a seven-game winning streak. He has managed only a pair of wins this season alongside a six-game losing streak which he only just snapped out of to finally attain a double digit number of points.Pusan is the other consistent big hitter failing to come up with wins. The star from MBC in the first round has been outperformed by a couple of his Terran teammates, 
Sea and Light. Though Pusan’s fall has not only been from his falling win percentage, he has gotten less lineup appearances this time around as well. Last season it was almost unthinkable that Pusan would be left out of the MBC lineup. This time around he has been left on the bench several times. Not only is his televised play declining, but his in-team performance must be declining as well if he has not earned the same playing time he once had been.Diamonds in the Rough
If players are underperforming, it must follow that there are some new faces among the top names, players who have more than eclipsed any possible expectations for the season. These are players that could have been worth only a couple points, but will be on the radar for next season as top contenders for their teams.
sKyHigh, a once zero-point player, has been sent out to fight for CJ Entus in all but one match. He now sports a wining record and has outscored everyone else on his team this round, save for EffOrt. The old lineup of CJ Entus is taking a back seat to the newcomers and a changing of the order is finally occurring. This team is getting a new face and Skyhigh has marked himself as becoming a part of that.Leta, even though he may have been considered the best candidate on his team at the beginning of the season, has been nothing less than monstrous. He has created a league of his own, no one could have seen the absolute demolition from Leta. With three games left, He has already outscored everyone from last season and has single-handedly kept OGN with a winning record. After this season he should be among the likes of Flash and Jaedong, as being a backbone for his team and a player who is the favorite every week. Regardless of opponent, you should expect Leta to come out on top with a win.Mind, much like Leta, may have been the best choice from his team, but he did not perform well during the first round, leading his team to a disappointing place in the standings. He has decided to step up this round though and the only player who is anywhere close to fantasy points to Leta, though still a fair amount of points behind. Mind is beginning to show that he can take the leadership of WeMade; the very thing fans expected of him over a year ago when he took his first MSL title. He is refusing to be considered a one-shot wonder and will fight continue to be recognized as one of Starcraft’s top performers.Week Five in the Books
The top five players retain their positions this week, though
Jaedong no longer has to share his position in fifth. Leta has run away with the lead and it will be difficult for any player to catch him barring something very strange happening. JangBi and July both crack the top ten chart this week while SangHo finally drops of the top the top list.![[image loading]](/staff/semioldguy/FantasyProleague/Top_5_Week_5.png)
![[image loading]](/staff/semioldguy/FantasyProleague/Top_10_Week_5.png)
If Leta has a good lead on his competition, then intrigue has an insane lead. I don't think anyone can catch him at this point as in the last two weeks his team has scored over 100 points! So in the last two weeks only, he has outscored what my entire team has earned across the entire five weeks.
The rest of the Top Ten looks like a pretty tight race though. And it looks like many who thought they might have been out of the ranking could still earn one of the top scores. ish0wstopper, for example, was ranked at 57th last week, climbing forty-seven places to squeeze onto the Top Ten List. The other nine places might be a bit tough for him to grab, but his surge should give hope to many whose teams are among the middle of the pack. Hot_Bid. who began the season near the bottom of the rankings has since climbed nearly to the top ten, just sitting a couple places below. The stars may align for anyone's team in the next week or two, and though you might not be able to catch intrigue, catching second could be more in reach than one might think.
![[image loading]](/staff/semioldguy/FantasyProleague/Top_10_Teams_Week_5.png)
Trade Watch
Curious to know which trades have paid off and which ones were horrible decisions made in desperate times for owners to attempt regaining control of their season? Are you wondering if that trade back during week two would have paid off, but didn’t want to risk it? I am here to take a look at the trades from the first three weeks in hindsight. Newer trades are too soon to declare as a good or bad decision just yet. I’ll let you all decide whether you should all be kicking yourselves or breathing a deep sigh of relief. Each week will have its trades split up into three sections: the good ideas, the bad ideas, and the wait and see.
Week One Good Ideas:
Leta <<< >>> Fantasy. If you have Fantasy, you could be having Leta right now. And right now… everyone wants a piece of Leta. Those who didn’t go the other way know they made the right choice.
Week One Bad Ideas:
Calm >>> Keke. Calm has outscored Keke 2 to 1 since week one. Calm earning 16 points to Keke’s 8.
Jaedong >>> Yellow[arnc]. Jaedong started off slow, but has ripped out of the bindings put upon his during the first two weeks. Jaedong has outscored Yellow[arnc] 33 points to 7.
Jangbi >>> Movie. Jangbi is another victim of the slow start. He has since outscored Movie 25 points to 9.
Week One Wait and See:
Stork >>> Sangho. Though Stork may have a slight lead on points, both players currently have the same score of 22 points. Sangho had a five point lead when the trade was offered, but could potentially be making those points back in the time he has left.
Bisu <<< >>> Kal. This one is still very close. What was only a one point difference before, is now only a four point difference. With Bisu slightly ahead he seems the better option right now, but even a single win one way coupled with a loss the other could put Kal back on the positive side of this trade.
Week Two Good Ideas:
Thezerg >> TT or Casy. Casy has scored 8 points to Thezerg’s 2. Thezerg was one of the most over-hyped players and has not done anything this round.
Jaedong <<< >>> Effort. Effort has managed to earn an impressive 20 points since then. But unfortunately for him, Jaedong has gone off and scored 33 points.
Much <<< >>> Movie. Movie has outscored his elder teammate by 9 points to 2.
Week Two Bad Ideas:
Backho >>> Reach or Stats. Backho has made 6 points since then. Reach only 1 and Stats 2. Backho was a poor choice to begin with, but still not as poor as these other two choices.
Free >>> Upmagic or s2. Free has scored 8 points, Upmagic 4 and s2 only 2.
Week Two Wait and See:
Lomo >>> Mvp or Justin. None of these players has run away with anything yet. If one of these players gets a win in the remaining weeks, they will probably be safe in keeping the high point of this trade. If not, then whichever is on the team who gets more wins will probably be the best of these three.
Zero >>> Keke or Hyvaa. Zero has since earned 6 points, Keke earned 7 and Hyvaa earned 8. this trade could still be good or bad, but not team breaking at this point.
Piano >>> Odin or Herb. The only difference here is by team wins, nothing conclusive or influential.
Firebathero <<< >>> Sea. Firebathero has scored 18 more points, whereas Sea has earned another 14. Sea can still have a say in this, but is a little behind Firebathero at this point.
Sair <<< >>> Savior. Sair has gotten another 3 points, Savior has gotten 6. Savior is probably the better end of this deal at the end of the season, but not by more than a few points.
Yellow[arnc] <<< >>> Sangho. The difference between these two right now is only by two points, and in favor of Sangho.
Bisu <<< >>> Really. The difference between these players is three points, to the current advantage of Bisu.
Week Three Good Ideas:
July <<< >>> GGPlay. July has outscored GGPlay 12 to 4.
Haksoo, Chalrenge and Type-b. Type-b is the better choice here, scoring an additional 3 points over Chalrenge and 6 more than Haksoo.
Week Three Bad Ideas:
Great >>> Juni. Great has three wins to Juni’s one, outscoring him by 6 points.
Luxury >>> 815. Luxury has one win since then, 815 has none, netting Luxury a 3 point gain on 815.
Hiya >>> Young. Hiya has won three games since then, Young has gotten none. Hiya has outscored Young 13 to 4.
Best >>> Fantasy. Best has scored 18 points since then. Fantasy has scored only 5.
KTF >>> ACE. Ace has lost a point since, KTF has gained four. No real surprises here.
Week Three Wait and See:
Oversky >>> Mumyung. Neither player has earned a point since then.
Nada >>> Baby. Neither player has won since then, making these two equal in points since the trade.
Woongjin >>> Wemade. WeMade has gained three more points than Woongjin, but the end of the season is likely to be the determining factor here.
Hyvaa, Really and Sangho. One point separated Really and Sangho, while Hyvaa trails behind another five points. While it is clear that Hyvaa was not the option here, it remains to be seen if it is Sangho or Really that is the better choice.
The Good Ideas so far have been few and far between, but there are many trades that hang on only a few points which may still prove to be fruitful. Every point may end up counting, so even the trades without clear leaders may prove to be worth those few extra ranking points. Combine a few of them and a team could shoot up the rankings quite a bit over time with a little luck and good decision making.
Next week’s “Trade Watch” will be a little different in the way I feature successful and unsuccessful past trade options. Stay tuned to keep up to date on what the best and worst trades of the season turn out to be.
Gathering Resources
Daily Fantasy Rankings – Keep on top of the competition and find out where you stand in the rankings. Get the scoop and the latest scores and analysis, updated daily from Hot_Bid!
Week Six Lineups – Check and see how you think you players might fare this week and what nights you’ll need to tune in to cheer on your players!
-semioldguy
