While Fantasy LoL betting has been around for a few years with numerous betting companies hosting tournaments and competitions, the official LCS fantasy league has been dormant since 2018 due to Riot needing to refocus their resources to bring it back in the right way. That they did in the Spring 2021 regular season as fantasy LCS partnered with the Sleeper app to deliver a newfound fantasy League of Legends experience that is centered around the North American League Championship Series.
In conjunction with the Sleeper app, fans are able to join in on authentic real-life LCS action and participate with their own teams they have selected to draft. The user interface for the Sleeper app is sleek, easy to read and functional at every point. Even if you’re new to the world of Fantasy LoL, there is plenty to draw from and learn from through other fantasy sports and fantasy esports titles that will gravitate your knowledge to the LCS scene.
How to play Fantasy LCS with the Sleeper app
With the start of the 2021 season, Riot Games and LCS engineered a new app and interface to make it easier for fans of the fantasy LCS experience to communicate and compete within the app in a way that is fun and engaging for all parties. When looking for a league to join at the start of the Summer split, hitting the Finding a League option is a great way to join in on fantasy LCS action with people even when you don’t have enough friends to start a league of your own.
On the Sleeper app, they have implemented a League of Legends Recruiting Channel where you can find invite links to leagues that other users have already created. This neat little option is a great way for new fans of League of Legends fantasy lcs to jump right in on the action without requiring a full friends list of participants to make a league. Leagues are made for both fantasy LCS and LEC so whether your interest is in North American League of Legends or more for the European scene, your preferences are always covered!
When Creating a League, you have the option to filter in friends or randoms and change the invite settings to allow only those you want to allow into your newly created league. Once there, the options to customize league names and the number of players within the fantasy LCS league can be altered as well. Sleeper recommends keeping the player base high at 8-10 players for a wider variety of talent and variance in play. Once your league is created, you can start inviting owners by sharing the link solely to your friends, or posting it publicly for a wider range of players to join.
Sole creators of the league are known as the ‘Commissioners’ of the league they are in. Commissioner responsibilities include setting up important settings centered around the league like tournament settings and scoring categories that each player will follow. Finding a league with a fair and communicative Commissioner will ensure the best experience within fantasy LCS. The new-look Sleeper experience is built on communication between players in the league and making sure your trades and roster lock-ins are approved at the right times will always be an added benefit when making your game day decisions.
How to thrive with Fantasy LCS betting
Generally speaking, the scoring system in Fantasy LCS settings is very similar to other popular fantasy LoL systems already in place (most notably DraftKings League of Legends and FanDuel). However, there are some nuances to the scoring system on the Sleeper app that incentivizes players to pick teams with an emphasis on early game objectives and high number of kills. Within the fantasy LCS structure, bloody games with high numbers of kills are more rewarding than a clean game played by one team that results in map control based gameplay.
Fantasy LCS betting thrives off skirmishes and early game objective taking. This difference is noticed in the emphasis on early game objectives, especially for team based objectives like first turret and first dragon. Bonuses are included for teams who are quick to win out the battle for first turret and drakes. Inversely, there’s also incentives to late game objectives like Soul Drake bonus and First Baron kill.
This variance in style makes it more interesting when selecting a team that can balance through the ups and downs of a difficult early game while still possessing a scaling composition. Utilizing players and teams who capitalize off early advantages will be useful towards winning league games and securing points off more than combat fantasy LCS stats alone.
Another interesting addition in Sleeper’s Fantasy LCSand Fantasy LEC league is the feature to pick & ban a champion for your own team and its players, while also banning out a champion for your opponent. If the champion you pick for your fantasy league is actually played by the player on your team, you will receive a pick bonus for having the pick correct. However, there are negative multipliers if the champion that was picked in competitive play is a champion banned by your enemy.
With these added curveballs of early decision making being rewarded and picks & ban in rotation, the variance for teams success throughout the season will be much more than a standard league that doesn’t harbor the same ruleset.
Crafting a winning roster
When crafting your League of Legends fantasy draft day roster, there are no two roles more important than Mid and ADC when it comes to securing your points in any given game. Given the fact that players are granted 1 point per every 100 CS (creep score) regularly picking players that can hit the 300 CS mark on a per game basis is good for grabbing easy points. But the added monkey wrench of early game focus makes players from Cloud9, Counter Logic Gaming and Team Liquid high commodities because they generally find those first objectives more than their counterpart.
This makes picking players from lesser known teams just as important as stacking players from top teams because there are oftentimes diamonds in the rough that provide a lot of value on the fantasy LCS level without necessarily bringing in wins every weekend for their team. Scouting team news and information on LCS fantasy reddit pages can also give you last vital last minute info before locking in teams.
Once your confidence with the Sleeper app format starts to develop, taking your knowledge and fantasy LCS expertise to the next level and competing for real money is the next step to getting the most out of your fantasy LCS experience. Picking the right players within the meta that fits, constantly scouting the LCS stats to make sure your players are performing at a high rate and selecting the right team (preferably top four) to get the majority of your team stats with will go a long way to securing multiple victories in any given fantasy LCS season.
Whether it’s playing in a fan-made league with a bunch of your friends or joining a new league from scratch with random competitive buddies, the opportunities for fans of LoL are boundless once you immerse yourself with the new Sleeper app Fantasy LCS experience.
Play Fantasy LCS with Real Money
Once your roster is fortified, looking for tournaments to join in and wager real money with your fantasy LCS experience is the next step to success. Once you’ve had your fun with free play-in tournaments against friends to gain experience, there are options to opt-in to real money tournaments that pay out handsome cash prizes to their winners.
These contests have a variety of entry fees, ranging from $1 all the way to $300 just to enter. Prize pools obviously vary depending on the kind of contest you participate in. A tournament with a $1 buy-in will naturally pay out less than if you win a $250 buy-in tournament. Start and end dates, number of participants and special rules of the tournament are all provided in the guidelines of the tournament details so make sure to know what you’re getting into before you sign up.
Typical contests range from a LoL minion blitz that has a $50,000 guaranteed prize pool. While other challenges like the LOL Ultimate Challenge have a staggering $200,000 cash prize. New players can get their feet wet with a beginner LoL Skill Shot contest that typically starts with a $1 entry fee, and as your confidence grows so can your betting earnings!
Whether it’s playing in a fan-made league with a bunch of your friends or joining a new league from scratch with random competitive buddies, the opportunities for fans of LoL are boundless once you immerse yourself with the new Sleeper app Fantasy LCS experience.