It feels like forever since the last time we watched a North American League of Legends team take to Summoner's Rift. And while the European teams all got their chances to lose to Flash Wolves at the Intel Extreme Masters tournament in Poland, both regions will return to standard LCS play for Week 6 of the Spring Split this week.
That means it's time to log back in and make sure your fantasy lineups are up to date and ready to win as the season draws closer to an end. Here are our picks and passes for the matches ahead.
Picks
Eugene "Pobelter" Park, Mid lane, Immortals
The uncertainty in the middle of the map for Team Liquid (who allow the second-most points to mids in NA this season) should make for an interesting matchup for Pobelter in his first matchup of the week, and a game against Team Envy is appealing, too. It's a solid setup for big points out of the struggling but capable IMT veteran.
Matt "Akaadian" Higginbotham, Jungle, Echo Fox
Don't let one week of struggles move you away from Akaadian and his fellow Foxes. While a matchup with Cloud9 is on deck, Week 5 showed that isn't as tough of a matchup as previously thought, and the other matchup for Echo Fox is Team Liquid. Junglers against TL this season have the third-best matchup, so whether or not you believe in "even and odd week" memes or superstitions, Akaadian should still do work.
The Misfits
This week's European two-match lucky winners are Misfits and Unicorns of Love, and while UOL certainly have great players, they have to face Misfits, who allow the fewest fantasy points at EVERY POSITION across both leagues. MSF gets to face Origen as its other matchup, who allow the most points in every lane across both regions. Any and all Misfits, including the Misfits team, should be picked up for this week and started where possible.
Wild Card
Whoever plays mid lane for Team Liquid
Solo queue and Twitter rumors aside, whoever plays mid lane for Team Liquid this week is worth a spot in your lineup in a deeper league. If we get an official team announcement as to the starter before Friday's game gets underway, head to waivers to pick them up. They get two of the best matchups for the position this week against Immortals and Echo Fox.
Passes
Whoever jungles for Phoenix1
As of the time of writing, we don't yet know who will roam the fog of war for Phoenix1, but no matter who it is, you don't want them in your lineup. Team Dignitas allows the fewest fantasy points to junglers in the NA LCS, and while Counter Logic Gaming has been a good matchup for gankers this season, the team has shown signs of turning things around. Plus, the uncertainty at the position leaves a lot to be desired when Lee "KaKAO" Byung-kwon or Akaadian might be available to drop into your starting lineup.
Nam "Lira" Tae-yoo, Jungle, Team Envy
Lira is not on many rosters in the LCS Fantasy game (just over 25 percent), which is far too low for a player of his caliber. He's been a top seven NA LCS jungler in terms of fantasy points in all but one of the weeks he's played, which is why I bring him up. ... You should add him to your roster in the future, but not this week. FlyQuest and Immortals are the matchups this week for Lira, and while IMT is a decent matchup for junglers, FLY is the third-toughest in NA. If you're desperate for a jungle pick this week, he'll likely deliver, but keep an eye on him for weeks ahead.
Zaqueri "Aphromoo" Black, Support, Counter Logic Gaming
Everyone loves Aphromoo, as he's the third-highest owned NA support in the Riot fantasy game, but this is a week to consider a backup plan instead of CLG's ward placer and destroyer. Matchups with top teams Phoenix1 and Team SoloMid will be great to watch as Counter Logic Gaming looks to turn things around for a stretch run to the playoffs, but they are terrible for support fantasy points. TSM allows the fewest points to supports in NA, and P1 ranks third in that statistic. Lee "IgNar" Dong-geun of Misfits or Kim "Olleh" Joo-sung of Immortals are replacements to consider for the week ahead.