Fantasy LCS has been going on for a couple of season now and has done a great job of making boring LCS games watchable. But over the years, the point system has grown a tad stale. Watching games now fills me with ideas of things that I should be getting points for, especially things that are role specific. So, without further ado, here are five things that I think we should all be getting points for in our Fantasy LCS matches.

Junglers should get extra points for stealing Baron/Dragons

I mean, this one just seems like a no-brainer right? I know Junglers aren’t really hurting for points in fantasy but come on! Steals in the jungle are so fun to watch and they happen fairly rarely in pro play. If I have a jungler on my team, and I watch them steal an Epic Monster from an enemy, it is super exciting! But that excitement quickly turns to ash when I don’t actually get any points for it. Epic moments like that should be rewarded with points, not fizzle out into nothingness. Of course, this means that we would have to scientifically determine what a steal actually is. Who is in control? Is it determined by the team that did the most damage to the monster? The team that started it? The team that “has control” of the arena? Who knows? But I think it’s worth finding out.

Solo kills in lane

Keeping with my philosophy “cool and infrequent plays deserve rewards,” top laners and mid laners should absolutely be getting extra points for un-assisted kills before the first tower goes down. Is killing the enemy laner not the clearest indication of raw skill over your opponent? Doesn’t that deserve points? I think it does. One of these days, Ryu is going to go up against a mid laner far below him and get like three kills in lane. As someone who wisely put Ryu on their fantasy team, I want those free points! In all seriousness, this could also really even out the playing field for certain picks. If a solo laner picks an assassin, it means they could get tons of points or none at all. It also means that they could do well early and very poorly late. So give them extra points for those un-assisted laning kills. Give credit where credit is due.

Support saves

These next two are going to be very support focused, because supports really need some help in the fantasy point department. First, I think supports should be getting points for clutch saves. These could be things like an awesome Thresh Dark Passage that saved a teammate from the brink of death, or a Janna shield that blocked just enough damage to keep someone alive. The idea is for supports to be rewarded for the amazing plays they make. Aphromoo could make the coolest play all weekend and only be rewarded points for the assists he gets. Supports are certainly about engaging and fighting, but what about protecting? Supports need more points, so why not throw them a bone when they save their entire team with a locket shield?

Aggressive vision control

There was a time where vision really could be a team effort, but now, with the removal of green wards completely, teams rely on their supports now more than ever for vision control (well, not more than ever; since Season 3). Now, of course supports shouldn’t be getting points for every ward they set down, that would be silly. Instead, I propose supports are rewarded a small amount of points every time they ward on the enemies’ side of the map. We have all heard of the “dangers of warding” and even pro supports get caught warding the enemy jungle. There is risk involved in aggressive vision control, so why not give them points? Vision is a very important aspect of a support’s job, so why doesn’t it help those that picked them for Fantasy? Similarly, I think supports should gain points for sweeping enemy wards as well. For how important vision is to League of Legends as a whole, it is very strange that the most vision focused role is not rewarded for their actions.

Split pushing

There is nothing worse than watching your Fantasy top laner pick a split pusher. That one decision in pick/ban instantly determines you will be receiving next to no points in the game to come. But what if it wasn’t such a death sentence? When laners split push, they are taking a risk. They are putting themselves out in the open and leaving their team in a probable 4v5 situation. When someone takes a tower on their own, they should be rewarded for that action. This would at least be a nice way for players to get a small reimbursement of points since they will be missing most of the team fights.

Conclusion

Fantasy could use some more points, and I think these suggestions are pretty solid ways to do that. We need more rare point opportunities, things that can really spice up a weekly game. Of course, almost all of these things would take manual entry by a real human being, instead of being automated by stats (like most of the current Fantasy points). This could cause a delay between final point totals being added together. You probably wouldn’t know for sure who won the week until a few hours after the final match. But isn’t that sacrifice worth it? The switch ups, the crazy moments, the come from behind victory? When I am going up against someone who has a weaker Fantasy team than I do, I don’t want to feel as confident as I do now. I want a sense of the impossible. I want to go into a game where I am many points ahead and think “as long as they don’t steal Baron, I will be ok.” Those moments of tension and surprise can make Fantasy even more lively than it is now, and I think that is the best way to spice it up for next split.